A Few Recent Bird Images

We thought we would just show a few recent bird images. It might give you a little something to look at and read while resting at home. We borrowed much of the narrative here from various sources on the Internet, we wanted to provide some information along with each image. Stay safe.

Great-tailed Grackle

A big, brash blackbird, the male Great-tailed Grackle shimmers in iridescent black and purple, and trails a tail that will make you look twice. The rich brown females are about half the male’s size. Flocks of these long-legged, social birds strut and hop on suburban lawns, golf courses, fields, and marshes in Texas, the Southwest, and southern Great Plains. In the evening, raucous flocks pack neighborhood trees, filling the sky with their amazing (some might say ear-splitting) voices.

Botteri's Sparrow

This is one of the summer Arizona Sparrows. A rather secretive species of desert grasslands, the Botteri’s Sparrow is subtly plumaged in brown, rust, and tan, which helps it blend with its arid environment. During the breeding season, after the summer rains commence, the bouncing-ball song of this sparrow is usually the first indication of its presence—and a good way to distinguish it from the similar Cassin’s Sparrow, which often nests near it. In Arizona, Botteri’s Sparrows are most common where beautiful sacaton grass grows in abundance.

Male - Hooded Oriole

The Hooded Oriole feeds on a variety of insects. May especially favor caterpillars, also eats beetles, wasps, ants, and many others. Feeds on many wild berries, and sometimes on cultivated fruit. Takes nectar from flowers, and will come to hummingbird feeders to drink sugar-water. They will drink a lot of sugar water.

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

The whistling-ducks were formerly known as tree-ducks, but only a few, such as the Black-bellied Whistling-Duck actually perch or nest in trees. This one flew from a marshy pond up and into this tree.

Curve-billed Thrasher

This species often comes to seeds, berries, insects, and water if offered, particularly on platform feeders or on the ground. Curve-billed Thrashers can sometimes dominate smaller birds at feeding stations. Large yards might even host a nesting pair in native vegetation.

Pyrrhuloxia

The pyrrhuloxia or desert cardinal is a medium-sized North American song bird found in the American southwest and northern Mexico. This distinctive species with a short, stout yellow bill and red crest and wings, and closely resembles the Northern cardinal which is in the same genus.

Greater Roadrunner

Great roadrunners can eat poisonous snakes and lizards. They will kill dangerous snakes, such as rattlesnake, via cooperative action. One bird distracts snake's attention, while other targets snake's head with its sharp beak.

A roadrunner approaches any snake as though it were venomous, and no roadrunner is immune to the bite of a venomous snake. If bitten, and venom injected, a roadrunner dies. Nonetheless, there is no roadrunner alive that will not attack and kill a small rattlesnake

We hope you enjoyed this brief look at a few birds we have seen.
Let us know if you have any questions or comments.

All the best - Stay Safe - Be Well

George & Deanna

Wilcox Settlement Ponds

Wilcox is a town along I-10. It has an old train station and a major east west train line runs through the south side of town. It is located at the northern end of Sulphur Springs Valley. There is a golf course on the south side of town and behind the golf course are some settlement ponds for water reclamation. In the winter this area is used extensively by the Sandhill Cranes that winter over here. We had an earlier post about this location and we really enjoy visiting the area.

We decided to take a look around the area in early May, the cranes had left but there might be some other birds found in and around the settlement ponds. It is a fun place to look for birds.

This map shows the location of Willcox. It is about 83 miles east of Tucson along the Interstate heading to Lordsburg and El Paso.

One of the first birds we found was this Blue Winged Teal accompanied by this Long-billed Dowitcher. Note the distinctive white crescent on the face of the teal. There were several Dowitchers on the pond but we saw only four Blue Winged Teal.

There is a pond adjacent to the golf course and there are cattails around part of the pond. We saw this White-faced Ibis and Cinnamon Teal resting and or feeding along the edges of the cattails.

Here is a more definitive picture of the Ibis. They are called White-faced Ibis because in their breeding plumage they have a white line on the face outlining the base of the of the large, curved bill. It does not appear that the Ibis are regular breeders here in Arizona, there have been scattered and isolated records of such activity but not common. These birds are all most likely migrating north.

Here is a Black-necked Stilt walking behind an Ibis. At the settlement ponds there is a sand road that encircles the ponds and you drive around the large pond to view the birds.

This image shows what are possibly a male and female Black-necked Stilt. The silt on the right is probably the female. Note the duller coloration on her back which is one field mark for female stilts, while the stilt on the left might be the male as he has a more glossy appearance to his black back.

Here is a solitary Black-neck Stilt, note the very straight bill. There were several of the stilts scattered around the lake.

The bird on the left is another Long-billed Dowitcher probing for something to eat while the other bird is a Wilson’s phalarope. The Phalaropes will spin around in the water rather quickly to stir up any bugs or edible items that are in the area, then they pick the bugs off the surface as they continue to spin. We watched many of them spinning round and round rather quickly.

Here is a clearer image of a Wilson’s phalarope. This bird does not appear to be in breeding plumage. The Phalaropes have an interesting breeding process. The female lays the egg and then takes off and leaves the male in charge of caring for the eggs and raising the young while she heads off to find another possible mate.

This Wilson’s phalarope is a bit more in the brighter colored breeding plumage. They will molt their feathers and develop the brighter coloration during their migration north.

We were surprised to see this Cattle Egret; it just seems a little out of their range which is typically further south and east. They are a little smaller than the Great Egret, have a shorter stockier neck and feed mainly in fields rather in streams or water areas. They also show some buffy-yellow coloration on the head and body when in breeding plumage. Notice the large foot up in the air as it walks forward, maybe the bird should have been named big foot.

We saw a Cinnamon Teal in an earlier picture asleep in front of a White-faced Ibis. Here they are moving across the shallow water and we see the contrasting plumage of the pair. The female in the backgound is the drabber color and that attribute holds true for many waterfowl. When she sits on the nest to incubate the eggs, the darker colors make it harder for predators to find her.

At one point along the drive there is a pipe and wooden walk way structure. This Loggerhead Shrike was sitting on the pipe as we drove by.

Here is an American Avocet. This is another wading shorebird on its migration north. They have fairly long curved bills with which they probe the mud and sand for food.

Here it seems either the long bill is just not long enough or the Avocet wanted to cool off on a warm morning. Maybe there are some good morsels down there somewhere.

We have moved on a bit from Wilcox and just wanted to show you the differences in one sparrow. This image shows an adult Black-throated Sparrow. They are very common here in the southwest and easily identified by the distinctive black throat markings and white lines above and below the eye.

In this image we have a juvenile Black-throated Sparrow only the black throat markings are not there. You can still see the white lines above and below the eye but no black throat patch. Many of the sparrows will look really different depending on whether they are a juvenile or an adult.

We hope you enjoyed this brief visit with some of our feather friends that were in Willcox. The settlement ponds are sometimes called Lake Cochise but it is a stretch to call it a lake. the birds do seem to like it regardless of the name, they are there in all seasons. Many of the birds in this post are already a long ways north and heading to their breeding grounds.

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

All the best – Stay Safe - George & Deanna

The Architecture, Some Wandering, and a Magical Stairway - Bisbee, AZ

Bisbee is a free spirited town with lots of art and music located in south eastern Arizona close along the border with Mexico. It was once a large copper mining center and a huge open pit mine can be found here. We have visited the town on several occasions and this visit was before the impact of covid-19. We are sure Bisbee is really hurting, as are many predominantly tourist driven locations, due to the pandemic. We wish them all a quick recovery.

In this blog post we will look around at a bit of the sights and architecture that you will see in Bisbee and walk along a Magical Art Gallery stairway.

Welcome to down town Bisbee which is loctated in the Mule Mountains at about 5,500 feet elevation. The town is known as the “Queen of the Copper Mines” because during its mining heyday, it produced nearly 25 percent of the world's copper. There is a mine tour and a large open pit mine that we did not visit this excursion. We are, on this trip, looking at downtown Bisbee, perhaps the mine and the open pit will be visited next time.

This old ore train is in front of the Mineral Museum. The Museum is a fascinating place to visit to learn about the mining history of Bisbee.

This is one of several large mineral specimens on display in front of the museum. They are gorgeous rocks and a most fascinating method of presenting them.

On the front corner of the mineral museum you can find these three flies. They are most curious and the next image and section of writing will describe what they represent.

This is a placard along the side walk in front of the three flies shown above. So you don’t hurt your eyes trying to read the fine print here is what it says:

“In August, 1912, the Commercial Club of Bisbee went public with a novel method of fly control. The seriousness of the continuing typhoid problems experienced in Bisbee around the turn of the century found some relief in humor as well as creativity.

“The rules for a “systematic campaign of extermination” against those “advance agents of pestilence” were quite straightforward… and the pestiferous little nuisances must now take the consequences. “They will be bottled and trapped and caught, done up in packages and duly measured up and counted….

It makes no difference how the dead flies are obtained or where within the district. The may be killed either with sticky fly paper, caught in traps or just swatted with a swatter, folded newspaper, or any other fly-killing devise.

If caught on sticky paper, however, they must be picked off, the committee not volunteering to do this work for the contestants.

“When a contestant desires to turn in his or her proof of prowess as a fly exterminator, the files are to be placed in… a pasteboard box. The county health officer will be the judge of the contest and will count and measure flies that are killed.”

“Bisbee has taken a position at the front in advance of all other cities in the southwest in war upon the fly and typhoid fever germs….” Bisbee Daily Review, August, 1912

“The anti-fly crusade is at its end. Richard Phillips was the winner of the competition, exterminating within 5,000 of 500,000 flies.” Bisbee Daily Review, September 3, 1912

The effectiveness of such a campaign? Alas, “more flies this year than last, despite a more aggressive fly swatting campaign among the public generally….”

Here is a fascinating metal sculpture on the grounds in front of the Mineral Museum, the same structure where the flies are located. It is quite fascinating and rather free flowing but the cactus plants seem to distract from the object.

As you walk along the street you can find a wide variety of architectural details. Here is a neat object that is on a column for one of the buildings.

In front of one of the clothing stores they had these samples on display. It did not appear they would fit me and Deanna did not care for the style. Tie-Dye anyone?

Here is a look up one of the main business streets in Bisbee. There are a lot of old and fascinating buildings.

A closer look at the stained glass detail on the building across the street

There are a lot of architectural touches and interesting paint schemes. Bisbee is known as an artist community and as you look around you can see the free spirited, artistic influence.

For those who like bicycles there is a uniquely named bicycle shop to provide whatever your cycling needs might be.

Looking back along the street we see more of the old architecture. It is very fascinating and enjoyable to see all the old detail on the buildings in this modern day of malls and sterile looking shops.

Looking down an alley we find more detail. It is all not just on the front along the main street but it is part and parcel of the fabric in this town.

Another example of an old building being put to a new use in this case as Bisbee Realty. Note the detail work and paint scheme across the top.

As you wander main street towards the south end of Bisbee you will see this sign point up a street. Yes there is a brewery in Bisbee. Take this street to wander further around Bisbee.

There is an open stairway that climbs the hill between two buildings. Both sides of this narrow stairway are home to a fascinating art collection called the Bisbee Artway Stair Gallery. It is a fascinating walk.

There is a lot of art presented in this narrow passageway. We will just show some of the objects as we wander up the stairs. This is by no means a definitive presentation of the works of art, rather only a small sampling. It is a really fascinating place to see.

We hope you enjoyed this brief saunter around Bisbee and the fascinating magical stairway. It is a small town that you must visit and wander through to really appreciate. We will get back there again and if we find something new we will send that information along.

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

Just Some Fun Images

For this post we decided to put in a few images of mostly birds. Many pictures we have taken recently and a few from eons back. This post is intended to give you something to look at, maybe bring a smile to your face, or maybe give you something else to think about even if for just a brief moment. Let's see what we have.

This is an Acorn Woodpecker. There is a place not far from here called Cochise Stronghold, named for the wily Apache Chief. There is a small campground there nestled among the oaks and there are always several of these woodpeckers flying around and beating on trees. We call them clown birds because of their colorful appearance and fun to watch antics.

Yes there is no bird here. Often times when you get ready to take a picture of a bird it will fly, or move, or in this case dive. You then end up with just an image of a tree branch or water as in this case.

With patience and a little luck the bird may reappear and here it is an Eared Grebe.

We were out for a drive the other day in a pretty wild and remote area in Las Cienegas, an extensive grassland area north of Sonoita, AZ. This Great Egret was sitting in a tree above a pond of water. We had never seen one of these in this area as it is mainly dry grassland. The egret must have seen this pond or known the water was there.

This picture was taken on March 19th at White Water Draw. We were very surprised to see so many Sandhill Crane. We thought they should have left and headed north to their summer breeding grounds.

In the above image of all the Sandhill Cranes there were some white birds mixed in. These were a small flock of White Geese. They are generally a mixture of Snow Geese and Ross's Geese. As you can see from this image they can be fairly difficult to tell apart hence many biologists, talking about the winter flocks, will call them white geese. The goose on the left is a Snow Goose while the one on the right is a Ross's Goose. They breed in different parts of the Arctic and will separate as they migrate north.

As you look at the Cranes you will see a number of Juveniles. These were born last summer and are hanging out with their parents until they get back north when they will be set off on their own. The Juvenile is in the foreground with no reddish coloration on their head. They appear almost bald.

This chunky looking fellow is a Yellow-rumped Warbler, often called a butter butt because they have yellow markings on the back end. They are a very common bird and can be seen almost everywhere.

This is a Western Meadowlark. Very common and distinctive. It has a beautiful spring like song.

This is another Meadowlark but an Eastern Meadowlark. They can be very difficult to tell apart from the Western Meadowlark and here in Southern Arizona we have both species. The differences are very subtle other than the song. We watched this bird and listened to it's song for quite a while. Totally different than the Western's Song. Deanna thought that the song was just backwards from the Western Meadowlark.

The Eastern Meadowlark here in Arizona and some other Southern states has a variation called a Lilian's Meadowlark, they are often considered a subspecies of the Eastern. This may be one of that species. It is considerably paler that the Eastern which is even paler than the Western.

There are lots of sparrows here in southern Arizona. They come here to spend the winter in the warmer weather. This is a Lark Sparrow beautifully marked and hungry.

This is an appropriately named Cactus Wren. It always amazes us how they can move about in and among the spines and not get skewered.

This is really a Red-tail Hawk. Not sure if he is looking for fleas, cleaning the feathers, or just hoping that all these stupid tourists will leave so he can get back to some peace and quiet.

This Virginia Rail is normally a very secretive bird. They hide in the reeds and cattails and are more often heard than seen. This one was wandering around out in the open but close to cover and would quickly scoot back out of sight at the slightest disturbance.

This is a male Ruddy Duck in breeding plumage. Their bill turns this vibrant blue and part of their ritual is to beat it against their chest making a thumping sound. They are fun to watch. 

Here is the distinctive Vermillion Flycatcher. They are a common bird here in the south west. We see them a lot.

This is the only test found herein. These birds are Marbled Godwits, long legged and long billed. How many birds are there in this image? Most birdologists would tell you to count the legs and divide by two. Each bird should have two legs so that computation will give you the number of birds. Find out how many there are.

This is not a test rather some sage advice. This is a border patrol station. They are found all around here on the highways heading north from the Mexico Border. This one happens to be north of Sierra Vista along highway 90, it is not right on the border. You will note the large dog sniffing at the cars up ahead.

Advice:do not offer the dog one of your marijuana laced cookies. He would get really agitated and his handler and friends would have lengthy conversations with you.

Advice: As you pull up and Border Patrol Agent and he asks: "Are you a US citizens?" do not ask him why he doesn't get a real job instead of wasting your tax dollars asking stupid questions. You probably will be told to pull over to the vehicle dismemberment area and take everything, as in everything, out of your car, you trunk area, your pockets etc and lay that on the ground for them to inspect when they get back with you in a few hours. It will definitely lengthen your lunch trip north.

We hope you enjoyed this brief post and got the answer to the test correct. When you next come to Southern Arizona be sure and heed the advice presented here, it will save you a lot of hassle.

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

All the best – George & Deanna