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

San Pedro House

This winter, I have been walking in the footsteps of birders....tracing down their haunts and discovering what brings thousands of birders to the state of Arizona every year.  And I think I'm underestimating the number "thousands" here.  I have grown to really appreciate the kindness of these people on my own journey.  "Thank you" for educating a naive person in the way of noticing the "little" things in life.  Because I have grown as a person this past year by taking a closer look at nature.  These birding trips have also allowed me to develop a better "bird garden" at El Presidio. And the results are showing!  Today I take you to the quiet little home next to the San Pedro River.

We drove down to the San Pedro Riparian Corridor to find the Great Blue Heron, but we'd also find a lot of other birds out there.  At first, it appears you are driving through fields of grass and more grass.  You search for trees, but there aren't any around....for miles.  Until you see the line of Cottonwood-Willow trees.....

The people were super friendly and as we drove into the gravel driveway, we noticed a lot of colorful birds right away.  We went into this volunteer based organization and got the map.  On that day, a Short Ear Owl was spotted.  Thanks to a chart outside of the office, we were able to check out what other birders had seen recently.  I knew I would find the Great Blue Heron....or was relatively sure of it. I summoned King Tuzigoot for this trip.  He asked me what I was searching for....I said, owls and a heron.  He asked me what a Heron was and I then proceeded to describe this bird to him.....(and I added, "You can't miss it.") The King then muttered something under his breathe and I asked him to repeat but he just waved me on......so I handed over my camera to keep him happy.  He then took a picture of this dog and I reclaimed the camera. Not a Heron.

It was warm and we had water.  But we couldn't help but notice all the birds flying around the brush and grasses on the way to the river. There were a lot of Sparrows, Towhees, Pyrrhuloxias, and oh so much more....just no owls.

But we spotted several birds to add to the "list" and it was exciting to watch them do their thing. The loop trail is about 2 miles long over easy terrain.  Only the upper trails are wheelchair accessible on this public land.  There are over 82 species of mammals and 350 species of birds!!  The San Pedro is also the last of the free-flowing rivers in the Southwest.  

Abert's Towhee

Talk about a tricky bird to photograph.  Shade.  Sun.  Etc.  It would never sit still long enough for me to focus!  Out of the 3 shots below, there is really only one that I like!!  There are 12 stations on this trail and each has a story and marker to identify what it is that makes the area important.

I was also given a bird checklist which made it easier to help me identify this bird.  King Tuzigoot found the little bugger and asked me to capture the shot.  So I attempted.

It was definitely a bird that wasn't on my list but because we stopped and observed the bird's flight patterns, I was able to get a clear shot of it below in the sun.

Hutton's Vireo   Ruby Crowned Kinglet

Once we arrived at Green Kingfisher Pond, I kept my eyes open for "the Heron".  I think I asked one of those stupid questions at the front desk that day....."Will I see a Green Kingfisher?"  The volunteer looked at the other one and smiled back at me...."You might."  I got the drift, but weirder things have been known to happen.  Kingfishers, like Owls or Hawks, are some of my favorite birds to see in the wild because they are so interesting to observe.   While in Panama on Coiba Island and during a rafting expedition, I witnessed 2 or 3 different Kingfishers.  The hard part was keeping my eyes on the rapids while birding:)  One of my friends on the raft asked me how I could be birding while we were rafting.  Easy.  Watch the river and the sides of the river at the same time.  No talking:)

And then we spotted the Great Blue Heron.  With dehydration setting in, we headed back to our car satisfied by our days work.  The King enjoyed the Heron spot but he was ready to leave for home after the hike was over.....so I released him back into the sky with his spirit people.

If you love birding, you'll love this river!  Oh and I should mention, there were a lot of Phoebes around....just didn't want to take anymore pictures of them.  I already have enough.  King Tuzigoot was also fascinated by this bird.  Seriously, what is it with the Phoebe?  It is a cool bird, but does it cast a spell on birders or what?  Even the non-birders love it and they don't even know what they're looking at!!! For more on this place, click here.