The rain and cool temps have given way to the sunshine and heat we were expecting in Tucson. This helped to accelerate the bird count for the trip over the last three days to 57 new species for 2025 and 150total species for the trip.
The YTD species total currently stands at 419, just 81 short of our goal of 500 for the year.
Yesterday, we finished a 14-hour southern Arizona birding marathon at Saguaro National Park looking for Gilded Flickers and Lesser Nighthawks.
We found the Gilded Flickers busy feeding on nectar in the saguaro cactus blooms in the late afternoon.
And, after waiting and watching for about an hour, the Lesser Nighthawks went on their silent sorties into the vast Arizona sunset.
Earlier in the day, we found all of our target species in Madera Canyon including the magnificent Rivoli's Hummingbird. This hummer looked great in this photo...
... but, it looks even better when the light is right and you see its purple crown in addition to its emerald throat.
Hummers were everywhere including the colorful Broad-billed Hummingbird.
This evening, we were at a new location near Tucson and frankly, not much was happening. I knew Black-tailed Gnatcatchers were supposed to be at that location. So, I said, "Let's play the call and see what happens. If nothing else, we'll know what we're listening for." We played the call and within seconds, two popped up out of the brush to chase away the "intruder" to their territory. As always, I'd rather be lucky than good.
Right now, there are simply too many photos to deal with. But, that's the type of stress you sign up for when you're retired.
We managed to send a "Get Well Soon" postcard to Henry and O.G. today. Henry had a play date the day we left Key West and picked up a flu bug from his guest. He promptly shared the bug with O.G. So, Papa is hoping they are no longer contagious when we return to Key West next week.
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