Category: Birds

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

Tree Topper

A male phainopepla perches above a pile of desert mistletoe berry detritus in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona

Perhaps this winter I should top the Christmas tree with a phainopepla ornament, they certainly make a lovely tree topper. Desert mistletoe berries are a favored food but I’ll pass on replicating the debris field of detritus beneath them, fresh clumps are a giveaway of a preferred perch.

📷: Sony A6700 | Sony 100-400mm | Sony 1.4X
🗓️: February 14, 2024

Mixed Feelings

A great horned owl perches with its eyes closed in the last light of the day in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on December 27, 2023. Original: _A672991.ARW

I have photographed owls here with a variety of focal lengths over the past year, in December I lugged out my biggest telephoto for a close view. As the sun sank behind a mountain, my favorite moment as usual was when the last bit of soft light fell on the sleepy hunter. It was so lovely and peaceful but I had mixed feelings as locals have created two paths that look like they lead directly beneath the boulders. In a Phoenix park there’s a successful nest in a saguaro right next to an official trail, so perhaps these owls will also tolerate the human intrusion, just wish they didn’t have to.

📷: Sony A6700 | Canon 500mm | Canon 1.4X
🗓️: December 27, 2023