Wildlife of The Azure Gate Bed and Breakfast - Part II

Part II of Wildlife Photos taken here at the Azure Gate B&B since the pandemic started:

Flyby Double-crested Cormorant

Gambel's Quail

Gila Woodpecker

Great Horned Owl with Owlet

House Finch Female

House Finch Male

House Sparrow

Birding The Azure Gate

We are fortunate to have quite a lot of birds around. In terms of number of species, it's 75 -- certainly not as many as might be found where there is more water -- Sweetwater Wetlands, Santa Cruz and San Pedro Rivers, and the various mountain canyons.

But in terms of sheer numbers, you'll see as many birds here as in just about any place -- certainly the desert birds.

We have had our share of oddities -- Wild Turkeys, Band Tailed Pigeon, and Western Wood Pewee, Inca Dove, Scott's Oriole, Gilded Flicker, Rivoli's and Black Chinned Hummingbirds -- birds more associated with the surrounding mountains.

It's been difficult for me to get out to some of the birding sites the last couple of weeks. So I try to walk around our property every day. Yesterday I got the following photos that I particularly like:

Cooper's Hawk Adult

Verdin

Cactus Wren

Gila Woodpecker

Gila Woodpecker, can you say "Noisy"?

Alphabetically speaking after Gila Monster comes Gila Woodpecker. 

So, today a male Gila Woodpecker photo taken here at The Azure Gate. This is one of those strange dichotomies where 1) it can be a rather annoying bird, but 2) is only found in Southern Arizona (in the US) so could be a "life bird" for a great many birders. It is though, a woodpecker and frequently seen in suburban areas. Oh, and frequently heard pounding on gutters or anything metal. He's got quite the personality to match. He will be drinking from one of the hummingbird feeders when I walk by. Then he'll fly up into a nearby Saguaro and squawk at me incessantly. As soon as I leave he's back on the hummingbird feeder. Oh well, he has to eat to.

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Quick Trip to Pattons in Patagonia

After breakfast Christine let me loose to see what was happening in Patagonia. I stopped at Patton's for about an hour. Came away with some nice photos:

Summer Tanager

Gila Woodpecker

Violet Crowned Hummingbird

Female Cardinal

Male Cardinal

Just Another Spring Morning in Southern Arizona

I had a few minutes before breakfast yesterday so I sat outside my office in one of the rocking chairs for 20 minutes taking photos of the birds. Here are some of those photos. (not bad for 20 minutes in a rocking chair):

Anna's Hummingbird

Black Headed Grosbeak - Female

Northern Cardinal - Female

Curved Bill Thrasher

Gambels Quail - Female

Gambels Quail - Male

Gila Woodpecker - Male

House Finch - Female

Lesser Goldfinch - Female

Lesser Goldfinch - Male

Mourning Dove

White Winged Dove

Odds and Ends

Hard to believe that I have been doing a daily blog for two and a half years; new photos every day; themes for a series; will I run out of photos?  While I gather photos for a new series, here are a few miscellaneous photos taken during the past week, from a variety of places.

Black Phoebe, Patagonia Creek

Male Gila Woodpecker, Patagonia

Male Harrier Hawk, San Rafael Valley

Spotted Towhee, Mount Lemmon

Nests - Part II

There are people who love photography and take photos of anything that strikes them as worth a photo. Most "photographers" have a specialty: Portrait, Landscape, Architecture, Industrial, Wildlife, etc. But each category can have it's own specialties. The Portrait Photographer can specialize in Weddings for example. For the Wildlife Photographer it might be flowers, plants, butterflies, birds, or animals. Even within those categories there can be further "specialization." Nests, for example. What I realized in starting this Blog Topic is that I never really thought of "Nests" as a category.  So, while I have many "nest photos" to show, there are many that I have deleted over the years because they didn't rise to my ever-changing standard of "quality." Case in point, I was looking for my Great Blue Heron and Great Egret "Rookery" photos. Nope, couldn't find them. They nest in the tops of very tall trees near wetlands -- or some water source that provides food. Some rookeries are shared by both the Herons and Egrets.  The Egrets nest first (February or March)  followed by the Herons three or four weeks after the Egrets leave their nests. It really is quite a sight since the average rookery contains 150 or more nests. I have found and photographed rookeries in Washington, British Columbia, Oregon, and Arizona, but I can't find a single photo. So, I am going to make it a point to increase my "nest portfolio". In the meantime, there are some woodpecker nests to share:

Acorn Woodpecker

Gila Woodpecker

Agua Caliente, Arizona - Part VII

And, now for some of the birds photographed at Agua Caliente:

Vermillion Flycatrcher

Western Tanager

Male Gila Woodpecker

Female Gilded Flicker

Great Tailed Grackle

Woodpeckers: Part V

Close to home the Gila Woodpecker. The Gila is found only in Southern Arizona (in the US) and Western Mexico. They exist almost entirely within the Sonoran Desert. He is here at The Azure Gate daily -- all day -- no possibility of not seeing -- or hearing  him. The male Gila Woodpecker has a red crown which is the best way to distinguish the sexes. They nest in Saguaro Cacti drilling a hole about four inches deep and then 10 or so inches down the saguaro. Once they "drill" the nest many other birds use the nest, including the rare "Elf Owl". But, we see various sparrows in the Saguaro holes all the time. There are various ways to describe its sounds. To me, the Gila Woodpecker sounds like a duck, quacking and quacking away. He loves to drink from our hummingbird feeders. If I walk toward a feeder the Gila is drinking from, he will fly away into the nearest saguaro and quack at me for a minute or more until I leave the area Occasionally, we wake up in the morning to the sound of the Gila Woodpecker pounding on the side of the house. Here are a few of the photos of this scrappy and noisy little guy.

Female Gila Woodpecker eating fruit from Indian Fig Prickly Pear Cactus

Male Gila Woodpecker eating fruit from Palm Tree

Male Gila Woodpecker in nest of Saguaro Cactus

Birds of The Azure Gate: Part Eight

Next up: The Woodpeckers of The Azure Gate:

Gila Woodpecker

The Gila Woodpecker is the most common. It is easily found -- and heard -- every day of the year. It is only found in Arizona, and only in the Sonoran Desert. It's main attraction is the Saguaro. All the holes you find in a Saguaro were made by the Gila Woodpecker. (Unless you live by a golf course, in which case many are made by the little white ball). The Gila Woodpecker "drills" into the Saguaro about four or five inches and then down into the Saguaro about 10 inches. The Saguaro then secretes a substance to line this cavity so that it won't dry out and die. This substance hardens and when the Saguaro eventually dies (of old age or lightning) the "boot" that was created pops out. The Gila Woodpecker is a noisy bird. Sometimes sharpening his bill on the side of the house. He likes to drink from the Hummingbird feeders and will try to get into the Cardinal feeder as well. If you walk by, he flies to the nearest Saguaro and starts squawking because you have disturb it.

Gilded Flicker

The Gilded Flicker is larger and much heavier than the Gila Woodpecker. But, like the Gila Woodpecker is only found in the Sonoran Desert. The male, in the photo above, is easily distinguished by his red malar. In this photo, he is on a branch of a Century Plant. We see him much less frequently, only four or five times a year. We'll see both the male and female.

Ladder Backed Woodpecker

Still even less frequent is the Ladder Backed Woodpecker. We see him only a couple times a year. He's probably here more often when we don't see him, but still not common. When we do see him he is always with his mate. Again the male is easy to identify because of its red crown. The Ladder Backed Woodpecker has a wider range, pretty much throughout the Southwest.

Woodpeckers

Woodpeckers seem to have a personality. Take the Acorn Woodpecker (first photo), found mostly in the mountain canyons is both "clownish" looking and acting. As the name implies they rely heavily on acorns for food source, although they will also eat insects. They collect and then store their acorns in holes of trees (or telephone poles). The Gila Woodpeckers (second photo) are mainly responsible for all the holes in saguaro cacti. The holes are two or three inches in diameter and then go down inside the saguaro about one foot. Once the hole is "drilled", the saguaro secretes a substance which protects itself from drying out. After the saguaro dies, the "boot" can be collected as it separates from the rest of the saguaro. At our place Gila Woodpeckers are abundant. They are constantly "squawking" at anyone who comes near them or "disturbs" their "drilling" or drinking from the hummingbird feeders. The Gilded Flicker (third photo) is a migrant which we see mainly in the spring and early summer. He is a little larger then the Gila and quite colorful.