2022 Earthwatch Arizona Trip Part 3 - Other Creatures
Following Earthwatch, we kind of meandered our way back home. This meant we decided to stay a couple of extra days here and there to see what kind of birds were around. Instead of taking a route directly back to San Francisco, we kind of took a path that made an arc that hit Northwestern Arizona, the bottom of Nevada, and then finally cut through the middle of California. In the process, I got the chance to photograph species outside of just the Southeastern region of Arizona. A lot of it was just revisiting spots we’d gone to before for birding when we went through this region around two years ago, but this time, we knew where exactly to find the birds.
This small moth of unknown species almost completely blended in with its surroundings. However, it’s constant necessity to flit incessantly from perch to perch easily gave away its presence as it moved closer and closer towards its destination: water.
Although confiding the last time we were there, for some reason, the Yellow-eyed Juncos (Junco phaeonotus) decided to be warry and cautious of our presence. I had to hike off-trail to get a photo of this one, and even still, it wasn’t very confiding. We found this bird at Mount Lemmon slightly to the Northwest of Tucson.
Ominously circling above us, this Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) was scouring the landscape for any bit of carrion. It hung around us for a while before determining that it would require too much effort to consume us. The others were smarter and mostly ignored us.
This Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) at Cataract Lake was a bit perturbed at our presence. It was guarding a nest (presumably still with eggs, as we didn’t see any nestlings), and so we quickly left after snapping a couple shots. Its partner was at the nest earlier in the day, but it flew off to fish before we were able to get any pictures of it.
The last birding location on our trip was Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve. Y’all may remember that I visited this place back in April when we went on a trip to Death Valley and some of the canyons around Las Vegas. Well, we decided to revisit it, and it was just as birdy as it was the first time around. In addition, there were roaming hordes (well, more like small families) of bunnies trying to get their paws on anything green and edible but also attempting to avoid the omniscient gazes of the raptors.
A young Say’s Phoebe (Sayornis saya) perched on a branch. You can tell it’s a young bird due to the yellow gape at the edge of its mouth. However, it seemed to be relatively independent and was voraciously consuming any insect that dared make its presence known to the phoebe.
Singing from almost every water-bordering shrub were the Yellow-headed Blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus). However, only a few of them perched conspicuously enough to be photographed, and only this one stayed and posed for us while we approached and admired it. These majestic Yellow-headed Blackbirds are a sight that can be seen across most of the Western and Central US in the summer. However, they abstain from the coasts, and thus sadly we don’t get them in San Francisco, asides from the few that arrive as vagrants. But you can’t have everything all the time, and whenever I leave the Bay Area, I know that I can look forward to seeing these birds again.
This concludes my three-part series of my 2022 Earthwatch Arizona Trip. Come back later to see more blog posts!
