Patton's Center for Hummingbirds

If you are ever in Southeast Arizona in the town of Patagonia you must stop at Patton’s. It is a house close to downtown that was for years and years owned and maintained by a couple named Patton. They passed away a few years back and the family sold the property to Tucson Audubon. It is a fabulous place for bird watching.

Welcome to the Tucson Audubon Patton’s Center for Hummingbirds. This is a sign posted as you enter the parking lot.

There is some amount of parking on the property with additional space out on the street.

This shows the area leaving the car and walking towards the house. It is early May 2021 and the sign asks that you keep your mask on. The Center was closed for much of the time during Covid-19 pandemic. Patagonia is in Santa Cruz County and the county had a very high rate of infection. There are feeders and birding areas and trails to walk along both ahead and to the left in this image.

One of the first birds we noticed after parking and getting out of the car was this group of Lazuli Bunting. The one sitting on the right of the feeder is a female while the two brightly blue colored birds are males of the species. Birds are everywhere around the property.

This is an informative sign that describes the area and provides a small map with a layout. There is also information on the Tucson Audubon Web Site that can be read by CLICKING HERE

There are Javelina often seen around the property. Though some people think Javelina is a type of wild pig, they are actually members of the peccary family, a group of hoofed mammals originating from South America. Javelina are common in much of central and southern Arizona. They are also called stink pigs for a good reason, they really stink.

There is a variety of feeding stations around the property. Here is a Western Tanager feeding on an orange at one of the stations.

As you walk along the path to the backyard you see more feeders and brush piles and more birds.

There is a cover in the backyard with chairs and benches underneath. You have excellent views of the area behind the house and a variety of brush piles and open wooded area for spotting birds.

There is no fee to tour the property, take pictures, and enjoy the birds. There is this “sugar fund” donation box.

It is a good idea to put a few dollars in to help ensure the place stays open, they can feed the birds, and you can continue to enjoy them.

This is a Broad-billed Hummingbird. It is very striking in its coloration. Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backwards. Not sure if in this picture it is looking at something above or stretching its neck.

This is a female Broad-billed Hummingbird, not nearly as brightly colored as the male.

We had seen the Western Tanager eating on the oranges in an earlier image. There were a lot of oranges at various places around the property. Here we find these two that have been all used up. The birds really like the oranges. Certainly some of the sugar fund money will be used to buy oranges as well.

There are a lot of brush piles scattered about the property. Here is a Pyrrhuloxia using one of the piles.  

In one portion of the backyard along a trail is this pond. It has running water from a pump and provides additional habitat for the birds

While watching one of the hummingbird feeders we heard this insect like sound and realized it was the Broad-tailed hummingbird. Male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds make an insect like, metallic trill with their wings while flying that can be quite loud. Not sure why they would make such a sound but they do.

Violet-crowned Hummingbird. Later in the year there will be 12-13 different species of hummingbirds at Patton’s.

This Black-headed Grosbeak was using the pond for a drink.

Abert’s Towhee, using the brush pile to look for food and gain some protective cover.

This is a female Summer Tanager. The male is bright red but we could not get his picture while we were there, hopefully next time.

Here is a White-breasted Nuthatch walking down the tree looking for insects in the cracks of the tree.

This is a Yellow-breasted Chat. They can be very vocal and have a wide repertoire of calls but this one was quiet. They will head north for the summer.

Once you are through enjoying the birds mosey over the few blocks to Patagonia and have lunch and dessert at one of the several eateries there, they all have great food.

There were a lot of other bird species at Patton's when we were there. The spring migration was passing through. It is a fabulous place and well done by Tucson Audubon.


There is a web cam on one of the feeders and you can watch the action if you wish.

https://tucsonaudubon.org/go-birding/tucson-audubons-paton-center-for-hummingbirds/paton-center-web-cams/


We hope you enjoyed the visit to Patton’s and that you get an opportunity to visit there in the not too distant future. There are lots of birds to watch, it is a truly fascinating place.

Please let us know if you have any questions or comments.

All the best – George & Deanna

Having Fun Chasing Birds and Other Images

In this blog post we will chat about a variety of images, some good and some not so. We will mostly focus on the fun of taking bird images, our purpose for taking them, and show a few non bird pictures.

The main thought to keep in mind from this blog is that if you want to take bird pictures or any pictures for that matter you need to get out and look around and take pictures. Practice, practice, practice and don’t get frustrated if the exact image you want isn’t there, relax, roll with it, and go take some more pictures.

The big red bird is a Northern Cardinal. The leaves in front of the Cardinal are in good focus and that would be fine if you wanted a nice picture of oak leaves, we did not want that. We were driving along a dirt/gravel road and looking for various birds hoping for them to be out in the open. The camera was set on automatic focus when in this case we should have used manual focus and tried to focus on the Cardinal behind the oak leaves. Many images don’t turn out as you would like.

We often get a chance to take bird images where they are doing something other than just sitting there. This Red-tail Hawk was across a little dry creek and apparently had something ready for lunch, perhaps a ground squirrel or snake or some such. It was out a bit from the bushes and moved in closer and closer as we stopped to watch it. He certainly was hiding something. It blends in very well with the bushes.

This shows a Red-tail Hawk. The image was taken in Washington State and is here to show the belly band or row of dark feathers across the belly or lower chest of the hawk.

That is one field mark that can be used to identify the species. It was really windy when the image was taken, the feathers seem out of control, and the hawk appears to be leaning into the wind.

As mentioned in the previous image, Red-tail Hawks are often defined by the band of darker feathers across their belly called the “Belly Band”.

Many of the Red-tails we see in the southwest have very faint or indistinct bands and in some case almost nonexistent markings. Many bird species will vary from one geographic location to the next in terms of coloration and markings.

Often times we take a bird image to help us identify the bird at a later point in time and to document what we have seen and where. In this case the image of our feathered friend is fairly clear and useable but we don’t a have solid identification as to the species of this bird.

We have asked several friends, who are much better at bird identification than we are, and no one seems to know. The best guess is a house finch with an oddly colored top hat. It appears most finch like. Do you know what this bird species might be?

This is a Black-throated Gray Warbler. It flits about in the trees looking for insects to eat. It does not sit still very long at all. We took more images of leaves and twigs than of birds. But if you take enough images, something is bound to turn out right, maybe.

There is no bird in this image. It is just a fun, simplistic image that shows a yellow flower(weed?) maybe a false daisy in and amongst some tree duff. One does not have to only take bird pictures.

Some birds do not display much plumage or coloration differences between male and female of the species while others can exhibit considerable differences. Many sparrows for example appear the same in the male and female while many ducks have totally different plumage patterns. Here is an image of a Male Horned Lark. It is a little dull in color and many of the males show much brighter yellow on the neck and throat.

Here, in this example, is a female Horned Lark, much drabber in color and overall markings. As is the case with many of the duck species perhaps the female is drab in coloration because she must sit on the nest to incubate the young and does not want to be easily seen.

Just as you point the camera and begin to press the shutter the subject, in this case a Mexican Jay, will fly away. It seems to happen quite often. Tha main concern is not to get frustrated. Photography can act like a relaxing therapy and should not be the reason to go see a therapist.

This is a composition image. I had shown the tree in an earlier blog post. For fun, I used software and layered in the moon behind the tree. The digital image coupled with the available software makes many image changes and modifications possible.

Here is a decent image of a Western Kingbird. They are back for the summer having spent the winter season further south in Mexico and beyond. Most often they display brighter yellow coloration on the lower chest and belly area. We have no idea what he is squawking about or to whom. It is early in the year so maybe it is calling for a mate.

This image is of two Sandhill Cranes flying. They seem to be in some sort of synchronization and the position of their wings makes for a pleasant looking symmetrical image. At least we think so.

That concludes our look around at various subjects and a brief chat about taking bird and other images. We hope you found something of interest. If you want to take pictures of birds or any subject matter get a camera and go take pictures, it is a fun hobby.

Please let us know if you have any questions or comments.
All the best – Stay Safe - George & Deanna

Miscellaneous Images

This blog post contains various miscellaneous images and descriptions. We have not been traveling to any new, wild, and exotic locations so we thought we would share some images that cover a variety of topics and sights. Hope you enjoy.

This is an Acorn Woodpecker. We have posted images of these woodpeckers in the past. We call them clown birds because of their gaudy coloration. They do like oak trees and will drill a hole in the tree and cache an acorn there for later consumption.

The holes in this oak tree were once filled with acorns. The woodpeker drills the holes and then gets an acorn and stuffs the acorn into the hole. There are lots of holes in this tree, busy woodpecker.

This image is also of an Acorn Woodpecker. It has just landed in the tree behind the Mexican Jay. This is just a fun image.

Here is one of our local weathermen. It frequently rests on this weather station and I have no idea what its presence does to the calibration or readings. This is a Northern Mockingbird.

We have posted before about a location called “Lake Cochise” or “Twin Lakes Golf Course”. They are one in the same location. This image shows a small pond that is adjacent to the golf course. There are often a wide variety of birds found here.

On one recent trip there we found a lot of swallows flying over the pond and catching insects. I was foolishly trying to take pictures of the swallows in flight and got many more shots of water than of the swallows. This is a Barn Swallow easily identifiable by its coloration and long tail feathers. Obviously much more practice is needed for taking decent swallow images.

Here is a look at a Barn Swallow sitting. Not sure what it is talking about. This should give you a better idea as to what a Barn Swallows looks like.

This is a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. The long tooth pick like legs are fascinating. They do have a ruby red colored crown but does not show it very often. This picture is a little grainy as I was trying a different camera setting. As mentioned above much further practice is needed.

On several different excursions we have stopped by Sandy’s Restaurant which is out in the middle of Sulphur Springs Valley and a long ways from nowhere. This map gives you a perspective as to the location. Not much else around there. Google Maps indicates it ia about 92 miles from Tucson.

Here is an image of the front of Sandy’s. Great place to stop and eat if you are ever near the area.

Sandy’s has the usual fare of burgers and such. They also make great salads. This is an image of their Tuscan Salad. It makes for a great lunch.

This is the dessert we had on one occasion at Sandy’s, Blueberry pie and Dryers Ice Cream. Sandy makes all the pies herself and always has several varieties. This dessert dish cost $2.99 and that included both the pie and ice cream. At that price we should just skip the lunch and go for the dessert. After all the blueberry pie has lots of healthy fruit and you could just get a second piece of apple pie to balance the lunch out and add to your daily fruit consumption...

Further south down Sulphur Springs Valley is Whitewater Draw, a fabulous birding location that we have posted about earlier. Here we wanted to show you how the place will change for the summer.

During the winter at Whitewater Draw there are Sandhill Cranes, lots of cranes. During the winter of 2020-2021 the Arizona Department of Fish and Game estimated 47,601 Sandhill Cranes in Sulphur Springs Valley which is a record number. In a more normal year there are 34-38,000.

During the winter there will be lots of water available providing a roost spot for the cranes. This is an image from much earlier that shows the water level. The water is pumped up from the ground water starting in September or October and is pumped during the winter to keep the area flooded.

This image was taken on April 1st, 2021 and as you can see, most of the water is already gone. So too are the cranes, they have headed north to their summer breeding grounds.

Searching in the mud was this Greater Yellowlegs. It is considered a shorebird and the shore is really disappearing fast. This Yellowlegs will soon be on its way north as well.

Shifting gears a bit we will show one of the local resident birds. This is a Cactus Wren and it has no problems moving in and around the cactus.

This is a large Purple Prickly Pear Cactus and the Wren has a nest in this cactus located just above the block wall in about the center of the picture.

Here is a close up of the entrance to the nest. It is most fascinating how the wren can build the nest amongst the pieces of cactus.

This image demonstrates some of our field research. We have a very good friend, Tom Scribner, whom is ultra passionate regarding chocolate chip cookies. During our travels we will try an available cookie or two to see if they are suitable for Tom and then report back on our findings. We have found many great ones but we are still looking.

The Ovens of Patagonia is a great little sandwich and desert shop in Patagonia, and yes the cookie was good.

Here is another fun image. The small white dog is our Westie named Ozzie while the large black dog is named Atlas, he is not ours. Atlas does seem a great name for him. He was, as evidenced by the picture, a very massive Great Dane. Thank goodness he was very gentle.

That concludes our look around at various subjects. We hope you found something of interest.

Please let us know if you have any questions or comments.
All the best – George & Deanna