Madera Canyon Birds and Beasts

 Celeste in Upper Madera Canyon 9-20-12

It was long past noon by the time Celeste and I drove up White House Canyon Road to Madera Canyon. I decided we should start at the top of the Canyon and work our way down with the sinking sun. We parked our car in the upper parking lot and headed up the Mount Baldy Trail. We already knew we would not go far as we were both wearing flip-flop type sandals but I hoped we would see at least a few birds on the lower part of the trail. Instead, we saw butterflies.  

This California Sister is just one of the several species we saw.

 

Can you find the bird in this photo?

Yes, there is a hummingbird in this oak tree! I am not sure what kind it is.

 Acorn Woodpecker near the Santa Rita Lodge

With little luck birding the upper canyon we headed down to the Santa Rita Lodge parking area and gift shop. The Santa Rita Lodge has graciously set out bird feeders for birder to sit and watch birds in comfort and ease. We sat on the benches provided and ate our snacks while watching birds. With the sun sinking beyond the ridge the sunlight was right in our eyes at first, then the canyon fell into deep purple shadows. In the meantime, we were treated to a positive feast of birds!

Wild Turkey feeding

 

A wild turkey tries to figure out the feeder.

 

 Hummingbirds at feeder with bat cage protector.

There are numerous hummingbird feeders set up and many had wire cages around them to keep the nectar feeding bats from draining them overnight. as a person who formally fed both bats and hummingbirds when I lived here before I can verify that nectar feeding bats can drain your feeders faster than you can make nectar! Below are just a few of the photos I took of the hummingbirds we saw while sitting there for an hour and a half! I will readily confess that I cannot indentify all the species but I have done my best. If you disagree with an identification please let me know and tell me why. During migration many species of hummingbirds are molting and often they look similar to the females of many species.

Immature broad-billed Hummingbird

 

Rufous Hummingbird (upper right)

 

Possible female Anna’s

 

Male magnificent Hummingbird (right side of feeder)

 

Rufous Hummingbird

 

Male Broad-billed Hummingbird

 

Molting broad-tailed Hummingbird?

 

Broad-tailed Hummingbird (female or sub-adult)

 

Anna’s Hummingbird (male)

 

Possible Costa’s Male seen from back

(note dark feathers of helmet on top of head)

 

Community Feeding

 

 

Rock Squirrel drinking from fountain

And while we were all distracted by hummingbirds a rock squirrel climbed the rocks to the fountain and got himself a drink!

Madera Canyon is an east-west canyon transected by the boundary between Pima Country and Santa Cruz County. As such it has several distinct eBird Hotspots since some spots are in Santa Cruz County and some are in Pima County. When collecting eBird data it is very important that you designate your bird counts for each area so as to keep the correct data with the correct county. There are several signs posted throughout the canyon with information regarding your submission of checklists to eBird. The Santa Rita Lodge is in Santa Cruz County and is just one of the several eBird Hotspots throughout the canyon. Here is a list of all the birds we saw while watching birds at the

Santa Rita Lodge in Madera Canyon:

1. Wild Turkey
2. White-winged Dove
3. Mourning Dove
4. Anna’s Hummingbird
5. Broad-billed Hummingbird
6. Broad-tailed Hummingbird
7. Magnificent Hummingbird
8. Black-chinned Hummingbird
9. Rufous Hummingbird
10. Blue-throated Hummingbird
11. Costa's Hummingbird
12. Acorn Woodpecker
13. Mexican Jay
14. Common Raven
15. Bridled Titmouse
16. White-breasted Nuthatch
17. Painted Redstart
18. Hepatic Tanager
19. Black-headed Grosbeak
20. House Finch
21. Lesser Goldfinch

But we were not done yet! Though the sun was getting even lower and the shadows even longer, I really wanted to take Celeste one last place to one of my favorite places to bird. So we got in the car and headed down the road to the Proctor Trailhead Parking lot. We had no idea what was waiting for us there…(Please come back on Monday to read the full story!)

• Birding Rio Rico (the first past of this story)
• Proctor Trailhead and What we Found There (part 3)

Moving Along

 Female and male Ruby-throated hummingbirds 5-21-15

Things are moving right along here at Mere Point. It’s been a busy week so far with packing and sorting and deciding all kinds of things. My bird feeders are still up and will be one of the last things I take down. It always makes me sad to see the birds looking for the feeders, though at least at this time of year there is plenty of other food available. My hummingbirds have been few and far between during the nesting season, but suddenly they are starting to show back up at my feeders. The old feeder in the photo above seems to be their favorite one. It has been through many moves with me and fed hummingbirds from Tucson, to Andover, MA, to Tucson and now, back in Maine. I hope there will be hummingbirds in Harpswell before Autumn comes and they all migrate away.

Earlier this spring the hummingbirds seemed to like sitting on these bare patches of dirt for some reason. I saw others posting about witnessing this same phenomenon and I can only guess it was their attempt to warm up. I have not seen them do this since then.

This little cottage has been a great place to live, in spite of its lack of a garage or driveway. It was hard to go through the flood last summer, and disappointing that the fireplace never worked, but the windows in this house are amazing and this has been my best yard ever for spotting various bird species with 117 species seen in the 18 months I have lived here.

Only 4 more days of bird feeding, and then we are gone. Hopefully the new tenants will continue to feed the birds as they said they would. Until then…

It’s back to packing!

P.S. I do not know when I will be doing my last blog post. I hope to get a couple things scheduled before they break my computer down and then I will not have access to it or my photos for at least a couple of weeks, but I will be able to access my blog from other computers. So, I hope to check in and say HI when I can and keep you all posted on our progress and adventures! See you again soon!

Hummingbirds in Winter

 Anna’s Hummingbird 2-11-13 Tucson, AZ

One of the pleasures of living in Tucson is that I get hummingbirds in winter. While many of our hummingbird species migrate south for the winter, we do have three species that tend to hang around, and two of those species even start to nest and breed in January and February. I mostly get Anna’s hummingbirds here at my house on the east side of Tucson, but when I lived in Sycamore Canyon my main hummingbird species was Costa’s. There were times during the winter that I had upwards of 12 birds at a time at my feeders.

Over the course of this winter I have seen my Anna’s Hummingbird population go up and down, with a high of probably 6 to 7 birds seen at one time. Once in awhile a Costa's will show up, but I am not getting any Broad-billed hummingbirds at the moment, which is the other species of hummingbird that can be seen in various locations around town in the winter. Most winter records of this species are near the Catalina Mountains.

Still, I have five hummingbird feeders up and ready, waiting for the return of Black-chins, Broad-tails and hopefully a few Broad-bills in my neighborhood. Last fall during migration I did see a Rufous Hummingbird and a Magnificent Hummingbird would be magnificent, but I don’t think I am high enough in elevation to get one here in my yard. With cold temperatures, rain and even frost predicted for this weekend spring seems like it is far away, but I just know the hummingbirds will be returning soon!

Ramsey Canyon Surprises

 Sycamore Tree in Ramsey Canyon 9-26-2013

On a sunny day late in September I took my friend, Celeste to Ramsey Canyon. She had never been there and I had not been in awhile. With temperatures still near 100F in Tucson, a trip to the cool canyon would be a pleasant relief. I always like to see the Sycamore shaded creek that tumbles out of the Huachuca Mountains and the birds and wildlife that it attracts. The broad-leafed sycamores remind me of the tall and wide-leafed maples of New England where I grew up.

We were hearing birds as soon as we parked the car. After paying our fee at the visitor center we headed up the shaded trail. Partway up we stopped to watch a collection of butterflies sipping moisture from the sandy path. We looked and listened for birds and found a couple of Ruby-crowned kinglets, Mexican jays, and Painted redstarts. The resident Wild turkeys made their appearance and wandered along the path next to us. Farther up the canyon we sat on a bench and watched and listened. It paid off when we found Bridled Titmice, a White-breasted Nuthatch and Hepatic Tanagers. As we started down the other side of the canyon we came upon a little pool where leopard frogs were making their recovery in the canyon.

Chiricahua Leopard Frog in green sludge pond.

 

 

Celeste was all smiles and she snapped pictures of the frog. As a former guide in Africa, Celeste loves all wildlife! Last year when I first moved back here to Tucson she and I went hiking in Madera Canyon where we encountered a black bear on the Proctor Road Trail. Instead of being afraid, she was overjoyed! Celeste is also a certified rattlesnake handler! Though small in stature, she has the heart and courage of a lion. When we are together we are a perfect match in our love of nature and our ability to be quiet and observe.

 

So it was that we were walking quietly down the trail when I saw two birds in a dead sang overhead. By now the sun had risen high in the clear blue sky, reflecting off the silvery bark of the dead trees. I almost could not believe my eyes when I saw the gray flycatcher with the little vest. It was my first observation of an Olive-sided Flycatcher since my return to Arizona and my first of this year. Celeste had never seen one, so it was a Life Bird for her. Olive-sided flycatcher live at high elevations and are most often identified by the appearance of what looks like a little gray vest. There is a close-up of the bird in the photo below. The interesting thing was that in the other side of the same tree was a Northern Beardless Tyrannulet!

 

 Olive-sided Flycatcher

 Northern Beardless Tyrannulet 9-26-13

I had recently seen my first Tyrannulet at Agua Caliente Park. I was surprised to see one again so soon and pleased that I was able to identify and show it Celeste, another Life Bird for her! It was only my second sighting and my first in Cochise County. If you look closely at the photo you can see its large pink bill, a feature that really stood out to me both time I saw this species.

Acorn Woodpeckers are common in the canyons of Southeast Arizona and we watched this pair alongside the trail for a few minutes. We were part way down the canyon when we started to cross the creek on a little wooden bridge. Before us an Arizona woodpecker clung to a tree. I was pointing it out to Celeste when another little bird caught my eye in some nearby willows. I was trying to focus in on the little Hutton’s Vireo when everything became a blur as Celeste started beating on my arm in excitement!

 Hutton’s Vireo in willows

As Celeste stood there open mouthed and speechless she pointed to an animal running down the hill towards the creek. She was too frozen with excitement to take a photo, so I raised my camera and snapped off a couple shots before the animal disappeared up the opposite bank and into the woods. Ever since I saw a White-nosed Coati in Madera Canyon with my friend Chris Rohrer she has wanted to see one. I have never seen one here before myself so it was quite a surprise and quite a thrill for us both. I now think of it as her coati!

 Celeste’s White-Nosed Coati

On the same bank where the coati ran by the flock of wild turkeys was settling in for an afternoon nap. This one poked its head up as if to ask what all the ruckus was about!

As we continued our walk down past the high rocky rims of the canyon I pondered all the birds we had seen. Most of them were the Arizona specialties that so many people travel to Southeast Arizona to see, and here we had seen them all in one morning! It was a quiet day at Ramsey Canyon with few visitors, so Celeste and I had the canyon mostly to ourselves.

 Spiny Lizard

As we walked back to the visitor's center we checked the scattered hummingbird feeders along the trail but did not see any hummingbirds hanging around. However, a few spiny lizards clung to the building as we walked by. We crossed through to the parking lot and sat at the lone picnic table in the middle of the parking lot to eat our lunch. while we munched and talked about the day’s events suddenly a sparrow landed on the nearby rope fence with a large insect in its bill! of course we both stopped eating and grabbed our binoculars and cameras. I could not believe my eyes when I saw the rufous cap and prominent eye ring of a Rufous-capped Sparrow! it soon became apparent that there was a pair of them and though it was late in the season they appeared to be feeding young as they took turns flying past us to a spot where these bees or wasps were near the building. they would fly past us, catch an insect, then fly back past us to the diagonal corner of the parking lot and disappear briefly before retuning to the task once again.

 Rufous-crowned Sparrow

 Coues White-tailed Deer

Our picnic lunch turned even more surprising when a Coues White-tailed Deer wander up out of the creek area and crossed in front of the visitor’s center to nibble on the mast scattered over the area. She stayed here the rest of the time and we did not disturb her as we packed up our picnic and got back into our car. By now it was late afternoon and we knew we should head home, but there was one more place I wanted to show Celeste, so we headed over to Ash Canyon where Mary Jo keeps bird feeders filled for birders to come and enjoy her birds. We paid the small $5.00 fee and sat and watched as hummingbirds buzzed around our heads. we searched and searched for the Lucifer’s Hummingbird, but never saw it.

It was so peaceful and relaxing to just sit and watch the birds and there were plenty of other species to see, so as the light dimmed to a gray-green we took it all in. After being there for about an hour, during which time Mary Jo came out to join us, we finally had to pack it in and say good-bye. It was a full day of birding and long after dark by the time we got back to Tucson, but well worth the trip which was full of surprises!

 

Birds seen with Celeste at Ramsey Canyon 9-26-13:

1. Wild Turkey
2. Whiskered Screech Owl-heard at the top of the canyon
3. Anna’s Hummingbird
4. Acorn Woodpecker
5. Arizona Woodpecker
6. Northern Flicker
7. Northern Beardless Tyrannulet
8. Olive-sided Flycatcher
9. Hutton’s Vireo
10. Mexican Jay
11. Common Raven
12. Bridled Titmouse
13. White-breasted Nuthatch
14. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
15. Painted Redstart
16. Rufous-crowned Sparrow
17. Hepatic Tanager
18. Lesser Goldfinch

 

Birds seen at Ash Canyon B&B 9-26-13

1. Turkey Vulture
2. White-winged Dove
3. mourning Dove
4. Magnificent Hummingbird
5. Black-chinned Hummingbird
6. Anna’s Hummingbird
7. Broad-billed Hummingbird
8. Rufous Hummingbird
9. Acorn Woodpecker
10. Ladder-backed Woodpecker
11. Gila Woodpecker
12. Northern Flicker
13. Mexican Jay
14. Common Raven
15. White-breasted Nuthatch
16. House Wren
17. Curve-billed thrasher
18. Canyon towhee
19. Pyrrhuloxia
20. Scott’s oriole
21. House Finch
22. Lesser Goldfinch

Rufous and magnificent Hummingbirds at Ash Canyon

A Cave Creek Adventure: Day 1

 Coues White-tailed Deer at Cave Creek Ranch 10-3-2013

October 3, 2013: After a three hour drive I arrived around noontime in Portal, AZ. I met Donna Simonetti, Cynthia White and Linda Rockwell at the Portal Lodge where we are lunch. After lunch we went back to the cabin where I unloaded my gear and Cynthia and Linda settled in for their afternoon naps. But me? While the others had been here for three or four days, I had just arrived and I was itching to see birds! Donna was none too sleepy either, so we set off together for South fork to take a little hike. We agreed to meet up with the other girls later at the Cave Creek Ranch where, for a small fee, you can sit by their feeders and watch birds.

Though we knew the trogons that are seen here all summer were already gone, we still took the hike up the South Fork Trail. The creek was running slow, and in some areas disappeared below ground completely, but the canyon air was cool and clear, the leaves were changing colors, and our little jaunt was restful to the soul and invigorating to the body. I had not seen Donna in over three years, so it was nice to get reacquainted! It didn’t take long for us to feel like old friends again!

 Kindred Spirits (Donna and Kathie)

Donna is great at setting up her camera for a timed shot.

We only saw 6 species of birds on this little hike, then it was time to meet up with the girls. We hurried back to the car and drove to the ranch. Overhead the Ochre colored rocks of Cave Creek Canyon towered.

 

We sat in chairs or on benches and listened to the fountain bubble.

 

Then we started counting birds. At least I did, obsessive counter that I am.

 Acorn Woodpecker

All was peace and delight as hummingbirds hummed and woodpeckers pecked. A summer tanager flew in and out again. Cardinals hid in the bushes and White-breasted nuthatches flitted in the trees, but then…a pack of javalinas came charging in!

I have never been around wild javalinas before, so I hid behind Donna, who was snapping away with her camera. She wasn’t afraid at all! I’ve seen the Walt Disney Movie Old Yeller too many times to trust javalina. The javalina weren’t interested in me though. They just wanted to eat the leftover seed and grain in the feeding area, then they leapt over the wall and were gone, but not before stopping for a good scratch!

 

 

 Scratch!

However, I was much more relaxed once the javalina were gone and the Coues White-tailed Deer arrived. Coues Whitetail Deer are a diminutive sub-species that lives here in the mountains of the southwest.

 Coues White-tailed Deer

It was late afternoon, early evening by now and deep, cool violet-gray shadows had fallen across the canyon floor. Hummingbird activity picked up around the feeders as these small birds tried to fill up on nectar for the night. We saw Black-chins, Anna's, Magnificent, and Blue-throated Hummingbirds. A few rufous hummingbirds still lingered, and we may have seen a lone Calliope, but there was so much activity and so many feeders to watch that it was a bit difficult to keep track of them all! And in the fading light it was even harder to get pictures, but I did my best. All in all I counted 15 species of birds at Cave Creek Ranch while we sat there watching birds and wildlife!

 Rufous Hummingbird at Cave Creek Ranch

 

Blue-throated Hummingbird at Cave Creek Ranch 10-3-13

 

Meanwhile, back at the cabin Linda Rockwell cooked up a delicious supper for all of us. It didn’t take me long to realize what a good cook she is! We sat around the table all using our laptops and Smartphones to Facebook and blog. It was such a wonderful evening, but the best was yet to come! After we all settled in for the night Donna and I decided we wanted to sit outside and watch stars. Though it was warm during the day, the nighttime temperature had dropped significantly. We bundled up and grabbed some chairs off the porch to sit in while we gazed into a velvet night.

Far from city lights the night was spangled with stars. We scanned the sky for falling stars and found a few. As Donna and I talked about the stars and the constellations we started to wonder where the Big Dipper was, and where was the North Star. Now, I am not even an amateur astronomer, but I do know that the North Star is the only star in the sky that never moves and the rest of the starts rotate around it. I also know it is in the handle of the Little Dipper but it is not a very bright star. But where was it? Though we were far from the city and from tall buildings, we still had trees and canyon walls to contend with. Plus, I happen to know that at certain times of the year the Big Dipper can be below the horizon for part of the night. In our quest for answers Donna and I were soon walking around in total darkness trying to find a spot where we could see the northern sky.

We eventually ended up on the paved road. Across the street and to the north the land rose slightly and was covered in Mesquite and other brush. After studying the sky for awhile I was able to find the North Star and point it out to Donna. We stood there like two school girls in the dark filled with awe and wonder at the night sky. We kept hoping we would hear an owl calling, but we never did. Donna did know about the constellation, Orion, and we searched the sky for it as well, but Orion had not risen yet. However, later in the night when a mouse in the house woke us up we both saw Orion framed perfectly in the cabin window! It was the perfect ending for one day and the perfect beginning to the next, since it was around 2 a.m. by then! Perhaps Orion gave us his blessing, for in the morning we found so many birds!