Category: Birds

At Jeff and Debby’s

Though the main purpose of our trip to Arizona was to see Bill and Alice, we also planned on seeing Jeff and Debbie, Leslie’s brother and sister-in-law, on the way home. It just seemed wrong to drive through Fresno without stopping to visit. Even though we see them quite often because their son lives in Portland, we’ve only managed to get to their Fresno home a few times.  When we’ve been there in the past it’s been hot and dry, but that wasn’t the case on this trip.  Heck, I even ended up wading in water over the top of my shoes on our first walk.  

Although we did a lot more walking than we did in Arizona, we didn’t see nearly as many birds and almost all of the birds we saw were ones we often see in the summer at home. I suspect I’m generally viewed as a “birder,” but I tend to see myself as a (wildlife) photographer.  When I’m walking around with a camera I’m a lot more aware of my surroundings than when I am without one.  When I don’t see birds, I look a little harder and see other things, like this beautiful lupine, a flower we won’t see in Pacific Northwest for several months.

Lupine

I can’t remember ever seeing this orange flower (which might explain why I don’t know what it is), though my iPhone tells me it is Amsinckia, commonly called Fiddleneck

Fiddleneck

We also sighted a small flock of one of my favorite birds, Cedar Waxwings.

Cedar Waxwings

Although White-Crowned Sparrows are common in the summer at home, this might be the first time I’ve seen one this year.

White-Crowned Sparrow

After all the rain and cloudy weather we’ve had in the Pacific Northwest this Fall and Winter, it was a delight to be able to take pictures in full sunshine, even pictures of common birds.  

Arizona Odds and Ends

Judging from my last three posts you might think I spent most of my time at Bill and Alice’s taking bird photos. Nothing is further from the truth, though.  There were so many birds feeding in the backyard that it was ridiculously easy to take the shots that I got. The birds were indifferent to people unless you moved too close.  That wasn’t a problem with my 600mm lens with a 1.4 extender. Heck, it took a lot longer to edit one of these photos than it did to take all of them.  

Strangely enough, even birds I’m used to seeing seemed different in Bill and Alice’s backyard.  We often have Mourning Doves in our backyard, but I can never get as close as I did at Bill and Alice’s house.

Mourning Dove

I was surprised that even the Mourning Doves feeding on the ground seemed indifferent to my presence.

Mourning Dove on the ground

I’m used to seeing Mockingbirds in Santa Rosa, but I was pleasantly surprised to see this one in Arizona, especially since we couldn’t fit Santa Rosa into this trip.

Mockingbird

I’ve only gotten fleeting glances of Long-Tailed Grackles outside of Colorado, but this one seemed eager to get its picture taken, returning to the yard three or four days in a row. 

Long-Tailed Grackle

Seeing Bill in so much pain from his neck injury was tough, but the birds were a nice distraction when he needed extra rest.  

Sometimes immersing ourselves in nature, even for a short time, seems to help us cope with problems.   

Another Lifer

I actually saw a fifth “lifer” in Bill and Alice’s backyard, but I certainly didn’t realize that while I was taking pictures of them.  I just thought I was getting the best pictures of a California Quail I had ever managed to get.  Turns out it wasn’t a California Quail at all.  It was a Gambel’s Quail, and this shot looks exactly like the drawing in my iBird Ultimate app.  

male Gambel’s Quail

Once Merlin identified the bird for me and I compared it to the California Quail, it was clear that it was a different species.  I suspect that if I was more familiar with the California Quail I would have known immediately that it was a new species, but as soon as I see that little topknot on a bird’s head, I assume it’s a California Quail.  Turns out not all quail have that topknot and those that have a topknot are not all the same species.

I suspect that this beautiful male was showing off in hopes of attracting a female since it was clearly mating season.  Not surprisingly, I couldn’t tell one male from another so this might be the exact same male courting a female.

pair of Gambel’s Quail

They seemed to prefer strutting their stuff on the top of the five-foot adobe wall that surrounded the backyard rather than on the ground.

 

I assumed that this pair hiding behind the shrubs might have been further along in the mating cycle.

pair of Gambel’s Quail in shrubs

Alice said that she loves seeing the quail chicks in the yard later in the year.  I would love to see that, but I felt blessed just to see them courting.

And Just Birds

I don’t know if Alice is a “birder” or not, but she certainly attracts birds to her backyard in Goodyear, Arizona with feeders and water.  I wouldn’t have driven 1,500 miles just to see four “lifers,” birds I have never seen before, but I’ll have to admit that I was fascinated with the birds that she had attracted when I was there.

I see a lot of Spotted Towhees in Puget Sound and California Towhees in Santa Rosa, but I’ve never seen an Albert’s Towhee before.

We have Anna and Rufous hummingbirds in my backyard, but I’ve never seen a Costa’s Hummingbird before.

I think I’ve seen thrashers before, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Curve-Billed Thrasher before.

This Gila Woodpecker spent a lot of time at the hummingbird feeder, but I could never get a shot of it.  That would have been a cute shot, but this is a much more elegant pose. 

And these are only the birds that I saw for the first time ever.   Alice’s yard was full of birds I’ve rarely seen and others that I had never seen so close before.