Tufted Flycatcher---- YES!

I coerced my husband into taking me to the park to see the bird. It's a 5 hour round trip from Alpine and we stayed there 30 minutes, but it was well worth it. Here is a photo of some of the birders spreading out looking just minutes before the Tufted Flycatcher was spotted by one of them. We all rushed to the tree it was foraging in and got great looks and photos. The location is to the right of the far back person (four people in all) in the photo. I'm taking it looking east from Daniel's Ranch and the river is to the far right if you could see it. You have to click to enlarge the photo to see the person in the background.

And of the 108 photos I took of the bird, this is one of the better ones.

Nov 30: I decided to add this one because it shows the wingbars. Originally I discarded it because the background was so busy, but now have retrieved it from my trash bin. It was taken at the same approximate time as the above photo.

Costa's final documentation photos

I think I've done about as good as I'm able to do at photographing the leg band (see previous Costa's posts). At least I documented that it is banded, and without a doubt, the one we banded at Bonnie's place October 2009. The band is covered by feathers, so further attempts at photographing the numbers on it seem futile. Look closely. The band appears to be in good shape, not too tight, not too loose, no debris under it, and the seam lined up perfectly. But then it was banded by the best (Kelly Bryan), so I wouldn't expect less.

Costa's continuing saga

Again today, for about the fifth time, I went to Bonnie Wunderlich's to try to get photos of the Costa's right leg in order to see the band that we assume is there. (We originally banded her Oct 29, 2009)

I started my vigil at 8:30 AM and didn't see her until 11:30. In spite of the raging wind that caused me to abandon my portable blind and sit out in the open, I got a decent shots, except they were of the wrong leg. Next time.

Costa's Hummingbird revisited

This morning I went to see my friend, Bonnie Wunderlich, to again photograph her Costa's Hummingbird that I had originally photographed on Oct 21. After I got set up in my blind a Cactus Wren came right up to me, so I retracted my 400mm zoom lens all the way in to 100mm in order to get the whole bird in the frame. So far, so good.

But then I forgot to put it back out when the hummer came in, so all the shots I took were worthless. Bummer. It never came back to the feeder again, but did go to an ocotillo bloom where I got a couple of decent shots, but I had been hoping to photograph the leg while it was perched to see the band. Next time.

Afterglow

Today, November 8th, marks the wedding anniversary of my late husband, Sherwood Kolb, and me. We got married on my late mother's birthday to make the day double special. Sherwood worked very hard alongside me to create this oasis. After a hard day's work we enjoyed sitting beside our tiny caged trees and watching the sun disappear behind the mountains to the west, as it created an afterglow on the mountain to the east. It looked then much as it looked this evening, except now the trees are huge and the oasis is truly an oasis, ever thirsting for water.

Birds and deer

Yesterday and today have been perfect at the oasis so I've spent more time there than I normally do. In these two days I've identified 47 species of birds, and counting. And that's with my worn out binoculars and poor vision. I'm sure there are more species present.

And in case you think all there is at the oasis are birds, here are some Mule Deer drinking early this morning. The deer seem totally oblivious to the fact that the concrete spillway they're standing on goes straight down into nine feet of water. They probably couldn't care less since they know they won't fall in.

Alpine Chihuahuan Ravens

Today was quite windy so I mostly stayed indoors. I was surprised to see three ravens* perched on the utility wires behind the house. I don't remember ever seeing three together like that before, so even though I had sent my 400mm lens in for repair, I took photos of them with my 300mm lens. If there was any doubt as to their identity, the last photo dispels that, with the white neck skin clearly showing through during a gust of wind.

* I knew a group of crows was called a murder of crows, but I was surprise to learn that a group of ravens is called an unkindness of ravens.

Anna's Hummingbirds are back

This individual was probably here last year too, as he's banded. We're going to try to recapture him next week and see who he is. I'll keep you updated.

Update: We did recapture him and he was banded last year here at the oasis.

Quail and hummers

I had decided to put a cage over my tray seed feeder to deter doves because I have so many of them, but then I discovered the Scaled Quail are now flying up to the feeder's 5 foot height and feeding on it, so I'm not going to do that after all. It would keep quail out too. This photo was taken in the soft late afternoon light. Normally this species would not look so rosy.

It seems all the Lucifers have migrated except for this young male. I'm so going to miss hummingbirds if none over-winter this year. A few Anna's have finally trickled in so maybe a couple of them will stay around until spring.

Lucifer Hummingbird

Hammond's Flycatcher

This may not be the first Hammond's Flycatcher at my oasis, but it's the first one I photographed and ID'd.