Other photos from Sweetwater Wetlands

In addition to the raccoons, I got some bird photos:

Common Gallinule

Common Yellowthroat Male

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Red Winged Blackbird

Tropical Kingbird

Verdin at Nest

Yellow Warbler

Dawn at Sweetwater Wetlands - Part IV

More from Sweetwater Wetlands this week:

Red Winged Blackbird

Red Winged Blackbird

Green Heron

Green Heron

Verdin

Common Yellowthroat

Birds of Sweetwater Wetlands - Part II

Continuing with typical birds of Sweetwater Wetlands:

Lesser Goldfinch

Red Eared Slider (I know it's not a bird, but I like this tiny one)

Red Winged Blackbird Female

Roadrunner

Tropical Kingbird

Verdin

Sweetwater Wetlands Revisited - II

And now the other birds from a morning at Sweetwater:

Abert's Towhee

Black Phoebe

Orange Crowned Warbler

Red Winged Blackbird

Wilson's Warbler

Yellow Rumped Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Sweetwater Wetlands

Tried to beat the heat and got over to Sweetwater Wetlands before 6:00 am. Nothing too unusual, although there was a Tropical Kingbird there (along with some Western Kingbirds).

The Tropical Kingbird is one of those rare birds to the United States; the extreme Southeast portion of Arizona the only place in the US. What's unusual is that they are an easier find because they come in larger numbers - like the dozen or so at Santa Cruz Flats the other day.

Here are a few photos from Sweetwater, starting with the Tropical Kingbird:

Tropical Kingbird

Western Kingbird

Vermillion Flycatcher

Bell's Vireo

Verdin

Red Winged Blackbird

Best Wildlife Photos of 2016: Red Winged Blackbird

The Red Winged Blackbird can be found throughout the lower 48 states year round -- and often in flocks of a hundred or more. Yet, here is one in my list of best photos. I think it is the setting: he's sitting on a downed cattail leaf just above the water and showing off the red on both wings; he's looking directly at me and doesn't seem afraid. You be the judge:

Red Winged Blackbird

Agua Caliente: Lucy's and MacGillivray's Warblers and More

Quick trip on Monday to Agua Caliente Regional Park. While the main attraction is the spring fed pond, don't overlook the mesquite bosque between ponds one and two. It can be very birdie with the mesquite trees and grasses.

Here are a few of the photos from Monday:

Ash Throated Flycatcher

Double Crested Cormorant

Green Tailed Towhee

Lucy's Warbler

MacGillivray's Warbler

Phainopepla Female

Red Winged Blackbird

Vermillion Flycatcher Male

Red Winged Blackbird

Next up, alphabetically, is the Red Winged Blackbird. The Red Winged Blackbird is found throughout North and Central America in open grassy areas. It generally prefers wetlands, and inhabits both freshwater and saltwater marshes, particularly if cattail is present. It is also found in dry upland areas, where it inhabits meadows, prairies, and old fields. It is a migratory bird spending its winters in the southern warmer areas. It feeds mostly on seeds and insects.

Red Winged Blackbird

Whitewater Draw

From Lake Cochise I went on to Whitewater Draw, whose primary claim to fame is the 40,000 Sandhill Cranes that visit from December to March every year. It also gets a fair share of Snow and Ross' Geese as well. During the summer it is quite different, though. First there is only one pond left. All the others, including the big one that the Cranes and Geese use, are dry. The one "summer" pond is the deepest (I would guess no more than six feet when full, though). Because it holds some water all year it gets a lot of vegetation during the summer which brings all sorts of birds. Here are a few photos from my time at Whitewater Draw yesterday.

Lesser Nighthawk

Killdeer

American Avocet
(I like its almost "abstract" look - click to enlarge and see).

White Faced Ibis
(You can see there are only a few inches of water left in this part of the pond).

Snowy Egret

Red Winged Blackbird
(Dweed-Up)

Great Horned Owl
(Okay, this guy is here year round).