The Long Sip

The US holidays have arrived.  All the chaos is human caused. So I recommend that we all take the time to just BE.

A gentle stream flows along a trail in the Santa Rita mountains

Even if for a moment from our often stressful lives. I will never buy into the "we have to do this because it's what we do" mentality.  That's all a bunch of crap.

A Brown Creeper finds a spot full of insects

Last weekend, we spent a moment on the trails watching birds along a lovely stream in the Santa Rita mountains of Southern Arizona.

A Townsend's Warbler is seen in a warbler flock

After the hike, we went to the Santa Rita Lodge and watched their thirsty male Coati get a sip from the hummingbird feeders.

Well.  It was more like a long sip.

After he was finished, he headed off into the forest for a break.

It's often common in winter to find a solitary male Coati roaming trails where there are opportunities for food along riparian corridors

The world is changing.  With our warmer temps, we are seeing more and more Broad-tailed Hummingbirds sticking around for the winter. 

A rare Broad-tailed Hummingbird

It was a beautiful morning out. 

Painted Redstart

It felt more like fall than winter.  The canyon trees are in the middle of their autumn colors.

Mexican Jay

During this time of year, there is a "lull" in bird numbers as many of the northern birds are still migrating south.  However, it's also the time of year when random birds begin to show up.

Hepatic Tanager at a feeder at the Santa Rita Lodge

The bird of the week is this juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsucker(below) hanging around a Tucson neighborhood.  It's a rarity that shows up during this time of year.  Our most common wintering sapsucker in Tucson is the Red-naped Sapsucker.  The second likely choice for sapsuckers if it's not Red-naped would be Yellow-bellied. And the rarest, but also seen during most winters here, is the Red-breasted Sapsucker.  And in Tucson, it's possible to add Williamson's Sapsuckers to your county list as several hang out on Mt. Lemmon OR in our parks around areas of old growth. Imagine! 4 species of sapsuckers!  If you're lucky:)

Look for holes on trees to find sapsuckers.  A good birder listens for tapping and drill holes on trees to find sapsuckers

Next week we chase a gull outside of Phoenix and play around in the grasslands.  I celebrate a state milestone while planning for another trek to Sonora, Mexico. Until next time....

Sap-suckas!

The nightmares of birding.  Is it?  Or is it not? Knowing the field marks on a bird can spare one hours of headaches at home surrounded by bird guides and rubbing sore eyes at the google machine.

Red-naped Sapsucker

"That's the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker!", cried the eager birder.  

"Are you sure?", said her skeptical friend.

"Yes yes.  That's the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker!"

"Whoa....not so quick.", replies Woodsy Owl. 

Red-naped Sapsucker

          Most of the time, I'm silent.  But on this one occasion, I had to open my mouth.  They were friendly people and I needed to correct the error.  The above bird is actually a Red-naped Sapsucker.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

This bird above is actually the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. I found this guy over winter break. I also scratched my head the first time I met this bird.  They look the same!!!  Where's the yellow belly??!!! And who named this bird anyway???!!!! It was a bit of a letdown. I thought it would have beautiful yellow belly markings.  In any case, two of these birds made one of our local parks home for several weeks in Tucson.  This gave me enough time to study up on the bird. I went back several days to observe them up close.

Red-naped Sapsucker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Here are my field notes.  I've placed both the Red-naped and Yellow-bellied together.  Red-naped.  The bird on the left hardly has any framing around its red throat. It also has a red-nape on the back of its neck. See beginning pics.  Yellow-bellied.  It has a defined black FRAMED red throat.  It lacks the red patch and has white on the back of its neck...nape.  Whatever:)  Over time, and with observation, these birds become easier to separate.  The ladies were thankful for my help and we had fun hanging out chatting.  And for myself?  I became a little excited that I could help others correctly ID a bird with field marks.  Usually it's the other way around:)  Look!!!  A Painted Redstart! And while this little red number distracted the birders, the yellow capped man slipped off into the night searching for owls.......afterall, I still have a lot more ground and birds to cover.

What birds make you go cuckoo?