Birding Patagonia - II

Next up Patagonia Lake:

American Avocet

Black Phoebe

Killdeer

Ladder Backed Woodpecker

McGillivray's Warbler

Sanderling

Sora

Summer Birding at Santa Cruz Flats

If someone were to ask me I'd say Santa Cruz Flats is a winter birding site. And certainly when you think of Raptors (including all five Falcons) and the multitude of shorebirds or threatened Mountain Plovers it is one of the very best winter birding spots.

But, I had to go to Phoenix so I though I'd drive through Santa Cruz Flats and see if there was anything interesting.

I could count the Raptors on one hand. And no Shorebirds or Plovers. But that's not to say it wasn't interesting. The big surprise of the day were a dozen or more Tropical Kingbirds:

Tropical Kingbird

But there were other finds as well:

Roadrunner

Great Tailed Grackle

Ladderbacked Woodpecker

Western Kingbird

I got two other photos but at the time didn't realize that I somehow accidentally hit the wrong "focus" button and ended up with what would have been great photos. Here there are anyway:

Black Crowned Night Heron

Burrowing Owl

Sweetwater Wetlands: Searching for the Northern Parula

Life of the birder/photographer. Unlike the Yellow Throated Warbler I found after 20 minutes of searching, the Northern Parula has escaped me for years. I tried three times along the Santa Cruz River off of Sasco Road (Santa Cruz Flats). I tried twice along the Santa Cruz River off of Ina Road (Tucson). And I have tried five times at Sweetwater Wetlands. All within the past three weeks.

It reminds me of the Daryl Zero quote from the movie Zero Effect:

"Now, a few words on looking for things. When you go looking for something specific, your chances of finding it are very bad. Because of all the things in the world, you're only looking for one of them. When you go looking for anything at all, your chances of finding it are very good. Because of all the things in the world, you're sure to find some of them."

 So didn't find the Northern Parula, but did find some "other things" at Sweetwater:

Common Yellowthroat

The usually reliable Green Heron

Snowy Egret

Orange Crowned Warbler

Yellow Rumped Warbler

Ruby Crowned Kinglet (showing off his ruby crown)

Male Ladderbacked Woodpecker

Female Ladderbacked Woodpecker

Male Gilded Flicker

Still More From Sweetwater Wetlands

In addition to the Bobcats, Green Herons, and Warblers there were many other nice photo opportunities at Sweetwater two weeks ago:

Black Phoebe

Brown Crested Flycatcher with Dragonfly in Bill

Cooper's Hawk Eyeing Lunch

Great Egret

Ladder backed Woodpecker

Red Skimmer

Snowy Egret

Song Sparrow

Verdin Gathering Material for his Nest

Vermillion Flycatcher

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.