[wisb] AZ trip rpt--long
- From: "Seegert, Greg" <gseegert@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2011 22:59:33 -0400
All
Returned last evening from 4+ days of birding in SE AZ. As opposed to the
eastern half of the country, which has been plagued by rain, AZ is in a
drought. Many areas are all brown. Also, it was very windy 4 of the 5 days I
was there which made birding tough. Here's my report.
Saturday (April 23)---I started the day at Baseline Rd W of Phoenix where I saw
2 singing LeConte's thrashers. Other birds of note were Bendaire's thrasher,
Abert's towhee, Brewer's sparrow and a flyover Swainson's hawk. A quick drive
through the Santa Cruz Flats failed to turn up anything of interest. I was
scheduled to meet my friend Marcy at her house at 115 pm. Her place is in Bear
Canyon on the outskirts of Tucson. I arrived about 15 min before she did.
While waiting for her, I found a McGillivary's warbler, a bird I missed last
year, Lucy's warbler , and a Pacific slope flycatcher (FC). We spent the
afternoon on Mt Lemon where the birding was slow....a 30 mph wind wasn't
helping. However we did find a few good birds, including olive warbler,
red-faced warbler, pygmy nuthatch, and yellow-eyed junco. We had planned to
stay after dark hoping to call in some owls but my Zune ran out of juice so we
quit at sunset.
Sunday---On the way to Madera CYN, I stopped at Canoa (sp) Rd a couple miles
outside of Continental, a place where rufous-winged sparrow is reliable. Due
to my poor hearing it took a little while but I did find a couple. Also there
were Costa's hummer, Lucy's warbler, and black-throated sparrow. Because it
was Easter Sun, Madera was crawling with people. More than I've ever seen
there by at least an order of magnitude. There were hundreds of people when I
went in at 0800 and when I left, they were turning away cars. About a hundred
cars that were not let in were parked along the road just before the entrance
kiosk....Crazy. I started at Madera Kubo Lodge where I saw summer and western
tanagers, Scott's oriole, and black-headed grosbeaks at their feeders. I then
hiked from there to Proctor Rd and back, a RT of about 4 mi. During this hike,
I saw painted redstart, black-throated gray warbler, Townsend's warbler,
dusky-capped FC, phainopepla, (common many places this trip), green-tailed
towhee (ditto), plumbeous vireo, and both Hammond's and dusky FC. At and near
the Tubac Bridge, I saw gray hawk, ash-throated FC, and vermilion FC. At the
pond along Rio Rico Rd, I saw black-bellied whistling duck and WF ibis. Pena
Blanca L yielded a least grebe and several hundred more picnickers. Kino
Springs produced a gray hawk. Along Blue Haven Rd by Patagonia was another
gray hawk. My last stop was the famous Patagonia Roadside Rest, which yielded
thick-billed kingbird and hooded oriole.
Mon---I started at the Patton's feeders in Patagonia. It was very good. I had
8 spp of hummers, which is very good for this time of year. The best were
calliope, Costa's, rufous, and violet-crowned. Also males and females of all
3 orioles...Scott's, Bullock's, and hooded, > 50 lazuli buntings, common ground
dove, Gambel's quail and many others. Thanks to directions from Michael
Marsden, who is staying at the Patton's, I was able to find a zone-tailed hawk
along Blue Haven Rd. I then drove to the Sierra Vista area where I started in
Sawmill CYN on Ft Huachuca . There I saw Graces', black-throated gray, and
hermit warblers, buff-breasted FC, AZ woodpecker, and 3 E trogons (2 heard, 1
seen and heard). I also heard a turkey and a N pygmy owl. In Scheelite CYN, I
found a spotted owl, a canyon wren, and a band-tailed pigeon. At the Ash CYN B
& B, I saw Lucifer's hummer along with 5 more common hummers, many lazuli
buntings, Scott's oriole and AZ woodpecker. At the San Pedro House, I saw
gray hawk, many GT towhees, lark bunting, willets, Lucy's warbler, and tons of
Wilson's warblers. At dusk, I saw 6 lesser nighthawks along Moson Rd.
Tues---In Carr CYN, I saw hepatic tanager, greater peewee, western peewee,
Townsend's and black-throated gray warblers, painted redstart, YE junco, and
bushtit. I tried very hard for Virginia's warbler but dipped. This is a much
harder to find bird than most of the books would have you believe. At the
Rogers Road Treatment Plant in Tucson I did a quick drive by and saw one of the
Harris' hawks that is always there. In Honeybee CYN about 15 mi N of Tucson,
I dipped on my target, gilded flicker (another AZ bird that is less common than
the books describe). Present were many cactus wrens, Lucy's warblers and a
couple of ash-throated FCs.
Wed---Only had a half day to bird. Tried Aravaipa CYN for common black-hawk
but dipped. Also dipped on it along the Gila R. Along the Gila, I heard
several YB chats and saw one. At my usual spot at MP 161.95 on Rt 77 south of
Globe, I saw W scrub jay, black-chinned sparrow, Scott's oriole, ash-throated
FC, GT towhee, and Brewer's sparrow, but dipped on my main target, gray
vireo. At Oak Flats Campground outside of Superior, I saw more Brewer's
sparrows and another target, juniper titmouse.
All in all, a pretty good trip given the windy weather. Anyway, that's my
story and I'm sticking to it.
Greg Seegert
Deerfield,IL
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