My World: Birds Are Busting Out All Over!

It's a cool morning in My World on Tuesday, March 24 when I step out the front door to take a walk. A strong breeze ruffles my hair as well as the dog's as we walk up the street. It is so nice out here, I think to myself, I should go for a walk. But you have work to do inside, I remind myself, as we saunter down the street. By the time I return to the house I have persuaded myself into thinking that I will only take a 20 minute walk out in the Canyon. Jean, a volunteer naturalist at Sabino Canyon, has reported seeing migrants up there. I really want to see who is here, for no one is showing up in my yard!

It's still early in the morning for once--only 8:30 a.m. I grab my gear and bolt out the front door. In 30 seconds I am in the Big Wash, which is the main drainage for Sycamore Canyon. Already I am seeing birds fluttering into the scrub. Ahead of me a gilded flicker is silhouetted against the recently risen sun. I pass through the opening in the fence and peer at the paths before me. I can head south up the canyon floor, or north down toward the park. I can hike west across the wash and emerge on the west rim. Which way should I go? Where will I see the most birds in the shortest amount of time?

Arizona Powdered Skipper systasea zampa

(Thanks Kayleen, Doug and Diane!)

I head west across the rim and follow the voice of a male Gambel's Quail calling from his perch in a mesquite tree. While Gambel's Quail are mostly know for their "chi-GA-go" calls, I have learned they have many voices. The gentle "whoop, whoop" when they are coming to feed, and this single note the males emit when while perched on a lookout spot. I watch while he throws his head back, his plume bobbing in the wind, his beak pointed towards the sky. "Auk!" He cries. "Auk!" again, in a steady rhythm that means, what? I do not know if he is calling for his covey or proclaiming his territory. I only know I have seen the males do this several times. I try to get his picture with his beak raised to the sky, but he is thick in cover and I only catch him with his beak closed.

However, on the brittle bush beside the path a butterfly alights. It's dusty, blurry pattern is strange and new to me, and I wonder what species it is. I am at a loss when it comes to identifying butterflies. Perhaps it is a moth!

I am at the western edge of the wash now but all seem silent up there. I decide to head back into the wash where I follow the sounds of bird song down hill to the north.

Though I see lesser Goldfinches in my yard all the time, it's always nice to find them in the wild. This lone male is perched on a dead snag singing his springtime song.

But I am distracted by the scolding of a wren. When I look to see who is scolding me I find this vireo in the same tree. It's bright white spectacles and the yellow wash on its sides confirms it as a Cassin's vireo, which is similar to the Plumbeous vireo, which lacks the yellow wash.

We quietly inspect each other, it from it's twig and I from the gravel bottom of the wash. Vireos are such fun to watch as they hop from branch to branch searching for insects. Until a couple of years ago I only had one vireo on my life list. I considered them an almost impossible bird to see, since they don't come to my feeders, but since living here and getting out into all the natural areas available I have added at least 5 species of vireo to my life list!

Farther down the wash I find a male Costa's Hummingbird high on the tallest twig of a mesquite tree. I am happy to see him because only the females seem to be visiting the feeders in my yard right now. By the time my walk is over, I will have counted 3 separate males out here in the desert.

Ahead of me the red gravel cliffs rise as the bottom of the wash bends and curves with the land.

A closer look reveals a female flicker excavating her nesting hole. She works away busily as little black particles of the interior saguaro fly in the wind.

I have been seeing turkey vultures since the beginning of March, but have failed to capture one in flight. Now the large vulture soars and tilts above me in the rising thermals and I can see his bald red head clearly.

Spring is creeping over the desert in a fine green film. It contrasts with the dusty green-gray of cactus and the dry brown grasses and spent foliage of last year. Beyond the desert the Santa Rita mountains rise in a soft blue-green haze. They are a temperate backdrop to the dryness of the desert.

I turn to scramble up the bank of the wash towards home. My twenty minute walk has turned into a two hour ramble. I have counted 19 species of birds in the wash today with the addition of this ash-throated flycatcher flitting through the brush as I walk home.

Birds Seen in the Sycamore Canyon Wash 3-24-09:

1. Turkey vulture
2. Gambel's quail
3. Costa's hummingbird
4. Mourning dove
5. Gilded Flicker
6. Gila woodpecker
7. Cactus Wren
8. House Wren
9. Ladder-backed woodpecker
10. Cassin's Vireo
11. Verdin
12. Ash-throated Flycatcher
13. Curve-billed thrasher
14. Common raven
15. Rufous-winged sparrow
16. Canyon towhee
17. Pyrrhuloxia
18. House finch
19. Lesser Goldfinch

Photographer's Note: All of today's photography is by Kathiesbirds with the Nikon D80 and the 70 to 300 mm lens set in sports mode for bird shots.

Addendum 4-1-09: I've corrected all the misspellings today. I've been busy with my grandson for 2 days and was barely able to finish this post just after he arrived. I appreciate everyone who stops by and Thank You So Much Doug, Kayleen, and Diane for identifying the butterfly for me! I thought it was a butterfly but then when I started to write this post I doubted myself because the insect's wings were spread and it looked so fuzzy and blurry.

My World is a World of Bird Art

Gambel's Quail 3-3-09 by Kathiesbirds

MY World is a world of chance encounters. It’s a world where anything can happen and frequently does. By chance Gus and I stopped by Civano Nursery Saturday to look at trees and buy some plants. By chance I found out about an Artisan’s Fair they are having this coming weekend and in a bold and foolish move, I signed up to be a vendor! I have never done anything like this before, and I have hardly any paintings, but I decided to take the chance!

Gilded Flicker 6-22-08 by Kathiesbirds

My World is a world of birds that come to my feeders and wander my yard looking for seed after a Sunday night rain. In my world of birds I see color and life and patterns, patterns that translate to pictures and pictures waiting to become art. How can I tell you how the birds make me feel, how they make me smile even when I am in pain from the dentist, or concerned about the economy? After Sunday night’s rain the Gambel’s Quail wander the block wall searching for food and I smile. When the Gilded Flickers come and hang from my feeders with their large beaks and heart shaped wings I see the shapes and patterns and I see beauty and art.

Colors and Patterns by Kathiesbirds

In My World of birds and patterns I have turned my kitchen into an art studio, for it is the only place I have to paint. So paint brushes and canvases lay side by side with fruit bowls and coffee pots while colors whirl in my head with the Doubts and Questions: Am I good enough, am I good enough, will anyone buy my art? Can I create enough in a week?

Kitchen Art Studio 3-3-09

I must be crazy to try this, but, what the heck; life is all a risk anyhow. Every day the birds risk their lives to live. Who knows when the hawk will drop from above? But, in the meantime I will fly like the lark into the sky and sing my sprit song of feathers and colors and patterns. Feathered Joy. Flicker Love. Vermillion Flycatcher Sky. Fractured Blue.

It’s all a swirl of colors, patterns and life.

Vermillion Flycatcher Sky and Flicker Love by Kathiesbirds

So, I’m off to the craft store today for more canvases and paints. My stomach is all a flutter with anticipation and desire. If you don’t hear from me all week, it’s because I’m listening to the bird song in my head and out my door and I’m covered in paint.

Kitchen table/art studio 3-3-09

Stop by Civano Nursery on Houghton Rd in Tucson this Saturday and Sunday March 14th and 15th from 9 to 4 if you want to say Hi. I’ll have Bird Art for sale along with what’s left of the Prickly Pear Jelly I made last summer. I even had business cards made up from the photograph below.

Thanks Carla at Gaslight Printers!



Bird Tribes Art by Kathiesbirds

The Mesquite Tree and a Dust Storm

(Dust Storm photo taken by Kathie June 21, 2008 @ 7:21 p.m. MST)

The bugs are gone. After the mesquite tree was invaded by hoards of insects I water blasted them off the tiny leaves. This mesquite tree has only been in the ground for a year and already is providing lacy shade to our new patio. I am rather fond of the tree, especially since the birds seem to love it. It is a native Velvet Mesquite, the kind that grows scrubby out in the desert, but here in the landscape with a regular supply of water, it will grow tall and lush.

(Velvet Mesquite Tree taken by Kathie 6-22-08 @ 10:59 a.m.)

Yesterday the temperature was 111 degrees Fahrenheit here in the shade of my patio at 1:30 in the afternoon. I sought shelter in my room and watched a movie while keeping an eye out the patio door. Suddenly a strange bird landed near the door. I watched this small bird with a bright white eye-line that was different that anything I have seen around here before. I knew it was a sparrow and I was hoping it was the elusive 5-striped sparrow which I have never seen and is only in a few locations here in Southern Arizona. It would be Big News if it was here, but I would have to have proof. I crept out of my room and grabbed my camera which was in the den with the 18-70 mm lens on it. I changed it as quickly as I could and crept up to the back door where the strange sparrow was now perched in the ever friendly mesquite tree.

(Juvenile Black-throated Sparrow 6-22-08 by Kathiesbirds)

I started taking pictures but the bird soon got leery of me and flew off. As usual when I am excited, these are not the best, but once uploaded to the computer I was able to identify this new mystery bird as a juvenile black-throated sparrow. While it does not have the black throat of the adult, it has already developed the dark cheek patch and the white eye-line seen in its parents. Black-throated sparrows are frequently spotted here in the Sonoran desert. They make a lovely tinkling sound, like a tiny bell choir when they sing amongst the desert scrub.

(Adult Black-throated sparrow taken by Kathie in Sycamore Canyon 3-18-08 8:09 a.m. MST)

By late afternoon the temperature has dropped to 95F in the shade. I join my daughter-in-law on the covered portion of the patio where we sit in the shade and sip strawberry smoothies and talk. The sun is getting ever closer to the horizon when the wind starts to pick up. There is a noticeable drop in the temperature and I look towards Mt. Fagan only to find his face obscured by a thick gray veil. I wonder if that is rain on the mountain but as the wind intensifies our skin is being sandblasted. We gather up our stuff and head indoors. While we frequently have high winds here in the canyon, it is rare for us to have dust storms. This wind is blowing over the top of Fagan and down-slope to my house. It is now I realize that if the Rosemont Mine goes in this dust would be full of poison and there would be nothing I could do except flee inside and shut my door.

Dust obscures Mt. Fagan; Palo verde tosses in the wind. Photo: Kathie 6-21-08 @ 7:22 p.m. MST)

The wind is so fierce it lifts the seat cushions from my chairs and I remove them to the safety of the house. The flag in front of the model homes is full out and I wonder if it will be torn from its tether once again. Now the air is full of dust and the sinking sun is cast as an eerie copper glow in the sky. The sight is ethereal, beautiful, and mysterious but the beauty belies the possible danger to come.

(Dust over the desert by Kathie 6-21-08 @ 7:21 p.m. MST)

The wind is still howling when we head off to bed, but this morning all is calm in Sycamore Canyon.

(Gilded Flicker 6-22-08 by Kathie)

The birds are back at the feeders with gilded flickers and Gila woodpeckers eating peanuts, finches feasting on Niger and sunflower seed, while doves and quail fight for position beneath the feeders, scrambling for every scrap.

(Juvenile Gambel's Quail Poto by kathie June 22, 2008)

These scrappy juvenile quail showed up and joined the fray with the rest of them. The trees look none the worse for the bashing they received last night, and the temperature is rising once again. Let’s see, should I read a book, or watch another movie today?

(Peaceful Palo Verde and Mt. Fagan June 22, 2008 @ 10:55 a.m. MST Photo by Kathie)

Sycamore Canyon Birds: What I'm Seeing and What I'm Feeding

(Purple Martin on Ocatillo by Kathie 5-22-08 Nikon D80: Focal length 300mm; F/5.6-1/800 sec)

We are at the end of dry summer now with whispers of the Monsoon’s soon approach. Already the weather forecasters are tracking it, watching as the moisture inches ever closer up from the Gulf of Mexico. For now, the desert grasses have turned to gold, the ocatillo have dropped their leaves, while the prickly pear fruit is starting to ripen.

(House Finches in feeder June 12, 2008 3:15 p.m. MST Photo by Kathie)

Here in Sycamore Canyon the birds are most active morning and evening, but they still come to my feeders and bird bath pretty much all day. The air is so dry that I refill the bird bath twice a day since it evaporates so quickly. When I first moved here last year and set the thing up, I was surprised that the birds did not bath in it. I thought maybe they didn’t know how to bathe, since they are desert birds, but, when the Monsoon came and rain was a regular occurrence, they seemed to relish splashing in the water and drying in the sun afterwards.

(Bird Feeding area on north side of house: Photo by Kathie 6-12-08 3:15 p.m. MST)

This year I am noticing the same pattern. Right now, the birds don’t bathe. They drink thirstily from the bird bath and water dish I put out for them, but they don’t bathe in it. Could it be that they, too, realize they need to conserve every precious drop?

(Gilded Flicker Photo by Kathie June 8, 2008 Nikon D80; focal length 300mm; F/5.6-1/1000 sec)

Like everyone else, I have birds that I see on a regular basis around here, but the population is always in flux and flow. While House Finches, Lesser Goldfinches and Mourning Doves are year round visitors, the White-winged Doves are summer birds for me, though they do overwinter in other areas as close as Green Valley. I am definitely seeing more Curved-billed Thrashers and Gilded Flickers. It is not at all unusual to see 3 or 4 Gilded Flickers or Gila woodpeckers at my feeders at one time. If they see me looking at them they try to hide behind the feeder, and peek around the edges to see if I am gone.

(Pyrrhuloxia photo by Kathie 6-10-08 Nikon D80; Focal length 300; F/5.6-1/640 sec)

The flickers, Gila Woodpeckers, Curved-billed Thrashers, Pyrrhuloxias and even the Cactus Wrens all like the peanuts. Phyrrhuloxias and Gambel’s quail seem to like safflower seed. If I put out a suet cake, it is gone in less than 2 days. In May a black-headed grosbeak stopped by to feed on the suet cake in my yard, but he was only here for a day or two, before he moved on. Still, I was able to capture a couple of shots through the window before he left. Notice the large conical beak from which he derives his name "grosbeak."

(Black-headed Grosbeak by Kathie May 2008 Nikon D80 focal length 300 F/5.6-1/320 sec)

I feed Niger seed to attract the Lesser Goldfinches. Of course, the house finches like it also. Sometimes a stray siskin shows up at the Niger seed feeder along with the finches. I tried finch food with white proso millet last year thinking that, since I live in the desert, I wouldn't have to worry about it sprouting. Well, when the Monsoon rains came I had a lawn growing on the side of my house. I spent the next month or two plucking grass each time I went to fill the feeders. I never feed the cheaper "Wild Bird Seed" that is sold in almost every grocery store as most of it is wasted as the birds spill it on the ground searching for black oil sunflower seeds in the mix. It also tends to attract the more undesirable birds like pigeons and house sparrows. Plus, it also tends to sprout. I do feed black oil sunflower seeds now and again, but not often as I don't want to have to cleanup the hulls from beneath the feeders. Instead, I use sunflower seed hearts which the birds love but be careful to watch for mold if it gets wet.

(Bird feeders as seen from my den window 6-12-08 @3:15 p.m. MST)

While I do put out a quail block to attract the quail, they are more interested in whatever falls from the bird feeders. It is the house sparrows that seem to like the quail block the best. Quail babies show up almost every day now, sometimes even twice a day. They follow their parents everywhere and can now fly as well as the adults if they feel threatened. This morning I noticed that papa quail has gone from being the look-out for the family to teaching his youngsters about the pecking order. Today as the family fed beneath the feeder, papa chased the younger birds away, while allowing Momma bird to feed at will. I think soon these youngsters will be out on their own, fending for themselves. Perhaps Mama will soon be setting on another clutch of eggs and the cycle will repeat itself again.

(Gambel's Quail female and young: Photo by Kathie 6-8-08 Nikon D80 Focal Length 300 F/5.6-1/200 sec.)

The cactus wrens are also showing up more often.

(Cactus wren photo by Kathie June 9, 2008 Nikon D80 Focal length 300 mm F/5.6 -1/250 sec)

They hunt along the edges of my house and bushes looking for insects hiding in the foliage or in cracks and crevices of the block walls and foundation. But they are not above snatching a peanut or too if the opportunity presents itself.

(Purple Martin photo by Kathie 7:30 a.m. 6-12-08 Nikon D80 sports mode)

I took a very short walk on the desert’s edge this morning and it was enough to convince me I need to go back out into the wash once again. I could hear and see birds all around me, and the purple martins were gliding through such deep blue skies you could almost imagine them swimming in air! I was so concerned that they wouldn’t come back, but they are here, out in the wash, nesting in the tall saguaros once again.

(Purple Martins and saguaro taken by Kathie 6-12-08 @ 7:30 a.m. MST with Nikon D80 set in sports mode.)

Birds At My Feeder

With migration and breeding in full swing I am getting so many birds at my feeder. On Friday alone these culprits showed up:

Papa Quail....

Mama Quail...

and babies!!!!!!!!!

I feel like the proud grandma!

Excuse me if I show off one more picture.

The gilded flickers come by almost everyday...

Thrashers are here in droves....

I keep looking for a Bendire's Thrasher with it's shorter, straighter bill, smaller triangular spots on its chest, pale base to its lower mandible and yellow eyes. Is this it? But then I read that juvenile Curve-billed thrashers are virtually identical to Bendire's Thrashers and since it is breeding and nesting season..., well, I just gave up on trying to find a Bendire's amongst my Curve-bills.

However, a beautiful Lark Sparrow was showing up for about 5 days last week. He was elusive at first, hiding in the wash and only hopping through the fence briefly, but finally he relaxed a bit and I was able to get this beautiful shot of his head.

Every few days a Canyon Towhee shows up. This one was here on Friday also.

I have discovered the Pyrrhuloxias love peanuts and I caught this one escaping from the feeder when I was busy photographing the baby quail. You can certainly see the short, stubby yellow beak that is so different from a Cardinal's. Plus, the Pyrrhuloxia does not have any black around its beak like a cardinal.

Can anyone say Kewpie Doll?

The White-winged doves are everywhere. They can be a nuisance and are the bullies of the feeders but I do love their beautiful faces.


At the end of the day as the sun was going down I glanced out the window to see this bird. I grabbed my camera, which, thank fully was within arm's reach, and snapped these photos of....

Do you know what this is?

Look at the red eye, the flat head, and the ruffed neck.

I saw my first one here last year on June 12, 2007. It's a Bronzed Cowbird!

Along with the regulars of Mourning Doves, Gila Woodpeckers, House Finches, House Sparrows and Lesser Goldfinches, I also had a Pine Siskin visiting for a couple of days. Cowbirds stop by every now and then. Lesser Nighthawks fly in the evening and early morning. Saturday I saw a Say's Phoebe in the wash and Turkey Vultures are seen daily along with Ravens. A roadrunner crossed in front of our car on Sunday and today, May 20th, I finally saw Purple Martins flying in and out of the Sentinel Saguaros at the top of the cul de sac where they stand guard on the rim of the canyon. My first sighting of them last year was May 21st.

Bye!

(I couldn't resist just one more photo of the baby Gambel's Quail!)

Note: All of today's photos were taken by Kathie on Friday, May 16, 2008 except for the Gilded Flicker photo which was taken earlier in the week. All photos were taken with the Nikon D80.