Dateline: August 2022
After several weeks surveying the Mt. Lemmon backwoods, time for hot showers and a report-out of recently-sighted interesting birds.
Towards the top of the Mt. Lemmon “birds to see list,” lovely Yellow-eyed Junco:
Two good examples of Brown Creeper @ camouflage/ponderosa pine:
A White-breasted Nuthatch getting into it:
Mediocre shots of a Painted Redstart. Still nice to see.
Blue wings, spotted black, and slight eye ring = juvenile Western Bluebird:
Beautiful/distinctive Spotted Towhee, perched in a burn area off the Box Camp Trail:
Bonus “ok” video with Spotted Towhee call/song:
Hummingbirds on Mt. Lemmon, too. Probably female Broad-Tailed Hummingbird:
Yellow-eyed Junco‘s found a cracker crumb:
After dropping from 2500+ meters (8200 ft.) to 1400+ meters (4600 ft.) in elevation at Molino Basin, great sighting of a Canyon Towhee. Note reddish/rusty under-tail and overall brown appearance.
Here’s a rather flamboyant juvenile Northern Cardinal. (Black/gray bill indicates juvenile, vs. red/pink bill on female.)
Beautiful male with an acorn:
Next time, a rather special hummingbird post. More hummingbird!