What was next...

So the last entry before my laptop deserted me was Joshua Tree... from there we left California behind and headed East into Arizona. A brief stop on my favorite road outside Quartzite yielded some belly crawlers... tiny wildflowers you need to crawl on your belly to see. It also yielded some cholla spines in my belly which weren't nearly as nice as the flowers I found. The Ocotillo weren't blooming but they showed the results of the recent rains by sporting their ovate leaves.

After careful extraction of the cholla spines we attempted to bee-line to Saguaro National Park and of course got side tracked along the way. We found the Painted Rock Petroglyph Site which boasts approximately 800 examples of glyphs from the Hohokam Culture. The area, 18 miles West of Gila Bend, is well preserved despite the fact that it also has a camp ground and receives many visitors each season. I think the presence of a "camp manager" has quite a bit to do with it. The only restrictions placed on us were quite obvious to us... Don't climb on the rocks, don't try to take any of the rocks and please don't try to add to the glyphs... other than that, ENJOY! I had thought we would stop in for half and hour just to check it out... after 2 hours I had to call it or we wouldn't make it to Saguaro before sunset! Even though were were behind schedule I couldn't resist exploring some of the dirt roads in the surrounding area. I have a suspicion that examining some of the rock formations around the old river bed would yeild even more glyphs. I'm looking forward to heading out to this area again sometime in the future and spending more time on foot. I need to get some BLM maps I guess. I'm never certain what areas are private lands and which are accessible to the general public. Next time!

My Favorite Hummingbird

Last but certainly not least is my favorite of the hummingbirds in Madera Canyon, the Black-chinned. As the name suggests, th male has a black chin until they turn and flash their gorget at you and display a beautiful purple. They are pretty chatty and always let me know when they were near. While they feed on over 90 species of flowers, the black-chinned also eats small insects and spiders particularly during nesting season.

Size: 9 cm (4 in)
Wingspan: 11 cm (4 in)
Weight: 2-5 g (0.07-0.18 ounces)

The Rarity

The White-eared Hummingbird is a rare visitor to the United States, and as it turned out, to our feeders. She much preferred the honeysuckle growing nearby to our feeders but I managed to capture one shot of her on my first day in Arizona. There were many birders visiting Madera Canyon in hopes of glimpsing this rare beauty.

Size: 9-10 cm
Weight: 3-4 g

The Largest Hummingbird

The Magnificent Hummingbird is the largest hummingbird that visits North America. It sounded like a helicopter was landing when he came into the feeder. Just as vibrant as the Broad-billed male, the Magnificent was much more shy. He would zoom into the feeder, take a quick drink and zoom back off without stopping to pose like the smaller bird did quite often. Adding shyness to size and infrequent visits made the Magnificent a very challenging species to photograph.

Size: 11-14 cm (4-6 in)
Wingspan: 18 cm (7 in)
Weight: 7-8 g (0.25-0.28 ounces)

Broad-billed Hummingbird

The second species is quite the little jewel. The male Broad-billed Hummingbird (Cynanthus latirostris) was extremely proud of himself and took every opportunity to flash his lovely blues and greens. The female was extremely territorial... so much so that I watched her chase away a Mexican Grey Jay.

Size: 10 cm (4 in)
Wingspan: 12 cm (5 in)
Weight: 3-4 g (0.11-0.14 ounces)


Southeastern Arizona is as far north as this species ranges and those individuals found there are migratory. The majority of the species lives year round in Mexico. The Broad-billed consumes 1.6 to 1.7 times it's body weight in nectar every day.

Beyond Amazing

I'm sorry to have been away for so long but I hope you'll agree it was worth the wait when you see the images I've brought home. I just spent an amazing week in Arizona with photographers Joe and Mary Ann McDonald. We encountered six different species of hummingbirds in Madera Canyon as well as over 45 species of other birds.

These are the female and male Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus). These medium sized hummingbirds were such talkers you knew they were coming into the feeder well in advance of their arrival because of all the chattering. The male had a lovely pink gorget (throat) which looked black unless he was facing you.

On cold nights these birds enter a state of torpor with body temperatures as low as 54 degrees Fahrenheit.

Size: 3-4 inches
Wingspan: 5 inches
Weight: 0.11-0.14 ounces