Melissa Crytzer Fry

@crytzerfry.bsky.social

3060 Followers 449 Following

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.

My kitty is on his indoor RV window perch, on his back, belly to the world, just lounging in the pines.
A roadrunner crouches on the lip of a watering bowl, in between some desert tobacco plants under our palo verde tree.
An American kestrel perches on the side of a water bowl, toes tipping forward, getting read to take a drink.
My rescue kitty is doing a stare-down with my husband. Every night for at least an hour, Squeezy sasy, "I know it's treat time! Gimme my Squeezables!" Yes, apropos ... the treats really are called Squeezables, and his name is Squeezy.
A thin mama coyote passes by the camera, traversing through desert rocks.
Arizona's state mammal, the ringtail, is also known as a miner's cat. In this pic, the LONG tail (cute and black-white stripes), flows over its back. Small head, large, ears tiny paws viewable as it sits on a rock.
A young female bobcat walks toward the camera, looking straight into it with golden eyes and adorable ear tufts, spotted legs and back.
This coati is mid-air, jumping through thick, emerald-green foliage covering the mountainous slope.
Black-throated sparrows have white stripes coming from behind their eyes and black cheek patches -- and a little black bibs on their chests. This baby sits on an old tomato cage on my porch that I placed for hummingbirds to dry off during monsoon.
Called coachwhip snakes because they look like a stagecoach whip, these lovelies (that come in black and HubbaBubba pink -- this one black) often take sips of water at the pond. This one slipped back into the desert afterward, also caught on cam.
Semi-profile shot of deer with normal right antler, and left looks like a mushy blob of tissue.
A serpent-looking head pops out of the lid that covers the water mechanism for our animal watering system. Bulging eyes, yellow in color peer back.
Three lighter-colored female purple martins gather on the power line, while three males vie for their attention. One male (right) is swooping onto the line.
My kitty with his striped/spotted legs and markings that look like black necklaces, drapes a leg over the back of a dining room chair.
Owl at pond stares tot he right, eye aglow.
An American kestrel (left) takes off from the shallow pond, its tail spread wide to illustrate tawny/reddish hues and a black edge and white-tips. A wasp is out ahead, as if it is a race.
A jackrabbit faces the camera, ears beyond perky -- pink insides glowing.
Coyote stands to left of image under a palo verde tree, profile shot.
Squeezy sits in his protective cube amongst the pines near Luna Lake.
Squeezy in his outdoor cube, attempts to play with a pine tree twig.
Flyer shows two purple martins, male (left) and female (right) sitting on top of a saguaro with the setting sun behind the mountains. Event to occur June 24 - a Purple Martin Perch Party ... watching them congregate at the river.
A mule deer stands on the hill behind our house, next to a saguaro and palo verde tree.
A western diamondback is nearly invisible against the desert terrain. One liquid-bronze eyes peeks up to the right of the tiny plant.
My 16-mo. old kitten - who looks full-grown - sits with his chest on the corner edge of the chaise lounge, his legs flopping down. Silly boy.
A great horned owlet - at fledgling stage - sits on a cliff. Blends right in. Its sibling was up above the mountain.
My rescue kitty looks like a serval in this pic - tall ears, skinny little face, spotted tummy, resting in the palm of my hand.
A young roadrunner sits on a water bowl, legs wide for balance, gorgeous long eyelashes visible, looking down at the water.
Gray fox looks toward the camera, eyes aglow, as its luscious, long tail arches, then falls to its black tip.
A tawny bird with light chest and hints of yellow on the belly tilts its head sideways, its crest raised.
A young bobcat, blonde with hints of orange -- and spotted -- moves to the right of the photo, passing the mountain trail cam. Back leg is stretched all the way out. Cute white ocelli on the backs of ears that make them look like eyes to predators.
Squeezy sits on the edge of hte bathroom sink, showing off his marbled tabby pattern and those cute, pointy ears.
A white-nosed coatimundi enters the picture frame at left, in partial profile -- sporting a long white-tipped snout, and a russet-furred body. The eyes are ringed in white 3/4 of the way around, and white streams from beneath the ears to the shoulders, and from the eyebrow to the snout.
First time ever seeing these -- they're called Green Peach or Lettuce Aphids, but neither description explains their vibrant RED coloration. They sit upon a desert thistle flower getting ready to bloom.
Six mule deer drink from the shallow pond. All heads bent to the water, one walking behind the others.
Cotton-ball sized quail chicks that have JUST hatched run around zippity quick under the palo verde tree.
Squeezy stands on two legs, front paws on the windowsill, looking out the front window at SO MANY baby birds. His medium-length belly fur is hilariously lit up by the sun.
Collage includes top row (L to r) to bottom row: bobcat, coatimundi, a hill of saguaros, tarantula, Gila monster, Black Hawk, Mexican Poppies, a ringtail flying through the air toward the camera, Copper Creek with running water and mature cottonwood trees with mountains in the background (all slated to become an open-pit mine by Canadian Faraday Copper).
Tiny hummingbird approaches a beautiful, white saguaro flower.
Small bird with yellow head, nice white brs on wings sits in palo verde outside my office.
Squeezy's first day at our place last year - sitting on floor, head cocked, one paw up ... ALL ears!
Tall pine trees frame a blue sky with clouds that also include my kitty's face hovering in the air. Fun accidental shot with all the tree reflections off the window, while he was inside.
Young roadrunner faces the camera, its head crest slightly raised. Desert tobacco plants in the foreground.
This little cactus - maybe 5 inches tall, has red stripes around it! Three layers! It has very tightly packed spines, too.
Squeezy found the open linen shelf in the bathroom that has three bat mats on it. Here he stands on them, checking out a potential new bed.