Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge - II

Whenever I go to BANWR I seem to always be greeted by several Mule Deer. They hang out in the tall grasses before you get to the visitors center. They also seem to be along the first two or three miles of Pronghorn Drive (a dirt road that loops around inside BANWR). After those two or three miles the land opens up more and you are more likely to see pronghorn than deer; almost like they have their own territories. 

Here is one of the Mule Deer photos taken as I entered the refuge once:

Mule Deer in the tall grasses

Then another a mile or so down Pronghorn Drive:

Mule Deer

Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge

A tad over 90 miles southwest from us is Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. I love our National Wildlife Refuges, but that's another Blog. BANWR is 118,000 acres of grasslands flanked by mountains. It is home to 325 bird species, 53 reptile and amphibian species, and 58 mammal species. BANWR is probably best known for its endangered Masked Bobwhite. Also present and endangered are the Sonoran Pronghorn,  the Cactus Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat, the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher, and the Chiricahua Leopard Frog.  There has been evidence -- though no photos of Jaguars on the Refuge as well.

Let's start with the Sonoran Pronghorn. I would guess two out of every three visits I can find the Sonoran Pronghorn. They are usually found in herds of six or more. They are very leery of humans so are difficult to get close to. Their eyes are high on their head and in a word: huge. They can detect movement from 4 miles away. They are the second fastest land mammal in the world. Second only to the Cheetah. However, they can sustain their speed longer than the Cheetah. Unlike deer they are unable to jump. So they go "under" fences instead of over them. In areas with high populations of the more common Pronghorn, such as Wyoming, there are efforts in place to have ranchers remove the barbs on the lowermost wire to reduce the damage to Pronghorns. 

Here are three of my favorite Sonoran Pronghorn photos from BANWR.

While on the Subject of Saguaro National Park

Saguaro National Park has it's typical array of Sonoran Desert Birds. Here are a few:

Black Throated Sparrow (not as common)

Northern Cardinal (common but not abundant)

Verdin (again common but not abundant)

Bendire's Thrasher (common)

Raven (common, but again not abundant)

Juvenile White Crowned Sparrow (seasonal)

Phainopepla (common, not abundant)

House Finch (common and abundant)

White Winged Dove (abundant in season -- April through September)

Swainson's Hawk Chick in Nest

More from Saguaro National Park

The saguaro is a large, tree sized cactus native to the Sonoran Desert. The saguaro blossom is the State Wildflower of Arizona. 

Saguaros have a relatively long life span. It takes 50 to 75 years to develop their first arm. The arms themselves are grown to increase the plant's reproductive capacity.The growth rate of saguaros is strongly dependent on precipatation; saguaros in drier wester Arizona like Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument grow only half as fast as those in and around Tucson. In the Catalina and Rincon Mountains, it may be 50 years for their first arm. In Organ Pipe or Cabeza Prieta NWR along the Mexico border it may be 75 years. In Saguaro National Park East it is not at all unusual to see Saguaros with 20-25 arms. Some specimens may live for more than 150 years and can can grow anywhere from 15 to 50 feet. They grow slowly from seed, and not at all from cuttings. Whenever it rains, saguaros soak up the rainwater. The cactus will visibly expand, holding in the rainwater. It conserves the water and slowly consumes it. 

Saguaros can not self pollenate. Large quantities of pollen are required for complete pollination as there are numerous ovules. A well-pollinated fruit will contain several thousand tiny seeds. The ruby red fruit ripen in June. Each fruit contains around 2000 seeds plus sweet fleshy connective tissue. The fruits are highly edible and prized by local people. The O'odham tribes have a long and rich history of saguaro fruit use. Native birds such as Gila Woodpeckers, Gilded Flickers, Purple Martins, and House Finches live inside holes in saguaros bored by the woodpeckers. Flickers excavate larger holes higher on the stem. The nest cavity is deep, the parents and young entirely hidden from view. The saguaro creates callus tissue on the wound. When the saguaro dies, and soft flesh rots the callus remains behind, a so called "saguaro booty" which was used by natives for storage.

The major pollinators are bats, primarily the Lesser Long Nosed Bat, feeding on the nectar from the night-blooming flowers, which often remain open in the morning.  Doves and bees appear to be the primary daytime pollinators. 

Here is a Saguaro with about 20 arms.

View from Saguaro National Park looking north toward the Catalina Mountains

A few of the dead Saguaros, which provide wonderful skeletons:

On to Saguaro National Park

Saguaro National Park has an East Side and a West Side. The East side is larger and has many more trails. The Saguaros are older and have more "arms" (fire on the West Side some 90 years ago). Since the East Side of Saguaro Park is just five - ten minutes from us, it's the one we go to. We had a very early "continental" breakfast the other day, so went out to the park for a hike after breakfast (round 7:00 am). What a delight! We were first met (on the Shantz Trail) by three large Black Tailed Jackrabbits. They delighted us with their antics for a good 10-12 minutes. They were interested in eating the pods from a less common species of Mesquite Tree (red pods). So, they would stand on hind legs to reach the pods. Every once in a while they would wander around -- or, chase each other around.

Black Tailed Jackrabbit getting Mesquite Pods

Here's another one.

One was sitting by a Saguaro which I thought made a good picture.

As I was snapping photos, another one came running right in front of my camera.

This one I just had to add. It shows the difficulty sometimes in Wildlife photography -- same with sports photography --  of getting the moving target in the frame. What a great --- okay --- ALMOST great photo, though.

Agua Caliente, Arizona - Part VII

And, now for some of the birds photographed at Agua Caliente:

Vermillion Flycatrcher

Western Tanager

Male Gila Woodpecker

Female Gilded Flicker

Great Tailed Grackle

Agua Caliente, Arizona - Part VI

In preparing for today's blog on Agua Caliente, I realized that there are so many ducks at Agua Caliente that I haven't taken a lot of photos of them. I guess after coming from the Northwest ducks become like quail and doves here. So, out of habit, I walk right past them looking for something more unusual.  But, I did pull out a few that I particularly like. The first is my favorite:

That's our grandson, Noah taken about 5 years ago.  He was so thin that putting a belt on him would be like trying to put a belt on a pencil. (You'll have to click on the photo to enlarge ).

Ring Necked Duck

Mallard Close-up

Mallard Chicks