Friday, July 27, 2012

Riding Out The Storm

I really enjoy the hikes during some of our softer monsoon rains.  These pics today aren't spectacular but they are interesting.  The cooler temps allow the birds and animals to come out and play.  Well if play meant eating:)  Some of the things that I love to see on my walks are how the hummingbirds, in their natural state, fly and hover over water to capture bugs.  An update from yesterday.  A beautiful morning in Montosa Canyon with some fantastic wildlife shots.  No luck on finding the hummer but that's okay.  I had a scary run in with drug runners and that was unexpected but I'll write more about that later.  Everything is okay once I was with my birder friends who weren't far off.  These pics today are from Sweetwater after one of our gentle monsoon rains.
A hummingbird hawking
This act is called “gleaning,” “gnatting” and “hawking.” Hawking looks like aerial acrobatics made of erratic twists, stops and whirls as they chase invisible bugs.  The thing I like about Tucson is that you can see hummingbirds doing things naturally without feeders.  These were tricky shots to get but I had so much fun watching them.  This was the closest that I've been able to get to them while they are in this mode.  It's hover...zoom....hover.....zoom 4 miles.....hover....zoom back....zoom up....zoom down:) By the time, I get the manual on focus, it's too late:)
The views are wonderful.  The cloudy weather a relief from the blasting sunlight.  And it's a great reason to get out and breath some of that rain cooled air:)
"Ah-AWWwwww!".  Where oh where are you now Mr. Gambel?  You never know where they are standing watch.   In the trees, on a fence, or in this case, on top of a huge dirt hill looking down at me:)
Or the American Coot.  She didn't mind me getting too close while on her nest.  But the male did:)
And finally!!!  The Night Heron shot was nice because these guys tend to hide.  But since no one was on the trail, I was able to get an okay shot of this beautiful bird.
It was great getting out in Tucson for some hiking.  No canyons today.  No mountain tops yet(those are coming up:).  Just a nice walk nearby our home:)  More tomorrow....

28 comments:

  1. Qué bonita esa ave que tiene una pluma en la frente.. Saludos..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice, enough of the rain..................

    ReplyDelete
  3. I simply love these tricky shots... could never get a humming bird on one of his acrobatics!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cudowny spacer i "polowanie" na ptaki aparatem. Bardzo podoba mi się gambel z ozdobnym piórkiem na głowie. Pozdrawiam.
    A wonderful walk and "hunting" for birds of the camera. I really like the Gambela with decorative feather on her head. Yours.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I could almost feel your relief of being in the soft rain. Very fun to see the hummer doing it's thing out in the wild.

    ReplyDelete
  6. That's what I like. Gentle hikes. I want to go back to Tonto Bridge and do those hikes down into the canyon. It looked so interesting the other day when I was there. But I'll gladly wait for winter for that. Or at least cooler weather.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The shots are beautiful. I really like the scenery and the birds.

    ReplyDelete
  8. golly I just love your posts
    I found that shot of the ordinary sparrow so wonderful
    ....I get hummers that do such dip and dive hover
    I have a hummer sprinkler to...a mister
    they love them....and I have actually had a few sit outside my window on a branch...awesome to see them resting
    I am very concerned about those drug runners..they are no joke be careful......I'll' bet you are a fabulous teacher
    'cause you're always teaching me
    night herons.....primal looking to me how they perch stand

    ReplyDelete
  9. love the quail shot! and the 'hawking' is cute! :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Given yourself some task there in trying to photograph hummers in flight. Glad it rained for you - it did here too - for two months.

    ReplyDelete
  11. 彡✿✿⊱╮
    Que passeio agradável... fotos espetaculares.
    Bom fim de semana!
    Beijinhos do Brasil
    ✿彡¸.•°`♥✿⊱╮

    ReplyDelete
  12. You found some excellent birds while walking in this cooler environment. I always love seeing the bobbles wobble on the quail. Kind of weird to cross paths with drug runners.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Birds rule! I don't know how you could get that shot of the hummingbird in action, they flit around so fast I can barely focus on them with my eyes, let alone a camera. Congratulations, great shot!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I bet you are very happy seeing many birds. And that 3rd foto with the mountain looks like what i see when riding a bus home!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Beautiful shots. I'm glad you didn't get into any trouble with the drug runners. Scary stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Magnificent creatures, and such wonderful photographs.
    Wishing you a fantastic weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  17. How cool to see a coot on the nest and night heron standing by the water. Beautiful shots, the clouds sure are a relief from the bright sunlight. :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Glad you got thru the alarums and excursions OK.

    http://capeleopard.org.za/news-and-media/news/item/420-born-in-the-usa
    Here is Dr Quinton Martins report-back on his lecture tour.

    ReplyDelete
  19. magnifiques oiseaux,merci du partage !

    ReplyDelete
  20. Rain...I am so jealous. We haven't had a drop since the 4th of July. However, I do enjoy following your adventures. I think I'll start calling you Jonny Quest! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Unbelievable to manage to get photos of the hummers hawking. Love the last photo of the night heron. Looks a lovely place to walk but glad you managed to avoid the drug runners - sounds frightening :( Have a great weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Great pictures ---and obviously, a great hike, Chris... Love the views after the rain.. SO CLEAR.... Gorgeous!!!!

    I finally got a few hummingbird pictures today... Ours around here are Ruby-throated...

    Have a nice weekend.
    Betsy

    ReplyDelete
  23. great captures on the 'hawking' shots!!
    and the quail is the cutest...i love those little thingies on their heads...and the sounds they make!

    yay!! rain!! thanks for the hike...and not having to go far from home to get these incredible shots!!

    ReplyDelete
  24. I've been riding out the storm now for 6 years. At the moment it is pouring rain here while our California Desert friends are visiting us. They brought us corn tortillas and a huge bottle of El Jimador 100% puro Agave. It was wonderful. Great way to wait out the storm.

    We Bar-B-Qed and made Margaritas.

    What storm!

    --

    ReplyDelete
  25. Great pictures! And good job on those hummingbirds! So hard to get!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Run in with the drug runners! Scary stuff there, Chris! I love to watch the hummers "hawking" in the evening in our yard. It is fun to watch all types of desert dwellers enjoying the coolness after or during a rain.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by!