May 18-21 -- Trogons, A Garden Party, And A Blue Grosbeak

Spring has sprung in my back yard, which means migrating birds are moving through. This is the first time I've been at Faranuf during spring migration; I rented it out last year so I could spend more time at Overton, Nevada, visiting the Valley of Fire and the Gold Butte area. So many of the birds I see are new for me, or at least for my back yard. For instance, Bronzed Cowbirds are visiting; I've never seen them on my property.  They're Central American birds, and are only in parts of the southern border states. They mirror the range of Hooded Oriole as Cowbirds insert their eggs in other birds' nest; they have no nests of their own. The male has a "ruff" as you can see in this photo --

He has a fascinating display that he uses to "seduce" a female; he vibrates his wings, takes off straight up like a helicopter, rises a few feet, then comes back down. When I've seen Bronzed Cowbirds, the male has been with a female "harem" of about 3 birds. Here's one of the females --

The male has the red eyes during breeding season, which with their glossy sheen makes them quite striking. Speaking of striking birds, I also have Lazuli Bunting; here's a spectacularly-colored male, with a more subdued female --

I could stay in my back yard all day and watch the birds, but it was time to lift my 500mm lens and take a hike up South Fork...The Elegant Trogon are back. They're undoubtedly the most tropical-looking bird in all of North America -- which makes sense as they're a Mexican and Central American bird. Their northernmost range are just a few mountain ranges in SE Arizona, and the Chiricahuas just happens to be one of those ranges. And the section of the Chiricahuas they're in is Cave Creek Canyon -- South Fork, to be exact. When friends who, like me, used to live in the South Bay had visited just a few days before, we'd seen 2 Trogons, but they were for the most part high up in the forest canopy, and I "only" had my 100-400 MK II lens with me. This time, I took the 500 f/4 lens with the 1.4x teleconverter, which gave me an effective focal length of 700mm. Now, if I came across them, I could get some REALLY good photos...so long as they were still there. And luckily for me, they still were, or at least one was. I heard the unmistakable "barking", or what others call "croaking" and as I reached "The Bathtub", a pool with 2 small cascades. one of the Elegant Trogons was right at eye level, about 30 feet away from me --

Amazing. And Trogons have a tendency to perch on the same branch for a few minutes, scanning for insects, so I was able to get views from all angles; here's another --

The epitome of a tropical bird -- at least as we know them here in the United States, since they're the only "classic" bird from the tropics here. (There's also Eared Quetzal, but that hasn't been seen since the late 1980s). As you can see, his colors are unique for a bird seen in the US --

And I got even luckier when he snagged a caterpillar.

One of the most sought-after birds in the US -- and it's within 10 miles of where I live. That fact will always blow me away.

There were other birds I saw that day along South Fork that, if not as spectacular as the Elegant Trogon, were also here for spring and summer -- and a few are uncommon. Though I did see many Dusky-capped Flycatchers along the creek; they have a mournful call, and are somewhat easily ID'd as they're the only flycatcher of the "Myiarchus" genus that has rufous-colored wing edges, as you can somewhat make out in this photo --

I heard the call of Plumbeous Vireo up and down the canyon, though in most cases they're high up in the forest canopy. But after my Trogon encounter, while I was walking up the trail 2 small birds cut right in front of me, and one went to a nest --

The day's encounters would have been quite enough for me, but then I saw a red bird down at the creek, looked through my long lens -- and it was a Hepatic Tanager --

They're called "hepatic" as they're supposedly the color of a liver. A nurse friend of mine said that if she ever saw a liver of that color, she'd call a code. 

Sunday the 21st was the annual Garden Party, held at the Visitor Information Center where I volunteer. Individual booths are set up for for information on local birds, reptiles, Portal Rescue (our volunteer EMT service), and astronomy, where telescopes to view through were set up. There was also free breakfast and lunch. It's mainly a chance to socialize with other residents in the area, but this day we actually had nearly 40 visitors. I should know, as I was manning the "VIC" that day. 

There was even a wizard in attendance. I saw him next to his Nissan pickup truck and remarking that I thought wizards were driving Toyotas these days.

Here's the table for Friends of Cave Creek Canyon, the organization I belong to, and the one that staffs the visitor center. That's Mike Williams, the president of FOCCC, and Laura Zeuner, a "jack of all trades" here who on this day was helping out at the FOCCC booth --

As I mentioned, it was my job on that day to man the VIC. But I still made time to chat with the locals. Here's Mose, one of the few kids living here. He's the one on the left, of course -- and that's me on the right. It's a rare instance of me being in front of the camera -- 

Besides Trogons, there are some other pretty spectacular birds moving through the area, and one of them undoubtedly has to be Blue Grosbeak. I'd seen them before, but only from a distance. Now that I live here, they're in my back yard, and once again I can use my 500mm lens on them --

Not only can I get clear, sharp photos of them, the back yard foliage beyond the feeders provide for good backgrounds that I prefer immeasurably over feeder shots --

As it's been spring and therefore nesting season, you can see examples of young birds being fed by their parents. I've always considered Thrashers to be aggressive, as they scatter birds in all directions when they zero in on a feeder. But this shows their "kinder, gentler" side; here's an adult picking up seed for the juvenile behind it -- 

And the juvenile is "begging" as his parent is about to feed him --

So it's been another event-filled few days here in Portal and Faranuf, and it's only fitting that the time ends with a spectacular sunset, complete with moonrise over the Peloncillos --