Mike in the Wild

Migratory birds were on my mind when I visited the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix on Monday morning.  But it was still a little early in the spring to see black-headed grosbeaks or Bullock's orioles, two species I've witnessed in the park before.  Someone on eBird reported seeing a black-chinned hummingbird there recently but I failed to encounter it.  Instead, I settled on photographing an Anna's hummingbird feeding her two chicks in their nest.  I also captured some shots of two quite common winter visitors to the local deserts: an orange-crowned warbler and a yellow-rumped warbler.   The next day I found myself much further away from the Valley's urban sprawl at Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area.  Cave Creek was flowing through dense groves of cottonwood and mesquite trees, all framed by a landscape of saguaros rising up steep hillsides painted with wildflowers.  Only a biting chill delivered by relentless gusts of wind marred the pristine...