Great Horned Owl in Phoenix, Az.

[John999R]

I didn't take the attached photo, it was one of many an old neighborhood friend growing up took of a visiting owl to his backyard in Phoenix, Az. He moved to the S/W after living in the foggy and windy area of South San Francisco. What a shock it must have been the first summer in Phoenix where according to Accuweather, it looks like they have about four months straight of at least 100-degree weather. Love the S/W in the winter, drove there on business in August 1988 and I thought the air conditioning in my car broke. Turns out, it got up to 122 degrees at the airport and they had to close it down because the fuel tanks were expanding. The air smelled like burnt paint. Anyway, that was the last time I went there in the summertime, always making my turnaround during winter.

My friend put in a pretty lavish backyard and no doubt this has attracted local wildlife. He first posted pics of baby Cottontails born in the yard and then got interested in other critters so he posted more, like Fence Swift lizards (Blue Bellies), Hummingbird Moth, a variety of birds with the owl taking center stage. He says "Mr. Owl" has now gotten used to the human walking around and taking pictures of him and no doubt is waiting to pounce on one of the rabbits.

I've encouraged my friend in his wildlife photography pursuits because it takes his mind off of extreme political views, mellows him out I think.

 

[Bill Anderson]

I lived in Phoenix for a year. One of our cats would capture pocket gophers in our back yard.