Rob Smallwood said:
I have a friend who has emigrated to Arizona - not a birder but we may visit sometime in the future.
How about a brief idea of what a birder visiting from the UK might see?
First, thank you all for the kind welcomes.
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Second, in response to Rob Smallwood:
What makes Southeastern AZ unique is that it lies at the crossroads of three major US floristic regions: the Sonoran Desert, the Rocky Mountain, and the Madrean. The Sonoran Desert and Madrean are both Mexican regions that happen to reach up into Arizona. Another part of Southeastern Arizona's birding uniqueness is that it is made up of several ranges of mountains reaching 10,000 ft (4500 m) broken up by valleys or basins. Here in Tucson, you can travel 25 miles from the base of the Catalina Mtns to the top with an elevational change of 6000 ft (2600 m) and experience the vegetational changes equivalent to driving to Canada.
These two attributes make Southearstern Arizona very diverse for birdwatching -- as well as other kinds of nature observation. As well as being the home to hundreds of nesting species, we are also on a major migrational pathway that brings lots of visitors.
Typical target birds for visiting birders would be the Vermillion Flycatcher, the Elegant Trogon, Rose-thrated Becard, Whistling Ducks, Flame-Colored Tanager, not to mention Sonoran desert commons like the Cactus Wren, Greater Roadrunner, Inca Dove, White Wing Dove, Gambel's Quail -- which I can see on any given day on a walk through my neighborhood.
I'm just an average birder out here, but I'm always happy to go out on a birding jaunt with visitors. Feel free to contact me.
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