birding never sleeps

Sunday, 3 May 2015

ARIZONA 2015: Tucson mountains and desert (2-3 May)

May 2nd. Olive Warbler was my most wanted species in Arizona and one I had hoped to have seen before reaching Tucson. That was not to be but Mount Lemmon in the Santa Catalina Mountains was as good a site for them as anywhere and only an hour's drive from our motel. Megan, Nessa and Josh decided they'd rather have a bit of a lay-in and visit the zoo so I left on my own as it was getting light. I headed up to Rose Canyon campsite which was listed as a good site for Olive Warbler, parked by the main road and walked down into the campsite but being a weekend it was busy and after an hour an a half with no success I thought I had better try somewhere else. Back almost to the car I noticed a small bird half-way up a conifer. Much to my relief it was a male Olive Warbler and a female was nearby. I was expecting them to be hard to see in the very tops of the pines so these were much better than expected. As I was watching them Rob O'Donnell, a retired birder from Northern California, and his wife Anne drove up and joined me watching the Olive Warblers. Rob got some much better images than mine which he was generous enough to share. Rob had earlier met a ranger and been told that Incinerator Ridge was a good place for warblers so I followed him up there seeing a Painted Redstart fly across the road on the way. We spent the rest of the morning birding the Incinerator Ridge area seeing Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Hammond's Flycatcher, Greater Pewee (both new for me), Plumbeous Vireo, Steller's Jay, Pygmy Nuthatch, Western Bluebird, Townsend's (a male, also new for me), Red-faced and another Olive Warbler, Yellow-eyed Junco and Black-headed Grosbeak. A very enjoyable morning in excellent company but it was over all too soon and time for me to return.

Olive Warbler at the entrance to Rose Canyon camp site

what Olive Warbler really looks like (photo of the same bird by Rob O'Donnell)

another of Rob's

Yellow-eyed Junco at Incinerator Ridge

the view from Incinerator Ridge

Red-faced Warbler, presumably not bright enough for my camera to see and focus on or I wasn't bright enough to use the camera correctly?

the same bird photographed by Rob O'Donnell

a stunning bird

another of Rob's excellent photos

driving back down Mt Lemmon

looking down at Tucson

The zoo visit, by bus, had been a success too, but rather tiring. A very half-hearted attempt to find our way to "A" Mountain in the afternoon was unsuccessful and we did not feel up to trying anything more energetic.

May 3rd. We drove to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum arriving soon after it opened. The scenery was excellent but birds were somewhat disappointing and being a Sunday it was also very busy. I had hoped there would be some hummingbird feeders but only saw them in the Hummingbird Aviary. Birds seen included Anna's Hummingbird, Gila Woodpecker, Cactus Wren, Curve-billed Thrasher and Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. It was very hot when we left the Museum so we returned to Tucson rather than driving on to the nearby Saguaro National Park. In the afternoon we visited Tucson Mall, a large almost out of town retail centre. Later I tried the Santa Cruz river walk, reached in five minutes from where we were staying, but it didn't really live up to its name as the river was completely dry. There were a few birds in the trees there with a male Anna's Hummingbird, 8 Abert's Towees and a Western Tanager the best.

approaching the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

Saguaro cactus

overlooking Saguaro National Park

Gila Woodpecker tightrope-walking

Megan and tall saguaro

lizard

Cactus Wren at nest

the next meal

eagerly awaited

Verdin

Anna's Hummingbird

with head appearing too big for its body

Curve-billed Thrasher

May 4th. I had an hour on the river walk before breakfast seeing two Anna's Hummingbirds, Gila Woodpecker, Vermillion Flycatcher, Curve-billed Thrasher, White-crowned Sparrow and Abert's Towee. We then packed up, left Tucson and drove west to Yuma where we crossed back into California.

Friday, 1 May 2015

ARIZONA 2015: San Pedro House and Ramsey Canyon (30 April and 1 May)

April 30th. We were a day behind schedule and had to make some decisions about where to go in the time we had. The best option seemed to be to cut out Green Valley and Madeira Canyon and stay in Sierra Vista a second night. Fortunately we were able to make the change with no penalty and after breakfast set out for San Pedro House where we walked several of the trails. I saw Gila Woodpecker, Gilder Flicker, Lucy's Warbler and Abert's Towee, all of which were new. The warbler was the first bird to really respond to pishing and came straight in. Other warblers present were Wilson's, Yellow, Yellow-rumped and Yellowthroat. We reluctantly left the San Pedro House (at least I did!) and drove to Tombstone which wasn't as tacky as I had anticipated with quite an effort made to maintain the historic buildings. We did however avoid the 'authentic gunfights' of which several were on offer, or a stagecoach ride. Next stop was Fairbank, named in 1883 after Nathaniel Kellogg Fairbank from Chicago who partly financed the railroad (unlikely to have been a rich ancestor, pity). Deserted since the mid-1970s it is apparently the best preserved ghost town in the area. Its main claim to fame had been a failed train robbery in 1900 when Express Messenger Jeff Milton had been wounded but fought off the Burt Alvord gang mortally wounding member 'three-fingered Jack' Dunlop in the process. On the way back to Sierra Vista we saw a Greater Roadrunner on the road and later I returned to the San Pedro House and added Plubeous Vireo and Bullock's Orioles taking my new bird total to 6 for the day.

a ringed White-crowned Sparrow at San Pedro House

heading for the river trail

Gilded Flicker

male Black-chinned Hummingbird

female on a feeder

Great Blue Heron (I could pretend I was on Bryher watching a 2nd for Britain)

turtles

returning to San Pedro House

the deserted main street at Tombstone

Gila Woodpecker outside the museum

Stagecoach on the main street

gunfighters between performances

Fairbank Post Office

it closed in the 1970s

Fairbank schoolhouse

view from the cemetery

the next generation

Vermilion Flycatcher on my return to San Pedro House

Canyon Towee

the day finished as it had started, with a photogenic White-crowned Sparrow, this one unringed

May 1st. We left Sierra Vista and spent a very pleasant morning at Ramsey Canyon walking up the Hamburg Trail to its junction with Brown Canyon Trail. According to my guide book this is the best place in the Huachuca Mountains for Red-faced Warbler which was one of my most wanted birds. Ramsey Canyon had several hummingbird feeders, for which it is renowned, and a Broad-billed Hummingbird was new for me although we were a bit early in the season for most others. It was a pleasant walk up the canyon then a steep zig-zag climb up the Hamburg Trail to a nice area of mixed woodland. Two stunning Red-faced Warblers were quickly found and 2 Virginia's on the way back were a bonus. I also saw Hammond's Flycatcher, Hutton's Vireo, Painted Redstart and Northern Hepatic Tanager but a resident Whiskered Screech-Owl failed to stick its head out of its nest hole and in the time available I failed to find a roosting Northern Pygmy Owl I had been given very vague second-hand directions for. We left Ramsey Canyon and drove two plus hours to Tucson where we checked into our run-down motel and walked into town. The downtown area had very little to recommend it being almost entirely modern office buildings. On the way back a Greater Roadrunner was walking around a deserted parking lot nearby but I'd not thought to take my camera with me.