White Vermillion Flycatcher at Sweetwater Wetlands

"White" Vermillion Flycatcher at Sweetwater Wetlands 1-4-10

White Vermillion flycatcher 1-4-10 by Kathiesbirds w/Nikon D80 set in sports mode and the 70-300mm lens. Seen along the stream right behind the parking lot and restrooms. 1:55 PM MST.

After 2 weeks of hustle and bustle and Christmas excitement I need a break and so, as my son and grandchildren are flying back to the frozen northland, and as Gus heads off to work, I head for Sweetwater wetlands to see what I can see. Monday is a sunny day, calm and warm and as I drive up Sweetwater Drive I notice the parking lot full. I think to myself, there must be some rare bird hanging around, as I pull into the last available spot. As soon as I opened the car door I can hear birds calling. Right at the edge of the parking lot I see my first birds of the day, a pair of Abert's towhees and my first sighting of them this year. The mesquite and palo verdes surrounding the parking lot are alive with yellow-rumped warblers and ruby crowned kinglets. Across the stream I see and hear a marsh wren. I can already tell this is going to be a very good day. However, I have no idea yet how wonderful.

I meet a nice couple from New Jersey who are here watching birds for a couple of hours before they have to catch a plane back to the east coast. Mike and Nora accompany me for the rest of their time here, and I am able to spot a sora in the reeds for them. They have never seen a sora before and soon another joined it at the edge of the grass. Everywhere we turn there are birds. Father down the pathway we see literally thousands of ducks in the settling ponds to the east. Most of these are too far away and backlit to positively identify, so I did not even try to count them but we were able to make out a double-crested cormorant in their midst. Mike saw a swallow but I did not so I could not count that either. No matter. There are still plenty of birds I can count. We meet another birder who tells us there is a rare white vermilion flycatcher flying around somewhere here at Sweetwater. Supposedly it has even been in the newspaper and on TV but apparently I had missed that report. Now we kept our eyes open for it as we travel on.

In the main ponds we see almost every species of duck one can see in Arizona except for canvasbacks and redheads. We see every species of teal and plenty of pied-billed grebes. Someone else told us of snowy egrets being spotted in the farthest ponds, but Nora and Mike have to leave, so I continue on by myself as the sun continues to warm the day. I find the snowy egrets. I find herons and warblers. I see a Harris Hawk briefly across the street in its usual nesting area. A few red-winged blackbirds fly across my path and disappear into the reeds and rushes. My list grows and grows and so does my thirst and hunger. I walk back to the car to retrieve a fresh drink and a snack. By now it was well after noon and I have been here since 10 a.m. I walk back to the gazebo to relax and watch birds. I still have not seen the ghost vermillion.

With the day wearing on I decide to leave, so I pack up bird guides and food, bins and camera and make my way back towards the car. I come to an intersection which allows me to go in either direction back to the parking lot. I can see the cars through the trees and across the manmade creek, but I must choose which way to get there. I don't know what made me decide to go right, which is actually the longer way around, but I do. As I near the bridge I see a pyrrhuloxia on the ground near the bushes. I stop to add it to my list, then look up to see the white vermillion flycatcher flitting from bush to bush across the creek! I drop everything except my camera and bins and start snapping!

The cute little bird is like a ghost in the sunshine. It shows no fear but rather seems curious about me. I stand holding my breathe and snapping away. It flies in closer and cocks its head to look at me from every angle. I am overwhelmed with this sweet beauty, this rare gem. I cannot get enough of it. However, the other birds are unimpressed and yellow-rumped warblers, a black phoebe and a song sparrow continue with their business as if this were just an ordinary day. And I suppose it is. This is an ordinary day at Sweetwater Wetlands where birds fill trees, bushes and ponds, where on any given day you may spot a rarity as well as numerous "regular" birds. I counted 55 species here in the 3 1/2 hours I walked the loop and watched birds. Who knows how many other species I missed. I know someone saw a spotted towhee, but that species escaped me. I have no complaints, however. None whatsoever! For the rest of the day I walk around thinking and saying to myself, "I saw a white vermillion flycatcher. I saw a white vermillion flycatcher," as if repeating it to myself could drive the reality into my brain.

Species seen at Sweetwater Wetlands:

1. Mallard
2. Ruddy duck*
3. Northern shoveler*
4. American widgeon
5. Ring-necked duck*
6. Northern Pintail*
7. Bufflehead*
8. Gadwall*
9. Blue-winged teal*
10. cinnamon teal*
11. Green-winged teal*
12. Double-crested cormorant*
13. Great Blue heron*
14. Green heron*
15. Black-crowned night heron*
16. Snowy Egret*
17. American coot
18. Common Moorhen*
19. Spotted sandpiper
20. Killdeer*
21. Harris hawk*
22. Red-tailed hawk
23. Cooper's hawk
24. Pigeon
25. Mourning Dove
26. Anna's Hummingbird
27. Gila woodpecker
28. Northern Flicker (red-shafted)*
29. Flicker sp.
30. Red-naped sapsucker*
31. Pied-billed grebe
32. Vermillion flycatcher (1 white!)
33. Say's phoebe
34. Black phoebe*
35. Verdin
36. Ruby-crowned kinglet*
37. Marsh wren*
38. Cactus wren
39. Sora*
40. curve-billed thrasher
41. Phainopepla*
42. European Starling
43. Yellow-rumped warbler
44. Orange-crowned warbler*
45. Black-throated gray warbler*
46. Yellow warbler*
47. Abert's towhee*
48. White-crowned sparrow
49. Brewer's sparrow*
50. Song sparrow*
51. Pyrrhuloxia
52. Red-winged blackbird*
53. Great-tailed grackle
54. House finch
55. House sparrow

See the Big January Master List Here

I should be getting my computer back soon. If I had it now I would have included more photos. On Thursday I did my first IBA survey of Sabino Canyon for the year. We saw bridled titmice and Western bluebirds in the canyon, the first time in over 2 years these species have occurred on our transect count. I will add any new species from that count to the Big January Master List.

Sabino Canyon Bird Count:

1. Anna's Hummingbird
2. Broad-billed hummingbird*
3. Ladderbacked woodpecker*
4. Gila woodpecker
5. Black phoebe
6. Western bluebird
7. Ruby-crowned kinglet
8. Bridled titmouse*
9. Common Raven*
10. N. Mockingbird
11. European Starling
12. Phainopepla
13. Bewick's wren
14. Black-throated sparrow
15. Rufous-crowned sparrow
16. Canyon towhee
17. Lesser goldfinch
18. House sparrow

*first sighting in 2010

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

Sunday in Rio Rico

On Sunday we took a drive to Rio Rico, which means "rich river" in Spanish. The Santa Cruz flows through Rio Rico dividing it into east and west halves. This "rich river' now flows with treated sewage effluent and it is not safe to wade in. However, the wildlife has found a rich habitat along its shores. We exit on Palo Parado Road and cross the river to Pendelton Dr. I feel so wild and western driving our vehicle, which we have affectionately named "Birdy" through the shallow water. Crossing here saves five or more miles in back-tracking. Beyond the river to the east the San Cayentano Mountains are framed by trees in this lush riparian area. This is also open range and fat cattle barely glanced at us as they contentedly chewed their cuds alongside the road.

We drive up the side of the San Cayentano Mountains to a place I call "Hawk Hill." High on the shoulders of these mountains, I never fail to see a hawk everytime I am here. We first came down on Labor Day, and a red-tailed hawk was perched atop a utility pole tearing some small rodent to shreds then. Today, a far more peaceful scene awaits me as I watch another red-tail circling overhead to the northwest with the Tumacacori mountains beyond.

These mountain slopes are covered with sparse grass, numerous weeds, and a few scrubby mesquite trees. With the lack of tall trees, the birds tend to use the utility poles and wires for lookout perches. Another bird species that frequents these mountains slopes is the Western Kingbird. While I have seen Western Kingbirds before, I have never seen them in such great numbers. Since I am new to this area, I do not know if this is just an autumn phenomenon, or a regular occurrence, but it is not unusual for me to see 8 to 10 Western Kingbirds together down here in Rio Rico.

As Gus and I walk about on the mountain slopes a few swallows swoop and dive around us. I watch amazed as these magnificent fliers flash past me. I see white rump patches and clean white breasts. I think of violet-green swallows but I don't know if this is within their range. Three of the swallows land on a nearby wire and start to preen themselves. In the overcast light they appear black and white and I am confused as to their identification, so I snap off a few photos and walk back to the car to consult my bird guides where I discover that this is, indeed, their range and only the violet-green swallows have the white patches that almost meet over their rumps and their clean white breast with the white coming up over the eyes. These little birds continue to preen for a long while before flying off again. When the sun finally came out form behind the clouds I could finally see a bit of the greenish color in their shoulders and wings.

I have noticed that the humidity is higher in Rio Rico than it is near Tucson. It seems there are more mosquitoes here also, as well as other insects. As I walk around on Hawk Hill I see a flash of motion out of the corner of my eye. I pause and turn to see this ginourmous spider spinning up its morning breakfast! The grasshopper is still alive and struggling. I walk carefully away, glad that I did not walk into the web myself. When I look back the grasshopper is gone and the web has a huge hole in it. Score one for the grasshopper.

Horned lizard on the slopes of the San Cayentano Mountains 10-5-08 by Kathie Adams Brown

Not long afterwards I discover this little guy crawling about in the weeds near my feet. He is not much bigger than the grasshopper that just escaped from the spider. He is lucky he didn't get stepped on. Let's hope he stays away from that web!

I glance up at the peaks of the San Cayentano mountains. I feel drawn to these peaks for some reason. I feel good here in their shadow. I like their shape and the play of light and shadow on these gray-green slopes. But there is something else that draws me, a connection that I can't explain.




We head farther up the mountain and I discover this brilliant orange butterfly on some wildflowers. I am amazed by its coloration for it is black and orange above, but when it closes its wings the strikingly beautiful orange and white body and under-wings are revealed. Nature is full of delightful surprises and hidden secrets, like treasures, waiting to be discovered.



As we head down the mountain I see a large gathering of some raptor-like birds circling over the agricultural fields of Rio Rico. I ask Gus to stop the car so I can identify what I am looking at. We are on a side road with little to no traffic, so I jump out and stand in the middle of the road gazing skyward with my binoculars. However, a man is working outside in his yard right near where I am standing. He starts to walk towards me with a questioning look on his face. I hastily jump back in the car and we continue down the hill to Pendleton Dr. Here the road follows the valley floor and as we round the bend the swirling flock is revealed before us. Gus takes advantage of a dirt road and pulls off to park. I jump from the car with my bins in hand and call to him to grab the camera. As I focus in I search for field marks to identify what I am looking at. The light colored body, dark hood, and dark flight feathers make me think that I am seeing Swainson's hawks. I have read about them gathering in massive flocks during the fall migration period but I have never seen this behavior for myself. Now, standing here on a dirt road in Rio Rico I watch dumbfounded as masses of raptors circle overhead. Then, I notice the dark shapes on the ground in the thick alfalfa. There, walking about like chickens, are more hawks! As we draw near the fence line the birds nervously take to the air. Some continue to circle, but many come to roost on the ground once again, or in the nearby trees that line the far side of the field. Gus snaps away while I search the flock for any aberrant birds. While I do see a few turkey vultures and I hear a distant raven, the majority of birds are Swainson's hawks, adults and juveniles, dark and light morphs. I estimated the flock to be 110 strong. I am underestimating, I am sure, for I counted 50 birds on the ground, and at least as many in the air.

Adult Swainson's hawk in Rio Rico 10-5-08 photo by Gus

Coming at you! Photo by Gus

Swainson's hawks dropping from the sky over Rio Rico 10-5-08 by Gus

Adult Swainson's Hawk in Rio Rico, AZ 10-5-08 photo by Gus

Juvenile Swainson's hawk in Rio Rico, AZ 10-5-08 photo by Gus

All the while we are watching hawks this little vermilion flycathcer is watching us from the trees that edge the field on our side. We finally tear ourselves away from the scene and head on down the road. A little more than a mile south I spot a gray shape on top of a dead snag. Once again Gus stops the car and backs up for me to see, but this is a busy road with lots of traffic. He pulls off onto the grassy shoulder and I jump out of the car.

Gray Hawk in Rio Rico on Pendleton Rd. 10-5-08 Photo by Kathie

This Gray Hawk watches me warily as I slip a bit closer and snap off a few shots. I am so excited but I don't want to disturb the bird. I also have my sunglasses on, so it isn't until I get home that I realize with frustration the photos are not as clear as I hoped. Still, we had a great time in the outdoors. We saw so many new things today, and I have discovered what I am sure many others already know, that Rio Rico is a very birdy place!

Come back tomorrow to see Gus' best photo posted here for Skywatch Friday!

5 days of Birding: Day 4, Patagonia

It isn’t until Sunday morning, March 30th, that we decide for sure to head to Patagonia Lake State Park. Kathryn and I rush around eating breakfast and packing up. The drive to Patagonia takes us about an hour as we wind our way down Highway 83 through Davidson Canyon, past the proposed Rosemont Mine site to the Sonoita Junction. There we turned right on Highway 82 where we see a Border Patrol Checkpoint we will have to pass through on our return trip. Highway 82 proceeds through the town of Patagonia with all its little artists’ galleries, craft shops and bars. I have never stopped to check out the town and we talk about doing it on our way home.

About 7 miles south of Patagonia is the State Park. It is a world class birding destination with the Elegant Trogon being the Holy Grail of the trip. Would we see the Trogon today? My heart pounded with anticipation as we turned in the winding road to the lake. I immediately started scanning the skies for vultures because this is one place in the state where you are likely to see black vultures. I learned from one of the naturalists later on that, while black vultures have better eye sight, turkey vultures have a better sense of smell, so the black vulture will often follow the turkey vultures soaring high above them. When the turkey vultures have gotten close to carrion the black vultures will spot it from above and swoop down to join in or even pre-empt the feast. However, the only bird of prey we spotted was a southwestern version of a red-tailed hawk. Here in Arizona our red-tails are lighter colored and often lack the traditional “bellyband” that most birders look for as a field mark.

We stopped in the visitor center first to use the restroom and get some information with the intention of heading out to the north end of the lake to the well known birding trail. The visitor center desk was manned by a naturalist named Ken who informed us of a 10:00 a.m. Avian Boat Tour which still had space available. The tour lasts an hour and only coast $3 a person. We didn’t even know about this and we had no idea we were so lucky to get spots on this trip. The next day we met people from Oregon who had tried for months to get space on one of the boat tours and couldn’t. At the moment we were blissfully ignorant and signed ourselves up, though we foolishly almost didn’t!

Since it was only 9 a.m. we had about a half hour to go birding before we have to be back in time to get fitted with life jackets for the tour. We drive through the parking lots to the north end of the lake and walk a short distance down the trail. The trail winds along the edge of the lake on a high bluff but soon descends through the trees down a steep path and through a barbed-wire fence opening. The north end of the lake is part of a rangeland where cattle still graze and come to the lake to drink. Right now the trees are full of yellow-rumped warblers gleaning insects from the new spring leaves. Coots cackled and squawk down in the reeds and we spy a green-winged teal dabbling in the shallow water.

We haven’t gone far before it is time to head back to the visitor center for our boat tour. As we are fastening our life-jackets someone rushes in from the deck to inform us a gray hawk is flying overhead. Park Rangers and visitors alike crowd through the doorway and spill out onto the deck, binocs raised to catch the sight of the gray soaring above the lake. In the trees surrounding the visitor center the great-tailed grackles whistle and call. Red-winged black-birds trill, and broad-billed hummingbirds hover at the feeders suspended from the roofline.

A group of 6 passengers, including Kathryn and I head down to the dock to take our seats on the flat platform-like boat. The volunteer naturalist leading the tour is a guy named Larry from Colorado. Ken, the ranger we met earlier is driving. A group of 4 other women birders sits at the front of the boat while Kathryn and I take our place at the back near Ken. Ken and Larry have laminated pages from Sibley’s Bird Guide of the most likely species to be seen on the lake inserted into a 3 ring binder to make it easier for all of us to look up field marks. We head out of the cove past fishermen lining the banks or out on the lake in their own boats. The campground is full for the weekend with people everywhere.

Out on the lake the first bird we see is an eared grebe paddling away from the boat, then diving beneath the surface. We find another near the shore with its tiny head, red eyes, and black “ears”. The birds are still in their winter plumage and have not acquired the gold ear feathers of their breeding plumage as of yet. Ahead of us at the north end of the lake a group of 25 or more Neotropic Cormorants are roosting on some willow snags in the water. Larry and Ken set about telling us that Neotropic cormorants are the most likely species to be seen here, however, they are not easy to distinguish from double crested cormorants. They proceeded to tell us that Neotropic cormorants have longer tails, are slightly smaller, and the bare skin patch at the backs of their bills is pointed instead of curved. There are a couple of larger birds that we wonder if they were Double-crested Cormorants, but in the end the consensus is that all were Neotropic. I have no complaints about this as I have seen Double -crested Cormorants from New England to Utah, but these are a new species and a life bird for me.

The boat slowly churns about the lake along the shore line. Patagonia Lake is really a manmade reservoir created by damming Sonoita creek. The lake is long and narrow with many hidden coves and arms. Along the western border we spot some black-crowned night herons roosting in the trees, but they are so far in and the boat so shaky that I don’t attempt a photo. The winds really start to pick up while we were on the water. Someone exclaims, “An osprey!” and all binoculars point skyward. We can hardly believe it when the hour is up and we have to return to the shore, but after a quick lunch purchased from the little convenience store in the park, Kathryn and I are really to go at it again and we head back to the north end bird trail.

This time we meander down the path through the mesquite and willows. Green-winged teals, dabble in the shallow water near the reeds. Yellow-rumped warblers bustle about the tree tops. Vermillion flycatchers are in profusion with a new one around each corner. We count 11 in all, including a mating pair. In the tangled vines atop a small tree we find a nesting pair of Lesser Goldfinches. Then, as we rounded a corner we come upon some bridled titmice bustling among the treetops covered in yellow pollen.

At the west side of the north end of the lake we have a clear view of the water again where ruddy ducks and northern shovelers share the water with the cormorants we saw from the boat. While we are watching the cormorants we hear a sound of flapping wings and look up to see a great-blue heron flying up from the reeds. It's slow heavy wing beats soon carry it above the lake to some other hidden feeding ground among the reeds.

Where Sonoita creek tumbles into the lake a Green Heron flies up and off into the woods. We try to follow it for a better view as Kathryn has never seen one before, but it circles around just ahead of us to land back at the creek mouth again. By now the winds are gusting and we decided to head back to our car. As we head back on the trail we spot a yellow warbler high in the willows, our first for this trip. I keep searching for a black phoebe for Kathryn for some other birders we met had seen one, and this is prime habitat for them. We are almost back when we finally spot one near the water's edge. On our way back along the trail a golden heifer crosses our path to drink from the shallow lake end.

Nearby a cinnamon teal floats unconcerned with the heifer's presence.

As we ascended the trail up the bluff we pause to photograph two white-tailed does walking along the ridge above us. While we never saw the Elegant Trogon, we did record 52 species of birds today.

It is late afternoon as we head back towards Sonoita and home, but on the way we pull off Main Street in Patagonia to check out Paton's Bird Haven, a spot every birder and park naturalist told us about today. Apparently the Patons feed the birds in the back yard of their modest home near Sonoita Creek Preserve, a Nature Conservancy Property. We find their home on a dirt road just past a wash on the left, as we were told it would be. At first we were timid about entering someone else’s backyard, but then we see other birders in the backyard looking through binoculars and scopes, so, we park the car, grab our gear, and walk across the front yard to the back.

In the backyard are park benches set up under a crude awning. When I see the set-up, I can't help but think that the bird watchers are being watched! Meanwhile, people walk about quietly or sit on the benches with binocs and scopes. As we enter through the gate we see a white-breasted nuthatch making its way down a tree to a nearby feeder, but we are quickly distracted by the humming birds buzzing around the numerous nectar feeders suspended along the roof line and from trees.

“Rufous on C” someone calls out, and we quickly lock on it. There is a Rufous Humming bird shining like copper in the sun. Numerous broad-billed hummingbirds hover over the feeders or sit at various ports drinking nectar. The rufous soon flies off but then the most elegant hummingbird I have ever seen alights on a perch and starts to sip nectar up its broad red beak.

It is a Violet-crowned hummingbird, another lifer for me as well as for Kathryn. We watch amazed as hummers flit from feeder to feeder. I take as many shots as I can sitting quietly on the bench. Then at the far end of the yard Kathryn spies lazuli buntings on a feeder over there. I creep up to a nearby tree, using it to shield my presence, and snap off a few photos from this position. While I have seen lazuli buntings in Utah before, at Kathryn’s house as a matter of fact, this is the first time I have seen one here in Arizona.

One by one the others leave as the afternoon shadows grow longer. Soon only Kathryn and I are left and we stuff a couple of dollar bills in the “sugar fund” box before we leave. In Sonoita we pass easily through the Border patrol checkpoint, then turn north on highway 83 towards home. We are exhausted and the sun is setting as we finally turn into Sycamore Canyon, but this trip was well worth it and I can’t wait to go back again. The Elegant Trogon is just waiting for me there. I know it!

A Satruday Birding Mystery

Then sun has changed its angle over the past month and it is finally slanting under our northeast facing covered patio. It’s warm enough to eat breakfast outside for the first time in two months. The last time I can remember eating out here was the morning after Thanksgiving. Now we sit once again in the light caress of sunshine with hummingbirds buzzing the nectar and finches, mourning doves, and Gila woodpeckers visiting feeders and suet. As long as we don’t move fast the birds don’t mind our presence.


We decide to try the Tucson Botanical Garden for a visit today, so we set out around noontime. It proved to be a bad choice as the good weather has brought out all manner of tourist and residents. The garden is very busy and we see few birds, except for this beautiful broad-billed hummingbird that Gus was able to get a shot of before more people came walking by and scared it off.

We decided to try Reid Park instead. Gus has never been there and I am hoping he will get to see and photograph the Lewis’s woodpecker. We decide to make a picnic of it and stop on the way to pick up subs and drinks. The park is more crowded than the last time I was here. Under one of the pavilions someone has a birthday party set up complete with one of those inflatable jumping contraptions in the shape of a princess’s castle. The abundance of people and pets has affected the birding. I don’t see many birds at all at first, other than the long-tailed grackles that whistle and call from the trees. I’m especially surprised the house sparrows aren’t around, as they came and started begging as soon as I sat down at a picnic table last time I was here. After awhile the female Vermilion flycatcher shows up, and soon after her we see the male.

As we are finishing our lunch I hear a strange call and see a dark shape like a flying cape dart into the trees to the west of us.
We walk over cautiously looking up. I swear they will have to bury me with my neck folded backwards for if I keep this up it will have a permanent kink! I scan the pines for bird life but the trees are strangely empty. Last time these trees were full of warblers and ruby-crowned kinglets. Now, silence. Is this caused by the presence of so many people and dogs? I do finally spot a few juncos and house finches farther away on a little knoll, and then we see the phantom clinging to the north side of one of the palm trees. He stays in the shadows but Gus is able to get closer than I did and capture these amazing pictures.

I spot some movement in the upper branches of one of the pines. This would not be so unusual, but this bird is moving like a nuthatch.

It is! And a red-breasted one at that! While I would see them all the time in the woods of Maine, it is much rarer to see them here. I so enjoy these busy little birds with their habit of walking upside down on the tree trunk.

We start the walk back to our car. We’ve been here almost 2 hours. I am still gazing upward into the tree branches when I see this particular fluffy projection on a branch. A quick view with my binocs reveals a Cooper’s hawk perched in the upper reaches of the tree. Now that it's been discovered, it takes wing. Now I know why I haven’t seen any warblers or sparrows. They’ve all fled for their lives! Mystery solved.