Shoot Me Monday

I shot these Lark Buntings in my neighborhood patch the day after New Years.  They were in a large flock that flushed each time I approached.  Luckily these two birds allowed me to get close shots just before sunset.

Lark Bunting male

Lark Bunting female

Shoot Me Monday

I shot this Black-tailed Gnatcatcher at the same location as last Monday's Bendire Thrasher.  They live in pairs all year long, foraging together actively in the low brush.  I could hear this pair keeping in constant contact with each other using a few different calls.  Unlike Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, they rarely catch insects in midair, but prefer to forage in shrubs and low trees.  While doing so, they are in constant motion.  Luckily this little guy paused a few seconds out in the open.

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

InfoNatura: Animals and Ecosystems of Latin America [web application]. 2007. Version 5.0 . Arlington, Virginia (USA): NatureServe. Available: http://www.natureserve.org/infonatura. (Accessed: December 31, 2011 )

Shoot Me Monday

This Bendire's Thrasher was shot near Buckeye, AZ at a place known as "the thrasher spot".  I was hoping for a Le Conte's or Sage Thrasher but didn't have any luck since I arrived late in the afternoon.  I had to come away with a thrasher at a place known for thrashers, right?  These thrashers were overlooked until 1872 when U.S. Army Lieutenant Charles Bendire noticed that it was different from the common Curve-billed Thrasher.

Bendire's Thrasher

  <---Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area