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

Piggies!

Richard — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:40:44 +0000

As I blearily wandered outside to change the hummingbird feeder this morning I was greeted by a familiar grunt, but one I normally hear at night. A large male Javelina was stood right in front of me, and then another grunt around the corner revealed a second large adult. As she scuttled away she was followed by the two smallest and cutest baby piggies I've ever seen. Awww, bless 'em! :D [...]

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! [...]

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! [...]

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. [...]

Continental, Madera Canyon

Richard — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 06:30:17 +0000

Madera Kubo had a nice selection of birds, including BERYLLINE and VIOLET-CROWNED HUMMINGBIRDS, SUMMER and HEPATIC TANAGERS, BRONZED COWBIRD, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS and PLUMBEOUS VIREO. A bit like buses, after waiting for nine years to see one, I saw my second BLACK BEAR of the month. It ambled across the road right in front of us. [...]

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. [...]

Dancing Deer

Richard — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 06:53:26 +0000

[...]

Ramsey Canyon Black Bear

Richard — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 06:55:07 +0000

Moments after leaving the visitor center, Jenise spotted a BLACK BEAR up ahead, the cinnamon cub. I was thrilled! I'd never seen a bear in the wild in Arizona before. This amiable character allowed a close approach and spent the next 90 minutes foraging around the base of an oak tree before climbing the tree in seconds and feeding on early acorns. It was a fantastic experience! [...]

July Fun Birding Workshop: Hummingbirds

Richard — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 06:24:41 +0000

We visited Mary Jo at Ash Canyon B&B and, as per usual, were straight into some really great birding. We concentrated on hummingbirds and were rewarded with BROAD-BILLED, BLACK-CHINNED, ANNA'S, RUFOUS and a female LUCIFER HUMMINGBIRD, plus the continuing LUCIFER x COSTA'S HUMMINGBIRD hybrid. [...]

June Fun Birding Workshop

Richard — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 06:31:29 +0000

We pulled up outside Alan's house and, as luck would have it, the STREAK-BACKED ORIOLE flew in and landed briefly. We waited a while and over time got fantastic views of this gorgeous rare bird. We met top photographer Charles W. Melton, which is always a pleasure. As usual, Charles got the best photo. [...]

Sweetwater Wetlands

Richard — Sun, 15 May 2011 06:48:53 +0000

The highlights were mostly flycatchers: at least two continuing OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHERS as well as two WESTERN WOOD-PEWEES and at least four TROPICAL KINGBIRDS. There were still double figures of WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, three calling SORAS, WESTERN TANAGER, BULLOCK’S ORIOLE, SWAINSON’S THRUSH, LAZULI BUNTINGS. A smart Bobcat was lurking near the middle of the complex. [...]

Santa Cruz River at Cortaro Rd

Richard — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 06:55:37 +0000

The first bird I saw was the stunning drake WOOD DUCK. This was followed by a SWAMP SPARROW at the river’s edge near the huge concrete culvert. Eventually the TENNESSEE WARBLER showed, silently foraging in the usual patch of willows. [...]

Chiricahua Mountains 1

Richard — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 06:32:43 +0000

As we pulled up at Cave Creek Ranch in fading light, someone was clearly watching something of great interest in a tree by the main house. We pulled alongside to ask what it was - a White-nosed Coati! [...]

Carr Canyon, Ash Canyon

Richard — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 05:53:00 +0000

We spent a couple of pleasurable hours enjoying the birds at Ash Canyon B&B. Even though it's 'out of season' there's still a great variety of interesting birds to be seen. The COUES WHITE-TAILED DEER were extremely entertaining. [...]

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. [...]

Shetland Isles: Mousa

Richard — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 06:59:51 +0000

After five minutes on the island we found an Arctic Redpoll, a 'BB' Rarity in Britain and, it transpired, the rarest bird ever seen on Mousa! How's that for beginner's luck? [...]

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! [...]

Las Cienegas, Elgin, Ramsey Canyon

Richard — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 06:13:00 +0000

The drive through Elgin produced a couple of Western Kingbirds, finally, to accompany the many Cassin's. Horned Larks were singing by the roadside and I was surprised to find an ever bigger herd of Pronghorn Antelopes, 18 this time. Quite a good day for antelopes... [...]

Goldilocks and…

Richard — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 05:07:52 +0000

We only really had time to take a leisurely drive through Yosemite with a few photo stops before we had to be on our way. I wanted to go back to Olmsted Point in the early morning light, and it didn’t disappoint.

I’d asked Bruce about the possibility of seeing bears. Yosemite is obviously [...]

Lunge feeding

Richard — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:37:38 +0000

Another day, another Shearwater Journeys boat trip.

Bruce and I fuelled up in Petaluma and made the 40 minute drive to Bodega Bay in time to meet everyone bright and early at the dock. The swell had calmed down considerably, but the fog was more of an issue, coming and going in patches all day.

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Richard’s Photothon: the story

Richard — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:16:25 +0000

[click here for the full list and all the photos]

Having fed the birds in my new courtyard for a few months I decided to start “Richard’s Photothon 2009″ in my backyard at first light to try to get off to a good start.

It was slow going, though, and by the time I headed [...]

Ecuador 11: Papallacta Pass

Richard — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 06:27:06 +0000

A change of scenery was on the cards today as we set off from Quito early and headed towards our next destination, San Isidro. En route we would take in our highest birding of the trip, the paramo habitat of Papallacta Pass. Reaching an elevation of more than 14,000 feet, we would be at the [...]

Rillito bats

Richard — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:28:48 +0000

For the first time I finally got around to seeing a regular wildlife spectacle a couple of miles from the house. Every year, apparently, a huge roost of bats (species unknown by me) forms under the bridge over the Rillito River on Campbell Avenue here in Tucson. They all stream out at dusk. How I’ve [...]

I Wish They All Could Be California Gulls

Richard — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 18:44:04 +0000

First proper post, and I steal someone else’s joke for the title (Hi Mez). Typical. And if I’m being factually correct, then I wish they all could be Heermann’s Gulls, which are the nicest gulls ever.

I visited the West Coast of the USA for the first time in September 2006. The primary purpose [...]