Dave and I went to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum in September.
We went on the scheduled Bird Walk on Saturday morning (September 19). There weren’t a lot of birds but we saw a fair amount. I don’t usually make a list, but just like to get pictures. There weren’t many good photo opportunities. Sometimes its difficult to get photos with a group because you can’t move to a good shot with all the people, and the group wants to keep moving. But, there are advantages to the group also (e.g. more eyes to find them; experts to identify the birds.) I got more dragonfly than bird photos. There were dozens of Turkey Vultures in the area, in the air, or on the cliffs. There was a large group soaring on the thermals. A gathering of Turkey Vultures like this is called a ‘Kettle’. The Lark Sparrow photo isn’t great, but good enough because it’s my first Lark Sparrow picture.
We saw a rare hybrid bird that got the bird nerds excited. Dave got some pictures helpful for identifying it. I think the consensus was that it is a hybrid between a Summer and Western Tanager. It had orange wing bars that look like a Baltimore Oriole, but the beak and other parts look like the tanager, and we don’t get Baltimore Orioles here. Another was seen that is like it, posted here: http://www.azfo.net/gallery/2009/html1/Hybrid_Western_X_Summer_Tanager_RRSP_Gatlin_20090525.html
The Mexican Amberwing was tiny – about an inch long.
Here are the photos:
