We’re entering the time of year where rain is sparse. Likely no rain until July. So, at this time, when many species are having young or just trying to survive, any water source is a means of survival. This video captures many of the common critters here in Tucson, Arizona, all from my backyard:
Tag: Biodiversity
Western Screech Owls
A few months ago I put up two screech owl nest boxes in my yard. Each box has a 3″ diameter hole which is within the size recommended to accommodate screech owls. Within a week an owl found both nest boxes and would randomly appear sitting in the entrance to one for a couple months. It wasn’t long before breeding season began and a second owl appeared. They paired up and chose the red nest box which was in a shady protected area in a false willow tree.
Both adults began hunting foray’s to feed hungry nestlings. It appeared that the male would catch prey and give it to the female who was, early on, incubating eggs, then later, feeding the nestlings.
A few days ago I decided to take a short video inside the nest box using a tiny borescope inspection camera. I wanted to see how old and how many owlets there were. I waited until after the female left the nest box in the early evening and was able to capture this video, confirming 3 downy nestlings:
Seeing the nestlings and their size made sense given how many prey items the adults were bringing into the nest box. The prey has varied from small moths and non-native geckos to a small passerine bird, a large Western blind snake (pencil-size diameter, maybe a foot long) which escaped, and a couple kangaroo rats. Here’s the video from last night’s action:
Black Bears
When I first started camera trapping, mountain lions were my ultimate goal. It took me a few years to learn to track them and identify the best spots to place a camera in order to catch them in action. When that happened I was ecstatic. By chance, I had no idea I’d also be capturing lot’s of black bear activity.
That said, here are a few clips of black bears in action as captured by my cameras so far this year:
Monarch Caterpillar Morphs into Chrysalis
In the last week or so I finally starting seeing Monarch caterpillars on the milkweed in my pollinator garden. I counted about twenty in different instar states. Since then all the leaves of the milkweed have been eaten and the caterpillars have slinked off to find a safe place to hang out and morph into a chrysalis and eventually a butterfly. I was lucky enough to find one of the caterpillars in the classic “J” pose, ready to morph. The first video is filmed at normal speed so you can watch in detail the moments leading up to the emergence of the chrysalis. The second video compresses about 1/2 hour into about a minute and a half. Which ever video you watch, I recommend watching in 4k, full screen.
Camera Trapping
Camera traps are one of the best ways to observe wildlife behavior that you’d likely not see because it’s either dark out or your presence would alter the animals behavior. I bought my first camera trap around 2005 and was instantly addicted. I had no idea there were such shenanigans happening when I wasn’t around.
Now, in 2019, I have about 10 personal cameras set up in the desert around my home town, Tucson, including my backyard. I also have another 10 cameras set up at Audubon’s Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch near Elgin, Arizona. We use these cameras for long-term wildlife monitoring, recording which animals and how often pass through the research ranch.
In this post I’d like to share some backyard wildlife action my cameras recently captured.
A bobcat:
A coopers hawk:
A bat catching a sphinx moth at a cactus flower:
And a cute little western screech owl:
Queen Butterfly Metamorphosis
The Queen and Monarch butterfly season in my pollinator garden was pretty subdued this summer. Not sure if it was the dismal monsoon season with very little rain or other factors. I did manage to catch a couple stages of metamorphosis of a queen butterfly.
First, watch a queen caterpillar turn into a chrysalis:
And the next step is the fully developed butterfly emerging from its chrysalis:
Hummingbird Nest in the Patio
For the third year and second time this summer a Broad-billed Hummingbird raised a new batch of hummingbirds in a re-used nest in my patio. Both the first clutch and the second (seen below) from this summer had two eggs, but only one from each clutch was viable and successfully fledged.
Here’s a photo of the two nestlings from last summer’s clutch:
Here’s a male Broad-billed hummingbird I photographed at one of my feeders, fully displaying his sexual dimorphism.
Finally, here’s a video of the female feeding her one nestling from the last clutch of this summer:
Crazy Birds
While out and about in Costa Rica I was able to spy some pretty interesting birds. The distinguishing features for my favorites are their plumage colors and unique tail feathers. My favorite sighting was a quetzal in the family Trogonidae. I spotted the bird above us, but it was my hiking partner who was able to capture the better image of the bird before it flew off. Diego said this was one of only a handful of sightings in several years in that location.
The next bird with beautiful plumage and unique tail feathers is a motmot. I think this one is a Blue-crowned motmot. Look at those tail feathers!
The last fascinating bird I spotted was near my room. This one is in the family Cuculidae and is a squirrel cuckoo. As you can see, its distinguishing feature are its extra-long tail feathers with notable white tips.
Mountain Lions of 2018
While I am still in Costa Rica, I wanted to share a short video of many, but not all, of the mountain lions my trail cameras captured in 2018. Not sure how many individuals are represented here, though I’m thinking around 8 or 9, based off location and physical characteristics. Feel free to comment if you have a guess or know an easy way to visually distinguish individuals. Enjoy!
Costa Rica on a Whim
The New Year brought me to Costa Rica for a short reboot. Hoping to start 2019 on a clear and heart-felt path. While most of my adventures have to do with nature, conservation and wildlife, this trip is focused on health and well-being. However, that hasn’t stopped my curiosity and desire to explore the natural world around me. Granted, I know very little about Costa Rican biodiversity, so the photos below have only the simplest of descriptions.
A few orchids:
A few insects:
I did not have my good DSLR, so the few bird photos I’ve taken so far are not that great:
My Earth 