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Sugar-coated Coatimundi – Madera Canyon, AZ

One place we always try to stop when in Arizona is Madera Canyon. It’s a beautiful wooded canyon cutting into one of southern Arizona’s “sky islands”, and is a world reknown birding location. Species rarely seen in the United States can often be seen there, with the Santa Rita Lodge and their large feeder complex a major attraction for visiting birders. Winter normally isn’t quite as exciting, but there are still great finds. For me this past week, it was waiting for a recurring Blue-throated Hummingbird to show up. It had been seen there for much of the past month, and it didn’t disappoint, as I got a couple of good looks (but alas no photos) as it buzzed into the nectar feeders a couple of times. Unfortunately it never stayed and fed while I was there, which I at least partially attribute to the group of about 10 people there watching from close range.  It doesn’t help when one family with 2 young girls didn’t seem to mind when their children started throwing rocks at the birds!  That one put my wife over the top, as she took it upon herself to tell the children to stop (good for her!).

One resident of the Canyon wasn’t going to let a couple of rock-throwing girls stop it though. The highlight of the visit ended up not being the “lifer” Blue-throated Hummingbird, but another lifer. My wife and son aren’t birders, but they are wonderful at indulging me. While i stayed camped out at the feeders waiting for the hummingbird, they went for a hike on the main trail through the Canyon. As I stood and watched near the feeders, there was movement in the brush, and soon it was evident what was causing the commotion…a Coatimundi!  The first I’ve ever seen!  It was wonderful watching him climb up a tree, stretch out in the sun, and do some grooming, scratching, and light napping.

But the amazing part came when he slide down the tree and started sauntering across the feeder complex…headed STRAIGHT to the location I was standing. He paused and gave me and the few other bystanders a glance, but we weren’t going to stop his mission! He climbed the small rock wall at the edge of the feeder area, climbed to the top of a fence post a mere 6 FEET in front of me, sat there for a moment, and then began his work…his work of downing the entire contents of a large, full hummingbird feeder!  He had to stand on his back paws and reach with full extension, but he was able to grab it with his front claws, tip it down, lock his mouth around it, and start guzzling as the sugar-water came running out!  He was doing his best to drink it all up, but as he stood there, sugar water was running down his face and entire body!

It only took a few minutes for him to drain the entire thing. When it was gone, he came back down on four legs, and proceeded to sit on the fence post and groom himself for a bit, licking all the sugar water off of his fur. He then returned to the back tree, again sunbathing and intermittently cleaning himself of the sticky mess.

Madera Canyon never disappoints, but this was a real treat for all of us! I was worried my wife and son had missed the spectacle, because by the time they returned from their hike, he was done feeding and was hidden in the brush. However, the Santa Rita Lodge worker came out, refilled the feeder, and…it wasn’t long before he returned!  My son in particularly was thrilled to get a look at this new creature (for us), at such an incredibly close range.  One of the cutest, most memorable wildlife experiences we have ever had!

White-nosed Coatimundi - Nasua naricaWhite-nosed Coatimundi - Nasua narica

White-nosed Coatimundi - Nasua naricaWhite-nosed Coatimundi - Nasua narica

White-nosed Coatimundi - Nasua naricaWhite-nosed Coatimundi - Nasua narica

Goin’ on a Safari. A Backyard Safari…

Not a good day birding. I went out this morning in the gray and the gloom, knowing the light wasn’t very good for bird photography, but I thought I’d try anyway.  Not only didn’t I get any photos, the birding itself was rather slow. Upon arriving back home I thought I’d change focus.  I hadn’t gotten my macro lens out in a while, so decided to go on a “backyard safari”, looking for little critters that inhabit the yard.

The nice thing about a backyard safari is that they never disappoint!  Well, in SUMMER they never disappoint, because you always find plenty of insects and other small critters in the yard. There were a couple of highlights today.  First were the White-lined Sphinx Moths that were gorging on nectar from a big honeysuckle.  Not a rare species, but given their size, you always do a double-take when you first see them.  They were moving pretty quickly from flower to flower, making photography a challenge, but with time (and a lot of deleted photos), I managed a few decent photos.

The second highlight were a couple of surprises on the butterfly weed I had planted. I wasn’t ever clear if the variety I bought was truly a form of milkweed.  Sure, butterflies loved the blooms, but would Monarch Butterflies treat it as they do all the wild, Common Milkweed that’s around here? Would they lay eggs?  That was answered today, when I found two caterpillars, one quite large, and one small. I don’t have a really large area of butterfly weed, but seeing those Monarch caterpillars today makes me want to plant some more.

A nice time, just a stone’s throw (quite literally!) from the house.  Backyard safari saves the day…

White-lined Sphinx Moth - Hyles lineata

White-lined Sphinx Moth (Hyles lineata), feeding on nectar from our massive honeysuckle in the back yard. There were 2 or 3 hanging around the backyard, with the honeysuckle drawing the most interest by far.

Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) - Caterpillar

(Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) caterpillar, hanging around on my “butterfly weed”. According to this guy…yes…yes indeed…this IS a form of milkweed.

Leafcutter Bee (Megachile)

A Leafcutter Bee, hanging out on the same Butterfly Weed plant as the two Monarch caterpillars.

White-lined Sphinx Moth

Another White-lined Sphinx Moth at the honeysuckle.

Hummingbird perspective

Photo of Rufous Hummingbird in FLight

Drink up little Rufous Humminbird! One flower down, 1,163 cans of Coke (hummingbird equivalent) to go!!

From Slate.com, there’s a nice feature today about the “fierceness” of hummingbirds:

Hummingbirds are Fierce, Deadly Gods of War

I can relate to this.  Pop (hey, I’m from the Midwest, it’s “pop”, not “soda” or anything else) is my downfall.  I don’t drink coffee, and especially during the week, a can of pop somehow makes it into my office.  Mostly it’s Coke.  If I’m really having a bad, tiring day, a Mountain Dew has been known to slip into my office.  But having an occasional can of Coke is nothing, if you read this story.

Given the metabolism of a hummingbird, they consume half their body weight in sugar every day.  As the article notes, an equivalent would be a human being drinking 1,163 cans of Coke a day, or 1,106 cans of Pepsi (Pepsi has more sugar).

Therefore, I have determined my occasional can of Coke isn’t bad.  It may actually be a health food, based on this comparison.  Not only am I drinking the “right” pop in Coke (the less sugary one), but I’m only drinking 0.09% of my daily allowance of sugar, in hummingbird terms.

It’s all a matter of perspective…

A new favorite – Bananquits

Bananaquit - Coereba flaveola

A Bananaquit amongst the pink flowers of what was seemingly their favorite nectar source at the time we were on St. John’s.

Ah, work.  Such a silly thing, getting in the way of birding, of life in general.  I’ve been on a work trip (conference in Portland, Oregon), and thus no birding (or posts) for a week or so.  Back home now, and finally getting back to processing bird photos from our vacation in the Virgin Islands.

I had grand plans on how to attract birds at our rented beach house while on St. John’s Island, but admit those plans didn’t pan out!  Not in the least.  I had brought a hummingbird feeder with me, and had visions of the two resident hummingbird species (Antillean Crested Hummingbird, Green-throated Carib) dancing around the feeder while we relaxed on the deck overlooking the ocean. Both species of hummingbirds were certainly there, as both were easily observable from the beach house as they fed on nectar from the flowering trees and shrubs. As for the feeder?  Not once did I see a hummingbird even look at it, much less stop to feed.

Another reason for bringing the feeder was to attract another species I’ve certainly read about, but never seen…a Bananaquit.  According to what I read before departing on vacation, Bananaquits were supposedly easily attracted to sources of nectar and sugar. However, just like the hummingbirds, the Bananaquits showed absolutely no interest in the week we were there.

Bananaquit - Coereba flaveola

The method of feeding for a Bananaquit. I had heard they were nectar “robbers”, often piercing blooms at their base to retrieve nectar. Given the repetitive visits to the same blooms, however, they didn’t appear to be destructive to the bloom when feeding in the manner shown in the photo.

Fortunately they’re a pretty easy species to observe, and they were almost always present in the flowering trees and shrubs around our beach house.  The U.S. Virgin Islands have been going through quite a drought, and the vegetation in much of the island was brown.  There was one species of tree that had barely any leaves, but did have quite a few big, tubular pink blossoms.  There were a pair of these trees by the beach house deck, and the Bananaquits certainly loved feeding on nectar from the pink blooms.

People tend to quickly lose interest in the “ordinary”.  Bananaquits in the U.S. Virgin Islands are one of the “ordinary” species that are so frequently seen that the locals likely think very little of them, much like most people are with Robins around here.  But for a non-local, I had a blast watching the Bananaquits.  That unique curved bill, the bright colors, the aggressive behavior in defending their patch of nectar flowers…it certainly was a highlight for the birding on St. John’s.

Ant Moat! What a great idea!

Just came across this product:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/Droll_Yankees/Ant_Moat/prweb12685768.htm

What a great idea!  Every year, late April, we start to see ants in the house.  We spray outside around the foundation and it ends, but they are ALWAYS an issue around my hummingbird feeder.  I usually put some pesticide around the base of the pole that holds the hummingbird feeder, but that only seems to help for a day or two.  The solution? This ant moat may just do the trick!  I do believe I will have to order one….

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