Spring Review Part 2

Just about a month after the Yellow-crowned Night-heron another rare visitor, a Common Black-hawk, arrived to the same park. Common Black-hawks are typically found in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. They rarely go as far north as Colorado.

Common Black-hawk - Fountain Creek Regional Park - 5/17/2010

Common Black-hawk - Fountain Creek Regional Park - 5/17/2010

Around this time Warblers and Tanagers were also moving through the area.

Western Tanager - Sondermann Park -5/20/2010

American Redstart - Fountain Creek Regional Park - 5-17-2010

Spring Review Part 1

The first notable bird to show up in the area where I live (El Paso County, Colorado) was a Yellow-crowned Night-heron. It was found in mid April at Fountain Creek Regional Park. Yellow-crowned Night-herons are rare visitors to Colorado and this was the first one I had seen outside of Texas.

Yellow-crowned Night-heron - Fountain Creek Regional Park - 4-18-2010

New Mexico

On my way back from Arizona I made a couple stops in New Mexico. The first stop was at Bosque Del Apache NWR. This was my my first summer visit here and it was very dead. I didn't take any pictures but I did get a glimpse of some Gambel's Quail, Ring-necked Pheasant, Black Phoebe and Wilson's Warbler. On the road leading out of the refuge I spotted a rattlesnake crossing the road. I pulled over and walked back along the road until I heard the snake rattling in the weeds.

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

Of course I couldn't drive through New Mexico without heading over to Conchas Lake to see the Blue-footed Booby. I believe this is the first Blue-footed Booby in New Mexico. When I got to the lake I stopped to pay the entrance fee and a couple stopped and asked if I was there to see "The Bird". They said that they had been looking for two hours with no luck and then they drove out of the area. I got my camera and started walking toward to shore not really expecting to see "The Bird" but within a few minutes it appeared and spent about 5 minutes flying back and forth in front of me.

Blue-footed Booby

Southern Arizona Trip

I recently returned from my 2nd SE Arizona trip. It was my first trip to Arizona in the summer. It was beautiful, hot, and slow.


On the first day I headed out to Sonoita Creek Preserve in Patagonia to find that it was closed on that day. I spent some time walking along Blue Haven Road looking for the Sinaloa Wren. I got a few poor photos of young Phainopeplas, a Summer Tanager, and this post-bath Rufous-crowned Sparrow.

The next day I returned to the preserve because I knew that it was open.

I quickly found this Gray Hawk. He looked angry. Maybe it's the eyes.

And this small and noisy group of Thick-billed Kingbirds.

At Madera Canyon it was hot and dead quiet.

A Yarrow's Spiny Lizard possed for his photograph.

Ladder-backed woodpeckers were a common sight. I didn't see any on my first Arizona Trip.

Some Summer Insects

In addition to my camera, telephoto lens and tripod I also like to carry my Canon 100mm Macro lens with me in the summer in case I find any interesting insects.

Tailed Copper - Waldo Canyon - 7-12-2009

The Mueller butterfly and moth were in the same area by School Pond. I would like to have stayed longer to see what else was around but the strong smell of black bear made me want keep moving.

Hoary Comma - Mueller State Park - 8-2-2009

Ctenucha Venosa? Moth - Mueller State Park - 8-2-2009

Ctenucha Venosa? Moth - Mueller State Park - 8-2-2009

Aphrodite Fritillary - Ute Valley Park - 7-5-2009

This small flowering plant had 8-10 of these wasps on it. They look wicked but are not at all aggressive so I was taking pictures with my macro lens a few inches away. When I got home I did some research and found out that they probably have the most painful sting in North America. As adults they eat flowers and pollen. They kill tarantulas to provide a food source for their larval young.

Tarantula Hawk - Brush Hollow Reservoir - 7-18-2009

Robber Fly with prey - DeWeese Reservoir - 7-18-2009

Robber Fly with prey - DeWeese Reservoir - 7-18-2009

With their intensely white tail, this species of dragonfly is difficult to photograph in full sunlight. This particular dragonfly waited patiently while I took several photos, checking the over-exposure alert and using exposure compensation to adjust the exposure so that the tail wouldn't be over exposed.

White Tail Dragonfly male - Bonny Reservoir State Park - 8-8-2009 - Canon 400mm

White Tail Dragonfly female - Bonny Reservoir State Park - 8/8/2009 - Canon 400mm

Williamson's Sapsuckers

Earlier this month I photographed this pair of Williamson's Sapsuckers at Genessee Mountain Park west of Denver. The nest is in an area that gets a lot of foot traffic and the birds appear to have little fear of people. It is amazing how hard this pair was working to keep their chicks fed.

Williamson's Sapsucker male

Williamson's Sapsucker female

Ramah SWA

Saturday I drove out to Ramah State Wildlife Area to see if there was any water in Ramah Reservoir. With the unusual amount of rain that we have had here this summer I thought the reservoir might have recovered. It was still completely dry. It's strange that last year it was full and this year it is dry.

Not having any water really limits the wildlife so it was really quiet. I did find some Western Kingbirds feeding their young.

Western Kingbird feeding young

Western Kingbird (immature)

This Northern Mockingbird acted like it was part of the Western Kingbird family.

Northern Mockingbird