Saturday my blogger buddies
Robert Mortensen and
Laurence Butler from
Birding is Fun joined Geniece and I on an all day outing of awesome birding in Southeast Arizona. We started at sunrise in Florida (Flo-REE-da) Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains. For our appetizer we enjoyed an Olive Warbler. Minutes later the main course arrived and it did not disappoint. Three Rufous-Capped Warblers were not bothered by our presence as they foraged only feet away. One was about five feet away from Robert at eye level!
 |
| Rufous-capped Warbler |
It doesn't get any better than that! Especially after Geniece and I missed them at the end of December. They were first discovered at this location in December of 2008 by Troy Corman and Ramsey Koury. I had glimpses of them the next winter. It really is a gorgeous little bird. The warblers moved upstream and satisfied with our close encounter, we headed out of the canyon. Rock Wren and Canyon Wren gave us nice looks on our way down. We also heard a Cactus Wren.
On our drive out, we enjoyed Green-tailed Towhee, Lark Bunting, Rufous-winged, Rufous-crowned, Brewer's, Vesper, and Black-throated Sparrow.
 |
| Black-throated Sparrow |
It was still early, so we decided to check out Rio Rico Pond on our way to Peña Blanca Lake. We were treated to Mexican Mallards, a couple dozen Mountain Bluebirds in the fields, and Northern Rough-winged Swallows flying over the pond.
At Peña Blanca Lake we added Bewick's and House Wren, making it a five-wren day. Our target bird, Least Grebe, showed well for us.
 |
| Least Grebe |
The Black Phoebes were busy flycatching over the water.
 |
| Black Phoebe |
On our way to Patagonia Lake State Park we spotted a kettle of Black and Turkey Vultures.
 |
| Black Vulture |
Although we dipped on our target birds, Black-capped Gnatcatcher and Elegant Trogon, we enjoyed some nice birds.
 |
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher |
 |
| White-throated Swift |
 |
| Great Horned Owl |
 |
| Ladder-backed Woodpecker |
 |
| Hammond's Flycatcher |
 |
| Hammond's Flycatcher |
Our last stop was the famous Paton's house in Patagonia, the best place in the U.S. to see Violet-crowned Hummingbird. After half an hour of enjoying the other birds at the feeders, it made an appearance.
 |
| Violet-crowned Hummingbird |
 |
| Broad-billed Hummingbird |
 |
| Northern Cardinal |
 |
| Pyrrhuloxia |
 |
| White-breasted Nuthatch |
We ended with 96 species for the day and many lifers for my friends. I can't wait to do it again!
Jeremy, I feel like I went on the tour with you all because of your images and narration!
ReplyDeleteExcellent recounting and photos Jeremy. It's all still so vivid and crisp days later.
ReplyDeleteLove the shot of the Great Horned Owl. You are one lucky birder!
ReplyDeleteOh awesome! Great variety and nice photos too- definitely getting psyched for my own Southeast Arizona tour!
ReplyDeleteFabulous birds! That rufous-capped warbler is just gorgeous. Your photos are wonderful. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteJeremy, an outstanding post with outstanding birds! How I miss that place!
ReplyDeleteJeremy, what an awesome blog you have. All these birds are awesome. But the Rufous-capped Warbler was a special treat. I've never seen or even heard about this bird. One day, I will book a trip to AZ!
ReplyDeleteSpectacular images. The area you visited has a unique fauna and birdlife, with many rarities and vagrants from Mexico.
ReplyDeleteWarblers in N. America can disperse far from their established respective distributions. Further south in Mexico and the tropics, they are much more sedentary. Of all those observed in the U.S., only 6 (Gray-crowned Yellowthroat, Colima, Golden-cheeked, Golden-crowned, Kirtland's, Bachman's) have not been sighted in Arizona.
The Rufous-capped Warbler is by comparison less of a straggler in this sense, but nonetheless is rare, and it is interesting that you may already be familiar with it. It is also found in Texas.
The Olive Warbler is also unique to s.e. AZ, but I believe its distribution extends further north. I place it with the family Parulidae merely out of convenience, but it has become generally accepted that it represents its own family.
The two books which are the most helpful in becoming more enlightened on warblers, as they most certainly have for myself, are the Curson guide, 'Warblers of the Americas' (with emphasis on "Movements" in each of the accounts) and the Sibley/Western field guide. 5 which have occurred in AZ are omitted in Sibley (Swainson's, Tropical Parula, Crescent-chested, Fan-tailed, Slate-throated Redstart).