Sparrow and Finch

Sounds like a law firm!

Photo by Marty Horowitz 1/26/2016

This is a Chipping Sparrow. According to allaboutbirds.org:

Summer Chipping Sparrows look clean and crisp, with frosty underparts, pale face, black line through the eye, topped off with a bright rusty crown. In winter, Chipping Sparrows are subdued, buff brown, with darkly streaked upperparts. The black line through the eye is still visible, and the cap is a warm but more subdued reddish brown.

Let's ask Fred why they are called 'Chipping' - Fred?

Photo by Marty Horowitz 1/26/2016

House Finch, female

 Again, some interesting facts from the link above:

The House Finch is a recent introduction from western into eastern North America (and Hawaii), but it has received a warmer reception than other arrivals like the European Starling and House Sparrow. That’s partly due to the cheerful red head and breast of males, and to the bird’s long, twittering song, which can now be heard in most of the neighborhoods of the continent. If you haven’t seen one recently, chances are you can find one at the next bird feeder you come across.

Or you could head to Sabino! See you there!

Ticket Taker

Photo by Marty Horowitz 2/3/2016

At the tail end of a very cold and Ned-less Nature Walk, we were pleased to point out this Greater Roadrunner - loitering opportunistically by the shuttle - to an interested visitor looking for just such a bird. Our feathered friend posed patiently for photos and even flew to the shuttle roof to catch some rays.

Duck, Luke!

Photo by Marty Horowitz 1/30/2016

Yes, there are ducks in Sabino Creek! This is a male Mallard. And from our friends at All About Birds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:

If someone at a park is feeding bread to ducks, chances are there are Mallards in the fray. Perhaps the most familiar of all ducks, Mallards occur throughout North America and Eurasia in ponds and parks as well as wilder wetlands and estuaries. The male’s gleaming green head, gray flanks, and black tail-curl arguably make it the most easily identified duck.

Photo by Marty Horowitz 1/20/2016

Another portrait of our pal, Luke. Male Phainopeplas are usually jet black and shiny. Luke has a mutation in the feathers on his head that cause them to grow without pigment. So that's why he has that stylish white crest. He's been coming to the canyon for the past 6 years! He's a popular guy.
If you google 'leucistic phainopepla,' Luke is the first one who comes up!

Gmark catches Gnatcatchers!

Photos and text by (very welcome) Guest Blogger Mark Hengesbaugh. 

Feisty, hyperkinetic and only a size or two larger than a hummingbird, the Black-tailed Gnatcatcher is often the first to expose and harass predators who dare visit their neighborhood. An alarmed gnatcatcher will hop from branch to branch above an intruder while making an insistent buzzy call, bringing on an interspecies avian mob to drive off whipsnakes, roadrunners or hawks.

Black-tailed Gnatcatchers are common in Sabino Canyon year-round, but live only on the southern edge of the southwest in the U.S. The other gnatcatcher species we see in Sabino is the summer migrant Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. The two can be difficult to distinguish, but look under that tail that’s switching back and forth like a windshield wiper and you’ll see the Black-tailed’s tail is mostly black underneath, while the Blue-gray's is mostly white.

Not gnat specialists, these little insectivores forage for a range of small bugs and can nab flying insects on the wing. Black-tailed Gnatcatchers are paired up all year and defend permanent territories—with a little help from their friends.

Abstract and Concrete

Photo by Marty Horowitz 1/26/2016

Beauty and art in the water of Sabino Creek.

Photo by Dan Weisz 1/12/2016

We can't always measure the impact of the outdoors on our children, but being in Sabino Canyon does make a difference for many.
Thanks, Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists!

Balance

Photo by Marty Horowitz 1/18/2016

Click on this one for a larger view. See if you can figure it out : -)

Waves

Photo by Marty Horowitz 1/18/2016

Photo by Marty Horowitz 1/19/2016

Take yourself out to Sabino Creek - and see if you can catch some waves!