Arizona - Cloudless Skies, Warm Weather, Tons of Birds
by Elise Brooks

Or not. The locals said it was the worst winter since 1996. The interstate highway was closed due to snow, the temperature dipped into the teens, and I caught a nasty virus. But despite being cold, sick, and snowbound, we had a great time.
Club members Ed and Carol Hartshorn, who are spending the winter near Sierra Vista, explored the area before our arrival, so we anticipated great birding. We weren’t disappointed. Since Ed is always on the lookout, a trip into town for groceries yielded our first “life lister,” the Great-tailed Grackle. (Hey, it was a parking lot!)
Our first true birding excursion was a hike into Scheelite Canyon where Ed’s friend Dieter led us right to the Mexican Spotted Owl, almost as if we had an appointment.
On various hikes into the canyons and near the San Pedro River we saw Gila and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Red-naped Sapsucker, Hammond’s and Gray Flycatchers, Say’s and Black Phoebes, Loggerhead Shrike, Steller’s and Mexican Jays, Chihuahuan Raven, Bridled Titmouse, Cactus Wren, Western Bluebird, Northern Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Phainopepla, Olive Warbler, Spotted and Abert’s Towhees, Yellow-eyed Junco, Pyrrhuloxia, and Lesser Goldfinch. A trip to the local wastewater treatment ponds produced even more new birds: Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, a huge flock of Northern Pintails, male Ruddy Ducks with bright blue bills, a flyover by a Prairie Falcon, a Sora (finally!), Common Moorhen, and tons of Yellow-headed Blackbirds.
As we were leaving Ed and Carol in Sierra Vista, and heading toward Tucson, a Greater Roadrunner ran in front of the car giving us a good long look. Joe and I spent our last day in Arizona hiking the Sabino Canyon near Tucson, and even then we were finding new birds … Verdin, Black-throated Sparrow, Black-throated Gray Warbler (!), and, at long last, four Gambel’s Quail.
I keep thinking of cold, snowy old Arizona, and I guess we’ll have to go back despite the weather because we still haven’t seen an Acorn Woodpecker, or a Montezuma Quail, or a Burrowing Owl, or … is there an end to this birding obsession?

 

Arizona in Summer
by Barb Graf

In the winter we travel north, and in the summer we travel south. Well, that is where we find our birds. Leonard and I and Jerry Kolak participated in the Southeastern Arizona in July: Second Spring tour offered through Wings Bird watching Tours Worldwide with leaders Jon Dunn and Gavin Bieber. There were nine participants. A total of 195 bird species, 17 mammals, 19 reptiles and amphibians and 29 butterflies were seen on this ten-day tour, perhaps the highest total bird sightings recorded in twenty-four years. Lifers for Leonard and I (all of them were not necessarily lifers for both of us) included Common Black Hawk; Zone-tailed Hawk; Whiskered Screech, Spotted, and Elf Owls; Buff-collared Nightjar (heard); Common Poorwill; White-eared and Berylline Hummingbirds; Gilded Flicker; Buff-breasted Flycatcher; Thick-billed Kingbird; Gray Vireo; Juniper Titmouse; Black-capped Gnatcatcher; Bendire’s Thrasher; Lucy’s , Grace’s, Rufous-capped, and Olive Warblers; Hepatic and Flame-colored Tanagers; Rufous-winged, and Five-striped Sparrows.

Jon and Gavin exerted every effort to locate birds and to ensure that all participants had a nice view. We visited locations that we would never have been able to find on our own. (We were really in the boonies at times!) The leaders’ knowledge, plus their contacts with local birders, helped us find many species, especially the Spotted Owl, White-eared and Berylline Hummingbirds, and a nesting Northern Goshawk. We traversed many canyons, had a nesting Elegant Trogon to watch during a lunch stop, and watched over a thousand flying jewels (hummers). We put sunscreen on every morning, donned our hats whenever we left the vehicles, and made sure we drank plenty of water. We frequently left early (2 a.m. being the earliest), rested in air conditioning in the heat of the day, then returned to birding later on. At one point I held off a herd of cattle!

For additional species seen you can go to http://www.wingsbirds.com select Tour Calendar, select Southeastern Arizona in July: Second Spring, select birdlist and select July 2006.

After the tour, Leonard and I also located Williamson’s Sapsucker, Northern Pygmy Owl and California Condor and watched a Common Black Hawk devour a Dipper for lunch. We visited Sun Crater, Grand Canyon, south and north rims, Zion National Park and the Petrified Forest.