Flycatcher Fun

See my post over at Birding is Fun!

Shoot Me Monday

On Saturday I drove west of Tucson past the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in search of Sage Sparrow.  After an hour and a half of searching through many White-crowned Sparrows and Lark Buntings with John Higgins, we were ready to give up.  As I was leaving, I spotted some movement along the side of the road.  To my amazement it was a Sage Sparrow running along the ground with its tail held high.  How lucky!  A lifer for Christmas.  I got out of my truck and signaled to John that I had seen it.  We had good looks at two of them running along the ground and perched in a tree.  

Shoot Me Monday

I shot this Bewick's Wren last weekend in the Paton's yard in Patagonia, AZ.  It's famous for hummingbirds, but none were around that afternoon.  This bird was foraging on the ground flipping over leaves before it hopped up on the base of this tree.  The Bewick's Wren song is highly variable.  Young males learn their song from nearby territorial males, not their father.  The unique song he develops in his first two months will be his for life.