On The Road – Albatrossity – Ramsey Canyon Sanctuary – 1

I planned to meet a friend there, a fellow Kansas birder who moved to Sierra Vista when he retired a few years back. He is a volunteer guide and walk leader at the sanctuary, and I suspected that his local knowledge would be great to tap into. He’s also a great guy and an excellent birder! I got there a bit early, and while I was waiting for him, I watched some of the hummingbird feeders and caught this female Rivoli’s Hummingbird (Eugenes fulgens) with her hair mussed up. Again, the male Rivoli’s was there, but really wanted to stay in the shadows, per usual. Click here for larger image.

When Dan arrived and found me perched near the feeders, he asked if I had seen the Violet-crowned Hummingbird (Amazilia violiceps) nest that was literally almost above my head. No, I had not noticed it! And so I was immediately the beneficiary of his knowledge and experience, as I had imagined. This is a classic hummingbird nest, lichen-covered and well-camouflaged. The female was incubating eggs, and was totally unperturbed by the foot traffic and bird gawkers all around her. Click here for larger image.

Another Violet-crowned Hummingbird was visiting the feeders. Based on the buffy scalloping on the crown feathers, this is a young bird, and perhaps the offspring of the adult in the nest above. Dan told me that this nest had already produced two clutches of young birds that season. Click here for larger image.

We sauntered up the canyon to a place where a family of Elegant Trogons had been seen recently. While we (and a bunch of other birders) were waiting for the trogons to appear, another SE Arizona species that frequents these cool oak/juniper canyons, the Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher (Myiodynastes luteiventris), showed up.  This species just barely makes it across the Mexican border; check out this range map. In my experience these birds are more often heard than seen (and the distinctive call is quite reminiscent of a squeaky dog toy); this one did not call but merely showed up and posed for a picture. Click here for larger image.

Trogons are large, slow, fruit-eating birds of the tropics (including Africa and Asia as well as the Neotropics), but only two of the 43 known species are regularly found in the USA. Elegant Trogons (Trogon elegans) are year-round residents of nearby Mexico, and a few migrate northward to the Chiricahuas and Huachucas every spring. A pair had nested nearby and raised several young, which are not as colorful as the adults, but I really wanted to see these youngsters and get some pictures. Two or three showed up to pluck barberry fruits and gobble them down, and I got my pictures. Click here for larger image.

Another young Elegant Trogon. Click here for larger image.

I could have watched these guys all day, or waited until an adult showed up to pose for a portrait, but I ceded my place to other folks who were gathering to see them, and we headed back down the canyon. Near the visitor center was yet another Violet-crowned Hummingbird nest (which I would not have seen without Dan’s guidance). There were two young birds there; one in the nest and another perched near the nest. Amazingly, the mother showed up to feed them as we were watching, and I got some pictures of this remarkable sword-swallowing act! Click here for larger image.

Dan had errands to run, so he headed off to do that, and I stayed near the visitor center so watch the feeders, eat a snack, and generally wait for other amazing birds to show up. I was not disappointed; this adult male Calliope Hummingbird (Selasphorus calliope) soon made an appearance. Click here for larger image.

There were plenty of flowers and berries in the Sanctuary as well, and a young Broad-tailed Hummingbird ( Selasphorus platycercus) was nectaring on some of those. This is the common breeding hummingbird in the southern and central Rocky Mountains; if you have spent time in Colorado in the summer you probably heard these guys zipping by. The wings of the males produce a high-pitched insect-like buzz that is a common sound in high mountain meadows during the summer in Colorado. This young male had not gotten his buzz on yet. Click here for larger image.

The final bird today is not a hummingbird, or even a trogon. It is a male Hepatic Tanager (Piranga flava)m distinguished from the similar Summer Tanager by those grayish ear coverts, darker wings and back, and blackish bill. The range of this bird in the US is restricted to the southwestern states, but it is found throughout Central America and South America all the way down to Argentina. The female is bright yellow, and she was accompanying this guy, but she was much more shy. Click here for larger image.