Springtime in Arizona

Springtime in Arizona is much different than many other parts of the United States.  With the mild winter weather, many resident birds might start breeding as early as January leading one to think that Spring has arrived.  Migrating birds are a bit different and some species can start showing up in late February and into March.  And for some species some only start arriving in June such as the Yellow-billed Cuckoo.  The months of March through May is peak springtime arrival for most migrants and birding is at its best during that time frame.  Of course, the weather is most generally pretty mild and wonderful during this time which makes birding very enjoyable.

This blog post highlights some of the birding that I enjoyed during the month of April of 2018.  Photos include a lot of our regulars interspersed with a few rarities that were encountered along the way. Towards the end of the post are some butterflies that I enjoyed and a really pretty cool reptile that not many people get to see.

Black-throated Gray Warbler

 Grace's Warbler

Turkey Vulture

 Summer Tanager - Female

Summer Tanager - Male

House Wren

Palm Warbler - A rarity for Arizona

White-faced Ibis - Breeding Plumage

 Buff-breasted Flycatcher - An Arizona specialty

 Northern Pygmy-Owl

Red-faced Warbler

 Cooper's Hawk

 Rufous-backed Robin

Streak-backed Oriole - A rarity in the US.

Band-tailed Pigeons - Not an easy bird to find in Maricopa County, Arizona.

One of my days in April was spent on a Butterfly Field Trip which resulted in 3 new species of butterfly for me.

 California Patch

 Common Streaky-Skipper - A new species for me.

 Common Streaky-Skipper

 Elada Checkerspot

Great Purple Hairstreak - Another new species for me.

Mourning Cloak

 Desert Ironwood blossoms.  Very colorful and show why they are related to legumes. 

Filigree Skimmer

Greater Short-Horned Lizard - This one was a juvenile.

 The first of 2 Arizona Black Rattlesnakes

The second of 2 Arizona Black Rattlesnakes.