Ash Canyon - April 8, 2025

 Another crowd here today, no doubt drawn by the increasing number of hummingbird species.  However, I was later than normal and most of the hummers were presumably napping after getting their morning fill at the feeders.  As I arrived, Tim informed me that a Painted Redstart was visiting the sanctuary, specifically in the lower area (where lighting is always poor).  As soon as we arrived there, I spotted the target bird well below our position.  Within minutes, it approached where we sat and began entertaining us.  This was only my second sighting ever of this beautiful species.




 The rest of the day's activity was fairly slow and was limited to the regular suspects.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Bush Tit (F)

White-winged Dove

Broad-billed (M)

Broad-tailed (F)

Lesser Goldfinch (M)

Lesser Goldfinch (F)

Curve-billed Thrasher

House Finches (M & F)

White-crowned Sparrow

Orange-crowned Warbler

Ladder-backed Woodpecker (M)

Mexican Jay

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ash Canyon - June 17, 2025

Image
 When I arrived , there were already three cars in the parking area, so I knew this would be a more social day than last visit.  Not long after getting there, a woman approached me and said there was a Diamondback Rattlesnake near the water feature along the main path.  I went with her to check it out while she told me the snake had crawled under her bench on his way to the rocky water feature.  She was alerted by numerous birds gathering around the area and chirping like crazy.  The woman said she is from Denver, but grew up in Tucson, pointing out she had never seen snakes in Tucson, but sees them frequently in Colorado.  Our snake was partially hidden, so these are the best photos I could get. Western Diamondback Western Diamondback      As far as the birds go, it was pretty much the same group we've been seeing the past few weeks. Brown-headed Cowbird (M) House Finch (M) House Finch (F) Anna's (F) Bullock's Oriole (M) Bullock's Oriole (J)...
Read more

Ash Canyon - June 9, 2025

Image
 Once again, I arrived early to find I had the place to myself.  Tim is visiting his mother in Oregon, and volunteers Melody and Rick strolled in shortly after 8 am.  And, that was it until I left around 9:30 am.  It's a shame, because the morning was beautiful and there were plenty of birds around.  Even a Lark Sparrow showed up after I thought they were gone for the season. Spotted Towhee Anna's (F) House Finch (M) Brown-headed Cowbird (F) Brown-headed Cowbird (M) Curve-billed Thrasher White-winged Dove Scott's Oriole (M) Scott's Oriole (F) Bullock's Oriole (F) Acorn Woodpecker (M) Gila Woodpecker (M) Black-headed Grosbeak (M) Black-headed Grosbeak (F) Bewick's Wren Rufous-crowned Sparrow Lucy's Warbler (M) Broad-billed (M) Lark Sparrow Anna's (M)  
Read more

Ash Canyon - April 28, 2025

Image
 We had much the same lineup as in recent days, with a couple of migrating warblers added to the mix.  I was pleased to see them, since it had been years since I had seen either species. I did make an effort to get more hummingbird photos, so that is a slight change from the latest updates. Broad-tailed (F) Lucifer (M) Yellow-rumped Warbler Broad-billed (M) Townsend's Warbler (M) Ladder-backed Woodpecker (M) Anna's (F)       Black-throated Gray Warbler (M) Pine Siskin Bewick's Wren Lesser Goldfinch (F) Chipping Sparrow Scott's Oriole (M)      
Read more