The way I get Pete Moulton’s photos is by seeing them on Facebook and then begging him for them. That is how we got this nice batch of bird photos. Pete’s notes are indented:
As per your request, here are some recent images of Arizona wildlife.Last time around, commenter Mariah Windrider evinced some disappointment that no Cactus Wrens (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus) were in the bunch, so we’ll start with this one for her perusal. Despite this bird’s seeming ferocity, it is, in fact, yawning. It’s the Arizona state bird, and quite easy to photograph at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix.
Another species which can be difficult to observe and photograph most of the time, but which is common and approachable at the Desert Botanical Garden, is Gambel’s Quail, Callipepla gambelii. Gambel’s Quail are more arboreal than most other quails, a habit they share with their close relatives the California Quail (C. californica). This one’s perching about 3m up a Paloverde (Cercidium sp,) Arizona’s state tree.
This guy needs no introduction, at least in North America, but he may be unfamiliar to viewers from other continents: a male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior, Arizona.
JAC: I didn’t know of the bird below, but it’s lovely!
King of the desert: a male Phainopepla (Phainopepla Phainopepla nitens) surveying his territory from a very high perch in a Mesquite bosque along the Salt River northeast of Mesa. Some locals call Phainopeplas ‘Black Cardinals’ because of their size and crest, but they’re actually the northernmost representatives of the neotropical Silky-Flycatcher family Ptilogonatidae, and not especially closely related to the Northern Cardinal, which is in the entirely different family Cardinalidae. My apologies for the quality of this image; Phainopeplas are pretty shy, so this one was taken at too great a distance, and cropped more than is consistent with maintaining image quality.
Male Gila Woodpecker (Melanerpes uropygialis) at the Desert Botanical Garden. This guy and his mate attempted to nest in a large Saguaro next to this shorter exotic cactus, and they both regularly used this plant as a way station when traveling to and from the nest cavity. Sad to say, they seem to have been evicted by a pair of European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), and have apparently decamped in search of another nesting site.
The Saguaros have begun to bloom at the Botanical Garden, and the woodpeckers are doing their bit to help with their pollination. Here, a male Gila Woodpecker observes a male Gilded Flicker, Colaptes chrysoides, in action.
Beautiful photos Pete! Thanks for sharing them.
Thank you, Pete Moulton, your photography is beautiful, and elevating.
Love the photos. I had lived in Arizona, but do not recall seeing more than one kind of quail. Adorable birds, whatever the species.
Three species regularly occur in Arizona, Mark. The Gambel’s is the most numerous and widespread, but both Scaled and Montezuma Quail live here too.
Cardinalis cardinalis reminds me of our Bombycilla garrulus (‘silk tail’). [ https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidensvans ; esp. the last image]
We think of *them* as colorful in the winter…
And they are! Not a species I see in Arizona, sad to say, but I remember them well from my Colorado days.
Torbjörn, your silk tail is more similar to our Cedar and Bohemian Waxwings. 🙂
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waxwing
Excellent pics, must have good glass for them.
All of these were taken with a Canon image-stabilized 100-400mm zoom lens. It’s my favorite walking around lens.
Very nice.. thanks.
Love the photos, especially the Gila woodpecker.
Daily fix of birds. Thank you!
Gorgeous as always, Pete! I especially like the last one showing the birds feeding on those very cool Saguaro flowers.
The cactus in the shot right above sure has strange spines!
Ditto! That last composition is reminiscent of a porcelain figurine. They are ALL lovely.
I have visited the Desert Botanical Garden on both of my sojourns in Phoenix. I really liked it, but I do not recall seeing many birds (if I had, I would have liked it even more). Both of my visits were during July. Is that a poor time for seeing birds?
Richard, these are all year-round residents, except the Phainopeplas, which have an early nesting season in the low desert, and then go into the lower mountains for a second go. Your best bet for seeing them during the heat of summer is to go as early in the morning as possible. By about ten o’clock all the vertebrates are seeking shade and protected locations, and their relative inactivity makes them difficult to find.