Big January 2010

Mesquite Tree full of birds

Big January is upon us. It's that time of year when all mad birders start counting birds at the stroke of midnight. For the next month we will have a friendly competition to see who can see the most species of birds in their own state in the month of January. Larry of the Brownstone Birding Blog is the one who got me started with this 3 years ago. He beat me the first year but I beat him in 2009. Who will be this year's champion? We shall see. I awoke around 7:45 this morning, crept quietly to my patio door and peeked around the corner to see which species would be my First Bird of 2010...

Lesser goldfinch 1st bird of 2010

In a tree full of birds I saw the lesser goldfinch first. Then I started counting. With blue skies streaked with high thin clouds, and a brisk breeze teasing the branches the air still feels relatively warm at 46 degrees. The forecast highs for today are in the high 60's. Not too bad for January 1st!

Rock Wren in my backyard 12-15-09


Hungry Gila woodpecker 12-14-09

Big January Bird list 2010

1. Lesser goldfinch
2. Housefinch
3. House sparrow
4. Mourning Dove
5. Costa's Hummingbirds
6. Pigeon
7. Gila woodpecker
8. Gilded flicker
9. Cactus Wren
10. Rock wren
11. Bewick's wren
12. Pyrrhuloxia

These birds were all spotted in and from my yard so far this morning. I will add to the list throughout the day. In all honesty, these photos were all taken in mid December but the same species are still in my yard in the same tree and hanging from the same feeders! (I'm in a hurry here!) Okay, I'm off to do more birding!

Happy Birdy New Year!

Let me know if you plan to participate. I'd like to compile a list of those who are!

Big January 2009

If you click on the label below for Big January it will pull up all posts regarding this subject if you are interested!

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.

Skywatch Friday: Sun Birds

Male Lesser Goldfinch 3-3-09 by kathiesbirds

I call this post Sun Birds because these birds look like they've captured the sun in their feathers. In last Sunday's post, Yard Views, Max of Apartment Biology Blog mentioned that the Lesser Goldfinch almost looked like a Scott's Oriole. That got me thinking and I decided to compare the two birds side by side. This photo is of the same birds as I posted last week and was taken just a few seconds later. You can see it's finch-like body and beak made for plucking and opening the seeds this bird loves to eat. We mostly get Lesser Goldfinches here and I have never seen an American Goldfinch in my yard, though a Lawrence's did stop by one time just long enough for me to identify it before it flew away without me getting a picture of it! The Lesser Goldfinch is smaller and yellower than the American Goldfinch, which has white undertail coverts (the feathery part underneath its tail). The Lesser Goldfinch also comes in a black-backed and green-backed variety. This is a green-backed male. In spite of his black cap and black wings, if you saw him from behind you would see his upper back is greenish. The black-backed variety is totally black from his cap to his tail. I have seen both varieties here, though the green-backed is much more common.

Male Scott's oriole 3-17-08 by Kathiesbirds

This male Scott's oriole stopped by last March during a spring rain. He is twice the size of the Lesser goldfinch and his black is more extensive coming down into a bib. He beak is longer and more pointy for getting at nectar and eating insects instead of seed. I put this half an orange outside for him once I spotted him.

Male Scott's oriole perched in mesquite Tree 3-17-09

Perhaps now that I've planted an orange tree it will attract more orioles. I can only hope they will stop by during spring migration this year. I am ready and waiting with camera and fruit!

For more amazing views of the sky click on the button above.

Happy Skywatch Friday everyone!

Come see me at the Civano Spring Artisan's Fair this weekend!

Yard Views

Ever since we moved to Sycamore Canyon almost two years ago I have enjoyed eating breakfast on the patio. When we first moved into our house the neighborhood was only partially finished. As a result, Gus an I have enjoyed a certain amount of privacy and unobstructed views from our yard. As the months and years have passed the neighborhood has filled in, and bit by bit we have lost little pieces of the sky and segments of the mountain views. All this time the five lots across the wash behind us have remained empty as well as the two lots across the street from them. A recent Skywatch Friday post featured the sunrise as seen straight out my backyard looking east across these vacant lots.

On March 3rd I am enjoying the gorgeous weather by eating outside once again. With my bowl of cereal, my tea, binoculars and camera, I am prepared for everything as the mesquite tree fills with birds swarming the nyjer feeder. I smile at this bright male Lesser Goldfinch watching me watching him when suddenly I hear it, the roar of a tractor motor.

I jump up to see it has started, the excavating of a new foundation in the vacant lot across the wash and across the street. The Rincon Mountains in the distance are the same ones I photographed on fire last year. I know that with a new house over there I will soon lose this view and with it, my backyard privacy. What to do? What to do?

Within two days the footings and pipe are laid. It won't be long until the framing goes up. And after that, the next lot and the next will sprout houses like mushrooms in the night.

As soon as Saturday arrives Guys and I take a trip to the new Ace Hardware store in Corona de Tucson. I saw something here on Friday when I came in to buy some safflower seed. The salesman tired to warn me that this type of tree will not only produce fruit, and grow fast with lots of thick foliage, but it will also attract birds! Oh my, now you are speaking my language! What you see as a detriment, I see as a selling point! This is exactly what I want, so we bring it home and prepare the site. I have always wanted one of these, especially since moving to Arizona. Presenting...

...my new dwarf Valencia orange tree! I cannot believe the lovely fragrance the orange blossoms have. I can't wait for it to make fruit, for I love to make fresh squeezed orange juice. I hope it will attract lots of birds...

...and grow fast and green to make a screen before the next house goes up behind me.

My World is a Yellow Promise

Yellow bee on yellow Acacia Blossoms 3-2-09 by kathiesbirds

My World is a yellow promise of spring. A sunny golden wave that is moving slowly northward with the days to a waiting white world where winter is making it's last desperate gasp.

In My Yellow World the Dandelions play in glorious sunshine during the day...

And desert marigolds laugh at the blue sky vaulted above them...


...with a lesser goldfinch perched on the bare branched mesquite tree...

...and front yard bushes bursting with the golden promise of spring.

All of these photos were taken by Kathie on *Monday with the 35mm lens as the snow storm raged in the east. I couldn't help but wonder at the contrast of our weather and I well remember that feeling; like spring would never come. Well, here is the promise of spring. It is coming. By the time it reaches all of you up North, we will be into our "Dry Summer" in Arizona. It was amazing to me to learn after I moved here that Arizona actually has 5 seasons with Winter, Spring, Dry Summer, Monsoon and Autumn. We are entering the springtime now, but dry summer starts in May. June will be our hottest month and then, the Monsoon excitement will begin. For now I will enjoy these perfect days of spring with cool nights, warm days, and spring migration about to begin. It's going to get exciting around here really fast!

Click on the link to see more of MY World!

*desert marigold taken 2-14-09 by Kathiesbirds

My World is a World of Wonder

Gambel's Quail 2-16-09 Corona de Tucson by Kathiesbirds

My World is a world of wonder. A world where birds greet me with merry chirps in the morning and sweet twitterings drift through my open window letting me know that I am alive and life is good. I smile to see the quail at the seed block, jockeying for position in their own version of King of the Mountain.

My World is a world of color where red Cardinals...

...and yellow Lesser Goldfinches come to the feeders,

...and where pink apple blossoms open with the promise of spring.

In My World of Wonder a Red-tailed hawk soars over the Santa Rita Mountains scooping my spirit up in its wings and carrying it high into the steel blue sky.

In My World of Wonder the amazing thing is when wonder creeps up on you unexpectedly, like it did on Saturday in Rio Rico where Gus and I scoured the countryside counting birds for the Great Backyard Bird Count. On the slopes of the San Cayentano Mountains, at a place we call Hawk Hill, the only birds we counted were two ravens and a Red-tailed Hawk. Every time we come here it seems there is one sitting on the utility pole, which is why I call this place Hawk Hill. It is late in the day as we arrive and we watch as the shadows deepen and fall across the valley only to swallow the hillside in darkness around us. We drive into town for a restroom break, and then, we return to watch the city lights from the mountainside as darkness descends.

As we drive up the dirt road in twilight our headlights illuminate the gravel road before us. I am still looking out the windows for birds when I see a thick shape at the top of a utility pole. I tell Gus to stop the car, because I think there is a Great Horned Owl up there, but at first he doesn’t believe me. He thinks it is the hawk. He stops the car so I can look through the binoculars at the large mass of feathers perched above us. Its thick head and neck with ear tufts reveals it to be just what I thought it was, a Great-horned Owl. I pass the binoculars to Gus so he can have a look, and as we are both watching through the windshield of the car the owl raises her hind end as if to vent when suddenly like a ghost another owl appears out of the dusk. Its wings form a massive canopy over the female as he lands on top of her fluttering. I think he is trying to get a foothold on the same pole as her before it dawns on me that I am witnessing the mating of two Great Horned owls! It is all over in less than 20 seconds and he is gone like the wind in the night. The female lowers her rump to the pole and assumes her upright perched position again. Gus and I sit there in wonder as we realize what we have just seen.

Though we try to get a photo of the owl on the pole, by now the darkness has deepened and she is too high up for even the flash to register her shape. We put the car in gear and continue up the mountainside to our favorite lookout spot. High on the side of the mountain the Rio Rico valley sparkles below us. We can see the lights all the way to Nogales and I must say the city lights have never twinkled so brightly. No wonder those owls had romance on their minds!

On Sunday I count birds in Corona de Tucson. I count birds at the schoolyard where I find a flock of Lark sparrows and one sweet-faced bird hops up for a look. Across the street I hear Killdeer call and then watch in awe as four white-bellied birds fly overhead, but it is the memory of the owls that lingers in my mind. So, I drive up the road to a steep dirt bank where I find another Great Horned Owl in a little cave.

Last year she nested here and raised a brood of 4 little owlets. Can she be sitting on eggs again already? What a Wonder that would be! I will check back on her again in a week or two, but as I drive away I am recalling the events of the night before and the wonder I felt as the phantom of the night flew in on silent wings to woo his mate.

GBBC Update: All of today's photos we taken during the GBBC and were birds that I counted and submitted on checklists. I missed counting most of Friday due to Doctor's appointments and other errands, but I counted Birds all day long on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. In the end I submitted 1 checklist for Tucson, 1 for Sahuarita, 8 for Rio Rico and 18 for Corona de Tucson. Last I checked I had submitted the only count of a Fox Sparrow in the whole state which I found scratching in the leaves under a tree near the Rio Rico ponds. I didn't get a photo because Gus had the camera and was photographing the ducks in the pond. It was a red variety and the first Fox sparrow I have seen in Arizona so it went on my Arizona Life list!

Wednesday Morning Wake Up

(Mt. Fagan)

I wipe my groggy eyes and roll over in bed. The room is dark and cozy with a soft gray light. I wonder what time it is since it feels later but the room is still so dark. It’s 7:45 a.m., long past the time when the sun should have illuminated my room like the high beams of a truck parked outside. I snuggle into the covers, enjoying this overcast morning. Breezy Boy, my cat, curls up into the hollow of my body and purrs away. I am thinking that maybe I will stay in bed and enjoy this luxury just a few moments longer but suddenly I hear scratching on the patio door. Gus had let the dog out just before he left and now Blossom wants to come in.

I trundle out of bed and open the door. Blossom prances in like she owns the world. I pop my head out to feel the day and catch a whiff of rain in the air. Dark clouds are mounting over the Santa Ritas. Mount Fagan looks dark and broody. It looks like a curtain of rain is falling on the Rincons, but still the slopes are sending smoky plumes into the sky, and mixed with the smell of wet desert I can also smell the smoke. There are 8 fires burning now in Southern Arizona and the Distillery Fire in the Rincons has grown to over 5,000 acres.

(Rincon Mountains)

The cats follow me out to the kitchen winding around my legs and begging for breakfast. I step out this patio door to see the thermometer. It is 83 degrees and comfortable with a strong breeze gusting sometimes to a full wind. Off to the west, however, the sky is blue and clear. Sunlight beaming out from beneath the edge of the cloud bank illumines the mine tailings of Green Valley into a golden table land. It cuts a sharp edge against the pale blue sky.

(Green Valley Mine Tailings)

Once I shut the door the birds return to feasting in the backyard. Once again the finch feeder is covered in Lesser Goldfinches.

(Lesser Goldfinches on thistle seed feeder)

Mourning Doves are gleaning the seeds from the ground while flickers, Gila Woodpeckers and thrashers all vie for the peanut feeder. Out the den window a lone juvenile Gambel’s Quail pecks beneath my globe shaped feeder. His bland gray color blends in with the mourning doves but his shape and the plume atop his head betrays his true species. Over on this side of the house the house finches mob the globe shaped feeder while house sparrows pick at the quail block. A Canyon Towhee joins the fray and grabs whatever seeds it can. Then a feisty Cactus Wren flies in and chases away a thrasher to grab a peanut that was dropped on the stony ground. It’s just another day for Kathie’s Birds here in Sycamore Canyon, but the Monsoon is creeping ever closer and we may get storms this afternoon.

(Canyon Towhee at seed cake)

For now, I leave you with this peaceful scene of a potted dove. She has built her nest in this pot on a neighbor’s front porch. The family can sit in their bench and she does not flinch or fly away. My neighbor says she has seen the eggs when the mother flies off to feed in the evening. The male hangs around on nearby rooftops, waiting for the hatching and his job to begin of feeding the little brood. For me, the question arises: does the mother actually trust my neighbor and her children, or is her mother’s instinct so strong that she will not abandon the nest in spite of great fear? If the latter is true, I can’t help but wonder if I could confront my own fears in the same way.

Note: All of today's photography is by Kathiesbirds with the Nikon D80 and the 70-300mm lens except for the morning dove which was photographed Saturday, June 21, with the 18-70mm lens.

A Short (but true) Story

It’s a cool and cloudy day here in Sycamore Canyon. At 7 a.m. I awake to the sound of a dull buzz going off. I rollover in bed and tap Gus on the side. When he doesn’t respond I shake harder and say, “You need to shut your alarm clock off.” Now, it doesn’t make sense that his alarm clock would be on, since this is Saturday and his alarm doesn’t sound like that, but it is the only thing that makes sense to my groggy mind. Gus rises up on his elbow and looks at his alarm clock and says firmly, “It’s not my alarm clock.”

Well, since I am the investigator of all mysterious noises in this family, I jump out of bed and rush to the kitchen where the sound is louder. I hurry to the kitchen window which is over the sink and peer out. The sound is loudest here. I wonder, is someone working in the wash? No. Is my air conditioning unit trying to come on? How could it be; it’s turned off? Still, I run to check the control panel on the hall wall. Nope. It s off. I open the back door and go outside in my nightgown. The sound it duller out here. Back to the kitchen sink. What is it? Is my house about to blow up? I have a gas stove. I feel panic rising in my chest. My mind races. I’m dizzy from getting up so quickly. I want a drink and I need to pee, but WHAT IS IT!

I am standing next to the counter when I feel my cat, Sweet Bonnie Blue eyes, rub up against me. She is not supposed to be up here, but cats do what they want. I look at her and suddenly reason returns. I walk over and shut off the switch to the garbage disposal. How did it get turned on? Bonnie was up on the counter. She squeezed between the dish drainer and the wall to look out the open window at the birds flocking to my feeders this morning. She must have bumped up against it and flipped the switch. I shake my head and calm my heart. I get a drink of juice from the fridge, then hurry to the bathroom. Finally, I walk over and look out the den window at all the quail, doves and finches mobbing my feeders. Another quail family is feeding peacefully at the seed block with 6 little babies filling their bellies. Gus finally stumbles out of the bedroom to ask what was making the noise. I explain and he tumbles back into bed. I look out the back door at the thick blanket of clouds covering the morning sky. Monday and Tuesday we had highs over 100 degrees. Yesterday we had snow on Mt. Lemmon. This morning it is only 60 degrees here at my house, but this is just a brief reprieve before the triple digits return at the end of next week. I stand by the door looking at the new thistle seed feeder I bought yesterday. It is covered in Lesser Goldfinches. They are so thick on the sides that it looks like someone covered the feeder in Velcro and rolled it in birds! I crack up laughing at the sight. Another birdy morning has started here in Sycamore Canyon!