Empire Gulch

Black Phoebe(Sayornis Nigricans)

Today I end my series on the grasslands with Kathie from Kathie's Birds.  It was an exciting day and also an early one of many discoveries.  I think we started our day at around 5 in the morning.  It went from cool to hot.  By the end of this last hike at Empire Ranch and Cienagas near Sonoita, we both were exhausted.

But the bird discoveries we'd make on this particular trail were incredible and worth the fried brains.  I couldn't even think on our trek back home.  The sun and heat can drain even the most enthusiastic of adventure seekers:)  Today's post isn't about the photography as it's about the finds.  Kathie has an amazing ability to spot things.  She also has the ability to speak "bird".  I tried speaking this difficult tongue on a recent hike and had some success attracting a sparrow:)  The birds were far and quick.  Hidden and camouflaged but I'm pretty happy with several of the shots.  But just to see these birds was an incredible thrill.

Female Summer Tanager

The one thing I'm realizing is that after I've done a photo documentation of birds, I'm a bit more relaxed to get the better shots later on....and they usually turn out better like the Phoebe in the first shot.  But I'm also not stressing out as much to get them on camera as I am able to chill and observe.  I spotted the tanagers but Kathie......how she spotted the other two birds, I'll never know.  Get ready.....

Male Summer Tanager

This Phoebe flew into view as Kathie spoke "birdish" to attract a star member to come out of the bushes.  While I waited for that shot, I snapped the elegance of this beautiful little flycatcher.

And then.......a Yellow Breasted Chat came forward.  A life bird for me and it was so thrilling.  Seriously, incredibly exciting.   I've become a birder but the kind that needs to have the camera in hand to make it count.  For Kathie, it's keeping the documentation and writing down the Ebird stats (which is something I really find interesting and important).  It's hard to do both photography and keep stats.  Kathie has her notepad first and I use my camera first.  Together we can keep track of all the action going on around us.

Yellow Breasted Chat

The small birds are the trickiest and after a day of heat and exhaustion, my eyes tend to lose focus and go blurry so I have to shutdown the photography bit.  I cannot wait for the "cold" winter temps.  This heat kills me.  I have gardening to do and can't wait to get my hands into the dirt again but back to birds....

Pacific-Slope Flycatcher

As I was trying to get a better shot of this guy, Kathie was searching the tree canopy of the great forest.  I was trying to locate the Grey Hawks we had been hearing.  And I did spot them high high above the creek area but I wasn't able to get it on camera.  They had flown into this area.  The park ranger had seen one before we had gotten there.

As I turned around, I saw Kathie in her element and smiled.  I took the shot. This is Southern Arizona folks:)

Kathie became super excited.  "Oh my gosh!!!  I think that's a.....it IS an American Redstart!!!"  A rare find indeed. But I didn't know that. She observed like an excellent birder does and I grabbed the camera and tried to get this quick tiny bird.  It was so far away.  From my studies, I can't tell if this is a juvenile or female before mating.  Because the male in full mating regalia is quite the beauty.  But when he's not, he kinda looks like this pic below.

American Redstart

It was a rare find indeed for this area.  I sent the pics into the Bird Gods and they replied, "Bla bla bla.....it's migration and they are quite common."  But I have to tell you.....it was rare to spot this bird here. Kathie was thrilled and I was.....learning:)  So the poor quality pics weren't used but one of these days I'll find that rare Purple Gallinule that made it's way up Central America into Southern Arizona and they will accept my submissions!:)

So as always, I keep looking out for new things.  Kathie and I have gone on more birding treks since this write.  Life is crazy for me in fall.  Hopefully the temps will lower soon and I can enjoy the hikes more. Soon there won't be any mosquitoes or heat exhaustion:) I hope you enjoyed the fun we had on the trails.  So while I'm not birding on my own or with friends, I have been trying to keep up with my reading at night.  Kathie recommended a book that I have now finished. I'm ready for more birder books:)  Do any of you have recommendations?  It's really fun and a great way to stay out of the heat and learn more about what makes a birder tick.  I'm not going to do a book report on it....but I have made a list of new words that birders use.  Even Kathie uses lingo that is foreign to me....like there are a bunch of "Modo's" over there.  Being a high school teacher, I thought she said MoFo's which is something entirely different.  She was just pointing out Mourning Doves:)  There's so much to learn.  Thank you Kathie for the fun treks into new territory.  We went on more treks since this write but I'll save those writes for later.  More tomorrow....

Ruby Crowned Kinglet