Arizona Wild Bird Photos
IN NO WHERE DESERT ARIZONA
Up-dated as of 08/25/03
Many photos so please wait for all to load.
At noon it was 90 degrees with a 6 mile an hour breeze out of the south.
In Arizona "THAT'S COOL".
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JUST HOW MANY RABBITS ARE THERE OUT HERE ANYWAY?
PLUS I HAVE A NEW TENANT IN MY ROCK GARDEN WHO HAS NOT SIGNED A LEASE.
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At this point in time I have logged 24 different Black-tailed Jacks.
I have found a way to separate them & identify each one. Some I name & some I number.
In looking at each rabbit I found the ears were the way to separate them because
each has some thing different about there ears.
Of coarse old Mumps Murphy isn't hard to distinguish from the rest of them.
The only one I haven't been able to photograph is the one I call "Big Notch". It has a large "V" cut in the top tip of its left ear.
Also there is one I call "Little Notch" and I will show this one. One other I call "2 Tics", & one old LOP ear. All they do is eat and then drink.
There may not be enough feed in Arizona to keep them in rabbit pellets.
They are consuming 50 to 60+ pounds of rabbit pellets a week or more, at least when
I go out every week the 50+ pounds I had put out the week before is gone.
Plus now I have at least 10 or 12 Desert Cottontails running around the site.
I don't think these rabbits ever get more than 100 feet away from the site.
All they do is eat, drink, & take a dust bath by digging in the dirt and then rolling in it.
All the wild life seems to get along together, to a certain extent that is.
Of coarse the bigger you are the more clout you you command.
However, I will have say to the Roadrunner won't take a back seat from any of them,
it chases them all away when ever it comes to drink.
Next would be the Curve-billed Thrasher, it doesn't have the size that the Roadrunner
has but it will peck at any of them until they leave.
What I am waiting for is the day when the Roadrunner and the Thrasher both get to the water at the same time.
This should be quite a good show.
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Today was an over cast cool and cloudy day and we had just had some rain.
How do I know it had rained? All was turning green as it does on the desert after a rain.
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About my new rock garden tenant.
I believe it's a Desert Spiny Lizard.
It's about half out of its old skin.
I've never seen it here in the past and that's why I say it's a new tenant.
It stays under under one of the larger rocks next to the water and darts
out every now and then to grab an ant or some other type of food.
Some times it will climb to the top of its rock and lay in the sun for a few minutes but then darts back under its rock.
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In the last report or the one marked August-04 you can see how brown every thing was.
Now every thing is turning green, but it won't last long in this heat.
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I doubt if any amount of rain can help this tree.
Plus, I don't think the Saguaro will last much longer.
But you can see in the back ground all is green.
These little guys in the foreground have had it and I doubt they every turn green again.
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By next week these Ocotillo (center) should be blooming.
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What about that new tenant in my rock garden???
This is its Hide-out I think.
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Every few minutes it climbs up here, looks around and then heads back to its Hide-out.
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Maybe I had better look over here for a spell, you just never know where those ants are.
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Better head back to my nice cool Hide-out until more bugs come out.
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AND NOW THOSE RABBITS!
The Black-tailed Jack Rabbit and now you can see how it got its name.
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How do I "ID" those critters anyway?
It's not the best way but at present its the only way I have.
Please note the TICKS in their ears, the coloring, or any other abnormalities
4 + 4 ticks means it has 4 ticks in each ear.
C/B/T Stands for Curve-billed Thrasher. I now have a pair ( or at least 2) of them hanging around the site.
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This one's easy it has two (2) holes in its left ear.
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This the one I call "small notch"
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Washing its face is ole "LOP EAR"
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I always go by the left ear and you can't see it in this image.
It's amazing just what all they will eat.
Of coarse if you lived out here you too might chew on most any thing you came by.
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3 Ticks from the back.
Some times they will climb up into the bushes to eat the green parts.
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4 TICKS is easy to ID because the black comes down the edge of the ear quite far.
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This one also has 4 TICKS but in a different layout. It's in the shape of a Triangle so I call him Tri-angle.
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Why 1 ear? Well if you look he only has black in one ear.
It's a young one and it may change as it grows older.
Also note the RUST COLOR just behind the ears.
This too might be an immature thing, I sure don't know.
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Just had to see if it really was a Black-tailed Jack or not.
Seems to have all the right marking.
At first I thought maybe it was a Desert Cotton Tail Rabbit.
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One Desert Cotton Tail Rabbit. Check out the tail area.
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I also see a dramatic in-flux of Black-throated Sparrows gobbling up my seeds.
Along with the two automatic waters I also have two dripping water locations
just see if the birds will go there rather than the pans of still water.
Maybe I will have better luck on the next drop?
As you can plainly see it missed the drop of water as it came out of the tube.
Red arrow points out the water droplet.
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OK, OK, I am ready, let's have the water drops.
I have it set for one drop every 2 seconds.
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I'll try a different approach. Oops I just missed it.
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I photographed this one because of its markings.
Its colors are all mixed up and almost impossible to tell it's a Black-throated at all.
Maybe it's just an immature.
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The family that drinks together (water that is) stays together.
Young Gambles Quail.
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These are my favorites. They are now down to just one chick.
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Last week they had 3 chicks. I have noted the Gamble's Quail families do not mix.
When the chicks get in with the wrong group they are chased away.
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Well it's getting late and I had pack up and head back to civilization.
There was a nice sunset this evening so I took a few shots.
When shooting into the sun the foreground generally goes dark and only gives a silhouette effect.
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Check back soon I will be up-dating again.