Hiking and Birding Sabino Canyon

Yesterday, Christine and I hiked Sabino Canyon up to the dam where we birded for a hour or so. Then further up the creek another mile, across the creek to the tram road and back down to the parking area.

Did I find the Louisiana Waterthrush I was looking for? In a word no. But, as is often the case, I came home pretty happy. 

A nice 4 1/2 foot long Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

A youngish Gila Monster

A lovely male Broad Billed Hummingbird happily drinking from a Sacred Datura

A beautiful Townsend's Warbler

A sweet little Verdin

And a needed bit of exercise.

Here are some photos:

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

Gila Monster

Male Broad Billed Hummingbird

Townsend's Warbler

Verdin

Chiricahua Mountains - II

Today, some of the Hummingbirds:

Broad Billed Hummingbird

Broad Tailed Hummingbird

Blue Throat Hummingbird

More from Huachuca Canyon. Here are some decent photos I did get:

Bewicks Wren

Dusky Flycatcher

Broad Billed Hummingbird

House Finch

Bridled Titmouse

White Breasted Nuthatch

Vermillion Flycatcher - Female

Black Phoebe

Hammond's Flycatcher

Chipping Sparrow

Dark Eyed Junco

American Robin

Lesser Goldfinch

All in all, 39 species seen or photographed. It was a Good Day Birding.

The Joys of Birding -- or so

Once again the ability to accept defeat has surfaced. I spent the last two days photographing --- well, not necessarily photographing -- with some "birding" friends. Thursday we visited: Florida Canyon, Madera Canyon, Montosa Canyon, Amado WTP, Rio Rico Ponds, Kino Springs. Friday we visited WOW Arizona and Incinerator Ridge on Mount Lemmon. What a nice list of birds including townsend's, hermit, yellow, and red-faced warbler; western wood peewee, yellow eyed junco, several vireos, stellar jays, black hawk ---- oh, the list goes on .... 

The best birding spots were Florida Canyon and Mount Lemmon by far. However, I must admit that I didn't come home with one photograph that I would rate a four or five. 

But all those birds were quick looks. Gone in a flash -- or darting around on the backside of bushes and trees.  I wish that birds --- well, didn't have wings. It would make photographing them much easier. On Incinerator Ridge you are walking beneath a forest of pine trees. Unfortunately not much light gets through. Add to that the "flightiness" of birds and you can understand the difficulty.

However, we did see a Berylline Hummingbird in Madera Canyon at Chuparosa Inn. And, there were plenty of hummers including Allen's and Costa's at WOW Arizona. The hummingbirds were my best photos of the past two days. Here are a few:

Berylline Hummingbird

Allen's Juvenile Hummingbird

Costa's male and female fussing

Broad Billed Hummingbird

Black Chinned Hummingbird

Broad Billed Hummingbird - III

The last of my "5" Star Broad Billed Hummingbird photos shows a completely different coloration. In this case the BBH is dark green with little, if any, hint of blue. Contrast this with the post from yesterday where the BBH looks entirely blue.  The coloring does not come from pigmentation in the feather structure, but instead from prism-like cells within the top layers of the feathers. When light hits these cells, it is split into wavelengths that reflect to the observer in varying degrees of intensity. That is essentially how it can look blue from one angle and green from another. 

Broad Billed Hummingbird

Broad Billed Hummingbird - II

Another Broad Billed Hummingbird, this time eating nectar from wildflowers in Miller Canyon (Huachuca Mountains, Arizona). Hummingbirds, especially males, are often very colorful. When you get a chance to photograph them with flowers it creates lots of colors. Muting the background makes both the hummingbird and flower stand out.

Broad Billed Hummingbird

Broad Billed Hummingbird

Today's "5" Star Photo is a male Broad Billed Hummingbird photographed here at The Azure Gate B&B in Tucson, AZ. Nice color, nice detail, nice close-up.

Broad Billed Hummingbird

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

Ash Canyon in Early Spring

Still not an abundance of Hummingbirds yet in the Madrean Sky Islands of Southern Arizona. The Ash Canyon B&B is at the foot of Ash Canyon and an excellent spot for birding including the best spot in the US for the Lucifer Hummingbird (which I have shown before). No Lucifer on Tuesday. In fact, not a lot of Hummers. There was a male Magnificent that came around twice; a few Black Chinned; a few Anna's, and a few Broad Billed. But, as usual the day was not lost.  The gorgeous Lazuli Buntings were there along with the playful Lark Sparrow and Scott's Oriole. Here are some of the photos:

Lazuli Bunting

House Finch

Lark Sparrow

Pyrrhuloxia Male

Rufous Crowned Sparrow

Scotts Oriole Female

Broad Billed Hummingbird

Show Off

After Florida Canyon I checked out Madera Canyon just to see whether many of the migratory birds had arrived. The short answer is "not yet". However, there was a male Wild Turkey putting on quite a display. Here are a couple of those photos, plus a nice photo of a Broad Billed Hummingbird I took in Madera:

Wild Turkey, front view

Wild Turkey, rear view

Broad Billed Hummingbird

Hummingbird Heaven

I spent most of my time in Madera Canyon at Kubo Cabins. During that time the following hummingbirds were observed: Anna's, Berylline, Black Chinned, Broad Billed, Broad Tailed, Magnificent, Rufous, and Violet Crowned. That's eight different species in one sitting.

Magnificent Hummingbird Male

Broad Bill Hummingbird Male

Violet Crowned Hummingbird