I remained in the Tucson area through March and into mid-April. The weather continued to be pleasant – cool enough at night and comfortably warm during the day. I am able to hike on some nearby trails that aren’t busy on weekdays. Other than that, I stay at home and only go to the grocery store as needed.

With the arrival of spring, the birds are returning, butterflies are appearing and other animal life is moving about. Southeast Arizona is a birder’s paradise and there are a couple specific birds I am looking for – as well as all the other beautiful species that are commonly seen.

Higher resolution photos may be viewed in the Flickr Album Arizona Spring 2020

Painted Redstart

I love the lighting and the tilt of the head on this Hammond’s Flycatcher

The hummingbirds are plentiful, I need to fill the nectar feeder a couple times per day. I captured this sequence of photos which I think are so cute! I had to give them some funny (corny?) captions, haha!

Incoming!

Whoa! What’s he doing here?

Skedaddle!

Usually the Rufous is on the attack, not this time.

OK, I’m out of here!

I love watching the hummers! There are quite a few other birds around, as well as other creatures.

Lucy’s Warbler – cute little bird that flits all around looking for insects

Common Buckeye

These Black-tailed Jack Rabbits are pretty common. Usually I only see their tail as they lope away. They don’t hop like a cottontail, but have this funny looking way of walking. One day I was on the side of the road looking at some gnatcatchers. I guess this guy came out of the trees and then saw me and just sat there. I noticed him just as I started to walk on. He posed for a couple minutes so I was able to get a pretty good photo of him. The photo is uncropped. He is the largest jack rabbit I have seen and look at the size of those ears!

Black-tailed Jack Rabbit

The most numerous hummingbird species around was the Broad-billed Hummingbird. I would see them all along the trail. It’s fun to see them out in natural habitat.

Broad-billed Hummingbird

The most special bird I wanted to see and hoped to get some good photos of was the Rufous-capped Warbler. They are rare in Arizona, with their primary range being in Mexico and south through Central America. I did see a pair of them three times and one day was able to get these photos. They forage low in brushy areas and will often stay pretty close by. They are so lovely and it was a special treat to see them.

Rufous-capped Warbler

And a few more photos.

Tiger Swallowtail

Verdin

Elegant Earless Lizard – love the name!

Costa’s Hummingbird

Broad-billed Hummingbird

I have been on the lookout for snakes for a while now. I finally saw the first one of the year; it was non-venemous. It was in some high grass so I was glad it had its head up in the air so I saw it. I saw one of these last spring also.

Coachwhip

The Pink Moon – April’s full moon

On April 15^th I drove to Portal, AZ and Cave Creek Canyon. This is where I spent part of November, December and January as a volunteer host in the visitor center. The visitor center is closed to the public during this pandemic. However it is being staffed a few hours per day to answer phone calls, etc. So I’ll be there at least through May. I’ll have a full hook up site so will be able to run my air conditioner if needed. And it will be nice to have a place where I can settle in for a while until things improve.

I hope you all remain healthy and are staying safe during this time.

Arizona sunset