Calliope Hummingbird: Birding at the Painted Pony Resort

With guests in residence, especially other Biologists and Biologists who are also birders, it is nice to show off some of the avian fauna that visits the Painted Pony Resort.  One of the guests placed several hummingbird feeders on trees in the front courtyard to attract the local hummingbirds to a spot where the guest could exit their bedroom into the front courtyard and sit watching the hummingbirds.  Over the period of several days, Rufous, Calliope, and a Black-chinned hummingbirds were observed at the feeders.  The trick to placing feeders in the high New Mexican desert is to place them where the nectar feeding bats can not easily access the feeders.  Nectar feeding bats will drain a feeder in about 10 minutes in the evening leaving nothing for the hummingbirds.  Below is a photograph of one of the Calliope hummingbirds, North America's smallest bird, near the feeder.  Hummingbird supplies are available locally from Tom's Bird Feeders and Reptile Supply.

Calliope hummingbird in the front courtyard at the Painted Pony Resort.

Hummingbird Spring in the Chiricahua Mountains with the Portal Rodeo Hiking Club

The hike this week with the Portal Rodeo Hiking Club to Hummingbird Spring on the east face of the Chiricahua Mountains just outside Portal, Arizona was spectacular. It was lead by Peg Abbot owner and lead guide of Naturalist Journeys who was kind enough to start the trip with coffee cake and lots of hot coffee for everyone.  Access to the trail leading to Hummingbird Spring is across a small section of private land along a public access route (close the gate) on Starview Place just south of Portal Road.  The trail then wraps around the low rhyolite and limestone foothills, slowly climbing the face of the Chiricahua's until reaching Humminbird Spring.  The spring is located further uphill but a pipe delivers the dripping water to a cement trough which the dogs were happy to play in.  The loop shown on the Hummingbird Spring map (or in the sidebar) covered about 6 miles and included a maximum elevation change of 1000'.  Shorter or longer hikes are easily created from the numerous trails in the area.  In fact the group broke up along the hike with some returning after reaching Hummingbird Spring and then later the group again split with several hikers continuing south climbing another ridge to view the San Simon valley before looping back and hiking out.  The geology at the contact between the limestone and rhyolite is quite interesting.  Faulting is evident in many places (see this photograph) and the zone of mineralization is evidenced by several test pits and at least one abandoned mine shaft.

Trail to Hummingbird Spring

I want some too.

Not a Hummingbird in Hummingbird Spring