On our third day of camp, we all woke up early to attend a short bird walk around the campground, to find more of the local birds. As usual, there were the Yellow-eyed Juncos that hopped around all over the place. Hermit Thrushes and Western Bluebirds joined the juncos by the water spout to bathe. But once we left our campsite, we began seeing different birds. For example we got good looks at a gorgeous adult Painted Redstart. This wood-warbler is a southeast Arizona specialty, so it was great that we got to see it so well. As we walked up the trail, we saw more new birds such as Olive Warblers, Grace's Warblers, Hepatic Tanagers, and Plumbeous Vireos. There were of course the common Pygmy Nuthatches that hopped from branch to branch in this mixed flock. Then, Michael told everybody to silence themselves, for he had heard something interesting. Everyone quieted down and listened. Then we heard a faint "whip" call in the trees ahead of us. Michael told us that it was a Buff-breasted Flycatcher, another southeast Arizona specialty. We slowly approached the trees from where it called and listened some more. This time however, when it called, it sounded like it came from even further back. This bird was much warier than we had hoped it would be. Then Michael quickly pointed at a tree and shouted quietly: "there!" Only a few people got brief glimpses of a small bird fly off, meaning nobody got good views of the bird. We weren't worried at first because we assumed that if we missed it at this location, we could find one later on during the trip. But then Michael warned us that this was the only location where we had a reliable chance at finding the bird. This caveat made everybody silent, as we hoped to hear the distinctive "whip" note coming from atop a nearby tree. But there wasn't anything. Fortunately, Michael told us that we would head back up there the next morning, and try our luck again at finding this minuscule Empidonax. As we headed back, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds quarreled and chased each other around, while Mountain Chickadees gleaned seeds from the ponderosa pine trees. Once back at the campsite, we had breakfast, which consisted in a bowl of Cheerios. As everybody was prating and conversing, Michael suddenly got quiet and turned around. Nobody understood what was going on, when suddenly we heard some hooting coming from the tree canopy. Michael told us that it was a Northern Pygmy-Owl. This small species of owl is known for its diurnal habits. It would have been a lifer for all of us. Unfortunately, after twenty minutes of searching, we never found the elusive bird.
After breakfast, we all hopped into the vans and headed towards our first stop. Still staying within the Coronado National Forest on Mount Lemmon, we drove down to about 2000 feet of elevation to a spot called Molino Basin. This habitat consisted in open riparian and shrubby areas. As we all hopped out of the vehicles, the three leaders had to go over the plans for the rest of the day, so we all had about 10 minutes to bird the vicinity. The first birds we noticed were a Phainopepla couple teed up on top of a nearby tree. We could tell that there was a male and a female because the female is gray all over, whereas the male is glossy-black all over. Then they began flycatching, and revealed their white wing patches, that are only truly visible when in flight. Then, we walked down into a dried up wash, hoping to find something new, and we did. A hummingbird flew right in front of us and landed on a tiny perch. Its blue and green feathers shined beautifully in the right light. It would then flick its long tongue out of its red bill. This was our first Broad-billed Hummingbird, a target bird of mine for this trip. It posed for us for quite a while, giving us tremendous views. Then we heard these chickadee-like calls coming from the tree behind us. We had trouble finding the little bird at first, but then we noticed this gray bird perched upside down, picking at a branch. It was our first Bridled Titmouse, another target bird for me. This bird was absolutely adorable, but unfortunately was timid. It didn't give us the same type of views as did the previous hummer. Then, the leaders agreed on a plan for the day, and we began our walk. We got more views of the Phainopeplas, a chattering Hooded Oriole perched on a branch, and a juvenile Cooper's Hawk flew across the trail right in front of us, giving us spectacular views! Then, we heard some complex, warbling song coming from afar. Michael pointed out that it was a Blue Grosbeak. This bird would have been a lifer for me, and I have been wanting to see that bird for a little while now, so I got excited when he told us what it was. However, we had trouble finding it, and after five minutes, we decided to move on. This bummed me out, but I knew that we would get other opportunities at viewing this cardinalid. Suddenly, I noticed something teed up on a tree behind us, and got even more excited, because I had found the Blue Grosbeak. Michael put the scope on the bird, and gave us great views of this sapphire bird.
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| Singing male Blue Grosbeak (notice the rufous on the wings) |
After viewing the grosbeak, we continued down the trail. We heard and managed to find a Rufous-crowned Sparrow. It however was very timid and gave us only brief and quick views. We then decided to head back, because it wasn't too "birdy". But as we headed back, we found the Broad-billed Hummingbird that we saw earlier. This time however, it perched on an even more conspicuous and open branch, giving us even better views.
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| Broad-billed Hummingbird (notice the red bill and forked tail) |
Right after the hummer, a Hooded Oriole perched out in the open right by the trochilid. The light was so perfect, that the orange on the oriole was so much brighter than it usually is. It was quite beautiful. Then, we found the same juvenile Cooper's Hawk that flew across the trail earlier. This time however, it was on the ground bouncing around. It then flew to a low shrub and sat there for quite a little while.
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| Juvenile Cooper's Hawk (notice the thick legs, and the thick white line at bottom of the tail [not visible in this picture] ) |
As we were leaving Molino Basin, it began getting extremely hot. Fortunately though, the leaders anticipated this happening, and planned for us to go higher up in elevation to avoid getting burned. Our next stop was higher in elevation than our campsite, and was therefore much cooler in temperature. It was a little campsite called Bear Canyon. Fortunately for us, there wasn't anybody that was using the campsite. There was however one family eating at a picnic table, but they were relatively quiet, so we didn't mind them. As we arrived, we were immediately beset by the ubiquitous Acorn Woodpeckers. The were flying all over he place and making so much noise, that they were almost a nuisance. But we somehow managed to ignore them. We saw another Painted Redstart that gave us much better views than the one we saw earlier that morning. We also got amazing views of Plumbeous Vireos, a Black-throated Gray Warbler, and a flock of lifer Mexican Jays. This corvid used to be called the Gray-breasted Jay, and it was very easy to see why: it had a very dull, gray-colored breast. We also found a beautiful Canyon Wren that kept on hopping around rocks and even went under a picnic table. Then Michael pointed out the best bird of the day so far. We all looked at this bird. It had an overall gray body, a spotted stomach, and kept on pecking the tree. It was our very first Arizona Woodpecker. This bird may seem dull when simply described, but after seeing it for real, it is now my favorite species of woodpecker (I've never seen a Lewis's Woodpecker, so it's not that one). It's such a unique woodpecker. It's the only species of North American woodpecker without any black on it. Once the great picid flew off, we headed back to the campsite for some lunch. As they were preparing the meal, we birded the campsite. It was so much "birdier" than it had been the previous times we birded the area. There were several egregious Grace's Warblers, myriads of Pygmy and White-breasted Nuthatches, and plenty of Cordilleran Flycatchers. Then, some campers noticed a large flycatcher, that first appeared to be a wood-pewee. But there was something off about it. Then it called, and we all said: "Greater Pewee!" This bird is a southeast Arizona specialty, so it was great to get good views of this bird. We had lunch right after, and told the leaders about the Contopus flycatcher we just saw.
After lunch, we went hiking at the very top of Mount Lemmon in this area called Marshall Gulch. But right before, we all stopped at this little shop and everybody got ice cream. I however didn't get any, because I didn't think it was wise to eat such sweets before hiking. So as I waited outside, and birded a little bit. I was pishing in this little riparian habitat, and attracted a little gray warbler. It had yellow undertail coverts, and I knew immediately that it was a Virginia's Warbler. I called everybody inside the shop to come outside and look at the bird. Unfortunately, nobody got good views of the bird, except for one or two campers. I was proud of myself because I found our first Virginia's Warbler. We headed up to Marshall Gulch right after. It was a short hike, and we didn't find too many birds. We found some Hermit Thrushes, American Robins, Cordilleran Flycatchers, House Wrens, Yellow-eyed Juncos, and heard some more Northern Pygmy-Owls, but none were seen, unfortunately.
We headed back down to the campground for dinner, and a campfire. We had some delicious S'Mores that we roasted around the fire. As we were eating, this one Striped Skunk would always come by to check out what was going on. It must have smelled the graham crackers or all the other food. Anyways, after the S'Mores, we went to bed, excited for our next day of Camp Chiricahua.
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