Fort Lowell Park, 26 October 2008

Nothing fantastically out of the ordinary today, but I did find a few enjoyable birds for this relatively mid-town location. I did, however, get to play around with my Canon Powershot S5 - a neat little toy for documentation, but don't plan on getting magazine cover-quality out of it...

Try as I might, I couldn't make any of the Red-naped Sapsuckers into anything more rare (i.e. Yellow-bellied). Note the reddish coloration in the nape of the bird in the first shot, coupled with the whitish markings in basically two rows down the back. In the second photo, you can see the indistinct black border separating the red throat from the white feathers sweeping down from the bill. In combination, these features are quite distinctive of Red-naped.




At the far northeastern corner of the park, past at a neat little water feature and a large cottonwood that held one Black-throated Gray Warbler, I meandered down to the edge of the Rillito River and found a few delightful Rufous-winged Sparrows.




It always amazes me how they manager to get their little feet in between the cholla thorns! Actually, it's amazing how these desert birds manage to navigate spiny cacti at all...




Anyway, just another day birding central Tucson!

Cheers,
John Yerger
Senior Guide, Adventure Birding Co.