Saturday's Critters # 561

  Welcome to Saturday's Critters! Hello and Happy Saturday!

 If you love all God's creatures like I do and also like to blog about them and take critter photos this is where you can share your critter post. Link up your post and share your critters, join in with my critter party ! You can share any kind of critters the real ones, pretend ones, statues and paintings, a new or old post!

I am still so far behind with my photos, this post is on our last day in Arizona, we visited the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix. These are mostly images of birds we saw while walking around the gardens. 

1. The Curve-billed Thrasher, their bill is the perfect tool for hunting insects. They are grayish brown in color and have a long body. 

2. Male House Finch

3. Mourning Dove

4. Gambel's Quail, has a cute forward facing crest.

5. The Cactus Wren is a speckled brown bird with a bright white eyebrow and a little cinnamon color on it's sides. 

6. Another Curved-billed Thrasher next to a barrel cactus.

7. I found a Hummingbird among these flowers. The bird blends in well. 

8. The Queen Butterfly, is orange with black borders and white spots on it's forewings.

9. A lifer for me the Gilded Flicker, has a black bib and black spots on it's belly. Just at a glance I thought this bird was another Gila Woodpecker. The black spots on the belly are helpful with the id. 

10. This bird below is the female Lesser Goldfinch, it is a pretty bird.  

11. I was surprised to see this White Egret almost at the exit of the gardens. I did not see any water nearby? 

I am linking up to Heidrun's Mosaic Monday  I hope you can stop by and visit Heidrun and check out the Mosaic Monday post.

Thanks to all my visitors and for your past and present comments. Stop back to see any replies to your comments. I appreciate everyone who loves and respects wildlife. Thank you for linking up a critter post.

Here is my linky:

Thank you for sharing your critters and post!

Saturday's Critters # 549

 Welcome to Saturday's Critters! Hello and Happy Saturday!

 If you love all God's creatures like I do and also like to blog about them and take critter photos this is where you can share your critter post. Link up your post and share your critters, join in with my critter party ! You can share any kind of critters the real ones, pretend ones, statues and paintings, a new or old post!

On the morning of April 24th, we stopped at the nearby Meadow Garden Park in Green Valley.  We were just here the evening before, it was so nice it deserved a second visit before we left the area. 

1. One of my Arizona lifers below is the Costa's Hummingbird, it has a lovely purple gorget, looking like a necklace on it's neck. The flowers are beautiful, such a wonderful variety of blooms and colors. 

2. A larger image of the Costa's Hummingbird.

3. Below the lifers the Abert's Towhee and possibly the  Verdin in the top row. In the bottom row I have the Vermilion Flycatcher and the Gila Woodpecker. 

4. The Vermilion Flycatcher is a beauty, I was seeing this bird often during our Arizona travels.

5. More beautiful flowers seen in the gardens.

6. I like this poem "HOPE" by Eileen Valentino Flaxman, the words speak to me.  The Gambel's Quail perched on the back of the bench, saving you a seat. The Curve-bill Thrasher had a nest nearby, I watched it fly in and out of a bush.

7. Have a seat and enjoy all the flowers and birds in the gardens.

8. Another shot of the Costa's Hummingbird and some more pretty flowers.

A Desert Spiny Lizard

I have a few more days of our Arizona trip to share, I hope you enjoyed this post, the birds, flowers and the lizard.

I am linking up to Heidrun's Mosaic Monday  I hope you can stop by and visit Heidrun and check out the Mosaic Monday post.

Thanks to all my visitors and for your past and present comments. Stop back to see any replies to your comments. I appreciate everyone who loves and respects wildlife. Thank you for linking up a critter post.

Here is my linky:

Thank you for sharing your critters and post!

Saturday's Critters # 547

 Welcome to Saturday's Critters! Hello and Happy Saturday!

 If you love all God's creatures like I do and also like to blog about them and take critter photos this is where you can share your critter post. Link up your post and share your critters, join in with my critter party ! You can share any kind of critters the real ones, pretend ones, statues and paintings, a new or old post!

More from Madera Canyon and Green Valley Arizona. Not far from our hotel the was a nice park with a pretty garden, there were hummingbird feeders all around the gardens and it was a great habitat for various birds. 

1. My lifer, from the Madera Canyon is the Painted Redstart is a pretty bird with a scarlet belly and black plumage and white on the upper wing. 

I tried to adjust the lighting on this photo below, it changed the color of sky but now you can see the white line under the Painted Redstart's eye.

2. Another Arizona lifer from Madera Canyon is the Brown-crested Flycatcher. It reminds me of the Great-crested Flycatcher seen in my area. 

3. After our dinner we enjoyed a walk around the Meadows Garden Park in Green Valley. This park was only minutes from our hotel. The Gambel's Quail was seen a few times during our trip. I have seen this bird on a trip to New Mexico years ago.  This one had some babies hiding most of time I could not get a photos of the little ones. 

4. The Phainopepla, the adult male has as tall wispy crest, a glossy black and has red eyes. 

Phainopepla

5. The Meadows Garden Park in Green Valley was a nice place to walk around admiring all the flowers, sculptures  and the birds.  We went twice once in the evening and again the next morning. 

6. The Lesser Goldfinch, the male has a dark cap with an olive back and it's habitat is in the west from the desert to the high mountains. This bird looks similar to our American Goldfinch. 

7. Below are some more sights from the Meadow Garden Park. 

8. The Curve-billed Thrasher was seen going back and forth to a nest with babies.

9. I like this sign and message.  

10. Prickly Pear Cactus is blooming.

I hope your enjoyed this post, the birds and garden images. 

I am linking up to Heidrun's Mosaic Monday  I hope you can stop by and visit Heidrun and check out the Mosaic Monday post.

Thanks to all my visitors and for your past and present comments. Stop back to see any replies to your comments. I appreciate everyone who loves and respects wildlife. Thank you for linking up a critter post.

Here is my linky:

Thank you for sharing your critters and post!

Gambel's Quail lifer

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

November 19, 2013

I am sharing another lifer from my  New Mexico trip..it is the Gambel's Quail..We saw this bird at the Bosque Del Apache wildlife refuge.  Hubby and I were taking a break near the visitor's center when these birds popped up out of the brush.  The Gambel's Quail is easily recognized by their top knots and the scaly plumage on their undersides. The males have copper feathers on the top of their heads, black faces with white stripes above their eyes. I think they are very pretty and unusual birds, I was happy to add them to my life list.

We saw the Gambel's Quail near a cute gazebo with a bench, were hubby and I were sitting.  I could hear them first before seeing them and then all of sudden a group of the Quail appeared.

Once in awhile, one of the Gambel's Quail would hop onto this log which was a little more in the open for photos.  It habitat is the desert regions like where we were visiting in New Mexico. The Gambel's Quail is named after William Gambel a 19th century naturalist and explorer of the Southwestern United States.

I hope you enjoyed my pretty Gambel's Quail, it was another one of my favorite sightings in New Mexico. Thanks for visiting and for the nice comments.

Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.  Thanks to our host Michelle our host Stewart.  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!