TOP 10 SPECIES
Top 10 lists are voted upon by the participants at the completion of
each tour.
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA Trip Report
20-31 July 2005
Bob Schutsky, Tour Leader
Southeast Arizona has been my favorite North American birding destination for many years and late July is an excellent time to explore this area. The summer monsoon rains began at the onset of the tour, which served us well in three different ways. It cooled the air temperature to a level that was not only bearable but often quite comfortable; the rains extinguished several wildfires that had started during the hot dry period; and bird song and nesting activity reached an incredible crescendo, making birds like Botteri’s Sparrow and Varied Bunting easy to find.
Our birding adventure began is Tucson and worked south toward the Mexican border. Madera Canyon was closed because of a large wildfire, but we were able to spend a day there at the end of the tour. We birded our way through Arivaca and California Gulch, then on to Patagonia and Sierra Vista. We left the Huachuca Mountains after three days, then went on to the Chiricahua Mountains. On our return trip to Tucson, we made a stop at Cochise Lake in Willcox for aquatic species. The final morning was spent at the Sonoran Desert Museum in Saguaro National Park, an incredibly beautiful location to visit.
At the end of each tour we each select our ten favorite birds and compile them into a favorite species list. By discussing the Top 10 species, I believe that you will have an excellent picture of the beauty and variety that we experienced.
The species that was selected as the very favorite of the entire tour was an absolute surprise to all of us. We were entering Rustler Park that lies at nearly 9000 feet in the Chiricahuas. A good friend waved down our van and asked if we knew about the Northern Saw-whet Owl, a very rare breeding bird in this part of the world. He gave us directions to a nearby 40-foot snag. After watching the roost hole, then softly imitating the bird’s call, nothing happened. I followed Bill’s advice and gently touched a few of the lowest dead branches with a tiny twig. The owl appeared at the hole almost instantly, glaring down toward the ground. We had incredible views through binoculars and the spotting scope for nearly ten minutes before it slid back into the hole. What an experience! It was a life bird for all of the tour participants and certainly one that we never expected to see.
Three additional species of owls also made the Top 10 list. Number 2 was the Mexican race of the Spotted Owl. They were being found in several locations this year, but the most reliable is Sheelite Canyon, high above Fort Huachuca near Sierra Vista. We had hiked the first half-mile of the canyon trail and were seriously searching each tree and branch. We knew that there was a group up the trail ahead of us that may have already found the owls and could send us in the right direction. We had reached a spot with a lot of potential perches, a place where I had seen the owls several times in the past. My daughter Kim stepped around a tree, looked up, and said “Here they are.” On a horizontal branch sat two Spotted Owls, shoulder to shoulder. They would preen, scratch, stretch, and mostly sleep. We had to back up to get the best looks at them because they were so close. We left them 30 minutes later, totally undisturbed.
Our number 3 bird was a pair of Rose-throated Becards, part of a tropical family that is closely related to the flycatchers. It is an exceedingly rare species in South Texas and Southeast Arizona. We knew that there was a nesting pair along Sonoita Creek, across from the Patagonia Rest Stop. Once we found the large, football-shaped nest made from a variety of vegetation, all that we had to do was watch and wait. The wait was brief. The female appeared to be incubating and we had two fleeting glimpses of her. But the male was busy at work, adding more vegetation to the roof of the nest that was in an Arizona sycamore tree. He would arrive on his favorite dead twig every few minutes, fly to the nest to weave in the plant material, return to the twig, then fly off. Nearby was a family of Thick-billed Kingbirds, singing Canyon Wrens, and aerobatic White-throated Swifts. A young Gray Hawk called from along the creek. All of this happened in the early morning before we returned to Patagonia for a good breakfast.
We had two separate encounters with Elegant Trogons, bird number 4 on the Top 10 list. Our first time was in Garden Canyon, just prior to finding the Spotted Owls. We could hear the trogons calling, and had a few quick looks at an apparent male, female, and juvenile. We tracked them as they moved uphill and most of our group had satisfying looks at them. Later in the tour we were driving along Cave Creek in the Chiricahuas and came upon another family group. This time everyone had stunning looks as we used the van for a blind. This is another tropical family with roughly 20-30 nesting pairs in Southeast Arizona and an occasional winter bird in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
Here comes another owl, this time a family of Barn Owls, our number 5 bird of the tour. This bird is quite reliable in an old cotton shed just outside of Rodeo, New Mexico, 200 yards from the Arizona border. We do not go into the shed, but merely peek through the gaps in the corrugated siding and even through the nail holes. We were lucky enough to see at least four different birds, a definite female, a male, and two probable young. The young were hissing and calling, and the male flew out of the shed and circled a few times before re-entering its day roost. They put on a great show in the desert below the rugged Chiricahua Mountains.
According to local Arizona experts, Montezuma Quail is the most difficult, regularly breeding Arizona species to show to visiting birders. They are widespread but relatively uncommon and secretive. But for some reason I have good luck finding them. In the 15 to 20 tours that I’ve lead to this beautiful area, our groups have only missed seeing Montezuma Quail only once. This year we found two pairs and had impeccable looks at them. One pair was on Ruby Road near the turn off to Sycamore Canyon, and the other pair was near Paradise on the road to Portal. It was voted number six of the 182 species that we found.
Cochise Lake in Willcox yielded an interesting assortment of aquatic species after many days of almost strict terrestrial birding. Our number 7 species was a Black Tern in almost complete breeding plumage. We saw it repeatedly during the two hours that we birded the lake, often hawking insects above the water’s surface. This is a truly elegant bird and one of the easiest North American terns to identify. Perhaps this is what makes it so popular among birders.
We found our number 8 species on the final evening of the tour. We could not enter Madera Canyon early in the tour due to the wildfire, but were able to spend an entire day there after the evacuation was lifted. We looked for the Flame-colored Tanagers but could not find them, instead coming up with a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak. The grasslands near Continental yielded our only Rufous-winged Sparrow. After birding all day we had an early dinner, then returned to Santa Rita Lodge for the night shift. We had a glimpse of an Elf Owl, then heard one calling. After checking a few trees we found it perched in an oak and I was able to spotlight it, much to everyone’s delight. It is the smallest owl in the world, but it always brings big smiles to birders’ faces.
Late July is an excellent time for hummingbirds--we invariably find 12 to 14 species, mostly at the feeding stations that folks have developed. We saw several Calliope Hummingbirds this year. The males are especially attractive with their purple gorgets. This was voted number 9.
And number 10 was the Five-striped Sparrow, found only in two canyons on the Mexican border west of Nogales. We found ours in California Gulch, a rough 4-mile drive from the primitive Ruby Road. But we saw our first one before even reaching the parking spot to begin our hike into the Gulch. It was in the track of the dirt road, picking around in the sand. Later fantastic scope views of two more in their more traditional location were simply icing on the cake.
Close runners up included such interesting and diverse species as Reddish Egret, Violet- crowned Hummingbird, Prairie Falcon, Brown Pelican, and Rufous Hummingbird. We found a Black Bear, heard Coyotes howling and saw one dash across the road, watched Kangaroo Rats at night, and Coue’s Whitetail Deer fawns by day. The weather was comfortable, the food delicious, and the people that we met were very interesting. It was another great tour to Southeast Arizona.
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA
July 24-August 2, 2000
There are always many highlights to any Arizona Tour, but one of this year's big attractions was the hummingbird extravaganza. The feeders in Portal hosted more hummers than I have ever seen ANYWHERE, whether it be Arizona, Costa Rica, Belize, Trinidad, or anywhere else in the New World. It was fantastic! Every feeder had 5-10 hummers feeding and 10-20 more lined up, waiting to come in. There were many times when two birds shared the same feeding hole: the Calliopes were especially good at this. There were masses of Rufous Hummingbirds, one Costa's, a few Lucifer and Violet-crowned, some Broad-tails and Anna's, and lots of Black-chinned. The feeders at Tom Beatty's in Miller Canyon hosted at least 11 species: we saw them all in one day, including White-eared and Berylline's. Another Berylline's was nesting at Ramsey Canyon, and there was a White-eared, several Violet-crowned, and a male Costa's in Wally's backyard in Patagonia. The final tally: 14 species of hummingbirds. In addition to the nesting Berylline's, Les found a female Broad-billed with eggs at the Patagonia Rest Stop. Yes: the hummingbird show was excellent.
The number one bird of the entire tour, as voted upon by all six of us, was the Elegant Trogon. The entire group watched a female, at very close range, as she captured a large sphinx moth caterpillar to feed to her young. I had gone up the road with the van and the group spokesperson, who will remain unnamed, tried to assure me that they had seen only one bird while I was away: the one bird was the Trogon! We had several looks later in the tour, but I think that it was the action view at 30 feet that cinched first place for this bird.
Our next two favorite birds were pure serendipity. First, THE quail.
We were in Patagonia and had birded the Rest Stop early in the morning. As we headed toward town, I opted for the scenic route, the dirt road that runs along Sonoita Creek Sanctuary. There was lots of activity, but I could smell pancakes, so we kept moving slowly along. We stopped for a good view of a Vermilion Flycatcher, when Dave noted a bird perched atop a big rock, 200 feet away. He muttered something about a dove, but I knew that he was looking through one of those infamous contorted-view windshields. I leaned out of my window for a better look and what I saw was our only Montezuma Quail of the tour! It gave us unbelievable scope views in the early morning sun, then went on to answer my imitation of its call for the next 15 minutes. Down the road we came upon a tour group from Wisconsin that needed this bird. So I backed up along 500 feet of windy road (felt like 500 miles) and the bird performed for them for another 15 minutes. The Wisconsin folks paid us back by showing us a newly-fledged Zone-tailed Hawk. We certainly had a lot to discuss at the breakfast table THAT morning.
Our other stroke of luck came in Sheelite Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains. This is the most famous spot in North America to see Spotted Owl, but we weren't doing so well. There had been no sightings for the last two weeks and we had just about worn ourselves out searching every roost site that I knew from previous years. We had given up and were heading down the trail toward the van. At the 5/8-mile marker we happened upon a nice mixed flock of songbirds that included our first Brown Creeper and several Red-faced Warblers. It's hard to see TOO MANY Red-faced Warblers, so we stopped to enjoy them. Just as we were leaving we saw Graham, a birder from Britain, whom we had talked to on several other occasions. Graham still needed the warbler for a life bird, so of course we tried to help him, but they were nowhere to be found. We searched, tried some pishing and Pygmy-Owl calls, but to no avail. Diana was still diligently searching, when she said 'I have it.' We all assumed that 'it' was the Red-faced Warbler, but Diana was holding her binoculars VERY still, unlike typical warbler watching. I looked in the same direction and realized that 'it' was the Spotted Owl. We had been 50 feet from it all of this time without seeing it! The songbirds had probably been scolding the owl, but we hadn't realized the connection. If Graham hadn't appeared at that moment, we would have walked away, minus one beautiful owl. We were all very lucky, and Graham finally saw his warbler.
Then there was the Least Grebe at a sewage pond in Tucson. On the first afternoon of the tour I had the directions, I had the maps, but we couldn't find the ponds! The leader of the Wisconsin group helped us fine tune the directions and we found the bird, albeit on the wrong pond under the wrong willow tree, on the last day of the tour.
Five-striped Sparrow can be very difficult to find after a long, hard drive into California Gulch. But the road had been repaired and we found the bird within seconds of walking to the bottom of the gulch! Ten minutes later when we walked away it was still singing from the exposed branch in great light. Easy, easy, easy.
One of our biggest surprises came on consecutive visits to the Nogales sewage ponds. The first day produced a Cattle Egret, which is a good bird for Arizona. On the second day we found a Tricolored Heron, which occurs about every other year somewhere in the state. In past years these same ponds have yielded Glossy Ibis, White Ibis, and Roseate Spoonbill for our tour groups. Nice ponds.
I mentioned Chino Canyon earlier. I decided to explore Chino to see if we could put it into next year's itinerary (we can) and to look for the very rare Black-capped Gnatcatcher (which I found). I was also lucky enough to see a Black-tailed Rattlesnake and Western Diamondback Rattlesnake. But most exciting of all was not the gnatcatcher, not the snakes, but the first GILA MONSTER that I've ever seen. This is a venomous orange and black lizard found only in the Sonoran desert. It was one of the big thrills of my life. Maybe it will be there next year……………..
I could tell you so many more stories, like the Barn Owl in the cotton shed near Portal. But I'll let Jim & Deva Burns' photo do the talking for me. We were truly in awe.
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA
July-August, 1999
I just completed two consecutive tours in Southeast Arizona, which remains my favorite birding location in all of North America. The first tour was the regularly scheduled one, July 28-August 6, in which five people participated. The second tour was slightly shorter, August 9-15, and was designed and conducted especially for four people in the same family. Many of the birding areas overlapped, while several, such as the Chiricahua Mountains and Aravaipa Canyon, were visited only on the 10-day tour.
(Mexican) Spotted Owl was the undeniable overall favorite bird of both tours. We found them in Sheelite Canyon, once with great ease, the other time after considerable effort. The incredible looks at close range were very gratifying, regardless of the difficulty in locating them. Montezuma Quail was another big hit, with a total of FIVE found on the first tour, all while we drove dirt roads. Sightings included a pair feeding near California Gulch, a single male standing sentinel in the same area, and a pair apparently being tracked by a Black-tailed Rattlesnake in Miller Canyon: THAT was exciting!
Nearly everyone who goes to Arizona especially wants to see Elegant Trogon. It is found nowhere else in North America. Our family tour had a fleeting glimpse of a fly-by male in Madera Canyon, while the other group had multiple looks in several areas, including knock-out scope views in the Upper Picnic Area in Garden Canyon.
Hummingbirds are a big favorite, especially with viewing areas and feeding stations like Santa Rita Lodge, Wally and Marion Paton's backyard, Beatty's B&B, and several great spots in Portal. Out of the 14 species that we observed, these folks particularly enjoyed spectacular views of the White-eared, Violet-crowned, and male Lucifer Hummingbirds. No one minded the female Berylline Hummer, which Bird Treks participants have now seen for the past three consecutive years. And the Calliope, Costa's, and Blue-throated Hummers were pretty spectacular, also.
The drive into California Gulch is wild and woolly, something that every birder should experience at least once. The last four miles take nearly an hour to navigate. But the rewards are extraordinary: this is one of only two spots in the entire country where Five-striped Sparrow nests. The first tour group opted to make the trek and watched a male Five-striped Sparrow singing from an exposed perch for nearly an hour. The family tour decided on more casual birding at Arivaca Cienaga and came up with a nice surprise of their own: a nest full of Tropical Kingbirds just about to fledge, with both parents bringing in a constant supply of insects.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Gray Hawk and Mississippi Kite are relatively easy to see: just search the proper part of Sonoita Creek and the San Pedro River, respectively. But the ease with which they are found certainly does not detract from their beauty.
There is an old cotton shed where Barn Owl is typically quite reliable. This year they were absent the day we checked, but instead we found one in our spotlight purely by accident, on a back road outside of Patagonia. Additional highlights included Canyon Wrens singing their incredible descending songs at close range; Vermilion Flycatchers in their brilliant beauty; a Western Screech-Owl that was FINALLY in its roost hole after we checked at least a dozen times (thank you Mrs. Paton!); a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in the same tree with the Screech-Owl, putting on quite a show; 50 Lazuli Buntings in a single flock; and three Soras swimming, calling, and chasing each other in a flooded roadway.
Then there was the White Ibis, in the same location that produced a Roseate Spoonbill a few years ago: Arizona is a lot more than just cactus and desert.