Las Cienegas National Conservation Area - Part VI

And, now photos from the grasslands of Las Cienegas:

Killdeer

Red Tailed Hawk

Turkey Vulture

Western Meadowlark

Red Tailed Hawk feeding Chick along Highway 83 from Las Cienegas

Lake Cochise

In addition to the four Herons seen at Lake Cochise (and shared in the last two posts) here are a few other finds:

American Avocet

Black Necked Stilt

Loggerhead Shrike with catch

Western Meadowlark

White Faced Ibis

Yellow Headed Blackbird

Other photos from Las Cienegas

Here are a few other photos from Las Cienegas;

Loggerhead Shrike

Red Tailed Hawk

Rufous Winged Sparrow

Vesper Sparrow

Western Meadowlark

Birds on a Wire: Western Meadowlark

The Western Meadowlark is very similar in plumage to the Eastern Meadowlark although has very different song patterns. Their ranges don't often overlap -- except in Southern Arizona where the occasional Eastern Meadowlark can be found.

It forages mostly on the ground looking for insects and seeds -- even digging in the ground with its bill.  Insects include beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars, ants, bugs, and spiders. In the fall and winter it eats more seeds and grains.

Florida Canyon Birding

Madera Canyon is well known, well birded, well hiked, and well picnicked. Just prior to getting to Madera Canyon there is turn-off on to a dirt road that goes about three miles into Florida Canyon. Florida canyon, though not as big, not as many trails often gets birds that Madera Canyon doesn't -- or at least not on a regular basis. Rufous Capped Warblers live year round in Florida Canyon but have never been reported in Madera Canyon which is less than a mile away as the crow (or warble) flies. Black Capped Gnatcatchers are also often present in Florida Canyon.

A trip through Box Canyon to both Florida Canyon and Madera Canyon produced some nice results last week:

Black Headed Grosbeak Male

Blue Grosbeak Male

Scott's Oriole Female

Varied Bunting

Western Meadowlark

Northern Shrike

White Tailed Deer

Empire Gulch at Las Cienegas, Arizona

On another short trip this week I wanted to see what was happening at Empire Gulch. This truly is a wonderful birding spot. Always water and always birds. Here are some of my favorites from the couple hours I spent both in the gulch and around Las Cienegas:

Pipevine Swallowtail

Periwinkle

Ruby Crowned Kinglet (showing off his ruby crown)

Yellow Warbler

Western Meadowlark

Pronghorn

San Rafael Valley, Arizona

My apologies for the delay. I have been out photographing several birding spots in Southern Arizona the past several days: San Rafael Valley, Madera Canyon, Ironwood National Monument, Santa Cruz Flats, and Sweetwater Wetlands.

Here are some of my finds in San Rafael Valley:

Harrier Hawk

Western Meadowlark

Mule Deer

Raven

Tomorrow: Madera Canyon Surprise

San Pedro River Revisited

After Ash Canyon I hiked along the San Pedro River and found some nice photos:

Black Crowned Night Heron

Curved Billed Thrashers

Green Tailed Towhee

Pyrrhuloxia - male

Pyrrhuloxia - Males

Song Sparrow

Western Meadowlark

Ash Canyon Revisited

A quick trip down to Ash Canyon to see if the migrating hummers had arrived yet. And, while the answer was "no" I was able to get several other nice photos:

Acorn Woodpecker

Bushtit

Ladderback Woodpecker

Rufous Crowned Sparrow

Scott's Oriole

Spotted Towhee

White Crowned Sparrow