Fun Birding Tours in SE Arizona with Birding Guide Richard Fray » insects

TAS Field Trip Paton’s

Richard — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 01:49:41 +0000

The hummingbirds were buzzing and included BROAD-BILLED, BLACK-CHINNED, RUFOUS, ANNA'S, several VIOLET-CROWNED and a smart female MAGNIFICENT HUMMINGBIRD. There was plenty of action at the other feeders too, with scads of LESSER GOLDFINCH, HOUSE FINCH, GILA and ACORN WOODPECKERS, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, SUMMER TANAGER and more. [...]

San Pedro House, Ash & Ramsey Canyons

Richard — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 04:34:08 +0000

Along the river, migration was evident. There were quite a few LAZULI BUNTINGS with one or two BLUE GROSBEAKS and an INDIGO BUNTING. Other migrants included OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, HOUSE WREN and NASHVILLE WARBLER. Other birds included GRAY HAWK, SONG, LINCOLN'S and CHIPPING SPARROW, ABERT'S and GREEN-TAILED TOWHEES, SUMMER and WESTERN TANAGER. [...]

White Mountains

Richard — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 04:32:20 +0000

Near Carnero Lake I stumbled upon a second group of ELK, these running through an alpine meadow. There were 13 in all with, again, a big, impressive buck at the back, barking commands to his harem. I started the day having never seen an Elk - now I had seen 21! [...]

Target birding in SE Arizona

Richard — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 06:36:28 +0000

We made a brief stop at Montosa Canyon where we saw FIVE-STRIPED SPARROW, soon followed by the family party of BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHERS (we counted at least six) and a showy VARIED BUNTING. What a great birding site this is. Three major targets, all found and photographed in 20 minutes! [...]

Santa Rita loop

Richard — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 06:41:21 +0000

We had good views of two THICK-BILLED KINGBIRDS at Patagonia Roadside Rest. Along Blue Haven Road we found three ZONE-TAILED HAWKS, LAZULI BUNTINGS and an INCA DOVE. Paton’s was great, with lots of hummingbirds including VIOLET-CROWNED, plus calling GRAY HAWK, a pair of COMMON GROUND-DOVES, YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO, BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER and plenty more. [...]

California Gulch, Madera Canyon

Richard — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 06:34:15 +0000

We completed a clean sweep of Arizona’s Aimophila sparrows with a few RUFOUS-CROWNED along Ruby Road. It was the first time I'd been since the Murphy Complex Fire earlier in the year. I was so pleased to see how everything looked, much better than I imagined. It's undoubtedly my favorite place in Arizona, for both the birding and the scenery. It's absolutely gorgeous! [...]

Fun Birding Workshop Shorebird Special

Richard — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 06:33:59 +0000

Lake Cochise had no gulls, no terns, relatively few shorebirds and very few ducks. With some effort we recorded ten shorebird species: KILLDEER, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, BLACK-NECKED STILT, AMERICAN AVOCET, SOLITARY SANDPIPER, WESTERN SANDPIPER, LEAST SANDPIPER, BAIRD’S SANDPIPER, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER and WILSON’S PHALAROPES. [...]

Columbia Silkmoth (Glover’s subspecies)

Richard — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 06:22:56 +0000

As Kristen and I drove into Summerhaven, I noticed something in the road. I drove around this interesting looking object, parked, and we went back to take a look. To my absolute delight, it turned out to be this stunning moth, a Columbia Silkmoth of the Glover's Silkmoth subspecies. [...]

Mt Lemmon

Richard — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 06:20:57 +0000

We added lots more higher elevation birds such as HAIRY WOODPECKER, BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD, CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER, PLUMBEOUS VIREO, STELLER'S JAY, VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW, MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE, BUSHTIT, three species of NUTHATCH, BROWN CREEPER, WESTERN BLUEBIRD, HERMIT THRUSH and YELLOW-EYED JUNCO. [...]

Agua Caliente Park, Mt Lemmon

Richard — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 06:31:22 +0000

Summerhaven was very birdy, with BAND-TAILED PIGEON, lots of YELLOW-EYED JUNCOS, WESTERN TANAGER, MAGNIFICENT HUMMINGBIRD, several family parties of CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER, a few VIRGINIA’S WARBLERS, ROCK and HOUSE WRENS feeding young, HERMIT THRUSH, AMERICAN ROBIN and SPOTTED TOWHEE. [...]

Continental to Patagonia

Richard — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 06:43:40 +0000

Next up was Patagonia Roadside Rest, which produced THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD and a gorgeous VARIED BUNTING. Four COMMON GROUND-DOVES were at Paton’s in Patagonia, along with INCA, MOURNING, WHITE-WINGED and EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE for a five-dove moment. VIOLET-CROWNED, BROAD-BILLED, BLACK-CHINNED and a female MAGNIFICENT HUMMINGBIRD added to the fun, along with HOODED ORIOLE, GRAY HAWK and YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT. [...]

White Mountains: Reptiles and more

Richard — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 06:57:41 +0000

While in the White Mountains I was able to get photos of a wide range of wildlife... birds, butterflies and dragonflies. Here's everything else, from lizards to grasshoppers. [...]

White Mountains: Dragonflies

Richard — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 06:54:04 +0000

Walnut Creek was a great place to watch and photograph dragonflies. This Eight-spotted Skipper was one of the best dragonflies I'd ever seen! Flame Skimmers are always fun. I'm not sure what these damselflies are though. I haven't got the hang of the many damselflies we have here yet. [...]

White Mountains: Butterflies

Richard — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 05:52:39 +0000

A lot of my time in the White Mountains was spent looking for butterflies. At Walnut Creek alone, I found and photographed 14 species including one or two new ones I'd not encountered before. [...]

Rustic Sphinx Moth

Richard — Sun, 29 May 2011 06:59:59 +0000

When I got home this evening I found a RUSTIC SPHINX MOTH nestled comfortably on the England flag that hangs by my back door (which reminds me and my visitors that I'm a strange foreigner from the other side of the world). This is a big moth - they can have a wingspan of up to six inches. What a stunning creature! [...]

Madera Canyon, Rio Rico, Patagonia

Richard — Sat, 28 May 2011 06:11:37 +0000

At the Paton’s house, we were entertained by a couple of COMMON GROUND-DOVES, several GRAY HAWKS, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, LARK SPARROW, BLUE GROSBEAK and BROAD-TAILED, BROAD-BILLED, BLACK-CHINNED and VIOLET-CROWNED HUMMINGBIRDS. [...]

Dusky Grouse at Green’s Peak

Richard — Sun, 08 May 2011 06:58:27 +0000

I heard another sound, turned sharply and promptly slipped over backwards, landing in a heap. Luckily, I landed in the perfect position to see a fine male DUSKY GROUSE fly up from the ground and land on a branch some 20 feet up, but at eye level to where I was sprawled. There was a small window through the trees and I had landed in the perfect spot. [...]

American Dipper at Greer

Richard — Sun, 08 May 2011 06:14:21 +0000

I followed the AMERICAN DIPPER for two hours, enjoying its fascinating antics. On initial viewing they're quite dull looking birds without obvious charm, but after a minute the bird's huge character became evident as it dived into the water, swam under the surface and repeatedly came up with small invertebrates. Fantastic! [...]

White Mountains

Richard — Sat, 07 May 2011 06:38:46 +0000

Facing an open pine woodland habitat, the yard list soon included LEWIS'S, ACORN and HAIRY WOODPECKERS, RED CROSSBILL, AMERICAN CROW, COMMON RAVEN, STELLER'S JAY, AMERICAN ROBIN, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, PINE SISKIN, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, the Red-backed form of DARK-EYED JUNCO and BROAD-TAILED HUMINGBIRD. [...]

Fossil Creek

Richard — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 06:37:22 +0000

I had the chance to find some butterflies you don't always see in SE Arizona. A couple were new ones for me. Likewise, the dragonflies and damselflies were species associated with larger rivers, so not readily available around Tucson. [...]

Chiricahua Mountains 2

Richard — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 04:56:32 +0000

We headed east on dirt roads, parallel to the Mexican border. Our destination was Slaughter Ranch, an interesting historical site which doubles up as a great birding locale. The avian highlight was a showy CRISSAL THRASHER. [...]

October Fun Birding Workshop: Sweetwater Wetlands

Richard — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 04:19:07 +0000

The main attraction soon became evident, a gorgeous little TRICOLORED HERON which picked off small fish around the edge. Ed and I settled down to watch and were eventually rewarded with outstanding views. [...]

White Mountains, October

Richard — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 06:14:35 +0000

We found a large flock of Red Crossbills at first light. We watched as, one by one, at least 100 birds all came down to the same secluded spot on the creek to drink. It’s thirsty work when your diet consists of pine cone seeds. [...]

England: Priory Water

Richard — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 22:02:23 +0000

I was keen to get photos of a few dragonflies, and I caught up with Blue-tailed and Common Blue Damselfies, Common Darter and Migrant Hawker. The butterflies were excellent, with Common Blue, Large White, Speckled Wood, Comma and a Red Admiral which was in such pristine condition it could only have emerged that morning. [...]

White Mountains, September

Richard — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:28:53 +0000

We were based at Lake of the Woods in Pinetop. There is always something to see right by the cabins and around the lake. As usual Ospreys were fishing from the lake regularly and I was delighted to find a Madrean Alligator Lizard amongst the rocks along the nearby creek. [...]

Rio Rico, Kino Springs, Tumacacori

Richard — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 06:52:47 +0000

It was interesting to see so many KINGBIRDS in tail molt. WESTERNS lacking in white edges, CASSIN'S with almost not tail at all and various birds with pointy tails (short outer feathers growing in) or double tails (having dropped the inner one of two feathers). Only TROPICAL is full in the tail department at the moment. [...]

Sweetwater Wetlands, Tucson

Richard — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 06:35:32 +0000

The mesquites and palo verdes were teeming with birds, which included an interesting low-elevation HERMIT WARBLER, BLACK-THROATED GRAY, MacGILLIVRAY'S, ORANGE-CROWNED, several WILSON'S and scads of YELLOW WARBLERS, a family party of COMMON YELLOWTHROATS, an immature male BULLOCK'S ORIOLE and both WARBLING and CASSIN'S VIREOS. Wow! [...]

Pena Blanca Lake, Sycamore Canyon, California Gulch

Richard — Wed, 26 May 2010 06:32:14 +0000

A ZONE-TAILED HAWK was hunting over the valley midway to the gulch from Ruby Road. In the gulch, FIVE-STRIPED SPARROWS were vocal and reasonably easy to find. At least five birds were tallied between the first and second stream crossings, as well as a good number of VARIED BUNTINGS. [...]

No Solitaire

Richard — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 06:10:45 +0000

Southeast Arizona always attracts interesting birds from Mexico, but so far this year the birds have been surprising – a Gray-collared Becard (or maybe two, depending on who saw what) in the Chiricahuas, and now a Brown-backed Solitaire in the Huachucas, first at Miller Canyon, then at Ramsey Canyon (or are there two of these [...]

Two-tailed

Richard — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 05:46:53 +0000

A splendid addition to my home butterfly list today – a fine Two-tailed Swallowtail stopped by, a species more associated with mid-elevation riparian habitats than Tucson gardens.

And what’s more, it actually landed and allowed some shaky photos before it left. The usual Giant Swallowtails, which are in the garden almost daily, never seem to [...]