SE Arizona 1st - 10th May (1 Viewer)

[Mark Harper]

May 1st 2009

Arrived in Phoenix just after 5pm, by the time we had cleared immigration, collected our bags and hire car it was 7pm and we had a two hour plus drive to Tucson to look forward to. Fortunately the traffic wasn’t too heavy and we made it to our Motel shortly after 9pm having seen a few Great-tailed Grackles and a lone Lesser Nighthawk along the way.

May 2nd 2009

An early start was not a problem as the time difference resulted in us being wide awake very early, by 6.30am we had made our way east to Wilcox where we refuelled the car and ourselves and saw our first Western Kingbirds, Curve-billed Thrasher and Bullocks Oriole in the Safeway car park.

Up until this point all our driving had been on freeways and hence the opportunity for stopping had been limited, so as soon as we could we found a side road to pull onto and have ten minutes birding in the dry desert scrub. There was not much to see, but an immature Black-throated Sparrow had us scratching our heads until an adult appeared next to it.

Pinery Canyon was our destination and we passed several occupied camping areas before we found somewhere vacant to park and explore. A Black-headed Grosbeak was soon found singing and this proved to be one of the most common birds in southeast Arizona, present at most locations visited. The first lifer of the trip was also one of the best a fabulous Painted Redstart, which flitted about just above head height whilst occasionally singing.

One of only two Olive-sided Flycatchers noted during the trip was singing from a dead snag and a Buff-breasted Flycatcher was also heard and quickly responded to playback. A female Hummingbird kept zipping past, but it wasn’t until she landed on her nest, which was festooned with lichen in a pine tree, that we were able to identify her as a Black-chinned Hummingbird. Back near the car we came across a Yellow-eyed Junco, which we found to be common throughout the trip at high altitudes.

One of the main reasons for coming to this corner of southeast Arizona is to see Mexican Chickadee, as all the other species on offer can be seen elsewhere, so we pushed on up to Pinery Canyon Campground, which is supposedly good for this specie. Prior to travelling to Arizona I had been keeping track of various reports from the area and whilst one recent report said they were common another had failed to find them at all.

Fortunately for us the Campground was empty and the wind on this side of the peak was insignificant, when we went over the top later on the wind was really gusting. Within a few minutes of arriving we heard the first Mexican Chickadee and it did not take too long to track down. Shortly afterwards we actually found a nest hole, that was being regularly visited, in total there were probably at least four birds in the campground. However, when we later pointed some other birders to this site they spent an hour there without any sign of a Chickadee, fortunately they picked one up nearby later.

Another star bird of the “sky islands”, the mountains of southeast Arizona, is the Red-faced Warbler and we were not to be disappointed when we saw our first in the pine trees around the campground. There were also one or two Grace’s Warblers in the area, but these seemed to stay higher in the trees so the views were mostly of their underside. The real warbler event though was an enormous flock of Townsends Warblers, with a few Hermit Warblers thrown in for good measure, we literally saw several hundred passing through the campground. Later on the Arizona Listserv we read a report of in excess of a thousand birds passing a point on the same mountain. A Bridled Titmouse in the same area, reminded us of the Crested Tits we get back in Europe.

Once we crossed the pass the wind picked up considerably and we struggled to add much to our list, but our first Mexican Jay’s were much appreciated. Much lower down we spent sometime looking for Black-chinned Sparrows along the road between Paradise and Portal, but without any success.

At Portal we checked into our accommodation and went for a stroll around the town, more like a small village, to see what was visiting the various feeders. The feeders next to the Portal Store were dominated by Pine Siskins with a few Lesser Goldfinches, but those by the post office had a greater diversity. Acorn Woodpeckers, Lazuli Buntings, Chipping Sparrows fed side by side with a cracking male Summer Tanager. Whilst across the road a Wilson’s Warbler crept through the bushes, a Lincoln’s Sparrow fed in the stream and a Brown-crested Flycatcher called loudly.

With the exception of Cape May, most other places I have visited in the USA there have been very few birders, this is definitely not the case in southeast Arizona in May when birdwatchers are everywhere. Walking back to the store we met a couple of birders that were camping in Cave Creek and they invited us along to see their feeders, so off we went. Most of the species we had already seen, but a Blue-throated Hummingbird was new, unfortunately it was also very dominant so any other hummingbirds that got close were chased off before we could even pick up our binoculars.

After about an hour we bade our farewells and headed to bird the road along the south fork of Cave Creek. Late afternoon in southeast Arizona seemed to be fairly quiet wherever we went and here was no exception, but we did manage to pick up an Arizona Woodpecker, a Hammond’s Flycatcher and a Hermit Thrush, before heading back to Portal for some dinner.

Arizona has a lot of nightbirds so we headed out armed with a spotlight to see what we could see. Before it got dark we headed towards Paradise, failing to find Black-chinned Sparrows again. As darkness fell we headed back towards Portal stopping to listen for Common Poorwills, partway back we came across a large tour group positioned where Common Poorwills were singing from high up the slopes, rather than stopping as they did not appear to be looking at anything we decided to try and find our own. 100 metres down the road they had parked there two minbuses and sat on the road right next to them was a Common Poorwill, which we watched in our headlights for a short time.

Heading to the south fork of Cave Creek we heard a Whiskered Screech-Owl singing across the road from the entrance to Idlewood campground. After a short time stumbling about in the dark we were able to spotlight one bird whilst another sang close by and also flew through the spotlight beam. With a hectic following day planned we decided to call it a night and headed back to Portal, very satisfied with our first days sightings.

 

[JeffMoh]

That's a pretty good first day's birding, Mark. We were in Phoenix in February but didn't make it further south that time. However, we just got back from Salt Lake City, where we saw several of the same species you saw.

I look forward to seeing reports from the rest of your trip. Do you have a blog?

Jeff
www,jeffincypress.blogspot.com

 

[Mark Harper]

I look forward to seeing reports from the rest of your trip. Do you have a blog?

No, I don't have a blog.

Here are a few photos from the first day.

 

[Mark Harper]

May 3rd

We opted to spend the first hour of daylight looking for Black-chinned Sparrows along the Portal to Paradise road. No success with the Sparrows but we did see another Common Poorwill and hear a couple of Great Horned Owls.

Having spoken to several birders the previous day we had heard that Crissal Thrashers were not being seen at Dave Jasper’s feeders with any regularity, so we opted to spend the next hour along the south fork of Cave Creek. Most of our time was spent on the second bridge where we had great views of a Red-naped Sapsucker, Canyon Wren and a Blue-throated Hummingbird that was bathing in the stream. Unfortunately with such a busy day ahead we had to leave without having seen the Elegant Trogon that had been seen in the area the previous day.

Before departing the area entirely we spent a short time birding the road past Dave Jasper’s seeing trip first Cooper’s Hawk, Verdin, Cactus Wren, Bell’s Vireo but no Thrashers. A couple of birders driving past stopped to talk and advised us that there had been no Crissal Thrashers at the feeders again that morning so we opted to head for our next destination, but not before stopping to photograph a roadside Greater Roadrunner.

Having been reading the Arizona bird news for several months we knew that there was a Blue Mockingbird at Slaughter Ranch, which had been around for several months. As this would only necessitate a diversion of around an hour, this seemed too good an opportunity to miss so we headed for the ranch.

On arrival at this desert oasis there were birds everywhere, Yellow-rumped Warblers were particularly obvious as they hopped around on the grass. By the lake were Spotted Sandpipers and in its middle were several American Coots and a drake Ring-necked Duck. These were not the reason we were here though and we soon headed for the thicket that the Mockingbird had been seen in, speaking to the birders already on site and the word was it had not yet been seen.

After an hour or so sat on the lawn with only Common Black-Hawk new for the list, I decided to walk around the back of the thicket. Visibility here was limited and there was only one or two spots where you could see in, fortunately I was able to occupy one of these places. A Yellow-breasted Chat offered close views in the thicket, whilst Common Ground-Doves fed along the track. However, a further hour passed with no sign of the Blue Mockingbird, but a Northern Mockingbird was providing an interesting background track as it imitated the song of a Buff-collared Nightjar.

Returning to the lawn, seeing my first Gila Woodpecker on the way, the word was no sign of the Blue Mockingbird. Speaking to Melody Kehl, a local southeast Arizonan guide, she advised us that she had never missed the bird in many visits since February and in fact the previous day she had seen it within a few seconds of arriving. A further two to three hours passed before we decided to call it a day with still no sign and as it turns out up to the time of writing there have been no further reported sightings since our visit.

Our final stop of the day was to be the Beatty’s Hummingbird feeders in Miller Canyon, but on arrival Tom Beatty told us that the Spotted Owl was had been sat all day in a very prominent position where we could not miss it if we walked along the trail. This was too good an opportunity to miss as we had planned to visit here the following two days if necessary to track down this bird. A lot of American birders we met had seen Spotted Owl recently in Scheelite Canyon, but being on a military base this site is out of bounds for foreigners unless accompanied by a member of the military.

So off we went following Tom’s directions, getting lost once and walking for what seemed much further than the half a mile Tom had said, but eventually we turned a corner and there it was. The Spotted Owl was as promised 12 feet off the ground sat in a Maple directly above the path, impossible to miss unless you had your eyes closed.

After taking many photos of the Owl we headed back to the Hummingbird feeders where we enjoyed sightings of seven different species, the best being a male of the rare White-eared Hummingbird, but we also enjoyed trip first Magnificent, Anna’s and Broad-billed Hummingbirds. Eventually we tore ourselves away and made the short drive to our hotel in Sierra Vista.

May 4th

The road to Carr Canyon had recently undergone some maintenance work, despite this it was still the worse road that we travelled on in Arizona, a combination of loose gravel, many switchbacks and large drops off the side made it a nervous drive to the top. We stopped long enough on the way up to see a Greater Pewee that was singing from a dead snag, but as our main target for this site was supposed to be found along the Comfort Springs trail, we more or less headed straight there.

The Comfort Springs trail heads steeply down hill and we only added Spotted Towhee to the list on the way down. Where the trail crosses a streambed is supposed to be a good site for Northern Pygmy-Owl, the race here sometimes being split as Mountain Pygmy-Owl. It was 8.15am by the time we reached this point and broad daylight, but despite this on playing a Pygmy-Owl tape I got an immediate vocal response from a Whip-poor-will, unfortunately I soon went quiet and we were unable to locate it.

The Pygmy-Owl was not so responsive and we spent quite some time in the area without any success. Deciding to walk on a bit further we found another Buff-breasted Flycatcher, but it was generally quiet. Eventually we headed back, as we recrossed the stream a Northern Pygmy-Owl began singing close by. Before we could track it down though it went quiet and wouldn’t respond. We gave it a further hour, but heard nothing further and eventually admitted defeat.

As we emerged from the trail into the campground I spotted an unusual looking warbler at first I thought it was a Hermit, but it didn’t quite look right and when I got a better view it had obvious dark ear-coverts. We eventually decided that it was probably a Hermit / Townsends hybrid, with the grey back of a Hermit and the dark ear-coverts of a Townsends.

Another target bird for this site was Olive Warbler, which I had previously heard and seen in flight at Pinery Canyon, but never got a good enough view, so stopping at various stands of pines along the road back down we eventually tracked down a singing male. There was not much else for us to target here so we left to head back to Sierra Vista for some lunch, fortunately not meeting any cars on the narrow road heading down.

Lunch obtained we headed to San Pedro Riparian Area just outside Sierra Vista, the feeders here were covered in White-crowned Sparrows. The heat of the day was not the best time for the grasslands so we headed for the river where there was more shade and the prospect of migrating birds.

As we had hoped even in the heat of the day there was plenty to see along the river and we were soon enjoying Northern Flickers, Western Tanagers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, Song Sparrows, Lincoln’s Sparrows and much more. Several Mallards along the river were of the Mexican race, where the male looks just like the female. A calling raptor drew our attention and it soon flew overhead, it was a superb Grey Hawk. This site is also good for Botteri’s Sparrows so we vowed to return the following morning when it would be cooler and the grassland birds more active.

There had been a recent report of a couple of Virginia Rails showing well at the Sierra Vista EOP, so as we had to drive right past we called in. The site consisted of reeds as far as the eye could see with only a very small area of water visible from the viewing platform, it was immediately obvious that we would have to be very fortunate to see any Rails here. We gave it 30 minutes and added a fly past White-faced Ibis to the list, but Virginia Rails were only heard.

One of the remaining key birds for this area was Lucifer Hummingbird and the best site for these was the feeders at Mary Jo Ballator’s home in Ash Canyon. The reported best time to see these was apparently 6pm onwards, but we decided to get there early and see what else we could see.

The whole yard was very birdy and we enjoyed watching a Curve-billed Thrasher wandering around beneath the feeders, whilst we waited for the Lucifer Hummingbird. Fortunately we didn’t have long to wait and a female appeared around 15 minutes after we arrived and kept visiting every 30 minutes or so. Scott’s Orioles, a Ladder-backed Woodpecker and several other species of Hummingbird kept us occupied, but by 6.45pm we decided to call time on the male Lucifer’s. Mary Jo speculated that it was the aggressive Anna’s Hummingbirds that were keeping the males away.

As it was not too far back to the hotel we thought we would spend a short time looking for nightbirds along the Miller Canyon road, we heard a couple of Whiskered Screech-Owls and several Common Poorwills, but nothing else so we called it a night and went to get some food.

 

[Mark Harper]

A few photos from the 3rd and 4th May.

 

[Mark Harper]

May 5th

A return visit to San Pedro was first up and we were not to be disappointed, walking straight down to the river from the car park takes you through grasslands and we saw several Blue Grosbeaks along with White-crowned, Lark and Brewer’s Sparrows. Along the river we came across most of the same species as the previous day, but in larger numbers and with the added bonus of a female MacGillivray’s Warbler.

A couple of “Western” Flycatchers were seen, but they did not call and hence we could not tell whether they were Cordilleran or Pacific-slope with any certainty. Our route back took us through the grasslands where we hoped to pick up Botteri’s Sparrow and our hopes were further raised when we met Jim Lundberg and his brother who told us that they had just been photographing a Botteri’s Sparrow. Unfortunately we could not find the Sparrow in the area they indicated, but did find our first definite Dusky Flycatcher on the way.

We were beginning to give up hope on Botteri’s as we were nearly back and hadn’t heard or seen any sight of our quarry. As luck would have it though I heard a Cassin’s Sparrow singing and this immediately popped up into a small bush next to us, just long enough for us to get a decent view before it disappeared. Then almost immediately a Botteri’s Sparrow began singing a little further along the track and quite close to the reception area, we got good scope views of this but as we tried to get closer for a photograph it flew and we could not relocate it.

The next destination on our whistle-stop tour was Patagonia, so we grabbed a sandwich for later in Sierra Vista and hit the road. Patagonia roadside rest stop seemed like a suitable place to eat lunch especially as it was a site for one of our target birds. We walked the trail on the opposite side of the road, but it was very quiet and there was no sign of our target bird. Returning to the rest area we found a Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, but we didn’t watch this for long as we could hear our target calling, a Thick-billed Kingbird, and we soon tracked it down sat directly above the picnic table where we had eaten our lunch.

Backtracking slightly we headed into Patagonia and to the Paton’s Hummingbird feeders, an Inca Dove in the driveway was the only one we saw on the trip, but we probably overlooked them elsewhere. The major draw here is Violet-crowned Hummingbird and we only had to wait 10 minutes before a male put in an appearance and he probably visited two or three more times in the hour we spent there. Whilst he was not around there was plenty of other birds to occupy us as Scarlet Tanagers, Lazuli Buntings, Acorn Woodpeckers, White-breasted Nuthatches and a Yellow-breasted Chat all visited the feeders.

A Sinaloa Wren had been present in Patagonia since sometime in 2008, but all the reports I had read suggested that early morning was the best time to hear it and that the chances of seeing it were slim at best, so we did not bother looking for it and headed straight to Patagonia Lake.

Whilst we added a few species to the list at Patagonia Lake, Double-crested Cormorant, Snowy Egret, Cattle Egret, Ruddy Duck and American Herring Gull, the heat was oppressive and we eventually gave up and headed to Nogales to meet up with some friends who had come down from Scottsdale to visit California Gulch with us the next day. On arrival at Nogales our friends had already arrived so we headed out early to IHOP for a meal and then returned to the hotel where we downed a few beers.

May 6th

Although it is not too far from Nogales to California Gulch the road for most of the way is unpaved and very windy so it takes at least an hour and a half. Our early start meant that it was 6.30am when we arrived and it was already warming up nicely. From the north end of the gulch the track heads down steeply before flattening out, as soon as we reached the flat area the speciality of the site, a Five-striped Sparrow, could be heard singing and we were soon watching this at close range. Walking along the gulch and back we ended up seeing four or five of these localised birds.

A Swainson’s Thrush halfway along the gulch was a trip first, but the best bird apart from the Sparrow, was a male Black-capped Gnatcatcher that we saw near to the South end of the gulch and which stayed around long enough for me to fetch another birder who had just given up looking for it and was heading back to his car.

From California Gulch we drove the short distance to Aravica Cienaga, where we saw our first confirmed Lucy’s Warblers, but having seen them I was sure that I had seen them earlier in the trip just not well enough to count. We also saw our only Black Vultures of the trip in this area.

The heat drove us inside for a leisurely lunch at the Red Rooster, just to the north of Aravica, but eventually we had to venture back outside and we opted to spend a couple of hours around Buenos Aires Reserve headquarters. Apart from some caged Masked Bobwhite there was not much bird activity in the vicinity of the headquarters building, but we did have a close encounter with a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake.

There was a lake close to the headquarters so we thought it worth a quick look and although it was well on its way to drying out there was still a reasonable amount of water and plenty of exposed mud for waders. We did in fact add quite a few species to the trip list with Wilson’s Phalaropes, Long-billed Dowitcher, Least Sandpiper, Killdeer, Black-necked Stilts, Northern Harrier and Yellow-headed Blackbird all new. As our friends had a three hour drive back to Scottsdale that night we decided to call it a day and return to Nogales, taking a more northerly route on a paved road rather than return past California Gulch, which proved to be much faster.

 

[Mark Harper]

A few more photos.

 

[Mark Harper]

May 7th

As we had seen most of the target birds we could hope for in the Patagonia / Nogales area we headed straight to Madera Canyon. Our friends had suggested that we stop a couple of hundred metres past the Continental School on the way into Madera Canyon to look for Rufous-winged Sparrow, so we did just that and sure enough we soon tracked a couple down. We also saw five illegal immigrants making a dash from one side of the road to the other in the vicinity, what was really surprising for me was the fact that they had no luggage, no water and no food with them, but despite this they had already made it 50 miles over the border through the desert.

We then drove straight up the canyon to the Ampitheater parking lot, seeing several Wild Turkeys on route, from there it is a short distance uphill to Madera Kubo, where the feeders had been attracting a male Flame-coloured Tanager for the past week. We soon heard the bird singing and after a short time managed to locate it high in the canopy, but offering good scope views.

Whilst looking for the Tanager we had heard a Northern Pygmy-Owl singing around 200 metres up the hill from Madera Kubo, so we then spent a short time looking for this, but it had gone quiet. Another of our targets, Elegant Trogon, is best found along the Vault Mine trail which leads from the car park at the end of the road, so this was our next stop. Swainson’s Thrushes were common along the trail as we walked up and we also saw our first Warbling Vireos of the trip, I don’t know how we had missed them up until this point as we saw them everyday for the rest of the trip.

It wasn’t too far up the trail that we came across a group of birders and before we could ask them what they were looking at we heard the Elegant Trogon and we were soon enjoying great views of a male. After 15 minutes or so the Trogon flew further up the trail and whilst the other birders headed after it we remained trying to photograph Plumbeous Vireos. Another male Elegant Trogon then appeared in front of us and we had this one to enjoy to ourselves as we could still hear the other bird calling higher up the trail. It was not long before the second male flew higher up the trail. I am not sure whether this is true but there seemed to be a tendency for the Trogons to move higher during the day, perhaps as the temperature rose, as people we spoke to later saw the Trogons even higher up the trail.

Target in the bag we returned to Madera Kubo where we enjoyed even better views of the Flame-coloured Tanager as it visited the feeders, along with Western and Hepatic Tanagers. Walking back up the road the Northern Pygmy-Owl was again calling intermittently, but it proved very difficult to find. It took us 30 minutes of triangulating to determine exactly which branch of which tree it was in, but we were still struggling to locate the bird. We got lucky though when a second Northern Pygmy-Owl flew in carrying a lizard that was as longer than itself, once we saw where this one landed we were able to locate the other well hidden behind leaves.

After a leisurely lunch consumed in the shade in the Ampitheater we returned to Madera Kubo where a White-eared Hummingbird put in a brief appearance. A number of people watching the feeders were keen to try and see the Northern Pygmy-Owls so we took these to the place we had seen them and fortunately one of them was still sat on the same branch.

A short time birding in the vicinity of Santa Rita Lodge turned up nothing new and with the heat reducing bird activity we opted to go and find our hotel in Green Valley.

Refreshed and with the temperature now below 100, we headed back to Madera Canyon to look for nightbirds. A pair of Scaled Quails by the side of the road where we had earlier seen Rufous-winged Sparrows necessitated a quick u-turn on the way. Santa Rita Lodge was our first proper stop where every evening in the summer an Elf Owl appears in a hole in a telegraph pole. Sure enough at 7.20pm he appeared in the hole for 5 minutes and was photographed by the many people gathered.

The top car park at Madera Canyon is reported as a reliable site for Whip-poor-will, here of the Mexican race with a different song to those across the rest of the US, and as soon as we pulled up we could hear them singing. Unfortunately despite being able to hear them, seeing them was a different matter and despite chasing them all over the place we never even got a glimpse.

May 8th

Having seen most of our target birds we decided to head to Mt Lemmon where a pair of Grey Vireo’s had been reported in the Molino Basin Campground. We spent a short time looking for Gilded Flickers in the cacti at the base of the mountain, without any luck, but as the Vireo’s had been reported the previous day as not seen after 7.00am we soon pushed on to the campground.

Arriving without any detailed directions we were not prepared for was quite how large the campground was and we were beginning to think that it was going require a lot of luck to chance across the Gray Vireos. Fortunately as we walked along the road through the campground we met a couple of other birders that were just leaving, they told us that they had been there an hour or so that morning and several hours the previous day without any luck, but they were able to point us in the general direction. Arriving at the specified place it took all of 30 seconds to hear a Grey Vireo singing a further 30 seconds to see it and another minute before we located its nest.

We watched a pair for the next hour as they flew backwards and forwards with nesting material, singing as they went. We were able to show several other birders that turned up the Vireo’s in the telescope. When the Vireo’s were not in sight we were able to watch nesting Phainopepla’s, a couple of Rock Wrens and a male Costa’s Hummingbird that positively shone in the morning sunlight.

Having missed Black-chinned Sparrows near Portal, we spent a considerable time searching for these on the slopes of Mt Lemmon. The TAS guide to birds of SE Arizona recommended several sites and we scoured each of these without any success.

It was another hot day so we headed higher more to enjoy the scenery than with any target birds in mind. The road to the top is 25 miles long and climbs something like 4,000 feet, but despite this there were hundreds of cyclists heading up, whilst the ride down must be fabulous the journey up looked pure torture. Close to the top we pulled off onto a side road and walked along this for some distance, the highlight here was a Red-breasted Nuthatch the first I had seen since the famous bird at Holkham.

The best bird on the way down was a Zone-tailed Hawk, but unfortunately for me I only saw it flying away for a fraction of a second before it dropped over a ridge from where it never reappeared. We spent some more time on the lower slopes looking without success for Gilded Flickers and then again around Green Valley.

Wanting to have another go for Whip-poor-will’s we went for a meal in Green Valley at 5pm, I have never felt so out of place in a restaurant before, as I must have been at least 40 years younger than every other customer in the place. It turns out that Green Valley is a popular retirement location for Americans from the northern states and Canadians and the majority like to eat early.

Well fed we headed up to the top car park in Madera Canyon to wait for dusk. The Whip-poor-will’s began calling before dusk but always distantly and it was not until it was close to fully dark before any closer ones began calling. This time we got lucky though as two birds landed by the side of the path right in front of us, but on seeing us immediately flew up, one landing on a bare branch in full view for us to enjoy. We made several stops driving back down the canyon but heard nothing further worth searching for.

May 9th

We began the day with a drive around Green Valley seeking out the “elusive” Gilded Flicker, which we eventually got a view of as one flew across the road in front of us.

Florida Canyon had a couple of pairs of Rufous-capped Warblers and whilst we had seen these previously in Mexico, we thought we would pay a visit here anyway. A Blue-grey Gnatcatcher on the way up was the first of the trip, I do not know how we had failed to see any earlier and we never did see a Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. A short distance further up the canyon we were fortunate to disturb a small group of Montezuma Quails, only two females were seen well though as they walked up the bank.

We met a couple of birders on their way back down the canyon who had seen the Warblers earlier and gave us rough directions, but despite much searching we could not find them. On the way back down I saw a “Western” Flycatcher, which unlike all the others I had seen actually decided to call and proved itself to be a Cordilleran Flycatcher.

Just as we neared the car park we saw another group of Gnatcatchers and the only one I saw well was a male Black-capped Gnatcatcher. These are rare in Arizona yet I had managed to see more of these than either of the commoner species.

We had a fairly long drive in the afternoon so we decided to just have a quick visit to Madera Kubo again, where we enjoyed three species of Tanager visiting the feeders, before heading north.

After a few beers at our friends house in Scottsdale we walked around the corner to watch three Lesser Nighthawks as they flew backwards and forwards between the houses calling softly to one another in the early evening light.

May 10th

An hour or so to the west of Phoenix is a site that is particularly good for several species of Thrasher, but most reports come from earlier in the year when they are singing and can be more easily seen, so we did not know what to expect. The site is at the junction of the Salome Highway and the Baseline Road and we birded the area to the west of the junction.

As nothing was singing we opted for spreading out and walking in a line, one of the first birds we saw was a Gilded Flicker that flew in to a lone dead tree, showing its underwing colour in flight so we could safely identify it from the similar Northern Flicker, although the ID was pretty safe on habitat. After half an hour we had seen nothing much else when I got sight of a Le Conte’s Thrasher running through the small shrubs ahead of me. We were able to follow it for some time and obtain great views, although it did not prove to be an easy digiscoping target being just too fast.

We continued walking around in a loop seeing another or possibly the same Le Conte’s Thrasher a short-time later, although that was our only Thrasher seen. As we got back close to the car I flushed a pair of Lesser Nighthawks that flew around calling before landing in a place where I was able to get a few photos.

Our final destination of the trip was Mt Ord to the northeast of Phoenix and a couple of hours drive from the Thrasher site. Our target here was Black-chinned Sparrow that we had already missed a couple of times previously. We had already read on the Arizona Listserv that the road up Mt Ord was closed, but we thought as the site for the Sparrow was reported to be just half a mile up the road we could park at the base and walk up. Unfortunately there was nowhere to easily park, as the dual carriageway running past the entrance was undergoing roadworks involving a contra flow right past the entrance.

Our next hope was to find somewhere else to pull off with similar habitat, but the road just past the entrance started to descend with a change in habitat. If we continued we could probably have eventually found the right habitat, but we were running short on fuel and had not seen a gas station in 40 miles and the thought of running out of fuel on the day we were to fly home was not a pleasant one, so we decided to turn around at the first opportunity and head back.

A couple of miles back past the Mt Ord turnoff was a place we could pull in so we decided to have a short stop here, unfortunately everywhere was fenced off so we could not walk far, but it was still sufficient to add a final species to the list, Western Bluebird, and see another Grey Vireo.

We made it back to Scottsdale in time for lunch and a shower, before heading to the airport where we were able to reflect on a very successful trip. The final total of species was 184 of which 45 were lifers for me, which was the top-end of my estimate before the trip. We probably could have achieve 200 species if we had made more of an effort to visit wetland sites for ducks and waders, but as there was little chance of any lifers we opted to concentrate on the mountains, forests and desert.

 

[Mark Harper]

Full Checklist

Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
White-faced Ibis
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Ring-necked Duck
Ruddy Duck
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Cooper’s Hawk
Common Black-Hawk
Grey Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk
Zone-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Wild Turkey
Scaled Quail
Gambel’s Quail
Montezuma Quail
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
Killdeer
Long-billed Dowitcher
Spotted Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Wilson’s Phalarope
American Herring Gull
Feral Pigeon
Band-tailed Pigeon
Collared Dove
Mourning Dove
White-winged Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Inca Dove
Greater Roadrunner
Whiskered Screech-Owl
Spotted Owl
Northern Pygmy-Owl
Elf Owl
Lesser Nighthawk
Common Poorwill
Whip-poor-will
White-throated Swift
Broad-billed Hummingbird
White-eared Hummingbird
Violet-crowned Hummingbird
Blue-throated Hummingbird
Magnificent Hummingbird
Lucifer Hummingbird
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Anna’s Hummingbird
Costa’s Hummingbird
Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Elegant Trogon
Acorn Woodpecker
Gila Woodpecker
Red-naped Sapsucker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Arizona Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Gilded Flicker
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Hammond’s Flycatcher
Grey Flycatcher
Dusky Flycatcher
Cordilleran Flycatcher
Buff-breasted Flycatcher
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Greater Pewee
Western Wood-Pewee
Black Phoebe
Say’s Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
Cassin’s Kingbird
Western Kingbird
Thick-billed Kingbird
Dusky-capped Flycatcher
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Horned Lark
Bank Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Phainopepla
Cactus Wren
Rock Wren
Canyon Wren
Bewick’s Wren
House Wren
Northern Mockingbird
Curve-billed Thrasher
Le Conte’s Thrasher
Western Bluebird
Townsend’s Solitaire
Swainson’s Thrush
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Blue-grey Gnatcatcher
Black-capped Gnatcatcher
Bushtit
Mountain Chickadee
Mexican Chickadee
Bridled Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Verdin
Loggerhead Shrike
Steller’s Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
Mexican Jay
Chihuahuan Raven
Common Raven
European Starling
House Sparrow
Warbling Vireo
Bell’s Vireo
Grey Vireo
Plumbeous Vireo
Hutton’s Vireo
House Finch
Pine Siskin
Lesser Goldfinch
Olive Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Lucy’s Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Grey-Warbler
Townsend’s Warbler
Hermit Warbler
Grace’s Warbler
MacGillivray’s Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson’s Warbler
Red-faced Warbler
Painted Redstart
Yellow-breasted Chat
Hepatic Tanager
Summer Tanager
Western Tanager
Flame-coloured Tanager
Green-tailed Towhee
Spotted Towhee
Canyon Towhee
Abert’s Towhee
Botteri’s Sparrow
Cassin’s Sparrow
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
Rufous-winged Sparrow
Five-striped Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Brewer’s Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Black-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Yellow-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Pyrrhuloxia
Black-headed Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Lazuli Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Hooded Oriole
Scott’s Oriole
Bullock’s Oriole

Heard Only
Virginia Rail
Great Horned Owl

 

[Mark Harper]

Final few photos.