Category: Birds

Head on a Swivel

A great horned owl perches on a saguaro, framed by two out-of-focus arms of a closer saguaro, in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on May 12, 2024. Original: _A672530.ARW

Normally I set up the tripod at the edge of the trail but to frame the owl between the arms of the nearby saguaro I had to be smack dab in the middle. I kept my head on a swivel, not so much for riders coming uphill as they’re usually huffing and puffing pretty good at this point, but for riders coming downhill where gravity is their friend. The owl did the same as it had two young charges nearby, mostly it was looking away from me, perhaps keeping an eye out for the family of hawks that live in the distance. Luckily for me I had the trail to myself and had plenty of time to wait for it to swivel its head back into view.

📷: Sony A6700 | Sony 100-400mm + Sony 1.4X
🗓️: May 12, 2024

Kindred Spirits

A great horned owlet perched in a tree squints as the sun rises in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on May 12, 2024. Original: _A672444.ARW

I know that look, I was probably wearing it as I took the picture. We night owls can both love being out at sunrise and loathe how early it arrives. I wish I’d found this owlet and its sibling a few minutes earlier, though I like the sense the sun is starting to crest the hill, I wish I also had a shot just before where the entire scene would have been softly lit. I thought about going out early the next few days before work but it wasn’t happening.

📷: Sony A6700 | Sony 100-400mm | Sony 1.4X
🗓️: May 12, 2024

Finding Balance

A young Harris’s hawk flares out its wings as it tries to find its balance while perched in a tree on the Latigo Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on June 8, 2024. Original: _A675514.ARW

This young Harris’s hawk and its sibling had learned to fly short distances but it was still early days in their development. It was working on learning to balance as it moved about the tree, flaring out its wings and holding the pose until it was confident it wouldn’t fall.

📷: Sony A6700 | Sony 100-400mm | Sony 1.4X
🗓️: June 8, 2024

The Pupil, A Master

A great horned owl sits in a round opening in a large boulder at McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on April 20, 2024. Original: _A679192.ARW

Ensconced in the cliff face looks to be the skull of a leviathan that once swam in long dead seas. One day I noticed a pupil in the empty eye socket, the pupil a master, waiting for night to fall. I started bringing my telephoto lens on our walks and one day caught the pupil stepping into the light, my favorite wildlife picture in a long while. Bear and I shared a little laugh wondering how many times we walked past not knowing the unseeing eye watched us from on high.

📷: Sony A6700 | Sony 100-400mm | Sony 1.4X
🗓️: April 20, 2024

The Joy of the Familiar

A male Scott’s oriole sings from atop flower buds on a saguaro in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on May 29, 2024. Original: _A674574.ARW

While I enjoy scenic views my favorite part of hiking is seeing animals and plants, so I love visiting trails over and over and over and over and seeing friends both new and familiar. On this occasion a Scott’s oriole singing atop the flower buds of a saguaro, I had seen it in the area on previous hikes. Nothing exotic about the location, I’m standing on the path between the parking lot and the trailhead structure. But what beauty there was to be seen!

📷: Sony A6700 | Sony 100-400mm | Sony 1.4X
🗓️: May 29, 2024

The Courtship Ritual

A greater roadrunner perches on a boulder with a dead zebra-tailed lizard in its beak in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on April 20, 2024. Original: _A678074.ARW

We came across this roadrunner with a dead zebra-tailed lizard in its mouth and hung back so as not to scare it off its meal. Instead of eating it though it repeatedly made long calls, I assume a courtship ritual and Bear and I were both rather flattered. Eventually it crossed over and started again from a more distant perch, at which point I felt we could continue on without disturbing it.

The desert is full of surprises.

📷: Sony A6700 | Sony 100-400mm | Sony 1.4X
🗓️: April 20, 2024

A greater roadrunner calls out with a dead zebra-tailed lizard in its beak in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on April 20, 2024. Original: _A678037.ARW