The Merry Month of May

May brings even warmer temperatures and more migrants.  But it also signals that summer is soon to arrive with its blistering triple digit temperatures in Arizona.  One has to take advantage of the nice weather whilst one can!  And these blog posts need to continue as it won't be long and I will be embarking on a new adventure outside of the Unites States.  More details will be provided at the end of this post.  

One of my trips in May involved a journey into northern Arizona and an oasis in the desert east of Flagstaff.  This jewel of a birding spot, Meteor Crater RV Park, was new to me, but I had heard of it in the past as it seemed to bring in some really special migrants every year.  This spring was no exception, as an Ovenbird made its appearance, and an invite from Barb Meding to join her on quest to see if we could locate this bird.  Ovenbird is not a life bird for me as it is fairly common in eastern US, but I had never been able to add it to my Arizona state list.  What a great place to bird and the hosts are very welcoming to birders.  Go inside and ask to go birding and they point you to the doors in the back and into the great little oasis they have created.

 Ovenbird

A Bendire's Thrasher was also a bit of a surprise at this location.  I was not aware that their breeding range extended that far north. 

Bendire's Thrasher

On the way home, we spent a short time looking for the Gray Catbird that had been reported in the Flagstaff area.

Gray Catbird

In addition to this trip up north, I also made a couple of 3 day trips.  The first trip was to Rancho El Aribabi in Sonora, Mexico, to assist in leading the Tucson Audubon Society's field trip to this magical place.  The location is only about 35 miles south of the US/Mexico border and many of the bird species are common with Arizona, but a couple of species are a bit more prevalent and easier to see and hear, namely, the Sinaloa Wren.  Was able to get a photo and also made a video on my cell phone just to capture its rich melodic song.  Not much to see on the attached video, but you can hear it clearly.

Sinaloa Wren

Click on this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2uuGb7mOJg

Video and audio file of a Sinaloa Wren.

Other birds and arthropods are shown below.

 American Rubyspot

 Broad-billed Hummingbird

Painted Damsel - Beautiful and a first for me!

 Bullock's Oriole-Hate feeder shots, but sometimes you have to take advantage.

 Olive-sided Flycatcher

Sonoran Spotted Whiptail

The second trip in May, was a trip to Greenlee County, Arizona, that I led for the Maricopa Audubon Society.  We spent 3 days exploring some of the birding spots in Greenlee County, which is the most under-birded county in Arizona, mostly due to its location along the far eastern border with New Mexico.  

 Cedar Waxwing

 Olive Warbler

Vermilion Flycatcher - Female

This is the third year in a row that a Yellow-throated Vireo has returned to the same location in Arizona in Yavapai County.  It really does not belong here in the summer, as their normal range in the eastern half of the US.  Of course I had to chase it to add it to my Arizona list.

Yellow-throated Vireo - Rare for Arizona

The rest of my exploration time in May focused on local places, including my 'patch' area (South Mountain Park), where I go hiking to get some exercise and see what all kinds of natural flora and fauna I can find.  

 Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

 Adult Verdin with fledgling

 Loggerhead Shrike fledgling

White-winged Dove

Cordilleran Flycatcher

 Coyote

Antelope Ground Squirrel

Black-tailed Jackrabbit

 Springwater Dancer

Zela Metalmark

The month of May was a very busy, but a very rewarding month for getting out and exploring what nature has to offer in Arizona and Sonora.  

In July, I will be traveling to yet another international destination.  Obviously the focus of my destinations are centered around our wonderful avian friends in this world.  Ernie Welch and I decided on a trip to Ecuador this summer.  Ecuador is a country that is situated on the Equator and in size is about the size of the state of Nevada.  But it ranks high in bird species density; over 1600 species has been reported in this beautiful country.  Currently, my free time is spent in preparation for this exciting trip.  I hope to add a lot of new life birds to my list.    

   

South Mountain Park

As mentioned in my previous blog post, I have been spending a lot of time in Pima Canyon Wash in South Mountain Park.  It is a place that I adopted as 'My Patch' in eBird,  It was only natural that I did this becasue this spot is one of the closest locations for me to get some good exercise and over the years I have found some pretty good birds here.  Many of the birds I see now are the more common desert species, but being able to document them and enjoy them on a personal level is really pretty cool.  This post features some of the recent experiences that I have encountered in this location, including a couple of crushing scenes of hummingbirds.  And hummingbirds will be my starting point for this blog post.  

Probably my most favorite hummingbird that is a year-round resident of this part of Arizona is the Costa's Hummingbird. Of course there are others that really trip my trigger during the summer months, but don't tell that to any of the COHUs!  This bird, with its stunning royal purple gorget is really hard to beat.  I have discovered one in Pima Canyon Wash that is a fixture and he has his special favorite perch and he really defends the wolfberry bushes in his territory.  And he is fairly approachable.  Photographing hummingbirds in natural settings are so much more pleasing than those around feeders.  Here are some photos of 'Mr. Reliable'.

 Costa's Hummingbird

The Anna's Hummingbird is also a year-round resident in this part of Arizona and it ain't no slouch either.  It is by far the most numerous and probably outnumber the Costa's by 8 to 1.  It is the most common and frequent hummingbird to show up at feeders in people's yards.  And when a male is in just the right angle of sunlight, its brilliance is almost blinding.

 Anna's Hummingbird

That just about covers all the hummingbird possibilities for this time of year, but we have other species that are enjoyable and fascinating as well.  Case in point; the Black-tailed Gnatcatcher.  This is another tiny passerine that is very vocal and also very common.  They usually give up their location by their buzzy like notes.  In winter, both sexes are a pretty boring overall gray on top and white underneath, reference the first photo.  However, as spring approaches, and it is definitely approaching in Arizona right now, the male starts donning a spiffy black cap and subsequent photos show one such male beginning to get that dapper look.  

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

Of course there are many other regular birds in this part of South Mountain Park and when they properly present themselves and cooperate for photos, why not take advantage of it?  Black-throated Sparrows are dapper LBJs (little brown jobs as many novice birders lump them).What's not to love with those very contrasting blacks, browns, whites, and grays on a sharp-dressed bird? 

 Black-throated Sparrow

Curve-billed Thrashers are one of the easiest birds to recognize with their sharply curved bill and bright orange eye.  Now this bird has a proper name that describes it well.

 Curve-billed Thrasher

This one was singing while on the rock, maybe trying to translate the petroglyphs.  However, since I do not speak 'thrasherese' I could not understand it.

When it comes to woodpeckers in the desert, Gila Woodpeckers and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers are in order.  Gila take advantage of the Saguaro Cactus for its nest cavities, creating a new cavity every year.  The Ladder-backed uses the trees it finds for its nesting cavities. 

 Gila Woodpeckers

Ladder-backed Woodpecker and a possible new nest cavity in the making?

The never ending parade of the Verdin entertains an entire hike.

Verdin

As for the wren family, the 2 most common species found are the Cactus Wren and the Rock Wren.  The Cactus Wren has the distinction of being Arizona's State Bird.

 Cactus Wren

Rock Wren

On one of my recent trips, a Lesser Goldfinch had apparently taken a liking to the desert habitat as well.  Not always assured to be found in the desert, but not rare by any means either.

 Lesser Goldfinch

And finally a 'Gambel's' White-crowned Sparrow, which is a winter only resident.  Come springtime, they will be headed north.

White-crowned Sparrow

Now that I have covered all the birds, lets move on to a butterfly and some mammals. The butterfly, a West Coast Lady, seemed a bit early this year, what a bright spot to enjoy in January!

West Coast Lady

The Coyotes seem to be thriving very well in this environment as they all look healthy and not malnourished.  Thankfully, none of them were hungry enough to be viewing me as a possible meal! On one occasion a couple of them starting howling at me as I was walking down the wash.  Really had some neat encounter with the Coyotes so far.  They are very wary and try to stay far away from any humans.    

 A sequence of Coyote photos

 Harris's Ground Squirrels

 Black-tailed Jackrabbit

Desert Cottontail

For those that read my previous blog post, I also made comments that I was also branching out to more diverse groups of organisms.  So with this post, you get to witness a couple of photos of some flora (or plants if you prefer).  

Graham's Fishhook Cactus-love how it puts forth roots in a rock crevice and thrives!

This next one is a very tiny little plant.  I have probably walked right by them countless times, but once a person 'stops and enjoys the roses', little things like catch my eye and the tiny whitish flowers were intriguing for sure.  I was only able to identify this by posting it on a citizen science website, iNaturalist.org.  Exact species is not known but at least someone suggested a 'probable' species.

 Genus Pectocarya-most likely Pectocarya recurvata, note the tiny whitish colored flowers.

Same plant but with the corner of my cell phone next to it for size comparison.

It has been enjoyable following a lot of the regulars and learning new flora and fauna along the way.  Hopefully my next post will be interesting as I am taking a short trip out of the state.