We left our home in Canada before sunrise on December 1st. We enjoyed the beautiful sunrise just south of Eureka, MT about 8 am.

That sunrise started the series of sunrise and sunset photos. Here’s the sunset from our hotel in Pocatello, Idaho. We slept well after our ten hour drive.

Sunrise the next morning.

There was still some nice colour in the sky when we passed into Utah.

This is sunset from our hotel in Page, Arizona. It was about an eight hour drive from Pocatello.

Here’s sunrise south of Page. We had excellent driving weather the whole trip.

It was about a six hour drive to our spot just outside Tucson, AZ. We sat outside before dinner and enjoyed the glowing mountains to our east.

Sunset was not spectacular, but we were glad to be here.

We revisited our favourite trails that we can access right from our place. We’re happy to see new arms growing from the left “gate-post” saguaro. The trail goes right between these two sentinels.

Wendy is on a rather sketchy trail that we discovered last year. Each time we walk it, we improve the trail by moving a rock or two as we go along.

Here’s a panorama view to the east, taken close to the location of the last photo.

On December 16, we chose to climb Wasson Peak, which we can see to the south from our place. We started from the Esperanza Sendero trailhead in Saguaro National Park (West) at about 8:15. It was only 3 degrees C (37 F). Wendy is bundled up in five top layers, three hats, gloves and mitts.

By nine o’clock we were in the sunshine and we could shed a few layers.

This photo shows the ridge and the part of the Hugh Norris trail. Our place is part of the community that you might be able to make out above Wendy’s head in the following photo.

We were at the top around 11 am, and decided to have an early lunch. Two other hikers were there when we arrived, but they left soon after and we had the place to ourselves.

There is no photo from the top, but here is a view of the trail just below the summit. It’s a little rockier than the Hugh Norris trail, but it is still very enjoyable.

We had to work hard to find a wild flower, and only saw this one on the way down, because at first glance, it looked like a dried up bush. Its common name is Apricot Mallow.

We have noticed this specific ocotillo on previous trips and it seems that it is always in bloom. The rest of it looks almost dead, but we know that it will produce green shoots the next time it gets some moisture.

Two weeks later, we did another longer hike. It was warm enough to start off in two layers. We walked right from our gate.

Our objective was Panther Peak, the mountain on the left in the photo below. The trail / route goes through the gully that is visible on the right side.

Doug is navigating over and around the boulders in the gully. There are cairns placed in strategic spots along the way, but it is still easy to get off track.

The trail is more distinct towards the top. The towns of Marana and Oro Valley are in the valley below.

This southwest view from the summit includes our neighbourhood. We could figure out where our fifth-wheel was parked by finding the blue house and following the roads back to our place.

As in previous years, we enjoyed riding the mountain bike trail at the Tortolita Preserve in Marana. It takes us about half an hour to drive to the trailhead. The 15 kilometre ride takes us less than an hour and a half.

This photo was taken on Christmas Day. We’ve replaced our former tradition of going skiing on Christmas with doing a bike ride.

Wendy also got some sewing in for a baby quilt she is making. We haven’t regretted replacing the sofa with this work surface. Our bins that hold all our birding gear have dedicated spots underneath.

We have experienced one of the driest and hottest Decembers on record. So, if the air-conditioning is on in the trailer, Wendy sets up an outdoor station if she wants to do any serious ironing.

We’ll finish this blog with the top sunrise and sunset photos of the month. This was sunrise on December 13.

Sunset on December 17.

We welcomed in the new year at an outdoor neighbourhood get-together. Although we actually had the champagne toast at 10 pm as the ball dropped in Times Square. (The photo below was taken just after 6 pm)

Those people who have followed our blog for several years, will notice that we are returning to our favourite places frequently. We don’t get tired of seeing some of the same sights over again; everything changes, if just a little bit.

Our monthly birding blog (December 2024 – Part 2) will be available soon.

This is the final instalment of our trip to Texas in the first week of April. On our last day of birding, we went back to the Frontera Audubon Center in hopes of seeing a rare bird that we missed a few days before. First we hung out at one of the feeding stations. We stood behind a guided group for a while, seeing similar species that we had seen before.

We had a good view of a White-tipped Dove. The photo below shows the difference between a White-winged Dove (background) and the White-tipped. The two species are close to the same size. When a White-winged Dove flies, the large white patch on its wings is prominent, while a White-tipped Dove only has a bit of white on the corners of its tail. The conspicuous red legs of the White-tipped Dove help with identification. White-tipped Doves are widespread in Mexico, Central and South America, but are only found in the US in Southern Texas.

Wendy left the group at the feeding station and wandered nearer to the entrance, and met other birders who had heard and briefly seen the rare bird we were looking for. She messaged the others and soon we all were searching the thicket going back and forth and over to another trail and back again. A couple of Canadian birders joined us in the frenzy. Finally, all of us saw the female Crimson-collared Grosbeak. Here’s the best photo that Doug captured. The male of this species has a crimson collar, and the female is a drab greenish with a black hood. The Crimson-collared Grosbeak is native to a limited area of northeastern Mexico so it was nice that this one found the grounds of the Audubon Center so appealing.

Later that day, we drove a short distance to the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is huge, but we focused on a smaller area around the Pintail Lakes. The Pintail Lakes are the lakes on the right of the map below, and the winding river is the Rio Grande, so you can see how close we were to Mexico.

We were really happy to see some Little Blue Herons, since we had never seen them in the US.

Here’s another adult Little Blue Heron. Immature Little Blue Herons are all white in their first year, which make them a little harder to identify.

Here’s an adult White Ibis.

And a scruffier looking immature White Ibis.

We also got a good view of a Solitary Sandpiper, a sandpiper that we can see at home during its migration.

This Hooded Oriole was alongside of the road on our way back to the parking lot. It seemed as if it was saying,”I may not be rare, but I’m pretty enough for you to take my photo!”

After a quick dinner at our casita, we walked over to the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. It was just before sunset as we crossed the border wall area.

An Elf Owl had taken up residence in a power pole near the State Park entrance gate. It had a predictable behaviour of looking out of its hole for a few minutes near sunset, then flying off for a night of foraging. Every night there were people there waiting to see it. We all stood a long way from the pole.

Here’s a photo of the power pole and a closer view of the owl, taken in dim light.

As we were walking back in the dark, (there is a very short dusk in the lower latitudes), we heard a bird call unlike any we had ever heard. Wendy recorded it and with the help of the Merlin app, we realized that we had heard a Chuck Will’s Widow, which is a strictly nocturnal bird, and is more often heard than seen. We hadn’t expected it hear it, but it must have migrating. Another lifer!

So finally, our Texas trip has been documented! In our seven day trip, we saw 184 species, and 34 of them were birds we had never seen before (lifer or life bird). But it wasn’t just about “the list.” We also experienced some different and unique environments with good friends.

We spent the next three weeks of April in Arizona, but it already seems like a long time ago. Perhaps we’ll post another blog about that time, or not…

This blog post is all about our day at the Santa Margarita Ranch on the banks of the Rio Grande on April 5. We met the guides and the rest of the group before sunrise right at the border wall. Since we were birding on private ranch, we were required to join a guided group. We actually got a glimpse of two Northern Bobwhites in the dim light. We also heard our first Common Pauraque, which has a distinctive call and is rarely seen.

We walked through an “animal gate,” in the wall.

We set up our scope on a bluff with a view into Mexico. The Rio Grande is on the left and the border wall is visible on the right of the photo. From here we had a distant view of a Hook-billed Kite.

Soon we moved down to a lower bluff that had a better view of the river. Notice the small island in the river,

because that was where we saw these Muscovy Ducks. We have only seen domestic Muscovy Ducks before.

At least five Caspian Terns flew over the river, so they were a little closer.

A Ringed Kingfisher flew by us a couple of times, allowing good views. We have only seen them before in the tropics. The species is larger than a Belted Kingfisher and has a massive bill. We watched it hover over the water looking for prey and dive directly from the air.

We had a very distant view of an Audubon’s Oriole. We were lucky to see it because these birds have a limited range in the US and are usually more secretive than other orioles. It’s also good that it has such distinctive colouring since it was hard to see any details on the bird.

We also saw two more “lifer” birds: a White-tailed Hawk and a Red-shouldered Hawk. (No photos.) We saw 57 species in the three hours we were at the bluff area.

We made our way back to the vehicles and then drove a short distance to the ranch proper for the second part of the tour. Here’s a photo of some of our group of twenty clients and two guides. It was close to 11:00 am. by then.

We followed the guide down a ranch road to an area that was set-up as a feeding station. Here’s a Brown Jay feasting on peanut butter. Brown Jays are much larger than other jays and are rare and very local. The ranch was one of the few places in the US that they are found. Later in the day, we saw a Brown Jay at a nest, which is even rarer.

We had another view (for this trip) of a Green Jay. This photo shows the green back better than the one in a previous post.

And a Long-billed Thrasher also enjoyed the peanut butter.

We headed off the main trail and followed narrow forest trails. We came to a tricky stream crossing that required us to wade into water that was just over our shoes. In the photo below, taken by our friend Mary, we’re waiting for the rest of the group to catch up. It wasn’t the best place to hang around, however, because the “chiggers” like the tall grass and will climb up your pant legs and nibble on your leg. On our other trips in the tropics, we tucked our pants into our socks to help avoid this. Not this time. No bites on Doug, three on Wendy which itched for a couple of weeks.

We took turns having our photos taken in front of the Rio Grande.

Here’s another of Mary’s photos of the group waiting for interesting birds to show up. We did see glimpses of a pair of Rose-throated Becards, and a distant view of a Morelet’s Seedeater; both rare species.

An Olive Sparrow was very cooperative beside the trail on the way back up to the vehicles.

At the truck, we got a good view of this Swainson’s Hawk flying overhead.

In our six and a half hours of birding we saw or heard 80 species, including 6 “lifers.” It was an experience of a lifetime, made better by being able to share it with our friends, Mary, Rich and Carol.

If you are reading this blog post in “real time,” you’ll notice that it’s now June! There’s one more post about our Texas trip to come. Life back in BC is busy!

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.

Part two: birding adventures will be posted soon.