©Bert Gildart: I’ve reported before on some of the more repulsive traits of the turkey vulture, but today, I want to say that at times the species can appear magisterial, wise and aloof.

For over an hour the vultures preened and dried their wings.  Sinister in appearance the wire added to the thought.

For the next few days we’ll be camped along the Salt River, a river that derives part of its water from the Rio Verde and that flows through Tonto National Forest.  Early this morning, while on an early morning “bird walk, Janie and I saw this group, which was part of a smaller flock of about a dozen.  They had flown in from their patrols overhead, choosing an old fence loaded with barbed wire for a spot at which to roost.  At times they stretched out their wings presumably to dry them off.  Other times they preened, and they reminded us of vultures and other birds we had seen in Florida.

Three Wise old men

Quickly I ran back for my camera and tripod, mounting an 840mm lens to my Nikon7000.  Because the magnification is so extreme I used the mirror lock up to reduce all vibration – and this posting represents an edit I made from over 50 images taken during a two hour periods.

Vultures are fascinating and perform the valuable function of cleaning the landscape.  We’ll be camped here at Tonto for the next few days, and I hope to photograph the group some more.

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AIRSTREAM TRAVELS FOUR YEARS AGO:

*Alligators on My Mind

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©Bert Gildart: Three years ago I visited the Sonny Bono Wildlife refuge, which is located about an hour drive from Borrego Springs in Anza Borrego Desert State Park.  At the time, which was March first, I’d gone there specifically to see the burrowing owls, and yesterday, that was again my purpose.

Even near a wildlife refuge Burrowing Owls can not find natural nesting sites.

Essentially, I wanted to see if nesting conditions had changed, and to quickly summarize, little has changed, meaning that burrowing owls — at and around this refuge — survive only because of some help, and because the species is so incredibly tolerant.  Put in other words, nest sites are about as unusual as you can find.

Under natural conditions, burrowing owls select burrows created by ground nesting mammals such as prairie dogs and various ground squirrels.  But farmers have eliminated all species of mammals that create burrows, and as a result, burrowing owls  have to rely on something else.

Three years ago a nesting pair was making use of a discarded Goodyear tractor tire, and I was absolutely astounded to see that an owl was making use of it this year.  Only one owl, however, occupied the “nest” so I’m not sure if young had already fledged.  Perhaps they had.

Farmers have eliminated ground nesting mammals -- and consequently the burrows once used by burrowing owls. To help, mangers have substituted PVC pipes, which owls have accepted.

Though wildlife managers had set out PVC pipe several years ago, at that time I didn’t see any owls, but this year we saw dozens of pairs at these artificial nests, so help seems to be working.  Apparently there are a few owls that are nesting in the old fashion way, i.e. using burrows created by the various ground squirrels.

Burrowing owls are one of the smallest species of owls, standing but nine inches-tall. It has a short tail, very long legs, and weighs but 4 oz.  When the owl sees something approaching its home, it bobs up and down a few times, and then dives into its burrow. Here, the owls breed in late winter, and the females lay around 6-8 eggs. Eggs take one month to hatch, and young owls remain in the nest for about 42 days before leaving.

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THIS TIME FOUR YEARS AGO:

*Organ Pipe, Struggling to Keep Stories Alive

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©Bert Gildart: Throughout North America, many species of wildlife engage in ritualistic contests to determine male order of dominance during the mating season.  In the animal world, few contests are more vigorous nor is the ritual more complex than among mountain sheep.  I have followed sheep throughout much of North America and have always considered it a rare treat when I stumble across action such as I enjoyed with two other photographers a few days ago.

When all else fails, rams resort to violence.

We had left Dayton, Montana and then made the 15 minute trip by boat to Wildhorse Island where we beached in a small cove known as Skidoo Bay.  The island is mountainous and we immediately began to climb, looking as we did for wild horses, the island’s namesake.  Instead we saw a few small deer but then, off in the distance, a herd of “bachelor” rams.

RAMS HUDDLE

At this time of year, males are still in groups, where they begin determining a “pecking” order.  They gather in groups known as “huddles” where they curl their lips at one another, poke one another with their hooves, and nudge one another with their horns. A great deal of information is exchanged in such groups, information that often helps determine male order of dominance without having to resort to “violence.”  But when doubt remains, rams sometimes resort to battles, which can sometimes produce injury.

L to R: Todd Campbell, engulfed by the beauty of Wildhorse Island, focuses  on nearby action; Jack Floegel approaches herd of rams near top of Wildhorse; bachelor herd of rams “huddle” to exchange information.

We continued our climb and found several of our bachelor herds, and as we watched we saw several rams that appeared huge.  We also saw several that appeared on the verge of a violent confrontation and we set up our camera gear, waiting to see what might happen.  We were not disappointed.

From a distance of about 50 yards we watched as two rams stalked off to a distance of about 30 feet, turned to face one another. Rising on hind legs they ran forward dropping at the last minute for increased momentum then collided.  In the stillness of the day the sound of their impact sounded like a high power rifle and we struggled to record the drama, which they repeated.  Though the impact must have produced immense headaches, in this case no eyes were poked out, no ribs were broken, though one of the males did appear to emerge as a solid champion, for the other ram stalked off.

Toward day’s end we reluctantly leave behind one of the largest rams any of us have ever seen but find compensation when a group of ” wild” horses find us.

When the sheep tired we began to wander the island, finding more bachelor herds.  We looked as well for the island’s famous mule deer herds, but saw but one or two lone bucks.  And though we never found our wild horses, they found us near one of the old homestead shacks that still remained on the island.  They were a friendly group of about four and apparently had been fed in the past as they poked at our pockets, hoping perhaps for an apple.

Reluctantly, we departed near sunset, believing we had enjoyed a most successful day.

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THIS TIME TWO YEARS AGO:

*Bighorn Sheep Wear Biographies On Their Horns

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For those who have asked, here’s a recipe Cherie says she copied from Wildbird magazine. Cherie says she has been using the recipe for years. Hope it helps, and we may start using it too.

According to the article, the original recipe came from Martha Sargent, as follows:

NO-MELT, ALL SEASON PEANUT BUTTER SUET RECIPE
This recipe is easily doubled. We usually get about 4 cakes out of a doubled recipe.

1 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 cups “quick cook” oats
2 cups corn meal
1 cup of lard (NO SUBSTITUTIONS)
1 cup white flour
1/3 cup sugar

Melt the lard and peanut butter on medium heat, then stir in the remaining ingredients. Pour the mixture into square freezer containers (a size about the size of your suet cage) about 1 1/2 inches thick. Allow the suet to cool, put lids on the containers and put in them in the freezer. When you are ready to use, just pop them out of the containers.

In the winter, we have also added raisins, cranberries and other nuts as supplements. It takes very little time to mix up and put in containers and it saves a lot of money.