Buckeye and Arlington - with AC

 I decided to head out this morning for a quick shoot - my intention had been to walk around some of the riparian areas to the south of Buckeye. However, when I got into the fresh air I realized that it was way too hot to carry my gear any distance... and true enough, the thermometer in the car registered 107F at 8am. So after some thought I decided I would drive around Buckeye and Arlington and keep cool with some air conditioning. It was quite a fruitful 3 hours - with a very nice surprise in just the first few minutes... we have a resident Burrowing Owl in our neighborhood and he was on sentry duty this morning, appearing very content to pose and give me his meanest look! Now I know he is there I will spend a couple of early mornings holed-up to get some nice images.

Nothing too much was going on in Buckeye, except an Osprey who was watching the irrigation stream quite intently and did not appear at all bothered by my presence. Unfortunately I was facing into the sun to see him and so lost all detail in my shots.

A short drive down the Old US 80 brought me to a field with Cattle Egrets and White-faced Ibis. This is the first time I have photographed a Cattle Egret, although I have seen them before - so I was pleased to get this shot... I did learn that no matter how fast my shutter speed I do need to turn off the engine to get sharp images - a lesson I will remember for next time.

Finally, this is a lifer for me, a Common Nighthawk. I almost missed this shot and only spotted him when I pulled off the road to look for Red-winged Blackbirds on the opposite side of the road. I shot this out of the passenger window - remembering to turn off the engine!