Southeast Arizona 04-12-08 to 04-17-08
We were so tired after birding from 5am to 8pm on Saturday with our guide, and all day the following day on our own, that we didn't have the energy to email. Matt Brown was very good, and very accommodating with our target list. However, the Five-striped Sparrows were nowhere to be seen in California Gulch. In fact no one found them that day, so we didn’t feel so bad. Perhaps it is still too early. No Varied Buntings either… Oh, well. He did help us get a couple of lifers and got us oriented on habitats, locations and hotspots for the remainder of our trip.
We stayed for three nights at the Duquesne House in Patagonia; it was charming. We arrived in the dark, met our guide in the dark, returned after dark, so it wasn’t until Sunday that we had any idea how cute the place was. It was decorated with Mexican furniture and knickknacks. The outside was a combination adobe and corrugated metal and in the back we found Chipping Sparrows, Curve-billed Thrasher and several Dove species. The hostess was very nice also, although paying for a b+b when birders never have breakfast is a little bit of a waste. We did have one breakfast, and it was nice, but we had to interrupt our birding to return to the inn...
Now we are in Sierra Vista at a Quality Inn. we just got back from dinner at a sports bar. Very funny. The place had 40 televisions, each one broadcasting a different event. They have about 14 DIFFERENT hot sauces. I ordered one of the hottest and our mouths were burning for about an hour.
We were successful in finding several of our targets birds, including Rufous-winged Sparrow, Black-capped
Gnatcatcher, but had only the most fleeting glimpse of Montezuma Quail as we flushed them from a grassy
hillside in the Gulch. Definitely a better look desired, but I don’t think it will be on this trip. Tomorrow we'll try for Lucifer Hummingbird. wish us luck.
… Well, that was yesterday. Today we went straight up to Mary Jo Ballator’s place in Ash Canyon, and the first bird I set my glasses on was a female Lucifer Hummingbird. Her long, curved bill is striking. Soon the male showed up and we felt very satisfied. What an amazing spectacle! As it turn out, Mary Jo knew Kelly. Her daughter , Deb, was in Kelly’s grade school classes and high school class. They had a fun time chatting, and she was very helpful with additional tips.
After that we headed to the Beatty’s in Miller Canyon. No new birds there. In fact, very few Hummingbirds compared to Mary Jo’s, but still a good stop and Mr. Beatty was very friendly. He hates ethanol however, and we got a lecture about how the drop in Hummingbird numbers was like due to the increased production of corn for that $%#@%! gas substitute. It was encouraging southern farmers to remove trees, plant huge amounts of corn, lowering overall Hummingbird populations….
Carr Canyon was next. WHAT a drive!! Very scary, but we managed in our rental car. We were searching for
Buff-breasted Flycatcher, and sure enough we found it in the thin pines at about 7000 feet. Also present here were Yellow-eyed Junco, Hermit and Grace’s Warbler, Cassin’s Finch, Red-naped Sapsucker and my personal favorite, an Olive Warbler!
We took a riparian break then and headed along Haverford Road to the old bridge which marks the southern end of the Riparian Wilderness area. We found nothing new here, but enjoyed the change in scenery. At the northern end, however, just east of Sierra Vista, we had great success. Lark Bunting in bulk, a Vesper Sparrow and several Curve-billed Thrashers. It’s a fabulous place, and we will return first thing tomorrow morning to see if we can catch some of the birds that the morning shift had.
We're expecting to add additional birds tomorrow and the next day.
Wednesday we woke up early (again) so we could get to the San Pedro Riparian preserve early. High winds kept
most birds in hiding, and it was difficult to get even the common birds. Among the highlights here were Lark Bunting, Vesper Sparrow, Wilson’s, Yellow and Townsend’s Warblers. The Empidonax Flycatchers baffled us, but we felt reasonably certain we were seeing both Dusky and Gray, based on tail-bobbing behavior and habitat preference mostly, plus the advise of one of the docents.
In the late afternoon we visited Fort Huachuca in the hopes of finding Elegant Trogon. The road up beyond
the third picnic area proved too “technical” for our poor rental car so we had to stop midway and have lunch before returning. It mattered none, however, because after a thorough search below the picnic area we finally found an Elegant Trogon. It’s shape alone was enough to identify it, but we were fortunate enough to watch the bird for close to twenty minutes as it moved deliberately from branch to branch, seemingly unbothered by our presence. At one point he called, shocking both of us with how soft the call was. All the recordings make it sound like a very loud, reverberating call, when in fact it was quite weak.
We had much to celebrate after this encounter, but instead of going out to dinner, we simply had a bottle of wine, some bread, cheese, olives and other finger foods in our hotel room. It was much nicer than having 40 televisions blasting sports shows at us and we could actually hear each other speak.
Thursday morning we woke up at 4:00 because we had some intel on Bendire’s Thrasher from a few sources.
We drove for about an hour to the Whitewater Draw, a grassland habitat, quite different than anything we’d yet seen. Other than the barking dogs guarding nearby houses, it was very quite. At sunrise it was also quite cold, and I was dressed in shorts while Cricket was bundled up like a snow woman. The sources told us to pish along the fence lines up and down Coffmann Road, but despite our best efforts, NO Bendire’s were found. Instead we had killer looks at Greater Roadrunner, Scaled Quail, Northern Harrier, White-faced Ibis, Crissal Thrasher, Brewer’s Sparrows and Yellow-headed Blackbirds. Worth the effort of a 4 o’clock start after all.
When we completed our search, we rushed to Tucson where we planned to visit the famous Sonora Desert Museum. Fatigue proved too great, so we had to take a cat-nap for 15 minutes on the shoulder. Once we arrived in the crowded parking lot, I wondered if it was worth the hassle, but quickly decided it was indeed. The mostly outdoor museum is filled with accurate habitat exhibits, wonderful animals, vast amounts of expertly written descriptions, and yes, thousands of children. After an hour or so, we took a short break to eat our sandwiches in the car, joined briefly by a Cactus Wren who actually hopped INSIDE our vehicle. I guess he knew the drill… tourists bring food. I bought a new hat with a Lucifer Hummingbird on it from the VERY adequate gift shop.
After the museum we debated going to find the Northern Jacana in Casa Grande but decided it was too far, too
much sunlight wasted for a single species, and not that much fun to visit a golf course for our last Arizona experience. So we visited the Sweetwater Water Treatment Ponds instead. There we added several species to our trip list. Close to 50 Blue-winged Teal, more Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Brown-headed Cowbird, Sora and nesting Harris Hawk. Not bad for an urban area and a nice way to wrap our trip..
That’s all for now! We probably won't have time to do any birding tomorrow as we have to return our car in
the morning and make our flight. It looks like we got 163 species, with several lifers for both of us. After
we have time to review our notes more thoroughly, that number may change, but for now, it seems a great
success with very few disappointments.
Day 1: 04-12 Saturday
California Gulch
Ruby Road
Hwy 82
Patagonia Lake
Humbolt Canyon
Day 2: 04-13 Sunday
Hwy 19
Madera Canyon
Patton’s House
Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve (entrance road)
Day 3: 04-14 Monday
Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve (entrance road)
Patagonia Rest Stop!
Patagonia Lake
Sonoita Creek Trail
Day 4: 04-15 Tuesday
Ash Canyon
Miller Canyon
Carr Canyon
San Pedro Riparian
Day 5: 04-16 Wednesday
San Pedro Riparian
Fort Huachuca (Garden Canyon)
Ramsey Canyon
Day 6: 04-17 Thursday
Whitewater Draw (Coffmann Road)
Sonora Desert Museum
Tucson Sweetwater Water Treatment Ponds
Complete bird list: (lifers in bold)
Gadwall Tucson
American Wigeon Tucson
Mallard Patagonia Lake
“Mexican Duck” Patagonia Lake
Blue-winged Teal Tucson
Cinnamon Teal Patagonia Lake
Green-winged Teal Patagonia Lake
Black-bellied Whistling Duck Patagonia Lake
Ruddy Duck Patagonia Lake
Wild Turkey Madera Canyon
Scaled Quail Whitewater
Gambel’s Quail California Gulch
Montezuma Quail** California Gulch 04-12-08
Pied-billed Grebe Patagonia Lake
Neotropic Cormorant Patagonia Lake
Least Bittern (heard only) Patagonia Lake
Great Blue Heron Patagonia-Sonoita
Green Heron Patagonia Lake
Black-crowned Night Heron Tucson
White-faced Ibis Whitewater
Black Vulture Hwy 19
Turkey Vulture ubiquitous
Northern Harrier Whitewater
Sharp-shinned Hawk California Gulch
Cooper’s Hawk Patagonia Lake
Gray Hawk California Gulch, Patagonia Lake, Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve, Rest Stop, Sonoita Creek Trail
Harris Hawk Tucson
Zone-tailed Hawk Ruby Road
Red-tailed Hawk California Gulch, Hwy 82
Swainson’s Hawk San Pedro
American Kestrel Patagonia Lake
Peregrine Falcon Patagonia Rest stop
Sora Tucson
Common Moorhen Tucson
American Coot Patagonia Lake
Killdeer Whitewater
Spotted Sandpiper Patagonia Lake
Ring-billed Gull Patagonia Lake
Rock Pigeon Hwy 82
Eurasian Collared Dove Patagonia B&B
White-winged Dove California Gulch (ubiquitous)
Mourning Dove California Gulch, Patagonia B&B
Inca Dove Patton’s House
Greater Roadrunner Madera Canyon entrance road
Spotted Owl Humbolt Canyon
Whiskered Screech Owl Ramsey Canyon
White-throated Swift Patagonia Rest stop
Broad-billed Hummingbird California Gulch, Patton’s
Violet-crowned Hummingbird Patton’s
Magnificent Hummingbird Madera Canyon, Patton’s
Lucifer Hummingbird** Ash Canyon 04-15-08
Black-chinned Hummingbird California Gulch, Patton’s
Anna’s Hummingbird Tucson Airport
Costa’s Hummingbird California Gulch
Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird Madera Canyon
Elegant Trogan Garden Canyon
Belted Kingfisher San Pedro
Acorn Woodpecker California Gulch
Gila Woodpecker California Gulch
Red-naped Sapsucker Carr Canyon
Ladder-backed Woodpecker California Gulch
Hairy Woodpecker California Gulch
Arizona Woodpecker Madera Canyon
Northern Flicker California Gulch, Pattton’s,
Patagonia-Sonoita Creek
Northern Beardless Tyrannulet California Gulch
Western Wood Pewee Madera Canyon
Hammond’s Flycatcher Madera Canyon
Dusky Flycatcher California Gulch
Gray Flycatcher Madera Canyon
Cordilleran Flycatcher Madera Canyon
Buff-breasted Flycatcher** Carr Canyon 04-15-08
Black Phoebe California Gulch, Patagonia Lake, anywhere with water…
Say’s Phoebe California Gulch, Patagonia Lake, anywhere with dry grass…
Vermilion Flycatcher California Gulch, Patagonia Lake, Patagonia-Sonoita
Dusky-capped Flycatcher Madera Canyon
Brown-crested Flycatcher Sonoita Creek Trail
Ash-throated Flycatcher California Gulch, Patagonia Lake
Cassin’s Kingbird ubiquitous
Loggerhead Shrike Hwy 82
Bell’s Vireo California Gulch, Humbold Canyon, Madera Canyon
Plumbeous Vireo Hwy 19
Cassin’s Vireo Patagonia Lake
Hutton’s Vireo California Gulch, Madera Canyon
Warbling Vireo California Gulch
Mexican Jay California Gulch, Ruby Road, Madera
Canyon, Patton’s, Patagonia-Sono
Chihuahuan Raven Ubiquitous in open areas
Common Raven Carr Canyon
Northern Rough-winged Swallow California Gulch
Barn Swallow Patagonia Lake
Cliff Swallow Tucson
Bridled Titmouse California Gulch, Madera Canyon
Verdin California Gulch, Patagonia Lake, Hwy 82, Hwy19
Bushtit California Gulch
White-breasted Nuthatch Madera Canyon
Cactus Wren California Gulch, Sierra Vista Hotel (Albino)
Rock Wren California Gulch
Canyon Wren California Gulch
Bewick’s Wren California Gulch, Pataonia Lake, Madera Canyon, Patton’s, Patagonia-Sonoita Creek
House Wren California Gulch, Patagonia B&B, Madera Canyon
Marsh Wren Patagonia-Sonoita
Ruby-crowned Kinglet Patagonia Lake
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher California Gulch, Patagonia Lake, Madera Canyon
Black-capped Gnatcatcher** Patagonia Lake 04-12-08
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher Sonoita Creek Trail
American Robin Ramsey Canyon
Hermit Thrush Patagonia-Sonoita
Northern Mockingbird Patagonia B&B
Curve-billed Thrasher Patagonia B&B, Patagonia Lake (interpretive center)
Crissal Thrasher Whitewater
European Starling ubiquitous
Phainopepla California Gulch
Orange-crowned Warbler California Gulch, Patagonia Lake, Madera Canyon
Lucy’s Warbler California Gulch, Patagonia Lake, Hwy 82, Patton’s
Virginia’s Warbler Carr Canyon
Nashville Warbler Ash Canyon
Yellow Warbler P-S Entrance road, Rest stop,
Yellow-rumped Warbler California Gulch , Patagonia Lake, Madera Canyon
Black-throated Gray Warbler Madera Canyon
Townsend’s Warbler Madera Canyon
Hermit Warbler Carr Canyon
Grace’s Warbler Carr Canyon
Common Yellowthroat Patagonia Lake
Wilson’s Warbler Patton’s
Painted Redstart Madera Canyon
Olive Warbler Carr Canyon
Hepatic Tanager Madera Canyon
Summer Tanager Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve (entrance road), Patagonia Lake
Flame-colored Tanager** Madera Canyon 04-13-08
Green-tailed Towhee California Gulch, Patagonia-Sonoita
Canyon Towhee California Gulch, Patagonia-Sonoita
Abert’s Towhee Patagonia-Sonoita
Spotted Towhee Carr Canyon
Rufous-crowned Sparrow California Gulch, Patagonia Rest Stop
Rufous-winged Sparrow** Hwy 82 04-12-08
Chipping Sparrow Ubiquitous
Brewer’s Sparrow Patagonia, Whitewater
Vesper Sparrow San Pedro
Black-throated Sparrow California Gulch, Madera Canyon entrance road
Lark Sparrow California Gulch, Madera Canyon
Lark Bunting San Pedro
Fox Sparrow Patagonia-Sonoita
Song Sparrow California Gulch
Lincoln’s Sparrow Patagonia Rest Stop
Dark-eyed Junco “gray-headed” Madera Canyon
Yellow-eyed Junco Carr Canyon
Northern Cardinal California Gulch, Madera Canyon
Pyrrhuloxia Patton’s
Black-headed Grosbeak Madera Canyon
Lazuli Bunting Patton’s
Red-winged Blackbird Patagonia Lake
Eastern Meadowlark Whitewater
Yellow-headed Blackbird Whitewater, Tucson
Great-tailed Grackle Patagonia Lake
Brown-headed Cowbird Tucson
Hooded Oriole California Gulch, Madera Canyon
Bullock’s Oriole San Pedro
Scott’s Oriole California Gulch, Madera Can\yon
Cassin’s Finch Madera Canyon
House Finch Ubiquitous
Pine Siskin Madera Canyon
Lesser Goldfinch Ubiquitous
House Sparrow Patagonia, Madera Canyon
