Western Branded Skipper — Image by kenne
Sunlight
on the forest floor
creating
a new life and
attracting
new life on the go —
buds not yet open.
— kenne
Archive for the ‘Southeast Arizona’ Category
A Butterfly Morning In The Mountains 1 comment
Two-Tailed Swallowtail Butterfly Leave a comment
Two-Tailed Swallowtail Butterfly — Image by kenne
Beauty and size make the two-tailed swallowtail butterfly (Papilio multicaudata) an impressive specimen with a nearly five-inch wingspan and a body that approaches two inches in length. So impressive that is was designated the Arizona state butterfly in 2001.
Near the top of the yellow wings are 4 markings of almost parallel black lines. The posterior portion of the wings holds blue dots surrounded by black markings that curve to form a “w” shape when the wings are open. Below these dots are more rectangular shaped orange bars emblazoned into the dark outline of the wing.
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Sandhill Crane Leave a comment
Sandhill Crane (Whitewater Draw) — Image by kenne
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Sandhill Cranes Landing At Whitewater Draw Leave a comment
Sandhill Cranes Landing At Whitewater Draw — Image by kenne
Gliding into land
Neck and legs sticking way out
What natural grace.
— kenne
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Cadillac Desert Leave a comment
“If surface water can be compared with interest income,
and non-renewable groundwater with capital,
then much of the West was living mainly on interest income.”
“Fenceline” — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Fenceline
lost in its
harsh beauty
we walk the fence line
drawn to the
once riparian land
on the other side
fences cannot hide
the splendor
nor the disgrace
now tattooed
across a fragile land
abused and neglected
by cultures past
and present
a place where
water once stood
now disappearing
to caverns below
playing hide ‘n seek
from pipes sucking
their very subsistence
on to nearby pecan groves
not learning to share
we fight for water
destroying the source
leaving behind death
only to cycle back
after all is gone
a lone jackrabbit
runs ahead of us
darting from
bush to bush
seeking to outlast
the hand of death
pulling at us
urging us to follow
— kenne
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Cream Cup Wildflower Leave a comment
Cream Cup Wildflower (Platystemon californicus) — Image by kenne
This lovely wildflower often grows in the moist, sandy ground at the edges of desert washes.
These flowers are partly wind-pollinated and partly pollinated by solitary bees.
— kenne
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Hiking The Pistol Hill Trail 1 comment
Hiking The Pistol Hill Trail (January 11, 2019) — Panorama by kenne
Images by kenne
“A clear attentive mind
Has No meaning but that
Which sees is truly seen.”
— from Plute Creek by Gary Snyder
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Sandhill Cranes at Whitewater Draw Leave a comment
Sandhill Cranes at Whitewater Draw — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Sandhill Cranes wintering in southeast Arizona and northern Sonora many have migrated from their nesting area in Siberia.
Whitewater Draw is an Arizona Game and Fish Wildlife Area is of state and regional significance as the primary wintering area for Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis) in Arizona and includes both the Lesser (most numerous) and Greater subspecies. Located in the southern Sulphur Springs Valley, cranes are coming from both the Rocky Mountain population and Mid-Continental population. The area also supports wintering Snow Geese (80-200) and a few Ross?s Geese (occasional to 40). Counts of Sandhill Cranes in early January have steadily climbed from 4,000 in 1991 to over 22,000 in 2008 at Whitewater Draw, with another 13,000 present 36 miles north in the Willcox Playa area, and another 600 present in the far north of Sulphur Springs Valley at Bonita, AZ, and 400 present in the Safford Valley near Duncan. The Greater subspecies breeds in the northern states of the continental U.S., and the Lesser subspecies, breeds from Alaska and eastern Siberia. (Source: Audubon.org)
Every year the town of Wilcox hosts Wings Over Wilcox — Birding and Nature Festival (January 17-20, 2019). Birds have been arriving for weeks now — the birds have their own schedule.
— kenne
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Don’t Fence Me In 2 comments
Don’t Fence Me In — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Questionable deals
A cattle trucking corral
Ranchers bow to greed.
— kenne
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Swimming Through Currents Of Air 3 comments
Swimming Through Currents Of Air — Photo-Artistry by kenne
With each move
the currents swell
in multiple directions
moving all at once
taking a new shape
becoming real.
— kenne
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The Village of Elgin, Wine, Beer and Whiskey Leave a comment
The Village of Elgin Wine Tasting Room — Images by kenne
Late morning
Driving scenic
HWY 83
To southern
Arizona
Wine country
Fast adding
Craft beer
And whiskey
In Elgin,
Population 180.
Not our first time
Driving down
From Tucson
To to sample
The award
Winning
Wine,
Beer and
Spirits
While enjoying
The rolling slopes
Of the high desert
At the base of the
Santa Rita and
Empire Mountains.
— kenne
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Today — Bee On Desert Marigold 4 comments
Bee On Desert Marigold — Image by kenne
Today
If ever there were a spring day so perfect,
so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze
that in made you want to throw
open all the windows in the house
and unlatch the door to the canary’s cage,
indeed, rip the little door from the jamb,
a day when the cool brick paths
and the garden sprouting tulips
seemed so etched in sunlight
that you felt like taking
a hammer to the glass paperweight
on the living room end table,
releasing the inhabitants
from their snow-covered cottage
so they could walk out,
holding hands and squinting
into this larger dome of blue and white,
well, today is just that kind of day.
— Billy Collins
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Tubac Hawk Watch Leave a comment
This is the time of year to witness migrating birds passing through the southeastern Arizona area. Among them is the common black hawk.
Even without the “big gun” lens some of my raptor photographer friends have, I have wanted to go to the Tubac Hawk Watch, which I was able to do this past Tuesday with Bill Kaufman.
I expected to be outgunned, by not having anything over 300+ mm lens, I still gave it my best shot.
Bill and I arrived about 8:15 am at the Ron Morriss Park in Tubac. Most of the birds of prey usually start taking flight between 9:00 am and noon, so we were surprised when some started coming out of the tree-line to the east minutes after we had arrived.
“Black Hawk Up”! “Black Hawk Up”! Became the cry as birders pointed cameras and binoculars to the sky.
Knowing that such a flight pattern near the tree-line would be good for me and my lesser lens (28-300 mm), I had already moved to a position near the tree-line. Even so, my images don’t begin to match up to the more powerful lenses.
Here’s one of my images, followed by one Bill Kaufman took.
Image by kenne
Image by Bill Kaufman
Ned Harris, seated in the middle,
is my Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalist mentor
and excellent raptor photographer.
Several of his photos are in Pete Dunne’s book, “Birds of Prey.”
Bill Kaufman is second from the left.
Images by kenne
To force the pace and never to be still
Is not the way of those who study birds
Or women. The best poets wait for words.
The hunt is not an exercise of will
But patient love relaxing on a hill
To note the movement of a timid wing;
Until the one who knows that she is loved
No longer waits but risks surrendering –
In this the poet finds his moral proved
Who never spoke before his spirit moved.
— from “Poet, Lover, Birdwatcher” by Nissim Ezekiel
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The Outpost Leave a comment
“The Outpost” (Doubtful Canyon Cattle Ranch) — Image by kenne
Various Outposts
You traded places
with the mystery — fire-torn, insulated leaves,
the steady eyes of the huckleberry — (Haven’t you
been sad most of your life? Come on,
all those outposts in the middle . . . they say the end
of growth is that you’ll suffer “purely” . . .)
One night, remember? No envy or hope.
What you sought
was here, what was done
could not be undone by you: there was the owl,
the night’s vice president,
the tangled sheets of moon —
— Brenda Hillman
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Don’t Fence Me In 1 comment
Don’t Fence Me In — Image by kenne
the West
invented itself,
then
reinvented itself —
first by cowboys,
then
by landowners,
which changed its
tone and image,
so much so
now only the
makings of myths,
not history.
— kenne
