Iguanas, an Owl, Grasshoppers and More

Some photos from a few recent outings

I went on a short outing west of the Tucson Mountains. Do you remember the nesting pair of Harris’s Hawks from a recent post? I found one perched on a saguaro. With one leg tucked into its belly, the Harris’s Hawk was very relaxed.

A mile away, a Great Horned Owl was using a nest in a mesquite tree. She was sitting up higher than she was two weeks prior. Perhaps the eggs have already hatched and she has some owlets to share the space with by now.

A nearby park was the home to several Desert Iguanas. I had never seen one in the desert so it was an exciting find for me. With Tucson’s warm winter, the lizards are all out early this year.

Desert Iguanas are medium sized lizards with a lighter skin tone than many other area reptiles. They can be found in sandy desert areas where there are creosote bushes. The Desert Museum has more on this interesting lizard.

On a walk near Tubac along the De Anza Trail, one small bush was covered with Texan Crescent butterflies. Their wingspan is about one and a half inches.

One of the nice birds that we saw was this Brown Creeper. Creepers fly down a tree’s trunk, and then work their way up the trunk in search of insects. Brown Creepers use their long curved beak to probe in crevices and to pick at loose bark in search of prey. You can see the Creeper’s white belly which contrasts with its streaky back.

Creepers use their stiff tails like woodpeckers to brace themselves as they work their way up the tree trunk. This Brown Creeper would fly from cottonwood tree to cottonwood tree, in a repeating circuit, in search of food.

A few days later at a farm west of the Tucson Mountains, I didn’t expect to see very much. It was just after noon on one of those 100° days we had two weeks ago. I wanted to see how this farm looked, anticipating some upcoming migration. The alfalfa fields were swarming with grasshoppers- a good sign. Grasshoppers can offer an easy and plentiful meal for hungry birds. At one point I saw a Crested Caracara fly into a field. It walked around a bit and then flew off with a grasshopper and some alfalfa in its bill. You can see the swarm of grasshoppers it had to fly through.

This Spring is turning into a very nice season.