More Flycatcher Action at DBG!

Ash-throated Flycatcher perched high in a Palo Verde tree along the Wildflower Trail.

Too many bird-papparazi for the Flycatcher, he's outa here!

Bullock's Oriole stretching out to reach for
the best bud or bug.

 Desert Botanical Garden's Monday Morning Bird-walk started off with a bang. An Ash-throated Flycatcher made an appearance in the Wildflower Garden as well as a bright orange Bullock's Oriole.  In typical Oriole fashion, he remained high in the upper canopy of the trees, making it nearly impossible to get a clear shot.

A whole lot of nesting activity is still going on throughout the Garden.  The Verdin are very active building nests, Phainopepla are feeding their fledglings. and one of the female Roadrunner's is sitting on her nest.

REMINDER:  DBG opens at 7:00am starting May 1st, this Thursday!  It will open even earlier, for members only, on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 6:00am. 

A Verdin couple deciding where to place a nice fluffy down feather in their nest.

A female Greater Roadrunner tucked tightly into her thorny nesting spot, tail-feather up!

A busy Phainopepla mom flies off in search of berries to feed her fledglings.

Look closely and you'll see a female Phainopepla
with a fresh picked berry in her beak.

A very happy bee collecting pollen in the poppies.

A Round-tailed Ground Squirrel eying all the yummy wildflowers.

Photos by Peggy Thomas

A Two Whatzit and One Warbler Day!

First Whatzit? of the day!

On the one day when I thought no bird within earshot would come anywhere near my yard, two whatzits and a warbler show up!  With my backyard blaring classic country music, I sat basking in the aroma of my recently bloomed star jasmine. Eyes half closed and no camera at hand, I kicked back and relaxed, no need to scan for birds.  What bird in his right mind would show his beak amid such an assault on the ears?  

Star Jasmine in full fragrant bloom!

Then out of the corner of my eye a flash of bright yellow whizzed by.  The birder within me awoke and I looked through my Palo Verde tree, with its fading yellow blossoms, and there he was in all his glory, a Wilson's Warbler with his sporty black cap!

My first ever backyard Wilson's Warbler!

This little Verdin popped out to see what all the fuss was about.  Unimpressed by the warbler's arrival, he continued on with his usual flitting from branch to branch, bug to bug, and blossom to blossom.

As if that wasn't exciting enough, another unfamiliar bird caught my eye, this time in the Velvet Mesquite tree!  Gotta love those native trees! At first-glance I thought it was a Lucy's Warbler, then I downloaded my photos and thought Bell's Vireo.  Then I thought I had better check with other birders to ID this surprise guest, who is not as obvious as the distinctively marked Wilson's Warbler.  Jeff Stemshorn (who claims not to be a birder, hah) immediately narrowed it down to being a Flycatcher, not a Warbler or Vireo, and thinks it may be a Pacific-slope Flycatcher.  Kathe Anderson, birder and guide extraordinaire, feels that I've "got a Cordilleran or Pacific slope (or dusky!) flycatcher (pretty good teardrop eye ring, largish bill, olive-sort of coloration)."

 

Second Whatzit? of the day.

On top of all that, another whatzit lurked behind the branches just long enough for this blurry masterpiece to be taken. Anyone want to take a stab at ID-ing this bird?  My guess is Ash-throated Flycatcher.

Thank you Kathe Anderson and Jeff Semshorn for help with ID!

Photos by Peggy Thomas, April 24, 2014.

Wordless Wednesday

Photos by Peggy Thomas

Thoughtless Thursday

Photos by Peggy Thomas

Wordless Wednesday

Photos by Tucson Audubon photographer Jeff Stemshorn (a.k.a. Big Bird)
with cooperation of the birds at the Paton House, Patagonia, AZ.

Do These Branches Make My Beak Look Big?

Is it just me, or is this Curve-billed Thrasher's curved bill a little too curvy?  It almost looks as if the upper and lower bills cross over each other.

Somehow I got a mid-air shot of him flipping a sunflower seed into his mouth!

Notice the extended lower bill.  The reason I obsess over the bill size (no, size isn't everything) is that I'm always hoping to see a Crissal Thrasher.  It would be a life-bird for me, and in this case, a back yard first!

Distinctive features of a Crissal Thrasher

While the bird in question does have a long de-curved bill and uniform gray back, he lacks the dark cheek marks and rusty underside that are indicative of a Crissal Thrasher.

Now he's giving me the ol' stink-eye, likely for questioning his heritage.

Brown Thrasher at Gilbert Water Ranch, April 2011.

 As far as other thrashers go, I have seen Brown Thrashers at Gilbert Water Ranch and Desert Botanical Garden, and a Bendire's Thrasher at Red Mountain Park.  The Brown Thrasher stood out with his brown-streaked white breast, shorter bill, and brown body rather than gray.

Bendire's Thrasher at Red Mountain Park,
February, 2012.

The Bendire's at Red Mountain Park sang a beautiful melodious song that differed from the Curve-billed's song we are so accustomed to hearing here in the valley.  The only other distinguishing feature is a shorter, less-curved bill.

I suppose if I really have a hankering to see a Crissal Thrasher, I'm going to have to head out to the "Thrasher Spot" out near Buckeye, at the intersection of Salome Highway and Baseline Road.  According to some highly reliable birding sources (Laurence Butler, Tommy DeBardeleben, and Gordon Karre) you can see Crissal, LeConte, Sage and Bendire's Thrashers all in this one spot, hence the name. 

Photos by Peggy Thomas

For an extreme case of bill deformity in a Curve-billed Thrasher, see the Spring 1991 Journal of Field Ornithology, pg.s 157-161 "Abnormally Long Bill in a Young Curve-billed Thrasher".  The featured bird was found in Tempe, AZ, and sadly likely starved to death soon after leaving its parents.

Thoughtless Thursday

Photos by Peggy Thomas