On April 4, we decided to stay close to our casita for the morning. We walked over to Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park, about five minutes from the RV Resort gate. First we walked to an overlook of the river and saw Anhingas, Great Egrets, Double Crested Cormorants and a Least Grebe. Continuing on, we saw a several Great Kiskadees and two of them were building a nest.
Near the washrooms we caught a glimpse of an oriole as it moved from tree to tree. We were able to track it down and confirm that they were two Altamira Orioles. Here’s a photo of a first year individual. An adult would be a deeper orange. Altamira Orioles have a very limited range in the US. Another life bird!
We walked farther to the hawk watch tower and saw some distant unrecognizable birds. It was a long walk, so we didn’t bring our scope. We could hear Olive Sparrows in the underbrush below the structure, so we focused on trying to see one.
And we did catch our first sighting of an Olive Sparrow, a rather drab bird. It’s a secretive bird that also has a limited range in the US.
It’s always nice to see a Greater Roadrunner, especially when it’s running along the road!
That afternoon, we drove to Weslaco to the Frontera Audubon Center. It was like being in the tropics, yet we were in an urban area.
We got a good view of a Golden Fronted Woodpecker. The orange-yellow nape (back of neck) and the yellow in front of the bill along with the all-white rump and all-black tail distinguish it from other woodpeckers. It sounds a bit like a Gila Woodpecker that is very familiar to us in Arizona.
A Green Jay is another one of the birds that is only seen in the US in Southern Texas. They are more common in Mexico and down as far as Honduras. This individual is not as green as others we saw. The blue colour we see on a bird is a structural colour, created by the way the light waves interact with the feathers. All the other colours of light are absorbed by the melanin layer which allows our eyes to see only blue.
We also had our first look at a Long-billed Thrasher, a bird we had only heard for the first time earlier in the day.
And there also were Plain Chachalacas, which acted very much like the Gray-headed Chachalacas that we saw on our trip to Panama. They are noisy turkey-like birds.
We also saw a Buff-bellied Hummingbird and a Carolina Wren at the Frontera Center, both “life birds” for us. A good day for us!
There are two more blog posts to finish up this trip, and they will be posted soon.
On April 3rd we started our day at the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center, which was about an hour and a half from our casita in Mission, TX. The Birding and Nature Center has raised bayfront boardwalks to allow visitors to get closer to the birds and natural wildlife in the Laguna Madre Coastal area.
They also have alligators that you can observe from a safe distance.
We were happy to see a Mottled Duck for the first time, because they are only found along this coast and in Florida. The male looks very similar to a female Mallard, but darker. It reminded us of a Mexican duck, but the two species have different ranges.
We saw several Willets, and learned about their distinctive wing patterns.
This juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron was quietly sitting in the shrubbery, not drawing attention to itself.
Most of the Scissor-tailed Flycatchers that we had seen before this visit were flying near the roadsides as we drove along. It was nice to get a good view of one on a perch.
Next we explored the mudflats a few minutes north of the Birding Center. The tide was out so there was lots of space for shorebirds. We had walked at least a hundred metres from the high tide mark to reach the spot in the photo below.
We saw some Wilson’s Plovers that allowed Doug to get within range of his telephoto lens. Its large black bill is diagnostic. It usually faced away from us so it was hard to see the black band across its breast.
There was a large flock of at least seventy Black Skimmers that were resting on the shore. This unusual bird has an oversized bill, with the lower part being much longer than the upper mandible. It feeds by “skimming” for small fish close to the surface of the water.
Occasionally the whole flock would be disturbed and lift off, circle around and land in a new spot. The photo shows a mixture of mostly Black Skimmers and Royal Terns with some Laughing Gulls and Caspian Terns as well.
We met some other birders as we were leaving who told us about another good spot on the island. The previous few days had been really windy and many birds were resting and refuelling at The Valley Land Fund Lot, so we headed there. The Valley Land Fund is dedicated to conserving the unique habitats of the Rio Grande Valley. One lot on the south side of the street was left wild. Someone was observant enough to notice a “biggish blob” on a branch and to figure out it was a Least Bittern. Here’s a photo of people trying to see it. Later it woke up, and if you stood in the right spot you could see most of the bird, but it was mostly obscured by branches.
The lot on the other side of the street had been set up with feeding stations. Here are two photos of an Orchard Oriole.
We got some good views of a Nashville Warbler. Later in the spring, Nashville Warblers will be near our house in BC.
We also saw a Northern Parula, a warbler that we had seen several times as a rarity in the Tucson area. This time the parula was in its normal range.
We’d seen a Yellow-throated Warbler once before in the Tucson area, again as a rarity. Like the Northern Parula, it is usually found in the eastern US and SE Canada in the breeding season.
But this Black-throated Green Warbler was a first for us. Even though its yellow head is quite prominent, it has a slight tinge of green on its back which is used in its name. Black-throated Green-backed Yellow-headed Warbler would just be too much!
There was also a Summer Tanager hanging out near the oranges.
This is an Indigo Bunting, an easy bird to identify from its name.
We spent over two hours at the Land Lots, so we took a break for lunch. Thanks to Mary for this photo of Rich, Wendy and Doug.
This whole blog post was about just one day! That day on South Padre Island, TX, we saw over sixty species, with six “life birds.” There will be three more posts about our trip to Texas to be posted soon!
Texas! Our friends were travelling to Texas for birding, so we decided to join them. Mary had done a lot of research on sites to visit and birds to see. Rich worked out our accommodations and our guided day. They had both been to the area the previous year and we appreciated their expertise.
For the first couple of days we were travelling separately. We stayed in Van Horn, Texas the first night. The next day, we got to the first birding site a few hours after Rich and Mary, and they told us where we could see our first target bird – the Black-capped Vireo. They saw it in the bushes near the entrance to South Llano River State Park in Kimble County.
First we heard the Black-capped Vireo singing, so we followed its progress as it flitted between the branches, mostly hidden. It perched in view for only a short time, and Doug was able to get this photo of our first “life bird” of the trip.
We also got a good view of a Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay in the meadow of wildflowers.
We stopped at a bird blind on the walk back to the truck and saw this Black-crested Titmouse looking a little disheveled after having a bath.
We drove next to Lost Maples State Natural Area in Bandera County. We crossed this creek on the East/West trail and saw our first ever Carolina Chickadee. It is nearly identical to a Black-capped Chickadee but the species have different ranges that only overlap in a small area.
We worked hard to get a good view of this White-eyed Vireo. We had seen the species once before but only for a fleeting moment. Later we walked up the East trail and got a glimpse of a Golden-cheeked Warbler, another bird that we had hoped to see.
We left Lost Maples about three in the afternoon and drove another four hours to Portland, which is just outside of Corpus Christi.
The next morning, we birded out of the wind beside the motel that our friends stayed at in Portland. We really got a good opportunity to work on our shorebird identification and get some good views since the birds weren’t that far away.
All of the following birds were visible from our sheltered position. This Marbled Godwit, winters on the Texas coast. It is still in non-breeding plumage so its breast is buffy, not “marbled” like it will be when it is at its summer breeding grounds in the Canadian prairies.
We saw the first of many Willets that we were going to see. It’s a drab-plumaged larger shorebird with a stout bill.
We like watching Ruddy Turnstones turn over rocks. Usually we see them foraging in the mud but this one is in shallow water. The species is a ruddy colour when in breeding plumage.
Here’s a pair of Laughing Gulls. They were the most common gull species that we encountered in Texas. We estimated that there were over 130 within our sight. They get their name from the sound of their call not their comical appearance.
Here are a couple of Forster’s Terns. The one on the right is likely a first winter individual, while the one on the left is showing breeding plumage and bill color.
We got a really good view of a Tri-Colored Heron. Its blue bill is the courtship color. Tri-colored Herons always have a dark breast and contrasting light belly.
This was the first Reddish Egret that we had ever seen and we were glad that our friends could confirm the identification because it doesn’t look reddish at all. (It’s a white morph.) The bi-colored bill helps distinguish it from a Great Egret.
This adult White Ibis was easier to identify.
Just around the corner of the motel we saw our first ever sighting of an American Oystercatcher. Notice that it is banded.
Our next stop was just a couple of minutes away at Indian Point Park – Nueces Co. marshes, where we saw more shorebirds.
This little guy is a Semipalmated Plover. It’s a little smaller than a Killdeer and has only one breastband.
A Sanderling is a sandpiper that is a little bigger than a Semipalmated Plover. This one could be a female just coming into breeding plumage.
The smaller birds are Sandwich Terns. The key identifying feature is their black bill with yellow tip, since several species of terns have black heads. We also saw some “lifer” Least Terns (small terns with yellow bills) but they were too far out for a good photo.
We’ve seen Roseate Spoonbills before but never in flight. When in flight, an adult spoonbill displays an orange tail.
Next, we went to downtown Corpus Christi, to the parking lot of an oyster bar restaurant. At the back of the lot, there is an oyster recycling center. Oyster shells (or shucks) are collected and eventually returned to local waters to provide substrate to form new reefs and habitat for fish and crabs. An oyster shell reef is important in the lifecycle of an oyster because young larval oysters have no shell and prefer to settle on the shells of other oysters, and then begin building their own shells. This is all information that we learned after the fact. We were actually there to see a rare bird who kept coming back to the recycling area.
This is a Cattle Tyrant. You won’t find this bird in any field guide of North American birds because their normal home is in South America (Brazil, Venezuela, Columbia) where they forage on the ground near cattle herds. Before November of 2023, a Cattle Tyrant had never before been seen north of Panama. Did it get blown off course or come as a stow-away in a ship? It’s not telling, but it has stayed in the area for over four months, and is still being reported as this post is being written. Well over a thousand people have seen it and reported it on eBird. It’s our first “Mega Rarity.”
Our next location was just outside Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. We saw an Aplomado Falcon and about 400 metres away on a nesting platform. The photo below was taken through our scope, so it is a bit fuzzy. Aplomado Falcons are found in Central and South America and used to be common in the dry grasslands of the US. They have been introduced into areas of south Texas, but are still considered endangered.
That afternoon we made it to our home for the next five nights at Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort. It was a great location, within walking distance of Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. We even did some birding on the grounds.
We were staying in a casita that was one of a pod of three, with one of our friends on one side and the other on the other side. We all shared the central backyard shaded table area. Most winter residents leave by March 31, so there was good availability and reduced rates.
Here’s a view of the kitchen and dining area taken from the living “room.” A bedroom and a bathroom rounded out the accommodations. We liked being able to prepare our own meals.
Whew! We saw a lot of birds in two days including eight species we had never seen before. This was a long post; the other parts won’t be quite as long. Look forward to Part 2, 3, 4 and 5 to be posted soon.
At the beginning of March, we went on our annual “thrasher hunt,” out to the salt brush desert scrub about an hour and a half drive away. Our friends Mary and Rich joined us. It was a beautiful day, but the LeConte’s Thrasher that we had hoped to see, stayed quiet and hidden, if it was there at all.
We did get a good view of a Sagebrush Sparrow, which also likes this habitat. There were also several Sage Thrashers.
On our way back to town, we drove to an area that White-tailed Kites had been seen. Rich spotted one as he was driving, so we hopped out of the vehicles to get a good look.
For about fifteen minutes, the kite flew around the fields. It hunts from the air, often hovering gracefully (or kiting) then dropping straight down. After a bit, it flew closer so it was almost overhead.
Another day drove down to Patagonia, AZ again. This time we saw a Louisiana Waterthrush near the creek that flows beside the Paton Center for Hummingbirds. The Louisiana Waterthrush and the Northern Waterthrush are very similar. The Louisiana one is best distinguished by a broader white eyebrow and sparser streaking than a Northern Waterthrush. Their songs are quite different, which helps in the identification.
We didn’t have to wait long for the Louisiana Waterthrush to show up for us, so we had time on our way home to stop at Empire Gulch in Las Cienegas National Conservation Area. Our friend, Rich had seen a Winter Wren there and we hoped to see it too. It’s a little wren that is very similar to a Pacific Wren, except for its song. Mostly it stayed hidden, teasing us with its calls, but luckily it hopped up on to a log long enough for Doug to get a photo.
We made a number of trips to Agua Nueva, a newly opened park near Sweetwater Wetlands, in hopes of seeing a Swamp Sparrow. The first few times, we saw several Lincoln’s Sparrows, and this one perched in good light.
We also saw our first Broad-billed Hummingbird in the Tucson area for the year. The sky was overcast that day.
This Cooper’s Hawk has a nest nearby. We saw it as we were leaving one day and hoped that it hadn’t made a dinner of the elusive Swamp Sparrow.
Finally we were successful. One morning, the Swamp Sparrow foraged along the edge of the island about fifteen to twenty metres away from us.
This female Summer Tanager was hanging out in Reid Park in the middle of Tucson for the whole winter, but it took us until March to get a good look at her. This day, she was perched very high in a pine tree. Summer Tanagers are regularly seen in Arizona in the summer and usually migrate south for the winter months.
We visited the Hawk Watch in Tubac a couple of times. We didn’t happen to be there when large flocks of hawks flew over, but we did see several different species. Sometimes the birds were so high that they could only be identified by an expert with a scope. Several people watched from dawn to dusk for the whole month of March, and one enthusiast started a few weeks earlier and continued into April.
Many visitors come to see the migrating Common Black Hawks. They nest in areas of Arizona and New Mexico that have cottonwood trees.
Gray Hawks also like riparian woodlands, but they don’t travel very far past the Mexico border. The fluff in the photo is from the nearby cottonwood trees.
When we were in the Tubac area, we walked one of our favourite trails at Santa Gertrudis Lane. We were happy to see a Wilson’s Warbler. Soon Wilson’s Warblers will be common in Arizona in wooded areas while they make their way northward.
Here’s a view of Reservation Road in Avra Valley. Usually when we bird in a spot like this, we’re the only ones around. But a Grasshopper Sparrow, a Cassin’s Sparrow, a number of Bendire’s Thrashers and Sage Thrashers (all rarities) were reported in the area, and several people chose to look for them on the same day. Luckily for us, the Grasshopper Sparrow was closer to the road when we saw it. Doug is in the photo, but only to give encouraging words to the other birders before we left.
The Grasshopper Sparrow did not pose nicely for a photo and our views of it were obscured by branches. But we saw a Cassin’s Sparrow on a tree about twenty-five metres (or a pool length) out from the fence.
This Vesper Sparrow popped up much closer to the fence, resulting in a much clearer photo.
The next photos are from our visits to the Sweetwater Wetlands, one of the top hotspots in the Tucson area. One day in early March, there were so many swallows flying around that it was hard to count them, until most of them chose to perch in the dead branches of a tree. It was then much easier to identify them as Northern Rough-winged Swallows, a very common swallow.
By the third week in March, the Bell’s Vireos showed up. Mostly we identify them by their distinctive song, but Doug was able to get a photo of one of these drab birds.
That same day, we watched a Greater Roadrunner deal with its dinner. First we saw it with a large Desert Spiny lizard in its bill, thrashing it against the ground. We suspect the bird was trying to make sure the lizard was truly dead. The roadrunner then manipulated the lizard so it was lengthwise, and started swallowing it, head first.
We always have interesting birds in our yard, but we don’t often share the photos of them on the blog. So here are a couple. This Curved-bill Thrasher has a longer than normal bill. It’s a bill deformity, and can make it difficult for a bird to eat. This thrasher visited our feeder, so it’s managing. We’ve since researched bill deformities in birds. A longer curved bill on a Curved-bill thrasher is not as dramatic as the images of chickadees with long curved bills.(For more information search: Beak Deformities in Landbirds by Alaska Science Center, http://www.usgs.gov)
Here is an Inca Dove, which visited our yard at least once. It’s considered rare for the area, but we frequently hear them calling from the farm next door. It’s a small dove with beautiful feather patterns.
We enjoyed searching for different birds in March, but we expect April will be even better. At the beginning of April, we drove to Texas, and saw several new birds. Also, we hope we’ll see different birds as they migrate into the area. So there is lots to look forward to.
Wildflowers! We’ve had double the average rainfall this year in the Tucson area and the wildflowers are loving it! This post will focus on botany, with a reptile thrown in.
Our March wildflower quest started with a hike up King Canyon in Saguaro National Park (West). The Arizona Native Plant Society had planned a field trip to the canyon, so we decided to go a few days earlier on our own. This Desert Wishbone bush was the featured photo on their Facebook page advertising the trip, so we were happy to find it early in the day. The bush has quite a small flower and is easy to overlook.
We’ve shared photos of penstemon before on blog. However, this was the tallest specimen that we’ve seen in the “wild” (meaning, not the Desert Museum). Parry’s penstemon is native to the Sonoran desert and blooms in March and April.
A close up of Penstemon parryi.
The “main event” flower was Crossosoma Bigelovii, or ragged rockflower. It likes to grow out of rock crevices, so it’s not able to be cultivated.
It has a pleasing jasmine-like scent. We only saw one of these plants on our hike.
Farther up the canyon, there is a rockwall covered with petroglyphs. Doug is pointing yo some of them in the photo below. Every crack that holds a bit of soil has a plant growing out of it.
We climbed out of the canyon and followed Sendero Esperanza west until it joined the Gould Mine trail. There was a blooming Ocotillo overhanging the trail along this section.
This is a close-up of Allonia incarnata, a flowering plant in the four o’clock family. The flower is about the size of a quarter. It’s the last wildflower photo that we included from this hike, although we saw several other flowers that day.
In March, we have generally done most of our hiking from our doorstep. We realized that we enjoyed the solitude, the scenery and the convenience of not having to drive to a trailhead. We have discovered multiple trails so we can enjoy a short 45 minute hike or extend it to two or three hours. Here’s a view looking south over the teddy bear chollas and saguaros towards Wasson Peak in Saguaro National Park.
The scorpion weed made a carpet of purple on one of our hikes.
If you look closely in the photo above, you might notice some slender whitish flowers. They are Lyreleaf jewel flowers (streptanthus carinatus). A bee happened to visit one of the flowers as Wendy was taking a photo.
We had never seen this bush in flower in the last four years, but the moisture this year allowed it to flourish. It’s a species of rhatany known as Krameria erecta. It’s very heather-like, and unlike most desert bushes, doesn’t have any thorns.
The buckhorn cholla is sending out new growth and it looks very flower-like.
Here’s a close-up. We passed this cactus and few days later, and the red had faded to green.
Here’s an Ocotillo with autumn colours. It used to be a lush green and it is now turning colour similarly to how deciduous leaves turn colour in the fall where we live in BC. It makes sense, because it is coming to the end of its growing season. It will be dormant in the heat of the early summer and sprout green leaves when conditions are right again.
At the end of March, Wendy walked from Cam-Boh picnic area back to our place (about an hour) and was surprised to see this hedgehog cactus in full bloom. It’s the first of the season; mostly we see this species bloom a little later.
We made a special visit to a saguaro that we saw start to bud last year to see how long the arms had grown. The first photo was from February 23, 2023 and the next one from March 27, 2024.
The next couple of photos were taken at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
Here, the Kingcup cactus, a variety of hedgehog cactus is just starting to bloom.
These Notch-leaved Phacelia provide nice contrast to the cactus.
Now to introduced flowers. In Madera Canyon, this plum tree is growing wild, producing beautiful blooms. It was likely planted near a cabin, which has long ago disappeared.
Our neighbour grew this flower in a raised bed along with some lettuce. It’s a hibiscus called “Hawaiian Punch.” The vegetable gardening season is almost finished because it will soon be too hot.
Now to our reptile sighting. One day on our bike ride on “The Loop” we encountered two rattlesnakes in the middle of the pavement, which we found were easy to avoid. This one is a Western Diamondback. It was spread out across the bike lane as we approached, and we watched a cyclist run over it. It then curled up, but didn’t look injured. It’s nice that an iPhone can zoom in a long ways so Doug didn’t get very close for the photo. We guess that both snakes were warming up on the dark surface.
Of course we will end the blog post with a sunset photo. This one is almost magical.
We hope you enjoyed all the flowers and plant life. We also saw plenty of birds which will be posted soon in the our second blog of March, 2024.
This post will cover the highlights of our birding day trips in Arizona. We submitted over fifty checklists to eBird for the month and had at least one list for 24 out of the 29 days, so it would be safe to say that we went birding a lot.
This first photo, actually from early January, is of a Tennessee Warbler, which is a rare sighting for the Tucson area. We were getting ready to leave after a couple of hours of watching and took one more pass through the willows and it popped up. It’s a female in non-breeding plumage.
We also want to include photos from our visit to Whitewater Draw in the middle of January. We go every year to get our fill of Sandhill Cranes. This year, the cranes landed closer to the viewing path than last year, when most of the cranes chose to land in the outlying fields. We estimated that 10 000 cranes landed when we were there.
This group chose to walk across the shallow water rather than fly. They looked awkward as they raised their feet out of the muck.
Here’s a closer view of the magnificent birds.
Now for our February birds. In early February, we drove about an hour to a park in south-east Tucson to try to see a Pine Warbler. It was tricky to see among the Yellow-rumped Warblers, because it was a rather drab coloured female, but we were successful and we were also able to help other birders get their eyes on it too. Pine Warblers are usually found in the eastern US. And a bonus for us was getting to catch up with birding friends.
Sometimes when there is stormy weather, birds are affected and end up in unusual locations. We were lucky enough to see this Bonaparte’s Gull on a lake in Kennedy Park in southwest Tucson. The gull flew in about mid-day and rested a few hours before taking flight and hopefully finding its way back to its flock on the coast.
We made several trips to Patagonia, Arizona in hopes of seeing the Cape May Warbler again. (It’s a birding thing; we wanted to see it again for our 2024 list.) We were unsuccessful in January because the bird decided to explore other parts of the town, but in the middle of February, he came back to the tree that we saw him on in December. He is a beautiful bird and we’re glad he found a place to spend the winter.
Whenever we go to Patagonia, we visit the Paton Center for Hummingbirds. The following photos were taken at the center over several visits.
The Violet-crowned Hummingbird is the bird that made the center famous. Violet-crowned Hummingbirds are rare and local even in Mexico where they are found year-round. A few adults stick around the center all year. They have a steady supply of nectar with the feeders and can find good nesting sites in the cottonwoods along the stream.
Broad-billed Hummingbirds are always nice to see.
There are two species of Ground-doves that frequent the brush piles at the Paton Center. The one on the left is a female Common Ground-dove and the one on the right is a female Ruddy Ground-dove. While the male ground-doves do not look alike, there are only subtle differences between the females. The female Common Ground-dove has pink at the base of her bill, while the Ruddy’s bill is gray. The Common Ground-dove has a scaly breast, while the Ruddy Ground-dove’s breast is unmarked. There are also differences in the spots, but that’s getting into too much detail. You might wonder why we care to tell the difference. It’s because the Common Ground-dove is categorized as “Infrequent,” while the Ruddy Ground-dove is “Rare.”
This is a photo of a Downy Woodpecker that was visiting the Paton Center and the neighbourhood since December. While Downy woodpeckers are very common at our house in BC, they are very rare this far south in Arizona. This male was the first recorded sighting for the county.
On one of our days that we visited Patagonia, we stopped at Las Cienegas National Conservation Area on the way home to try and see birds that are only found in the grasslands. We didn’t see much that day, but Doug was able to get a photo of a Vesper Sparrow, which is a common bird.
Here’s a view of Doug taking that photo to give you a sense of the vast grassland and how far he was away from the shrub the sparrow was perched in.
We visited the Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson several times in the month. One time, this Common Gallinule was in good light. Gallinules are a bit like coots because they bob their heads as they swim. When they are in breeding plumage, they develop a red shield on their forehead.
The Northern Parula is a warbler that usually winters in the Caribbean, but this fellow decided that the wetlands were going to be his winter home. We included photos of this bird in our December blog post, and here’s another one.
We also went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum several times. One bright day, Doug decided to take photos of the common birds. Here’s a Cactus Wren in an ocotillo.
This is a female Phainopepla. The species forages for berries and especially likes mistletoe.
Usually when we hear the distinctive call of the White-winged Dove when we’re at the desert museum, we attribute it to the captive birds in the aviary. This one was a bit of a surprise this early in the season. We usually don’t see them in the area until later in the spring. They love saguaro blooms.
On an especially warm day for February (high of 30 degrees C, 86 F), we chose to go to higher elevations on Mt. Lemmon to escape the heat and see some different birds. We walked through the Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Area and followed a section of the Arizona trail to a wash, where we heard a Juniper Titmouse singing.
Gordon Hirabayashi was an American sociologist, who resisted the Japanese American internment during World War II. When he was a university student, he was held in the prison camp that now bears his name. Wikipedia has a good article explaining his story and its significance.
Here’s the Juniper Titmouse, that we had come to see. While they are a rather drab bird, their song is unique and was described to us as a “arcade / pin ball machine” sound, by our friend who introduced us to birding.
Later that day, we drove to a higher elevation and walked into the Rose Canyon campground. There were still some patches of snow in sheltered areas. We walked along the Green Mountain campground loop and had this view of Green Mountain. The mountain has a green tinge to it which doesn’t show up that well in the photo.
We wanted to see the birds that are common at this elevation, especially a Yellow-eyed Junco. Our friend refers to this species as “devil birds” and you can see why she might think so after you view the photo below.
This female Red Crossbill is gathering nesting material. Mt. Lemmon is considered a “sky island,” where the habitat is similar to higher latitudes, so that “cooler weather” species can thrive.
We ventured north into the Santa Cruz flats on three different days in hopes of seeing a Mountain Plover. Here’s a photo of Doug scanning a sod farm for birds. Mostly we saw Horned Larks and Killdeer. The Mountain Plover was definitely not as easy to see as the Pacific Golden Plovers that we saw in Hawaii. Most of the plovers have probably headed out on migration, so we’ll have to wait until next season to see them in Arizona.
Towards the end of the month, we were lucky enough to see a Green Kingfisher fishing in the Santa Cruz River near Santa Gertrudis Lane in the Tubac area. Green Kingfishers are tiny birds with very long bills. Even though the kingfisher is resident to the area, they are hard to see when they perch on branches overhanging the water or when they fly just over the surface of the water.
We hope you’ve enjoyed seeing the twenty birds that are featured this month. March is a new month and we hope to see new birds and hopefully there will be some good photos too! See you next month.
This post is mainly about our February in Arizona, but also includes some of the things we did in the beginning of January, since we didn’t report on them earlier.
Our first bike ride of the year was on January 3rd, to our regular spot in the Tortolita Preserve in Marana. It was comfortable riding in shorts and a t-shirt.
We did our annual hike to Panther Peak directly from our gate on January 6th. Here’s a photo from our approach trail. We headed to the pass that is directly above Wendy’s hat in the photo below. Panther Peak is hidden behind the peak on the left skyline.
The trail turns into a route through the boulders, on the way up to the pass.
Here’s a view looking east to Marana, Oro Valley and Tucson, taken just below the summit.
The next week , we hiked on the east side of Panther Peak, near Sanctuary Cove. Panther Peak is on the right in the photo below.
Here’s one last January photo of a huge saguaro in Catalina State Park. We had seen it many times from a distance and this time, we decided to get a closer view.
We love saguaros, especially the grove that is a fifteen minute walk from our place. We have included many photos in various blogs from this spot because we like it so much. We did most of our February walking on the trails in this area.
In the middle of February we drove about an hour north to Oracle State Park. We had never visited the park before and were impressed with the historic ranch house that serves as a visitor centre and museum. The Kannally family buildings and land became Oracle State Park. The four-level ranch house in the photo below was built in 1929-32 in the Mediterranean Revival Style.
We walked some trails in hopes of seeing a Crissal Thrasher, because the secretive bird likes the habitat of dense mesquite and brush along desert washes. We walked along a wash and saw a pair of the species. Alas, Doug’s camera battery died and the second one was in the charger at home, so no photo this time.
On February 17th, we attended a wine festival at Medella Vina Ranch on the southeast side of Tucson.
Here Wendy is waiting in line for a pour from an Arizona winery. The fellow ahead of her has a local radio show, so wanted to be “tagged” (#thetucsontastyshow). We tasted some good wines from Sonoita and Elgin, which are close enough to Patagonia so that we will plan a day of bird-watching followed by a wine-tasting someday soon.
The next weekend was the annual Tucson Quilters Guild quilt show. There were many amazing quilts (Wendy took photos of over fifty of them) and this quilt earned “Best of Show.” It’s called Montepulciano, and is an original art quilt by Kathy Adams. Wendy didn’t measure it, but she would guess it was about 36″ x 48.”
This photo shows some of the details. The artist wrote that she made lots of parts for the trees, bushes and grapevines using wash-away stabilizer, tulle, fabric and yarns.
The quilt show was held at the Pima County Fairgrounds which was quite close to the Pima Air and Space Museum, so that’s where Doug went while Wendy was at the show. Doug is standing in front of a retired spy plane, the SR-71 Blackbird.
There was a special plane on display that has limited tours. Here’s his view while he waited in line of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). The lab was housed in a Boeing 747 and was modified to carry a reflecting telescope.
The flowers were starting to bloom by the end of February. This Baja Fairy Duster is brighter than the local fairy duster, but since its range is in the Sonoran desert, it qualifies to be included at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum where we saw it.
Also at the desert museum was this cactus from the Escobaria family. It’s one of the first cacti to bloom.
These California poppies were near Picture Rocks Road and since we pass by them most days, we stopped once to get some photos. We suppose that the five days with rain at the beginning of February helped them bloom vigorously.
We’ll end the blog with the expected “sky” shots. Some days the sunset itself isn’t remarkable, but the alpenglow on the ridge makes up for it.
It’s the clouds that make the sunrise. This was taken on February 21.
Wendy walked a little ways off the patio, past the vegetation and into the wash to get this sunset photo. We needed to use our umbrellas when we were birding earlier in the day, but we didn’t mind the showers and the lingering clouds made for one of our best sunsets.
This is our fourth and final post about our trip and describes our last three days on the big island of Hawaii.
On our eighth day, we drove over the saddle from our BnB in Kealakekua to the windward and wetter side to Hilo. We were fortunate to have a fair weather day for our visit. First we went to Wailoa Pond, which is part of Wailoa River State Recreation Area, to check out the birds.
Along the river, we saw a Wandering Tattler, a medium-sized shorebird that is a common winter migrant. It breeds in Alaska and the Yukon.
From there, we drove about five minutes north to Liliuokalani Gardens to enjoy the scenery and views. This Japanese Garden was dedicated to Hawaii’s first Japanese immigrants who worked the sugar cane fields.
We almost didn’t start a “list” because the bird life was sparse, but then we got a good view of this Great Frigatebird and when we paid better attention, we saw twelve species of birds in our 45 minute walk.
We got one of our best views of a Spotted Dove, even though we had seen many throughout the trip. These doves were introduced from Asia in the mid-1800s for food and in the 1900s for game. They are about the size of a Mourning Dove.
We also watched a mongoose hunting in the grass. Mongooses were brought from India with the idea that they would control rats. Unfortunately mongooses hunt in the day and the rats are active at night. The mongoose loves to eat bird eggs, which is devastating for ground dwelling birds. We saw many mongooses as well as some feral cats on our trip.
Next, we drove north on the Belt Road to Laupahoehoe Point Beach Park. The tide was coming in and it was fascinating watching the waves crash against the rocks. The park has a memorial to commemorate the lives that were lost in April of 1946 when a tsunami hit the community. The tsunami waves destroyed the schoolhouse, killing the teacher and twenty-five students. In all, 159 people died in the catastrophe. Hawaii now has a tsunami warning system in place.
The next day, we drove to the outskirts of Waikoloa, to the skatepark. While that seems like a strange place to go birding, the park also included a lush soccer field, a derelict baseball diamond, and a trail through the shrubs along the fence which were all good habitat for birds.
We saw a pair of Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, which are native to Africa and India, but they flew off before Doug could get a photo. Our bonus bird was a Rosy-faced Lovebird that perched politely for its photo. A lovebird is a short-tailed parrot native to southwestern Africa. It’s a common pet species, so escapees may occur anywhere. Hawaii and Arizona have feral populations. It was the first time that we had seen one in the wild.
Eurasian Skylarks are common on grassy mountain slopes on the island of Hawaii and in this case, an unused soccer field. The species is common throughout Europe and Asia and was introduced to Hawaii in 1865.
On our last day, we left our BnB in the morning and didn’t need to be at the airport until after dinner. So we went on a road tour to North Kohala. We stopped at Lapakahi State Historical Park and wandered down a trail to a view of the ocean. The state park is on the site of an old Hawaiian village.
We stopped a few miles north at Kapa’a Beach County Park and watched the waves crash against the rocky shore while we ate our lunch. Then we continued along the tip of the island to the end of the road at the lookout for Pololu Valley. Our guidebook gave this spot a “Real Gem” rating and in the description said that if you took the trail down to the black lava sand beach in mid-week, you might have the beach to yourself. This was definitely not the case. The overlook was a crowded parking lot controlled by volunteers who kept the lot for people who were just looking at the view. If you wanted to hike down to the beach, you needed to park along the side of the narrow road. At least twenty vehicles were parked along there. We chose to park at the overlook and take a photo from the curb in front of the jeep. Too many people for our liking! But a beautiful view.
We backtracked to the small town of Kapa’au, where every restaurant and cafe seemed busy, so at least all the tourists were helping the local economy. A statue of King Kamehameha the Great is in a park in this small town. This statue is a lot like the one standing in front of the Judiciary building in Honolulu. Back in 1878, the statue was being shipped from Paris when the ship and cargo was lost at sea. The Hawaiian Legislature used the insurance money to order a new one. Sometime later, the captain of the wrecked ship saw the lost statue in Port Stanley where someone had salvaged it. He bought it and sent it to Hawaii. The broken arm was repaired and it now stands in this park near to the birthplace of King Kamehameha I. In ancient times, the king wore a cape made of bird feathers. Imagine how many Amakihi birds would have perished to provide all those feathers!
We took the Kohala Mountain Road south to the city of Waimea. Waimea is at 2,600 feet so it was cool enough for us to be comfortable. It was only mid-afternoon and we had nowhere that we had to be, so we found a pretty park (Waimea Nature Park) and wandered around looking at birds. There were beautiful hibiscus bushes. (And our blog from a trip to Hawaii should include at least one flower photo.)
From Waimea, we drove west to the coast. We spent about two hours sitting around in the shade at Spencer Beach. We had our a dinner of sushi, sitting at a picnic table, then changed into our travelling clothes and headed to the airport.
We arrived at the airport before 7 pm and our flight left at 10:30. The open air terminal was comfortable, so all there was left to do was wait. Our overnight flight to Phoenix arrived about 45 minutes early, because of a strong tail wind. Another couple of hours driving and we were home.
We thoroughly enjoyed our ten day trip to the big island of Hawaii. Our intention was to see as many birds as we could and the trip met our expectations. We were pleased at how much Hawaiian history we learned; the historic parks were well situated for bird watching and we picked up some history along the way.
Our day with a birding guide was amazing and we saw birds that we couldn’t have seen on our own. However, we were pleasantly surprised how we could find and identify so many other species with the help of our guidebook and iBird app. We used eBird to find hotspots as well as to see recent reports. Also on our first day birding, we met a birder from Oregon who birded regularly on Hawaii and told us about some good spots to explore.
Our resources for birds:
Hawaii Audubon Society, Hawaii’s Birds (2020) http://www.hawaiiaudubon.org: A great book to look at cover to cover to familiarize yourself with the possible species. Most of the extra information that we included about a species came from this guide.
iBird Hawaii, an Interactive Field Guide to Birds, version 10.06: An iPhone app. By using the search function and choosing different filters, we could find the bird we were looking at in the field quickly. For example: we chose the island (Hawaii), and primary color (yellow) to give us five birds that we could look at with more detail.
The guidebook that we used and would recommend:
Doughty, Andrew. Hawaii the Big Island Revealed: the ultimate guidebook, 11th edition. Wizard Publications, Inc. 2022.
Perhaps you’ll plan a trip to Hawaii and this post will be helpful. Even if you don’t, we hope you have enjoyed our travelogue. In a few weeks, we’ll be posting about our February in Arizona.
This post will cover day 6 and 7 – our beach days, from our trip to the big island of Hawaii.
We decided it was time to go to the beach and actually get in the water. One of the best snorkelling spots on the island was less than twenty minutes south of our place in Kealakekua, so we headed over to Honaunau Bay and the snorkelling spot called “Two Step.” We parked above the beach beside the road and walked down the narrow lane, passing a boat shelter for outrigger canoes.
“Two Step” is in the middle of the photo below, behind the standing group of people. It’s called that because it is a lava shelf with steps. We were there near high tide, so the lower step was hardly visible.
Doug had his iPhone in a waterproof case to take these photos. The one on the left was from the water directly out from the steps. Doug had a great time swimming and looking at the fish and coral. The next two photos were taken in the shallower water just past the boat launch where Wendy was more comfortable. There were plenty of fish to see in shoulder height water.
The snorkelling beach was right beside Pu’uhonua o Honauna National Historic Park. There was a charge for entry, but we gained admission with our National Park Annual Pass. We walked the paths of the Royal Grounds, through the opening in the Great Wall to the Pu’uhonua or place of refuge. A place of refuge was important in ancient times when commoners lived under a kapu system of rules that had to be followed. To escape death, a lawbreaker could get to a place of refuge and be absolved by a priest. The Pu’uhonua was also a sanctuary in times of war. In the photo below, the wooden images of Hawaiian gods stand outside the reconstructed Hale o Keawe heiau, which originally held the bones of 23 chiefs. We suspect the loin cloths have been placed to protect modern sensibilities.
This is a view from near the same spot, looking out towards Honaunau Bay.
Next we drove back towards Kealakekua, to a shoreline park that was basically directly below our BnB. Hokuli’a Shoreline Park is a privately owned park that is open to the public. We drove down from the highway past luxury homes to the golf course and shoreline park. There was no beach here, but the waves crashing on the lava rocks were impressive. We saw seventeen species of birds here, including our best view of a Hawaiian Hawk. Hawk identification is Hawaii is pretty easy; if it’s a hawk, the only one around is the Hawaiian Hawk.
This was Saturday night and we went “out” for dinner. We decided that sushi on the porch would be more enjoyable than driving to a restaurant.
We watched the sunset as we ate and enjoyed our wine.
The next day, we continued with our beach theme and headed north to the Kohala coast. We visited Hapuna Beach mainly to go birding, but it looked like a great beach to spend the day. There was a fee for parking and day use for non-residents. Since we were there about half an hour, we parked beside the road outside the park entrance.
We got a close view of a Pacific Golden Plover. These plovers were plentiful around the island, especially on golf courses, soccer fields or patches of grass near the beaches. This species breeds in the Arctic and flies 3000 miles non-stop to Hawaii for the winter.
We also saw our first African Silverbill.
This Northern Cardinal seemed unafraid and it seemed as if it was asking for its photo to be taken. We saw at least a couple of cardinals each day we were in Hawaii, and they reminded us of Arizona.
We went swimming at Spencer Beach, which was a calm beach about fifteen minutes north of Hapuna Beach.
There we also got a good view of a Warbling White-eye.
January in Hawaii – Part 1, 2, and 3 were about our first seven days on the big island. Part 4 will finish off our trip and be posted soon.
This post will cover day 4 and 5 of our ten day trip. Day 5 was our “forest bird day” with a birding guide, so there are plenty of bird photos included.
On our fourth day on the big island of Hawaii, we did a road tour to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Along the way, we stopped at Whittington Beach Park. There was a rocky shore and a pond farther inland that was built as a fish pond by the early peoples.
The rock wall along the entrance to the pond had been reinforced with concrete. The “white specks” in the trees in the background are actually Western Cattle Egrets. We saw cattle egrets virtually every day of our visit, but this was the largest flock.
In the middle of the pond, there was a lone female Harlequin Duck. This species is rare for the island, so we had the opportunity to contribute our observation to the “rare bird alert.” The bird had been previously sighted in this location.
We navigated the crowds at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and found a parking spot at the Kilauea Caldera overlook on the west rim road. The view was worth the short walk out to the fence. Surprisingly for us, we saw a White-tailed Tropicbird soaring above the caldera. Although tropicbirds are seabirds, they nest on the remote crater walls where they can avoid predators. The caldera is approximately 16 km (10mi) from the ocean, which is obviously not too far away for this species.
Next, we drove the east rim road, past the overcrowded parking lots for Kilauea Iki Overlook and the Thurston Lava Tube. We turned on to the Chain of Craters road and drove about a half an hour and descended about 4000 feet to the ocean. Virtually the whole way down was through old lava flows. Some looked like intestines, some like cow piles and some like something the dog threw up. On the coast, we parked beside the end of the navigable road and took a trail to view a sea arch. Here the lava cliffs rise abruptly above the sea.
A little ways west of the arch, we saw some people walking a rough trail to the edge of the cliffs, so we stopped to have a look. The cliffs here had been worn away, forming caves. We noticed birds flying into the caves and could make out Black Noddies perched on the cave ledges. Another life bird!
The next day we got up early and left our place at 5:45 am so we could meet our guide at the Mana Road, a few minutes up the road to Mauna Kea. We joined our guide in his four-wheel drive vehicle and drove an hour to the Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is only open to parties that are led by a guide because of concerns about a disease called Rapid Ohi’a Death which has killed thousands of acres of mature ohi’a trees in other parts of Hawaii. We needed to clean our shoes of all debris and our guide sprayed our shoes in order to avoid contaminating the soil. The refuge was established in 1985 to protect and manage endangered forest birds and their rain forest habitat.
The section we were visiting had previously been cleared for a ranch and the only trees that were growing were in the ditches and gorges that the cattle couldn’t reach. Twenty-five years ago, many ohi’a trees were planted, so now the area is a lush forest. When we looked closely, we could see that most of the trees were the same age. The forest was full of birds, and with the help of our guide, Lance Tanino, (Hawaii Bird Guide LLC) we were able to see all the rare and endangered species that we had hoped to see.
The road wandered down the slopes of Mauna Kea. Although we saw most of the birds right from the road, we also ventured off to various overlooks.
The Hawaiian Goose or Nene is Hawaii’s official bird. It’s capable of inter-island flight, but is non-migratory. It was nearly extinct in 1940 due to overhunting and habitat loss, but in 2019 it was down-listed to threatened. We saw about twenty on this day and then later in our trip we saw them on golf courses and lawns by the beach; the sort of place you might find a Canada Goose.
Perhaps the most exciting bird to see was the endangered Akiapolaau, which is only found on Hawaii island. This little bird drills holes in ohi’a trees with its stout lower mandible and drinks sap by tilting its head back. Its long curved upper mandible extracts prey.
Here’s another “Aki,” as they are called for short. It’s a female or immature male.
The I’ivi (ee-EE-vee) or scarlet honeycreeper is a flashier bird and we saw several of them this day. Even so, this endemic bird is listed as threatened.
Another I’ivi! This species primarily feeds on the ohi’a nectar as well as other understory tubular flowers.
These thrushes are much less conspicuous than the honeycreeper. Known as Oma’o, they can perch motionless for long periods. They are rare and restricted to windward-side native forests above 3000 feet. We were lucky enough to see several this day.
We also saw a few Hawaii Creepers. These birds feed on insects and move along branches and tree trunks like nuthatches. Notice their curved bill and “racoon” mask.
There were three times as many of these yellow birds (Hawaii Amakihi) as there were creepers. Although they have similar colouring, the Amakihi has a straighter bill and not as much black on the face as a creeper. Since we’d seen several of this species a few days before, it was like meeting an old friend again.
The last endemic bird that we saw on our “tick list” was the endangered Hawaii Akepa. It was harder to see because it forages in the crowns of ohi’a trees. The Akepa has a crossed bill which it uses to pry open buds, seed pods and galls in search of insects to eat.
The other forest endemic birds that we saw were Hawaii Elepaio and Apapane. The Elepaio tended to stay hidden among the shrubbery and the Apapane were high up in the canopy.
We saw some introduced birds as well, including this Kalij Pheasant. This species is native to Southern Asia and was introduced to Hawaii in 1962.
It was a big day for us, with twelve “life” birds, including several that were endangered or rare. It’s not likely that we will ever see most of these birds anywhere else.
January in Hawaii – Part one and two have summarized the first half of our ten day trip. Part 3 and 4 will be posted soon.
Travels with a Fox 