South Arizona -June (1 Viewer)

Hi all,

My fiancée and I are hoping to spend our honeymoon in South Arizona, in the Sierra Vista/ Madera canyon area. I am a keen birder and my other half to be also loves nature and really wants to see hummingbirds.

I know this part of Arizona is meant to be good all year round but I am slightly hesitant about booking as it is the hottest and driest month of the year. Is June still a good time to go or is it worth putting the honeymoon off until early August?
Will it still be an amazing place in June or will the lush valley forests be dry and birdless?

Many thanks for any help

Ben

I think I have answered my own question having looked at some very good websites....yes it is going to be too hot to have a good time in June.

Perhaps August-September would be better for us?

Ben, the problem with August is rain. If we have a good monsoon season, a lot of the places birders like to visit could be inaccessible at times. June is hot, but dry. September is more tolerable, but here in Sierra Vista it is still hot. The surrounding mountains and Madera will be cooler.

In my opinion any time after the monsoons start is a great time to be here. June is brutal - very dry and an average daytime temperature of 100F (in Tucson at least). The monsoons are unpredictable but usually start in the first week or two of July and run through late August/September. You have to bear in mind that from April to October it can, at times, be incredibly hot in SE Arizona. I forgot to take my hat today and got sunburnt - it's February!

I've never had any access problems to birding sites due to monsoon conditions but I'm able to go back next week, so it's not an issue for me. Plus I have a 4x4. California Gulch/Oro Blanco Mine sometimes gets cut off with heavy rains, and less frequently the Paton's house in Patagonia, otherwise most sites are fine. However, you should take the possibility of flash flooding very seriously and never cross running water you aren't 100% sure about. People die every year doing something brave/stupid.

The thunder storms are dramatic and exciting with some of the best lightning displays you'll ever see.

And if it's hummingbirds you want, July and August are the peak times for big numbers and diversity of species. On my hummingbird workshop last July we picked up 11 species easily at two sites in the Huachucas (Miller and Ash Canyons). The rarer ones (eg: Plain-capped Starthroat) can turn up anytime but tend towards August/September. All the sought-after Mecxican species which breed here will also be around in July/August.

To summarise, July/August/September is great here. You'll love it!

Thanks for the replies. So August would be ok hopefully.
I have read several different things about the monsoon, one book says it usually rains only in the afternoons and only for an hour or so, others say it can be continuous, obviously it changes day to day or year to year but is there any risk of it raining continuously for the first two weeks in Aug?

We were looking at staying at Birders vista in Sierra vista, do you know if that's a good call, can you suggest any other places which are better, also where is good in the Madera canyon area, we'd like somewhere that serves food or somewhere we could go out for a meal rather than self catering if possible. At the same time we'd like to be in the wilds, probably impossible but asking real people is far more informative than looking at websites!

Many thanks for your help, can't wait to go now.

I don't know the Birders Vista B&B but it looks very nice and is well situated for Ramsey, Miller and Ash Canyons, San Pedro River, etc.

There are three places to stay within Madera Canyon, all good and with their own bird feeders: Santa Rita Lodge (http://www.santaritalodge.com/), Madera Kubo Cabins (personal favorite - http://www.maderakubo.com/) and Chuparosa Inn (http://www.chuparosainn.com/). However, I'm not sure if any of them serve food.

Alternatively, Green Valley is a few miles away and has a variety of places to stay and eat. But then you won't be in the wilds.

My advice for Madera Canyon would be to stay at one of the lodges within the canyon, have cereal for breakfast, make a sandwich for lunch and drive out to Green Valley for dinner.

Okay now I want to go too