Specialty Birding: Arizona Style - Part 2

Friday we were up early and had plans to search for another specialty bird, the Sinaloa Wren and Chris was joining us for the entire day on this trip.  This is a bird that Chris and I had seen at Rancho El Aribabi in Mexico, twice, but photos were difficult as this bird is very secretive.  We also made a trip to Huachuca Canyon over a year ago to try for it without much luck.  Chris had gotten a glimpse of it and I had heard its ratcheting call on that trip.  Very disappointing to say the least.  Jennifer and Peggy had never seen this bird, so it would be a life bird for both of them.

Huachuca Canyon is accessed only through a military base, Fort Huachuca and they are very cognizant of how much birders love to visit this canyon.  They are very agreeable to allow birders to go exploring, and they have now installed a check-in system and with a proper photo ID, one will get placed in their data base and will be issued a 30 day pass to access Huachuca Canyon.  After the initial check-in, it is easier to get a new pass on future visits.  This was a process that took us about 20 minutes to complete, and was fairly easy, so it is nothing to keep one from going in.  We went immediately to the location where this bird has been seen for almost 2 years.  I am sure it is getting lonely and wondering why a female has not found it and its location for a nest.  We knew it frequented the stream bed and loved the dense brush piles along the flowing water, but it is very secretive and not often seen.  We split up and watched and waited for a while with no results.  One other person was there when we arrived and he claimed to have heard it and saw it about 20 minutes before we arrived.  Chris and I wandered down stream a bit further and found a spot that looked good for it and we stood there for about 15 minutes, when suddenly, we saw a movement in the brush pile of a bird that darted out in the shade and then back in for a split second.  Adrenalin just kicked up a notch for both of us!  We wanted to make sure it was the Sinaloa Wren and not a Bewick's Wren, and a couple of minutes later it popped out into the opening once more.  A quick photo and confirmation got me quickly running back to get the girls to join us.  

What happened next was utterly astounding, this shy little bird, started to put on a show for us.  At first, it started coming out but staying undercover in the brush and grasses occasionally popping its head out for us.

Eventually, it came out and perched on a small twig and sat there in the light and just took its time and looked both, right and left, multiple times while our cameras clicked away.  By this time the other person that was there earlier had found his way down to where we were and he also got to see it well.  Another young couple had showed up and they too, knew that we were on it and they came in behind us to get in on the show. At one point, it almost looked like it was resting and relaxing; may have been the clicking of the cameras.  Good example of where persistence pays off.  I finally got some great photos of a rare US bird as did Chris, and Jen and Peggy got a new life bird, which is hard for them as their lists are very high already.  So glad to be a part of the special occasion! 

After this success, and since we were on Cloud 9, we decided to head to the Patagonia area to see what we could find.  The stop at the Paton House was quite good, but we really missed our good friend, Larry Morgan, who has been the host for this place for the last couple of years.  He was Mr Congeniality for that place and everyone that visited, left with a great experience. In the process, I captured some photos of a Bewick's Wren, a Green-tailed Towhee, and an Inca Dove. 

Bewick's Wren

Green-tailed Towhee

Inca Dove

And a quick short stop in downtown Patagonia, resulted in an Anna's Hummingbird, which was already nesting.  Note the nest well disguised on the top of a pine cone in the first photo and the female Anna's Hummingbird on it in the second photo.

Anna's Humingbird nest on the top of a pine cone.

Anna's Hummingbird

Since our day was getting shorter and we wanted to get to Madera Canyon with some daylight left, we headed in that direction so we could arrive in time to get some birds before calling it a day.  Santa Rita Lodge has an awesome set up for birders.  Very relaxing where one can enjoy the many birds that come to visit the feeders.  We had a total of 4 species of hummingbirds at Santa Rita Lodge.  In addition to Anna's and Broad-billed Hummingbirds, we also had the first of the season, Rufous and a Magnificent Hummingbird.  

 Magnificent Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

A couple of the stars of the show were a male and a female Arizona Woodpecker along with the regular Mexican Jays and the always classy looking Yellow-eyed Junco.

 Arizona Woodpecker - Male

 Arizona Woodpecker - Female

 Mexican Jay

Yellow-eyed Junco

We also got a 'lifer' butterfly on this day, an Arizona Powdered Skipper.

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the Phoenix area and we had to bid adieu to Chris.  It was a remarkable day with some really great birds and the icing on the cake was the Sinaloa Wren.   

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!!!