The birding at our RV park in Sedona, situated on the banks of Oak Creek, has been fantastic. Most of the time, Wendy was birding while she walked the dog. Tali is so relaxed on a walk these days that she is happy to lie down while Wendy watches birds. Doug caught the “birding bug” and ventured out with his camera and had good success, as you will see on the rest of the blog.
On our arrival day, a Summer Tanager allowed us good viewing. We caught glimpses of him all week. Finally, on a rainy Sunday morning, Doug was ready with his camera when he appeared again. (See photo above).
Some of the birds were familiar to us, such as Mr. and Mrs. Western Tanager, caught on camera below.
There were a couple of favourite trees for birds, just on the edge of a field, and beside the driveway to the RV park, that were usually full of a variety of birds. Below is a photo of a house finch (there were plenty) and one of the flock of Cedar Waxwings, both species that are visitors to our house in Cranbrook.
There was a very vocal flock of Western Kingbirds, who seemed to act like they owned the tree. Their summer range covers most of the western U.S., and we have seen them on previous trips south.
A new bird to us was the Phainopepla, which according to Sibley, is rare in this area. They are usually found farther south than Sedona. We saw the Phainopepla most days, because he was very conspicuous perched on the tree top.
Other southern birds included the Gila Woodpecker, which reminded us of a smallish flicker, and the Magnificent Hummingbird. The morning after Kath and I saw this hummingbird (in poorer light), I was walking with Doug and pointed to the bush we had seen it on, and there he was again!
The cutest bird we saw was a Bridled Titmouse. He wasn’t at our RV Park however, he was flitting in the trees at Montezuma’s Castle, a National Monument that preserves an ancient cliff dwelling and is about thirty miles south of Sedona.
Travels with a Fox 