Black Hawk Up

Today we took another hike out to the Sweetwater sewage treatment area. It is a primary sewate treatment area that uses natural ponds and drainage to purify the water. Waterfowl happen to like it a lot and I see a lot of western species, like the Black Hawk shown below. I remember seeing the yellow-headed blackbird like the one to the left in Wisconsin, but haven't seen them in many years until today. We also saw Eurasian and American widgeon, gadwalls, green-winged teal, and several falcons.

The black hawk I mentioned previously is shown below. It was not far from its nest and was fairly easy to photograph. The yellow-headed blackbirds shown at left were very secretive and a general pain in the ass to try to photograph. I am beginning to get camera and binocular envy of my fellow birdwatchers and naturalists. It may be time to get a big 'ol 7" lens and honkin' binocs so I can carry a big load all over the place and never miss a thing.

Tomorrow Homer and I are taking an overnight trip to see real live blogger Darin and former blogger Chris (of the "BoysQueefs" blog) and his partner Michael. I'm guessing margaritas will be in the equation somewhere in there.


This is probably the best turtle photo I've ever taken in my life:

Later this evening we're going out to dinner with Frank and John to my favorite Tucson establishment, Rosa's Mexican Restaurant.