Birds I've Seen in my Yard - Yellow-rumped Warbler

I found myself carless this morning on a glorious fall day. So I took my cup of coffee and my laptop outside to work from home. I was greeted by an Abert's towhee hopping around, looking all cute. Good morning, little friend!

Then I looked up and saw this flutter of white in my ornamental plum tree. Some little white and gray bird was preening and fluttering. Way too small to be a mockingbird. Too white to be anything else I could think of. I went inside to get my binoculars and my bird book, and came back to find it hopping around the grass with a friend. The friend was a white-crowned sparrow. The other was a mystery... until it moved its wings and gave me a peek at its little yellow rump.

It was a yellow-rumped warbler. The pictures in the bird book make this bird seem so colorful, with lots of contrast. I've learned to ignore the illustrations in the bird book and just look online. While some, especially the males, seem to have more contrast, I chose the picture above from Flickr, because it shows a much more subdued coloring. Really, I thought this was a smooth-looking gray bird with white underparts and a little streaking on its breast, until I got the binoculars out and could see more clearly. I think this is a female Audubon's Warbler. Hope she comes back to visit again!

Birds I've Seen Around Arizona - Red-tailed Hawk

Today, as I often do, I drove past this roadside attraction -- a painting of a giant baby playing with a life-sized tractor. Usually, I point it out to my kids and they get excited and forget about whatever they were fighting about. A mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do.

This morning, much to my delight, I saw a GIANT hawk perched atop the baby's head. I was driving at highway speed, and I am terrible at identifying hawks. Still, its dark head and wings and pale belly, together with its large size, suggest that it is a red-tailed hawk. Oh, and the fact that it's probably the most common hawk in North America.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-tailed_Hawk/id

Birds I've Seen in my Yard - Black-headed Grosbeak

Black-headed Grosbeak_8337
Originally uploaded by ru_24_real

So as happens from time to time, I looked out my bedroom window as I waited for the shower water to get hot. This afternoon, I looked out just in time to see a new visitor to my yard. Or perhaps just new to me. He sat among the branches of my yellow trumpet flower (or whatever that flowering bush is called), let me get a good long look at him, then hopped to my hibiscus. Photo op!

Yes, I streaked the house to run for the camera -- fortunately I was home with just Bode, who doesn't really notice what I'm wearing! When I returned to the bedroom, though, the grosbeak was long gone.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-headed_Grosbeak/id

My Barn Owl's Back, plus Hummingbirds!

Anna's Hummingbird, Calypte anna
Originally uploaded by PhotoJeff

So I had thought that the barn owl living in our palm tree had moved out. Maybe he got tired of me trying to peer up at him. I don't know. But the telltale owl pellets had disappeared. Then last week... a pellet. The barn owl is back! And from the size of the pellets, he's bigger than ever.
We still see the Gila Woodpecker frequently at our hummingbird feeder, along with some hummingbirds. They must be Anna's Hummingbirds, like the guy on the right, because from all I've read, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds don't live here in Phoenix. The thing is, I only ever see red at the throat, never on the top of the head. And the red color never looks pinkish. So maybe it is a Ruby-throated. I'll keep looking. Maybe eventually my birding skills will render me a little more confident in my identifications.

Birds I've Seen in my Yard - Wilson's Warbler

Wilson's Warbler by David Lindsey
Originally uploaded by D.L. Lindsey

So one Thursday afternoon, my kid threw up in the toybox at daycare. Four days later, it was my turn to be sick. I stayed home from work and spent a lot of time on the couch. Miserable as that morning was, I was lucky to be on the couch. Otherwise, I might not have caught this little migrant passing through.

First I saw movement in the yellow trumpet flower. Then I saw the flash of yellow. Next, the greenish wings... and I wondered if it was a lesser goldfinch, except it was too small to be that! So out came the bird book. Lo and behold, it was a Wilson's Warbler. I tried sitting out on the front step for a while, camera poised, but no luck. He didn't come back. Safe travels, little birdie!

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wilsons_Warbler/id

Birds I've Seen in my Yard - Gila Woodpecker

Gila woodpecker
Originally uploaded by BirdieMama

So this is not my photo or my hummingbird feeder. It is somebody else's photo of a Gila woodpecker clinging to somebody else's hummingbird feeder. I haven't managed to capture a good photo yet on my own camera.

I had been seeing a pair of Gila's in my yard recently, but at least three times in the past couple weeks, I've caught one actually hanging onto our feeder for dear life. The first time, a hummingbird came along and scared the woodpecker off. It was funny to see such a big bird hanging half upside-down from such a precarious perch, craning to get a little sip of nectar.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gila_Woodpecker/id

Birds I Saw on my Trip to New York

June, 2009

My parents have a Willow Flycatcher nesting under their porch -- my Mom was able to identify it by its call. They also have a Belted Kingfisher nesting in a burrow on the hillside overlooking their pond.

We saw huge Osprey nests on the drive to Vermont, saw at least one Great Blue Heron (maybe it's the one that puts his big old beak through the trout in Dad's pond, only to leave them belly-up because they're too big to eat), and passed a few Ring-necked Pheasants along the roadside.

Oh, and let's not forget the Ruby-throated Hummingbird that visits my parents' feeder.

Birds I Saw on my Trip to Vermont

June, 2009

Probably I saw other birds, too, but the ones I noted were: Double-crested Cormorant (on the shore of Lake Champlain near the ECHO center), Killdeer (in a field at Shelburne Farms), and Wild Turkey (also at Shelburne Farms).

Birds I've Seen Around Arizona - Killdeer

Killdeer
Originally uploaded by J Gilbert

I was surpirsed to see this guy on my way home from the in-laws' house last night. He was right along the same stretch of road where I see all the burrowing owls -- near a canal at the edge of a field of some kind of crop that I don't recognize... alfalfa maybe?

At any rate, I noted the two stripes across his chest and recognized him as some kind of lanky shorebird. For whatever reason, I always think "sandpiper" when I see this bird. I've never, to my knowledge, actually seen a sandpiper, though. Looked him up to be sure... yup. A killdeer.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Killdeer/id

Birds I've Seen in my Yard - Barn Owl

Barn Owl
Originally uploaded by marj k

First we saw the owl pellets -- little clumps of regurgitated grass with mouse skull parts and other bones -- on the lawn beneath our palm tree. Then we found more in the same place. And poop. Lotsa bird poop. Sorta narrowed down where his perch might be.

And so Saturday evening I looked up from our driveway. I happened to be at just the right angle to see his rounded head amidst the spiky palm fronds. We took some photos, but none were as hi-res as this. Pretty cool to have an owl in the yard. Saw him again yesterday evening, too. He's up there!

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barn_Owl/id

Birds I've Seen in my Yard - Black-chinned Hummingbird

Black-chinned Hummingbird, Archilochus alexandri
Originally uploaded by tripp.davenport

Males actually have a little iridescent purple patch at the base of their throat if the light is right, but the light is never right on our Yellow Trumpet Bush when I see this visitor in the morning. He's quick and tiny - even smaller than the ruby-throated hummingbirds I always saw growing up - and I think his bill seems longer, by comparison, too.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-chinned_Hummingbird/id

Just for Comparison - American Goldfinch

American Goldfinch at feeder
Originally uploaded by Nikon Nut

I used to have a ton of goldfinches at my feeder in Trumansburg. So pretty and so feisty -- they were fun to watch!

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Goldfinch/id

Birds I've Seen Around Arizona - Lesser Goldfinch

Male Lesser Goldfinch 2
Originally uploaded by joecrowaz

I've seen this guy and his greenish-headed female counterpart at the Desert Botanical Garden. Pretty, but not as striking as the American Goldfinches that used to visit my feeder in Trumansburg, NY.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Lesser_Goldfinch/id

Birds I've Seen Around Arizona - Black-headed Grosbeak

Black-headed Grosbeak, male
Originally uploaded by Pia's birdseye view

This guy visited the feeder behind the restaurant at Tortilla Flat during my first visit there in November, 2005. I remember looking through a book with a dozen or so birds pictured that I found in the gift shop there. If not for that book, I might never have identified this bird. Pretty sure I haven't seen one since!

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-headed_Grosbeak/id

Red-winged Blackbirds chasing a Red-tailed Hawk

Red-winged blackbirds chasing away a red-tailed hawk
Originally uploaded by donjd2

This chase is so fun to watch! So much diving and swooping -- it's a real aerial show!

Birds I've Seen Around Arizona - Red-winged Blackbird

Red-winged Blackbird
Originally uploaded by nancyjwagner

Another bird familiar from home. When I lived in Mecklenburg, NY, I loved sitting on Dave & Kim's porch, watching red-winged blackbirds chase a red-tailed hawk, swooping and diving at him above the field across the road. Apparently, this was nest-protecting behavior. Here in AZ, I mostly see them congregating in corn fields.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-winged_Blackbird/id

Birds I've Seen Around Arizona - Northern Cardinal

Northern Cardinal: A Perfect Pair
Originally uploaded by MLK6615

Speaking of birds that are easy to recognize, here's the Northern Cardinal. I'm always happy to see them because they remind me of home. Usually I see them at the Desert Botanical Garden, but I've seen them at Apache Lake, too.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Cardinal/id

Birds I've Seen Around Arizona - Phainopepla

Phainopepla 001 ed 01.jpg
Originally uploaded by oc14me

Ah, the Phainopepla. This bird is the reason my father-in-law thinks I'm such a great birder. To me, his profile is hard to mistake. If you've seen him once, you'd recognize him again. I first saw one on my first bird walk with Nancy at the Desert Botanical Garden. She spotted it, much to the delight of everyone in our group!

My second sighting was while riding in the truck with my Dad and FIL (and probably others) at Apache Lake. I said with confidence that it was a Phainopepla. Jeff was skeptical, but fortunately, my Dad had a good camera to hand. He snapped the photo and we took it home and zoomed in. Black bird, crested head, red eye. Yup. Phainopepla. Thanks, Nancy!

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Phainopepla/id

Birds I've Seen Around Arizona - Curve-billed Thrasher

Desert Campsite Host - Curve-billed Thrasher
Originally uploaded by NaturalLight

Seen at different times of year at Tortilla Flat and the DBG. Pretty easy to recognize with that yellow eye and curved bill.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Curve-billed_Thrasher/id

Birds I've Seen Around Arizona - Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

black tailed gnatcatcher
Originally uploaded by Jeremydrussell

Wow, another bird I don't remember from my January 2008 bird walk at DBG. I must have been really tired or distracted by my family, who were all along for the walk. But look how cute this little guy is. Apparently he's pretty common at the DBG, so maybe I'll get to see him again!