Year in Nature Photography – Day 126

Unknown silhouetted bird

most likely a desert cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus audubonii)

Possibly a western red-tail hawk ‘rufous morph’ (Buteo jamaicensis) could also be a golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)

Desert panorama with the Catalina Mountains

Unknown lizard on the wall

Incoming clouds

Unknown lizard poking its head over the wall

Monsoon rains in the distance

Day 6 of Arizona backyard photography.

Today’s pictures are a good example of the fact that without a picture showing full markings or body, it is very difficult to identify a creature with any surety. There is a lot of diversity in the markings of the lizards found in Arizona, so I wasn’t able to give a definitive guess.

I was quite lucky with the hawk (or eagle), although not enough detail for me to identify for sure. In many species there exists much variation in markings, in some you have distinct “color morphs” as seen in the red-spotted purple butterfly, eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly, and several of the lizards found in Arizona. Red-tailed hawks in particular exhibit a fair amount of variation as you can see from the linked article.

Also caught a clear picture of what was likely a desert cottontail rabbit. Like most rabbits, they have few defenses against predators such as hawks, snakes, or coyote so they make up for it in excessive reproduction. They’re able breed at 3 months of age and have at least litters each year which include 2-4 baby rabbits.

Year in Nature Photography – Day 124

Southwestern Yard

Cicada (family Cicadidae, might be of the genus Diceroprocta)

Cicada (family Cicadidae, might be of the genus Diceroprocta)

Southwestern Yard

Day 4 of Arizona backyard photography.

Today we have a couple of yard shots from a van and two shots of cicadas. Cicadas are at least one of the quite noisy insects you often hear during the summer. Sometimes they are called locusts however the over 3,000 species are unrelated to the true locust which is a type of grasshopper. Each species has it’s own distinct “song” that the males produce by a special vibrating membrane (much like a drum) on their abdomen called a tymbal, and in some species it can be heard over a mile away. Some cicadas emerge every years, but some species such as the 17-year cicada appear all of a sudden in large numbers at regular intervals. The young nymphs grow underground feeding on roots and eventually emerge to continue feeding on the sap of trees. When they crawl out of the ground they climb up a tree and have a final molt where they shed their skin and emerge as a winged adult. The molt can often be found still clinging to branches. It should also be noted that in some areas, cicadas are fried and eaten as a delicacy.

Since the two yard pictures are general shots, I’ve not named the plants. However, you can see examples of Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) and various agave family of plants which includes actual agave plants, yucca plants, among others. The agave link talks about agave genus/family and takes you to a project of the Sonoran Desert Museum which is a great place to visit, though I didn’t make it there this time. It’s interesting to see yards that contain these plants and sand, no mowing like we do back east. However, in some areas people missed the colors and green, so they have planted flowers and grass that traditionally grow in eastern and more northern climates. This is rather unfortunate as they require more water and maintenance than the desert natives as well as creating allergy problems that many people escaped to Arizona to avoid. All of this last bit anecdotal but I definitely prefer the native landscape.