High on Creosote

Photo by Marty Horowitz 5/26/2016

Your friendly Sabino Canyon Round-tailed Ground Squirrel reminds you: Don't try this at home!

Some like it hot!

Photo © Ned Harris 6/15/2016

Zebra-tailed Lizard Note the two (faint, because female) bars near the front leg or armpit. A for armpit, A for A Zebra-tailed. (Work with me here.)

Photo © Jim Klinger 6/13/2016

Greater Earless Lizard Note the two bars near the back legs - or groin. G for Groin, G for Greater Earless.

Photo © Jim Klinger 6/13/2016

Clark's Spiny Lizard Click the photo for a closer look. Note the bracelets on the front legs.

Photo © Jim Klinger 6/19/2016

 Desert Spiny Lizard - No bracelets. Wants a kiss, though.

Photo © Jim Klinger 6/13/2016

Regal Horned Lizard 

Now for some cicadas!

Ned wanted to photograph some cicadas on a recent walk. We heard them, of course, but they were tough to find. Two posed just long enough for Ned to get these great shots. Are they adults, you ask? Yes, indeed. Note their wings. 

Photos © Ned Harris 6/15/2016

Super Cooper's

Recent sightings of one fledgling from the Cooper's Hawks who hatched this year. Mom and Dad have been sighted in the area, too.

Photo © Mark Hengesbaugh 6/13/2016

Fledgling from the front

Photo © Jim Klinger 6/13/2016

Fledgling, back view

Photo © Ned Harris 6/15/2016

Mom on the lookout

Notes from Ned:

When I am trying to id a perched accipiter (noun. 1. a hawk of the genus Accipiter, having short, rounded wings and a long tail and feeding chiefly on small mammals and birds), the first thing I look for is the shape of the underside of the tail. Cooper's Hawks have a rounded tail in flight, and this is because the outer tail feathers are noticeably shorter than the central ones. When the bird is perched, the tail feathers show a stair-step pattern on the underside due to this variation in feather length.

Photo © Ned Harris 6/15/2016

Same one as above? Mom knows.

Another Giant!

Photo © Ned Harris 6/15/2016

Giant Mesquite Bugs are one of my favorite insects. The nymphs are so colorful, in all of their stages! For more on this topic, check out Margarethe Brummermann's post. This bug's on a Velvet Mesquite (Prosopis velutina) fruit! (And yes, it's a pea family plant : -)

Giant Spotted spotted!

Photos by Ned Harris 6/15/2016

Giant Spotted Whiptail poses (briefly) for Ned. Ned says: Being an older adult, it lacks the orange hind limbs found on the younger individuals.

Peeper

Photo by Mark Hengesbaugh 6/13/2016

If you walk out early, you might wake up an Elf Owl!

Gopher Yoga

Photo (c) Ned Harris 5/20/2016

This cute critter was photographed on Mt. Lemmon, but Botta's Pocket Gophers also live in Sabino Canyon. They aren't seen above ground very often.

Purple Martin Majesty

Photo by Purple Martin Horowitz 6/12/2016

Purple Martin and House Finch share breakfast with a view!

Shiny

There's not much water available in early June, but these Sonoran Desert Toads have their eyes in it!

All Photo by Marty Horowitz 6/12/2016

Rock on!

Canyon Queens

Remember Fred's report on the state of the canyon's queens?

Photo copyright Jim Klinger 6/19/2016

On their early morning ramble, Jean, Mark, and Jim experienced the blooming beauty of the Night-blooming Cereus (Peniocereus greggii) plants. Wonderful! And Dan also reported in.

Photos copyright Dan Granger 6/19/2016

Gorgeous!

The fruit has the loot

Photo by Marty Horowitz 5/18/2016

Cat-claw Acacia (Senegalia greggii) fruits. Yes, it's a Pea!

I'm fond of saying: "The fruit is the thing with the seed(s)." Another way to simplify it, though, is to say: "The fruit has the loot." (This sentence has the added benefit of rhyme. And it would work well on a t-shirt.) What's the loot? The seed(s), of course. Each seed is a baby plant, with lunch, packed in a case.

Flower Power

Photo by Marty Horowitz 5/26/2016

Chainfruit Cholla flower

Photo by Marty Horowitz 5/6/2016

Copper Purslane (Portulaca suffrutescens)

Photo by Marty Horowitz 5/18/2016

Wild Cotton (Gossypium thurberi) flower (white), spent flower (pink), developing fruits, and last season's fruit (dark, split in lower right quadrant). Yes, it's a Mallow!

Photo by Marty Horowitz 5/18/2016

Sacred Datura (Datura wrightii) flower. Fruits of a different species in foreground. (Specifically, Peppergrass Lepidium virginicum var. menziesii. Yes, it's a Mustard!) 

Leaves, leaves, plants have leaves

Photo by Ned Harris 5/5/2016

Portrait of Fremont Cottonwood leaves

Birds of a feather

Time for some words about birds (and photos)! Click on links for info from All About Birds (Cornell Ornithology Lab).

Photo © Marty Horowitz 5/8/2016

Northern Cardinal, male

Photo © Dancing Snake Nature Photography

Update: House Wren (not Canyon Wren)
Thanks, Jean. 

Photo © Marty Horowitz 5/6/2016

Brown-crested Flycatcher

Photo © Ned Harris 5/5/2016

Purple Martin, male

Ned says:

A member of the swallow family, they are the largest swallow in North America. They are secondary cavity nesters at Sabino, using Saguaro cavities that were excavated by Gila woodpeckers after the Gilas have moved on.

Photo © Ned Harris 5/5/2016

See you later!

Damselflies

All Photos by Marty Horowitz 5/26/2016

Amethyst Dancer, male

Amethyst Dancer, female

Spined-tipped Dancers, post-mating behavior. For more on dragon- and damselfly mating, enjoy these videos; part 1 and part 2.

The Three Coopers

Photo by Mark Hengesbaugh 6/7/2016

The 2016 Cooper's Hawk fledglings! Let's call them Carrie, Curly, and Coe! Thanks to Mark for this chick update.

And a reminder to all of us...

Photo by Sue Levine 6/8/2016

In the past few weeks, several people reported seeing a chick on the ground (thanks to Sue for this photo evidence). Even if birds are not in the tree, leave them be. Don't touch or try to rescue any animal who appears to be abandoned in Sabino. If you are concerned about the suffering of animals and want to make a real difference, consider eating fewer chickens (or none at all).

Butterflies for Bryna

In loving memory of my "mother-sister"/mentor/classmate/friend Bryna Ben Asher. Greatly missed.

Marty Horowitz 5/6/2016

Checkered White

Marty Horowitz 5/6/2016

Tiny Checkerspot

Marty Horowitz 5/1/2016

Reakirt's Blue

Marty Horowitz 5/1/2016

Queen

Marty Horowitz 5/26/2016

Desert Checkered-Skipper

Let's Look at Lovely Lizards

Photo by Ned Harris 5/14/2016

Male Greater Earless Lizard, looking happy.

Photo by Ned Harris 5/14/2016

Female Greater Earless Lizard in front. Note that the bars by her back legs (groin) aren't as prominent. That's one way to tell she's a she.

Photo by Ned Harris 5/14/2016

Female Common Side-blotched Lizard. Males have more prominent side blotches.

Photo by Marty Horowitz 5/8/2016

Female Eastern Collared Lizard. Males are that beautiful blue-green color.