Mike in the Wild

Last year I wrote about the birds I encountered on a trip to Germany and France.  It was a ten day vacation to see some sights along the Rhine and Mosel Rivers and in nearby Loraine.  What I might not have mentioned is that the trip finished with a visit to my aunt's home in rural Dellfeld, near Zweibrucken, in the Pfalz region of Southwestern Germany.   I went back to Europe last week, but this time just to Rheinland-Pfalz, and only to see my aunt.  The contrast in November weather with May's was notable, with long, sunny and warm days replaced with short, cloudy and cold ones.  While the late autumn scenery was colorfully scenic, the low temperatures made walks along the Schwarzbach, let alone any attempt at birding, frigidly unpleasant. But having an elderly aunt who's living alone means any visit is also an opportunity to help with home and garden projects.  And fortunately for me, Aunt Pat is as interested in her yard's wildlife as I...

Except for their varying sizes and wide range of colors, all tyrant flycatchers seem quite similar in appearance and behavior to me.   At least this is the case with the specific members of this largest of bird families that I encounter near my home in the American Southwest.  However, the vast majority of these New World species can be found in their diverse habitats throughout Latin America. In Arizona I can usually start to identify a flycatcher when I see a small bird perched upright on a pole or branch.  Of course many birds sit still from a safe vantage point like a street lamp, but it's only the flycatcher that I notice leaping and fluttering from that position in a unique acrobatic hunting display.  Nine times out of ten he returns to that exact same safe place to try his luck at another chance for more insects. Just last week on a short walk in my Phoenix neighborhood I encountered three flycatchers, all similarly hunting for bugs.  I believe e...

Earlier this year, I had my first confirmed encounter with a peregrine falcon when I witnessed one deftly hunting northern shovelers at Gilbert's Water Ranch.  It seemed appropriate to see him in flight as the raptor is renowned as the fasted animal on Earth.   And just this week, I saw one for the second time.  But on this occasion it was much closer to my home and was mostly earthbound, quietly perched atop a neighborhood tree.  I like to tell my friends that if you see a bird-of-prey in the wild, chances are it's a red-tailed hawk.  And if it's not that common raptor, it's probably a Cooper's hawk, quite similar in appearance except for striped tail feathers instead of solid red.  But which one you're seeing probably depends a lot on exactly where you are. I've traveled many miles of Arizona's quieter highways, off the busy interstates while on the way to birding hotspots like Madera Canyon, Page Springs and Santa Cruz Flats.  Along these ro...

One month into the fall season and it finally feels like autumn in Arizona.  Aspen trees in the mountains and cottonwoods in the river valleys all glow yellow against a backdrop of blue skies.  Meanwhile temperatures have dipped below freezing in many areas and desert homes have switched off their air conditioners and turned on their electric heat pumps.  And one more sign that it's almost winter - dark-eyed juncos are making a showy appearance. The red-backed member of this sparrow family is quite common in the pine forests of Arizona.  This form is one of several sub-species, or races, of the dark-eyed junco, a bird that ranges over most of Canada and the United States.  The juncos' separate breeding grounds in different corners of the continent seem to maintain the races' identifying traits, which are mostly found in coloring.   I've come to associate the red-backed sub-species with my leisurely visits to Prescott.  P redominately steel-gra...