Southern
Arizona
Apr
25-28, 2003,
Outstanding weather!
- narrated
by Henry Detwiler
A wonderful 4-day round trip from Yuma to Portal. Excellent
weather, birds, & the company of Chuck & Diane Gooding in the
Chiricahua Mountains.
180
species total
Click on
thumbnail pictures for full-sized shots.
FRIDAY, 25 May
|
Western Tanager
|
I started out at the Yuma Territorial Prison
Historical Park, where the fruiting mulberry tree yielded 18 species
in the first half hour! Elsewhere in the park were Vaux's
Swifts, Bronzed Cowbird, and a few waders along the Colorado River.
|
| Several stops & many hours later at Sweetwater Ponds in Tucson I found the Least Grebe
in the western-most pond. I also observed several active nests:
Verdin; Mourning Dove; Curve-billed Thrasher; and this Gila
Woodpecker. |
Gila Woodpecker in a Saguaro |
American Avocet (digiscoped) |
American Avocets at Wilcox
(Canon D10) |
| At Cochise Lake in Wilcox, numerous
shorebirds and ducks provided a real treat, and gave me yet more
chances to try out my new Canon D-10. Avocets were in breeding
plumage, as were many of the peeps. |
White-faced Ibis |
White-faced Ibis were sporting the "white"
trim on their faces. Before I headed back into town, I saw a
couple of Scaled Quail next to the clubhouse. |
SATURDAY, 26 May
| The next morning I met Diane and Chuck at their cabin
in Portal, and we started our weekend of birding together. |
Diane and Chuck Gooding |
 |
Pine Siskins were abundant at the many feeders in
Portal and Paradise. Other common feeder birds were sparrows,
orioles, grosbeaks, and finches. We spent the afternoon in the
high mountains, where we found Mexican Chickadees, Grace's &
Olive Warblers, and all three nuthatches. |
|
SUNDAY, 27 May
|
Elegant Trogon
|
Coues' Whitetail Deer
Along Cave
Creek we first heard, and then saw this beautiful Elegant
Trogon. It was still perched there when we left fifteen
minutes later, having taken many photos and admired it. These tiny
Coues' deer were
constant companions on our trip.
|
|
Green-tailed Towhee
|
Acorn Woodpecker
|
|
At Dave Jasper's place we watched Green-tailed Towhees, Chipping
& White-crowned Sparrows, and Gambel's Quail compete with the
ground squirrels for food. At the Southwestern Research
Station this Acorn Woodpecker was more concerned with getting a
good meal than my presence (notice the tongue plunging into the
feeder). Back in Portal we ended the day
with a gorgeous life bird for Chuck--a Hooded Oriole coming to one of the
hummingbird feeders in the Jensen's yard!
|
MONDAY, 28 May
Banded Rock Rattlesnake |
On Monday morning I hiked up Scheelite Canyon in
search of the Spotted Owls. Couldn't find 'em, but I did
almost step on this Banded Rock Rattlesnake as I was chasing a
Canyon Wren. In Garden Canyon the Yellow-eyed Juncos were
fearless, almost walking over my feet in search of tasty seeds. |
|
Yellow-eyed Junco
|
Huachuca's Flower |
|
Zone-tailed Hawk
|
The next
stop was at the Paton's and the Patagonia-Sonoita Preserve.
The Preserve was closed (Mon & Tue), but I saw this
Zone-tailed Hawk from the road, close to its nest on Circle Z
property. It was getting late by then, so I called it a day
and headed home to Yuma, already looking forward to my next trip!
|
|
