When I was a 7th grade science teacher, an activity for my students was to create a beak for a bird to dig, grab and eat the bird’s food. Dependent on the student’s research of what food the bird eats would determine the shape of the bird’s beak. Then their challenge was creating the beak and only allowed to use two of their fingers to move their created beak. Really interesting creations were made and some truly worked in picking up “food”.
Often I think of this science activity as I observe birds working to find food in the natural environment. Every so often I also see other birds try to “steal” another bird’s food. While walking along the north trail at Imperial Beach, CA, I did see one gull try to get another gull’s food. I suspect this happens often, yet here was my opportunity to observe the action.
Here is a western gull with food in its beak. It shook the food and a small bit fell off. The other gull picked up the piece and moved closer to the gull.
They see each other and the one gull tries to get closer. The gull displays its annoyance to get the one to move away. I watched this activity between the birds for a couple of minutes and the gull with the food was having none of this annoyance from the other gull! Do not mess with my food! Looks like it snipped at the gull’s tail feathers.
Bird photography has its challenges! I set myself in a place to capture a photo as a bird flies into the wind and hopefully towards me and within reach of my camera lens. While on Southern California’s Pacific Ocean, I saw a number of brown pelicans and thought this was a good bird to photograph.
All set up to capture the brown pelican flying towards me.
Then before I knew it, the bird must have seen some fish just below the water’s surface and dove into the water! It’s head was well underwater!
I was originally looking at the bird’s breeding plumage and large bill and pouch, but then was holding my breath as it plunged underwater! The bird feeds on small fish and I could only hope it would be successful.
Back to the surface!
Once back on the surface, it looked like the brown pelican was running across the water. Check out the photos and see what you think. I loved seeing and photographing this bird!
Bicycling is fun and so is birding. Combine the two activities and there is a challenge at least while I ride my Trek bicycle. I can cycle along and hear the cactus wren at the cholla cactus, the curve-billed thrasher by the cactus or under a creosote bush, or a common raven cawing overhead. But as soon as I coast, stop pedaling, on my bicycle there is a buzzing sound flushing birds from the area! Very frustrating if I want a closer look at the bird or even a photograph!
Well my reality is I am not going to stop birding while bicycling. Instead I have realized I should just keep pedaling, even if it is slowly, when I want to take a closer look. Or pass by the area where a bird is or stop before where I think I am hearing the bird!
We have a wonderful bike loop here in Tucson, Arizona so many bicyclists are out cycling and maybe not as observant of some things that I may notice. At times I stop to observe, listen, and take in a moment. I’ll continue to bicycle and bird …
By the way, the clicking sound is like that of a ratchet wrench, if you know what that is. On a bicycle, the sub-component of a bike’s rear wheel is the free hub that allows the wheel to keep spinning even when I have stopped pedaling. The drivetrain is instantly disengaged until there is a transfer of power from me to the wheel when I pedal. There is more to this in the world of “pawls” to understand the creation of the clicking sound; I will not get into here. I just want to get outdoors to cycle and bird! Hope you are having a great day!
Nature provides many lessons for us if we simply look at what is going on around us in the living world! I am a visual learner so I enjoy learning new things when I watch nature programs on television. Truth be told, I also watch some nature programs designed for children, yet I suspect I am not the only adult watching them! Recently while watching nature programs, I have been jotting down interesting facts and names of birds.
Hippos are the largest land animals. An African bullfrog can live 15 years. Warthogs can run 30 miles per hour. Ostriches have the largest eyes of birds. A Canada goose can eat 3 pounds of grass a day and their chicks can dive 40 feet on day one! Who knew!?!
After enjoying Nature, Wild Child, and Earth Odyssey …. all television programs I record and watch … I also research some of the birds mentioned during a program. From there I sketch the bird. Why, you may ask? I am not sure if I will be in Central or South America, Africa, or Europe in 2024 when I plan to return to international travel. So I sketch birds I would love to see when I travel internationally again.
We learn new things about nature when we are in nature and also as we read, but I love seeing these nature programs on television. The programs explore nature in areas of the world I may never get to or that I can look forward to visiting someday. In the meantime I am also learning more about some of the birds I have sketched lately.
In the Alps, I may some day see:
Eurasian Jay
Alpine choughs
In Africa, there may be a yellow-wattled lapwing, top drawing, and/or a yellow-billed oxpecker, bottom drawing:
Lapwing at top & oxpecker below.
However you wish to learn about nature is good. Step outdoors and begin your observations, ask questions and always wonder what is under the rock or popping up at the water’s surface. It may be as small as an ant or HUGE! It’ll be alive and worthy of your attention! Enjoy!
Living in Arizona has made me very aware of water … and the lack of it at times. When I was backpacking anywhere on the east coast of the USA, I would carry a bottle of water and water filter. Often as I needed water there were plenty of water sources available. I could filter the creek or river water and hike on. In the southwest USA, one must carry all the water needed in a day’s hike since there are few waterholes.
As our decades of observations have now made us more clearly aware of climatic changes, we know for sure there is less water in our southwest USA reservoirs. The “bathtub ring” remained as the water level continues to drop! And dropping far enough for more people to take the concern more seriously. I hear of towns once with water shipped to them now being completely dry and even the availability of shipped water to them has lessened. Other towns are trying to replenish their aquifers with water conservation practices. There are many things individuals can do also to not waste water!
But this post is about a water technology I had never heard about and am interested in. Imagine a panel similar to a solar panel but with hygroscopic material on it. Hygroscopic means the substance will absorb moisture from the air. The SOURCE hydropanels use solar energy (sunlight) to extract water from air! Remember the rice in salt shakers so salt crystals did not stick together and just be clumps in the shaker? Well the hygroscopic water absorbing material is like the salt and pulls in water to be condensed and collected. Amazing!
Hydropanels would be mounted on your roof … probably at least 2 panels needed. Each panel is 340 pounds and 4 x8 x 3.5 feet … with each panel producing about 12 standard water bottles of water per day. Want to know more information? Go to www.SOURCE.co
I happened to hear about this renewable water technology while listening to NPR. I was intrigued because the SOURCE company is actually installing these panels in at least 50 countries, including Navajo, Native American, properties here in Arizona. The company figures a panel has a 15 year life span and would eliminate 54,000 single use plastic water bottles. Plastic water bottles take 450 years to decompose… hmmm…. check out this latest renewable water technology at www.SOURCE.co …. and if nothing else …. do not waste water! Thanks!
Rarely do we see water in Arizona rivers, but here it was in the Rillito River in Tucson, AZ! We could use more water in that river!
Unfortunately no desert tortoise will be seen, on or near this trail, till maybe February. However, we hiked this trail and enjoyed the quiet, some wildflowers, birds, and amazing geology. This land and culture still exists for the Cahuilla people. The artwork at the start of the trail is a reminder of their basket-making tradition.
Work of Gerald Clarke Jr. … 2014, Enduring Tradition
Along the sandy, loop, approximately 3 mile trail, we saw at least 8 different species of birds and many plants. Few people were hiking the trail. One runner and one mountain biker though were enjoying the trail and day too. The rock formation, especially where the curving rock can be seen on the hillside is fascinating. It makes one wonder what geologic event was happening to the land at that time.
Look at the folds in the rock! Wow.
Stop at the visitor center near the parking lot and start of the trail. There are very informative displays and staff who are knowledgeable about the area. As a result of one conversation, the next day we went across the highway to hike a canyon trail and look for bighorn sheep! Below are other photos from this hike.
Seeing a bobcat at Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson, Arizona is not usual, but it has happened for me a couple of times the last few years. Most recent, my partner and I were birding there and found a cottonwood tree where birds loved to be within its leaves. While we searched for birds, a bobcat was nearby.
My eye caught sight of the bobcat. I told my partner to slowly turn around and see what was behind us. There was “Wyatt”, a bobcat we later learn about from the Bobcats in Tucson research being done in our area. We noticed his long legs, large feet, short tail, and a radio-collar around his neck. He walked on and so did we as we watched his behavior.
I saw a young boy waving a stick around, his parents walking behind him, and approaching us from another direction on the trail. I signaled to them to move slowly and be alert while they watched the bobcat at a respectful distance. They were thrilled, as we were, to see this animal. The bobcat sat and watched an area of tall grasses intently. We watched it all too.
After a couple of minutes, the bobcat moved to another spot. Their sit, stealthly-look, and wait is characteristic of these animals who mostly eat rabbits and all kinds of rodents. They camouflage nicely in these woods and use it to their advantage to catch prey.
Bobcats are beautiful creatures! They are found in about every U.S. state in wild lands and urban areas. Research teams studying bobcats in the Tucson area began in November 2020. They have trapped and radio-collared at least 15 bobcats so they can study the movement of these animals. Male bobcats have large areas which overlap with other males, but females do not have their smaller areas overlap with other females. The Bobcats in Tucson research also indicates bobcats living in urban areas: people’s backyard, under a storage unit, or on a house roof! The findings from their research is absolutely fascinating!
I know in our neighborhood there are bobcats because we have seen them fighting behind our neighbor’s home or walking down the middle of a nearby road. We have a number of washes and riparian areas the bobcats most likely use as ways to cross through our area. A bobcat crossing a road though is a bobcats biggest hazard. One male was tracked crossing roads 2,000 times during 10 months of their tracking … the 75th time crossing a particular road was when it was hit by a vehicle and killed.
Bobcats live on average 7 – 8 years. Kittens are born usually in April, nursed by the female for 3-4 months, and continue to travel with the mother from 5 – 8 months before going on their own. When a female can leave an urban area and make a den on wild land, it will do so. But sometimes people have discovered a female bobcat having its kittens in their backyard. People have been flexible in allowing the bobcats to remain there for the time needed for the developing kittens. Then the bobcats move on.
And so did “Wyatt”, the male bobcat studied by the Bobcats in Tucson research group, and the one we saw at the wetlands on our hike. We watched as he slipped back into another area of the wetlands. Wow, what a sighting … and shared with other people who were as thrilled as we were! Check out the Bobcats in Tucson website for more information.
In my twenties I worked as a naturalist at three county parks in New York State. I would lead nature hikes for visitors on the park trails. All ages of visitors would join me. While NYS ferns were my forte, we could never overlook the colorful wildflowers, slowly creeping slugs and snails, various mushrooms and fungi after a rain, or any flying bird or insect. As a result I was always studying my field guides or asking another naturalist to identify something for me.
We have come a long way….
Fifty years later, we have technology to thank with helping us to identify critters and plants we may have no idea of what they are. An app, iNaturalist, provides me with a way to include my photo of a living plant or animal, location and date. Then it suggests what I am trying to identify. After reading through the choices, I choose what the plant or animal may be. Once I share my observation, other individuals provide input to help identify my finding. They may not always agree with me and that is okay. I see their choice and can agree if I do agree.
Could you identify this wildlife?
With the help of the iNaturalist app and others who agree to my identification of each, here are some for you to see if you already know what they are or would need an app to help:
You know it is a dragonfly…specifically it is a blue dasher.You know it is a cicada….specifically it is a scrub cicada.You know it is a toad…specifically a red-spotted toad.
There are other apps available to help identify animals and plants. Give them a try!
Quite unexpectedly I was in the right location … meaning light … to capture photographs of a great blue heron before it flew off, as it flew by and then landed.
Heron was hot and trying to cool own.
It was a very hot day and the bird was by a water’s edge and then flew! Quickly I snapped a series of photos as the great blue heron flew past me.
Wow, beautiful wings!Bird takes off…Bird passing me…Where is the bird headed?Heron lands in a nearby pond to cool off!
Spectacular to see the bird so close to me and with an opportunity to take many photos. It was a hot day so I know it enjoyed the water and I enjoyed watching the bird. Fun fact: Although the great blue heron stands 4 feet tall and is the largest North American heron species, it only weighs 5 to 6 pounds. Why? Just like most birds, they have light, hollow bones! Some days I wish I did too!
I needed to stretch my legs even if it meant walking a mile in a very hot temperature … 104 degrees! I am not sure where the day went, so I headed to Agua Caliente Park in Tucson Arizona for the walk and wondered if any wildlife were moving around? Ten different bird species were flitting around, deep in the tree leaves … they were smart to be in any shade! The turtles however were hanging around on land, in the water, and on a rock … a real balancing act!
Turtles can tolerate warm conditions, but there are concerns as to whether they can handle climate change especially if temperatures rise too quickly. We need to be sure not to destroy their habitat as they need water, land, light and air with rainfall helping to moderate temperatures, provide water and maintain a wetland. People who have red-eared sliders as a common pet turtle know to keep a constant 85 – 92 degrees Fahrenheit temperature, along with a rock in watering area for it to sit on sand. They can live up to 75 years if cared for correctly.
The semi-aquatic pond sliders I saw on this walk, called red-eared sliders, were in different locations at the park. Enjoy the photos of them:
Turtle comfortable on a logThis turtle enjoying a swimThese two heading somewhere on land. I did not hang around to watch them … too hot!Ready for a swim or not?
