Chiricahua Mts. & Southeast AZ
27 Sep - 1 Oct 2007
by
Henry Detwiler
Jim and I spent four excellent days in the mountains of Southeast Arizona searching for birds, bugs, and beasts.
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thumbnail pictures for full-sized photos.
Click here for bird list (161 species)
THURSDAY
Zone-tailed Hawk - immature |
On Thursday afternoon I left Yuma and headed towards Tucson. At Quigley Wildlife Management Area I looked up and saw three Zone-tailed Hawks wheeling over the cottonwood/willow grove. Since I and others had seen the adult earlier in the year, and one of the birds today was clearly an immature, it's likely they bred in the area!
Zone-tailed Hawk - adult
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FRIDAY
Jim and I left his Tucson home on Friday morning,. Our first birding stop was Cienega Creek alon Marsh Road, where we spotted lots of great butterflies--frittilaries, checker-spots, satyrs, and blues. The giant mesquite bugs were new for me--big and colorful and quite plentiful. |
Giant Mesquite Bug
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Wilson's Phalaropes & Long-billed Dowitchers
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At Willcox we stopped for fresh fruit at Apple Annies, and then took a lunch break at the golf course ponds. Hundreds of shovelers and dozens of Wilson's Phalaropes flocked about and fed along the shoreline. An Arizona Wiptail and a Bunchgrass Lizard were new for me.
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Yellow-eyed Junco
Yarrow's Spiny Lizard
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We approached the Chiricahuas through Pinery Canyon. A side trip to Pine Canyon yielded a nice Black & White Warbler along with more common Townsend's & Wilson's Warblers, Yellow-eyed Juncos, Hermit Thrush, and a distant whistling Northern Pygmy Owl. Here too, were new herps, such as the handsome Yarrow's Spiny Lizard.
Hermit Thrush
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| Up on top of Barfoot Park we heard Pygmy Nuthatches and searched for Twin-spotted rattlesnakes along the talus slopes. After checking in at Portal we ate our there. During a quick visit with Tony and Shela at Cave Creek Ranch we spotted a long-nosed bat and a raccoon, both gorging themselves at their well-stocked feeding station. Before we headed back to our room we heard a Whiskered Screech-Owl and a Great-Horned Owl. |
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SATURDAY
Cliff Chipmunk
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The next morning we visited the grounds again with Tony. Blue-throated Hummingbird, Cedar Waxwing, and Red-naped Sapsucker were a few of our finds. This cliff chipmunk hopped up on the feed log for a snack, while rock squirrels scurried along the rock walls, and a couple of Apache Fox Squirrels ran up and down the large sycamores. |
A trip over to the Southwest Research Station turned up a couple of new damselflies, a white-tailed deer, an obliging American Robin, plus this Crab Spider eating a bee.
Crab Spider eating Leafcutter Bee
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American Robin |
Birding along Turkey Creek turned up a pair of Townsend's Solitaires, dozens of beautiful butterflies like these California Sisters and satyrs. Watching a spider snatch and feed on a Nabokov's satyr (butterfly) was most interesting.
Red-bordered Satyr
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California Sister
Nabokov's Satyr caught by a spider
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A hike along the beautiful flowing South Fork creek yielded Painted Redstart, Hutton's Vireo, and Arizona Woodpeckers.
Painted Redstart
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Arizona Woodpecker
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Willow Pond was dry, but the remaining pools of water harbored the invasive bullfrog. Common spreadwings were the only damselfly I could locate. Scaled Quail and Greater Roadrunners were staged around the pond levee, no doubt waiting for us to leave so that they could come down for a drink. |
Common Spreakwing
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Mohave Rattlesnake |
In the field next to the pond, Jim lifted up a large piece of plywood and found this Mohave Rattlesnake digesting a big lump in its gut. The wood rat that scurried out from under the board gave us a hint as to what the snake's dinner might have been. We camped at Prince Canyon that night, catching a brief chorus of Northern Pygmy Owl and Whiskered Screech-Owl.
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