Arizona Photography

 Seeking a change of scenery and a different selection of birds, I set off to visit Madera Canyon.  The 1.5 hour drive goes through Box Canyon, a beautiful gorge with  a winding and unpaved road.  This little-visited canyon is home to the rare Five-striped Sparrow, which I've never seen, as well as several uncommon birds.  However, on this day, there was minimal bird activity and I photographed only a Red-tailed Hawk. Red-tailed Hawk   Madera Canyon has always been good to me, with a variety of birds that don't appear, or not often, on our side of the mountains.  On past visits, I've gotten photos of Rivoli's Hummingbirds, Beryline Hummingbirds, Hepatic Tanagers, Arizona Woodpeckers, and others.  All of those birds were here today, but stayed far away, or in the trees, or in the shade.  Bottom line, I didn't get acceptable photos of any of those cool birds.  I had to remind myself that birding is like golf: It's the bad days that make yo...

 No rattlesnakes today, but lots of birds, and a decent crowd of humans.  After several days of triple digits, today's forecast was for a high of 87F, and there was no wind at home.  In the canyon, however, there was a stiff breeze that actually made it feel cool.  What a difference twenty miles can make when you are getting into the mountains.  I headed for the new blind pretty quickly, as it is sheltered from the wind. Bewick's Wren House Finch (M) House Finch (F) Curve-billed Thrasher Black-headed Grosbeak (M) Black-headed Grosbeak (F) Western Tanager (M) Spotted Towhee (M) Anna's Gambel's Quail (M) Gambel's Quail (M & F) Gambel's Quail (F) White-breasted Nuthatch Acorn Woodpecker (F) Scott's Oriole (M) Scott's Oriole (F) Northern Mockingbird White-winged Dove Mourning Dove Mexican Jay Canyon Towhee Lucy's Warbler (M) Lark Sparrow Brown-headed Cowbird (F) Ladder-backed Woodpecker (M) Gila Woodpecker (M)  

 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)...