Listing Through Life

buteo albonotatus

Patagonia, Arizona — Paton Center for Hummingbirds

Sunday, May 8, 2022 — 4:16

When I was in Arizona in 1984 with my wife and parents, we visited the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Sanctuary, which is right next door to Paton’s. My family weren’t birders (although my Mom took some half-serious interest), so I had to bird quickly. I saw some Turkey Vultures overhead and ignored them in search of bigger game. And there was bigger game — in the hour or so we spent there, I saw nine lifers. As we were leaving, a guy who worked in the park asked if we’d seen the Zone-tailed Hawk flying with the vultures. He explained that they’re the same size as the vultures, with similar coloring, and a very similar flight pattern. They sometimes fly with vultures as a way to sneak up on prey. I kicked myself for not paying more attention, and it’s rankled with me for the past 38 years.

When the young guy at Paton’s pointed out the Violet-crowned Hummingbird, I told him I admired his bird-summoning skills and asked if he could summon a Zone-tailed Hawk. He laughed and said he’d go scare one up for me. He told me they’re often seen right over the center. Not 10 minutes later, I saw a hawk circling fairly low overhead and knew immediately that I’d finally seen a Zone-tailed Hawk. I jumped up with my camera, but it was moving fast, disappearing and reappearing behind the tall cottonwoods. It probably stayed in the neighborhood for 10 minutes. Twice that afternoon it came into view. These are the best photos I could get.

The young guy had wandered off, but I saw him again later. He asked if I’d seen the hawk. I said I had and thanked him again for summoning it for me. He was very friendly and thought the whole story was fun.

It really does look very much like a Turkey Vulture when its soaring overhead. The black color, the pale trailing edges of the wings, the habit it has of holding its wings in a shallow “V” and tilting side to side all resemble avulture. With good looks, the black feathered head, the yellow bill, and the white stripes on the black tail set it apart. Why they’re called “zones” and not stripes or bars, I can’t say.

The next afternoon, I returned to Paton’s and saw the hawk once more as it soared low over the dry creek bed behind the feeders. I would like to have gotten better photos, but at least I can stop regretting my lack of attention in 1984.

amazilla violiceps

Patagonia, Arizona — Paton Center for Hummingbirds

Sunday, May 8, 2022 — 4:03 pm

It’s 153 miles from Rodeo to Patagonia. That’s not a long drive, but it felt long to me, especially since I started at 4:00 am (Arizona time) and drove the first 68 miles at 45 mph. By the time I got to my Air B&B in Patagonia, I was beat. I wanted to bird, but I wasn’t up to anything requiring exertion. Paton’s was the perfect solution. It’s another of those houses where people are invited into the yard to watch feeders. The Patons started it in the 1970’s. They have since died, but the local Audubon society now runs it. Basically, there are areas on two sides of the house that have a wide assortment of feeders. Both areas have chairs, and one has a large canopy so you can sit in the shade. That’s just what I needed.

Paton’s is one of the few places in the United States to see the Violet-crowned Hummingbird, a medium-sized Mexican species that is clear white below and sorta dingy brown on the back. I thought the neck looked long and the bird had a lanky look to it, although it wasn’t very large. The crown of the male is violet in good light. It’s pictured on the sign and checklist for the center.

I saw two women sitting in front of the hummingbird feeders, so I joined them. Other birders came and went, including a young guy who casually pointed to another feeder off by itself by the parking area and said, “That’s where the Violet-crowned Hummingbird usually comes.” I looked where he was pointing and saw the feeder with a hummingbird on it — a Violet-crowned Hummingbird. I said, “You mean, like now?”

The hummingbird came to that feeder every 25 minutes or so. It seemed warier than other hummers and didn’t stick around long. It was constantly looking up and around between sips. Later in the day, it switched to another feeder in the shade. I spent a lot of time waiting for it to come to the feeder. When it did, it usually landed on the far side. I even turned the feeder around on the pole to get the low side in better light, but it didn’t help much.

I saw it again the next day, but that was it. Even though I visited Paton’s every day, I didn’t see it again. Nobody seemed worried about it, so I’m sure I was just missing it. I spotted it once when it landed briefly on a branch in a nearby bush on the first evening, but other than that, I only saw it on the feeders.

hylocharais leucotis

Hereford, Arizona — Beatty’s Guest Ranch

Sunday, May 8, 2022 — 11:37 am

Beatty’s Guest Ranch is located in Miller Canyon, the next canyon north from Ash Canyon, where I’d seen the Lucifer Hummingbird. Beatty’s is 5.6 miles away from Ash Canyon by road and only two miles as the crow flies. You’d think these two hummingbirds could coordinate things a bit better and go to the same feeders.

I was really wishing this as I drove up Miller Canyon road. About two miles from Beatty’s, the pavement ends. The rest of the way is rocky and rutted and bumpy and not at all fun to drive in a sedan — especially after my experience in Rucker Canyon the afternoon before and the fact that I’d just had a new tire installed three hours earlier. I crept slowly, dodging holes and rocks, and made it. Beatty’s Guest Ranch is fitted out like a fortress with high fences all around and locked gates to keep out illegal immigrants coming over the border just a few miles to the south. His hummingbird feeders are on a hillside, in a shady woods, and he’s set up a three-tiered bleacher for people to sit and watch. The feeders are only a couple feet away from where I sat. The only issue is that they’re in the shade, making good photos of the iridescent colors impossible.

I took a seat on the bleachers (there were three other birders there when I arrived and another five came shortly afterwards). There was moderate hummingbird activity. One guy told me the White-eared was showing up every 25 minutes. After I was there perhaps that long, someone spotted it. It paused by a feeder for just a second then flew to a nearby shady branch low in a tree maybe six feet away from me. I’d seen it land and pointed it out to everyone (as you can hear in the video). It stayed there for about four minutes looking around, then disappeared. I didn’t stay longer because a woman told me where I could see Red-faced Warblers up the canyon out of the yard. Anyway, the White-Eared Hummingbird was small with a bold white stripe on a head that looked mostly greenish but I guess can look purple in good light. I think I may be able to pick up a few flashes of purple in the video. Or maybe not.