Skywatch Friday: Arizona Skies

Sunny Sky, Rt. 83 Elgin, AZ August 3, 2008

Monsoon Sky: Sycamore Canyon June 26, 2008

Sonoran Sunset Sky: Sycamore Canyon, August 10, 2008

(All of today's photos are by Kathie. Click on photos to enlarge. See shooting data below.)

All of today's photos show the many faces of the Arizona Sky. It is so easy to get Skywatch photos here in AZ, you just point and shoot! The Sunny Skies photo is new on the blog, but the other 2 photos are repeats. I consider them some of my best and I wanted to compare and contrast the different views. The bottom photo is from my most recent post, The Last Kiss of the Setting Sun. Lynne from Hasty Brook asked about my camera settings. Her question inspired this post and the camera settings are included below. I wish I could tell you that I know what I am doing, but basically I still have the camera set in auto mode. I am getting frustrated about the color saturation and white balance on some photos. I know it is time to take out the manual and read! As for the sunset photo, I thought I had not auto enhanced it, but after checking today to add the settings I realized that I had. However, while the auto enhancing did brightened the photo a little, the colors remain unchanged. This is the way it looked.

Thanks to Tom, Imac, Sandy and Klaus for hosting Skywatch Friday

View my other Sonoita Highway Skywatch photo at Kathie's Poet Tree

Shooting Data:

Sunny skies: Lens: 18-70mm F/3.5-4.5 G;Focal Length: 18mm;1/250 sec - F/10; Edits: Auto Enhance with Picture Project.

Monsoon skies: Lens: 18-70mm F/3.5-4.5 G; Focal Length: 18mm; 1/160 sec - F/6.3, Edits: None

Sonoran sunset sky: Lens: VR 70-300mm F/4.5-5.6 G,Focal Length: 86mm;1/160 sec - F/9. Edits: brighten, sharpen, color enhance.

The Last Kiss of the Setting Sun

(Click on photos to enlarge for best view)

With the last light of the setting sun Gus and I set out for a walk Sunday evening. After a lazy day spent inside the house I am not just eager to get outside, my spirit is craving it. We head up the road to the newly developed section of the neighborhood. While the roads have gone in, there are no houses up here, so it is a pleasant place to take a walk through the desert on paved roads. We meet others coming out of this neighborhood on our way in, but soon we are alone. A glance to the east reveals storm clouds building over this extreme north end of the Santa Rita Mountains, but nothing ever comes of it. I am counting birds while Gus walks the dog but, I am surprised at how few birds I am seeing. Normally there is more activity up here.

We take a little loop road that brings us nearer the canyon’s rim. While Gus goes on ahead with the dog, I stay to photograph an agave blossom that is just opening to the desert sky. While the “stem” extends 6 or 8 vertical feet, the blossoms alternate off the sides like a many-armed cheer leader with pompoms. The blossoms seem to blush from the last kiss of the setting sun.


I see a gilded flicker popping in and out of a hole in a saguaro. It disappears inside, then turns around to peer at me with only its beak and eyes peeking out. Ahead of me I see Gus and Blossom disappearing around the corner in this forest of ocotillos. As the desert swallows him up, he appears more ghost than human.

The sinking sunlight casts a warm light on the slopes of the Santa Ritas causing the old Helvetia mine to glow like an ancient marble city on the mountainside. I hear a few cactus wrens and in the distance, the call of a Gambel’s quail. Mourning doves dart overhead at breakneck speed in a hurry to find roosts for the night.

While Gus heads back home, I continue on up the hillside to where the pavement ends and the new road construction continues. A huge piece of machinery stands like a relic at the edge of desert and road. Nearby a bright blue porta-potty sits in stark contrast to the soft greens and browns of the desert. Here I am finally alone with the desert and sky. Here the desert wind blows softly across my face. I stand silently on the side of the road and the desert comes alive around me. First a desert cottontail hops out into the road.

It starts out casually...

... then decides to run,

... but halfway across it stops to sniff something interesting.

After a bit it continues on its way.

(enlarge and look for the bunny hopping back behind the porta-potty)

Behind me there are curved-billed thrashers skulking about in the scrub and cactus. One flies to the porta-potty and sits on top of the roof preening itself. I suppose it is doing its nighttime grooming before bedtime. In the soft dusty sand nearby the big machine three cactus wrens are doing the same thing. They fluff and twist in the sand, giving themselves a dust bath before darkness falls. I watch them amazed as they fluff themselves up, then dive joyously back into the dust again.

All the animals seem intrigued by the human machinery. I’m sure when it is running they flee for their lives, but now they can’t seem to get enough of exploring it. The cactus wrens fly up and climb about on various machine parts. Even the rabbit hops up on the tractor tread and sniffs around before hopping down under the wheel. This would be dangerous if the machine were it motion, but for now this monster stand silent. I wonder if they animals are trying to figure this thing out, or if they are thumbing their noses at the machine in defiance of when it is awake and noisy. Do they think it is alive or dead? Do their minds even comprehend this concept?

The silvery song of a black-throated sparrow breaks into my reverie. I find him perched on a dry ocotillo singing an evening lullaby. The nighthawks dip and dive overhead foraging for their evening meal. Then, as another bird flies towards me I think it is yet another nighthawk, but as I focus my lens on it I realize that what I am seeing is not a nighthawk, but another small hawk. I snap off a few quick pictures before it disappears and when I get home I am able to confirm it is an American Kestrel. As it flies off into the west I am captivated by the beauty of the setting sun here in the Sonoran Desert, which in now my home.

Photographer's Note: All of todays photography is by Kathie with the Nikon D80 70-300mm lens. Some images have been cropped and enlarged. Sunset is auto enhanced which brightened it a little.
Birds seen on this walk:

Location: Sycamore Canyon Neighborhood
Observation date: 8/10/08
Notes: S. Rustling Leaf from Bronze Hill south up the mountainside into the newly developed neighborhood (there are no houses up here yet). I saw most of the birds near the top where the pavement ends.
Number of species: 13

Gambel's Quail 2
American
Kestrel 1
White-winged Dove 1
Mourning Dove 9
nighthawk sp. 4
Gilded Flicker 1
Purple Martin 5
Cactus Wren 5
Curve-billed Thrasher 4
Black-throated Sparrow 6
House Finch 3
Lesser Goldfinch 1
House Sparrow 6

Birding Connecticut: Comstock Bridge

(Today's Photography Courtesy of Kathie with the Nikon D80; 70 to 300mm lens, as always, click on photos to enlarge for best viewing.)

Comstock Covered Bridge is located on Rt. 16 just west of Colchester center. Built in 1791, it spans the Salmon River.

In 1936 it was repaired by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It has been repaired once again recently but whomever did it made a bad job of it. Huge rusted metal beams run along both sides of the bridge to stabilize it. Long metal bolts were then drilled through the wooden beams of the bridge and into the steel girders. Because these girders run the length of the bridge and onto the banks it would be easy for people to climb out on them. The solution? Let's make this once picturesque bridge even uglier by putting wire cages at both ends of the girders! There, that solved that problem. While no one can hurt themselves now, neither will anyone want to photograph this bridge except to show everyone else how the job was botched!

This flock of barn swallows doesn't seem to mind one bit. They are having as much fun watching me as I am having watching them. The swallows are sitting on wires across the street from the bridge. It is in these same trees where I saw the American Redstarts.

The Salmon River flowing beneath Rt. 16. On the other side of this bridge and across from the Comstock Covered Bridge is Salmon River State Park. (Click on the links to see pictures of the bridge prior to the steel girders being added. This is the way I remember it.) As a child I knew it as a fun place to swim as well as a place where my Grandfather went fishing. Now I am exploring these old haunts as new places to bird. For today I will keep to this side of the river.

A song sparrow catches a moth in the grass near the bridge.

Then it hops up on a fence post to sing about its breakfast!

My son, Alex walks along the rivers edge.

We cross the wooden bridge and head around this bend of the river.

A great blue heron flies in and lands among the rocks...

...but I am distracted by the sounds of Cedar Waxwings in the trees overhead. I observe them hunting insects over the water in a flock. I have never witnessed this behavior before. It is new to me. I thought they only ate berries, but these birds are acting like flycatchers flying out from the trees, grabbing an insect and then returning to their perches.

This little chipping sparrow bids us good-bye as we head back home to Gramma's house.

View of the bridge with the steel girders running along side. Notice the chain link fence at the end near the bank.

Birds Seen today:

Location: Comstock Bridge
Observation date: 7/9/08
Notes: With Alex. Sunny, warm, light breeze. Cedar waxwings hunting insects
over river.
Number of species: 14

Common Merganser 1
Great Blue
Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
Barn Swallow 6
Black-capped Chickadee 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
American Robin 6
Cedar Waxwing 8
American Redstart 2
Chipping Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 1
American Goldfinch 2

New Bird for Sycamore Canyon

We are up early and out the door before 6 a.m. this morning. I have Gus drop me at the bottom of the road on his way to work. I need the exercise since I spend so much time at the computer blogging. Now it’s a 2 mile hike back home and all uphill! It is my intention to walk as fast as I can and I even have my stop watch to time my trek, but I also have my binoculars with me—just in case!


While the sun is above the horizon, its searing rays are veiled by a thin layer of clouds left over from last night’s storms. The air is still cool with a soft breeze caressing my face as I head up the mountainside. I breathe deeply of this coolness, for I know it won’t last long, but for now long shadows spill across my path interspersed with gold. I gaze around me at the lushness of this green desert. It seems an oxymoron to say that, but right now during the monsoon the desert is flush with color. Mt. Fagan looks positively verdant in this light as the desert grasses have grown thick on his slopes. All around me the drought deciduous plants have put forth their leaves in the presence of the abundant monsoon rains. Ocotillos branches are thick with leaves, saguaros and barrel cactus positively bulge with their uptake of water, and every tree and bush is lush with leaves. Desert grasses sway in the wind dotted once again with desert wildflowers. I picked a perfect morning for a walk.


As I near my favorite wash with my favorite net leaf hackberry tree I am striding up the road at a swift pace. I pass the tree, but then decide to go back and look closer, mostly because we are considering planting one of these in our yard and I want to look at the tree’s leaves and structure. I turn and walk back down into the wash and walk across the sandy bottom where fence meets tree. Suddenly a large bird lifts silently from the branches and flies further into the pasture up the wash. I grab my bins and try to focus and just in time I see enough of the bird to know I am seeing an owl. My first impression is a short-eared owl but I have never seen one here and I don’t even know if this is part of their range. I know what I saw was light colored with more pointed wings than a Great-horned owl. Then, when I think about it, I realize it had fairly long legs.

I consider crossing the barbed wire fence to enter the pasture and find the bird. I saw which tree it landed in, but, I know there are cattle in this pasture and I don’t know if any of them are bulls, so, I fight my inclination and walk further up the road. I keep glancing back and finally see the owl in the top of the Palo Verde tree I saw it land in. I am higher in elevation now and I fix my binoculars on the bird. Now I see the white heart-shaped facial disc and the dark eyes staring at me as I stare at it. This makes the owl uncomfortable, and though I am quite far away with the fence and the wash between us, it flies off. This is my first time seeing a barn owl here in Sycamore Canyon and I am thrilled. I head home to enter this observation into eBird and add it to my life list for Sycamore Canyon as bird number 65. Do I have any pictures you ask? No! I was out trying to get exercise, so I didn’t bring my camera along. But, now that I know it is there I may have to see if I can find it again, and this time I will go prepared!

Update: This evening I went back to the Hackberry tree to take pictures to go with this blog post. I did not expect to see the barn owl, but I figured I could capture some nice scenery in the low angled light of evening. As I am snapping off photos of the hackberry tree and the path home I turn towards the desert pasture where I saw the barn owl this morning and look what I saw...

What is that big lump on that branch?

A great-horned owl! Who me?

Picking and Processing Prickly Pears

(Click on photos to enlarge for better view.)

On Tuesday, August 5, my friends Sherri, Liz, and Liz's granddaughter, Sarava, went prickly pear picking. We learned from last year that the weapon of choice for picking the fruit is a pair of tongs. These long-handle barbecue tongs work especially well. Just grab and twist.

Sherri smiles as she picks her first fruit. A hat is always wise to wear in the desert.

Liz joins the picking. Notice her gloves and dark sunglasses.

Some cactus bushes are quite large.

Sarava lends a hand with picking.

We filled 2 buckets and 2 plastic grocery bags with fruit. Here we are setting up to process. The large blue pot will be used to collect juice as it cools.

Tools needed: 3 large pots for boiling the fruit. One of ours was a spaghetti pot with a built in strainer. If you don't have one of these you will need a strainer instead.

One small sieve

1- 2 quart pitcher

1 package of cheese cloth

1 potato masher

We are doing this in a two step process, so today we just processed the juice. We will make the jelly next week. If you plan to do the same,you will need gallon jugs to store the juice in your refrigerator or freezer. The juice can be frozen and made into jelly at a much later date.

Bucket of pears. The blue bucket was also full.

Wash pears in water and place in pot. It is not necessary to try to remove the spines as they will be strained out later. Fill with enough water to come up to edges of top fruit. Do not leave extra fruit sitting in wash water as the juice will start to leach out.

Place on stove and boil for 30 minutes.

Halfway through boiling time mash with masher.

Strain pulp and juice through strainer. Let extra juice drip from pulp. It is okay to mash the fruit once again while it is dripping.

Filter juice minus pulp through cheesecloth covered sieve. This removes the spines that were present on the pears along with any remaining seeds. DO NOT squeeze the cheese cloth as this may force spines through into juice. We used the cheese cloth in 3 layers and cut off a section large enough to fit our sieve as it came out of the package.

Pulp after straining.

Steaming juice.

Here you can see the spines and seeds strained out by the cheese cloth. The strained juice is in the pitcher, the unstrained juice is still in the pot.

We would have 2 pots boiling at once and set the timer for 30 minutes once the water started to boil.

I poured hot juice over ice and mixed it with ginger ale, a refreshing treat! Look at this lovely color!

Three and a half gallons of juice ready to be made into Prickly Pear Jelly next week. We started picking prickly pears at 9:45 a.m. We were done picking by 10:30. We were done processing juice and we had the kitchen cleaned up by 2:30. For each batch of jelly we will need 2 1/2 cups of juice which will yield about 5-8ounce jars. You do the math. We could be at this for a long time!

One word of caution: If you use plastic bags to put your prickly pears in while picking,throw them out immediately when you get home. We did not get any spines in our hands while picking or even washing the fruit, but we did get spines in our hands from touching the plastic bags that some of the pears were in. We kept a pair of tweezers nearby as these tiny spines are very painful! Remove and wash all your clothing afterwards as they may have spines in them also.

Note: All of today's photography is by Kathie with the Nikon D80 using the 18-70mm lens and the 70 to 300mm lens.

Skywatch Friday: New England Architecture

Reflecting light and Shadows 7-16-08 photo by Kathie with the Nikon D80

I took this photo on my recent trip to New England to visit family. It was evening and I was sitting in my mother's yard by the fountain. As the Sun was setting the towering maples and hemlocks next to my mother's house cast these deep shadows on the neighboring house in the Historic District. I like the angle of the roof and the reflected sky in the window. While I love Arizona, I do miss this classic New England Architecture.

Shooting Data:

Lens: 18-70mm F/3.5-4.5 G

Focal Length: 48mm

Digital Vari-Program: Landscape

Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern

1/60 sec - F/8

Go to Skywatch Friday to view more excellent Sky photography!

Thanks Klaus, Tom and Sandy for hosting!

View my other Skywatch post at Kathie's Poet Tree.