October 8, 2018
Astrophotography hasn't been too good. I tried some new and faint objects.
This one is the Cat's Eye Nebula, a very small planetary nebula
with an extremely faint gas cloud. This isn't very good, I really need to
do alot more exposure to get the gas cloud yet the nebula itself is
very bright and easy to overexpose. It is so small and faint
I don't think it is worth spending any more time on with the equipment I'm using now.
The Needle's Eye Galaxy, so named because of the apparent black space
in the galaxy that looks like a needles eye. Very low on the horizon and small and faint.
I went to Alamo Canyon a couple of days ago. Lots of water in the wash now, last
time I was there it was dry. On the trail into the wash, I encountered
this Western Diamondback, it was uncomfortably close when it
started hissing and rattling. I took a step back before shooting photos.
This morning I found some very small toads in an arroyo. This is one of
them, a Red-spotted Toad. Probably 1/2 inch long.
This one had me puzzled, I have never seen a toad like this. After eliminating all the
species that shouldn't be here and the fact that this toad has
no visible parotid glands, it can only be a Couch's Spadefoot.
Very small, less than 1/2 inch. I tried to catch it for better shots but it
escaped into thorny brush.
Two Red-necked Phalaropes showed up on Lake Ajo this morning.
First time I've seen this species here but apparently they are regular but
early migrants and are usually gone by the time I get here.
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