The Roadrunner lives in our backyard with a mate. They are elusive, but surface from time-to-time and once or twice a summer with a lizard in their grasp.
You can read more about the Greater Roadrunner at this page from Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.
Birds of Arizona
“Costa’s Hummingbird taken at the Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, AZ
Copyright by Jeffrey Ross, all rights reserved”
As followers of JBRish.com know, I live on the edge of the desert in North Phoenix only a few miles from Cave Creek, Arizona. As such, we have an interesting array of wildlife including many birds. One of my hobbies is trying to identify as many birds as possible when I can see them and/or capture them with a camera.
Today, a hawk landed on a telephone pole near the back corner of our yard. I have a Canon Powershot SX50 HS which has a very large zoom and allows me to get relatively close to birds even if they are far away. Since this bird was large, it made it just a bit easier.
I took these two pictures just before the hawk flew away.
It turned out to be a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
What birds reside in your area?
One of my favorite photographers to follow is Scott Bourne. If you don’t know of him, just do a search on the Internet. Scott’s name will show up many times because even as a very talented and gifted professional, he gives freely of his knowledge to help others advance their skills.
Blue Heron
Picture by Jeff Ross, Scott Bourne’s pictures would be much, much better!
One of Scott Bourne’s favorite subjects is birds. I enjoy photographing birds as well, but I am a rank amateur. I do my best, but as indicated in the referenced articles below, capturing the best bird pictures is hard!
Scott provides twenty tips for capturing your best shots in the articles:
10 Down & Dirty Quick Bird Photography Tips
How To Photograph Birds | 20 Tips & Some Resources
Here are three of the tips just as a sample…
“Start Big. Practice with larger birds such as pelicans, gulls and herons. Also practice at local zoos. Captive birds will give you a chance to study behavior, hone your skills and become familiar with bird photography (and your gear) and guarantee enough keepers that you won’t be frustrated.
Track the Sun. I’m not much for photography religions but if I were – this would be the one I would practice. Photograph birds with your back to the sun. Especially when you are just starting out. Birds look best when front lit. Sidelight may be the landscape photographer’s friend, but it’s the avian photographer’s enemy. Keep the sun at your back, or in other words, point your shadow at the birds. Believe it. Practice it. Live by it. You’ll get better shots.
Shoot Shutter Priority. When shooting birds in flight, use shutter priority. A fast shutter speed is essential to capturing birds in flight. Unless you want to blur the subject for creative reasons, a shutter speed of 1/1000th of a second should be your minimum preferred shutter speed. Also use the lowest ISO you can and still get a fast shutter speed.”
Notice Scott’s advice about side light which may be good for landscape, but not for birds!
You can also find Scott Bourne on the photofocus website which I believe he founded.
Of course, one of the best ways to improve any photographic skill is to get out there and practice. Take pictures and examine them. Which are good, which are best, which are worst? Find out why and you are well on your way to doing your best work.
We arrived home the other day to see a Harris Hawk sitting on top of a dead bush we are readying for recylcing.
Read more about them at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
These magnificent birds “live” in our neighborhood and we see them often. Sometimes they prey on our other birds in an effort to survive and feed their young.
I was walking by my picture window yesterday afternoon and I saw this bird perched on a wire near a telephone pole. I hadn’t seen this bird in our neighborhood before, but recognized its hawk-like persona and thought it might be an American Kestrel.
I posted the picture on the Bird Forum and sure enough some of the experienced birders there confirmed it was an American Kestrel. They ventured, perhaps, that this is a female because of the coloration. I am sorry that the bird was so far away, but these were the best pictures I could get.
Try as I might, I could not get that bird to turn around!
The Curve-Billed Thrasher is an interesting bird, especially in the mid-to-late spring. They often “claim” a saguaro as their own and stand guard over the ripening seed pods which mature into sweet, tasty treats. Native Americans would collect these and make some delectable edibles out of them. If you want to collect them today, you need to be prepared because the Curve-billed Thrashers are patient and when the fruit is ripe, they dive right in.
These Sonoran Desert denizens are prevalent and can be seen throughout the year. They have a very distinctive call which is easy to discern. I especially like the very rich orange-yellow color of their eyes.
The pictures above were taken on February 9, 2015 during a hike at the Jewel of the Creek Trail, Cave Creek Arizona. The “Jewel” is a riparian habitat with a number of birds taking refuge there at various times of the year. The water runs most of the year and provides a home for frogs and other water-loving creatures.
You can read more about the Curve-billed Thrasher at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology