The Great Adventure of the Road; Days 11 and 12

Rattlesnake at the Arizona-Sonoma Desert Museum (click to enlarge )

Yesterday was a marvelous day in Tucson.  We spent the morning at the Arizona-Sonoma Desert Museum, then on to Saguaro National Park.  In the afternoon a visit to San Xavier Del Bac mission, then down to Tubac and the Tucucacori Mission.  Lots of good images.  Each of these places is worthy of your time. If you are in Tucson, do not miss the Arizona-Sonoma Desert Museum.  Make sure you have a telephoto lens as well as a moderate wide angle.  Beyond the raptors, they have an aviary of nothing but hummingbirds.  There are mountain lions, bears, javelinas. snakes, coyotes, and many other animals.  Additionally, it is the home of some really diverse and interesting flora.  Well worth a day long visit, if you have the time.

At the Arizona-Sonoma Desert Museum they have a raptor exhibition with hawks, owls and falcons. The ranger explained about each bird, then they came out of nowhere and swooped in repeatedly very close to our heads.

The amazing Nikon D810 with a Nikon 70-200 f/4 G VR lens performed flawlessly in capturing the creatures.  Of all my images, not a single one was out of focus.  The camera hit focus dead on each time.  Here are a few.  All were made with shutter priority @ `1/2000 second, ISO 1000, 200mm.

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 By the way, this owl passed about 2" from my hat! I felt the air disturbed by the wing as it flew by.  Close but very cool!

I carried my entire bag full of gear all morning.  Heavy, heavy, uncomfortable and cumbersome.  But the effort on my part paid off handsomely with some terrific images.  Well worth the effort!

This camera is one helluva tool! Highly recommended.

Thanks for looking.  Enjoy!

Dennis Mook

Many of my images can be found at www.dennismook.com.  Please pay it a visit.  I add new images regularly.  Thank you.


All content on this blog is © 2014 Dennis A. Mook.  All Rights Reserved.  Feel free to point to this blog from your website with full attribution.  Permission may be granted for commercial use.  Please contact Mr. Mook to discuss permission to reproduce the blog posts and/or image.