During the weekend, one of my neighbors sent me a snippet from our Nature’s Preserve across the street. We are directly north of the preserve, with a street separating us.
I clicked on the link “Living with Mountain Lions” and this is what it said:
Mountain lions are predators capable of seriously injuring or killing humans. The Arizona Game and Fish Department is committed to helping people learn how to behave responsibly and live safely in proximity to mountain lions, and to removing animals that are a potential threat to the public.
The risk of attack by a mountain lion is small, but real; children are most at risk. Mountain lions may return repeatedly if food, water, or shelter are available. If food, water, and shelter are not available, mountain lions generally move on to other areas more quickly. If you live or recreate in mountain lion country, remain aware of your surroundings and minimize risks to yourself, your family, and pets by following the recommendations referenced on this page.
if you encounter a mountain lion
Do not approach the animal. Most mountain lions will try to avoid a confrontation. Give them a way to escape.
Stay calm and speak loudly and firmly.
Do not run from a mountain lion. Running may stimulate a mountain lion’s instinct to chase.
Stand and face the mountain lion. Make eye contact.
Appear larger by raising your arms or opening your jacket if you are wearing one. Throw stones, branches, or whatever you can reach without crouching or turning your back. Wave your arms slowly. The idea is to convince the mountain lion that you are not easy prey and that you may be a danger to it.
Maintain eye contact and slowly back away toward a building, vehicle, or busy area.
Protect small children so they won’t panic and run.
Fight back if attacked. Many potential victims have fought back successfully with rocks, sticks, caps, jackets, garden tools, their bare hands, and even mountain bikes. Since a mountain lion usually tries to bite the head or neck, try to remain standing and face the animal.
Report all mountain lion attacks to 911. All mountain lion encounters and attacks, sightings in urban areas, property damage due to mountain lions or possession of a live mountain lion should also be reported to Arizona Game and Fish Department Dispatch 623 236-7201. Dispatcher is available for your call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
I will confess while I was sitting outside in my backyard, writing my morning pages, I kept looking over my shoulder. I felt a little nervous, knowing that the fence would not keep a mountain lion out.
While I was putting together this post, I got another email. This one from our HOA president, passing on the same info about numerous Mountain Lion sightings. I guess it’s a good thing I’m not able to go for walks right now.
Then, I opened the front door to check for an Amazon package and this guy ran away!
I’m watching birds early in the morning while sitting outside writing my morning pages. Then I pick up my camera while sitting at a table inside. I’ve seen three separate families of quail. They are small families with the largest having four babies, then another with two and the final family has mom, dad and one baby.
House finch on a young saguaro.
A Harris Hawk stopped by and the little birds flew away.
Mrs. arrived for a snack. A House Finch tried to intimidate her, but she stood her ground.
I hope you enjoyed my photos that I took over the weekend. Happy Father’s Day to everyone and have a great week!
Gambel Quail babies that is. Monday afternoon, I had my first sighting of baby quail for 2025. There were four babies with one mother and two dads. I wonder where the other mother is? Maybe she’s at the nest with more eggs or fledglings? Four babies is a small brood. I have read that adult quail sometimes co-parent babies with others.
I found a nest last year in a planter with 20 eggs, which made me believe there was more than one mother. Unfortunately, that nest was abandoned because it was next to our garage. The adult quail flew away whenever we drove in or out of the garage. They built the nest while we were out of town.
Fun Quail Facts:
Mating Habits
Gambel’s quails are monogamous birds, meaning that they form pair bonds with a single mate for the duration of the breeding season.
The breeding season typically lasts from March to June, with mating occurring in the early spring. During this time, males engage in courtship displays to attract females.
These displays include a variety of behaviors, such as puffing up their feathers, bobbing their heads, and emitting a distinctive call.
The males may also engage in “tidbitting,” where the male offers foraged food to the female.
Once a female has chosen a mate, the pair will remain together for the duration of the breeding season.
They will engage in preening behavior to reinforce their bond and may engage in duets, where they call back and forth to each other.
The female will then begin to prepare a nest for the eggs, while the male will defend their territory and provide food for both himself and his mate.
Nesting Habits
Gambel’s quails build their nests on the ground, typically in dense brush or vegetation.
The nest is a shallow depression lined with grasses and other plant material and is often hidden from view to protect it from predators.
Gambel’s Quail Nesting Stats
Eggs
10 – 14
Incubation
21 days
Nestling Phase
Follow Adults after Hatching
Broods
1 most common / sometimes 2
Females typically lay between 10 and 14 eggs, which are incubated for approximately 21 days.
During this time, both the male and female will take turns incubating the eggs and protecting the nest from predators.
After the eggs hatch, the chicks begin following the adults, who will continue to brood the chicks.
My husband and I planned a long weekend getaway to Pinetop in the White Mountains of Arizona. It’s a place we’ve never been to before, but now that I’m afraid to drive to the beach resort in Mexico, we’ve decided to explore our new state.
My optometrist told me to stay at a place with small cabins on a lake, complete with fishing and row boats. That sounded perfect to me. We were also going to do lots of hiking in the woods.
Don’t get me wrong, but Pinetop was not what I expected. The cabins on the lake were cute. The views were pretty. But it sat along a busy highway. The entire town was on the highway and looked like an urban sprawl. Big box stores, U Hauls, Safeway, Wendy’s, McDonalds, you get the picture. They did have a bunch of local restaurants and the two we tried were good. I guess off the beaten path where the hiking trails were, we would have found some nature.
But no, my first morning we were walking around the lake on a trail. There were two guys sitting on the trail in their folding chairs fishing. One guy had two dogs who growled at me. I walked around them on a steep gravel bank and bam! I went down feeling my ankle twisted and crunching beneath me.
I needed help from my husband to get up and walk gingerly back to the cabin. I spent that day and the next with my foot elevated and iced. Finally I said,”Can we go home?” Husband agreed. He was not enjoying sitting in a cabin for a long weekend — or leaving me alone.
Here are some photos I took with my iphone before I fell and sprained my ankle. I didn’t feel up to using my Nikon after the fall.
A mallard begging for handouts.
Goslings! One mom and pop had 12!
View from inside the cabin.
The deck of our cabin.
This was one of the original cabins built in the 1930s.
The interior.
Cozy and cute, but there’s no place like home.
Have you had a vacation or weekend when things did not go your way? If so,what happened?
Photography class is officially over. I turned in my revised final this week along with my report on an out of context photo from the photographer’s original intent. If you missed my first attempt, I posted it HERE.
One of the instructions for creating a story out of pictures was to have an element of surprise. The bully bird attacked the chipmunk, which was a surprise, but the photo didn’t translate — it was just a bunch of feathers. I think the chipmunk hanging by his toes to get a drink from the pool was a bit of a surprise.
Whew! Time to sit in the backyard and enjoy my wildlife without holding a heavy camera. Instead I’ll take a book with me and relax!
What did you think my revised edition of the final with new photos?
Do the photos look in sharper focus that the one I posted Monday?
Happy Friday! What plans do you have for this weekend?
This photo was taken on one of the few snow days we’ve had. It was during our first year in Arizona. I heard the coyote howling and I caught him on the wall behind our backyard. By the way, he was a big boy!
Wednesday morning, I drove first thing to the post office with my load of Frangos, plus to the hardware and grocery stores. I missed my early morning walk with my husband — who went without me. The weather had dropped to the 40s and 50s, so I knew I could walk when I was done with my errands. It wouldn’t be too hot!
If you haven’t read about my Frango project, you can read about it HERE.
I walked around our neighborhood listening to a podcast and all was well. I walked out of our neighborhood onto the main street, which has a nice sidewalk on our side of the street. I enjoy the walk because the nature’s preserve is across the road. The views are gorgeous.
The McDowell Sonoran Preserve across the street from our neighborhood.
I turned around to walk back toward our neighborhood. I was surprised by a big coyote who ran a few feet in front of me across the sidewalk to the other side of the street. I was in awe!
I thought about getting a photo, but then three more coyotes darted out behind him. Then two more. That made six coyotes.
They all stopped and stared at me.
Usually, I may see one or two coyotes and they take off into the preserve frightened. These six large coyotes were a pack and I did not scare them. I waved my parka back and forth in the air, stomped and yelled at them.
They didn’t budge. Then two more came out of the brush and across the sidewalk to join the pack.
I was trembling, trying to call my husband to let him know what was going on.
“Where are you?” he asked.
I told him exactly where I was.
“Stay in the car,” he advised.
“I’m walking and I’m alone!”
“I’ll pick you up,” he said.
Then a gardener’s truck slowed down and drove next to me. “Are you okay?” a man asked me.
“Yes,” I said, “I’m just scared.”
The men had seen the pack of coyotes and I appreciated them putting their truck between me and the pack. I told them my husband was coming to get me and they drove away. I was afraid to look back at the pack. I realized I had no way to defend myself against eight coyotes.
I was shaking like a leaf when my husband pulled the car to the curb. But I was safe.
I may think twice about walking out along the preserve by myself. I’ve walked there without worry for four years. The coyotes came from our neighborhood so that’s another thing to think about. I need to remember to carry my pepper spray. Another friend told me to walk with a golf club.
This is the first time I’ve been frightened by the wildlife in our neighborhood.
What would you do if you had a pack of coyotes staring at you?
Just to add to the fun, my husband showed me this scorpion in the garage!
This owl was hanging out in a tree all day and then before sunset moved to the fence.
It was awe inspiring to spot an owl in the tree outside our bedroom. I spent a great deal of time observing him. He’s a Great Horned Owl and he could spin his head around to look at us.
This was where the owl hung out most of the day. I’m looking out our bedroom sliding glass door.
Then something surprising happened. A battle of the raptors began with Harris Hawks appearing on a tree, then the fence.
The hawks moved from the tree to the fence. Five hawks strategically perched on the fence on both sides of the owl. The owl was surrounded. Talk about intimidation!
The owl gave up and flew away. Harris Hawks for the win.
I looked up owls and hawks and it turns out they are both fierce predators and don’t usually interact with each other. Let’s just say they don’t get along and they like the same prey.
Here are some links if you want to read more details about hawks and owls:
Next time, I’d like to share better, clearer photos! I haven’t used my Nikon since we moved and it’s been tucked away in my closet. I’ll try taking photos with the camera versus my iphone and see which looks better.
So…the owl came back. I took photos with my Nikon and they are dramatically better! However, I’m not able to transfer them from my camera to my laptop or phone. The camera software is not compatible with either. Even after downloading new apps from Nikon, I couldn’t get it to work. I ordered a card reader which according to You Tubers is the easiest method. I’ll share the new photos soon!
This is a video of the last of the Harris Hawks flying off our neighbor’s chimney after they scared away the owl.
Which do you find more fascinating and why? Great Horned Owls or Harris Hawks?
