Filling the Gaps: Southeastern Arizona

I knew I would have to return to Arizona for Mexican species that only reach the sky island areas of southeastern Arizona during the summer breeding season. I gambled and waited until the monsoon season late in the summer to take advantage of post-breeding dispersers from Mexico. I would be accompanied by five tour participants from Aug 7-12: Cliff Hendrick of Colorado, Joe Burns of California, Alf Wilson of Massachusetts, Bud Younts of North Carolina, and Eric DeFonso of Colorado was our driver. We assembled at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix at 8 AM on August 7, 2023.

It was already a scorching hot 95F. Temperatures in the Phoenix desert had been reaching 115-120F by late afternoon. At our advanced ages (58-78 years old), I didn’t want to bird in temperatures over 100F, so we made one significant stop near Phoenix at Red Mountain Park in Mesa, AZ. In just over an hour here we found Gambel’s Quail, Harris’s Hawk, Vermilion Flycatcher, Curve-billed Thrasher and Bendire’s Thrasher. These were all species I had seen in March when I birded the state with Scott Rashid. 

We arrived at our lodging destination in the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson by 3 PM.   I had reserved three cabins at the Madera Kubo lodge in Madera Canyon. Almost immediately, I added two USA and Territories Biggest Year-Birds: Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher (735) and Dusky-capped Flycatcher (736). The hummingbird feeders at the lodge were buzzing with the regular Broad-billed Hummingbird and numerous newly arrived Rufous Hummingbird. A few Black-chinned and Rivoli’s Hummingbirds joined the fray as well as a rare Berylline Hummingbird (737). We spent the late afternoon hiking the upper part of Madera Canyon hoping to find Elegant Trogon. The Trogon did not cooperate but we added Red-faced Warbler (738) to my list. During the hike I almost stepped on a Black-tailed Rattlesnake. After dark, we were serenaded by several Whiskered Screech-owl.

August 8, 2023  

We began birding in the desert lowlands near Madera Canyon. We had great views of Rufous-winged Sparrow and Botteri’s Sparrow near Arivaca. Following a tip from John Vanderpoel, we found Black-capped Gnatcatcher (739) at Montoya Canyon, and relocated a singing Five-striped Sparrow (740) that had been reported by others at Box Canyon.

August 9, 2023

We left Madera Canyon heading south toward Nogales and Patagonia. At Patagonia Lake State Park, we heard numerous Bell’s Vireo and Yellow-breasted Chat. We watched Curve-billed Thrasher and Summer Tanager feeding fledglings. We found our first Thick-billed Kingbird (741) and I spotted a White-nosed Coati (mammal). Nearby at the Paton Hummingbird Center, we added Violet-crowned and Costa’s Hummingbirds to the trip list.  

Later in the afternoon we arrived at the Ash Canyon Hummingbird Center, on the eastern flank of the Huachuca Mountain Range.  Hundreds of hummers buzzed dozens of feeders. A handful of Lucifer Hummingbirds were new for the trip and a rare Plain-capped Starthroat (742) was new for my year list. We ended the day at nearby Miller Canyon and Beaty Guest Ranch. where we would stay for the final three nights of the tour. The private hummingbird feeder setup on the Ranch property hosted two male White-eared Hummingbird (743) among the more usual species. As the sun set we hiked about a mile up the canyon hoping to find recently reported rarities Rufous-capped Warbler and Flame-colored Tanager. We did not, but were rewarded with numerous nocturnal species including Mexican Whip-poor-will, Whiskered Screech-owl, Northern Pygmy-owl and a distant call from a Spotted Owl. 

August 10, 2023

We began the day scouring the Miller Canyon trail for the two rarities that we missed the previous evening. Still nothing. So we headed to the next canyon to the south - Hunter Canyon. The mile-long hike uphill in 90F+ heat was strenuous. However we were rewarded with a pair of Rufous-capped Warbler (744) at the end of the hike. Eric DeFonso spotted a Buff-breasted Flycatcher (745), which I recorded using the Merlin app. Later that afternoon, we visited Ramsey Canyon where we finally found Elegant Trogon (746) and Carr Canyon, where we ended our day in tall pines with a mixed flock that included Greater Pewee (747).  

Aug. 11, 2023

We drove east across the desert grasslands that separates the Huachuca Mountains from the Chiricahuas. When we stopped for breakfast burritos, we heard the songs of Chihuahuan Meadowlark, a taxon that was recently elevated to full species rather than a subspecies of Eastern Meadowlark. 

Entering the Chiricahua National Monument from the west side, we slowly gained elevation. The grassland became studded with juniper trees, creating a pygmy forest. Then tall ponderosa pines became the dominant tree. We detoured to Pine Canyon in search of a reported Slate-throated Redstart (a vagrant from Mexico), which did not appear. Numerous type 2 Red Crossbill were sampling the Arizona crop of Ponderosa cones. Further up the main road we came to Pinery Canyon Campground. Here we found a pair of calling Buff-breasted Flycatcher harassing a perched Cooper’s Hawk that was digesting a recent meal (perhaps a flycatcher nestling). Above Onion Saddle we found a good amount of bird activity but pushed on to Rustler Park Campground upon hearing from Todd Deininger and Bill Kaempfer, friends from Boulder, Colorado, that they were seeing six species of warbler there. Indeed we found Olive, Grace’s, Red-faced, Townsend’s, Hermit and Virginia’s Warblers. Also several Mexican Chickadee, a species that reaches the USA only in the high elevation forests of the Chiricahuas, foraged among the mixed flocks and made all of us happy and satisfied with our visit to the Chiricahuas. Descending through Pinery Canyon, the group was further pleased by a roadside Northern Pygmy-Owl that I spotted. We made a final birding stop in the lowlands at Willcox, AZ, where a shallow pond known as Lake Cochise hosted hordes of migrant shorebirds and waterfowl and swallows. We scored several dozen Scaled Quail here, new for the trip. We celebrated a successful day (and trip) by grilling steaks back at the ranch.  Bud Younts knows how to cook steaks! 

August 12, 2023

The trip wasn’t over yet. On the final day  we scheduled a late departure (8:30 AM). This gave us another shot at finding the Spotted Owl and Flame-colored Tanager in Miller Canyon. We failed but I was satisfied with a cooperative Red-faced Warbler that I photographed and audio-recorded. We had time before flying home from Phoenix for a brief foray into the skirts of Mount Lemon  (more Red-faced Warbler and lots of Yellow-eyed Junco) and then two hours later we visited Daley Park in Tempe, AZ, where I had found Acorn Woodpecker and Rosy-faced Lovebird a year ago. To my delight, both species were still present. The lovebird is an established exotic that is countable by ABA rules. It was introduced from Africa via the pet trade. It looks similar to parrotlets of South America. Noisy creatures but quite cute. My family had one as a pet when I was a boy. We called it Peach-faced Lovebird then. 

The final species count was 190 for this short trip. The full list, as well as photos and audio files can be viewed at the eBird trip report here:

https://ebird.org/tripreport/150950.  As I suspected, five nights was insufficient to track down all of our targets. I plan to return to Arizona to add yet more targets  in early October. Bird species I still need (as of Sep 15) that may be found in Arizona in the fall include: Ferruginous Pygmy-owl, Flame-colored Tanager, Tufted Flycatcher, Buff-collared Nightjar, Eared Quetzal, Northern Jacana, Ruddy Ground-Dove, Rufous-backed Robin and Yellow Grosbeak. As most of these are vagrants or strays, I would be lucky to see three of these. 

All of the species listed above are ranked as Code 3+ by the American Birding Association. I figured I needed 40-50 of these to be competitive in the ABA area competition this year. Prior to this trip to Arizona, I was at 36. I added 6 more during this trip bringing my total to 42. These were the Berylline Hummingbird, White-eared Hummingbird, Plain-capped Starthroat, Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Five-striped Sparrow and Rufous-capped Warbler. At the end of my trip, I was still in third place in the ABA Area Competition, with 708 species, just a few species behind Tammy and David McQuade.