This morning I checked a series of trail cams I’ve set up at water sources in a drainage in the mountainous desert near Tucson. These spots have, usually, held water throughout the hot dry season before monsoon rains are due. This year the monsoon rains have been few and far between in this area so these water sources have been a very important resource for local wildlife.
Tag: deer
Last Night’s Backyard Wildlife
It was a busy 12 hours from before sundown to right after sunrise last night. An owl, deer, coyotes, raccoons and a bobcat. The first video shows the Great horned owl having a drink in the evening. The second video shows the mangy coyote the next morning. The third video shows all the action from evening to the next morning.
Backyard Wildlife Action
Here in Tucson the summer heat is upon us. We’re in the somewhat miserable time between the cooler temperatures of spring and the onset of summer monsoons. The highs have been from around 100 to 110 degrees and with most natural water sources having dried up the neighborhood wildlife have been visiting the backyard water sources more frequently. Below are some of the recent visitors:
Sky Island Wildlife
I’m just back from a few days exploring one of Arizona’s sky islands. After receiving a bit of monsoon rainfall, the wildflowers and wildlife were quite abundant and the formerly dry landscape had turned green with new plant growth.
While exploring I also checked three trail cameras I’ve had in the region for several months. It was exciting to see all the critters captured by the cameras, including a sow black bear with two cubs.
I also had the chance to get this beautiful rattlesnake to move off the road:
Monsoon Flooding
There have been a number of days here in Tucson when the monsoon rains have caused a lot of flooding. Today I checked two of my trail cameras and found that one of them captured two flooding events. The following clips are chronological and if you keep an eye on the rock in the upper right you’ll see how high the flooding range is. The water level rises and falls greater than 6 feet between each heavy rain event and in a short period of time:
Audubon Research Ranch Camera Traps
Two days ago I checked my camera traps at the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch of the National Audubon Society with my friend Rene. On the way to a location where I have two camera traps we found a freshly dead deer:
It became apparent to us that the deer had not been brought down by a predator, so we reported our find to the Research Ranch management. At this point all we know is that AZ Game and Fish is investigating. Coincident to this, my two trail cameras that were within a few-hundred meters of the dead deer were missing the SD cards. A frustrating loss of a months-worth of images/activity. Given that there is both illegal hunting and drug smuggling in the area, there’s no telling who stole the camera cards or who killed the deer.
Despite this, my other cameras on the Research Ranch captured some fun images:
Here is a time-lapse of the Red-tailed Hawk taking a bath:
My Earth 