July 2017 Birds on Mt. Lemmon: Thrush, Warbler, Goldfinch, Robin, Wren, and oh yes . . a Turkey Vulture spends the night.

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As James Taylor wrote, "I've seen fire and I've seen rain  . . ."  July began with the Burro Fire, which thanks to 800 firefighters was expertly contained until the monsoon roared in with drenching rains that put it out completely. Now we are wet, but very grateful for their work and sacrifice, and for this spectacular  forest in Tucson's backyard. So, in celebration, let's looks at some of the birds that flew into town (Summerhaven) this month.  

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Hermit Thrush

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The Hermit Thrush has a spotted breast and fine white eye ring. A year-round resident of SE Arizona, this bird winters below 6000 feet and summers above 5500, making him a fairly common resident of Summerhaven during the summer. The eye ring is subtle, but I think is evident in the image below. For images of Hermit Thrushes in Northern California, see Tom Grey's website.  

Thrushes are in the family Turdidae, and are large-eyed, slender-billed songbirds. Most species in this family bear the name of "Thrush" and are brown backed with spotted breasts. However, included in this family are Robins and Bluebirds, distinctively different looking as adults, but as juveniles the bear the thrush speckled breast.  Reference: Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Western North America, Roger Tory Peterson, Fourth Edition. 

Confession: these images were actually captured in late June, but I could not leave out this little fellow with his face all filled with bugs. 

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Virginia's Warbler

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Virginia's Warbler is a small gray warbler with a white eye-ring, yellow breast, gray belly, and yellow undertail coverts.  The male has a rufous crown which we can see in these image.  It is fairly common in summer in SE Arizona above 5000 feet. The images here are not the best, but show the main features of the bird. 

Virginia's Warblers forage for insects and spiders in low shrubs and trees, as we can see in this series. They don't sit still for long, and are usually playing a "fan dance" with the leaves. 

Virginia's Warblers are a Wood Warbler in the Family Parulidae. I count 50 species of Wood Warbler in the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Western North America.  It is no wonder that the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a separate guide to warblers (The Warbler Guide) with a downloadable Quick Finder.

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Lesser Goldfinch

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The Lesser Goldfinch is a common resident in SE Arizona, and often travels in flocks, foraging for seeds. As the rains begin, grasses begin to go to seed July through September.  Several  summers  ago I found a small flock of Brewer's Sparrows in Summerhaven above  their usual 5000 foot ceiling feasting on similar grasses off of Middle Sabino Road. This time it was our regulars turn, just above Marshall's Gulch on Sabino Creek.  Great fun to watch them at the all-you-can eat buffet. 

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American Robin

This American Robin is preening himself on a branch near Sabino Creek. For more on this quintessential early bird, see this page on the site. Also, remember they are in the Thrush Family, see Hermit Thrush entry earlier in this post. 

I include this image for two reasons. First, I like it. Second, I probably like it because it closely matches a Fibonacci Sequence. 

Who was Fibonacci? He was considered "the" mathematician of the middle ages, born Leonardo of Pisa in what is now Italy in about 1170.  He introduced the Hindu-Arabic numerical system (0 to 9) with the concept of place value into Europe.  In his two editions of the book Liber Abaci he showed how this system could be applied to commerce, including banking, and calculation of interest.  

He also worked on a problem of reproduction in rabbits (really) using a sequence of numbers that now starts with "0" but he started with "1."  Each new number in the sequence is the sum of the two prior numbers, yielding the sequence 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, etc.   There are multiple different ways to display the sequence, one  illustrated below whereby the numbers are added in a circular fashion, creating a spiral.  In fact the Fibonacci  spiral is  seen throughout nature, for example in the architecture of sea shells.  

The Fibonacci sequence is considered pleasing to the eye, and is employed, or at least seen, in multiple work of art. 

Getting back to our American Robin who is trying to clean up for the day, we can see the spiral curve beginning at or just below the his eye, swinging over the head and down to the breast, and to the left of the frame with the wings. ​

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House Wren

The House Wren is a small energetic bird with a light eye-ring and no strong eye-brow stripe. They are year-around residents of SE Arizona, and summer above 5500 feet, putting them in Summerhaven this time of year. 

Wrens are in the family Troglodytidae. Peterson's guide, referenced earlier, lists 9 birds in this family, all described as small, energetic birds with slim slightly curved bills. Other Wrens in this family we have seen in the past year include Bewick's Wren at Agua Caliente, and the larger Cactus Wren, a regular throughout our desert. 

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Turkey Vulture

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The Turkey Vulture is one of three members of the Cathartidae family, New World Vultures. The other two species are the Black Vulture, uncommon in SE Arizona, and the California Condor, rare and living in California and northern Arizona. 

Turkey Vultures are a common site in the skies over the desert and mountains. They eat only carrion: dead meat. They are not the most popular of birds, but they deserve more respect and appreciation. As our flying garbage collectors and disposals, we should thank them for being there to clean up day after day, never charging overtime. 

Although I have seen them commonly soaring over the San Pedro valley, I have never seen them close to Summerhaven until this last week. During dinner one night my wife spotted something large and dark in a pine tree off of the deck, looking more like an old boot than a bird. Closer inspection showed it was in fact a Turkey Vulture bedding down for the night.  

I captured a dozen images in fading light, all handheld at high ISO and slow shutter - none of them very good.  Night descended, I also went to bed, setting my alarm for 5 am, the first pre-dawn light. By 5:25 am I was back on the deck with the Canon 7D/Sigma 150-600 combination on a tripod and gimbal mount, shutter release in one hand and coffee in the other. The image above was taken about 5:30 am as we were both waking up. 

As I watched, our overnight guest prepared for the day with a few stretches and preening. My guess is that keeping clean is important when you eat the way he does. 

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Above we can see our house guest preening what looks like flight feathers, perhaps a secondary. 

Below, a stretch and a yawn. Yes, birds yawn. All vertebrates yawn, for reasons which are not entirely clear.  In this image we can see both wings, showing the dark upper side, and the white underside of the flight feathers, a feature evident whenever  we spot a Turkey Vulture from below.  

Shortly after I captured this image, our guest departed for another (we hope) really, really good day full of rotten things. 

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That's it for now. More soon. Get out and enjoy the summer, wherever you are!