Birdwatch: Elfin magic as tiny owl takes first flight in Arizona backyard

As night falls in Sierra Vista, an elf owl fledgling steps into the darkness for the first timeElf owl (Micrathene whitneyi)For back yard birding at its best, it's hard to beat Arizona's Sierra Vista, home to the Southwest Wings Birding and Nature festival. As many as a dozen different kinds of hummingbird spar like wartime flying aces around the feeders, while Mexican jays utter shrill warning calls at a diamondback rattlesnake lurking below. Continue reading...