Return To El Rio (1)

Cold temps and snow overnight in Erie County, Pennsylvania – around 5 cm (2 inches) of snow on non-paved surfaces. (Winter’s not over yet!) Escaping the cold, for today’s post it’s part 1 of a recent Saturday morning visit to the great El Rio Preserve in Marana, Arizona, one of the top birding hotspots in the greater Tucson area. First up, a nice shot of Violet-green Swallow in flight. Tough to shoot swallows in flight; this was captured using patience + the “pre-focus” method:

Violet-green Swallow (m)
Verdin
Cooper’s Hawk
Say’s Phoebe
Misc. swallows
Violet-green Swallow (f)
Say’s Phoebe in flight
Another view of Violet-green Swallow
Probably female Anna’s Hummingbird
Cooper’s Hawk in sunshine
More hummingbird
Marsh Wren
Probably female Costa’s Hummingbird
Northern Shoveler (m)

Nice shots of beautiful Gadwall ducks:


Green-winged Teal (m)
Teal dabbling
Northern Shoveler II
Black-crowned Night Heron (juvenile)
Cinnamon Teal x2
Black-crowned Night Heron juvenile II
Probably female Anna’s Hummingbird
Cinnamon Teal II
More hummingbird II
Night Heron III
More hummingbird III
Verdin II
Another view of female Anna’s Hummingbird
Cooper’s Hawk III