Patagonia Creek Preserve

After my stop at Patton's House in Patagonia, I hiked the Patagonia - Sonoita Creek Preserve which is managed by The Nature Conservancy. There are 2 1/2 miles of trails through the Preserve, most along the Creek.  The preserve protects a rare Fremont cottonwood-Goodding willow riparian forest. Some of the trees are among the largest (more than 100 feet tall) and oldest (130 years old) Fremont cottonwood trees in the US.


I was greeted by a staff member who said that there were three Thick Billed Kingbirds seen along the Creek Trail. The Thick Billed Kingbird is normally just found in Mexico, but occasionally wanders into the most southern part of Arizona. (The Preserve is about 20 miles north of the US/Mexico boarder). 

Finding rare birds seems easier when you are not looking for them. To look for one of three birds in 700+ acres would seem challenging at best. And yet, I found one. Not really close enough for a good photo, but close enough to identify. The first photo is the Thick Billed (although you really have to "zoom in" to identify).

Thick Billed Kindbird

A couple hundred yards fourth up stream I found the more common Cassin's Kingbird. The Cassin's range is essentially Arizona and New Mexico with occasional sightings in extreme southeast California and extreme southwest Texas. In the first photo you can see an out-of-focus Vermillion Flycatcher in the background. Getting both in focus would be a real challenge. You would have to take at least two photos (one of each bird) and then merge them in photo software. I got a little better angle in the second photo where you can more easily distinguish it from either the Thick Billed Kingbird or the Western Kingbird (which, along with the Eastern Kingbird,  are the most common Kingbirds in the US).

Cassin's Kingbird

Cassin's Kingbird a little closer

Finally, the Prickly Poppies were out in full bloom.  I'll show two photos with very different lighting, which resulted in very different photos:

Prickly Poppy

Prickly Poppy