White Throated Sparrow

Sparrows.  The bane of my existence.  They are so difficult to ID, but thankfully this little guy had all the right markings in all the right places:)

Easy to ID.  Not a common fellow around these parts but one that is welcome, the White Throated Sparrow does indeed have a white throat and yellow lores(fancy term for some yellow splash around the eyes).

Another first bird for Las Aventuras as we watched this bird dig around the dirt at Sweetwater wetlands near the bridge.

If you live in Tucson or are visiting, remember to look near the entrance by the bridge for all the little birds.  They like to hang out in the bushes and along the stream. It's where I've spotted many of my warblers and sparrows.  Cute little sparrow and one that doesn't take an expert eye to figure out.  My kind of bird:)  More tomorrow....

White Throated Sparrow

Nothing Beats A Great Pair of Legs

Today it's all about the long legged birds showing off at the Riparian Preserve at Gilbert Water Ranch.

Great Blue Heron in flight

Here are some shots from just of few of my favorite birds in flight. Or reflecting:)

Snowy Egret

If you're looking to refine your skills on capturing herons or egrets in flight, this is the place to do it.

They were everywhere.  I also got a chance to watch Great Blue Herons in a mating dance.  Very cool.

I'll part now and leave you with these incredible birds.  Until tomorrow.....

Great Egret in water as Snowy Egret lands next to its larger relative

Snowy Egret in flight

Scauping Around

Remembering the "Golden Rule" of birding, we looked at the large groups of birds.  At the Gilbert Water Ranch, we'd get clear shots of the elusive Northern Pintails and Lesser Scaup.

Northern Pintail

But we had to really observe.  All these ducks today are a first for Las Aventuras.  The eye can play tricks with ducks.  Hybrids, female/male ducks, and similar looking ducks like the Canvasback/Redheads can cause one to lose track and blend them all together.

Ring-necked Duck

The important rule though is to keep your ears open.  If a rare bird is spotted in your area, there's a chance that others may be around as well.  Several posts ago, I spoke about searching for the Lesser Scaup at the Amado Recharge basin near Madera Canyon.  At the time, I wasn't able to find the bird but this Gilbert Ranch experience really led us to some great observations.

But as you can imagine, the duck below was popular with families and their kids.  Just a domestic duck.  Still cute.  This particular bird was a celebrity with the crowds at the park:)

But I'm weird.  The Lesser Scaups hiding with all the others made me jump up and down. I rushed down the bridge to get close up shots!

Lesser Scaup

Both sexes were found hiding in the Ring-necked Duck crowd.  And I had to really focus and pay attention to find them. By this time, Kathie and I were exhausted and tired.  We had spent an entire morning counting birds.  We found over 50 birds but by the time we returned back to our car, our minds were drained and our bodies lacked nourishment.

The last bird I counted on this day would be another lifer for me....the Lesser Scaup.  It just took more work and mental focus to find it:)  And what little exists up in my head was then completely drained.

But Kathie and I weren't finished.  There are two more posts coming up from our adventure and day off birding.  It's serious business and it's never 1 or 2 hours with us......but an entire day.  Just wait until you see what else we found:)  What a trip!  At the end of the day, we went home and slept.  And didn't bird for several days afterwards:)

Green-Winged Teal

More tomorrow....

Warp Speed!

Great Blue Heron with the Catalina mountains in the background

I know people raise their eyebrows when I say that there are Herons in the desert but as you will see, we have many of them.  And for the first time, I've figured out some photography tricks with these beautiful birds.

Two Black Crowned Night Herons flying near a California Palm.

In these shots, you will see two Black Crowned Night Herons and a Great Blue Heron in flight.  The secret??  Before humans contaminate these watering holes with their loud voices and trash, you'll find these elusive creatures at the banks or shores around the manmade lakes.  But you have to go very early before they fly off to remote areas.  I'm also learning where those are as well:)

In fact, these birds took off because several people disturbed the area.  But for the first time I was able to capture them up close and personal and it was very special.

 I didn't want to crop too close up to the bird because the mountain views are breathtaking and demonstrate how large they truly are!

It pays to get up early.  Yes at times it's terrible and I'd like to sleep in but to be honest I know I'm missing a whole lot of action out in the field. And so it's a competition to beat the sun coming up and you have to move warp speed or you'll miss out.  A little coffee, a friend like Kathie, and walk.  It's a great way to start your day:)  More tomorrow as Kathie and I explore the Dark Side of birding....

The Western Kingbird

As far as Kingbirds go, I haven't a clue.  They all look the same to me with variations of yellow on their fronts:)  So if you're an advanced birder of special powers and think I've got the bird all wrong, please let me know.  I won't be upset:)  This blogging experience is about learning and growing from one another. But the one thing I do know for certain is that these birds were a fun spot the day I went searching for Buntings:)  A happy accident:) But from what I can tell, this is the Western Kingbird. Or maybe it's the Tropical Kingbird?  Help me birders:)

I said to myself as I approached the bridge near the Santa Cruz river in Tucson, "Hello there, what are you?" Then I got closer and noticed more of them together!  I had definitely not seen this bird in Tucson before.  So indeed, it was a lifer. Perhaps one of those birds that people say, "Oh you've never seen that bird before?  I see them here all the time."

Again, I was alone on this hot and moist day, but I was able to get very close to this bird.  The Kingbird was the size of a Robin or Curve Billed Thrasher.  And when it flew, I smiled.  So graceful.  There were 4 of them that sat on fence lines along the wash.

Western Kingbirds are not really desert birds. Their presence in the Sonoran Desert is dependent on better watered habitats. Look for them along fences and utility wires in agricultural districts. They can also be found in semi-open riparian and grassland habitats. Riparian zones with more trees tend to favor the similar-looking Cassin's Kingbird. They are sometimes found in urban areas of Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona. Source

Kingbirds are active hunters of flying insects and will target quite large ones such as cicadas. Their upright posture is typical of flycatchers.  And there were a lot of bugs that day.  This summer has been difficult on my legs with all the chiggers and mosquitoes.

The Western Kingbird(and Tropical Kingbird) is a summer breeding visitor to the mountains around Tucson, preferring tree lined creek sides.  But because of a crazy monsoon storm, they were found along the heavily tree'd Santa Cruz River. With summer coming to a close, they will be flying off for tropical locations this winter.  And like this bird suggests, it's time to fly!  More tomorrow.

El Sr. Papagayo

Northern Mockingbird

Hello everyone!  I'm back and catching up with you all. It has been an amazing weekend with a lot of finds and I can't wait to share those posts with you all. Although, I'm done with these chigger bites.  They are terrible this year!  So don't look at the bird bath.  It's disgusting and has since been cleaned.  But apparently, the wildlife doesn't care.  In fact the more algae, mosquito larvae, and less water it has....the better!

Once common at El Presidio, this Northern Mockingbird stopped by for a quick bath and drink. Residents called this bird "the Papagayo".  I have no idea what that meant but it stuck.  El "Sr. Papagayo" made lots of exotic and tropical bird noises in our courtyard at the end of May and into June right before monsoon. It was the most beautiful sound to hear and many residents left their doors open to listen to the comforting and continually random calls he learned from other birds over his lifetime.  Which begs the question, "Who were all those interesting characters he met?!"

He was indeed a "Sr." because he was looking for a mate.  When I first met him in person, I was, how shall we say, underwhelmed by the appearance.  Then our pool was removed and el "Sr. Papagayo" never returned.  Perhaps it was the water, but for two seasons his voice was not heard at El Presidio. They flew around in our neighborhood but never stopped by our gardens.....until now.

You don't realize how precious something is until its gone.  When this Mockingbird made a return to the gardens for the first time, my heart leapt.  I constantly look out my window for the new birds and when I saw our newly returned visitor, I had to contain my excitement and slowly grab the camera.

The secret?  We need to get our fountain into the courtyard and then perhaps, "El Sr. Papagayo" will return on a regular basis. So welcome back my feathered friend:)  More tomorrow.... 

Mr. Wilson!!!!

Greetings all!  I have enjoyed your comments this weekend.  I'm back again after an exhausting 4 days.  Tomorrow morning I'll catch up with all again and look forward to your posts.  Like the picture of this squirrel suggests, I had to get hopping over to the Sweetwater Wetlands to find the Wilson's Phalarope and while there, I was hoping to capture the Wilson's Warbler as well.  It was a day of finding the Wilson family:)

So I MOVED!!!  My last experience with the Phalarope family wasn't a good one.  I consider only excellent pictures to count as a bird sighting.  And while I spotted the Red/Red Necked Phalarope, they weren't close enough to see in the pic.  So I hoped to get better shots of this particular Phalarope.

While scanning the only basin of water, I captured the Black Neck Stilt, the Glossy Ibis, and a couple American Avocets......and then, in the far distance, I saw 5 spinning circular motions....indicative of the Phalarope family.

But I hadn't counted on 5 of them!!!!  Just to be sure I walked around the basin as best I could to see if I could get better shots.....

At first I thought I had counted wrong, but alas, the other Wilson Phalarope joined in.....

.......creating the group of "5".  I hoped to get closer to these interesting birds but a fence prohibited me from crossing. And to be honest, it wasn't so much the fence as it was the law that kept me out:)  I could really get some great shots if I could just cross the line:)  So playing detective paid off today....

.....and I did get better shots than those of the Red/Red Necked Phalarope. As for the Wilson's Warbler??

There was too much Blackbird "noise" going on, but I was able to locate and hone in on a Warbler "voice".  It was intermittent and high above the trees.  One would think it would be easy to identify this hot number.  I kid you not, I stood for a half hour refusing to go home until I found that bird!

Eventually I found it extremely high up in the Eucs bouncing around.....but it wasn't the Wilson's Warbler, it was the Yellow Warbler.  The difference?  Both are yellow, but the Wilson's Warbler has a black swatch on the top of its head.  I'm lucky that I was able to even get this shot.  My neck hurt after this outing. 

Eventually the little guy flew off and I moved onto my owlets.  Look closely at the picture and you'll see the parent and two owlets.  One is looking directly at you:)

Sometimes I wish it were as easy as Dennis the Menace calling out, "MR. WIIIIIIILLLLLSONNNN!" and getting his attention.  But like Mr. Wilson, he would hide from Dennis just as the birds like to disappear from me:)  But with an ear for bird sounds and movement, I am beginning to use my other sense to help me find the birds.  It has been mostly with my eyes, but now I am using the ears.  I will be even more successful once I can replicate the bird sounds with my voice.  If I can speak Spanish, I can also learn to speak bird. I've seen it done and it's quite magical.  More tomorrow.....