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| Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) |
My most exciting backyard visitor this spring - a male
Spotted Towhee! He stayed for about 3 days, hopping around in true towhee-style in the thick brush. Most of the time he foraged on the ground under our seed block, mixing right in with the White-crowned Sparrows. But my resident Abert's Towhees were not as thrilled as I to see their colorful cousin and chased him away at every turn. I tried to tell them not to be so inhospitable to their visiting relative, but the Abert's just wouldn't listen.
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| Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) |
Who knew you could drive just over an hour southeast of Phoenix and end up at over 7,000 foot elevation? I sure didn't know, until Ann Givey from Desert Rivers Audubon raved about a wonderful birding trip she took to Pinal Mountain just outside of Globe. She even saw a coatimundi!
"This past weekend, I was able to go up to the Noftsger Hill Inn on Saturday and Sunday for Dr. Pearson's weekend of birding. If you go to the Birding on the Net site - you can read Dr. Pearson's report on our weekend. We saw 35 birds on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday, we saw an additional 45 birds - plus many we had seen the day before. The life birds for me were: An Olive warbler, red-faced warbler and Grace's Warbler - plus, I added the Hairy Woodpecker to my list - along with the Gray's Vireo and Cordilleran Flycatcher, Juniper Titmouse and the Rose breasted Nuthatch. So eight life birds made for an exciting weekend for me. The absolute highlight of the weekend, for all of us, was being less than six feet from the cutest male, white nosed Coatimundi, in the whole world. The cute critter spoke to us for about 10 minutes and posed for some great pictures. "
On my trip to Pinal a few weeks after Ann was there I didn't see nearly as many birds, we were too busy enjoying the view, the cool weather, and the ladybugs!
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| There were shrubs just plum full of ladybugs! |
We took Russell Road up to Pinal Mountain and it was a long, steep, winding dirt road to the top. I was pretty tuckered out when I finally made it back home to Mesa. On my next trip I'll be sure to just stay the night at
Noftsger Hill Bed & Breakfast in Globe!
(Noftsger's is a busy place, a favorite among birders, so you will need to make reservations well in advance.)
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| I think he's smiling at me. |
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