The Swallows Of Pasture Creek

Before leaving Tuba City, Betsy and I visited Pasture Creek Reservoir.  It's a very nice little lake, with lots of wildlife.  Here's what it looks like:

Nice habitat!

When we arrived, we saw a group of Cliff Swallows gathering mud for their nests.  Note the light colored forehead and buffy rump that distinguishes Cliff Swallows from others:

The swallows were building their nests on the nearby cliffs.  Check out that unconformity.

Some good dragonfly activity there as well, including Common Green Darner, Blue-eyed Darner, Variegated Meadowhawk, and Wandering Glider.  No Desert Whitetails, though.

Lots and lots of damselflies, too.  As we were leaving we saw a teneral (freshly emerged individual) take flight.  Another damselfly grabbed it and took it to a nearby bush to eat it.  It's a damsel-eat-damsel world out there.

The Adventure of the Tuba City Treat

Betsy and I went to Tuba City yesterday.  We stayed at a nice, new Inn on the Navajo Reservation run by the Hopi Indians.  It was quite a nice play to stay.

Moenkopi Legacy Inn – We had breakfast out by the pool this morning, it was delightful.

A nice little manmade stream and pool in the courtyard area.

Betsy investigating a model Hopi dwelling.  Very nice.

A sample of the Hopi art in the lobby.

Though the Inn was treat enough, the real treat for us was the chance to observe the annular eclipse of the Sun.  I set up my spotting scope to project an image of the Sun on a poster board, and used the backdoor of the Rav 4 to put the poster board in the shade.  The results were quite good.  This was the first complete annular eclipse that we had observed.

The beginning phases of the eclipse.  Notice the two prominent groups of sunspots.

The top group of sunspots is disappearing behind the Moon.

Deep into the initial phase of the eclipse now, with both groups of sunspots covered.

The beginning of the annular phase of the eclipse.

A nice full ring of fire.  About this time we experienced a noticeable chill in the air due to reduction of sunlight.

Annular eclipse of the Sun.

The Moon is moving away from the Sun now, and the top group of sunspots is coming into view again.

Observing an eclipse.

An intrepid eclipse chaser.

You may recall that two weeks ago we had a "super moon," due to the full moon coinciding with perigee, the closest approach to the Earth.  As a result, this new moon is at apogee, the farthest distance from the Earth, which makes it appear smaller.  That's why the eclipse is annular as opposed to total – the Moon is too small at apogee to completely cover the Sun.

Oh, one more experience awaited us after the eclipse was over.  We went to the Hogan Restaurant here in town and had a delicious Navajo Taco.  Definitely a Tuba City Treat!

The Case Of The Speaking Whisperer

I gave a dragonfly talk recently at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum.  It was well received.  Here are a couple of the ads that our good friend Paul Wolterbeek put out to publicize the talk.

The Case of the Shoveler

One of the many beautiful birds that make Leisure World their home, for at least part of every year, is the Northern Shoveler.  The individual below is a male shoveler.  One look at his bill shows how he got its name.