More Photos Taken From My Back Porch

Sept. 3, 2024: A butterfly, a desert bird, and more hummingbirds

This juvenile Costa's Hummingbird was just settling down on the seed pod of a Mexican Bird-of-Paradise plant.  From this angle, only one little gorget feather is glowing purple.

Once he settled down and turned his head, then he revealed a larger throat patch already growing in.  His perch spot is just perfect.

There were other things in the backyard in addition to male hummingbirds.  I've had a few Queen Butterflies around my milkweed plants.  One Queen landed on a cholla stalk and it appeared as if the cholla stalk had wings.

Here is a Queen Butterfly nectaring from a milkweed plant.  The plant is covered in yellow aphids.

A Verdin was searching for insects on a palo verde tree.  Verdins are interesting birds of the southwestern deserts. They are not closely related to any other birds in the Western Hemisphere.  They are active year-round, during the hottest of the summer days and the coldest of the winter mornings.  Their small size and yellow head on a gray body make them easily identifiable.  The rufous epaulet on their shoulder adds a nice accent.

seemMy previous email featured many juvenile male Costa's Hummingbirds with variable amounts of purple gorget feathers.  Below is a female Costa's.  Like all Costa's which always seem to be hunched over, she is small and squat.  The females do not have any colorful gorget feathers.

The last email also featured many juvenile Broad-billed Hummingbirds. They were at various stages of growing in those beautiful blue feathers.  On the other hand, the female Broad-bill is only gray on the front with a white stripe behind her eye. She does have an orange bill, but with less color on it than the male has on his.

Below is a special bird- a female Anna's Hummingbird.   I rarely see this species of hummingbirds in my yard.  Perhaps because I am being 'forced' to spend so much time at home during hummingbird migration season I have been rewarded with seeing this species.  The short black bill, the speckling on its throat, and the white spot behind her eye tells me this is an Anna's Hummingbird.  I also had a handsome male on the porch but his photos will be in an upcoming email

The Queen Butterflies continue to fly around.  The dorsal (top) side of its wings are much less patterned than the lower side seen in the earlier photos.  Queen Butterflies are related to Monarch butterflies and are often mistaken for them.  Here is one guide to help you tell them apart:  https://www.wildflower.org/magazine/fauna/monarch-vs-queen

A male Broad-billed Hummingbird reminded me of how handsome he  looks, even from the back.

This female Broad-billed Hummingbird shows us how this species got its name. The base of its bill is, indeed, very broad.

A juvenile Verdin was searching for food among the leaves of a limber bush plant.  Although you can see the rufous epaulet (shoulder patch), you notice that the head is not very yellow.  It will take a while before this bird's adult plumage comes in.

Next up, that male Anna's Hummingbird along with a Rufous Hummingbird!