April 13, 2004

SoCal/AZ trip day 6: the long ride home

After yesterday's hummer-fest, we headed back west, stopping off for a delicious meal in a middle eastern restaurant in Tucson, complete with a very accomplished belly-dancer! We stayed overnight in Phoenix, and had an early-morning unsuccessful stab at Black-bellied Whistling Duck. Our next port of call was thrasher country around Buckeye. Walking up a couple of gulches yielded a single Sage Thrasher amongst many Mockingbirds, plus a few migrants including Bullock's Oriole and Ash-throated Flycatcher. An unexpected life bird here was Zone-tailed Hawk.

We left this area around 930am to begin the 12-hour drive back to Davis. Not much in the way of birds, but again some attractive desert scenery. With 200 species and 70 ABA life birds in the bag, this was certainly a Spring Break to remember! Thanks to Marcel for good company, and for doing all the driving!


Posted by rjhall at April 13, 2004 8:52 PM
Comments

Enjoyed the entries. Looking forward to looking at the photos again when I've more time.

Posted by: Dawn at April 13, 2004 11:30 PM

Me too. It's marvelous to hear about your own backyard being described through fresh eyes. It's an incredible part of the world, isn't it? Sorry you missed the tanagers, but take heart. I missed Flame-colored last year, too, and have only seen Hepatic twice in four years.

Posted by: Mad AZ Monk at April 14, 2004 2:22 PM

Glad you're enjoying the site! It's certainly fun to be birding in a foreign land where even the common stuff is new and exciting. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks in CA as migration gets into full swing...

Posted by: rjhall at April 14, 2004 8:00 PM