Melissa Crytzer Fry
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crytzerfry.bsky.social
Melissa Crytzer Fry
@crytzerfry.bsky.social
2K followers 410 following 1.5K posts
Writer, citizen scientist, conservationist, naturalist. Sharing a love of nature & the Sonoran Desert thru photos, camera traps. Married to an awesome man. Board Chair, Lower San Pedro Watershed Alliance. Fighting to save the Galiuros from copper mining.
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crytzerfry.bsky.social
This is utterly fascinating, but southern AZ is ☀️ today, except along the San Pedro -- covered in glorious clouds. Anyone know why? I presume moisture-related (groundwater almost exclusively along this stretch)?

First pic illustrates clouds/fog & a red-tailed #hawk landing upon the #saguaro.
The Galiuro Mountains are barely visible due to fog/cloud cover. A hawk flies upon the top of a saguaro. Radar/satellite images shows the ONLY place in southern Arizona is the San Pedro River from Mexico up toward Winkleman, AZ.
November 25, 2025 at 5:18 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
Arizona's #SonoranDesert belongs to THESE animals - NOT foreign #mining exploration companies. Galiuro Mountains.

#Ringtail (AZ's state mammal); Coue's #deer; #coati; northern #flicker
A ringtail sits, bunched up on a rock, its puffy, striped tail behind it. Black and white photo at that lovely transition period where the monochrome displays crisp detail. Deer moving down a steep slope, ringed white snout obvious. A coati is backlit by the sun as it ambles over a rock, tail erect. This bird is nearly camouflaged on the middle rock, its spotted, light belly prominent.
November 25, 2025 at 2:27 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
Young #coatimundi caught on #cameratrap. Galiuro Mountains, a rare Sky Island in the #SonoranDesert.
Coatimundi have russet-colored fur and long snouts with erect tails (Looking in silhouette, the tail is held like the neck/head of a Brontosaurus). This one walks toward the camera over a pile of rocks, amid some greenery popping up.
November 24, 2025 at 1:49 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
We got 1.45" of rain yesterday and into the early morning. We were greeted with this ethereal cloud cover upon waking today! #SonoranDesert #Saguaro
Wispy low-hanging clouds peek out from layers of mountains in the Galiuros, with two saguaros to the right.
November 23, 2025 at 4:11 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
This time of year is just so incredible for its sunrises.
#SonoranDesert #SkyIslands #GaliuroMountains
Photo of mountain range in the background with the sky a layer of striated pink, yellow and orange topped by wispy, fluffy light-gray. A lone saguaro in the lower left stands sentinel to these gorgeous mountains.
November 23, 2025 at 3:24 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
It's #Caturday. Squeezy is such a ham ... he loves this keyboard cleaning brush.
November 22, 2025 at 3:31 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
Giddyup, Rock Pony! (A little cowboy hat on top would be appropriate!)

This was a tiny earless #lizard outside my office window.
Tiny lizard (3/4 of an inch) straddles a rock, with legs dangling over the back of the rock, like a human riding a horse. Blends right in!
November 21, 2025 at 3:57 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
An interesting way to jolt out of bed at 12:45 am: #desert hail storm hitting the windows at a 45-degree angle. Squeezy was nearly on the ceiling!
Photo of hail taken at 12:45 am in the courtyard. Photo of hail taken from the master porch at 12:45 am. This mound of hail was still around later in the morning - on the water collection tanks. Close up hail mound shows all those little ice balls - different sizes and shapes, together.
November 20, 2025 at 9:27 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
Squee! We rarely see these guys. Look at the tail length of this hooded #skunk. (1.5 minute visit, trimmed).

(I really want to help him spiff that tail to greater grandeur with a good brushing... but we know how that would end)! #cameratrap
November 20, 2025 at 2:08 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
Who's been hanging around the watering hole? #cameratrap fun! Name those desert mammals!
A bobcat slinks beyond the shallow pond. A family of javelina looks at the camera, the one on the left all puffed up like a porcupine. Our recent gray fox visitor is quite distinguishable with a kink at the lower portion of the tail. Here, it walks off the right of the screen. A group of 5 mule deer does takes drinks at the pond, and one drinks from the small water bowl. A small buck was visiting, but is not in this frame.
November 19, 2025 at 2:29 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
"Boop!" goes the #coyote. Volume up for the sniff-bump.
November 18, 2025 at 4:18 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
I'm not kidding. This is not photoshopped! Rock #squirrel filled to the BRIM.

"What? Who, me?"
Picture of a rock squirrel on a bird-feeding platform made of a saguaro skeleton that was struck by lightning at our place. He sits to right of a quail seed-block, cheeks CRAMMED to at least 10xs their size. Comical! Blue skies and train trestle in background.
November 17, 2025 at 2:03 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
This is a great way to end a Sunday! Sunset on the Galiuro Mountains, part of the Madrean Archipelago. #SonoranDesert
Sunset pains the tops of the mountains pink and reflects on the underside of lots of gorgeous, textured clouds.
November 17, 2025 at 12:31 AM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
More great-horned #owl happenings. He flew in with a gopher #snake and ate it in front of the cam.
Owl's head is bent, tugging on a snake with its beak while holding it with one leg/talons. Snake is now facing left of cam, eating its catch, body bent into an arc as it feeds.
November 16, 2025 at 2:59 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
I take entirely too many cute pictures of Squeezy. So, for #Caturday, you get four shots of him!
My brown tabby sits inside of a barrel-shaped cactus bed (something he NEVER used when he was small, but now smooshes himself into as an almost 9-month old). In this shot, Squeezy looks up to the left, showcasing some adorable black-tipped ear tufts. Squeezy is not fitting really well in his cat hammock. Here we get a sultry pose, leg behind the thighs, belly exposed. Squeezy loves the shelves that give him a view of the kitchen. Ear tufts are a'showin' again.
November 15, 2025 at 4:25 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
You might have seen my earlier post this week about the San Pedro River BioBlitz, where community members document as many plants/wildlife as possible for science research. When I went on Sat., about 15-20 white-nosed #coati! Join in the fun: www.nature.org/en-us/get-in...
Coatimundi are such fantastic creatures with their long, thin, upturned snouts that are white tipped. They have what look like arched white eyebrows above the eyes, and two crescent moon white spots under the eyes and on the cheeks. Their long raccoon-like tails are semi-prehensile and are carried straight up in the air. This russet-colored beauty was one of about 20 crawling in the trees and on fences (including babies).
November 14, 2025 at 4:30 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
Friends - I share this not to upset anyone or for shock value, but to illustrate what is happening in my beloved mountains & to wildlife (copied from an X account). It illustrates the type of mining company that is in our backyards, doing THESE things.

Warning: graphic wildlife content.
This is picture of a female hunter - on Faraday Copper's leadership team - posing with a black bear she hunted. The additional pictures, provided by a hunter, show only the carcass of the animal, head/feet/fur removed. In Arizona, it is unlawful to knowingly let an edible portion of game meat go to waste.
November 13, 2025 at 6:06 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
SO happy to have multiple #bobcat visits this month (even if editing to fit BlueSky's tiny video constraints took three additional tries from what I'd posted on Twitter).
November 13, 2025 at 3:31 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
It's not often the great-horned #owls come to visit in daylight. Look at this looker. #cameratrap Big feets, yellow eyes, and takeoff!
Owl is stepping into a shallow water bowl, one long-taloned foot lifted. Owl has both feet planted in the bowl and is looking through narrowed yellow eyes at the camera. In the upper left of the image, the owl is flying away, feet dangling, wings outspread.
November 12, 2025 at 3:04 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
Mammoth, Arizona 9:01 pm
November 12, 2025 at 5:06 AM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
Well, that was fun! Taken with iphone, so not the greatest, but I could still see, with the naked eye, the Aurora lights tonight from the rooftop!
A gorgeous glow of red in the sky with a few saguaro silhouettes on the hill and some planets and stars to the right.
November 12, 2025 at 4:47 AM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
Fun with gray #foxes. Our recent #camertrap footage is fantastic! Volume up for scratchy-scratchy.
November 11, 2025 at 2:23 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
AZ Pima and Pinal county residents ... November is BioBlitz on the San Pedro. Join us to document plants/ wildlife on iNat. Had a blast at Adobe (SRP) mitigation property Sat. See flyer/QR code for more events upper & lower San Pedro!

#Cottonwoods, beaver pond, #beaver track.
Foreground - desert cacti, brush. Mid-ground: giant cottonwoods. Background: rolling desert hills dotted with palo verde and mesquite. This pooling water is the result of a beaver dam that got a bit washed out during recent monsoonal activity. Hard to make out, but this is a beaver track: long toes, long heel. Flyer with QR code indicating all the November BioBlitz events.
November 10, 2025 at 3:39 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
Fascinating great-horned #owl and common #raven interactions on #cameratrap. After fleeing to the tree, it swoops down for more drinks.
An owl lands at the shallow pond in daylight, looking to the right of frame. The owl is ambushed by two Common Ravens. In pic, owl is sandwiched between the two, whose beaks are open and wings are flapping. In the pic, the owl has transformed itself into a bowling ball (wrecking ball) and faces off against one raven on the left. Not pictured, the owl flew up into the tree beyond the pond and waited for the ravens to leave (they did). Here he has swooped back down and is sitting at the pond, enjoying it all to himself.
November 9, 2025 at 4:57 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
It's #Caturday... A two-for-one video: Squeezy pawing at his #bobcat brother.
November 8, 2025 at 2:41 PM