BwBTC Patagonia, AZ, March 13

Howdee all,

Another fun filled Birding adventure with Birders who Blog, Tweet and Chirp..and those who use facebook for Social networking.

We met bright and early at a local Coffee shop for some hellos and breakfast, then we were off to Patagonia Lake State park in search of the Elegant Trogon, Hepatic tanager, and Painted Redstart.

Cast of Characters 

Starting bottom left

Cynthia White, Linda Rockwell, Donna Simonetti, Nan Goodwin

Dawn Fine in middle

Top row.. Earl Norris, Bosque Bill, Ray Goodwin, Jeff Fine

Sorry about the washed out picture..I should have double checked after it was taken.

We had a great group of people.

Thank goodness..because the birds were playing hide and seek.

and today they were mostly hiding.

Except for the water birds, who were pretty reliable

Those that showed up for us were…

Double crested and Neotropic Cormorants, Common Mergansers, Eared Grebe,Ruddy Duck, Coot, Common Morehen, Green wing Teal. Mexican Mallard etc

The Sora was a no show… Everyone had great looks at Vermillion Flycatchers..and lots of photos were taken with the big lens's.Spring has sprung here..flowers are blooming and the trees are starting to green. It was an absolutely beautiful,warm day.

But…No Trogon, No Hepatic tanager, No Painted redstart 

an extremely slow birding day..

Here we are wondering where the heck is Mr. resident Trogon..

No..these are not Trogon

and neither is this A very sad showing indeed…

We lunched at the Park..and then headed to Kino springs in hopes of seeing the Lawrence's goldfinch and Crissel thrasher that Jeff and I saw there the week before.

No go…strike two..

We did see Black-tailed gnatcatchers, Aberts towhee,Vermillion flycatchers, Vesper sparrow, Loggerhead shrike, Killdeer, American Widgeon, Great Blue Heron, Coot.

Violet green, Northern rough wing and Tree swallows.and a few others.

Earl spotted a Rattlesnake…

Onto Patons and another target bird (The Violet crowned Hummingbird) and some nice armchair birding.

Luckily we weren't disappointed

My baby camera did the best it could and capture the violet crown of the

Violet crowned Hummingbird

Here is Michael Marsden's List serve acct of the day

Michael is the resident birding expert at Patons.

Subject:      SE AZ: Patons' Yard, Patagonia - 13 Feb 10

An enyoyable visit at the Patons' this afternoon by members
of the group Birders who Blog, Tweet and Chirp, during which
they saw a couple-of-dozen species including Anna's, Broad-tailed,
Rufous & Violet-crowned Hummingbirds. I wanted to thank whoever
it was who left the Hummers Galore feeder while I was away this morning.
I think it's the answer to our woodpecker problem! We do, of course, have a
box for cash donations towards the cost of sugar and seed, but things like
this (suet blocks, oranges or small packages of higher quality seed, for instance)
are always particularly welcome.

Michael Marsden  Patagonia, AZ

Thanks Michael for being so accommodating and such a wealth of information!

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After a day of hard birding we went to the Velvet Elvis

for great salads and pizza.

And Awesome company..

A Great day despite the lack of birds!

Check out Ray Goodwin's  blog post of the day

Donna Simonettis photos of the weekend on facebook