Arizona Birding, Day 3 - Paton the Back

It had always been referred to as Paton's Place, or more specifically, Paton's Hummingbird Haven. In the early 1970s Wally and Marion Paton noticed a Violet-crowned Hummingbird (an uncommon species) in their backyard, so they decided to put up some feeders. And the rest, they say, is history. When birds (not just hummingbirds) started visiting their place, they decided to open their premises to the public, just asking for donations to maintain the feeders. Wally passed away in 2001 and Marion in 2009. Their daughter, Bonnie Paton Moon, decided to sell the property to the Tucson Audubon Society who promised to continue the legacy of her parents.

We have visited the Paton's Hummingbird Haven four times in the past 10 years. It was one of the birding areas we went to outside of California when Cynthia and I were still new in our our birding adventures. Here's a composite of the photos taken there through the years. Top left was in 2005, top right in 2006, lower left - 2007 and finally lower right, 2015.

As expected, Paton's backyard was teeming with birds. Spring is not best time to see hummingbirds in Arizona so there were only a few at the feeders. We only had a glimpse (and no picture) of the resident Violet-crowned. Compensating for the lack of hummingbirds, we had great looks at the other local birds. One of them was the colorful Lazuli Bunting

and Northern Cardinal.

The most common bird was the rather drab Pine Siskin.

Other visitors were the White-winged Dove

the Gila Woodpecker

and the Curve-billed Thrasher.

After having our fill at Paton's we visited Patagonia Lake. This is a huge  State-run park and there were picnic tables and even an RV Camp. The good news is there is also a wilderness trail - and this is where the birds are. The most common of which - so common that every hundred feet or so, there will be at least one of them busily hunting for insects - the dynamically colored Vermillion Flycatcher.

The reed-filled lakeshore hosted three species of ducks:

The Gadwall

Cinnamon Teal

and the Green-winged Teal

A sure find at the lake is the uncommon Neotropic Cormorant.

This was the end of our 2 full-day birding trip to Arizona. Going back to Paton's place brought back nice memories. We were glad that the local bird clubs were taking good care of this place and continuing to preserve the efforts of Wally and Marion Paton.

More on Morongo

The Big Morongo Canyon Preserve lies some 110 miles from Los Angeles. A good two hours drive. And  a heck of a birding place - at least it was as I remember it from past visits.


I was able to convince my son, Kurt, to drive Cynthia and myself to Big Morongo with promises of stopping at Morongo Casino for lunch and then shopping at the Cabazon Outlet stores later in the day. 


Birders go to Morongo Canyon because of the Vermillion Flycatcher. This is the only other place, aside from Prado Dam, where this gorgeous bright red bird can be found in the state of Calfornia. However, the very first bird that we saw was one that is rather uncommon and has an intriguing name - the Phainopepla. It had been quite a while since I last had good looks at this species and so it was a delight to watch the all black male perch conspicuously in the morning sun.

Somehow it wasn't that birdy that morning. The normally seen Gambel's Quails, the colorful Western and Summer Tanagers were a no-show.


Thankfully, the Vermillion Flycatchers did not disappoint. Nearby Covington park was where these gaudy birds make their home.

The rest of the local avifauna were the usual birds found in almost every forested park in California. At around noon we packed up. Time to fulfill my promises.

"I love the smell of Snow Geese in the morning!" *

"I love the smell of snow geese in the morning!"

These were the words I spoke to my wife as we were standing at the edge of a ditch at the Unit 1 area of the Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge on a cold wintry morning. Before us thousands of Snow Geese were beginning to stir as the light of dawn slowly brightened up the cloudless skies. A little to our left about two dozen Sandhill Cranes were already busy feeding among the tall grass.

On New year's Day we decided to leave the hustle and bustle of the Rose Parade in Pasadena for the peace and quiet of birding at the Salton Sea. We have not visited this place during winter and we were hoping that we could begin the year by adding some new species to our lifelist. We were not disappointed. We saw our first flock of Snow Geese minutes after we arrived at the Sonny Bono Wildlife Refuge headquarters at around 10:30 am. A covey of Gambel's Quails were noisily availing of the seeds that fell from the feeder, while Abert's Towhees and White-crowned Sparrows were battling for prime space on the feeders. Common Ground Doves were mingling with the quails below. Here we met fellow birder Tom Wurster who gave excellent directions on where we could find the best birding areas.

After checking in at the Calipatria Inn, we headed to Keystone Road south of the city of Brawley. Along the way we encountered a huge flock of Cattle Egrets next to the highway. The fields east of the sugar factory at Keystone were pretty quiet so we drove farther until we got to the intersection of Dogwood. It was here that Cynthia pointed to a group of tall birds. "Sandhill Cranes!" I exclaimed as both of us jumped out of the Jeep and tried getting some pictures of the distant birds. Eventually the cranes flew off. We tried to follow the flock but they landed in a field where access was prohibited. Through dogged persistence, we were able to find a place to park and I walked towards where the cranes were now feeding. I borrowed Cynthia's lighter camera gear and after about a quarter mile, I located the tall birds and took some shots. After a while, the cranes once again flew off this time towards the horizon.

On my way back to the Jeep (my wife remained there) I was startled when a Burrowing Owl flushed and flew by me. I chased it down but then it flew back until it settled between Cynthia and myself. Through intricate hand signals, my wife finally understood what I was trying to convey and she grabbed my camera with the 500mm lens attached to it. Handholding that camera set-up she took a burst of shots at the owl while I slowly approached from the other side and tried to take some pictures as well, despite my subject being backlit and all.

           my shot:

    Cynthia's shot:

The following morning we were at Unit 1 and we were so overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of birds around us. Wave upon wave of Snow Geese were flying overhead while Sandhill Cranes were bugling and rattling below. We had not seen this kind of avian spectacle ever before and we stood there entranced by the beauty of it all.

Reluctantly, we left this awesome pageant. We had to be at the fields next to the Calipatria State Prison for the pipits and the longspurs. The only pipit we saw were Americans and not the longed for Sprague's. Savannah Sparrows darted back and forth across the road and we hoped that there would be some longspurs among them but we dipped on those as well. The birders that we met here were all talking about the Bendire's Thrasher that was seen within the premises of a residential area in Calipatria. Tom also mentioned it yesterday. Since it would be a lifer for us, we decided to join the group in searching for the uncommon thrasher. We were soon rewarded by a glimpse of the shy, skulking, nondescript bird. The thrasher had a habit of showing up briefly on the branches of a dead tree and then diving to the ground and out of sight.

While we were all waiting for the bird to reappear, I saw a flash of red overhead. It was a Vermillion Flycatcher grabbing a moth in mid-air. It landed on an electrical wire where it consumed its prey.

With the owner of the place where the thrasher hangs out getting a little antsy, we thought it prudent to take an early exit.

After lunch we returned to Keystone road where we once again saw a flock of Sandhill Cranes. Along the sea were more Snow Geese, countless Northern Pintails and Gulls of various kinds.

We wanted to be home before it got really dark so we left around 3 pm. Burned into our memories were the sights of thousands of geese darkening the blue skies as they flew overhead and the raucous calls of the Sandhill Cranes as they danced in celebration of a new year. Racking up three lifers is indeed a glorious way to start our birding year.

Seeing Red

It is Father's Day today but since we had our lunch with my daughter and her family yesterday, and my son is still out of town, my wife, Cynthia, and I decided to go to the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve for some birding/photography. We left Pasadena at around 6 am and arrived at Big Morongo at 7:30. Just as I was unloading my camera gear, my wife shouted, "Look at that red bird!". I peered through my binoculars and my heart skipped a bit. It was a Summer Tanager, a life bird for me, and it is actually quite rare in southern California. I managed to grab a few shots before it flew away. The shots didn't turn out that well, probably because my hands are shaking from the excitement or because the lighting wasn't that good. 

The day progressed quickly and I managed to see the Summer Tanager again, this time it was backlighted, but still good enough for a couple of shots. I also got some pictures of yet another colorful bird, the Vermillion Flycatcher.

At about 10, we left the preserve and proceeded to Yucca Valley to attend the service at the Calvary Chapel in that town. After the service we had a sumptuous lunch at Sizzler's where the food is outstanding and the service is superb!

We came back to the Preserve after lunch but light has become harsh and the birds scarce so we decided to call it a day and headed for home.

It was a wonderful Father's Day experience for me.