Author Archives: Bob

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About Bob

A lifelong naturalist, Bob's avocation is birding, including field observation, study, photography and writing. He spent a career in computers and consulting, but his free time has been spent outdoors backpacking, fishing and enjoying nature firsthand. Bob has traveled extensively, exploring and photographing above and underwater in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Egypt and throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America. Now retired, as an amateur ornithologist Bob studies, photographs and writes primarily about birds of the Western Hemisphere. Formerly the Feature Writer for Latin America and Caribbean Travel at Suite101.com, he has been Suite101's Feature Writer for Birds and Birding since January, 2010, and has received seven Editor's Choice awards, which are listed below. Bob also writes a monthly birding column for a newspaper in Arizona, and his work appears in the travel magazine, Another Day in Paradise, published in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. His blog, Birding the 'Brooke and Beyond, discusses birding, travel and other topics in Southeast Arizona and beyond. Bob is a member of the National and Tucson Audubon Societies, Western Field Ornithologists, Arizona Field Ornithologists, the American Birding Association and other birding and conservation organizations. Bob and his wife, Prudy, live in the Santa Catalina Mountain foothills near Tucson, Arizona. To date, Bob has received Suite101 Editor's Choice awards for the following articles: • Birding by Cruise Ship in the Caribbean • The Xantus' Hummingbird, Baja California's Only Endemic Hummer • Birding the White Mountains in and Around Greer, Arizona • The Greater Roadrunner, New Mexico's State Bird • Where to Find Steelhead on the Lower Deschutes River in Oregon • Birding La Bajada near San Blas, Mexico • The 2008 Christmas Bird Count at Estero del Yugo in Mazatlan

Arizona’s African Valentine, the Rosy-faced Lovebird

  If you keep a life-list of North American bird species, one of the more exotic additions to your list can be found an hour from here on the outskirts of Phoenix.  The Riparian Preserve at the Water Ranch in … Continue reading

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Our Little Bird with the Big, Strange Name

  So far, we have documented 146 species of birds in SaddleBrooke.  One of the most secretive and interesting of these is a lightweight not much larger than a hummingbird, but with more syllables in his name than any of … Continue reading

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Lazarus, the Comeback Costa’s

Monday, December 27, 2010 was a chilly 46 degrees as Good Morning America ended its first segment.  Our daily routine includes the news, coffee and bird watching from bed.  Gray Head, the Hooded Oriole that refuses to migrate, made his predictable … Continue reading

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Finding Rare Birds in Arizona

Because Storm Chasers get lots of publicity on television, most of us are familiar with these daredevils that grab their video recorders, hop in their cars and head for the center of weather-related calamities like tornadoes and hurricanes.  One of … Continue reading

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Arizona’s Acrobatic Bird, the Verdin

One of my favorite SaddleBrooke birds is the Verdin.  This tiny 4-inch bird is inquisitive and friendly, and will brighten anyone’s day.  Unless you get a good look at a Verdin in the sunlight, you might easily mistake him for … Continue reading

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Our Most Common ‘Snowbird’, the White-crowned Sparrow

We commonly think of migrating birds as those who leave their winter homes in Mexico and other warmer climates to fly north each spring to nest, either summering in our neighborhood (Hooded Orioles and Black-chinned Hummingbirds, for example), or passing … Continue reading

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Gray Head, the Hooded Oriole Who Wouldn’t Go Home

  With the exception of the Baltimore Oriole, some of whom winter in Florida and coastal areas of the southeast, orioles are a spring and summer phenomenon in the U.S.  Of the five oriole species that regularly nest and breed … Continue reading

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Using eBird for a Checklist of Birds in Your Yard

  If you’re like me, you keep track of birds you’ve seen in or from your yard.  Some people write bird sightings on their calendar, some check off birds in a field guide and some keep a formal list in … Continue reading

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SaddleBrooke’s Magical Jewel, the Broad-billed Hummingbird

I’ll never forget the first time I saw a male Broad-billed Hummingbird.  It was ten years ago, and we were sitting in the back yard watching the mountains put on their daily light show as the summer sun sank in … Continue reading

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Summer’s Bumper Baby Bird Crop

If I were to pick one month to get out of Arizona, it would be June. The lower desert elevations of Yuma and Phoenix are furnace hot, and even Tucson, at 2,000 feet, and SaddleBrooke, at 3,400 feet, are often … Continue reading

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