The Vermillion Flycatcher is a small flycatcher of our desert riparian zones. You can find them as far north as Phoenix (and a couple near Palm Springs) but otherwise, they are found mostly south of the border. Their name fits them to a Tee! This male has its full vermillion plumage that just glows. And they fly catch for their meals. They launch from a perch heading towards their prey, snatch it in mid-air, and then land on their perch looking for their next meal which might be just seconds away. They are most active early morning, and late evening when their prey is active. This basic biology helps you find them but photographing them, you just need a little more trivia.

As the series of photographs below depicts, they can be predictable. As in, I photographed this same individual five days in a row at the same time of day working the same series of perches. The top photo is one perch and the bottom series is another. If you look closely at the bottom photos, you can see the tiny gnats it’s feeding on. So once you find the flycatcher, you just need to watch its pattern and you’ll know what perch to set up on. They are so cute, so much fun to watch, and enjoyable to photograph. You’ll quickly get hooked on our fierce little fireball flycatcher.

The desert is called a desert because typically when looking for critters it can seem pretty deserted! This is so true in the winter. There are thankfully some exceptions and we’re at one of those right now. The Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch is this man-made oasis that has the most amazing collection of birds in the winter. A water reclamation facility, it was turned into a birding paradise attracting some incredibly photographable birds. I’m so far up to 43 species in four days! One of the reclusive birds is the Gamble’s Quail. They are all over the Preserve, you see them dart from bush to bush, and you hear them in their hiding place chuckling as you go by, but actual glass time is rare. This male “guard” picked this perfect perch after we’d been standing in place for a while photographing a Verdin. Not sure if it knew we were there, didn’t care we were there, but there it stood as its brood ran across the area moving from the safety of one shrub to another. It would look over its shoulder every so often to make sure we weren’t moving otherwise seemingly giving us to never mind. Once all the females were moved, he hopped down and followed them. It was a great moment making the whole Adventure just so sweet. We all felt we had won the winter desert gamble.