Arizona Photography

 Box Canyon is part of a shortcut through the Santa Rita Mountains that leads to Green Valley, but more importantly for me, to Madera Canyon.  There were reports of several rare or uncommon birds being seen in Box Canyon.  A friend recently spotted one bird I'd never seen and two others I'd seen only once.  He had arrived at 6:30 am, but I was delayed a bit and got there about 7:45.  Right away I spotted some Phainopeplas and one of my targets, the Thick-billed Kingbird.  Unfortunately, they were really out of range and my photos are poor quality. A man in the canyon told me he had just seen two of my targets, the Varied Bunting and a Five-striped sparrow.  I stood with him for a few minutes before walking up the road a ways to check out a bird I had seen fly into a tree.  When I returned, he told me the Varied Bunting had appeared right after I left, but didn't stay long.  After getting a few photos of common birds and some wild flowers, I d...

 There was a nice selection of birds at the sanctuary today, as well as several species of butterflies.  But before getting to those photos, here are a couple from my back yard. Say's Phoebe Desert Spiny Lizard I was a little late getting to the canyon this day and the place was packed with visitors, both local and out-of-state.  I got to chat with several folks and help them with IDs.  It's normal to not recognize birds when you go into a new area.  Birders are always happy to help out in that respect. Canyon Towhee Gulf Fritillary Gulf Fritillary Gray Hawk Black-headed Grosbeak (M) House Finch (F) Acorn Woodpecker (M) Anna's (M) Anna's (M) Anna's (F) Broad-billed (M) White-winged Dove Mourning Dove Chipping Sparrow Lesser Goldfinch (M) Lesser Goldfinch (J) House Finch (M) Black-chinned (M) Pipevine Swallowtail Cloudless Sulphur Cloudless Sulphur Earlier I posted photos showing the strange behavior of a Curve-billed Thrasher "bathing" in the sand.  On thi...

 Still not having much bird activity, but hoping that will change soon.  August of 2023 had lots of hummingbirds, so maybe they will show soon.  After a couple hours at Ash Canyon, I drove into Miller Canyon without success, then popped into San Pedro House with no luck except for a lonely coyote. The pathetic looking Grosbeak must be into serious molting, or else he got attacked by some predator and barely escaped. Coyote Bordered Patch Sunflower Western Kingbird Gambel's Quail (M) Question Mark Flying Beetle Black-headed Grosbeak (M) Acorn Woodpecker (M) Curve-billed Thrasher White-winged Dove Gila Woodpecker (M) House Finch (M) House Finch (F) Broad-billed (M) Brown-headed Cowbird (M) Brown-headed Cowbird (F) Lesser Goldfinch (F) Bewick's Wren Anna's (M)