A Family of Coatis!

On a hike in Bear Canyon a while back, I was lucky enough to see a whole family of coatis! Although I've heard of folks seeing coatis in Tucson, until now, I've only seen coatis in Panama, so this was very exciting. The coatis were on the other side of the canyon, but thanks to my telephoto lens, I still got a few reasonably clear shots.

Also known as coatimundis, coati's are in the raccoon family (Procyonidae), which also includes ringtails. The local species is the white-nosed coati (Nasua narica), whose range extends through Central America into the northwestern tip of Colombia.

Can you spot the little juvenile coati? 😍

There were at least five individuals, but there may have been more. Female-bonded coati bands can reach sizes of up to 30 individuals! Among other benefits, group living is thought to help reduce predation by jaguars and pumas.

Individuals within a band are often--but not always--related.

After deftly clambering up the side of the canyon, the coatis started foraging in the shrubs.

This made them much harder to spot, but occasionally one would emerge. Can you find the coati in this photo?

Here it is!

Although the coatis were the most exciting part of the hike, the rest was lovely as well. There were some signs of last year's fire, but not as much as I might have expected.

We started along Sycamore Reservoir trail...

(Seeing water is always a treat in the desert!)

And we continued down into Bear Canyon, stopping only about a mile short of Seven Falls (from the opposite direction as it's usually approached).

Hope you enjoyed the coatis even a fraction as much as I did!

Take a Breath and Watch the Birds

It's been a long and grueling week of unrewarding labwork and upsetting headlines. One of my coping mechanisms? Sorting through my recent bird photos. Here are just a sampling of the birds that I saw last month (during the same walk as the bobcat).

This might be my favorite one of the lot, because the background looks a bit like an impressionist painting. This is an American coot, and there are lots more photos of them below, since they're one of the most common sightings in the wetlands.

But first, a tour through some of the other species, including this female ladder-backed woodpecker (Dryobates scalaris).

A lovely hawk, I think a sharp-shinned (Accipiter striatus)?

This little Lincoln's sparrow was posing cooperatively in the cattails.

And another cute sparrow, species unknown.

Perhaps the most interesting to watch, however, were the American coots (Fulica americana). 

The species overview on the Cornell Ornithology site begins "the waterborne American Coot is one good reminder that not everything that floats is a duck", which got a laugh out of me.

One, in particular, was bathing quite thoroughly, which made for fun observing and photography.

Dunk!

The also have rather impressive feet...

And here's a final, less-goofy coot photo, with a nice water reflection.

I went back to Sweetwater today and had an even better morning of birding (although no bobcat), so I look forward to sorting through and sharing those photos!

Bobcat!

On a walk last month, I had the good fortune of encountering a bobcat. The intervening weeks have been rather busy, but I finally got around to sorting through and editing my photos over the weekend, so here they are.

Having just emerged from the marsh, presumably after hunting, the bobcat (Lynx rufus) settled down in the middle of the path to clean off.

It's always important to get between the toes...

I like how clearly you can see the patterning on the ears in this one—white surrounded by black, with just a bit of black tuft (less prominent than on other lynx species).

Here's a quick video too.

This bobcat seemed unusually unperturbed by the audience that congregated (at a respectful distance) to watch. Presumably, living in Sweetwater Wetlands, it's become rather habituated to human presence. Nevertheless, they eventually walked off the other side of the trail and settled down behind the shrubs for a more extended and relaxed grooming session. I watched for about half an hour before I really had to get back to work, and I was able to get a few (mostly) clear shots through the branches.

Wild and domestic cats alike have a special way of looking as if they're doing yoga while grooming.

Didn't quite get the clear shot here, but I still like the result...

It's pretty awesome to make eye contact with a wild felid, even a small one.

While the bobcat of course stole the show, there were also many lovely birds, so stay tuned for those photos soon(ish).