Birding in Southeastern Arizona

In August of 2018, just a couple of weeks after my return from Ecuador, I had the pleasure of taking some of my friends from eastern parts of the US, that I have known for a few years, birding in southeastern Arizona.  The first party was Brian and Larry DeAtley Ellyson and Brian's mother Judi Ellyson.  The second party was Jim Austin-Cole and Brian Ahern-Wilson.  Both trips covered almost the same areas and both trips took up 3 days of traveling around.  There were a few differences in what we visited though.  Both trips included a trip to the Chiricahua Mountains.  I really had a fantastic time showing them parts of Arizona that I do not get to visit as often as I would like.  We got to see a lot of different birds and it is amazing what one finds on one trip and what one finds on another trip just a few days later.  These trips were not the first times I had taken them birding in Arizona and I hope it won't be the last.  Now I have to find time to head back east in the future and let them show me some of their birds!

Birding in Arizona is Spectacular!

First part will be photos of birds, since that is probably what most readers of this blog would like to see. And birding in southeastern Arizona is one of the premiere spots for birders all over the world come to visit in the pursuit of a lot of specialty birds.  Further on down the post, I will add some photos of some arthropods and maybe even a mammal.

  

Red-faced Warbler

 'Mexican' Spotted Owl

 Eastern Meadowlark

 Pyrrhuloxia

Western Wood-Pewee chicks in nest, almost ready to fledge.

 Blue Grosbeak

 Common Ground Dove

 Five-striped Sparrow - Fledgling

Five-striped Sparrow - Adult

 Hooded Oriole

Montezuma Quail

And Now the Hummingbirds!

Hummingbirds are one of Arizona's specialties.  No other state in the United States has more species of hummingbirds than Arizona, so of course they are always a family of birds to be in the spotlight.

 Lucifer Hummingbird - Male

 Lucifer Hummingbird - Female

Lucifer Hummingbird - Male

Broad-billed Hummingbird - Male

 Broad-tailed Hummingbird - Male

 Blue-throated Hummingbird - Male

 Rivoli's Hummingbird - Male

Rufous Hummingbird - Male

Now for some photos of some other interesting creatures that we found on these 2 trips.  I do have a bit of a soft spot for butterflies, but just about anything that moves intrigues me and is worthy of photos at times.

 Golden-headed Scallopwing

 Marine blue

Tailed Orange

 Dull Firetip

 Golden-banded Skipper

Taxiles Skipper

Sooty Dancer

Flame Skimmer

 Desert Blonde Tarantula

 Bee Fly Species

Red Tachinid Fly-(Adejeania vexatrix)

Pronghorn

This had to have been one of the most satisfying weeks that I have had exploring southeastern Arizona.  Something new around every bend and even though some of the places were the same, it was a different cast of characters that greeted us.  I hope Brian, Larry, Judi, Jim, and Brian enjoyed the time as well.  

Catching Up!!!

Recently, I have been very lax in posting to my blog site and with a recent big change in my employment status, it is high time to try a catch up a bit on some posts that have been neglected for far too long.  In theory, I should now have more time to to accomplish some of these tasks, but I have been told by many other retirees that all that free time that one envisions coming with retirement, is quickly filled up with many other functions.

Without further ado, I will attempt to catch up of some past experiences that have been woefully neglected.  The first is centered around a visit from Josh Wallestad and his son, Evan, from Minnesota in October.  Good birding friend, Tommy DeBardeleben, and I headed south and picked up Josh and Evan in Green Valley, Arizona.  We headed to Hunter Canyon where the target birds were the Rufous-capped Warbler and a Slate-throated Redstart.  The redstart had not been seen for the past few days and of course we dipped on it, but we did manage to find the Rufous-capped Warbler.  This bird was not very cooperative and knowing it was a life bird for Josh and Evan, I tried to stay back and let them enjoy this bird as much as possible.  This is my feeble attempt at a photo.

Rufous-capped Warbler

Just before Tommy spotted this warbler, he also had a Scott's Oriole and a Northern Pygmy Owl, both of which were new life birds for both Josh and Evan.  It was a moment of overload for the two of them to have that many new species in a matter of a couple of minutes.  

Northern Pygmy-Owl

From here we made a brief stop at Ash Canyon B & B, hoping for a lingering Lucifer Hummingbird, and we did succeed.  Unfortunately, it was not one of the brilliant males, but the long curved beak makes it easy to identify.

Lucifer Hummingbird

Acorn Woodpeckers and Mexican Jays were quite gregarious and hard to miss while we were there for this short visit.

Acorn Woodpecker

Mexican Jay

After staying for just a short time, we then ventured on to Miller Canyon with the hope for them being open and not closed for the season.  We got extremely lucky as Tom Jr, was around and he was more than happy to take us up the trail to look for the infamous Spotted Owl; a specialty for this location.  Just before we reached the area where the owls had been hanging out, Tom found an Alligator Madrean Lizard in the pathway and pointed it out to us.  This was really cool as I had never seen one before. This is a very handsome reptile!

Madrean Alligator Lizard

Tom then got us on one of the juvenile Spotted Owls from this year's hatch.  It was totally unimpressed with us humans as it sat on its branch sleeping and occasionally opening a eye to check out one of Tom dogs that had come along with us.  

 'Mexican' Spotted Owl

With 2 lifer owl species for Josh and Evan, and a couple more species, we have to consider that this was a successful one day trip.  It is always a lot of fun to help birders acquire new life birds.  Someday in the very near future, I believe Josh is going to be guiding us in Minnesota for some great new birds.  

   

Hummingbirds in Arizona

This last Sunday, good friend and birder, Muriel Neddermeyer and I headed to the southern parts of Arizona specifically to check out the hummingbirds.  Arizona has more species of hummingbirds in the United States than any other state, so if a person has a love of hummingbirds, this is the place to visit.  Of course not all the species are year-round residents as some are migrants and the time of the year will dictate a lot of what one can see.  Some of the species are more common in parts of Mexico, but there is always a few that cross the border into Arizona providing for some great birds.  There are several hotspots in southern Arizona that cater to the hummingbirds and most of them ask for a nominal fee of about $5.00 when visiting their facilities.  This helps to defray their costs to keep the feeders maintained.  Trust me, that small charge is definitely a bargain to see some of these amazing hummingbirds. 

First stop was Ash Canyon B & B, which is probably the best known location to view the Lucifer Hummingbird.  It's range extends into southeastern Arizona, an extreme very small area of southwestern new Mexico, and also into the Big Bend area of Texas.  Not to be confused with the more common Costa's Hummingbird, this bird has a long curved bill that is a key identification mark.  Still have not been able to capture a photo of this bird away from a feeder, but someday I am sure with enough visits, that will happen.

Lucifer Hummingbird

We counted 6 species of hummingbirds at this location on this day, but I have been there before when I got 10 species in one day.  Broad-billed Hummingbirds were in abundance here and at the other places where we stopped.  It is another stunning bird and unfortunately, I most generally focus on photographing the males, this time I did make an attempt at getting some photos of some of the females.  I do not ever recall getting a photo of a female Broad-billed Hummingbird, so on this day I did manage to do so and am glad that I did.

Broad-billed Hummingbird - male

Broad-billed Hummingbird - female

And of course the most common hummingbird in Arizona is Anna's Hummingbird which I have throughout the year in my back yard at my feeders.  Kind of enjoyed the markings on this juvenile male with the magenta coming in on its molt in streaks and patches.

Anna's Hummingbird

Of course there are more than just hummingbirds to be found here and I just could not resist taking a few photos of some of the rest: Acorn Woodpecker, Bewick's Wren, Black-headed Grosbeak, House Finch, and the Mexican Jay.

Acorn Woodpecker

Bewick's Wren

Black-headed Grosbeak

House Finch - not a bird that I photograph very often, but this one was redder than most.

Mexican Jay

Next stop was at Beatty's B&B in Miller Canyon, just a short distance up the road.  This location is just a bit higher in elevation and results in some different habitat.  Usually one of the best places to find Blue-throated Hummingbird and White-eared Hummingbird, but this day we did not have that luck.  But we still got lots of hummingbirds including the Magnificent Hummingbirds, Rufous Hummingbirds, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, and Black-chinned Hummingbirds.  Hope you enjoy the photos and the variety of hummingbirds, including some females.

 Black-chinned Hummingbird - female

Black-chinned Hummingbird - male

Black-chinned Hummingbird - male

Broad-tailed Hummingbird - male

 Rufous Hummingbird with yellow pollen on its bill

Rufous Hummingbird with yellow pollen on its bill

 Magnificent Hummingbird - male

Magnificent Hummingbird - male

As the afternoon was quickly arriving, we headed west to Patagonia and to Paton's Bird Sanctuary, one of the most reliable spots to find the Violet-crowned Hummingbird.  Host, Larry Morgan, is always a pleasure to visit with and is glad to help anyone find some special birds that visit this spot.  And the Violet-crowned Hummingbird did not let us down, although it did spend most of its time at the feeders, it is still a very different appearing hummingbird with that pure white throat, chest, and belly to offset that violet crown.

Violet-crowned Hummingbird

When the day was done, we had observed 8 species of hummingbirds and if we would have taken the time to visit Madera Canyon, we might have been able to add a 9th species, the Plain-capped Starthroat.  As mentioned in the early part of this blog, Arizona is an awesome state to see hummingbirds!!!