Boyce Thompson Arboretum, September 2015

Dave and I went to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum in September.

We went on the scheduled Bird Walk on Saturday morning (September 19). There weren’t a lot of birds but we saw a fair amount. I don’t usually make a list, but just like to get pictures. There weren’t many good photo opportunities. Sometimes its difficult to get photos with a group because you can’t move to a good shot with all the people, and the group wants to keep moving. But, there are advantages to the group also (e.g. more eyes to find them; experts to identify the birds.) I got more dragonfly than bird photos. There were dozens of Turkey Vultures in the area, in the air, or on the cliffs. There was a large group soaring on the thermals. A gathering of Turkey Vultures like this is called a ‘Kettle’. The Lark Sparrow photo isn’t great, but good enough because it’s my first Lark Sparrow picture.

We saw a rare hybrid bird that got the bird nerds excited. Dave got some pictures helpful for identifying it. I think the consensus was that it is a hybrid between a Summer and Western Tanager. It had orange wing bars that look like a Baltimore Oriole, but the beak and other parts look like the tanager, and we don’t get Baltimore Orioles here. Another was seen that is like it, posted here: http://www.azfo.net/gallery/2009/html1/Hybrid_Western_X_Summer_Tanager_RRSP_Gatlin_20090525.html

The Mexican Amberwing was tiny – about an inch long.

Here are the photos:

Share this post:
This entry was posted in BTA. Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.
  • Would you like to receive an email when a new post is added to this site? Click here.

Post a Comment

Your email is never published nor shared. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

*
*

  • Would you like to receive an email when a new post is added to this site? Click here.

  • Posts by Month

  • Categories


  • All Posts in Chronological Order: