Hummingbirds and Coati at the feeders, Santa Rita Lodge, Madera Canyon, Arizona

 

What a fantastic place !

Calliope Hummingbird, Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary, Sierra Vista

We had been to a couple of feeding stations in the hope of catching a glimpse of the smallest native bird in the USA but had no luck. But word had got out that one was visiting very late afternoon at the Ash Canyon Bird Sancuary, a place we visited quite a few times on our travels. So it was just a matter of sit and wait, but being surrounded by orioles and hummers coming in for their last feed of the day, we had no complaints. The ranger sat with us and called every bird, much appreciated. She told us that the Calliope favoured the penstemon flowers so all eyes were peeled. Soon a shout went up and there it was, feeding on the penstemon nectar. What a fantastic bird, the pink throat was the same colour as the flowers. A stunner and the only one we saw on our trip.

Bob Rodrigues Yard, Portal, Arizona

We have just got home from a 3 week birding extravaganza from The Grand Canyon to Mexico in Arizona USA.  We managed 220 species, 110 of those being new to us. I have hundreds of pics to show you from birds, scenery, mammals and lots and lots of aeroplanes ! And no trip to Arizona is complete without visiting Tombstone. So let's get on with the pics.....

We visited Bob Rodrigues feeders many times and they were absolutely fantastic. He is based in Portal, not too far from Tucson. He has hundreds of birds constantly visiting for food and water. Bob was sat at the table every time, naming every bird for everyone, full of info and a genuine nice guy. What a cracking setup he has and his garden is open to the public, everyone welcome. 

Here's a few pics from his garden.

Acorn Woodpecker - these were numerous and we saw them everywhere throughout Arizona

Black-throated Sparrow

Broad-tailed Hummingbird - rung !!

Cactus Wren

Canyon Towhee

Lots of chipmunks

Crissal Thrasher in Bob's garden or yard as they call it.

Curve-billed Thrasher

Gambel's Quail

The feeding station - lots of seed feeders, nectar, jam, fruit and water. A menu to suit everyone !

Hooded Oriole

Mexican Jay

A feeder full of birds - the wire keeps the squirrels and chipmunks out

Northern Cardinal

Scott's Oriole and Verdin at the jam 

Simon and Bob Rodrigues

Western Kingbird

White-crowned Sparrow and Pyrrhuloxia

White-crowned Sparrow

White-winged Dove

and a short video taken whilst relaxing in his garden. 

The birds just never stop visiting and it's fantastic ! Hope you can all visit one day .

Hummingbirds, Ecuador

Just look at this rain. It was relentless ! 

They have to be the best birds in the world, so full of character and when the sun catches them, the colours are simply stunning...WOW !

We will name all these birds when time allows so keep looking.