Box Canyon, Santa Rita Mountains, Arizona

Although we have the Coronavirus Pandemic around the world, people are still visiting our site. This week we have had visitors from: Romania, Germany, Hong Kong, Canada, France, Czechia, United Kingdom, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey, and Moldova as well as the United States.

Today, I'll show some photos from Box Canyon which is a dirt road up into the Santa Rita Mountains from Arizona Highwy 83 just north of Sonoita to Florida and Madera Canyon. There are some great views, but also great birding.

Here are some photos I've taken there these past two weeks:

Blue Grosbeak

Northern Mockingbird

Blue Grosbeak on Ocotillo

Canyon Wren

Rock Wren

Cassin's Kingbird Singing

Cassin's Kingbird "Hiding"

Bullock's Oriole on Ocotillo

Not very good photo of a Scott's Oriole

Lesser Goldfinch

Lucifer Hummingbird female Drinking from a Western Coral Bean Plant

Hummingbirds of Arizona: Lucifer Hummingbird

Who's visiting our Blog? We have had over 250,000 hits in 141 countries on our Blog since we began in 2008. Today we have had visitors from:  United States, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Ireland, North Macedonia, South Korea, Poland, Philippines, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, Germany, France, Canada, Spain, and New Zealand.

It is nice to know that regardless of ones' political, religious, or ethnic background they have a love of  nature.

Today, we are showing:

Lucifer Hummingbird

Size: Lucifer is a small hummingbird of about 3 1/2 inches with a long decurved bill.

Identifying Characteristics: Here it is the bill. Very distinctly long and curved in both male and female set it apart from other hummers. The male's magenta gorget is very long and streaked. Buffy flanks and rufous tail are also distinguishing characteristics. See photo of the male and female Lucifer. Identifying the male is seldom a problem. For the female you need a good angle of the bill for proper identification otherwise it could look like a Broad-tailed Hummingbird.

Habitat: Open arid desert often near agaves.

Range: Chisos Mountains of SW Texas and extreme southern mountains of Arizona.

Seasons: April through October,

Where To Find: Ash Canyon is a very reliable site every year. The feeders in Portal (Chiricahua Mountains) are a possibility. It is a rare species so checking the Audubon's Rare Bird Alert is helpful. 

They may frequent the feeders earlier in the season when there are not so many hummers to compete with, but I've seen them as late as September in Ash Canyon. 

Comments: Lucifers are not abundant and do not hang around the feeders. I have been to Ash Canyon (Bed and Breakfast) several times and been lucky a third of the time. But, I have also talked with others that have spent six to eight hours there without seeing one. This hummer requires patience. First to see one, and second to photograph one hovering or in a tree. Most cameras (and photographers) are not fast enough to manually or even auto focus while hovering. So, the trick is to focus on a particular feeder and then recenter on the hummer without changing the focus. 

Hummingbirds at Ash Canyon B&B

It's the height of the hummingbird season, so after Huachuca Canyon I visited Ash Canyon B&B in hopes of finding Lucifer Hummingbirds.

It's a reasonable safe bet this time of year at what is perhaps the most reliable place in the United States to find this "rare" hummer.

Both male and female Lucifers made appearances, plus a good number of other hummers. Here are a few of the photos I took:

Lucifer Hummingbird Male

Lucifer Hummingbird Female

Broad Billed Hummingbird Male

Broad Tailed Hummingbird (young male)

Hummingbirds of Southern Arizona: Lucifer Hummingbird

The Lucifer Hummingbird is rare to the US, only found in Western Texas and Southeast Arizona. However, it is a regular at The Ash Canyon Bed and Breakfast in the Huachuca Mountains of Southeast Arizona. He remains most of the summer. This year there were up to 20 of them hitting the hummingbird feeders each day at Mary Jo's B&B. So if that's the one you want to see, that's the best place in the US.

Lucifer Hummingbird

I got away yesterday and hit San Pedro River, Ash Canyon B&B, and Huachuca Canyon. 

The monsoon rains had pretty much created a muddy, buggy mess at San Pedro. I used a lot of bug spray but still a bit distracting when dozens of mosquitos are constantly flying in your face. I did the walk up and down the river where I could, then walked along the old dirt road. Nothing unusual to report. Got some photos of Tropical and Cassin's Kingbirds, Vermillion Flycatcher, Lark Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Lesser Goldfinch, Common Ground Dove, and a nice Sharp Shinned Hawk.

Then decided to check out Ash Canyon B&B which I haven't been to this year. This was decidedly the best of the day. Lots of visits from male and female Lucifers -- as seen below.

Finally, went to Huachuca Canyon, but by the time I got there it was very overcast -- dark and ominous clouds and few birds to be seen and terrible lighting for a good photo anyway.

So, photos from Ash Canyon B&B: 

Male Lucifer

Female Lucifer

Male and Female Lucifer

Female Rufous

Female Rufous

Female Rufous

Lucifer -- Hummingbird, That Is

Continuing with my alphabetical series on "5" photos we come to the Lucifer Hummingbird. Lucifer is a rare hummingbird to the US. It is occasionally seen in Southwestern Texas, and the extreme Southwestern corner of New Mexico. It is most often see in Southeastern Arizona. That is not to say it is abundant anywhere. The best place to find this beautiful little hummer is the Ash Canyon Bed and Breakfast. It is a daily visitor there from May through September. It is occasionally found in the Portal area of the Chiricahua Mountains and occasionally seen in the Santa Rita Mountains. But, the south end of the Huachuca Mountains is really the best place.

Lucifer Hummingbird

The Rare Lucifer Hummingbird

Yesterday I got the day off to go photographing. I was again looking for the Yellow Billed Cuckoo in Las Cienegas. And, again I struck out. But I continued on to Ash Canyon to find the Lucifer Hummingbird --- with success.

The Lucifer Hummingbird is one of those very rare hummers to be found in the US. The most reliable place to find the Lucifer is at the Ash Canyon B&B. It's been spending its summers there for several years. They don't arrive in the US in large numbers, and they don't frequent hummingbird feeders like the Black Chinned, Anna's, and Broad Billed. Early in the season, it might come to a feeder once or twice a day. This time of the year it is a little more often, maybe once every 30-45 minutes. A couple of things make them special beyond their rarity. First they have long decurved bills. Second, the male has a very long and brightly colored gorget. From time to time they will be seen in the Santa Rita and Chiricahua mountains, as well as the Huachucas. They are sometimes found in the Southwest corner of New Mexico and Southwest Texas. 

Here are a few photos from yesterday:

Lucifer Hummingbird

Lucifer Hummingbird

Lucifer Hummingbird

Ash Canyon: The Premier Location for Hummingbirds - 2012

As I mentioned in a post a few days ago, the Hummingbird season started off very slow, especially at the Ash Canyon B&B. However, the last couple of weeks have been incredible. Mary Jo (at Ash Canyon) has created, at least for 2012, the premier hummingbird sight, overtaking Beatty's Orchard in Miler Canyon (still a great sight as well). But at Ash Canyon the numbers are very high as are the species. Here's the list from Ash Canyon:

Anna's; Black Chinned; Broad Billed; Broad Tailed, Calliope, Costa's, Lucifer, Magnificent, Plain Capped Starthroat; Rufous, and Violet Crowned. that's eleven species. The only ones missing are the Berylline (which hasn't been reported anywhere this year); and the Blue Throat and White Eared which can be found in Miller Canyon.

Ash Canyon has always been the most reliable place for Lucifer, and at the moment, it is the most reliable place for the Plain Capped Starthroat. (Miller Canyon remains the most reliable place for the Blue Throat and White Eared. Patton's in Patagonia remains the most reliable place for Violet Crowned, although it has been seen this year in Madera Canyon, Ramsey Canyon, Miller Canyon, and Ash Canyon). 

With another trip yesterday, nice photos of Lucifer male and female, as well as the Starthroat male and female.

The female Plain Capped Starthroat is on the feeder. The other two approaching are Black Chinned

Male Lucifer

Male Plain Capped Starthroat

Hummingbird Season in Full Throttle

What started off as a very slow hummingbird season  -- probably due to last year's fires and flooding, has turned out quite nice. Once again there are large numbers of hummers in Miller Canyon and Ash Canyon. Ramsey doesn't have quite the same numbers, but yesterday I saw 7 species within about 30 minutes including the Violet Crowned. In the last two weeks (in Ash Canyon, Miller Canyon, and Ramsey Canyon) I have found eleven different hummingbird species:

Anna's

Black Chinned

Blue Throat

Broad Billed

Broad Tailed

Lucifer

Magnificent

Plain Capped Starthroat

Rufous

White Eared

Violet Crowned

I may have seen a female Costa's don't know for sure. Calliope has been reported at Ash Canyon but I have not seen it. Lots of Broad Tailed Hummingbirds at Ash Canyon, but for some reason I didn't end up with any photos. Plain Capped Starthroat photos weren't up to standard. He showed up at the farthest feeder for 2-5 seconds every hour or so. Just couldn't get the photo I wanted.

Still no reports this year of Berylline. I'll head down to Madera Canyon sometime this week and check it out. Berylline was an "infrequent" visitor there last year. 

Here are a few of my photos from the last two weeks in the Huachuca Mountains:

Anna's Hummingbird

Black Chinned Female

Blue Throated Hummingbird

Broad Billed Hummingbird Female

Lucifer Hummingbird Male

Magnificent Hummingbird Male

Rufous Hummingbird Female

Violet Crowned Hummingbird

White Eared Hummingbird Male

Pairs of Two: Eight

More fighting pairs:

American Bison jousting in Yellowstone National Park

Lucifer Hummingbirds fighting in Ash Canyon, Arizona

Lucifer Hummingbird

After a quick stop at Whitewater Draw -- where very little was happening -- a drove southwest through Bisbee and to Ash Canyon hoping to find the Lucifer Hummingbird. And, as luck would have it there it was. Not only the male and female Lucifer, but a young male as well. Confirmation from the Tucson Audubon Society confirms the likelihood that Ash Canyon may well be the only place in the US where Lucifer nests. Here are some of those photos:

Male Lucifer Hummingbird

Juvenile Male Lucifer Hummingbird

Rare Hummingbirds

While on the subject of Hummingbirds I thought I would share with you photos of the rarer hummers of the US. The Calliope is found in very small numbers in the far western states and Arizona. The Berylline, White Eared, Lucifer, Violet Crowned, Plain Capped Starthroat, and Blue Throated are only found in the extreme southern Mountain Ranges of Southeast Arizona (Chiricahuas, Huachucas, and Santa Ritas).

Calliope Hummingbird Male

Berylline Hummingbird Female

White Eared Hummingbird Male

Lucifer Hummingbird Male

Violet Crowned Hummingbird

Plain Capped Starthroat

Blue Throated Hummingbird male