August 6th, and 7th, 2012: Eighth, and Ninth days of Camp Chiricahua

     On the morning of August 6th, we returned to the same spot we had gone to the previous day, where we found the Juniper Titmouse for the first time. We wanted to try and find a Crissal Thrasher, a bird that we almost all missed. Unfortunately, we had no luck finding that bird. However, we did get great looks at a singing male Indigo Bunting, a personal favorite of mine now.

Male Indigo Bunting
(notice all light blue body, and silvery lower mandible)

   Once we returned to Cave Creek Ranch, we had to pack all of our bags, for it was time for us to leave. It was time for us to leave the spot where we witnessed myriads of hummingbirds feeding three feet away from us, where we found our trogon, where we searched and found a Montezuma Quail, and where we found two species of screech-owls. This location is recognized worldwide, and we had the privilege to spend several days amid this birding oasis. We were truly fortunate to bird this incredible environment. 

   We hit the road, and birded while we drove. We saw the typical birds, such as Cassin's and Western Kingbirds, Black-throated Sparrows, and White-winged Doves. We were on our way to San Pedro River Inn, in Riverside. This place has a completely different environment: more riparian and pond habitats. We finally arrived at the inn, and the leaders had to check us in. So they gave us time bird around. We did so, and found many cool birds, such as Western Wood-Pewees, our first Vermilion Flycatchers (not a lifer, but it is my all-time favorite bird, so I was so happy to see it once again), and my lifer Botteri's Sparrow! This sparrow looks very much like the similar Cassin's Sparrow, except that the Botteri's has a slightly downward-curved bill, and it doesn't have streaks on its flanks, unlike the Cassin's Sparrow. We also found a juvenile Swainson's Hawk perched high up in a tree, that just stared us down. This disparaging raptor was a delight to watch. 

Juvenile Swainson's Hawk
(notice the dark breast band)

     Once we had checked in, the leaders assigned us cabins and roommates. The cabins were surprisingly large, with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a dining room. However, this seemingly perfect cabin was infested with different kinds of wildlife. There were moths all over the place, my roommate found a lizard in his bed, and a shrew found a way to enter and exit the cabin whenever it pleased. Despite the many critters, it was a pretty cozy place to stay. We had dinner, and headed to our cabins. But before going to sleep, we decided that we were going owl a little bit, because we were told that there are Barn Owls that nest in the area. We walked down the trail, and after fifteen minutes, a white, ghostly figure flies from a tree. It was a Barn Owl. I had only seen this species once before, so it was great to see it again. As we headed back, we heard many coyotes. So many, that we felt like that we were beset by these canids. However, we were distracted by an amphibian.

 It was a Couch's Spadefoot, and was very cool to see.

Couch's Spadefoot

     The next morning, on August 7th, I woke up a little earlier to bird the area before breakfast. I walked to the pond, where I found a Green Heron, a Great Blue Heron, Red-winged Blackbirds, and several Yellow Warblers. We had breakfast, and we then took a walk around the inn's property, seeing if we could find birds. Obviously we did. When we first started walking, we saw some Vermilion Flycatchers, and some other flycatchers. Suddenly, a white and brown bird flew out of a tree calling: "c-c-c-c-c!". It was my lifer Yellow-billed Cuckoo! This bird is extremely localized in California, and very rarely occurs in the Bay Area, so I got extremely excited. However, this species is relatively common on the east coast, so all the other campers weren't phased by this cuculid. We then continued down the trail. We heard the Botteri's Sparrow once again, and then we heard this bizarre-sounding chattering. Michael pointed out that this was a Yellow-breasted Chat. This is a bird that I have been after for a little while now, so I was adamant that I wanted to find the bird. Suddenly the bird flew up onto a reed in plain view and began singing. It was truly spectacular!

Singing Yellow-breasted Chat
(notice the yellow throat and breast, the white supercilium, and slightly downward-curved bill)

     This wood-warbler (despite it looking and acting nothing like a wood-warbler) was the highlight of the day so far. As we continued along, we saw some Song Sparrows, a Common Yellowthroat, and a Gilded x Northern "Red-shafted" Flicker hybrid (I wouldn't have been able to tell it was a hybrid. Fortunately, Michael has unsurpassable identification skills). We then reached the actual San Pedro River. This river is covered by tall cottonwoods, that are home to many interesting birds, including Warbling Vireo, Yellow Warblers, Western Tanagers, Lazuli Buntings and even a Gray Hawk!

     Once we left the forested area of the river, we resumed walking along the trail. We found a Common Ground-Dove perched out in the open, giving us wonderful views. We also got amazing scope views of a Botteri's Sparrow, and a Loggerhead Shrike. We finally returned to the inn where we had lunch. A couple of us ate our lunch outside, as it was a nice day, and we wanted to take advantage of that. As we were eating, several Black-chinned Hummingbirds drank some sugar water from the feeders fairly close to us. Suddenly a brownish and white hummingbird zipped by, to a cottonwood tree. We all immediately knew what it was, but we had lost view of it. It was a Violet-crowned Hummingbird, a southwestern specialty. Suddenly a camper found it, but was unable to describe where it landed. It had supposedly landed in a nest, meaning that the bird bred there at San Pedro River Inn. Fortunately Michael managed to somehow comprehend his complicated directions and found the nest. He put the scope on the nest, and we all got to see this bird up-close.

Obscured view of the Violet-crowned Hummingbird
(notice the white throat, and violet crown)

    After lunch, we headed up to Beatty's Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains. The Huachucas are extremely close to the mexican border, making them an extremely good place to search for any mexican vagrant, such as White-eared Hummingbird. On a listserv of the area, somebody had posted that they found a White-eared Hummingbird at the feeders there. He had also posted that he found a Spotted Owl family there, and that they offered great views. We drove up there, and asked one of the workers there where to find the owls. He gave us directions and we followed them. After twenty minutes of hiking, we arrived at the area he had told us about, where the owls were, and there was one juvenile perched only ten feet away from us! It was making both clockwise and counterclockwise circles with its head to hear and see better, for he probably started getting stressed out by the big crowd watching it from so close.

Juvenile Spotted Owl
(notice the spotting on the breast area, and the light brown feathers around its head. That lets us know it's a juvenile)

     This owl was extremely cooperative, but we had to leave it to search for a certain mexican hummingbird. Once we arrived at the feeders, the only hummingbirds were Black-chinned. A couple Broad-billed started showing up, followed by an Anna's, a Magnificent, and a Rufous. We spent an hour and a half at the feeders with no White-eared Hummingbird, so we concluded that somebody had most likely seen a female Broad-billed and called it a White-eared Hummingbird (as they are rather similar).

     We headed back to the inn, had dinner, and conversed about our great day.