I think that this might be a Cooper’s Hawk that briefly perched in the mesquite tree next to the bird feeders. This hawk, like all hawks, is an opportunistic hunter of small prey including birds that might be feeding in our back yard.
I noticed the bird in the tree when I was in the dining area. I went for my camera and managed to get this shot of the hawk from a distance of about 25 feet. Click on the image to enlarge.
I was in the courtyard late this afternoon and saw one of our little cottontail rabbits browsing in Verna’s rock and cactus garden. I had the Canon SL1 with me and the telephoto lens, so I snapped this quick shot of the bunny as it paused across the driveway: F5.6, ISO 640, 1/400 sec, 300mm and I did some minor post-processing of the image to compensate for the poor lighting conditions. Click on the image to enlarge.
Here is some info about this variety of cottontail rabbit from Wikipedia:
The desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii), also known as Audubon’s cottontail, is a New World cottontail rabbit; a member of the family Leporidae.
The desert cottontail is quite similar in appearance to the European rabbit, though its ears are larger and are more often carried erect. It is also social among its peers, often gathering in small groups to feed. The desert cottontail uses burrows made by rodents rather than making its own. Like all cottontail rabbits, the desert cottontail has a rounded tail with white fur on the underside which is visible as it runs away. It is a light grayish-brown in color, with almost white fur on the belly. Adults are 33 to 43 cm (13 to 17 in) long and weigh up to 1.5 kg (3.3 lb). The ears are 8 to 10 cm (3.1 to 3.9 in) long, and the hind feet are large, about 7.5 cm (3.0 in) in length). There is little sexual dimorphism, but females tend to be larger than the males, but have much smaller home ranges, about 4,000 square metres (1 acre) compared with about 60,000 square metres (15 acres) for a male.
The desert cottontail is not usually active in the middle of the day, but it can be seen in the early morning or late afternoon. It mainly eats grass, but will eat many other plants, herbs, vegetables and even cacti. It rarely needs to drink, getting its water mostly from the plants it eats or from dew. Like most lagomorphs, it is coprophagic, re-ingesting and chewing its own feces: this allows more nutrition to be extracted.
We peeked in the Curve Billed Thrasher nest in the cholla cactus in front of our courtyard a few days ago and were delighted to see several chicks had hatched. I took this photo of one of the parents tending the nest as it was getting ready to depart to forage for more food for the hatchlings.
There has been a nest in this cactus and little thrashers have hatched every year since we have been here. This year, the nest is almost inaccessible to our camera as it is buried deep within the spiked arms of the cholla.
The Mama’s Fur Babies got her these cacti for Mothers Day. There are five golden barrels, a “Curiosity Plant” Cereus Cactus and a “Road Kill Cactus.”
The alliteration in the title refers to the Conestoga seen in the image above. The wagon, along with an Arizona State Historical Marker sit on the southwest corner of the intersection of US 60 and Vulture Mine Road. Click on the image to enlarge.
The marker is dedicated to Vulture Mine which is about 13 miles south of it along Vulture Mine Road. The wagon is used to welcome visitors to town and is often decked out with a banner advertizing this or that event.
Last summer, the wagon was blown over and the cover ripped to shreds by a violent microburst thunderstorm. We are happy that the town and the ‘powers that be’ have restored the wagon to even better than it was before the storm.
After the new flagpole was installed, we had to wait a few days for the silver paint to dry and cure. When the pole was ready, we put up the American Flag with the Arizona Banner under that.
I took this photo of the flags as seen from the courtyard a couple of days ago when the wind was just right. They look great!
Click on the image to enlarge.
