Ash & Miller Canyons, Hereford - November 27, 2023

 This was a gray, overcast morning at Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary.  Other than the usual large numbers of Mexican Jays and White-winged Doves, not a lot of birds were showing up.  Several of us just sat around and chatted.  As the sun began to peek through the clouds occasionally, we started to get more activity.  Unfortunately, a Coopers Hawk swooped in and frightened all the birds away, including the Montezuma Quail making their way toward the feeding area.  Most of the birds returned in a while, but not the quail, so no photos of them.

A group of 8-10 Inca Doves arrived and began feeding directly in front of me.  Although these are fairly common in our area, I have only seen them once before, in Patagonia during a 2019 visit.  This small dove has a wing feather pattern that looks like scales.





Here are some of the other birds present in Ash Canyon this day.  We also had glimpses of White-throated Sparrow, Green-tailed Towhee, Spotted Towhee and Orange-crowned Warbler, but I never got a clear shot at any of them.

Chipping Sparrow


Cactus Wren

Mourning Dove

Bridled Titmouse

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Lesser Goldfinch (F)

House Finch (M)

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

A quick drive up Miller Canyon resulted in a nice landscape shot of the mountains, but one Say's Phoebe was the only bird.



I then checked out an area in Hereford where I was told the Scaled Quail can usually be seen.  On this day, the quail weren't around, but I did see a Greater Roadrunner doing his thing and an American Kestrel that refused to look my way.














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