Thursday, May 14, 2015

2015 Tucson: Patagonia (5/14/2015)

Thursday, May 14, 2015 (continued)
From Tumacácori, we made our way to the AZ-82 highway to head east. We wanted to cut over to the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve, but the road was flooded.
Flooded road
When I picked up the rented car, I was told not to drive through floods, or into Mexico!
Since this was a dirt road, we decided not to risk getting stuck, and continued on AZ-82. However, the slight detour gave us the opportunity for a close-up of cattle
Cattle (KAH)
After entering the town of Patagonia, we followed the itinerary backwards to the Paton House, whose backyard is now part of the Tucson Audubon Society. The Tucson Audubon's Paton Center for Hummingbirds was established in 2014. In the 1970s, Wally and Marion Paton opened their backyard for birding enthusiasts to observe the elusive violet-crowned hummingbird as well as a dozen other hummingbird species (and other birds, too). Both had passed by 2009, and the estate was purchased using a grant from the American Bird Conservancy.
We saw plenty of Spinus psaltria/Lesser Goldfinches and Haemorhous mexicanus/House Finches.
Melanerpes uropygialis/Gila Woodpecker
Cynanthus latirostris/Broad-billed Hummingbird
We also saw some Callipepla gambelii/Gambel's Quail, the state bird of Arizona, with their cute little "top knots."
Callipepla gambelii/Gambel's Quail

Next: Kentucky Camp.

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