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

Short Blog - Some Birds - A Sign - Some Dust

We went out for a ride about the other day. We went over Canelo Pass about which we had a previous post. We really like the area and were headed to Patagonia. We found a couple of interesting birds along the way.

Here is an American Kestrel. There was a light breeze blowing and the Kestrel was sitting on a road sign and then lifted up and headed backwards in the breeze.

This is a Phainopepla. The male seen here is all shiny black with some white wing patches visible when it flies. The female is a light grey color, similar in shape and size but entirely different color

The bird in the background is a Western Bluebird while the bird in the foreground is a Purple Finch. In the winter the finch does not look purple but in the spring and summer breeding plumage, the male shows some purple coloration. The strong facial markings and the lines on the breast identify it as a purple finch. It is similar to the more common House Finch.

We thought this an interesting sign. It designates one of the many cattle ranches that are located in the San Rafael Grasslands. There is a lot of country out here and a lot of very large, in acreage, cattle operations. Great sign.

Here is a Common Raven siting on a fence post calling to some friends that are off in the distance. He is certainly displaying a different posture.

Just before getting to Patagonia we saw this mom and her young calf. I had shown some of you this image before but a few of you may not have seen it. It is a fun image.

In Patagonia we stopped for a bite of lunch at the Gathering Grounds, a great little cafe that has outdoor seating. This image shows the back window on our car. It really could be almost anything but it is actually the dust pattern from the dry and dusty roads we had just driven. The window was clean when we started, really it was.

We hope you enjoyed this brief post showing some birds. It may have given some of you a respite from the cold and fog found up north.

Let us know if you have any questions or comments. All the best and stay safe - George and Deanna

Trees - Grasslands - a Few Birds

We have several favorite routes for getting out and about here in South East Arizona. They are mostly in the country away from concentrations of folks. This particular route is to the west of Sierra Vista and traverses over Canelo Pass, out through San Rafael Grasslands and into Patagonia. It has a bit of diverse scenery and habitat and there is always something fun to see along the way.

This shows the route. Sonoita, Arizona is at the top center just off the map and Mexico is along the bottom edge.

South of Elgin you pass through some grasslands on a paved road. There is not much traffic and we can readily stop to see birds. This Grasshopper Sparrow was most cooperative perched on a strand of barbed wire. They do eat grasshoppers but were actually named for their insect buzzing like song.

The paved road we have been on makes a hard turn to the left and goes towards Parker Canyon Dam. We will go straight here getting on Canelo Pass Road, a gravel but well conditioned back country roadway. Lochiel is on the border with Mexico and Patagonia, only 23 miles to the west, will take us about 2 hours to get there because we stop a bit along the way.

This provides a perspective on the road and the countryside. Canelo Pass is not far off in the upper left hand corner of this image. We have climbed up onto a ridge and now will drop down a bit as the road climbs and descends up over the pass.

This is an example of one of the trees you can see along the way. There is mostly juniper, manzanita, and oak. This is a species called Alligator Juniper. They come in all shapes and sizes, this is a nice large specimen.

Here is the reason they are called Alligator Juniper, the pattern on the bark looks a lot like an alligators skin.

Before you reach Canelo Pass the Arizona Trail crosses the road. There is a trail head here for parking. The AZ Trail goes from the Mexico Border to the Utah State Line traversing the Grand Canyon along the way. It is about 800 miles in length and purportedly a difficult trail due to the desert conditions, mountainous terrain, and elevation changes. Please, do not anticipte a post covering the entire trail, at least not on this blog, and certainly not from us.

We are approaching Canelo Pass and we thought we would give you a look at the landscape. The hills you see here are over 5,000 feet high and are not densely covered.

This sign marks Canelo Pass - obviously.

We paused just past the summit. This view is looking to the west across the San Rafael Grasslands. When you reach this point the Verizon Cell phone will beep and you will get a text message welcoming you to Mexico. We are not in Mexico but they think we are and want to charge us a boatload of money to use the cell phone in Mexico.

Looking to the left or uphill side just past the summit we saw this tree. It appears to be a neat looking old and weathered oak.

The same tree and same picture as above but transformed into black and white. It is always fascinating to see the contrast between the two images. Which do you think is more appealing?

We have dropped down onto a series of benches, not to the flat grasslands yet. The trees are becoming sparse and there is this huge spreading oak tree. It sits adjacent to a stock pond. There is not much water in the area.

Looking under the oak we can see the stock pond and a rope swing for the more adventurous. We did not try the rope swing but it looked sturdy enough.

On different trips through here we have seen a variety of birds getting water from this pond, Kildeer, Chipping sparrows, Says Phoebe, Mexican Jays, and others. Here we found several Western Bluebirds. There was a small flock of about 23 Bluebirds flying around and getting water from the pond. There were also several Northern Mockingbirds that drank as well.

When standing under the tree don't forget to look up. There are often a variety of birds in the tree. In this instance we found a White-breasted Nuthatch that was taking acorns that an Acorn Woodpecker had stashed in holes in the tree to be eaten later. The nuthatch figured, why not eat them now.

Continuing down the road we are getting out into the grasslands and the trees are few and far between. Here is a large tree that was previously covered with lush green leaves and lots of birds. The birds search the tree for small insects.

This is a Yellow-rumped Warbler that was scourng the tree. There was a flock of maybe 15 Yelow-rumps in the tree. There are not a lot of other feeding opportunities in the immediate area. On a later trip, we saw that a cold snap had killed the leaves and we did not see a bird in the tree.

Further down the road we paused and looked back. You can see how the Warbler tree is indeed way out by itself in the grasslands.

We are always fascinated by these wooden signs that indicate where the various ranches are located, at least which direction to go to get there. They harken back to a time before Google Maps and GPS systems. It is neat to see some still around.

You are looking at the Santa Cruz River, no it is not meadering off to the left of this image, it is dry. Much of Arizona is in a severe drought. Perhaps this river holds some water during the summer monsoon season.

These are Lark Buntings. They are not residents here but do spend winter in Southern Arizona. You can sometimes find large flocks containing several hundred of these buntings traveling around together in winter.

This is one, albeit inadequate, view of the grasslands. As seen in the earlier images they go on for miles and miles. It is a fascinating place.

Along the road is this set of corrals called the Vaca Corrals. The Vaca Ranch was indicated on the earlier sign. You may have noticed the mailbox situated high on the side of the cattle chute here. A weathered sign indicates it is for "Air Mail". Looking across the grasslands you can easily envision an old bi-plane heading this way with the mail.

There are often various birds in and around the corrals.

They do raise cattle here and on one excursion they were moving a large herd over to a new pasture. They did, politely, move the cattle off to the side of the wide road so we could pass by, there were a lot of cattle.

This Vesper Sparrow is a very common winter sparrow here in Southern Arizona. We look for them along the fence lines as we travel around. They have a bold eye ring, strong facial markings, and the red shoulder patch. The patch on the shoulder is not always visible but this bird was most cooperative.

This shows the road heading west. It is wide and in great condition. It can be very dusty but this is dry Arizona.

As we approached Patagonia there is a field with a bunch of trees and open pasture land. There were several of these long horn type of cattle in the field, really long horns.

Last but not least we are wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving and may the rest of your holiday season be full of joy and peace. Stay safe.

We hope you enjoyed the excursion over Canelo Pass and through the San Rafael Grasslands. It is a fascinating drive with lots to see and do. The road wandering down into Patagonia is quite fascinating and we will cover that with a separate post, later.

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