The Hummingbird Show, Tucson, AZ

I don't think many of us have seen a show like this!  This little guy was going all out to attract a female....well he had this females attention for sure!!  I was shooting 25 frames a second to get these shots:

More Pics From Our "Backyard" in Tucson

We have just made our next move to Bonita, CA, from the Tucson area.  We will be here, in the San Diego area,  for 2 1/2 weeks but I will still be posting from Tucson area pics as I have a lot that I want to share.  This set is just from right near our campsite there:

cactus wren

evening in the desert garden

male quail

female phainopepla





below is a
male phainopepla

male ladderback woodpecker

a juvenile, and or, female, coopers hawk

flicker woodpecker

male kestrel from a distance, good color

female kestrel, much closer, better detail

8 feet from me in a tree peeking out, a male gila woodpecker

just a nice pic of a crested (cristate) saguaro

female gila woodpecker

Tumacacori Natl Hist Park...and Birds

A nice half day visit to Tumacacori National Historic Park.  About an hours drive south of Tucson.  Ruins of 3 mission churches (foundations only of two)  and museum provide history of the area.  Home to Spanish priests, settlers and some O'Odham.  The missions flourished from the late 1600's to mid 1800's.

running around the mission yard, a very unconcerned roadrunner

painting class at the mission

came across this cardinal on a walk behind the mission near the Santa Cruz River

this guy was really quite a character

a pair of curved bill
thrashers back at
our campground

Madera Canyon, Coronado National Forest

We spent a lovely day in beautiful Madera Canyon, located 30 minutes outside of Tucson.  It is not only a great place to hike year round and cool off in the summer, it is a bird migration route and many different species of birds make their way through the canyon this time of year. 

I've tried to show some of the variety below, which means that not all the pictures are great, but they will give a good idea of what we saw.  In order to see the birds, many of which are very small, there is a nice bird viewing area set up to attract the different species. 

Hepatic Tanager

manzanitas in bloom

1pm, moonrise;)

acorn woodpecker

female Arizona woodpecker

white breasted nuthatch female

Mexican jay

yep, it's the tanager again;)

Bewick's Wren

Lesser Goldfinch

Bridled Titmouse

White-breasted nut hatch male