Sometimes, you don't need to leave home, to put your binoculars to awesome use... (1 Viewer)

[edwincjones]

Nice, very very nice
edj

 

[ZDHart]

If there are no rattlesnakes, you aren't really there....

Tom... this photo is just a screen grab from an iPhone video my wife shot, while I was tending to a rattler on the back patio just last week. Poor photo quality, but it's an Arizona rattler, just for you! In our eight years here, I've tended to about 1 rattler per year. These days, tending to them isn't as stressful for me as it was at first. This one was fat and very muscular - amazing how strong they are! They are not difficult to tend to - you just want to see them before you're right on top of them! So, my eyes are always on the look out when I step outside.

 

[ZDHart]

Amazing pictures of some of my favorite wildlife.

The Harris hawks were so clear and defined, probably better than any guide book I can think of.

Bobcats are very allusive, great job with them as well. Wonder if you have ever spotted a cougar at your place?

That Phainopepla is an amazing bird, I watched one run a flock of Cedar waxwings out in west Texas.

And you got some pretty big wabbits there too.

What's the type of quail in your pics? Very handsome.

Hi Rob... thanks for your comments. The Harris Hawks make it easy for me to photograph, as they hunt my land, just off my patio, regularly for dinner - often bagging a rabbit, of which we have quite a few! And, occasionally, I will feed them (or the coyotes - whoever gets there first) the body of a pest.

The bobcats are more elusive, but they do give me an opportunity, every once in a while.

Have not seen a cougar on my land. Yet.

Phainopepla are hard to get photos of, as they don't come to the feeders and rarely even to the water. They are often seen just perched on top of mesquite trees around the house, though. They look a lot like a black cardinal.

We have a LOT of quail on the property - many families of them, which parade back and forth, all their babies in tow, as mom and dad keep a sharp eye out for road runners. I have seen a road runner grab a baby quail for dinner! They are Gambel Quail. It's quite enjoyable to see the moms and dads parading their newly hatched babies around the property - showing them where to eat and where to drink. Really very cool to observe.

BINOCULARS at the ready!

 

[GrampaTom]

Argh! Gives me the heebie jerbies just looking at the pic.

thanks?

 

[ZDHart]

A second lot of beautiful photos (with a repeat or two, but the screech owl is new and I love it, and more lizards). The first lot is worth looking up if anyone missed it.

Do you have a great "viewing station" at home where you can relax with your bins and watch the wildlife?

I'm fortunate that I have a wall of glass all along the "wild side" of my home... with nice recliners, so I can sit for hours, if I wish to, and bird & animal watch with a collection of binoculars by my side, to compare and contrast. View from my wall of glass - the "back yard" I provide...

www.birdforum.net

Compared to being on the edge of wilderness in Colorado, you have it easy. No pine beetles, forest fires, flash floods or mudslides...
(but we won't talk about where you're going to get your own water)

tenet... Colorado is a beautiful state! We've enjoyed some nice visits there. As for bugs, you're right... very few bugs here. No earthquakes. No mudslides. There have been fires and some areas can flood during monsoon. None of that has been in our area, though. Monsoon is really cool. It blows in quickly, wind whips up fast, and the sky just dumps buckets and buckets, for an hour or two, then is gone, like it never happened! And we're back to sunny skies and warm temps again. With the air and land freshly washed.

As for water... we have a very good producing well, with very tasty water. Many of the homes in our area have wells, as we are just outside of Scottsdale city limits, so quite rural - on the edge of Tonto National Forest. Some homes who didn't want to pay for wells rely on hauled water - something we had never even heard of until moving here. Much better to have a good well!

 

[ZDHart]

Is it possible that a deep drilled well will find enough clean drinking water to support a single household in your area ?

gcole... yes, sir. Absolutely. There are many homes with wells in this area. We do consider water to be a valuable and precious essential, but we have an excellent producing well and the water through our RO system is the best tasting water we've ever had. Cool. Clear. Water.

 

[ZDHart]

Nice, very very nice
edj

Thank you Edwin! You might be interested to know that my mother's family is from Tupelo, AR. And my father's family is from Dyersburg, TN. They met up in the big city (Memphis) and, voila! Here I am.

 

[qwerty5]

Tom... this photo is just a screen grab from an iPhone video my wife shot, while I was tending to a rattler on the back patio just last week. Poor photo quality, but it's an Arizona rattler, just for you! In our eight years here, I've tended to about 1 rattler per year. These days, tending to them isn't as stressful for me as it was at first. This one was fat and very muscular - amazing how strong they are! They are not difficult to tend to - you just want to see them before you're right on top of them! So, my eyes are always on the look out when I step outside.

I've heard rattlesnake meat tastes very good...

 

[Maljunulo]

Tom... this photo is just a screen grab from an iPhone video my wife shot, while I was tending to a rattler on the back patio just last week. Poor photo quality, but it's an Arizona rattler, just for you! In our eight years here, I've tended to about 1 rattler per year. These days, tending to them isn't as stressful for me as it was at first. This one was fat and very muscular - amazing how strong they are! They are not difficult to tend to - you just want to see them before you're right on top of them! So, my eyes are always on the look out when I step outside.

Looks to me as if it doesn't have its rubber band wound all the way up, but it's thinking about it.

 

[Steve C]

Nice place and wonderful photos. Looks like some very well planned and thought out additions of plants in the foreground to match the habitat, along with well placed inanimate objects too. Nicely done. Question, do you have a well concealed automatic float on the water supply, or do you need to refill it manually? There does not look to be much water capacity for the use it looks like it gets.

 

[SueO]

Absolutely beautiful. Thanks for posting such a treat.

 

[tenex]

As for water... we have a very good producing well, with very tasty water.

And here I was assuming all five million of you were just sticking straws in the dwindling Colorado River! Do you know whether that's simple groundwater or you're tapping into an aquifer that's also being drained? (Can't help thinking of those cute bleached skulls...)

 

[ZDHart]

I've heard rattlesnake meat tastes very good...

Oh man... I ONLY eat what comes from the marketplace. I'm not man enough (nor desperate enough) to eat what I might kill myself.

 

[ZDHart]

Nice place and wonderful photos. Looks like some very well planned and thought out additions of plants in the foreground to match the habitat, along with well placed inanimate objects too. Nicely done. Question, do you have a well concealed automatic float on the water supply, or do you need to refill it manually? There does not look to be much water capacity for the use it looks like it gets.

Thank you Steve for your kind remarks. You have a keen eye to discern what I've planted and placed - to compliment the vegetation that's been here forever.

The water bowls are shallow terracotta pot saucers. I refresh them daily, along with the feeders. Being retired, it's become a regular, labor of love for me - assisting with the well-being of the wildlife.

 

[ZDHart]

And here I was assuming all five million of you were just sticking straws in the dwindling Colorado River! Do you know whether that's simple groundwater or you're tapping into an aquifer that's also being drained? (Can't help thinking of those cute bleached skulls...)

We have a very good producing well, tapping into quite a large aquifer (I think that's what it's called) about 600 feet below the property.

 

[scissortail666]

Wow!!!!