A feathered ember in a desert landscape, the male Vermilion Flycatcher is exactly what its name says: a brilliant red bird that hawks flying insects from conspicuous perches on shrub tops and fences.
This perfectly describes these birds. (taken from All About Birds).
I “chased” these birds around the park for four days. I was able to capture the female pretty well; however, the male was more difficult. He didn’t sit still very long. They are fun to watch. They land on a tree branch and fly up into the air to catch bugs.
Male
Females are delightful in their own way, subtle gray-brown birds with a warm salmon-red blush to the underparts. Though they barely reach the southwestern U.S., this species is common all the way through Central America and much of South America.
Female
I did see a male Vermillion Flycatcher at Torrey Island Campground near Belle Glade, FL. It is listed as rare for this area.
The Magnificent Hummingbird is a new one for me. Number 397.
The Magnificent Hummingbird is a large hummingbird named in regards to its dazzling plumage.The Magnificent Hummingbird\\ is the second-largest member of the hummingbird family found north of Mexico (behind only the Blue-Throated hummingbird). The adult male Magnificent hummingbird has a bronze tail, green and bronze upperparts, and a gray belly.
Dead Horse Ranch State Park, Cottonwood, AZ, October, 2017
Dead Horse Ranch got its peculiar name in the late 1940’s from its previous owners, the Ireys family from Minnesota. They were looking to buy a ranch and on their tour they discovered a large dead horse lying by the road outside of the property. After two days of viewing ranches, Mr. Ireys asked the kids which ranch they liked the best, and they all agreed “the one with the dead horse, dad!”. Acquired in 1973 by AZ State Parks, the Ireys family made it a condition of the sale that the park retain the name Dead Horse Ranch.
We traveled from the Grand Canyon to Cottonwood, AZ staying one week at Dead Horse Ranch State Park. We have been here many times, but it has been several years since our last visit. We throughly enjoy our stay.
Hiking, mountain biking, fishing, horseback riding are just some of the activities one can enjoy at DHRSP.
After an arduous time getting ready to leave home, and our tourist mode adventure at the Grand Canyon, we were ready to settle into a more relaxing routine.
Howard worked on a few coach maintenance items, setup an antenna and operated his ham radio, and he even got to jog a few times. I enjoyed hiking, birding and photographing this lovely area.
~Mornings:
`Hiking around the Lagoons…
Still Waters
~
~
Looking through the reeds.
~
Relaxing on a log.
~
A leisurely swim.
~
Sunlight through the reeds.
~
A Cloud Sulphur
~
`Walking a rocky trail…
Miles of trails for hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding.
~
The Verde River
~
A birder along the trail.
~In between – Touring and Eating:
Old Town Cottonwood seems like it has come back to life since our last visit. Many of the old buildings have been renovated and are now occupied by beer and wine tastings shops, antiques stores, galleries and more.
There are also several new restaurants. We ate at the Tavern Grill, enjoyed sitting outside on the covered patio, and the food was very good!
One of those Micro Brews was mine!Outside Patio at the Tavern Grill
If you like Mexican, you should try Pepe’s Cafe. I haven’t had Mexican food this good in a long time. It was Great!
One of our favorite places to eat in Cottonwood is Randall’s; they have been there a long time and the food is very good. Friday we enjoyed Fish Friday – our fav Catfish!
~Evenings:
Waxing Moon
~
Rambling Rose at Sunset, Site 76 (notice Howard’s ham antenna)
~
The Gambel’s quail (Callipepla gambelii) is a small ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail family. It inhabits the desert regions of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Texas, and Sonora; also New Mexico-border Chihuahua and the Colorado River region of Baja California.
Wolf Song Blog 