Oh my, did I have an amazing morning. I decided to focus on the rural country near Marana, Arizona. This region has the Santa Cruz River (with water actually within), the Tucson Water Treatment Plant, and irrigated farmland. I could not  believe all the birds I saw, and even managed to get close to same. Water and with it food is truly the magical elixir in the desert. There will be multiple posts (and I suspect birding trips to this location) given all the wonderful images I captured this morning.

However, for now I MUST start with these two American Kestrels. Anyone who birds knows how difficult it is to get close to kestrels. They spook so very easily. I’m not certain why these two allowed me to get close … rivals for love? mates in love? Whatever, it was fun.

Here is my favorite photograph …

And the American Kestrel images in proper sequence.

What does someone from northern Minnesota do on vacation? Head to the American Southwest to photograph a once in a decade snowstorm in the desert.
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Actually it was just dumb luck, and the snow melted by 1 pm. Our AirBnB hosts told us this was only the third snow event they had  seen in 20 years! My location for the photos was a bit north of Tucson. It was truly crazy weather last night … first a downpour and 40+ mph winds. The rain then turned to snow and dead calm conditions. Upon waking up this morning the scene was truly magical. I quickly headed out at sunrise (behind clouds), but found a “Kodak Location” for later (around 9 am) when I there was a 30 minute window of blue skies. (video links for email subscribers: One | Two)

Molly and I are spending a little over a week in Tucson, and down in the Desert SW birds are already well into the mating season, including these two red-tailed hawks which I saw a bit after sunrise. One issue I had not anticipated is roaring rivers in the desert. Two dry washes which I normally use on my birding hikes were totally impassable due to rivers which had appeared.
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Get this, if we wanted to take a drive in our car and climb a bit in elevation there is a winter storm warning for the next 24 hours. Even down at our elevation of 2,400 feet snow is likely tonight. Tomorrow’s sunrise photography assignment may be photographing the snow covered desert!

Cementing the Love Bond

One Hawk Checked Me Out!

5 Minutes Before Sunset Yesterday Evening at our AirBnB (looking away from the setting sun)