Mike in the Wild

The first of July is Rufous Hummingbird Day at my cabin in Prescott.  Like most years, that was the day this summer when I saw the first one of the season perching in the alligator juniper tree adjacent to my deck.  By the end of the week, that or some other male rufous had unsurprisingly supplanted a male Anna's as the new owner of my yard's hummingbird feeder.   Anna's hummingbirds can reside year-round in Prescott, many surviving winter's sub-zero temperatures and snowstorms.  To help them out during the arrival of the dominant rufouses, I installed a second sugar water feeder in my yard as soon I discovered the migrants.  Alas within a few days, another male rufous took control of that supply of nectar also.  Any Anna's imbibed only by daring occasional, furtive sips.   Before the arrival of the rufous, I began spotting an occasional black-chinned hummingbird at the feeder.  This bird is a summer visitor to the higher elevations of A...

Most of my ideas for posts and stories materialize quickly: I take first-time shots of an owl or I cross paths with a bear in the woods.  Other times they take a year or two as I build up a library of photos and encounters with various members of a bird family until I think the collection is informative; I still haven't completed a post on doves in the Arizona wild.  And once in a while the story percolates in single brush strokes of unique events until the picture suddenly sharpens and comes into focus.  The finishing touch this past weekend on one such tome was a brief and sonorous encounter with a single hummingbird. Hummingbirds are always a fascinating bird to observe, photograph and write about.  I've seen many of the more than a dozen species that call Arizona at least a part-time home or that just pass through on their migrations.   Outside of the very southeastern corner of the state, the variety of visitors or residents is maybe only in the sing...

In southern Arizona, at the junction of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts, rise the Santa Rita Mountains  This small range is known as a sky island because it has an isolated and varied environment compared to the surrounding arid deserts.  In terms of its flora and fauna, it has more in common with the nearby Sierra Nevada range in Mexico than it does with North America's Rocky Mountains.  As a result, a number of birds only venture as far north as this part of our continent. The most popular area of the Santa Ritas to visit is Madera Canyon.  The Coronado National Forest maintains a paved road several miles along Madera Creek, affording access to a number of trailheads, picnic areas and a campground.  As a result, a hike through dense pine forests to the highest peak, Mount Wrightson at 9,453 feet, is possible, albeit a bit challenging.  But lower in the range, springs and seasonal creeks feed lush riparian areas filled with sycamore and oak trees. ...