We are only two weeks out from our annual Haunted Trail event and let’s just say there is a LOT of work still to be done. Technically, with tremendous help from my brother Ron, we are ahead of schedule from last year’s effort….but, we grow by at least 10% every year. Many of the tedious tasks are out of the way (ex. putting batteries in all the props and our proprietary controllers, testing them and fixing everything that broke during the tear down last year or just from being stored for a year in changing conditions. In all of this the training for the October ultra continues leaving little time for bonding with my pillow. As previously noted I will be leaning heavily on Brad and Jan to get us through September. Just so they do not get too overwhelmed, jumping in today to bring you the One-Offs. Those shots are just hanging in the photo queue because they didn’t have an engaging story and/or just not enough images to entertain you – also sneakily doesn’t require a lot of writing/prep as it is really just meant as eye-candy.
All of these images have a common thread – they are all outtakes from our trip out to Arizona back in March 2025. Hit the jump to enjoy this cornucopia of tins.
These first two shots from Kartchner Caverns State Park near Benson. I really like this place as it full of birds and has a wonderful walking trail. Truth be told, I have not made it all the way around their main hiking path. The first year I was not prepared for a long hike in AZ weather (didn’t take water) and turned back – heeded Linda in my head going “Make good choices”. Second year I took water and was better prepared, but was dealing with the broken ankle and hit a risky patch of rock on the trail half way around so opted to turn back – damn you Linda!!! Next time I am getting it done regardless of potentially contrary voices in my head ha.
Oh, that was a Black-Throated Sparrow by the way.
On to the Holy Trinity Monastery Center in David. This place has been covered in numerous posts – usually featuring their Indian Peafowls (Peacocks). Another great place to bird. Not a very big place but a wonderful setting to just relax and take in the AZ wildlife. They have plenty of Gila Woodpeckers to keep your shutter finger busy.
Surprisingly, I have not featured the Gila (pronounced Hila) Woodpecker before on Intrigued. I just made a note to get that remedied once everything calms down here.
Because it is new, here is another shot from the Paton Center for Hummingbirds in Patagonia. As the birding experts say…not a Hummingbird!
We have the pleasure of staying at a 50+ community resort in Benson when we make our way out there – Linda’s friends moved out there after retiring. Always good to get back in touch with them and see what is going on in their lives. There is also a wonderful wash that surrounds the resort giving me a wonderful chance to pick up some AZ regulars. Apparently I had a break in those specialties and decided to take a shot of a House Finch that I ended up liking more than I should.
Back to Holy Trinity. They have a small pond on their site that has a variety of different waterfowl hanging out on it. There appears to be a lot of hmmmm, let’s just say “Duck”play going on there as there are a high number of hybrids there so no telling what you might be looking at. This is likely a female Mallard…or has a dominant amount of Mallard in it, but there are some characteristics that are a bit off.
Was surprised to see this shot of a White-Crowned Sparrow from the wash at the Benson resort. Like the House Finch snapped there, I do not usually spend a lot of time on these rather common birds…yet I admittedly like this one as well.
While visiting with our friends out there, she mentioned an old historic site called Fairbanks Historic Townsite as a quick place to visit. Rather interesting place, had a few building restored from the era and (more importantly to a birder) had a nice set of trails that weaved through their property complete with a stream/river that cut through it. That is where we found this Say’s Phoebe hanging out. Met a guy there that was doing a field study on the impact a new power line was having on the local Snake population. Now that got Linda’s attention immediately.
Now a couple of shots from my friend in the UK (Butterflies to Dragsters – link here). He is an expert on the delicate winged ones. I do not take a lot of shots of Butters, but really liked this one from Patagonia Lake State Park. Believe it is a Gulf Fritillary, but this is outside my area of expertise – feel free to correct in the comments. I just like how the browns on the wings looked against the light browns in the setting.
Since we are there…might as well go for a two-fer. This Queen Butterfly was taken at Patagonia Lake SP as well. My rig is set primarily for the feathered family members which makes it a lot harder to get these smaller creatures in the tin. If you really want to see good shots of these creatures, be sure and head over to B!s site.
Who doesn’t like a shot of a Bunny…
…or a Squirrel. Something tells me there was a lull in the bird activity seeing as my tin was full of various wildlife shots.
Back to birds! Santa Rita Lodge in Madera Canyon is my favorite place to visit in Arizona…honestly, it Madera Canyon is in my top 5 birding destinations in the US. It also happens to one of the two locations we are considering to move to.
If you are not up for a hike into the Canyon and looking for a place to just sit back and enjoy a parade of wildlife – Santa Rita Lodge is just the place. We heard (and saw) on our trip there several months ago that a Bear had done some serious damage to their feeder area. Last year all the feeders were still available. The White-Winged Dove above and the Acorn Woodpecker below are a common staple in the area.
I need to wrap this up and get back to the haunt lab. In appreciation of hanging with us while we deal with the event at hand, thought I would throw in a teaser for a future featured feathered friend….a plus one for my lifer list, a primary target for our first visit to Arizona and an all-around beautiful species – the Painted Redstart.
This was an absolute thrill to find and equally difficult to photograph. Like the more common member of their family, the American Redstart, these Painted are very hyper. Easy to spot with their flashes of red and white, hard to get in the tin for sure. More to come on these darlings (likely after the event), so stay tuned.
Now to get back to work…
Life Intrigued 