Fallout (sort of)
(click on photo to enlarge)
What’s a fallout, you ask? Well, in the birding world a “fallout” is an event when hundreds of birds of many species have flown from their over-wintering grounds and land in one concentrated area. Famous fallout spots are High Island, Texas, Cape May, New Jersey and Pt. Pelee, Ontario. Fallouts usually involve a long trip over water and an exhausted touchdown on the first bit of land. On Saturday, April 18th we experienced a “mini-fallout” at our house. Not that there is any water to cross but there are mountains on the U.S./Mexico border that act as a land barrier and many species of birds fly over them to their nesting grounds in various parts of the country.
I should preface this post with the fact that we had a REALLY WINDY week beforehand. Gusts exceeded 45 mph – enough to stop any bird from thinking about long-distance flying in such conditions. When the wind finally stopped on Saturday, birds arrived in more variety than we’ve seen since we set up the feeding station last October.
First to be noticed were two more oriole species. Our Scott’s Oriole pair has been joined by a pair of Hooded Orioles. The male is quite stunning.
Male Hooded Oriole (Icterus cucullatus)
The female, which appeared shortly after the male, is quite a drab contrast to her handsome mate.
Female Hooded Oriole (Icterus cucullatus)
Two new oriole species would have been enough but yet another bird appeared briefly at the feeder. This time it was a male Bullock’s Oriole and I barely had enough time to grab the camera and snap a quick photo.
The seed feeders were hopping too. A strange new tail was poking out from in back of the sunflower feeder. It was quite large. Can you guess who it belongs to?
Mystery Tail
Ah, our first Black-headed Grosbeak had arrived! Not just this one but four males have shown up at the feeders and have remained here the entire week. Since they prefer riparian (wet) woodlands for nesting, we suspect they are just passing through. Our few birdbaths unfortunately do not qualify as a riparian area.
Male Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocaphalus)
They seemed to enjoy drinking from the large water bowl set out for the deer rather than at the birdbaths.
This large water bowl suits me just fine!
A few days later the females caught up with them.
Female Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocaphalus)
Azure Blue. Maybe iridescent turquoise. Or just awesome. Words cannot fully describe this stunningly colored finch. Only a photo can show the glorious colors of the Lazuli Bunting. We now have a whole flock (8) of them at our feeders but it was on Saturday that they first arrived, males blazing the trail.
Male Lazuli Bunting (Passerina amoena)
And here’s a female. She might be easy to overlook with only the slightest hint of blue………
Female Lazuli Bunting (Passerina amoena)
A pair of Calliope Hummingbirds graced the feeder just as we were leaving for Tucson for the day, so no photos. They are the sixth hummingbird species at our feeders this year.
Lastly, a rather drab bird compared to the new arrivals shown above, a White-winged Dove joined the Mourning Doves for a short visit on our fallout day. We’d noticed them on the Ranch before but never at our place. This represents yard bird #64. I’m not too keen on any more of these birds showing up. We had plenty of them in Tucson and they can quickly deplete the feeders
White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica)
There’s so much more happening on these warming spring days. What I’ve described above is just the “tip of the iceberg.” Stay tuned!