So here we are in March, looking forward to the spring solstice.  But before we get into spring, let's look at what winter provided starting with a January trip to Oracle State Park. 

The original 160-acre ranch was purchased by Neil and Lee Kannally in 1903, and grew to almost 50,000 acres as more family members arrived in Arizona.  The ranch house was built from 1929 to 1933, patterned on Italianate villas of the 1920's, in a Mediterranean Revival Style with Moorish influences.  Following the death of Lucile Kannally in 1976, the ranch was willed to the Defenders of Wildlife, which later deeded the ranch to the Arizona State Parks Board.  The newly named Oracle State Park became the current 4,000 acre wildlife refuge and environmental learning center for school and adult groups.   The Friends of Oracle State Park raises funds for the restoration, preservation and operation of the historic ranch house and its grounds. 

A family of Harris's Hawks calls the ranch home.  We found a sentry sitting on top of a tall Juniper right next to the house when we arrived for a morning birding tour. 

Harris's Hawks  are large raptors that live in desert and savannah regions in Mexico, southern Arizona, New Mexico and portions of Texas.  They bond easily to human handlers, and appear to  have been the model for the Thunderbird or Sacred Bird of several Native American societies.  Because of their ability to work with human hunting partners, they are popular with falconers, and hunt both large prey such as jackrabbits as well as small maneuverable birds.  (Reference: Birds of North America Online). 

Harris's Hawks breed in social units of 2 to 7 individuals, and maintain a continuing presence at the park.  

In the images below, a perched hawk leaps for the adjacent juniper.  We can see the rusty upper wing and long legs.  In the Harris's Hawk the lore, the area between the eye and the edge of the bill, is bare. 

In the image below, one of the group is perched on a Aermotor windmill.   Aermotor, founded  by La Verne Noyes,  has been in continuous operation manufacturing windmill water pumps since 1888. Between 1888 and 1892 they sold 20,000 windmills, creating an  iconic feature on farms and ranches throughout the west.  The Friends of Oracle State park are looking forward to full restoration of this windmill as an upcoming project.   Right now it makes a great hawk's perch.

Ranch road with the ranch house in the distance. 

In the images below, a Harris's hawk takes off from his perch.  All these photographs were captured in early January.  By March they should have started nest building and the laying of eggs. 

El Rio Preserve is on Coachline Boulevard in the town of Marana.  It is a 104 acre site on the de Anza trail at the base of the Tucson Mountains under development as a nature and recreational site.  Birding walks have just begun this winter, once a month, usually on the first Tuesday.  Look at the Marana website for more information.   Click on Outdoor Recreation. 

We joined the monthly birding walk, led by Jeff Babson on January 7th, and captured images of this Black-tailed Gnatcatcher.  The image above and the one below are most likely a male in winter plumage when the black cap of the breeding season is replaced by a black streak over the eye. 

The two images below are most likely a female with some brown coloration on the back. 

The 4 images below were captured adjacent to The Chuck Huckleberry Loop at the Rillito River and North Columbus Boulevard.  There is good understory along the path just west of the Columbus parking loop, which is where these photos were taken. 

The image above is likely a female with brown on the wings, and the images below males in winter plumage.  

The last image, below, is a male.  Here we can see the tail spread out, showing that the outer tail feathers are shorter than adjacent feathers, creating a graduated look.  This is not present in the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, a similar looking bird, but not common in winter in southern Arizona.  

[Special thanks to Jeff Babson for reviewing these images and providing the fine detail that distinguishes these birds from Blue-gray's.]  

Brown Creepers are small songbirds that live throughout North America and central Mexico.  They are brown and white can be seen (with difficulty!) spiraling up large tree trunks from bottom to top probing into crevices and loose bark with slender decurved bills looking for insects.  Once at the top of a tree they will look for the next big tree and start on the ground floor again, working their way up.  They are superbly camouflaged, and very hard to see, and tougher to photograph. 

The photographs above and below were captured at Sweetwater Wetlands on January 22nd.   The bird was moving fast in the shadows making it tough to grab a good image. 

The two images below were captured on September 3, 2018, near the meadow trail on the top of Mt. Lemmon.  The decurved bill is evident.  In the top photo the bird has got something in its mouth, likely an insect. 

​Spotting a Brown Creeper is always an special event!  They are out there, so keep looking for them. 

Orange-crowned Warblers are grayish to olive-green birds that live throughout North America, wintering in Mexico and the U.S. coastal areas and breeding in the Rockies and up into northern Canada.   The orange crown is only visible when the bird is excited and raises its head feathers. They are often seen at Sweetwater foraging in the understory, including the cattails  where they look for caterpillars as well as other insects.  They also like fruit, seeds and oozing sap from holes drilled by sapsuckers. 

The images above and below were captured in March of 2019 near the trail to the south of the wetlands where the cattails catch the morning sun from the right side of the frame. 

The images below are from February of this year, in the same patch of cattails. This bird was working the cattails at the same time as the Verdin, pictured further down in the post. 

The Verdin is a year round resident of southern Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, as well as Mexico.  They have a bright yellow head, and a rufous/chestnut shoulder patch with is more evident in flight or when they stretch up their wings. 

They commonly forage in the understory for insects and  spiders, often hanging upside down as we can see in these images.  They will also eat fruit and nectar, and will sip from hummingbird feeders. 

Verdins build spherical nests, which can be seen throughout the Sweetwater Wetlands area, as well as flat winter roosts used throughout the year.  For views of their winter digs, see this link from October 2019,  Verdin roost.   Like a good friend, it is great to know that they are around throughout the year. 

Image above:  Not clear whether our bird has found an insect, or just "packing material" from the cattail. 

Who would think that feet are interesting?  Well, for birds they are.  Let's look at feet in three of our Sweetwater residents, the Sora, the American Coot, and the Pied-billed Grebe. 

Most birds have four toes.  This "classic" foot form is termed anisodactyl.  Toes are numbered from 1 to 4.   In the human foot toe #1 is the great toe, #5 the smallest lateral toe.  In the anisodactyl  configuration, toe #1 is rear facing, with #2 on the inside (medial), and number #4 on the outside (lateral).  The Sora above is anisodactyl  with long toes that enables it to walk on reeds in the wetlands, as seen in the image above. 

In the image above, the bird has pulled his foot entirely out of the water, with rear facing toe #1 trailing.    In the two images below we can see how these feet are useful on mud.   These images were captured a year ago when the ponds were drained  before the controlled burn, leading the Sora out in the mud looking for food.

In the image below the foot is lifted completely off of the mud, showing all 4 toes. 

The American Coot has 4 toes, like the Sora, but the toes themselves are lobed, as seen in the image above, and the detail below.  This is in contrast to ducks and gulls who have webbing connecting toes 2-4.    The webbing is good for swimming and diving, but not so good for walking.   

Lobate toes, as seen below, allow the bird to walk and grab reeds, but when the toes are brought together they create a more solid surface making propulsion in water more efficient. 

In the image below we see an American Coot standing on a reed stump.  This would be harder with webbing between the toes.   The next image shows a coot standing on the pond bottom.

When it is time to go somewhere, the coot brings the toes together and the lobes come together and provide good propulsion.  Good anatomy for perching and climbing as well as for swimming. 

The last bird for our toe-to-toe comparison is the Pied-billed Grebe, one of my favorites.  If they were bright yellow they would be your favorite rubber ducky for bath time.  However, they are not ducks, they are Grebes.  Their legs are situated way to the rear,  with toes that are in the lobed category, but with toe to toe webbing that gives them a unique appearance.    Images above and below, a grebe floating in the morning light.   If you want to see one swallow a frog, follow this link. 

In the series that follows, we see a Pied-billed Grebe on a mission that requires a bit more thrust than the normal cruise around the pond.  The legs are way to the rear of the bird, like an outboard motor on a rowboat, and we can see them as he kicks.  The legs are so far back in fact, that this bird has a hard time walking on land, and unlike a Sora or American Coot, cannot sit or climb on reeds. 

In the image above, and the two below, we can see the lobed feet, with a webbed quality, as well as location of the hip posteriorly with a relatively short femur. 

Even with the leg way back there, he can still scratch, with gives us another view of his neat feet. 

Well, that's it for Part I.  Stay tuned, Part II coming soon. We will drop by Mt Lemmon to check on the Acorn Woodpeckers, and make our second trip to White Water Draw. 

Happy trails! 

Fall has finally come to the Sonoran desert, with cooler mornings and the sun a bit lower in the sky.   I joined the weekly Audubon bird walk at Sweetwater Wetlands on Wednesday the 16th, and here is a quick view of just a fraction of what we saw.  To look at my prior posts on Sweetwater Wetlands, click on this link.  The most recent post is at the top, the oldest  post is at the end. 

Bobcats are widespread throughout North America and residents of Tucson and SE Arizona, hence the history of the Bobcat (aka Wildcat)  as the mascot of the U of A.  Bobcats are a constant presence at Sweetwater Wetlands.  This summer one female  had two kittens and the threesome has been seen on recent walks.  

Below is the female standing on the walking path not far from the recharging basins at the western end of the wetlands.  The images below show her characteristic markings, and the short "bobbed" tail.  These cats wear excellent camouflage.  Getting my subject to stand out in post-production in Lightroom can be a challenge.  Good lighting helps.   

Below, she is on the move, undoubtedly looking for food. 

Below, one of the kittens is looking for breakfast, practicing his hunting moves.  Although the mother has been feeding the kittens,  it is time for them to begin hunting on their own.  They eat small game such as mice, rabbits, and squirrels as well as birds.  The kittens will stay with the mother for 9 to 12 months. 

The kitten has spotted a critter, and in the second frame dives in, all 4 feet off the ground. 

Shucks!  Came up empty !

Very lithe, this cat comes out the way he jumped in.

Bobcat's weight ranges from 11 to 30 pounds, and live 10 to 12 years.  There are an estimated 1 million Bobcats in the United States.  [Reference: National Geographic]

In contrast to the roosting nest, the brooding nest, (see image below)  is ball shaped and bulky.  This image was captured at Agua Caliente in August of 2017. The female has a stick in her bill,  busy with home improvement.  

The brooding nest has an entrance on the lower side.  In the image below we see mom sitting in her doorway. 

Always nice to have a winter and a summer home!   

The image below is of an adult Verdin at Agua Caliente, November 2017, showing the characteristic  yellow head and rufous wing patch. 

This is where Soras live, in the moody shadows.  The avian version of living on the edge . . . . .

To see a Sora in full sight, see this post from last spring. 

That's all for now.   More soon. 
Happy trails! 
​

The Sora is a rail in the order Gruiformes, along with other rails, Cranes, the trumpeters of South America, the finfoots and the Limpkin (but hey, you knew that!).  Within that order, the Sora is in the family Rallidae (Rails, Gallinules and Coots).  This family grouping is the one you will likely find in texts and field guides. (References: Kenn Kaufman, Lives of North American Birds, David Allen Sibley, The Sibley Guide to Birds,  Roger Tory Peterson, Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Western North America). 

The Sora is widespread and common across North America, wintering in SE Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, and south into  Mexico and South America.  Distribution maps put their breeding north of Tucson from northern Arizona into Canada. 

This bird stays out of sight among the reeds in marshes, often calling with characteristic whistles and whinnies, but rarely seen. However, the draining of the wetlands in preparation for the controlled burn exposed the mud floor of the basins, and brought this Sora out in the open to feed. 

Above a Sora with its characteristic yellow bill and short cocked tail looking for food. Below we get a good look at the raised short tail and can see the generous size of their feet in the mud tracks. 

Below, the body and tail don't look ideal for flight, but these birds do migrate long distances into South America for the winter.  This image shows the size of the feet, ideal for grabbing reeds in the wetlands. 

Next, an Orange-crowned Warbler on a cattail.

Orange-crowned Warblers winter south of us in Mexico, and breed north of SE Arizona into Canada - so this bird may be a migrant.  Although they are named "Orange-crowned" the orange crown is rarely seen, and then only when the bird is excited and raises its crown feathers.  They eat mostly insects supplemented with fruit, berries and seeds. It seems to be eating seeds in the cattails, although there could be insects in there as well. 

One of the rights of spring in SE Arizona is the March Hawk Watch in Tubac.  If  you have been there, you will understand that this is another kind of March madness!  See my post from March 2017.

Every spring raptors migrate north from their winter homes in Mexico and parts south. This migration is followed very closely by the Hawk Migration Association of North America. There are 200 HawkCount sites in North America, one of them is in our own backyard here in Tubac, at the Ronald R. Morriss Park on the Santa Cruz River.  On any given day during the month, there are dozens of hawk watchers at the park from dawn to dusk participating in the count. Hawks come north from Mexico into the U.S. resting overnight near the river, waking up in the morning, and generally moving into the air between 9 and 10 am, as the desert floor heats up producing thermals.  

We made our yearly pilgrimage on March 19th, and I captured two images of note. Above is a Black Vulture.  These are large raptors with bare heads and white feathers at the wing tips that looks like  "mittens."  Black Vultures have white mittens.  Their range is throughout Mexico, Central and South America and the SE United States, just coming north over the border into Arizona, but not into Utah or Nevada. 

Below is a Common Black Hawk, soaring high and difficult to photograph!  Common Black Hawks live well to the south of us, with only an estimated 250 mating pairs in the United States breeding in Arizona, Texas and New Mexico.  They live and hunt  near wooded streams, eating fish, frogs and lizards. 

In the image below we see that the bird has broad wings and is all black except for a white band on a short tail and white spots at the base of the primaries in flight.    

After the Hawk Watch we ventured east to Patagonia Lake State Park, and walked east on the Sonoita Creek Trail.  For more on the park and the trail see my post from February 2018.

Above and below is a female Pyrrhuloxia, perhaps a juvenile, given the large head in relation to the body.  Just a guess.  

The Pyrrhuloxia is a close relative of the Northern Cardinal, with a range limited to the desert southwest, sticking to the southern border of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, and south into Mexico. 

Here we can see a distinguishing feature, a curved bill or culmen, which makes the bill a great nutcracker.

Our walk by the creek was marked by many sightings of Ruby-crowned Kinglets,  small hyperactive songbirds that move very fast in the low growth close to the stream.  They are very hard to photograph.  Below is my best image, taken at some distance.  Fortunately I was able to capture the ruby crown which is usually not visible.  Note the broken white eye-ring and rear wingbar edged with black. 

It is spring nesting time at Agua Caliente, in the Tanque Verde Valley on Roger Road.  Above is an Anna's Hummingbird sitting on her nest, not far from the main pond.

For this species the female does all the work.  The male provides his genetic material, then disappears.  The female builds the nest out of bits and pieces of leaves and twigs with a big component of spider webs, which can be seen on close inspection in the images above and below.  The clutch size is always two eggs, and as the young grow the nest expands to accommodate their increasing size. Like having a house built of spandex. I hope for more images of hatchlings later this month. 

Below, two images of a female Vermilion Flycatcher sitting on her nest, and the male, not too far away.  Her presence is intermittent,  probably indicating no eggs yet, but hopefully soon.  Unlike the Anna's Hummingbird, the male is a major helper for his mate, helping with the nest, and feeding mom while she sits on the eggs. 

The final spring entry, a female Phainopepla sitting on her nest.  These are striking birds of the southwest, the male a silky black with a crest.  They are seen around Tucson mostly in the winter, feasting on mistletoe berries in Mesquite trees.  

This is the first nest I have seen.  It is located about 4 feet above the ground, deep in a mesquite tree.   Below, the female is sitting on the nest earlier in March, incubating her clutch. 

Below, a hatchling.  There may be two, it is hard to see from this angle.  The nest is very well built and deep. 

​The morning sun transilluminates the chick. "I am hungry!  Where's breakfast!" 

Below, mom returns, and feeds her hatchling in the second frame. 

The image below shows what is probably early feather growth on the hatchling's head.

That's all for now!  Stay tuned, spring is just beginning, more good stuff to come!

Happy Trails! 

My last post on Sweetwater Wetlands was early October. As the fall has progressed so has the bird count. Cooler weather has brought more birds out, and the waterfowl are reappearing in larger numbers. This post features 11 of our feathered friends spotted in November, plus one mammal (keep reading to find out who the mystery critter is!).  All images captured on one of the Wednesday morning Audubon walks led by Luke Safford, Audubon Volunteer Coordinator.   

I lead off with a Red-tailed Hawk from the November 22nd walk.   Red-tailed Hawks are common in North America,  often seen soaring above fields or perched on telephone poles looking for prey. This one was perched on dead branches south of the wetlands, likely looking for breakfast.  

Red-tailed Hawks are large with broad rounded wings and a short wide tail. Most are brown above, and pale below with a streaked belly.  The underside of the wing has a characteristic dark bar between the shoulder and wrist, as seen in the two infight  images below.  

I usually try to "wait out" a sitting raptor for some shots on the wing, knowing they spend a good part of their day in the air. They usually wait until I look down to check my camera settings to take off, but in this case I got lucky, and was ready at flight time.   

Northern Flickers are large woodpeckers that eat ants and beetles which puts them foraging on the ground more often than hammering  away on a tree trunk.  The western birds have a red malar stripe (males) and red on the flight feathers. The eastern birds have a black malar stripe and yellow wing markings. And, to make things even more confusing, the two populations will interbreed in the middle of the county to create interesting combinations. For more on this, and stunning photographs, see Tom Grey's Website. 

​Above and below, male "Red-shafted" with red malar stripe. 

Below,  a male Northern Flicker in flight.  The red wing markings are just visible.   

Below, likely a female without the red malar stripe in flight. Red coloration of the wing feathers is evident. 

American Wigeons are ducks that breed in the summer in the northwest U.S. and Canada and winter in the southwest into Mexico, and Florida. The male has a green streak running back from the eye, with a narrow white patch on the crown. Above and below we see Widgeons in flight above the wetlands. 

Below a female followed by a male. 

The White-crowned Sparrow is a medium to large sparrow with a long tail and a square tip. They are regular winter residents at the wetlands, as well as bushy areas throughout SE Arizona.  They may be seen in flocks. Above, a member sitting on a branch,  and below in flight. It is fun to get the birds in flight, but as I mentioned earlier, a challenge. 

The American Bittern is a stocky brown heron that inhabits marshes and lakes with reeds. At rest or when approached it will stand rigid with the bill pointing up, as though trying to blend in with the reeds. Prefers marshes to trees, and are tough to spot.

This bird was spotted by a fellow birder on November 8th on the western portion of the wetlands. Even after finding him, it was hard to relocate and point out to others.

​The image above shows the detailed markings of the bird.  Below the wider shot shows how well the bird can blend in with surroundings. 

Snowy Egrets are regular inhabitants at the wetlands, with their summer (breeding) and winter (non-breeding) territories overlapping in SE Arizona.  For more on Snowy Egrets, see my blog post from October 2017, click here.   

To the right is our subject sitting for an early morning portrait with good side lighting. 

Below is a landing sequence I captured on November 8th from the west side of the wetlands. I love getting birds in flight, and in this case we can see the Egret slowing down for a tree landing, legs down, head feathers up, wings pumping to maintain lift as he slows down. 

Red-naped Sapsuckers are woodpeckers with a fondness for sugar. They peck holes in the bark of aspen, birch and willow to suck out the sweet sap. These images were captured on two separate days, but likely in the same tree: this bird's version of Circle K with unlimited fountain services.  These birds are tough to photograph, moving very fast in and out of the shadows.  

The Bobcat is a nocturnal cat roughly twice the size of a house cat with large paws and tufted ears, and a short tail with a black tip. The cat's name comes from the tail, which appears to have been clipped or "bobbed."   They are mostly nocturnal, and although observant birders have smelled their urine on morning walks, seeing them is unusual. 

On the morning of Wednesday November 15th, I decided to walk back to the parking lot early along with another birder/photographer. He first spotted this cat right on the walking path, just a bit west of the first pond and overlook with the ramada.  We followed our subject carefully from a distance. Below you can see a sequence, "the hunt."  He has clearly spotted something in the reeds, crouches and then disappears into the reeds.  He did emerge, but without his prey.  He preened a bit, then disappeared down the path. 

The image below shows the tail and leg marking well. You can see the tufted ears in profile. 

Time to preen a bit and move on! 

The Black Phoebe is a flycatcher, described as sooty gray on the upper parts and chest, and clean white on the belly. They commonly perch on branches looking for insects, making photography easier.  The images above and below were captured on November 29th. 

Below are a sequence of images captured in late December 2015 on the San Pedro River in Hereford, close to the San Pedro House.  The bird was flying a route next to the river, moving from perch to perch, catching insects along the way. With a bit of patience, it was possible to learn the route, and focus on a perch, knowing that in time the flycatcher would return to the perch. The bird was close, and the light was good. Last image shows the bird in flight heading for the next bug.  

The Oregon Dark-eyed Junco summers throughout Canada and into Alaska and winters as far south as SE Arizona and northern Mexico. This was the first of the species for Sweetwater this year, image captured on November 29th. The bird was moving fast near the recharge basin, and this is the best image I could get. 

Below are two images I captured at Cave Creek Canyon, Portal, Arizona, in January of 2016. 

Black and White Warblers summer for breeding in the east and northeast U.S. all the way up into eastern Canada, and winter in Florida, Mexico and Central America and south to South America. Their migration territory includes the central U. S. and northern Mexico, which just barely includes SE Arizona north of the border with Mexico. It is great to see them here.  

They are boldly striped in black and white, and forage for insects more like nuthatches than warblers. All images here captured on November 29th. Like nuthatches, they move very fast and will forage upside down. 

Great Horned Owls are powerful raptors present throughout the United States, and common throughout SE Arizona. A pair lives at Agua Caliente, there are several pairs at Catalina State Park, however, this was the first Great Horned Owl I have seen at Sweetwater. This bird was on the southwest portion of the pathway, sitting quietly in a mesquite tree mid-morning.  They are nocturnal, and when spotted at Agua Caliente they are commonly snoozing, but this fellow looks awake. 

Thanks for "clicking in"  everyone.
Happy trails !

Every Wednesday morning Luke Safford leads a Tucson Audubon field trip at Sweetwater Wetlands, just west of Interstate 10, north of Prince and south of Ruthrauff Road.  October start times are 7 am.  Wednesday October 4th we had a good group of about 20 friendly birders trekking around the ponds, identifying a total of 65 species.  Here is a non-random sampling* of what we saw.

​*Non-random sample: What I was able to photograph and post here! 

The Snowy Egret is considered the most elegant of Heron's, a slim bird with snowy white feathers, a long black bill, long black legs and bright yellow feet.  For SE Arizona, Richard Taylor's handbook (Birds of Southeastern Arizona) considers them  uncommon in summer and "casual" in winter, although they seem to be regulars at Sweetwater.  On October 4th, they were many in flight, best viewed later in the morning from the western side of the park. 

Below are three images of these beautiful birds in flight, showing how they can fold up their long necks.  Like the Green Heron we saw in a prior post, the long neck combined with the sharp bill is a great asset for spearing live prey under the water. Their very long legs extend well beyond their tails in flight. 

The following three images show the bird almost overhead, with their white wings transilluminated against a blue sky, showing the bone structure of the wing in relation to the wing feathers. 

The last image shows the outline of the bones of the wing. Bird wings correspond to human arms. Above, the short bone closest to the body is the humerus, with the next set of bones the ulna and radius. The most distal part of the wing is a mixed fusion of what is the wrist and hand for us.  The Primary Feathers, responsible for power lifting and maneuvering are attached to these distal hand/wrist bones. The Secondaries, important for maintaining lift are attached to the Ulna.  For "Everyhing You Need to Know About Feathers," see this page from the Cornell Lab Bird Academy.

Finally, to round things out, here is an image from January of 2016, Sweetwater Wetlands, of a Snowy Egret at the edge of one of the ponds, perhaps shopping for lunch. 

Heron #2 for the day, the Black-crowned Night-Heron, stands in contrast with the elegant Snowy Egret, being stocky with a short thick neck with red eyes. They forage at night and dusk, roosting during the day. We were lucky to spot these two herons, an adult and a juvenile, sitting in a tree close to the water.  The two images below are the adult.

Below the juvenile. 

The image that follows shows them sharing a tree. Junior seems to have the basement apartment. 

Black-crowned Night-Heron's are social birds, breeding in colonies in stick nests often built over water.  They are the most widespread Heron in the world. 

The Sora is secretive resident of fresh water marshes, hiding in reeds. They are easy to hear and tough to see.  We were fortunate that this one actually came out into the sun for a few minutes foraging for food. We can see the yellow bill and short tail held up in a characteristic fashion showing the white underparts.   

The images below show the long yellow legs and feet that are great for walking on reeds. 

The Sora is the most common and widely distributed rail in North America.  

We spotted this Verdin early on the walk. It is a small and active songbird of the southwest United States and Mexico. In the order Passeriformes (songbirds) it is the only North American member of the penduline-tit family, Remizidae. The bird is gray with a yellow head, and a rufous shoulder patch, not often seen, but visible here.  They are present year around in SE Arizona.  

Let's finish up with Heron #3 for the day, a Green Heron, who greeted us early in the walk, this time without a frog!  (For the frog, see this link). 

That's all for now!  Come join us any Wednesday morning. For details see the Audubon site. 

Happy trails! 

I found another bird that reads Mark Twain. 

In January of 2016 I posted a Pied-Billed Grebe eating a frog,  That post has turned out to be one of the most popular on this site. Rumor has it that some Arizona Game and Fish staff saw the post and declared, "Finally, a good use for a bullfrog!"  [Note that bullfrogs are invasive species in Arizona and deplete our native wildlife.]

Wednesday morning September 20th I joined Luke Safford and a small gaggle of fellow birders for Luke's weekly Audubon walk at Sweetwater Wetlands.  Just as we started, Luke spotted a Green Heron sitting on the edge of the water feature at the front entrance. Camera in hand, I could not resist spending some time getting some images.  Below is our subject, likely a juvenile based on incomplete coloration. 

A note for photo geeks: All of these images were captured shortly after 7 am,  (only 45 minutes after sunrise)  in very low light, facing east.  To get a shutter speed of ~1/320th I had to crank the ISO up to 2000 on a Canon 7D (cropped sensor) attached to a Sigma 150-600  Contemporary series lens, hand held.  So,  cruddy light and lots of noise. Be kind. Post-production processing in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom using almost every trick I know.  

Above, our subject scanning the pond. Below, he becomes more focused to his right 

Below, the hunter is in a crouch, weight on the right leg, left leg ready to push off. If you look carefully on the far left side of the picture in the water, you can see a frog's head just above the surface. 

Our hunter springs for the frog, and  comes up with his prize. 

Below we see our successful hunter getting his prey ready to eat. Note that I shot a total of ~200 frames, most of them showing the heron dunking the frog into the water, crushing it in its beak, or almost swallowing it, then dropping it and trying again.  I have edited it down to the representative images that follow. 

Finally our hunter has his prey lined up, and in one large gulp, swallows it. 

The heron stretches his neck up repeatedly to get the frog down.  They have very long necks. 

Time for a drink. 

Our Heron looks content, and definitely bigger than at the beginning of the sequence. 

I have searched the internet but found it difficult to get an estimate of the total number of calories in a complete frog. Likely they provide balanced nutrition with their natural mix of protein, fat, carbohydrates and minerals (remember they have bones and a skull). And talk about probiotics!  Our heron swallowed a whole digestive tract!  

For spectacular images of Green Herons,  including juveniles and nestlings, see Tom Grey's website at this link. 

Have a great day everyone! 

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).

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. 

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. 

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! 

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. 

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. 

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.

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.  

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! 

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

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! 

The past year this blog has focused on Mt. Lemmon and  various birding trips around Arizona and Oregon, with an emphasis on the birds and the locations. For a break, I am going to show what can be done with one photo, which like most of my photos (and I suspect most of yours) is good, but not great. The final image after processing is to the right, a white crowned sparrow, likely a juvenile, captured at Sweetwater Wetlands here in Tucson on January 25th.  Don't strain to see this larger at this point, a bigger image will appear at the end of the post.  This post will appeal to bird photographers who do post-production processing with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, but is relevant to anyone capturing images and manipulating them to make them better. 

For bird photography I either handhold or use a tripod with a gimbal head. Although everyone raves about how smooth the gimball heads are, and what great photos you get, the rig is heavy, and when birding with a group the tripod legs get in everyone's way. So, I usually handhold with the help of a stock (stay tuned, a post on my gear is in the planning phase). My birding buddies seem more sociable when I am not swinging a tripod left and right, accompanied by grunting and groaning, plus handholding gives me more mobility, especially important when walking with a group at a reasonable pace. The problem with handholding is that, well, you are handholding, and even with image stabilization there is camera shake.

Chances you are also handholding, and like me, are using the best equipment available within a budget.  For me it is a Sigma 150-600 mm C series (for a nice review of this lens see this link) which weighs in at 5 lbs, combined with a Canon 7D Mark II. Add a Stedi-stock with a strap from Peak Design and the total rig is about 8 lbs. Not light, but think of it as one of those wimpy 8 lb hand weights at the gym, and it suddenly gets lighter! 

The Sigma 150-600mm is probably sharpest at 500mm, f/8, but for those small birds in the distance, I run it at 600 mm and wide open, which is f/6.3. I try for shutter speeds in the 1/500th to 1/1000th range, although I can hold pretty steady down to 1/300th. So, with the shutter speed and f-stop fixed, I let the ISO float, or run it at 400 to 1200 depending on the light. For early morning birding, in the shade, the ISO climbs up.

So, as always, practice is not the same as ideal. If I get a good shot at a bird, I take it, regardless of distance or light. This means that the following is common: 

• ​Even at 600mm with a cropped sensor, the bird is often a small part of the whole frame. With cropping, these images become pixel-deficient. 
• The high ISO creates noise, more noticeable against a blue sky. 
• If I am lucky, the shot is steady and in focus. Small, hyperactive birds in bushes with many fine branches drive the autofocus nuts!
• This lens is very good, but not great. I know I could get better images at 500mm f8, or by using a Canon 500mm prime lens with lower f-stop and faster focus, but that Canon lens is not in my  budget, and weighs more. 

While birding this past Wednesday with Luke Safford and the Audubon crew at Sweetwater Wetlands, I took a series of images of a White-crowned Sparrow. I like the one below because he is vocalizing, making the image more than just another bird-on-a-stick. This was shot with a Canon 7D Mark II, Sigma 150-600 C, at 600mm, f/6.3, 1/2500. The bird is well lit, and had I been more "ISO aware" I could have moved the ISO down and still been able to work in a good shutter speed range. 

I shoot in RAW at the highest resolution. After importing to Lightroom, this image was 22.8 megs. 

I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC (same as Lightroom 6), and squeeze everything I can out of the program. I am a big fan of Scott Kelby and his many Lightroom books, and his video courses. Much of my workflow is derived from his courses and books.  

Once I had picked this image for more processing, I moved from the Library to the Develop mode (tabs upper right), and then to cropping. The screenshot below shows how much (or little) of the frame I decided to save. The background is really not that interesting, so placing the bird at a corner to highlight a flower or clump of berries was not an option. 

The image below is my final crop choice, without any other editing

The image has a certain soft quality to it, is a bit flat, and some noise in the background. Here a lower ISO would have helped, especially considering the degree of enlargement I have imposed. 

This is not a Lightroom tutorial, so I am going to list (rather than show) what I did, although I think any Lightroom user could adapt these changes. All changes done with the modules and sliders in the right panel in the Develop mode. 

1. I set "Black to black, and white to white," by first moving the black slider to the left until I began to get a black clipping warning, then moving the white slider to the right until I got a white clipping warning. A shortcut for these maneuvers is to hover the curser over the black slider button, hold down the shift key, then double click, and the slider automatically moves to the right level. Same works for the white slider. This assures that you have true blacks and true whites in the image. One warning: I note that for many of the bird pictures taken in low light that moving "white to white" is too much. It tries to make a 7am dawn shoot into high noon - and as Scott Kelby might say, "things get weird."  So, use your judgement. 
2. I moved the Clarity slider up to +39.  Clarity increases mid-range contrast, and emphasises texture. It works well for fluffy birds, not so well for portraits where it will enhance lines and wrinkles, and is not good where there is a lot of noise.
3. I moved down the menu to Noise Reduction, and moved the Luminance slider to +60. This will smooth out the grainy background, which is more noticeable due to the smooth nature of the background combined with the degree of enlargement, and of course, the ISO of 400. It also smooths out everything else.
4. Next I went to the Sharpening function and moved the Masking slider to 75. For details of how to do this, see one of Scott Kelby's books or tutorials. Basically, you hover the cursor over the Masking Button, hold down the Alt/Option key (Mac) and press the left key of the mouse. The whole image will turn white, but as you move the slider to the right, only the lines that you decide to sharpen stay white, and the rest goes to black. This allows sharpening of sharp edges, like the bird's beak, but not the "grain" in the background.  
5. Next do the same key/mouse maneuver with the Sharpening Slider, and move to the right until you get the effect you desire. 
6. Almost done. One last thing you might do is to move the Vibrance Slider (toward the top of the column under the Clarity Slider) to the right to increase color of those areas that are "duller" than others. This is a kind of selective saturation enhancer which give a color boost where you might need it without making everything look like a Fillmore poster from the '60's. 

That's it! The final image is below. The combination of noise reduction with masked sharpening creates an effect similar to that of an oil  painting. Artists have the advantage of being able to create perfectly smooth backgrounds while selectively sharpening edges. In this case, I was able to take a slightly dull, not so sharp and somewhat noisy (grainy) over-cropped image and modify it into a not unpleasant image, suitable for a small print or a greeting card. This might be just the trick for that less than perfect image of that oh-so-rare bird which you desperately want to print and send to friends! 

I have been birding on a regular basis this fall, getting the images downloaded and edited, but not getting them to this page. So here is a "catch-up" post of some of my "keepers" as well as some average images of some above average birds. I will walk us  east to west, from Agua Caliente Park to Sweetwater Wetlands, to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

There is a large population of Phainopepla, a Silky-flycatcher (Family Ptilogonatidae, Order Passeriformes) living at Agua Caliente right now, feeding on insects and mistletoe berries in the mesquite trees. One day I was able to stand right in front of a mesquite near a path on the western side of the park, while a sizable population of females fed in the tree and posed in the early morning sun.  

Males are present as one would expect, black and silky with the characteristic crest. 

For images of a partial albino male, see my posting from Sabino Canyon earlier this fall. For more on Phainopepla, see The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior by David Allen Sibley, 2001, pp 488-89.

I always photograph Vermilion Flycatchers whenever I see them - who can resist! In this case a male was perched high on a palm tree, in the south east end of the park, facing the morning sun. The branch is grey and white, looking much like the birds wings. The background is shaded and distant, turning to black in the photo.

On another morning walk, not far from where I captured the flycatcher above, we spotted a Great Horned Owl, who seems to be a regular resident. You will see better images of this species captured at the Desert Museum raptor free flight, but in this case, we have a wild resident, running on his own schedule, and appearing when he wants.  They are nocturnal, hunting at night.  Looks a bit sleepy: 

Below, a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, with an insect in its beak (bug-McMuffin?). 

Below, a White-crowned Sparrow. The white crown is out of view at the top of the head. 

Below, a Northern Mockingbird, at rest and in song:

Below, an American Kestrel, described by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as North America's littlest falcon. This Kestrel hangs out at Agua Caliente, and any birding visit to the park warrants searching the high perches for this falcon. In this case, he was high on a tree branch, holding tight in a high wind. For some spectacular photos of male and female Kestrel's, perched and hovering, see Tom Gray's website.  For great photos and text on raptors, see Birds of Prey in the American West, photographs  by Tom Vezo, text by Richard L. Glinski.  Available online or in our local Audubon Nature shops.

The freshwater wetlands in Tucson are home to rallids,  consisting of Rails, Gallinules, and Coots. The Common Gallinule is a resident at Agua Caliente, see prior posting for images.  Coots are common at Sweetwater Wetlands, and the Sora, the most common rail in North America, lives a secretive life in the reeds at Agua Caliente.  Every birding session seems to begin with the refrain, "Can we see the Sora today?"  He lives in a patch of reeds on the far side of the pond across from the ranch house, and rarely shows himself. When seen, it is usually only his head for a few seconds. When out in the water or foraging in the mud, by the time binoculars or cameras are ready, he has scooted back into the reeds. 

However, last Thursday morning he hung out longer than usual, pulling food out of the mud adjacent to the reeds. The images below are among the best I got, albeit not optimal. I could not get closer without swimming (not an option) so these images are enlargements of frames shot at 600mm with a cropped sensor. 

These show his yellow bill, long legs and large feet, as well as the short tail. There is some striping effect on the body in some images that I think represent reflections off of the water.

For more on rallids, see The Sibley Guide to Life and Behavior, illustrated by David Allen Sibley, 2001, pp 246-250.

I cannot leave Agua Caliente and the Tanque Verde Valley without at least one shot of a bird on a saguaro, in this case a female Gila Woodpecker with what looks like fruit or a nut from a palm tree: 

Wednesday, November 16th, I joined the weekly Audubon bird walk at Sweetwater Wetlands, led by Luke Safford. High on a branch, close to the parking lot we spotted this Snowy Egret, a white bird against an overcast sky, with the sun trying to break through. These medium sized herons have long sharp bills to spear fish and small aquatic animals. Here we can see their characteristic long black legs, and yellow feet.  

On the Wednesday bird walk on December 7th, we spotted this Baltimore Oriole.  These are migrants, summering and breeding in the midwest and northeast, wintering toward the southeast, but generally not as far west as Arizona. This bird has been seen at the wetlands recently, and we were fortunate to spot it on the 7th. This was shot at some distance, the sun to the right of the frame. I did post-production processing in Lightroom to bring up the shadows enough to see the beak, eye and breast. 

Below, an "Audubon's" Yellow-rumped Warbler, often known by his nick-name, "Butter Butt," for the yellow patch on the rump that looks like a pat of butter. Rump not shown in this photo. Said to be the most abundant wintering warbler in Southern Arizona [Ref: Richard Cachor Taylor, Birds of Southeastern Arizona, p 329]

A male Lesser Goldfinch.  For excellent pictures of both sexes and juveniles, see Tom Greys site.

Finally, an Orange-crowned Warbler, sitting on a Cattail going to seed. For more on plants at Sweetwater Wetlands, see this link. Check out this link for Tom Grey's site.

I recently discovered the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) thanks to birding friends Tom and Steve.   NANPA has a local meetup group,  which sponsors meetings and outings, check out the website if you are interested.  November 13th we met at the ASDM, in large part to check out the raptor free-flight they offer October to April, 10 am and 2 pm.  Go to their website for details, www.desertmuseum.org.  It was a great trip. I had such a good time that I came back on my own Monday morning!  For more on the ASDM see my post from November 2015

November 13th and 14th I caught the 10 am free flight. They flew a Great Horned Owl,  a Prairie Falcon, and a Ferruginous Hawk.

The museum runs the free flight on an expanse of desert to the south and a bit east on park grounds. They have created a viewing area with railings, with snags adjaceent to the area. They have one docent explaining the flights using an excellent sound system, and several trainers, and assistants. Bits of raw meat are set up on the snags, and the trainer has the birds fly from snag to snag, often right over the heads of the visitors.

​First bird out was the Great Horned Owl. Below are four images of the bird in flight. For more images, see my posting from the ASDM a year ago

Great Horned Owls are nightime hunters, going after large mammals and birds, as well as smaller rodents and frogs. It is unusual to see them fly during the day, but in this case they have been trained to go after food in the morning for the exhibit.

Next was the Prairie Falcon described by the Cornell Lab as, "A raptor of the West’s wide-open spaces, (they) glide above shrubby deserts and grasslands searching for ground squirrels and other small mammals and birds. In flight, look for the dark triangle of 'armpit' feathers that distinguish it from other light-colored falcons."
I think you can see the dark "armpit" on the second image, below. 

Last on the flight line was the Ferruginous Hawk, the largest of the North American hawks, living on the prairies, deserts and open ranges of the west. This hawk has rusty (ferruginous) shoulders and legs with white underparts, and enjoys small mammals. In fact, on the 14th the flight was cut short when the hawk spotted prey to the east of the flight area and disappeared!  Word came back by radio from the trainer (along with a shrug!) that our hawk had spotted something better than their bait for breakfast, and would not be back for a while. 

That is it for fall 2016! Got this one in just under (or on) the wire, with Wednesday December 21st being the first day of winter. Best wishes for the holidays!

Wednesday, June 15th, we returned to the wetlands for some June birding. Arriving at 8 am we missed the Wednesday Audubon birding walk, which during the summer starts at 6am! However, we did find shade, and birds. The one below by our best estimate is a Tropical Kingbird, but could also be a Western Kingbird, although the latter has a white rim around the tail, which we don't see here. 

The Tropical Kingbird summers in Northern Mexico and Southern Arizona spending the rest of the year in Central and South America.  A summer resident, and apparently a regular at the wetlands. 

Other birds this morning included redwing blackbirds - busy in flight, and perching on snags for photos, and a  Cormorant, drying out on the pond: 

Red-winged Blackbird, above, and below likely a Neotropic Cormorant. And oh yes, a Coot in the wings (pun intended), pretending he is a Cormorant.  

Last, but not least, a male Yellow Warbler. Not the sharpest image. Light not great, and tough to get good focus with adjacent leaves on the trees: 

Have a great day! Heading to the mountain soon.