June 02, 2005
Arizona cleanup day 1: Madera Canyon to California Gulch
I seem to be on a lucky streak at the moment! Just returned from an outstanding trip to SE Arizona with Marcel Holyoak, where we saw ALL of our target birds, plus a couple of surprises! I managed to get 24 life birds, far exceeding my expectations.
5am saw us heading to the base of Madera Canyon, where we quickly came across my first lifer - a singing Botteri's Sparrow.
There were also many smart Black-throated Sparrows in the area.
We then made a bee-line for Madera Kubo in search of Flame-colored Tanager. The birds didn't disappoint, and gave amazing views as they came down to feed on fruit.
We were lucky enough to locate the nest and watched the female come in several times to feed the chicks.
Hepatic Tanager (another lifer) was also nesting nearby.
A pair of Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers was showing extremely well at this location, often quarrelling with Dusky-capped Flycatchers.
This Yellow-eyed Junco often had a chick in tow.
Our luck with nesting birds continued - this was the first of two Plumbeous Vireo nests we came across today.
Further up the canyon we came across another cooperative Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher...
... and had good views of a Mourning Cloak (aka Camberwell Beauty) sunning itself.
The highlight of the hike was this calling male Elegant Trogon, which seemed completely oblivious to our presence!
In the afternoon we put our rental car through its paces by taking it on the bumpy track to California Gulch. Given that temperatures had hit the 110s in the week before we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised when it remained relatively cool all day. We were, however, completely unprepared for the thunderstorm and torrential rain which was to follow! In spite of the weather, we were successful in finding our three target birds for this spot - Varied Bunting, Five-striped Sparrow, and a Buff-collared Nightjar (we only heard the latter - he was presumably sheltering from the downpour). The rain and gloomy grey skies were not conducive to digiscoping, though I did manage a record shot of a Five-striped Sparrow.
Camping that night was made more interesting by a soggy tent and the appearance of a Black Widow Spider!
Posted by rjhall at June 2, 2005 02:12 AM