Ash Canyon B & B – Lucifer Hummingbird

Posted on July 31, 2014 by birdquest2004

After the excitement of seeing the Montezuma Quail, Rick and I headed out to Ash Canyon B & B.  Mary Jo Ballator, our host and the Owner, has Lucifer Hummingbirds breeding in the area and they regularly visit her feeding stations.

We arrived put money in the sugar water jar and sat down.  There were 7 others sitting in a half circle, .  Of course when we got there they told us the Lucifer Hummingbird had just made an appearance.

While we waited, birds could be seen all around us.

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We waited, hummingbirds were coming in frequently but no Lucifer ‘s.   Mary Jo heard a Thick-billed Kingbird calling, we all looked around and there it was sitting on a branch behind us.

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It was getting darker so my Camera ISO was at the 6400 setting, so my images were getting noisy but I tell you that 150 to 600 lens was very easy to work with.
an adult Gila Woodpecker and young showed up.  the adult was showing the youngster to look for food in the orange.

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A lovely Magnificent Hummingbird came in and flashed his metallic green throat patch.

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I wish I’d been able to photograph the Lucifer’s Hummingbird but I just ran out of usable light.  The others had left, Rick, Dave and I waited for the Lucifer to come to feeder #9.  When it did I was sitting in the wrong chair, all I could see was the top of the birds head.   I waited until both Rick and Dave got good looks, then I made a fatal mistake.  I tried to move to another chair so I could get a better view.  The minute I moved, bird was gone.  Important lesson learned they are freaky fast and I should sit still.

I really don’t mind having to go back, its a lovely place with plenty of birds.

If your interested in seeing the Lucifer Hummingbird, this is the place to go.  Mary Jo can be reached at:

Home

Thanks Mary Jo

Ciao for now….

Posted in Birds, Trips | 1 Comment

Montezuma Quail and Elf Owl – Battiste’s Bed and Birds

Posted on July 26, 2014 by birdquest2004

As we drove the 20 minutes back to the ground feeder, I thought about how many times I had tried to find these Quail.  This was my 7th time in Arizona plus 3 trips to Texas, and each time I had a chance to see one, but these birds are tough.

As we arrived, we hurried to the back porch and sat down, as this was our second to last chance and we only had so much time because I wanted to go to Ash Canyon to try and photograph the Lucifer Hummingbirds that were coming to Mary Joe’s feeders, but I am  getting ahead of myself.

We had decided that Rick would stay at this location because the Quail was a lifer for him but  I needed a photo of the Lucifer.  I was going to stick with him for 2 hours until 5 pm, head over for the Hummingbird and then pick him up so we could go for the Elf Owl at 9 pm.  Sounds confusing, doesn’t it?

The two hours went by quickly and there was plenty of action but not the kind we were looking for.  About 10 minutes before I was to leave we began hearing a male Montezuma calling and it seemed to be coming closer.  More calling and even closer but I just didn’t see any movement. Then it suddently appeared about 100 yards out – I caught movement, and the camera came up.  I saw it bare-eyed but I could see only the quail’s crest so I will let the photos do the talking from here.

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In the span of 5 minutes, from when I first saw them, they came in a, had a drink of water and then were gone. Rick got some great video footage and I had the photos I had dreamed about. I think we both had such an adrenalin rush we were shaking.  You can hear me taking photos but very slowly.

Thanks for the video Rick

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-R-gZfeQDg

I will put out a thread about going for the hummingbirds later, but for now let’s jump forward to 9 pm.

We met Tony Battiste at his home, Battist’s Bed, Breakfast and Birds.  He had an Elf Owl living in his back yard and had invited us to come and have a look.  I wish I had been able to get a photo of his yard, it is birder & photographer friendly.  He is an avid birder and he knows where the birds can be found locally.

www.battistebedandbirds.com

We sat down in his yard and within minutes we heard the owl, so on went the flashlight.  The bird just sat there as it was accustomed to the light.  I used way too high an ISO but it did not matter, another lifer was in the books.  This Owl is only 5 3/4 inches tall a little bigger than a medium Tim Horton’s coffee cup.

ABA Bird # 663 – Elf Owl

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A big Thank You to Tony and Julie for the opportunity to see this lovely bird.

Ciao for now

Posted in Birds, Bucketlist, Trips | 1 Comment