I drove back to Catalina State Park this morning and spent four hours hiking in the desert. I think the birds were not happy with the weather which was sunny and 38F at sunrise, but given the lack of wind I wore shorts and a wool sweater (later removed). Midweek meant I had the park almost to myself, and that fact made it much easier to find birds.

I had really hoped to find a Roadrunner while down in Phoenix. After being raised on cartoons of Wile E Coyote’s nemesis, I really wanted to see this bird! While hiking early on in the morning I saw a bird flash up from the path into the bush. For some reason even though I had never seen a road runner in my life, I thought it might be a roadrunner. Slowly working my way around some cactuses which took me further away from my target area, I eventually approached the area hiding behind a large saguaro cactus. I found the road runner atop a large rock. The photograph is not the best, but I WAS Thrilled. Lifer!

The reason for my circuitous route was to get the sun behind me, both for my own eye’s benefit and the camera. In addition road runners have been clocked at 20 mph which is faster than I run (nor do I fly)! Thus, I needed to avoid spooking the bird.

The morning continued on with amazing success. I found two Cooper’s Hawks (lifer) … one trying to stay warm, and one hunting.

Staying Warm

Hunting

A trip to the group camping area yielded some more lifers and a blue bird …

Pyrrhuloxia (lifer)

Hutton’s Vireo (lifer)

Verdin (lifer)

Bluebird

Gilded Flicker (lifer)

Eventually I returned to a Great Horned Owl nest I had seen on Sunday. I left the nest and the female alone, but decided to try and find the male. After fifteen minutes of searching I struck paydirt. The male checked me over and went back to sleep …

Great Horned Owl

While hiking between the two locations, this Lesser Goldfinch decided to give me a serenade.

Oh yes … I should not forget about the Curve Billed Thrasher which greeted me immediately upon getting out of the car to start my hike. I did see a lot of other birds, but they did not make the cut for this post. Finally, I would  be remiss id I did not mention the great condo in which we are staying. It is listed on VRBO, owned by Jim, and is less than one mile from Sabino Canyon meaning we are away from the hustle and bustle of Tuscon. Worth checking out.

Curve Billed Thrasher