Bobcat and Birds at Sweetwater Wetlands!

A couple of weeks ago I went to Sweetwater Wetlands for an outing with the Feminist Bird Club of Tucson. There were some lovely birds (keep reading/scrolling for photos), but the bobcat certainly stole the show. (Yes, this was the same spot where I saw a bobcat last year.)

She was hunting and/or playing in the reeds, totally unfazed by the people watching her.

Not the best photo, but I thought you might like to see the back end of a bobcat pounce.

Eventually she got bored, and walked right towards us...

And then past us...

The birds were pretty wonderful too.  This is the most common hummingbird in this area, Anna's hummingbird (Calypte anna). If you look very carefully, you can see just a spot of the iridescent pink feathers on his head. At certain angles, these feathers shine quite brilliantly.

Cooper's hawks (Accipiter cooperii) are quite common throughout the U.S., although they are especially common here in Tucson, where they've adapted to city life (feeding on pigeons, among other prey). They are commonly seen in trees or posts, but I've never seen one hanging out by the water like this.

This was a lifer for me: the orange-crowned warbler (Leiothlypis celata). Apparently, you can almost never actually see their orange crown, as it only because visible when they become excited and raise their head feathers.

Sweetwater is always great for waterfowl. In addition to large numbers of American coots (as always), this time there were pied-billed grebes (Podilymbus podiceps)...

A large number of northern shovelers (Spatula clypeata, I love this genus name)...

Many of whom were sleeping, always a rather amusing sight...

Female (left) and male (right) northern shovelers.

And a single cinnamon teal (Spatula cyanoptera, yup same genus as the shovelers) that disappeared into the reeds before I could get a better photo. 

I always enjoy watching black phoebes (Sayornis nigricans) as they hunt. They tend to pick good vantage points, then dart out to catch insects, and return to the same spot.

These two female red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) were similarly enjoying a good vantage point.

And not to leave the herps out, the red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans) were also out and about enjoying the sun.

Every time I go to Sweetwater, I think "I should come here more often". Hope you enjoyed the photos!