

Hummingbird Banding in Arizona with Sheri L. Williamson
I had the pleasure of attending a hummingbird banding session with Sheri L. Williamson, an ornithologist and author of A Field Guide to Hummingbirds of North America (Peterson Field Guide). The session was held at the Casa de San Pedro in Hereford, Arizona. It was great chatting with Sheri, who is probably the foremost hummingbird expert in the country. Hummingbird banding is utilized for research. The migration of banded birds can be followed and their age determined. They


Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary, Hereford, Arizona
The first day of my latest Arizona hummingbird search took me to Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary, the home of Mary Jo Ballator and the most likely place to see the Lucifer Hummingbird. Mary Jo has chairs set in several different areas of her property where bird watchers and photographers can film not only hummingbirds, but warblers, tanagers, woodpeckers, grosbeaks, Montezuma Quail and many other birds. Her African Grey parrot “Cookie” also likes to hang out with the birders. She r


CRUISE TO THE ABC ISLANDS
ARUBA, BONAIRE AND CURACAO – An eight day cruise to find one hummingbird! Well, I learned a lesson on this cruise. If you want to photograph hummingbirds on islands near the Equator, don’t do it from a cruise ship. Apparently the hummers feed like mad early in the morning and then siesta in the trees during the mid-day as they would expend too much energy foraging in the intense sun. Or at least that’s what I was told. By the time the ship docked and I got to the rental car p