Thursday, February 17, 2022

A whole lot of egrets

Look at all the egrets I saw at Estrella Mountain Regional Park, down by the river.  There must have been at least fifteen altogether in that one area, with others along the way.  I also saw some great blue heron, a noisy kingfisher, coots, and maybe an osprey (he flew away too fast for me to be sure).    

If you look carefully, you'll see both great egrets and snowy egrets.  The great egrets are bigger and longer-necked, with yellow beaks and black legs.  The snowy egrets have black beaks and yellow feet.  






Friday, February 11, 2022

Greater Roadrunner

A greater roadrunner I met on a bike ride along New River in the middle of the Phoenix metro area.  It's a good thing this roadrunner didn't meet the tarantula from my last post.  The tarantula might have become dinner.  



Monday, February 7, 2022

Tarantula in the desert

A little tarantula friend I met recently on a hike in the Phoenix area:


I actually think they're quite cute...as long as they don't startle you.  They're also pretty mostly harmless (to people).