Southeast Arizona

 March 21

At 2:45 AM, Joe Kipper picked up my friend Scott Rashid and me in his vintage Jeep Cherokee with license plates that read GYRFLCN and dropped us off at Denver International Airport at 4:30 AM for our 6:30 AM Southwest Airlines flight to Phoenix Sky Harbor airport. By 9 AM we were rolling in our rented Nissan Rogue mini-SUV. First stop was Veterans Oasis Park in Chandler, a Phoenix suburb. What a great park, with managed desert habitat and a series of lakes. A Rufous-backed Robin, a stray from Mexico had been spotted here about 10 days earlier and reported to eBird. No luck with that, but we did spot 49 other species here in 2.5 hours, a good start to our week-long trip through Southeast Arizona. New Year-Birds were Gila Woodpecker (487), Dusky Flycatcher (488) and Lucy’s Warbler (489). I then guided us to my favorite location for Bendire’s Thrasher at Red Mountain Park in Mesa, AZ at the eastern edge of the Phoenix metropolis. New Year-Birds were Gilded Flicker (490) and our target Bendire’s Thrasher (491). Then a quick stop at Arizona State University Research Park in Tempe, AZ netted us another target: Rosy-faced Lovebird (492), an established exotic originally from Africa. Having nailed my two Phoenix area targets, we jumped on Interstate 10 and headed south towards Tucson and the famous “sky islands”. We arrived at dusk and spent our first evening in an overpriced motel in Green Valley south of Tucson.

March 22

We got an early start in Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains, the most accessible of the sky islands. These high-altitude extensions of the Sierra Madre Occidental serve as a natural corridor of species that have their root populations in west Mexico. Either we arrived too late to hear nocturnal owls and nightjars or these birds had not yet returned to their breeding sites in canyon. The dawn chorus was quiet too, giving us the impression that it was still winter in this canyon. Several year-round resident bird species were present in the canyon, including Mexican Jay (493), Bridled Titmouse (494), Painted Redstart (495). At the Santa Rita Lodge bird feeders, we added Rivoli’s Hummingbird (496), Arizona Woodpecker (497), Hepatic Tanager (498). There were all great birds that we expected to find easily in the sky island ecosystems, which combined desert grassland with arid scrub/thorn forest, pinyon juniper forest and pine/oak trees at the higher elevations. The riparian creeks hosted massive, white-barked Sycamore trees whose leaves were months away from emerging. My general strategy for finding year birds is to target the more difficult ABA Code 2 resident birds and the mega-rarity Code 3, 4 and 5. Montosa Canyon, a couple drainages to the southwest had recent reports of Black-capped Gnatcatcher so we went there next. The gnatcatcher remained elusive, but we added Crissal Thrasher (499), Red-naped Sapsucker (500), Canyon Towhee (501) and Green-tailed Towhee (502). Further south along the Santa Cruz River, we targeted a recently staked out Thick-billed Kingbird at Roger Moriss Park without success. There we found Zone-tailed Hawk and Common Black-Hawk (503), Broad-billed Hummingbird (504) and a migrant Western Kingbird (505) among the resident Cassin’s Kingbirds. Continuing south to Nogales on the Mexico border, and then east skirting around the Santa Rita Mountains, we found ourselves at the Patagonia Picnic Table where we made a quick stop to pay homage to this iconic birding location made famous by Kenn Kaufman in his book Kingbird Highway. Our target however was the Paton Hummingbird Center a short distance up the road in Patagonia AZ. A Violet-crowned Hummingbird (506) was wintering here, and it made a brief appearance for us. We also added Lazuli Bunting (507). Birds were seemingly everywhere as the sun disappeared, so we made plans to come back first thing in the morning.

March 23

In the morning, birds and birders abounded. We met Louis Dombrowski, the manager of the Center who pointed out a White-throated Sparrow (rare) in a brush pile and informed us about a pair of rare Sabine’s Gulls he had found the previous evening down the road at Patagonia Lake. We also met Richard Fray, a local guide from Rio Rico, who gave us status updates on most of our target species.

We checked out of our hotel in downtown Patagonia where I was surprised to hear and see Northern Beardless Tyrannulet, a bird I had already encountered in January in Texas. My photo and audio will eventually be available for public consumption on our Arizona Trip Report, found here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/115162.

At Lake Patagonia State Park, we found more birders, many of whom had come specifically to chase the Sabine’s Gulls (508). The gulls cooperated for great views. One of them was in full alternate plumage. We were able to obtain excellent photos at close range (see eBird trip report). A singing western Bell’s Vireo (509) was also new.

Next birding stop was the San Rafael Grasslands east of the Santa Rita Mountains. We hoped to find wintering Baird’s Sparrow and longspurs but settled with Savannah Sparrows and Chihuahuan Meadowlarks (510). From there we headed north to Graham National Forest near Safford, AZ. We had received a tip about a Spotted Owl location near a campground, but we found nothing upon our arrival at dusk. After dark, we eventually spied a magnificent Spotted Owl (511) perched atop an oak tree along the road. It flew off before we could get photos.

March 24

We returned to the Graham National Forest campground hoping for a daylight view of Spotted Owl but again we came up empty. We did find an unexpectedly large flock of 18 Yellow-eyed Junco (512). We then headed southeast to Portal, checked in at the Portal Peak Lodge at the foot of Chiricahua National Monument. By late afternoon we had tracked down Mexican Chickadee (513) and Olive Warbler (514). Owling in the evening yielded Northern Saw-whet Owl (rare), Whiskered Screech-owl (515) and Great Horned Owl.

 

March 25

Spending the day around Portal was productive as we were able to find Hammond’s Flycatcher (516), Gray Catbird (rare), Pyrrhuloxia (517), Rufous-winged Sparrow (518), Black-chinned Sparrow (519), Scott’s Oriole (520), Juniper Titmouse (521), Rivoli’s Hummingbird, Blue-throated Mountain-Gem (522) and Vesper Sparrow (523). We left the area somewhat frustrated that we could not turn up Montezuma Quail. Apparently, several years of drought had suppressed the population considerably.

 

March 26

The target today was Rufous-capped Warbler, another species like Five-striped Sparrow and Black-capped Gnatcatcher that barely extends its population into the USA among the canyons of the sky islands. The species had not been reported recently in eBird. Then on March 23, 2023, a pair was discovered singing in an under-birded area called Ramanote Canyon west of Rio Rico (and west of the Sante Rita Mountains). They were relocated in the same area by two independent birders March 25, 2023. This was music to my ears as I figured there was a good chance that they were establishing a breeding territory and they would be advertising their position through song. It was a 90-minute drive to the parking area and an additional 30-minute hike. Along the way we added two new trip species, a locally rare Harris’s Hawk and Phainopepla. Once at the canyon, we found running water and lots of birds. We hiked about a mile upstream and another mile downstream, spending about 5 hours searching for Rufous-capped Warblers to no avail. New species were Ash-throated Flycatcher (524) and Cassin’s Vireo (525). We retreated from Ramanote Canyon, satisfied that we had searched the area adequately and headed back to Madera Canyon in the heart of the Santa Rita mountains.

We checked into the Madera Kubo Cabins for our final two nights of the trip. The sun was setting so it was a good time to try nocturnal birding again. We started at the bottom of the canyon at Proctor Road overlooking the grasslands north of the canyon entrance. The distant lights of Tucson could be seen looking north across the desert, in front of a large shadow that was Mount Lemon. A distant Montezuma Quail (526) sang once to our delight. An invisible Barn Owl flew over the grassland, screeching once every few seconds, presumably advertising for a mate. We played the recording of Mexican Whip-poor-will and Buff-collared Nightjar but received no response. Moving uphill we played a tape of several small owls and nightjars at Whitehorse Picnic Area, and one Western Screech-Owl obliged us by calling back. We followed its soft voice to an oak tree across the main canyon road until it was right above us. Shining our flashlight into the branches we watched it as it hooted at us, as if to say, “OK you got my attention, now what is it that you want.” Further up the canyon at the Santa Rita lodge, we listened intently for owls. Small owls are known to sing frequently here and we didn’t feel that playing a tape was necessary or appropriate. In fact, we did hear a distant morse code tooting of a Whiskered Screech-Owl and a brief series of high-pitched shrieks from the miniscule Elf Owl (527).

March 27

We started our birding day at dawn at our cabin, hoping to hear the barking of an early migrant or wintering Elegant Trogon, No barking. Then we returned to Proctor Road and listened intently for more song bursts from the Montezuma Quail – none. We kept driving downhill into Florida Wash and turned onto Box Canyon Rd, heading east. After 5 miles, we parked at the steep ravine known as Box Canyon and searched a short stretch of the curvy dirt road and the adjacent hillside for Five-striped Sparrow. A small group had been discovered here earlier in the winter and were being reported by birders almost daily. Several other birders arrived to join the search. Unfortunately, we came up empty after patiently searching for several hours. Next, we returned to Roger Moriss Park along the De Anza Trail in Tubac, AZ. One of the birders we met told us that a pair of Short-tailed Hawks had been hanging around the park. At the park, we found a Zone-tailed Hawk and several Gray Hawks, but no luck with the rare Short-tailed Hawks. A drake Mexican Duck (528) in the Santa Cruz River was new for my Year List in eBird. We returned to our cabin with plenty of time to prepare for the evening owl show. Unfortunately, there was no further sign of any elf owl activity, and a couple of Whiskered Screech-owls tooted only briefly but remained distant.

March 28

This was our final morning of birding before flying home from Phoenix. We started before sunrise at Box Canyon hoping that the Five-striped Sparrows would be singing. Not so. We then drove an hour northeast towards Paige Creek near Benson, AZ. We were following an eBird Rare Bird Alert for Nutting’s Flycatcher, another Mexican vagrant. As we neared the National Forest where the flycatcher had been seen, we came to a creek crossing that seemed too deep for our vehicle and we didn’t want to risk getting stuck on our last day. Instead, we diverted to Benson to look for Scaled Quail. We found only Gambel’s Quail and many other birds around the cemetery there. Our final birding stop was in Tucson’s Reid Park, where we hoped to track down some lingering winter residents, including Wood Duck, Lewis’s Woodpecker, Greater Pewee, Plumbeous Vireo and Red Crossbill. We meandered through the park and eventually found 2 drake Wood Ducks, Plumbeous Vireo (529) and 9 Red Crossbills.

We ended the trip with 179 species. I was satisfied with 43 new Year Birds. This was despite missing most of the rarer species that we chased, including Rufous-backed Robin, Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Five-striped Sparrow, Rufous-capped Warbler, Short-tailed Hawk and Nutting’s Flycatcher. Fortunately, I will have another opportunity to add most of these species to my Big Year list when I return to Arizona in August. Special thanks to Scott Rashid who split the trip expenses with me and did 99% of the driving. Remember you can support my Biggest Year effort by attending one of my tours. There are seats available on all of my upcoming tours posted here: Biggest Year - Tour Schedule Photo Gallery by Nick Komar at pbase.com.