Frog work has picked back up and after being totally skunked last year in locating leopard frogs, I finally had some success. In an isolated corner at the far end of my study area, low and behold a robust population of frogs! Like has been said before, I'm really good at Where's Waldo.
Hooray frogs! Its nice being able to take data that isn't a zero also.
I've also been working on some falcon monitoring in the northern part of the state. This is a pretty nice job assignment, "hey I want you to go look for these sweet birds that live on these remote jaw dropping cliffs." Ya I'll do that.
First site was up near Page, AZ just down from the Horseshoe bend overlook. This is a pretty well photographed spot for the Colorado River since it makes this dramatic bend, similar to the S bend it makes in Utah.
After spending time here I made the scenic drive through Lees Ferry and over the rim to Fredonia at the far northern border of the state. Just south of Fredonia is a network of canyons that feed into the Grand Canyon that are nearly as scenic as the national park itself.
This is Kanab Canyon
It was at a location along this canyon that I was able to get some good shots of Peregrine Falcons!
There was a pair here courting, so I would sit back and watch them pull their ridiculous fighter pilot moves. Lots of diving, swooping, and backwards loops. Stuff the Blue Angels wish they could do. The fastest bird in the world is a title they easily live up to.
Further downstream Kanab Canyon intersects Hack Canyon and then runs straight in to the Grand Canyon.
This is Hack Canyon coming out of the southeast
(Nice road huh?)
With Kanab coming out of the North...
Then the ridiculous confluence as it drains straight for the Grand Canyon which you can barely see off in the far distance.
I can't even fit it all in the frame...
Well that might not even have been the best part of the trip. So as I'm walking back to the trucks I spot a desert bighorn sheep sticking her head out from behind a hillside. I quickly get my camera out and run around the other side of the hill to try and catch her. As I circled around, she had totally disappeared. I climbed to the top of the adjacent hill and still can't see her anywhere. I figured she either took off in a dead sprint or did a swan dive over the ledge landing sure footed below, both probably equally as likely. So I walked back along the ledge to meet back up with my technician. As I arrived and start to put my camera back in my bag something caught our eye maybe 25 meters away from us.
You have got to be kidding me, a very young desert bighorn. We stood there, both just thinking this is absolutely unbelievable. To make it even more ridiculous the little fella couldn't figure us out as we crouched there watching. So he would wander closer. At one point he was within arms reach of me.
After taking about 150 pictures we decided it's probably not a good idea that this animal be accustomed to coming right up to people and spooked it a little back towards a small drainage. It was then we noticed the second juvenile sheep!
Pretty stinking cute huh?
I took a peak over the edge and noticed a single older female sheep in one of their typical unthinkable ledges to be standing on. Just looking at me as if to say, "excuse me, may I help you?"
We also spotted a second female on a hill behind us peaking over.
So what we think happened is the adults took off, one over the ledge the other back into the hills, while the young stayed behind hunkered under a shrub like a fawn or young goat will do to avoid predation. I must have walked right by the two little ones and didn't know it. Then confused by the noise, they wander out of their cover into a very unusual situation for all of us! Regardless it was a moment I will never forget. These sheep are hard enough to spot, even more rare is to see very young ones like this, and I could have pet one if I wanted to! We sat back on the hillside hoping one of the females would come back over, but they were very wary of us. We decided to move on to avoid causing anymore stress and potentially attract the golden eagles we had seen in the area or what had been leaving the lion scat everywhere. Cute and fearless that's for sure.
Pretty good start to the new year!
