This great horned owl fledgling was getting a drink at a remote desert waterhole when bats decided they were also thirsty. Not sure which bat species they are, but it’s fun to watch them swoop in and try to drink while the owlet watches.
Author: Gaia Diversity
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Bear cubs inspect trails cameras
It look like this is the same bear family as the scat video from a couple weeks ago, even though the cameras are a few miles apart:
Screech owl copulation and feeding
This year, the fourth season of a Western screech owl pair using the nestbox in my yard, was a difficult time for the owl pair. Five eggs laid and hatched, but only one nestling survived to fledge. This video shows a copulation event after the eggs hatched and when only one nestling remained. It also shows how the adult male brings food to the adult female to feed her nestling.
Sky Island Mountain Lions
Over the last few weeks there’s been an increase in mountain lion captures on my trail cams. The following videos are from two different Arizona mountain ranges. It’s important to note that mountain lions in the Arizona deserts and sky islands often look “skinny.” However, this is a normal mountain lion body type in this region. They are healthy and have plenty of prey.
Black bear bath time
About two years ago I found an old, abandoned cattle trough that still held water. I realize now that it is an old spring box that still receives water from a nearby spring. The good thing is, it stays full of water during the Arizona dry season (between the winter rains and summer monsoons) and so is an important water source for local wildlife during times of water scarcity. For bears, water is not just a resource to drink, but also to wallow in and relax:
The lone screech owlet
This year only one of five nestling screech owls survived to fledge. Based on the body condition of the nestlings that died, I suspect secondary poisoning by rodenticide. The surviving nestling fledged a few weeks ago and I’ve seen her perched in a nearby tree with one of her parents now and then.
Mountain lion Flehmen response
About three months ago I was checking a camera I had set on an often-used bear wallow. Not far from the wallow, on the trail, was a fairly fresh mountain lion scrape. I decided to move the trail cam from the wallow and mount it on a tree looking at the scrape. This is one of the scenes captured by the trail cam:
Do bears sh*t in the woods? This video answers that question
A few weeks ago I found some bear tracks and a marking tree and decided to set up a trail cam and see what action it might capture. At the very least I was hoping to catch a bear simply walking by. After a week, I checked the camera and here’s what it captured:
A few days after the sow and her cubs passed by the camera site, this big male bear came through. He almost missed the scat pile, but then noticed it:
First flight for a screech owl nestling
Again this year the Western screech owl pair raised a family in the backyard nestbox. In this video you can see the first of four nestlings take her first flight.
Black Bear Wallow
This old abandoned spring in one of Arizona’s Sky Islands is a favorite place for black bear bath time.
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