Mt Lemmon AZ Images
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Visitor's Guide
    • Seasons
  • Birding Hotspots
    • Agua Caliente
    • Madera Canyon
    • Mt Lemmon
    • Portal, AZ
    • Sweetwater Wetlands
    • Texas Coast
    • White Water Draw
  • Birds
    • Acorn Woodpecker
    • American Bittern
    • American Coot
    • American Kestrel
    • American Robin
    • Arizona Woodpecker
    • Ash-throated Flycatcher
    • Black and White Warbler
    • Black-crowned Night-Heron
    • Black Phoebe
    • Black-throated Sparrow
    • Cactus Wren
    • Cedar Waxwing
    • Chihuahuan Raven
    • Common Raven
    • Cooper's Hawk
    • Crested Caracara
    • Curve-billed Thrasher
    • Elf Owl
    • Gambel's Quail
    • Gila Woodpecker
    • Great Blue Heron
    • Great Horned Owl
    • Green-tailed Towhee
    • Hooded Oriole
    • House Finch
    • Ladder-backed Woodpecker
    • Lazuli Bunting
    • Lesser Goldfinch
    • Northern Cardinal
    • Northern Flicker
    • Northern Mockingbird
    • Northern Shoveler
    • Phainopepla
    • Pied-billed Grebe
    • Plumbeous Vireo
    • Red-naped Sapsucker
    • Red-tailed Hawk
    • Rufous Hummingbird
    • Sandhill Crane
    • Sulfur-bellied Flycatcher
    • Verdin
    • Vermilion Flycatcher
    • White-crowned Sparrow
    • White-winged Dove
    • Williamson's Sapsucker
    • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • About
  • Contact
  • Parting Shots
  • Member Content

Journal
(Blog)



Spring at Sweetwater Wetlands

3/25/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture

Spring is definitely here! We are seeing more nesting, as well as birds in migration. Luke Safford's Audubon walks at the wetlands begin at 7 am Wednesday mornings, just as the sun has risen, and bird activity begins. On the 22nd we spotted this Yellow Warbler, singing like crazy on a high branch, making for a great photo-op. Good location, good light. 

The males have red/chesnut streaking on the breast, which we can see on some of the images. I am assuming this is a male, but not with full coloration yet. 

For a good site on Warblers in general, with a nice listing of all Warblers in North America, see Classic Collection of North American Birds (CCNAB).

Picture
Picture

Early in the walk a small flock of large birds flew overhead, and I was able to capture the two images below. We concluded that these were Double-crested Cormorants,  which may be gray to black, with or without crests. 

Picture
Picture

Double-crested Cormorants are larger birds than the more common (in Tucson) Neotropic Cormorant, with different markings.   The Neotropic Cormorant (images below) is smaller,  and the yellow skin behind the bill comes to a point that is separated from the neck with a white line. For a good description of this difference and excellent photos, see Tom Grey's entry on the Neotropic Cormorant.

The images of the Neotropic Cormorant below are among literally hundreds I captured at Reid Park on February 13th. There were many birds at the pond, resting, taking off and landing, making for great photo-ops in the morning sun.  The white marking behind the bill is evident. 

Picture
Picture

Red-winged Blackbirds are common throughout Southeastern Arizona. On the 22nd this male was in "Song Spread" display, defending his territory from other males, and attracting females. This was a very noisy bird! 

Picture
Picture
Picture

Red-winged Blackbirds will hang out with other blackbirds, as well as close cousins, as can be seen in this series of images captured at Bosque del Apache in January of 2016. What appeared to be a pile of leaves next to a resting Sandhill Crane at dawn turned into a mosaic of birds taking off all at once. 

Picture
Picture

The image below is a cropped version of the image above.  For sure we can see Red-winged Blackbirds as well as Yellow-headed Blackbirds. 

Picture

Early on our walk on 22nd a small contingent of birders who were taking up the rear spotted a bird jumping and climbing around among the leaves. As I recall, several species were offered as the "bird-ID". Based on these photos this looks like a Plumbeous Vireo.  Tucson is in their summer breeding range. This bird may have recently arrived from winter vacation in Mexico.

Picture
Picture
Picture

On one of the ponds we spotted several Northern Shoveler, a dabbling duck with a long spoon shaped bill with comb-like projections at the end of the bill that facilitates filter-feeding. Below for reference are two Shovelers in flight at Whitewater Draw in December of 2015. The next image was captured on March 22nd on one of the ponds at SW Wetlands. We can see the end of the bill as the duck scratches with his right foot. The  image that follows shows the projections on the end of the bill, put into relief by the duck's white neck and breast.  

Picture
Picture
Picture

At the end of the walk, Dorothy and I were heading for the parking lot and spotted an Abert's Towhee taking his morning bath. For reference, the image below shows the bird as seen on Jeff Babson's Thursday morning walk at Agua Caliente on  March 9th of this year. All dressed up and ready to sing! 

Picture

In contrast, below are the images from March 22nd at SW Wetlands, proving that these birds do care about bathing! 

Picture
Picture
Picture

Wet or dry, Abert's Towhee is a very large sparrow that lives in the Sonoran Desert along riparian corridors. These birds have a plain brown body with a black face, are secretive and can be hard to spot. 

That's it for now! Stay tuned - lots of bird activity this spring! 

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Henry Johnson, photographer and author of this site. For more detail, see About

    Categories

    All
    Agua Caliente Park
    Arizona Sonora Desert Museum
    Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
    AZ
    Back Yard Birding
    Bosque Del Apache
    Canoa Ranch
    Cape May
    Catalina State Park
    Fort Lowell Park
    Ft. Huachuca
    Hereford
    Madera Canyon
    Mt Lemmon
    Oracle-state-park
    Oregon
    Panama
    Patagonia
    Portal AZ
    Ramsey Canyon
    Reid Park
    Sabino Canyon
    San Pedro River
    Santa Cruz Flats
    Sierra Vista
    Sweetwater Wetlands
    Texas Coast
    Tubac
    Tucson Audubon Festival
    Tucson Mountain Park
    White Water Draw

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    February 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    September 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Visitor's Guide
    • Seasons
  • Birding Hotspots
    • Agua Caliente
    • Madera Canyon
    • Mt Lemmon
    • Portal, AZ
    • Sweetwater Wetlands
    • Texas Coast
    • White Water Draw
  • Birds
    • Acorn Woodpecker
    • American Bittern
    • American Coot
    • American Kestrel
    • American Robin
    • Arizona Woodpecker
    • Ash-throated Flycatcher
    • Black and White Warbler
    • Black-crowned Night-Heron
    • Black Phoebe
    • Black-throated Sparrow
    • Cactus Wren
    • Cedar Waxwing
    • Chihuahuan Raven
    • Common Raven
    • Cooper's Hawk
    • Crested Caracara
    • Curve-billed Thrasher
    • Elf Owl
    • Gambel's Quail
    • Gila Woodpecker
    • Great Blue Heron
    • Great Horned Owl
    • Green-tailed Towhee
    • Hooded Oriole
    • House Finch
    • Ladder-backed Woodpecker
    • Lazuli Bunting
    • Lesser Goldfinch
    • Northern Cardinal
    • Northern Flicker
    • Northern Mockingbird
    • Northern Shoveler
    • Phainopepla
    • Pied-billed Grebe
    • Plumbeous Vireo
    • Red-naped Sapsucker
    • Red-tailed Hawk
    • Rufous Hummingbird
    • Sandhill Crane
    • Sulfur-bellied Flycatcher
    • Verdin
    • Vermilion Flycatcher
    • White-crowned Sparrow
    • White-winged Dove
    • Williamson's Sapsucker
    • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • About
  • Contact
  • Parting Shots
  • Member Content