Mixed Flock of Mount Lemmon Warblers

Finding a mixed flock of Warblers is always exciting. You truly must be in the right place and the right time, not 10 minutes early, not 10 seconds late. Then, within 15 minutes you might see 20 or more warblers, with at least 5 different species. My best day was 10 species (back in 2015).

I figure I've been up Mount Lemmon over 200 times in the past 17 years. And I have only been in "that" right place at the right time, 6 times. 

And while it is exciting, it can be equally frustrating. You are trying to photograph a Hermit Warbler (for example) when you eye shifts to movement of another warbler. They move quickly from branch to branch or tree to tree and stay pretty much hidden from full view. You end up spending several minutes trying to get that one warbler, passing up chances on all the others.

You come back home and look at the 657 photos you took and find only 20 that you like. And no decent photo of the Virginia's Warbler or Townsend Warbler or Black Throated Grey or Graces Warbler or Olive Warbler. Truth be told the Olive and Graces seldom "flock" and stay pretty high up in the Ponderosa Pines. So their presence was merely co-incidental. 

But, there were six species I photographed that I would put in the okay to good category:

Female Hermit Warbler

Nashville Warbler showing his Chestnut Crown Patch

Painted Redstart

Red Faced Warbler

Not a very good Townsend's Warbler

Marginal Wilson's Warbler

Pena Blanca Lake: Other Birds

Among the other birds, Pena Blanca Lake offers a wide variety of raptors, warblers, woodpeckers, grosbeaks, buntings, and of course sparrows.

Here are just a few photos from last week's trip:

Bewick's Wren

Cooper's Hawk

Lazuli Bunting

Lincoln's Sparrow

Nashville Warbler

Orange Crowned Warbler

Red Naped Sapsucker

Nashville Warbler

Welcome visitors from Martinique. Though part of France, Martinique represents the 133rd country or separate entity that has visited our blog since 2008.

Continuing to share my warbler photos along with information about each species, from my latest book: "Warblers of Arizona, A Guide to Finding and Photographing Warblers in Southern Arizona." 

If you are interested in purchasing it, please email me at exclusivelywildlifephotos.com or info@azuregate.com.

Nashville Warbler

Common Name: Nashville Warbler

Scientific Name: Oreothlypis ruficapilla

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Conservation Status: Least Concern, stable or slightly increasing population estimated at 32 million

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Size: 4.7 inches

Description: blue-gray head; olive green back; white eyering; chestnut crown patch (not always visible); yellow chin, throat, and breast; whitish belly; no wing bars; fine sharp black bill; dark thin tail

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Male/Female: female lacks the chestnut crown patch

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Range: Southern Canada (except Alberta and Saskatchewan) to Guatemala excluding Montana and Wyoming

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Migration: winters in Mexico, summers in Canada, migrates through most of the United States

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Season for Arizona: April/May and August/September/October

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Habitat: second growth deciduous or mixed forest with dense undergrowth;

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Community Behavior: solitary or mixed warbler flocks

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Feeding Behavior: gleans insects primarily from tips of lower branches, shrubs, and sometimes ground

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Diet: Insects, larvae and adult, also spiders

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Nesting Behavior: neat open cup of moss, bark, leaves, and grasses; sometimes porcupine quills; located on ground in dense brush; 3-6 white eggs with brown spots

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Where to Find in Southern Arizona: because of its preferred habitat, it is not found in desert areas, rather mountain areas such as Mount Lemmon, Huachuca Canyon, Madera Canyon or riparian areas like Sabino Creek

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Comments: first observed by Alexander Wilson in 1811 in Nashville, Tennessee 

Bug Eating Birds: Nashville Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Warblers of Southern Arizona: Nashville Warbler

Continuing my series on Warblers of Southern Arizona, in alphabetical order, next up:

Nashville Warbler

Distinctive Identification Marks: small and compact with fine sharp bill; olive-green back contrasts with blue-gray head; bright white eye ring; yellow throat, breast and belly; may show chestnut crown patch; no wing bars; dark thin tail; slightly brighter in Arizona than in the East.

Frequency: Uncommon

Season: Spring and Fall

Range: Throughout most of the US (excluding the southeast)

Habitat:

Lower Tree and Brush in second growth or mixed forest with shrubby undergrowth;

Nests on the ground;

Nesting:
Nests on ground  under brushy vegetation with a cup of moss, bark, leaves, grasses, pine needles, 

Feeding Behavior:

Gleaning: perched bird takes prey from branch

Pouncing: perched bird takes prey from ground
Feeds exclusively on insects

General Behavior:

Walking

Hovering

Skulking

Where to Find: Mount Lemmon, Huachuca Canyon, Madera Canyon, Sabino Canyon

Chance of Finding: Often in small flocks; sometimes mixed; 50% when reported, 20% otherwise.

Wintering Warblers

If you are a Warbler fan (like me) what do you do when all the warblers fly south for the winter? Truth be told, not all fly south, and some actually arrive for the winter. No not nearly the numbers that there are in the summer. Yet still some nice finds.

When at Sweetwater two weeks ago I managed to find four different Warblers in between photographing the Bobcats:

Black Throated Gray Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Orange Crowned Warbler

Yellow Rumped Warbler

Birding Huachuca Canyon, continued

It's warbler time, and in addition to Mount Lemmon, Huachuca Canyon is an excellent spot. I went hoping to find and get a "great" photo of a MacGillivray's Warbler. I have seen and photographed them before in several places but really needed that "perfect" photo. And while I did not see a MacGillivray's -- thought I did once, but it turn out to be a Nashville -- I did find six different Warbler species:

Painted Redstart with "catch"

Nashville Warbler with "catch"

Townsend's Warbler

Hermit Warbler

Wilson's Warbler

Black Throated Gray Warbler

Back to Birding Mount Lemmon

I continue to bird Mount Lemmon just outside Tucson in Arizona. The first of the birding sites is just 8 miles from us. And from there up to the top (30 miles from us) is outstanding birding. 

I've been on a "mission" to find a photograph a male Olive Warbler. I'm also trying to get a better photo of a Grace's Warbler.

As I've talked with other birders, I think many of the "reported" Olive sightings have actually been Hermit Warblers -- which are plentiful. With almost every trip I find a Grace's but they are extremely difficult to photograph. They are almost exclusively in the top third of the tall pine trees above 7000 feet. That being the case it is difficult to get that full side view in full detail.

Yesterday, at dawn, I started at the top and worked my way down. The thought is that the top gets sun first which attracts the Warblers. Six hours later, I came home after having taken 1350 photos. (Thank goodness for digital). And although I missed on the male Olive again, I came back with some "bests".

Here are a few of the photos:

White Tailed Deer

Female Western Bluebird feeding its Chick

Red Tailed Hawk

Virginia's Warbler

Pine Siskin

Nashville Warbler

Townsend's Warbler

Orange Crowned Warbler

Wilson's Warbler

Cordilleran Flycatcher

Male Hermit Warbler

Warblers of Mount Lemmon: Summary

Many warblers are hard to find, let alone photograph. Some like the Grace's and Olive's stay in the tree tops some 40 to 80 feet off the ground. They can be completely hidden by leaves or pine needles. Your only hope is to see them fly from tree to tree.

In other cases, such as the Painted Redstart, Lucy's, Nashville, Wilson's, they like brush and can even be seen on the ground at times. 

As for identifying them, sometimes that too can be challenging. Case in point, the Olive Warbler. For those people with a fine ear (and memory) hearing becomes the best way to distinguish  a female Hermit Warbler from a female Olive Warbler. That's if the birds are vocal. But trying to identify a female Olive by sight in real time? Not very likely. Even with good photographs of both an Olive and a Hermit it is difficult. I have on several occasions come home thinking I have an Olive photograph when after careful study concluded it was a Hermit.

Nonetheless, for a birder or photographer spending a few hours in the wilderness of Mount Lemmon can be exciting when a mix flock of Warblers rolls through a canyon. We are used to spending an hour and not seeing anything -- then all of a sudden there are so many birds you don't know what to try to photograph first.  

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've been trying to concentrate on Warblers of Mount Lemmon. Here's a summary of what I've photographed in the past three weeks:

Black Throated Gray Warbler

Grace's Warbler

Hermit Warbler

Lucy's Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Painted Redstart

Red Faced Warbler

Townsend's Warbler

Virginia's Warbler

Wilson's Warbler