Mike in the Wild

As I feared, the warbler trail has finally gone cold.  With no new species to report it might be time to focus on the cardinals which have begun appearing in Arizona.  Over the weekend I saw at least five black-headed grosbeaks, both male and female, along with one male western tanager: each the first since last summer.   I actually hit the warbler trail again yesterday at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix and did encounter two males: a Wilson's and a Townsend's.  But I've already seen these species since the beginning of spring, so I was a little disappointed they weren't specimens like the red-faced or hermit which have so far eluded me.   The members of the cardinal family were on my property in Prescott where the grosbeaks were quick to discover the suet and seeds I placed in feeders.  The tanager is a much less common visitor to my neighborhood and seems to eschew any of my handouts.  I wasn't surprised he was a fleeting presence, perched high in a pine tr