Arizona Photography

 While I was at Ash Canyon, one of the volunteers mentioned that the Nature Conservancy had some fairly rare hummingbirds visiting right now, the Blue-throated Mountaingem and the Beryline.  Since I had never seen either of these, I made a point of stopping by Ramsey Canyon on my way home. Scott's Oriole (F) Black-headed Grosbeak Black-chinned Hummingbird (M) Broad-billed Hummingbird (M) Blue Grosbeak (M) Anna's Hummingbird (M)   Lucifer Hummingbird (M) Black-chinned Hummingbird (F) The next four photos might be Blue-throated Mountaingems, but I can't make a positive ID.  They have some of the right characteristics, but not all.  In particular, they are missing the blue throat.  They could be juveniles and simply haven't developed their distinctive markings.  I'll just leave it open for now. A volunteer at the conservancy told me about a pair of Elegant Trogons nesting above their stream.  I saw a male Trogon several years ago, but was anxious to ...

 I made a run over toward Whitewater Draw, even though I knew there would be no water there, and no sandhill cranes or snow geese.  I was hoping to see a few raptors and songbirds.  While I saw a total of ten red-tailed hawks and one American Kestrel, there were very few songbirds around.   Distant View of Huachuca Range Yucca Bloom Loggerhead Shrike Western Kingbird American Kestrel Red-tailed Hawk Greater Roadrunner Donkey Open-pit Mine (Bisbee) Cassin's Kingbird Black-headed Grosbeak (M) Bronzed Cowbird (F) Bronzed Cowbird (M) Bullock's Oriole (M) Verdin Broad-billed Hummingbird (M) Broad-billed Hummingbird (M) Anna's Hummingbird (M) Anna's Hummingbird (M)

 The sequence below shows a mated pair of Scott's Orioles demonstrating interesting behavior.  I enjoyed watching it, and I hope you do, too.  The male shares jelly with her. Down the hatch. She screams for more. He dutifully gets more jelly. She waits, not so patiently. He's back with the goods. She sends him off again. Where is that guy? I guess I'll have to do it myself. At last, a chance to enjoy my jelly.   Anna's Hummingbird (M) Brown-headed Cowbird (F) Brown-headed Cowbird (M) Blue Grosbeak (M) Gambel's Quail Pair Gambel's Quail (M) Turkey Hooded Oriole (M)