Tag: Cochise County

Black-chinned hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri 

♀) at a San Pedro House Feeder.

Please click through for a full view, showing her remarkable feathers in detail. 

For an excellent primer on feathers—their anatomy, function, development, and evolution—check out “Everything You Need To Know About Feathers” from the Cornell Lab’s online Bird Academy. 

At one point during my walk along the riverbank yesterday I paused, thinking momentarily that I heard the sound of rain. It was the sound of the frass from a million tent caterpillars falling from the treetops on leaves and grass below. 

It’s an old habit. I immediately started imagining a graduate thesis (or maybe a poster session) on Vernal Nutrient Cycling in Riparian Cottonwood Forests Coincidental to Western Tent Caterpillar Infestation or something along those lines—my mental contribution to the rain of excrement falling all around me. I brushed off my hat and moved on. 

Western tent caterpillars (Malacosoma californicum), at the

San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, Cochise County, Arizona.

Recent birds. 

Northern rough-winged swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis).

Broad-billed hummingbird (Cynanthus latirostris). This female has been banded. I love her subtle aquamarine feathers.

Yellow warbler (Setophaga petechia), who refused to leave the tops of the willows for a better photo. 

Bewick’s wren (Thryomanes bewickii). The wren was named by Audubon in honor of his friend, wood engraver Thomas Bewick. 

All photographed at San Pedro House, Cochise County, Arizona.

My favorite tree.

I’ve had a favorite tree—not just a favorite kind, but an individual tree—in all the places I have lived. This stately cottonwood at San Pedro House has won my heart now that I’m settled in Cochise County. 

Do you have a favorite where you live, either one you regularly see or in memory?