My Trip Report for Arizona: September 2019 Through Winter 2020

September 11, 2019  I'm in Arizona now, so I'm concluding my trip report for Oregon. That report is found at this LINK. Right now I'm camped in the Sunny Flats campground in Cave Creek, in the Chiricahua Mountains. I drove in on Monday in a heavy thunderstorm and a downpour of rain. I was hoping that the White-eared Hummingbirds that have been nesting were still here but apparently I missed them by a couple of days. Maybe I can still find one at a feeder somewhere. I have had pretty good luck with other things, some new photos are at the LINK.

September 13, 2019  I'm still here in Cave Creek. Still no luck with the White-eared Hummingbird. I did get my flowers identified so check the LINK from yesterday for those. This morning I went to Granite Gap in the Peloncillo Mountains, about 20 miles northeast. I had heard this was a good place to find Eastern Collared Lizards but I had no luck with those, finding instead a nice Desert Bighorn ram. This is a very interesting mountain range that I will have to spend more time in, and there is BLM land open to camping. No designated campgrounds though. When I got back to Cave Creek it was pouring rain. I put a few new photos at the LINK.

September 14, 2019  It has been raining all day. I took advantage of the cloud cover to do some photography of hummingbirds at my campsite, there is a picnic shelter over the table where I can stay dry. The hummingbirds are very active in this cool, wet weather. I posted a few new photos at the LINK.

September 15, 2019 It finally quit raining last night and today the sun came out for awhile. Went for a short hike this morning and then caught up on photos taken over the last week or so. Some new ones at the LINK.

September 18, 2019  I have moved to Empire Ranch, also known as Las Cienegas National Conservation Area. I will probably go to Ajo by this weekend. It looks like there may be a good chance of rain out there by then and it will be cooler. This morning I visited the Paton Center for Hummingbirds in Patagonia, probably the most reliable spot to get Violet-crowned Hummingbirds. Some new photos at the LINK.

September 19, 2019  I'm still here at Las Cienegas National Conservation Area. Last night I drove the back roads for awhile to see what I could find. I was hoping for some different species of snake, but no snakes were found. I still had some luck with other things. New photos at the LINK.

September 23, 2019  It has been hot and humid here with the remnants of a hurricane passing through, I was hoping for some rain but so far nothing. Maybe tonight, according to the weather forecast. Birding has been pretty good though and I got one night of astrophotography. Some new images at the LINK.

September 25, 2019  Weather remains warm and humid. Ajo got .67 inch of rain a couple of nights ago. There was even a severe thunderstorm warning which rarely happens here. I have been out at night looking for snakes and whatever else turns up but all I'm finding is Western Diamondbacks (lots of them), a few Nightsnakes, and one Gophersnake. Other than snakes, there are toads, Sonoran and Red-spotted, lots of tarantulas, scorpions, and other things. I posted a few new photos at the LINK.

September 30, 2019  Back to warm and dry here in the Sonoran Desert. The humidity has gone away. I have been birding, doing some astrophotography, looking for herps, haven't had too much success at any of that but still some interesting photos to show. My best find was a pair of Hermit Warblers today, the first Hermit Warblers I have seen in the Ajo area. Some new photos at the LINK. 

October 1, 2019   I had some odd looking birds today at the golf course. Tanagers, one that is particularly strange looking. Migration is really picking up, I am looking forward to getting some good birds this fall. New photos at the LINK.

October 3, 2019  It is getting kind of hot again. In the 90's today and for the next few days. Last night was a good night for some astrophotography, moon set at 9 PM and then it cooled down too. I've been having some good bird photography but nothing too exciting. Some new images at the LINK.

October 8, 2019  It has been pretty hot here but it cools down nicely at night. Birding is slow and I have only found a few snakes. I am hoping that the big storm coming south this week will get some birds moving. Last night I found the first Sidewinder I've seen this fall and a few days ago the first Black-tailed Rattlesnake I've ever seen in the Ajo area was in Alamo Canyon. Some new photos at the LINK and the Sidewinder photos are at this LINK.

October 10, 2019  Finally some cooler weather! A good bird showed up at Lake Ajo, a Heermann's Gull, only the second one I've seen in Arizona. It only stayed for a few hours then left. A large flock of American Avocets took over today. It looks like the birds are finally moving. I put a few new photos at the LINK.

October 13, 2019  Birding has been really good here. Something exciting almost every day. I am beginning to wonder what could show up next, I have some big surprises. New photos at the LINK.

October 14, 2019  No new birds today, but a lifer snake. Snake hunting has been slow so I was happy to find a nice Long-nosed Snake on the road this evening. Also saw another Sidewinder but didn't catch it. A photo is at the LINK.

October 18, 2019 I think the snake hunting is about over for this fall. It is getting cooler at night and now the daytime temps look to be cooling down. That is fine with me! It has been too hot. It is still possible to find some new snakes but it will be pure luck to find much of interest until spring. Now I'm getting into the period with the moon going away at night so it is astro time for awhile. I posted a few new photos at the LINK.

October 27, 2019  It has been a pretty good week for astrophotography. Otherwise not much action on the birding front, except for a Surf Scoter that appeared on Lake Ajo. It is very windy today and much cooler temps are in the forecast, a weather change that should push more birds south. I posted some new images at the LINK.

October 31, 2019  It has turned pretty chilly here for this time of year. Down to 37 F for the last two nights. But it warms up nicely during the day. Lots of ducks moving into Lake Ajo fleeing the cold weather in the north. I have been doing more astrophotography. More images at the LINK.

November 7, 2019  Nothing much new here in the Sonoran Desert. Weather has been very nice, birding slow, back to a bright moon at night. A few more snowbirds have appeared in the campground but it is still mostly empty. I posted a few new images at the LINK.

November 11, 2019  This morning I set up the scope and put the Thousand Oaks solar filter on so I could photograph the transit of Mercury across the sun. This is a rare event, the next transit that will be visible in North America is in 2049. It isn't much to see but I put an image of tiny Mercury on the face of our giant star at the LINK.

November 14, 2019  Yesterday I drove up to Buckeye to stock up on supplies. This morning while hiking near the Darby Well I saw a Long-eared Owl, so maybe there will be more of them this winter. Last night I joined a group of people from the Cabeza Preita Natural History Association for a potluck dinner on Child's Mountain, where we ate and watched the sunset then later the moon rise over the mountains. I put some new images at the LINK.

November 16, 2019  A couple of days ago I saw a Gray Fox near the Darby Well. This is the first time I've seen one in the Sonoran Desert. Gray Fox require water to drink (unlike some desert dwellers who can get sufficient water from their diet) so naturally they are not very common out here. I set up my trail camera last night and placed a scent marker in front of it. I had Javelina, Coyotes, and one female Gray Fox check it out. I put some images at the LINK.

November 21, 2019  It has been cool and wet, not a lot of rain but any rain is welcome here. I think it will end up around 1/2 inch total. More in the forecast. I like this cooler weather and the storm clouds have provided some nice opportunities for landscape photography. I put some new images at the LINK.

November 28, 2019  More stormy weather here, tonight it is starting to rain and we are forecast to get some heavy rain. It is very windy now. I had one good night for some astrophotography and will post some photos. Otherwise, not much new here. Images at the LINK.

December 6, 2019  Ajo area got about 1.5 inches of rain from the last storm, probably even more south of here around the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Two nights in a row there was ice on my truck from the frozen dew. Now it has warmed up again. Birding has been slow and astrophotography non-existent. I get a lot of reading done! I posted a few new photos at the LINK.

December 18, 2019  It has been awhile since I've posted anything here. Seems like I'm either too busy, too tired, or nothing too exciting to post. But, after 12 days I have accumulated some photos, so here they are at the LINK.

December 19, 2019  Had an interesting day with owls. In general, except for Great Horned Owls and Western Screech-Owls, owls in winter are scarce. I found a Barn Owl and a Long-eared Owl within about 1/2 hour of each other. A few photos at the LINK.

December 20, 2019  Last night I finally got around to trying the Celestron C8 for imaging. All I've used it for up till now is planets. I have a focal reducer that makes it an effective 1100mm focal length at f6.3. I didn't think I'd be able to get many keepers at that focal length without getting into autoguiding, but I was surprised to get around 50% good images. It makes up for that with the images I can get of things that are too small for my 500mm lens, like M1, the Crab Nebula. I am really pleased with the results. I put two new images at the LINK.

December 24, 2019  Merry Christmas to everyone who is reading this. I'm sitting in the Scamp listening to the rain and watching the lightning, thunderstorm is passing by. It has been raining off and on all day and there have been some nice rainbows. See LINK for some photos.

January 7, 2020 Here it is a week into the new year. Doesn't seem like much has changed. The weather here has been pretty nice but still chilly at night. I am really looking forward to another period of the waning moon and some more astrophotography. Otherwise, it has been hiking, birding, reading. Some new images at the LINK.

January 14, 2020  Last night was the first night I've been able to do any astrophotography since Dec. 20. I used the C8 again but the results weren't that good. I will post a couple of photos anyway. Otherwise, nothing much new. The weather if starting to warm up and that is a welcome change. New images at the LINK.

January 19, 2020  I have had a few nights of astrophotography, but I'm still trying to work around clouds drifting through-Ajo area got about 1/3 inch of rain. Results are mixed, but at least a few new images that I really like. Photos at the LINK.

January 24, 2020 I've had a few good nights of astrophotography, the only problem is the dew that forms later at night. Before the last rain, dew was non-existent, but it should be gone in a another day or so as the area dries out. There is still time for more astro before the moon gets too bright. I put some new images at the LINK.

January 26, 2020  More astrophotography last night. Tonight I'm going to catch up on sleep! Looks like I will get a few more days of good astro weather and then moon will be getting too bright, unless I want to stay up late or get up early. Some new images at the LINK.

January 28, 2020  More astro last night and I'm currently doing some again tonight. The moon is starting to get too bright now so unless I stay up late or get up early, the astro photos will slow down. I could use more sleep too. Some new images at the LINK.

January 29, 2020  Last night I focused on one object, M81 or Bode's Galaxy. Conditions were good once the moon went down and I shot lots of subs with the C8. The final image came out amazingly good, I think!
I put a photo at the LINK.

February 7, 2020   It has been cold but now warming up again. Not much new here, went on a hike with the Cabeza Prieta Natural History Association yesterday. Birding is slow and no astrophotography for now. I put a few new images at the LINK.

February 10, 2020  Rain today and some thunderstorms. Didn't get a lot of rain but enough to get the ground wet. It should keep the spring flower bloom going. Today I went out to see what I could find, not much for variety yet but some nice flowers are out. Spring has sprung here in the Sonoran Desert. I have seen a few snakes too. Some new photos at the LINK.

February 13, 2020  Not much new here. Had an opportunity for some astrophotography last night but didn't use the C8 since it seemed like dew was going to be a problem. The 500 f4 has a good lens hood and isn't bothered by dew as much. I put a couple of new images at the LINK.

February 20, 2020 Warmer weather is here. Near 80 F. today and still warm here now, at 8 PM. More rain is in the forecast for Saturday. I have been doing a lot of astrophotography. Took a trip down to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument too, where the desert flowers are really coming out now. More photos at the LINK.

February 26, 2020 Still here in Ajo, weather is getting nicer every day. The area got another .3 to .5 inches of rain a few days ago. I've been doing more astrophotography when conditions allow. Not much for new birds yet but some indication of migration is showing up now. I put some new images at the LINK.

March 1, 2020  Today I finally saw some Sonoran Pronghorns. They are an endangered subspecies of the the pronghorn and found only in the Sonoran Desert. As expected, two of them were wearing collars and tags but one was not. Lots of new flowers are out now too. I put some new images at the LINK.

March 5, 2020  The weather is warming up nicely. More rain in the forecast next week. The bird migration is still slow but flowers are really showing up. I hope the herps aren't far behind but so far all I've seen are the same lizards that are out all winter, except for a Tiger Whiptail that was out yesterday. Some new images at the LINK.

March 16, 2020  Spring is slowly proceeding here. Seems like it rains once a week, which is pretty unusual in my experience here in the Sonoran Desert. Last week we got 2 inches or more. More rain on the way tomorrow. All the cloudy weather has hampered my astrophotography but I am getting some done. Neotropical migrants are starting to show up, the first Lucy's Warblers of the spring were seen this morning. I put some new images at the LINK.

March 20, 2020  Rain, more rain. Now it is clouds. No good weather for astrophotography even though the new moon is approaching again. Bird migration is picking up though, Lucy's Warbler's have returned. I posted some new images at the LINK.

March 25, 2020  I hope everyone reading this is taking Coronavirus seriously. Be careful! It is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. I am going to remain where I am, I am about as isolated as one can get and the only public place I need to go is the grocery store. I have plenty to do, birding is getting better and spring is well underway here. No hot weather in sight yet. Unfortunately, astrophotography hasn't been too good due to clouds but I did have one good night. Some new images at the LINK.

March 28, 2020  Astrophotography has taken another notch up for me. I bought an autoguider. Now I can use it to control the mount so I no longer get poor tracking, which at the focal length I'm using now, is common. I have been throwing out 50-60% of my subs when using the C8. Last night I set up the autoguider and I only rejected 2 out of 80 images I took of M96. I am impressed! It works with a very sensitive camera on a guide scope that feeds data to the mount to make corrections. A couple of new images at the LINK.

March 29, 2020  Today I went down to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument to check on some plants, especially the Dudleyas, I wanted to see if they were in flower. They were not, but are getting close. I posted a few new images at the LINK.

April 1, 2020  Not too much new here. Weather is nice, warming up, more herps coming out. I saw my first Desert Iguana of the spring yesterday. I hope everyone reading this is doing well. More images at the LINK.

April 3, 2020  Last night I got up at 2:30 AM to do some astro, the moon set about 3 AM, so it was dark enough for a couple of hours. I chose the Eagle Nebula (M16) and the Pillars of Creation. A perfect target for the C8. That will be it for astro until a few days past the upcoming full moon. A couple of new images at the LINK.

April 5, 2020  It has been a couple of windy days and not very warm. I am still finding some interesting stuff though. Now it looks like more rain on Wednesday, then it should clear out and warm up.  A few new images are at the LINK.

April 11, 2020  I'm still here in Ajo. It rained today, about 1/4 inch. It is still cool and tonight downright chilly, I have my heater running. My laptop died and I had to send it in for repair so I'm working on my 10 year old laptop running Windows 7. Tonight I had some good luck with Gray Fox, I have tried several times to photograph one but no luck until now. I put a few new images at the LINK.

April 15, 2020  I got a new laptop today and have been working on getting everything reinstalled and reconfigured. I have Lightroom running again and have been able to work on my recent photos. Right now, I've got the astro outfit working so should have some more astro images tomorrow. I put some new images at the LINK.

April 17, 2020 It is slowly getting warmer and the herps are getting more active. I got a lifer snake last night, a Western Lyresnake. I had one good night of astro too. So far there are no indications that the coronavirus is here in Ajo, at least I haven't heard of any reports yet. I put a few new images at the LINK.

April 18, 2020 Another very pleasant day, topped out around 75 F. I really like the weather for now, but next week the heat will be building up, approaching 100 F. from the look of the forecast. I will need to move to the shade. I've been working on photos from the last week, getting caught up from the laptop disaster. I really like this new laptop, it is a Lenovo Thinkpad. Seems to work flawlessly and has a really nice monitor. I just hope it remains reliable. Some new images at the LINK.

April 20, 2020  Tonight I went out to Valentine Well to try some bat photography. For once, I actually got a decent shot. With the rain over the last two years and the warming weather, the desert at night is pretty lively compared to what I'm used to, I'm seeing lots of scorpions, giant centipedes, tarantulas, lots of rabbits, and on the way back a Gray Fox ran across the road carrying some prey, I think a cottontail. Some new images are at the LINK.

April 22, 2020 More bat photography last night. It is frustrating to get so many blurry photos, but at least I can ID most of the bats that are coming. It was exciting to find a Townsend's Big-eared Bat! I posted a couple of images at the LINK.

April 28, 2020 The heat in Ajo finally got to be too much. I'm camped on Proctor Road at the base of the Santa Rita Mountains now. Quite a bit cooler here. This morning I got an early start and went down to Tubac to try for the Rose-throated Becards that were reported to be building nests. Jim and Cynthia Krakowski showed me where the nests were and stayed there for several hours. The Rose-throated Becards stayed high in the trees, mostly in shaded areas, so it was difficult photography. I took the 500 f4 with 1.4 teleconverter (700mm focal length) on the tripod and I'm glad I did, I needed all the focal length I could get. Some new images at the LINK.

April 30, 2020  Today I drove over to the Wilcox area in the Chiricahua Mountains on the west site at a place called West Turkey Creek. There have been a few Crescent-chested Warblers reported there and since it would be a life bird for me I went to check it out. I did find one or two, but very difficult to photograph due to the difficulty of just finding them, then getting close enough, and as usual in forest situations, the light is usually pretty bad. I managed a few photos though. Some new images at the LINK.

May 4, 2020 I'm still here on Proctor Road just outside of Madera Canyon. Today I made a trip to Sycamore Canyon, off the Ruby Road west of Nogales. It is a remote area right on the US-Mexico border, the road is OK but rough, so it takes a long time to drive in but well worth it. Lots of water in the canyon and very diverse. I would like to spend more time there! I put some new images at the LINK.

May 5, 2020 This morning I had a pleasant surprise while out walking near the camper. I found a Regal Horned Lizard, another lifer herp for me. Getting hot today and tomorrow is even hotter, I think I will have to start driving tomorrow. Some new images at the LINK.

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