Patagonia Roadside Rest

We visited the Patagonia Roadside Rest early in the morning. By the time we left, quite a few birders had arrived to check out the birds. This "world famous" birding spot is at the confluence of two creeks, which no doubt rage in times of the monsoonal rains. On one side is a steep hillside, on the other is Sonoita Creek and tall trees.

Here's the view of the steep eastern hillside. Black Vultures land atop that rocky outcrop and White-throated Swifts fly overhead. The call of the Canyon Wren can be heard in the distance.

This is a Black Vulture soaring overhead.

Cyndi pointed out the Poison Oak leaves to me, so I recognized not to walk through them on the creek side of the road.

She also noticed that the Ravens "looked different." She observed something in their flight that I overlooked. But, when I looked, the spatulate tail did seem a bit more rounded. I got out the bird guide and learned that there is a different kind of Raven there! Chihuahuan Raven. I imagine I may have overlooked other birds, too.

On the hillside this bird was noteworthy for the black and white division along the face. Above the eye was black, below the eye was white. I had a glimpse earlier, in the treetops, through the leaves and was certain at the time that I had found a Thick-billed Kingbird. It was nicer to see the whole bird later in the day. These photos come from three visits to this wonderful little spot. I had to return in the evening, on the way back to the campground ... and that's when this photo was taken. And, next morning, on the way to The Nature Conservancy Preserve we stopped again.

In the morning light, though, Cyndi and I walked the short length of the rest area turnout and at the far end, across the busy highway was this exciting find! Phainopepla. One of the birds with a fun name that has a crest like a Cardinal. We carefully crossed the highway for a better look before it flew off, black and white wing pattern flashing like a Magpie. I wish I could have taken a photo of it in flight, too! (Reason enough to go back, wouldn't you say?)

Other birds didn't just remind me of Idaho birds, but were the same species I had seen before in Idaho, like this Warbling Vireo.

Here's another shot of the Warbling Vireo.

This one is another of the often-confusing Kingbirds ... the Cassin's Kingbird. It has a darkish hood and a bit of white by the side of its bill. Kingbirds are almost as difficult as Flycatchers to distinguish ... so many slight variations!

Our next stop was to be the Paton's yard, and I wondered if we would be able to find it. I had some printed directions from the internet. As it turned out, the town of Patagonia is a wonderful, small hamlet that welcomes birders with open arms, as this sign at the edge of town attests. (Oh, and the turnoff to the Paton's and The Nature Conservancy preserve was marked with a big graphic of binoculars, like the wildlife viewing spots in Idaho. It would have been hard to miss.)

Patagonia Lake State Park

Before I left for Arizona, a birder friend advised, "You have to go high and low." That's exactly the way I planned it. Our first two days were in the mountains, at Santa Rita Lodge in Madera Canyon. The next two nights we would spend at Patagonia Lake State Park, down low in elevation. I was a bit worried that it would be too hot there, but it was next to a lake that permitted swimming, so I figured I'd survive. They have a protected Natural Area that requires a permit to access, and I was excited to see that as well.

Madera Canyon is on the Northwest side of the mountains, and we drove around the south end, coming within 8 miles of the border between the United States and Mexico before circling northward up the eastern side of the Santa Rita Mountains. As we approached Patagonia Lake (actually a reservoir) we were driving west and enjoyed views of the Santa Rita Mountains and Mount Wrightson we had just visited.
As it turned out, we found the campground nearly empty, and selected a cool, shady spot under a dense grove of trees. I suppose only relatively loco folks go there in the summertime. I hear it fills up fast in the cooler times of the year, or on the weekends, perhaps.

I could hardly set up the tent without distraction from small birds in the branches overhead. "Verdin!," I exclaimed. Some birds can be hard to identify, but these hyperactive small gray birds with yellow heads and a rust-colored patch on each wing were not among those. Of course, I abandoned all responsibility to photograph.

Later I looked at all my photos and found that they had not all been Verdin. A few in the flock were Northern Beardless Tyrannulet as well. I think the names are half the fun! Sure enough, no beard. Well, duh. What bird does have a beard? None I can think of.

It's difficult to help set up a tent when Life Birds (first time I had ever seen the species in my entire life) were flitting about. Cyndi did most of the work. I added to Cyndi's frustration when I later walked ahead while she photographed a wildflower and called back, "Pyrrhuloxia!" When she hastened to see it, I explained, "It's gone now."

Some of these birds I wanted to see in part because their names sound so cool. Pyrrhuloxia, Phainopepla ... who wouldn't want to see one of these, just to drop the names in casual conversation and immediately become the center of attention?

Pyrrhuloxia is like a Cardinal, but more gray. Phainopepla is like a Cardinal but all black with a red eye. Neat to see, as well as to say.
Now the experienced birder will be looking at my photo of the "Pyrrhuloxia" and coming quickly to the conclusion I reached after looking at the photo and the Sibley Guide to Birds. Um, that isn't "like a Cardinal". That *is* a Cardinal. A female Cardinal. So, the good news is, I didn't scare off the Pyrrhuloxia after all. Cyndi and I both saw and photographed lots of Cardinals, though she didn't get to see this particular one.

The next morning we were going to awaken at dawn to go see the "World Famous Patagonia Roadside Rest Area" (famous for the birds to be seen there, including something like 14 species of flycatchers alone). It didn't work out that way. While the stars were still shining, and the sun first began to brighten the horizon, I was awakened long before dawn by a call I recognized as the Western Screech-Owl, a series of short notes. But then it deviated with a long note, more short notes, and another long note, and finished on a few short notes. "Like Morse Code," I had read of the call of the strictly nocturnal Whiskered Screech-Owl.

[Update / correction: 9/30/12.  I was assisted by an experienced birder in recognizing that I did not hear the Whiskered Screech-Owl.  It was just a different call from the Western Screech-Owl.]

Who could sleep with that kind of activity going on? I started my day with stars in the sky and watched the birds awaken. This flock of White-faced Ibis went by, leaving the reservoir before the motorboats and anglers arrived. Anglers are early risers, too, I observed. I was confused by the ducks, of all things, until I read in my Sibley's that there is a Mexican race of Mallard that does have some differences from the Mallard I'm used to seeing. Later I'll give a link to the blurry photos, too. For now, though, you'll just have to trust me on this one ... the Mallards look a bit different down there.

The Turkey Vultures were to be found in great numbers in the campground, and roosted everywhere at night. By day, great flocks would circle in the warm desert air.

This Great Blue Heron silently glided past. There were night-herons and coots and cormorants around the reservoir. I briefly saw one Common Moorhen before it quickly disappeared into the reeds. Hummingbirds, wrens, thrashers ... they were all waking up.

I'll post more about the day's birding adventures in the next post. We were going to go to the Patagonia Roadside Rest and then visit the Paton's yard, known for the hummingbirds that visit there. I blogged earlier about the Violet-crowned Hummingbird I saw in the Paton's yard. But, while I'm on the topic of this nice State Park where we would camp for a second night, I'll tell of the cactus forest we would drive through each evening to get there.

I had not heard of this kind of cactus-like plant called Ocotillo. They're about ten feet tall, with red flowers at the top.

Cyndi and I stopped on the way to the campground to photograph them at sunset.

They seemed to me to be at or near the peak of their color.

The tip of each spiny cactus branch was colored in red. The red fuzz from them was everywhere.

They covered the entire hillside. Instead of a forest of trees, it was a forest of Ocotillo cactus in bloom. I can't recall ever seeing anything like it.

Other desert plants were in bloom as well. This one is Jimson Weed.

And, the Prickly Poppy.

I enjoyed the Desert Willow. Like the mountain wildflowers that show such intense colors in the face of adversity at high elevations, the desert wildflowers were all putting their best face forward under demanding circumstances to attract pollinators.
Hey, wait a minute. I'm getting distracted from birding by all these neat wildflowers. Let's finish up with a White-winged Dove in the campground, shall we? No question about how that one got its name.

Hummingbirds

Of all the birds southeast Arizona has to offer, most often spoken of are the hummingbirds. The lodges on public lands (small inholdings on the National Forest) put out feeders to attract great numbers of hummingbirds every day (and thus great numbers of birders as paying guests every night).

One homeowner at the edge of the Nature Conservancy's Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve has for many years put out hummingbird feeders and welcomed the public to her yard. Though Marion Paton has passed away, her legacy is being well cared for. The rules for visitation remain the same, "If the gate is open, guests are welcome. Leave a few dollars in the donation box to help defray costs."

As you can see from this sign where we stayed, the hummingbirds are a main attraction. Cyndi commented that there's a "No Vacancy" sign because we've got the room already. Well, there's more than one room, but they get booked far in advance.

Some of the hummingbirds I photographed there can be found in Idaho, like this Black-chinned.

Photographing these birds was challenging. They showed off the iridescent colors best in sunshine, but most preferred to come to a feeder that was out of the hot sun. I imagine they burn their tongue if the nectar is too hot.

When this Magnificent Hummingbird hovered just so, the throat briefly lit up a beautiful aqua, contrasting with a purple head. In any case, this one is a very large hummingbird, so stands out from the crowd even without the colorful show.

Without the iridescent color (the feathers are not pigmented, they only show the colors when struck by light at the correct angle, and can even change color in the light ... sometimes golden, sometimes green, sometimes purple), identifying the birds can be difficult. I believe this one is a Broad-tailed.

A few of the hummingbirds wear a complete hood of color. The Anna's wears a magenta hood.

The Costa's, here seen in the Saguaro National Park, resides in the desert and wears a purple cowl that terminates in a large, droopy mustache on each side of the throat.

One of the hummingbirds rarely seen in the United States is the Violet-crowned. I asked the birders in the Paton's yard how I would recognize it, and they educated me that there's only one kind of hummingbird that could be seen there with a white belly, the Violet-crowned.

When it first arrived, though well-hidden behind the feeder, I could still see how it got its name (and the white belly did stand out from the rest of the hummingbirds).

It was quite a regular visitor (as it has been for some years now). I stood in the hot sun for a while (too long, perhaps) waiting to get this photo of it in the sun.

It seemed to me that by far the most common hummingbird there were the Broad-billed, which are iridescent blue and green from head to toe with a wonderful red bill tipped with black. They could be found everywhere, even away from the feeders. (It was nice to see rare birds come to feeders, but that's just a short step away from captivity or dependence in my opinion; so I honestly prefer to find the birds in a natural habitat, doing what comes naturally to them.)

Cyndi and I enjoyed hiking on a lot of trails, and I'll post more in future blogs about some of the places we went, and tell more of the cactus and wildflowers. For now, though, I'll just share this one trail picture, which was a short walk from our cabin. We were in the "sky island" of the Santa Rita Mountains, southeast of Tucson. It is wild there, so wild that one morning Cyndi opened the drapes to see a cat (perhaps Bobcat) stalking the Wild Turkeys by the creek. Mount Wrightson dominates the range, and we could see its distinctive shape from all sides as we camped in various locations over the following week.

I'm not such a "purist" though, that I didn't greatly enjoy standing for hours waiting for the perfect pose at the feeder. And, I do have a feeder outside my window at home.

The shade gave nice even lighting, but the sunlight gave the opportunity for a faster shutter speed and caused the colors to shine in all their glory.

There is a kind of hummingbird called the White-eared, and it looks similar to the Broad-billed which is so very common in southeast Arizona, but it has a broad white line extending over the eye curving backward down the neck, contrasting greatly with a black cheek. I asked the hummingbird watchers at the Paton's feeders how I would know if I saw that, since they look so very similar to the Broad-billed in my opinion. They advised, "You'll know it when you see it."

Well, I guess because there is still doubt in my mind, this next photo is most likely just a Broad-billed with a white supercillium and dark cheek. I thought I knew it when I first saw this photo. Now I'm not so sure. I'll ask for comments from those who know hummingbirds better than I do. I think the supercillium is not broad enough to be a White-eared, and believe this is just a wonderfully colorful Broad-billed.

Hmm. That bill seems relatively shorter and straighter. But, the crown and chin would be more violet on a White-eared. Hey, this was supposed to be relaxing ... .

It's a beautiful hummingbird. Let's leave it at that.

PS An Arizona birder of some ability has reassured me that this is a Broad-billed Hummingbird.