Peña Blanca Canyon

• Click on the photos to view larger versions and watch as a slideshow
• Hover over the photos to see the species name or site description

A lovely morning in my joint favorite canyon, with 45 species in four hours.

Peña Blanca Canyon:

We didn’t find anything spectacularly rare, but we did enjoy many of the canyon’s resident and breeding species, as well as some migrants.

Highlights included BLACK VULTURE, GRAY and ZONE-TAILED HAWKS, GREATER ROADRUNNER, BLACK-CHINNED, COSTA’S and BROAD-BILLED HUMMINGBIRDS, PEREGRINE FALCON, HAMMOND’S and DUSKY FLYCATCHERS, DUSKY-CAPPED and ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS, BRIDLED TITMOUSE, BUSHTIT, ROCK and CANYON WRENS, HERMIT THRUSH, CURVE-BILLED and CRISSAL THRASHERS, LUCY’S, NASHVILLE, ‘AUDUBON’S’ YELLOW-RUMPED, BLACK-THROATED GRAY and TOWNSEND’S WARBLERS, PAINTED REDSTART, RUFOUS-WINGED and RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS, ‘GRAY-HEADED’ DARK-EYED JUNCO, LAZULI BUNTING, and SCOTT’S ORIOLE.

There are a lot of butterflies around at the moment and I took a while to study them, as I’m trying to improve my butterfly ID skills as well as increase my butterfly list. I haven’t identified the duskywings yet – three individuals of maybe two species, perhaps Juvenal’s and Scudder’s? I haven’t even begun to tackle the skipper – any help would be appreciated. I think the crescent is a really worn and faded Pearly Crescent, but there’s no doubt about the impressive White-striped Longtail.