August 3rd, 2012: Fifth day of Camp Chiricahua

     We began our first day at Cave Creek Canyon by actually driving away from it. We birded the surrounding habitat, which was mostly dry chaparral, and arid desert. We drove down the same road we came in with, and saw some of the same birds, such Black-throated Sparrows, Western and Cassin's Kingbirds, and Mourning Doves. But we still found a new bird. While looking at a Black-throated Sparrow, we hear a distant song, that ended up being a Cassin's Sparrow, a fairly plain and dull bird, but we all still wanted to see it anyways. Because it was singing consistently, it meant that it was teed up on a shrub somewhere. After scanning the distant shrubs, we found this little brown bird singing its heart out on top of a shrub. It was the bird we were after. Michael put the scope on it, and we all got fantastic views of it. As we were all about to get back into the vans, we see this little brown thing move on the ground. It was a Short-tailed Horned Lizard, a very cool looking lizard that camouflages extremely well with the ground. We all nearly stepped on it.

Short-tailed Horned Lizard

      We then drove towards this "ghost-town" (I use air quotes because people still live there, but it appears to be completely abandoned) called Rodeo, in New Mexico. It still had the same type of habitat, but more dispersed. We also had some different birds, such as Eurasian-collared Doves, House Finches, Lark Sparrows, Canyon Towhees, Hooded Orioles, Gambel's Quails, and my lifer Scaled Quail. Most of the birding was done from the car, so we didn't hop out for any of these birds. Fortunately, they were fairly close and offered good views nonetheless. We also did see a Jackrabbit from the car, and it as well offered great views.

Jackrabbit

    We continued towards a long, straight road aptly named Stateline Road. This road separates Arizona from New Mexico, hence it's obvious name. This road was much more productive than we expected. We got good views of Blue Grosbeaks, Loggerhead Shrikes, Lark Sparrows, a Swainson's Hawk, and a flyby, migrant Painted Bunting, a lifer for me!

Swainson's Hawk

    After our productive driving birding, we went to some locally known feeders at this Bed & Breakfast called The Quail Cottage. There weren't really any new birds here, except for a Red-winged Blackbird, and a Pyrrhuloxia. There was a calling Crissal Thrasher that only a few campers got to see, not including myself.

    We finally returned to Cave Creek Canyon, and walked down a famous trail called the South Fork Trail. This trail is known for its Elegant Trogons, the symbol of Southeast Arizona birding. Unfortunately, we didn't see it. We did however see a Hutton's Vireo, Black-throated Gray Warblers, Painted Redstarts, Western Wood-Pewees, an Arizona Woodpecker, and an enormous flock of Mexican Jays. They were literally everywhere, and there were both adults and juveniles in this flock. 

Mexican Jay adult
(notice drab, gray breast)

Juvenile Mexican Jay
(notice the pink at the base of the bill)

    Because it was monsoon season, it began raining very hard, and lightning started striking fairly close to us. So we found it wise to head back to the ranch take a break. But before we left, we heard a rubber duck call coming from the tree above us. This could mean that either a park ranger was playing with a baby's toy up in a tree, or there was a Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher around. Fortunately, it was the second, and we got fantastic views of this tyrant flycatcher. Once we got back, we all sat on the porch, under a roof to avoid getting wet. Fortunately, the feeders were still active. There were a whole bunch of Lesser Goldfinches, and a single adult male Black-headed Grosbeak.

Adult male Black-headed Grosbeak

    But it wasn't just the seed feeders that were active. There were hummingbird feeders that were active as well. The main visitors were Broad-billed Hummingbirds, Blue-throated Hummingbirds, and a Magnificent Hummingbird. These are each southeast Arizona specialties, so it was great to get good views of these iridescent beauties.

Female Broad-billed Hummingbird
(notice white eyebrow and malar region)

Blue-throated Hummingbird
(notice blue throat, and white eye-line)

     The Blue-throated Hummingbird is North America's biggest species of hummingbird, with an 8-inch wingspan and weighing 0.27 oz. It was astonishingly large. We were even able to see each of the wings' beats. It was also the dominant hummingbird of the feeders, rarely letting any other species feed on the sugar water.

     Once the rain let up, we headed towards a house with a plethora of feeders. They were literally everywhere. We stayed for about 2 hours just sitting down, and we found cool birds such as Lazuli Buntings, Hooded Orioles, a Pyrrhuloxia, Canyon Towhees, and an adorable Gambel's Quail family.

Magnificent Hummingbird

Broad-billed Hummingbird

Cave Creek Canyon seen from the lady's backyard

   Once we got back to the ranch, it was time for dinner. We went to bed right after, after a delicious pasta dinner.

August 2nd: Fourth Day of Camp Chiricahua

     To begin our fourth day of camp, Michael O'Brian had promised us that we would return to the spot where we heard and briefly saw the Buff-breasted Flycatcher, so we walked back up that trail. We found the usual birds: Mountain Chickadees, Yellow-eyed Juncos, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, etc... We finally arrived at the spot, and we almost immediately heard it. It seemed fairly close, but not so close that we could see it. So we decided to very quietly climb up some rocks to have a panoramic view of the campground, and perhaps have a better view of the Empid. Once we were on top, we scanned the area, in hopes of finding something interesting. Suddenly, one of the campers yelled out that she saw a Peregrine Falcon perched on a branch about a quarter-mile away. I was the camper that probably got the most excited because this had been a nemesis bird of mine for a while now. There is a well-known Peregrine Falcon nest in San Francisco, on top of a building. There is a video-cam on it, people study the nest...it's pretty much famous. I however have never gotten around to going there and seeing it. My good friend Logan Kahle keeps on telling me of good spots for finding one, but I have always ended up falcon-less. So a sudden rush of excitement rushed through my entire body. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to point it out. Then, she said that it started flying, and all my hopes disappeared. But then I saw this dark silhouette shoot up into the sky and fly over us. It had sharp and pointed wings, so I immediately knew that it was a falcon, the Peregrine Falcon. I put my binoculars to my eyes, and saw the streaky stomach and wings. This bird is the fastest animal on earth, reaching speeds of up to 200/mph, and I realized this. It was hard to get a nice, clean view of this falcon. I specify this bird as being a falcon, and not just a raptor, because recent studies shows that these birds, along with other falcons such as Merlins, or Prairie Falcons, are in fact more closely related to parrots than to hawks and vultures. Falcons are in fact carnivorous parrots, believe it or not. To learn more about this, click here.

        But I digress, that main point is that I finally found my nemesis bird.... finally! Once it flew off into the distance, we returned to our flycatcher search. We would only hear the faint "whip" call every so often, which didn't reassure us at all. But then me and three other campers saw a little bird fly onto a snag 40 feet in front of us. This bird was the bird we were after: the Buff-breasted Flycatcher. Unfortunately though, it had its back turned on us, so we couldn't see the buffy tones on its breast. But we didn't complain, because we were the only ones that got good views of this bird. We finally headed back to the campsite and had breakfast. That day was our last day of camping so had to take down our tents after eating. Forty minutes later, we packed everything into the vans and headed down the mountain, but stopped at this one spot where Michael and Louise scouted before the camp. When scouting, they heard a Montezuma Quail, a furtive, secretive, and gorgeous bird. This bird has intricate and harlequin markings on its face, and it looks like it had been painted on. It is a truly unique bird. However, we didn't find this elusive quail, but I did get myself a lifer. As we were scanning the area, and listening for a descending trill (the Montezuma Quail call), Michael heard a Rock Wren not too far from us. Louise, who is a little further away from us said she was able to see two of them perched right next to an agave plant. We went down to where she was and Michael placed his spotting scope on the wren couple. I got awesome looks at this bird that was far too overdue for me.

      We left this little pitstop, and headed towards Willcox, Arizona, where we stopped to run some errands and birded at another sewage pond (yay!). But before, we met up with Jennie (who had left earlier than us to scout the next spot) at this road just along Saguaro National Park, called Broadway Road. The roadside was obviously where we birded, for that was where the habitat was. Soaring in the sky, were several dozen Purple Martins, lifers for me. But then, several of them flew into their nest cavities in saguaro cacti, giving us great views. Other birds we saw were Gila Woodpeckers, Cactus Wrens, Rufous-winged Sparrows, Gambel's Quail, Western Kingbirds, and a single Greater Roadrunner. We all packed into the vans and prepared for the upcoming two hour drive. But we  suddenly got walkie-talkied by the van behind us being driven by Louise Zemaitis, saying that they just saw a Harris's Hawk on top of a telephone pole. Michael immediately u-turned, and parked the car. The raptor (as this bird is in fact related to raptors, unlike the falcons) was perched atop the pole, just like Louise had said, completely oblivious to the fact that a whole camp was admiring it.

Harris's Hawk
(notice the rufous tones on the wings and legs,
and egregious yellow cere at the base of the beak)

   This species is known for being highly gregarious, meaning flocking and hunting in groups, but this one was solitary, and didn't seem to mind because it didn't budge when we all started snapping pictures. Then, Michael and a whole bunch of other campers were looking at a shrub, and they said that they saw two Black-tailed Gnatcatchers. I walked towards them, but then two small, quarreling birds began chasing each other. They were blue and had a black undertail, so I knew they were the gnatcatchers.

    Unfortunately, it was time to leave the majestic hawk and move on. We headed towards the Willcox Sewage Ponds, a well-known birding hotspot for migrating sandpipers. After having lunch at Pizza Hut, we drove towards the ponds. We first stopped at this small marshy area, where we found American Coots, Mallards, a Ruddy Duck, and a Black-crowned Night-Heron. We then went to the actual ponds. Despite the appalling odor, this place was amazing. There were so many sandpiper-like birds, including Wilson's Phalaropes, Least, Western, Baird's, and the rarer and migratory Stilt Sandpipers. There were also both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, side-by-side, which made for an awesome comparison. There were American Avocets and Black-necked Stilts, Long-billed Dowitchers, and Spotted Sandpipers. This place was perfect, except for the smell and the rising heat. 

Wilson's Phalaropes and Lesser Yellowlegs
(second one from the right)

Wilson's Phalaropes

   Other noteworthy birds that we found here were our first Swainson's Hawk, Eastern Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackles, and both Cassin's and Western Kingbirds.

   Once we left the sewage ponds, we drove for two hours straight. We did however stop when we saw interesting birds or creatures on the side of the road. We saw two ravens perched on a telephone pole, and they turned out to be Chihuahuan Ravens. These are some of the hardest birds to identify in the entire country. The best way to tell them apart is by looking at the nasal bristles. If it has relatively long bristles, it is a Chihuahuan Raven, and if it has short bristles, it's a Common Raven. However, this field mark can be difficult to get a good look at, if it's flying, or perched too far away. Along the drive, we saw Black-throated Sparrows, Greater Roadrunners, kingbirds, and Curve-billed Thrashers. Other wildlife that we saw were Desert Cottontails, Jackrabbits, Black-tailed Deer, a Desert Tarantula, and we almost ran over a Western Box Turtle.

The Western Box Turtle that we saved!

   After two hours of driving, and braving car sickness, we finally arrived at Cave Creek Ranch, our home for the next four days. This area is universally known for its avian diversity and abundance. If you are a birder, you will end up here eventually. It is literally a birder's paradise. All the people that check into that hotel are birders. Like Luke Dempsey says in his book A Supremely Bad Idea: "If you're visiting Portal, you're either a birder, or you're lost." There were feeders hung everywhere, and had Lesser Goldfinches, Mexican Jays, Black-headed Grosbeaks, Northern Cardinals, Curve-billed Thrashers, and Acorn Woodpeckers, to name a few.

    We were all pretty tired, so we all just unpacked in our cabins, and sat on the porch, waiting for birds to come to us, rather than look for them. We had dinner at the end of the day, and finally got a well-deserved night of rest.

August 1st, 2012: Third day of Camp Chiricahua

     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.

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.

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.

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.

July 31st: Second day of Camp Chiricahua

     After an early wake up at 5:30 AM, we packed up our suitcases, had breakfast, and checked out of the hotel by the airport where we spent the night. We put everything in the vans and headed towards the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum. This museum is known worldwide for its uniqueness. The museum only has small portion that is actually within a building. The majority of it is a natural desert, with a few enclosures and many tortuous trails. But before entering the museum, we met up with our third leader in the parking lot. She was Jennie Duberstein and she was going to spend the majority of the week with us. Being a resident of Tucson, she knew the area extremely well, and therefore hooked us up with local people who owned feeders and whatnot. We attempted to go around the circle and reintroduce ourselves, but we would always hear interesting birds that would distract us. There first was the lifer Rufous-winged Sparrow, then a calling Cactus Wren, and finally a melodious singing Varied Bunting perched atop a statuesque saguaro cactus.

Singing male Varied Bunting
(notice the downward curved upper mandible)

     We finally managed to finish the introductions and headed towards the entrance of the "museum" (as it isn't exactly your regular museum). But before entering, we ran into one of the docents there that had a Western Screech-Owl perched on its hand. This minuscule, nocturnal predator is one of the many birds that calls the Sonoran Desert home.

Western Screech-Owl
(notice the dark bill and the strictly vertical streaks on its stomach)

   As we entered the "museum", it didn't take long for the bird diversity to show itself. A lifer Brown-crested Flycatcher flew into a shrub ahead of us, a Northern Mockingbird called from atop a saguaro cactus, like the previous bunting, and a Cactus Wren family squabbled in a nearby tree.

View from the entrance

   We then began walking down a trail. We were beset by pointy cholla and immense saguaro cacti, octopus-like ocotillo plants, and flittering butterflies. White-winged Doves flew above us, and a single Hooded Oriole began chattering at the very top of a palm tree. We saw more Abert's Towhees chasing each other on the ground, and a male Northern Cardinal was perched atop an ocotillo conspicuously.

Male Northern Cardinal

     What's interesting about this southwestern cardinal is that it is significantly different from the typical eastern cardinals. The typical cardinal that people are used to seeing on the east isn't as red and has a shorter crest than the southwestern counterpart. Coming from the west coast, I rarely ever see any cardinals, so the difference isn't very striking to me. But most of the campers were from the east, where the Northern Cardinal is ubiquitous, and were completely stricken by the difference. 

     

    We then entered the hummingbird aviary, where several different species of hummingbird zipped less than two inches away from our face. This was a very productive time spent, because it gave us a chance to study the various species we expected to see during our trip.

Male Anna's Hummingbird
(pink face is a dead giveaway)

Male Costa's Hummingbird
(purple face is a dead giveaway, notice also the white underneath the iridescence and the purple feathers that descend towards its "shoulders")

Male Broad-tailed Hummngbird
(notice the red throat and the white necklace)

Immature male Broad-billed Hummingbird
(notice the prominent white "ear" and malar)

Female Costa's Hummingbird
(Notice the overall compact frame and the wing tips that extend further than its tail)

    After the hummingbird identification session, we continued to walk down the trail. We then reached the bird aviary. Inside of this aviary were many different species including Gambel's Quails, Inca Doves, Western Tanagers, White-winged Doves, and even a Black-headed x Yellow Grosbeak hybrid and a Northern Cardinal x Pyrrhuloxia hybrid.

     After spending ten minutes inside of the caged aviary, we decided we preferred to watch wild birds. Soon after exiting, we found our first Phainopepla of the trip. This beautiful member of the silky-flycatcher family earns its unique and perhaps even bizarre name from its greek etymology, that translates to "silky gown". Not too far from it, Michael placed the scope on a female Bronzed Cowbird perched atop a tall shrub. Though we all would have preferred to see the beautiful and shiny male, we still admired this female. 

Female Bronzed Cowbird
(notice the red eye)

   We then stopped by several enclosures that had Bighorn Sheep, North American River Otters, Beavers, and even Coatis! We didn't find any new birds while looking in the enclosures, except for a very worn adult Curve-billed Thrasher in the Coati enclosure. 

    As we were about to exit the "museum", we passed by the boisterous Cactus Wren family that were perched so conspicuously, that they were just asking to be photographed.

One of the calling Cactus Wrens

    It was then time to leave the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum, and headed up the Santa Catalina Mountains. We were heading towards our campsite for the next two nights. This mountain chain is a veritable ecotone. An ecotone is where several different habitats meet. At the foothills, there is the Sonoran Desert with its saguaro cacti that play the trees' roles.

Sonoran Desert Habitat

    Suddenly, as we reached a certain altitude, the saguaro cacti became more sparse and we entered a more riparian-like habitat with more and more trees. During the winter, the temperature gets too cool for cacti to grow, so they lessen the more we climb. Then, once we reached an elevation of about 5000-6000 feet, we entered a ponderosa pine forest. The cacti were gone, and we were towered by immense pine trees.

     We finally reached our campsite, Rose Canyon Lake, and we put up our tents. The leaders told us that once we finished setting up our tents, we could bird the vicinity of the campsite. So we all eagerly hurried and tried to quickly put up our tents. Yellow-eyed Juncos hopped around us as we did so. As they were lifers for all the campers, we all found them extremely entertaining. These emberizids resemble the  red-backed subspecies of the Dark-eyed Junco. The easiest way to tell these two species apart is the yellow eye on the Yellow-eyed Junco. I had finished putting up my tent in around ten minutes and quickly put my binoculars back on. Around the campsite, the most common birds were Western Bluebirds, Hermit Thrushes, Pygmy Nuthatches, White-breasted Nuthatches, and lifers Cordilleran Flycatchers. Then as we were looking at a scolding House Wren, I looked up and noticed something fuzzy on a branch 3-feet above me. I backed up and found out it was fledgling Black-headed Grosbeak. Unfortunately, we had been under this tree for the past ten minutes and this must have really stressed out the vulnerable bird. So we all immediately cleared from the vicinity, but not without photographing the cute fuzz-ball.

Fledgling Black-headed Grosbeak

     Then, the leaders gathered us around and told us that we were heading towards a lady's house that is known for its many feeders and, therefore, bird diversity at proximity. We were just expecting there to be a couple feeders here and there, and there having a couple Pygmy Nuthatches and Pine Siskins. But we had no clue what we were in for. This lady had around 10 hummingbird feeders, 5 seed feeders, two suet feeders, and a single thistle feeder. It was truly a sight to see. But the number of feeders seemed insignificant in comparison to number of bird species, and individual birds.

Mountain Chickadee

White-breasted Nuthatch

Hairy Woodpecker

Male Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Fledgling Yellow-eyed Junco
(notice the streaky breast)

Pine Siskins and Pygmy Nuthatch (bottom right)

     The were also Spotted Towhees, Black-headed Grosbeaks, and a single Rufous Hummingbird. We also had the opportunity to have Broad-tailed Hummingbirds perch on our fingers as they drank the sugar water from the feeders. We would just wrap our fingers around the feeder, and after 15-20 minutes of getting used to, they eventually trusted us enough to land on our fingers. 

      Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end. When it was time to go, we thanked the lady for her wonderful hospitality, and headed back towards the campsite. Once we got back, the leaders began making dinner, so we were free to bird while they did so. Two campers and I decided to climb up the hill to the vista, wondering what we would find up there. We were surrounded by Pygmy Nuthatches and Yellow-eyed Juncos while we climbed up. Once we reached the top, there didn't seem to be any activity. But just as we were about to leave, a big black bird soars twenty feet away from us. This bird was a Zone-tailed Hawk. This beautiful raptor caught us off guard and we were all surprised, but excited, to witness this majestic bird of prey at such proximity. 

    Once we headed down, we told everybody about our encounter, and they all turned green with envy. We had quesadillas that night, and went to bed rather early. We were all exhausted from the long day of hiking under the sun, so we earned our goodnight's rest.

July 30th, 2012: First day of Camp Chiricahua

      Having woken up at 6:00 AM, flown for 3:30 hours, and waited about 2 hours during the layover, I was extremely exhausted. However, my incessantly increasing lassitude wasn't enough to quell the excitement growing within me. I was about to begin a ten-day birding camp in Southeastern Arizona, with ten other enthusiastic teen-birders, led by three amazing and knowledgeable leaders. This camp is called Camp Chiricahua (named after the Chiricahua Mountains in Arizona, where a large portion of the camp is spent), and has been going on for the last twenty years with Victor Emanuel Nature Tours (VENT). Every year, young birders from around the country, and sometimes even around the world, gather together to participate in the unique and spectacular birding experience. This camp is set in Southeast Arizona, whose avifauna is truly one-of-a-kind in comparison to the rest of the country. There are birds there that are only found in this small corner of Arizona, and can't be found anywhere else in the country. For some of these birds, you would  have to travel to Mexico or Central America to see them. But we were fortunate enough to explore this magical land and witness these restricted and beautiful birds.

      I arrived at the Tucson airport at around 11:30 AM, and was greeted by one the camp's leaders, Michael O'Brian. Michael is a renowned birder and artist. He works as a tour leader for VENT, but also has an art company set in Cape May, New Jersey, that he runs with his wife Louise Zemaitis, also an artist and another leader at this camp. He brought me to where some of the other campers were waiting with Louise. This gave us a chance to get to know each other. We were truly an eclectic group of people, coming from all over and with completely different personalities. There were campers from Connecticut, Oklahoma, California, and even Costa Rica! Despite our different backgrounds, we all got along swimmingly.

     Once everybody had arrived, we went to the hotel to drop off our baggages, and got ready for our first birding in Southeast Arizona! Michael O'Brian and Louise Zemaitis brought us to a local birding spot in Tucson called Sweetwater Wetlands. However, this wasn't just any type of wetland, it was a sewage pond. So it gave the entire pond and marsh area a not-so-pleasant odor, but sewage ponds are known for having amazing bird diversity, so nobody complained. As we arrived, White-Winged Doves flew over us, along with Mourning and Eurasian-Collared Doves. Verdins hung from the trees like Christmas Tree ornaments, and Lesser Goldfinches were everywhere. We were all so eager and excited to go out birding, that we all jumped out of the vans, and began to bird the vicinity. But Michael and Louise made us gather around so they can talk to us about this area, and what birds we can expect to find. Once they were done, we began birding. We looked around and found a couple Song Sparrows (but of the southwest subspecies that is much lighter in color than the ones found here in the Bay Area). Then we heard this loud and strong "CHIP", and Michael pointed out that it was an Abert's Towhee. We looked around the bush from where it called, and we saw this longish brown bird scuttle on the ground. It then hopped out into the open and we were able to get good looks at this black-faced emberizid. We continued around the trail and saw other birds such as Great-tailed Grackles, House Finches, and Turkey Vultures soaring overhead. We reached this spot where we had a view of a marshy area where myriad Mallards and Cinnamon Teals paddled on the water's surface. Red-winged Blackbirds were flying in the reeds around the ponds. Then Michael pointed out a bird and set up the spotting scope on it so everybody could get a good look at it. The bird was a Tropical Kingbird, a lifer for a good part of the campers. This bird can easily be confused with a Western Kingbird or a Cassin's Kingbird, but can be told apart by its massive bill in comparison to its head. It is a member of the tyrant-flycatcher family, meaning it feeds on insects, and especially dragonflies. It was really great to get good views of this extremely localized bird. As we continued forward, we came across a metallic boardwalk, that gave us a view of the entire marsh. We got good views of the American Coots and Common Gallinules, a Black-crowned Night-Heron, and Barn Swallows flying just above us. Then we noticed a little bird perched on a reed, and saw that it was fledgling Barn Swallow. This bird was absolutely adorable and extremely cooperative. It just sat there and gave everybody plenty of time to observe through the scope.

Barn Swallow fledgling

   You can tell that it's a fledgling by the yellow gape at the base of its mouth and relatively short tail, lacking a fork.

    Then while everybody was admiring the young hirundinid, or looking at the various dragonflies zipping around, I noticed a small bird walking around in the reeds. I put my binoculars up to my eyes, and saw that it was a Sora! This is a species of rail that is known for being secretive and elusive, therefore hardly ever seen. Furthermore, this species is a migrant to Arizona, making it that much harder to see there. Everybody got excited when I pointed out the surreptitious rail. Soon after, a flock of 6-7 rowdy Yellow-headed Blackbirds landed in the reeds.

Male Yellow-headed Blackbird

    Once we left the boardwalk, we continued walking along the trail. There weren't any birds around once we walked off the boardwalk, but we did come across a dead and half-eaten Western Diamondback Rattlesnake.

Dead Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

    We continued walking around the loop, and refound the Tropical Kingbird, but it wasn't alone. It had caught a Blue-eyed Darner (a species of dragonfly). This kingbird mercilessly beat this insect on the branch it was perched on, until it had decapitated it. It then engulfed the entire dragonfly. It was quite a sight.

Tropical Kingbird with its beaten quarry

   We finally reached the entrance of the wetlands and were about to hop back into the vans, but we decided to scan the ponds a little bit more before leaving. Thank goodness we did, because we found a distant Common Gallinule, a Common Yellowthroat, a couple Black-chinned Hummingbirds, a Gila Woodpecker that landed in the tree above us, and an aberrant Costa's Hummingbird. Then a covey of Gambel's Quail quickly dashed across the trail in front of us. Michael then noticed two kingbirds perched on a wire 50 feet away from us. He put the spotting scope on them and realized they were in fact two different species of kingbirds: Western and Cassin's Kingbirds.

Western Kingbird (on left) and Cassin's Kingbird (on right)

    An easy way to tell these similar birds apart is by observing their malar regions (the malar region is the part below the bill that extends to the bird's cheeks). The Cassin's Kingbird has a very contrasting malar region, in comparison to its breast (the malar region being white and the breast being a strong shade of gray). The Western Kingbird on the other hand has a malar region that blends in with its chest and there isn't much contrast at all. This is a very good photo to compare these two similar species.

    This trip to the sewage pond was a great way to introduce us to the Arizona's birdlife, and a great way to begin this camp. I was so excited for the rest of the camp after this introduction to Arizona birding!