A Watson Woods Trifecta

The flash of blue that crossed my path was just a bluebird; a male western bluebird to be exact. He wouldn't have been a disappointment on most walks in the Prescott area except for the fact that I had set out on that early June morning in search of blue grosbeaks. It wasn't the first time I ventured into Watson Woods in search of that long distance migrant only to have my hopes dashed.

Many varieties of cardinals nest in the woods across northern Arizona during the summer. They fly hundreds, maybe even thousands, of miles from their wintering grounds in Central America and northern South America. For several lucky months our forests are speckled with the bright and exotic colors of summer tanagers, western tanagers, black-headed grosbeaks, and blue grosbeaks.

The latter bird had made a brief appearance at my cabin's feeder just the day before my visit to the lush riparian habitat at Watson Woods. He's a rare visitor, gracing my yard with his appearance only a tiny fraction of the time that black-headed grosbeaks do. Even summer tanagers visit more frequently.

In fact it was summer tanagers that mostly seemed to dot the landscape of Watson Woods during my walk. Like traffic lights, the male's vivid red plumage flared in sharp contrast to the green canopy. Over the course of the morning, I amazingly encountered as many as four individuals, a record if I were keeping score.

In the heart of the preserve, lies a muddy pond surrounded by the densest groves of trees in the park. I stopped there twice in my pursuit of my subject, and on the second time I finally spotted a male blue grosbeak. Unfortunately we startled each other - me for stumbling noisily through the thicket, him for being surprisingly close. As a result, the bird quickly flew to a higher tree branch before I could desperately snap a distant shot.

Nonetheless I soon discovered the toots I was hearing around me were the calls of blue grosbeaks. I decided to park myself on a log and patiently wait for lightning to strike twice. And in a short while it did when four individuals - both male and female - explored the shady woodland around me.

When clouds softened the dappled sunlight, the blue head and torso of the male became so dark that I mistook a trio of brown-headed cowbirds with their inky bodies for grosbeaks. Still I managed to get some clear, distant photos of at least one of my morning's target. And I was able to get especially close to a female blue grosbeak for better captures of her plain, cinnamon plumage.

Pleased with achieving my morning's goal, I circled the sheltered pond and tried to get closer to the water's edge from its southern shore. I spied the female wood duck that was quietly dabbling during my grosbeak encounters. Oddly, she was alone during what should be the start of her species' breeding season. Maybe she was hiding a nest of eggs, or, better, protecting a brood of ducklings. It was too interesting of a subject to ignore.

The hen was visibly unnerved by my closer approach, but nevertheless remained near enough for some decent photographs. Still, no drake, no chicks, no nests, and no eggs were anywhere to be seen. However, half way between me and the wood duck, along the muddy beach, a yellow bird alighted to the ground.

Snap, snap, snap: I was convinced I was photographing a female summer tanager. With a successful morning under my belt of capturing both sexes of that bird, along with both male and female blue grosbeaks, I couldn't have been happier.

Scanning photos back home a little while later, I noticed something interesting. The female summer tanager was indeed a dull greenish-yellow in contrast to the male's stunning scarlet, but she had darker wings marked with distinct white stripes or bars. Ah-ha! While she was indeed a tanager, she was actually a western tanager. It was my first sighting of the species there in a long time.

After a win with the blue grosbeak, and a place with the summer tanager, her show completed my morning's trifecta. It was my perfect day at the races!