The "old couple" in the Chiracahuas are the Spoffards, who have been friendly
to birders for many, many years. The Chiracahuas are quite a hike from Tuscon,
which is why I hadn't mentioned them. Anywhere else but in S.AZ, 9,000'
mountains in the desert would be a National Park. Elegant Trogans are a
specialty there, along with a few other mt. ranges. If you're REALLY lucky,
you might find an Eared Trogan, which is a bit larger than the other. In
either case, they are a nice taste of neotropical avifauna in the U.S. The
high mountains house lots of other specialties, like Olive Warbler, Ferruginous
Pygmy Owl, Flamulated Owl, Red-faced Warbler, and the hummers.
A Lucifer is a very nice bird, as is the Violet-crowned. Both those birds are
quite rare and only found in the U.S. in S. Arizona, the Animas mts of S. New
Mexico, and in Big Bend in Texas. The most amazing are clearly the huge
Blue-Throated and the Magnificant. You haven't experienced something until
you've sat near a feeder and a 7" Blue-Throated hummingbird comes up to you a
24" to check you out, buzzing like a small Peterbuilt truck, then exiting,
stage right, flying at 60 mph!
The aviary at the Tuscon museum is fabulous. I had forgotten about that one.
Skip
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>Subject: Re: [OM] Now Hummingbirds (was F280 FP )
> From: "W. J. Liles" <wliles@xxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2003 21:26:46 -0500
> To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>Best Hummer spot in the USA I've ever seen is Cave Creek in the
>Chiricahuas in southern Arizona. This place also has the Elegant
>Trogon, a truly unforgetable bird. Spectacular birds and spectacular
>scenery.
>
>Jerry Liles
>
>Moose wrote:
>
>> Nice Hummering in the Chiricahuas too. Also that nice old couple in
>> some suburb down there in S. Ariz. (precise enough for you?) who let
>> you hang around in their back yard with all the feeders. In addition
>> to the Blue-throated, Broad-billed, Magnificent, and the other more
>> common varieties I saw elsewhere in SW. Ariz., I saw a Violet-crowned
>> and a Lucifer's in that back yard. The Lucifer's really showed the
>> difference between very good binocs and great ones. That bird never
>> came down to the feeders while we were there, just sat up in a tree
>> against a bright sky, then left. The downward curving beak was clear,
>> but the B&L 8x40 Waterproof Elites actually could pull detail of the
>> 'beard' out of that glare. The other pair only showed a profile.
>>
>> Moose
>>
>> Skip Williams wrote:
>>
>>> I'm assuming that you're going to be stalking hummers at feeders, as
>>> their speed is far too fast for you to catch them on most
>>> wildflowers. The best spots that I know of are at private feeders in
>>> California or at concentraion spots in Southern Arizona. In s.AZ,
>>> you can get up to 11 different species, which is by far the highest
>>> variety north of Mexico. Madera or Ramsey canyon in the Santa Rita's
>>> or the Huachuca Mts are likely the best places. They have permanant
>>> feeders setup that really bring them in. You can easily see 15-20 at
>>> one time on a group of feeders and likely sit within 10 feet and take
>>> pictures once they get accustomed to you.
>>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>
>
>
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