Specialty Birding: Arizona Style - Part 2

Friday we were up early and had plans to search for another specialty bird, the Sinaloa Wren and Chris was joining us for the entire day on this trip.  This is a bird that Chris and I had seen at Rancho El Aribabi in Mexico, twice, but photos were difficult as this bird is very secretive.  We also made a trip to Huachuca Canyon over a year ago to try for it without much luck.  Chris had gotten a glimpse of it and I had heard its ratcheting call on that trip.  Very disappointing to say the least.  Jennifer and Peggy had never seen this bird, so it would be a life bird for both of them.

Huachuca Canyon is accessed only through a military base, Fort Huachuca and they are very cognizant of how much birders love to visit this canyon.  They are very agreeable to allow birders to go exploring, and they have now installed a check-in system and with a proper photo ID, one will get placed in their data base and will be issued a 30 day pass to access Huachuca Canyon.  After the initial check-in, it is easier to get a new pass on future visits.  This was a process that took us about 20 minutes to complete, and was fairly easy, so it is nothing to keep one from going in.  We went immediately to the location where this bird has been seen for almost 2 years.  I am sure it is getting lonely and wondering why a female has not found it and its location for a nest.  We knew it frequented the stream bed and loved the dense brush piles along the flowing water, but it is very secretive and not often seen.  We split up and watched and waited for a while with no results.  One other person was there when we arrived and he claimed to have heard it and saw it about 20 minutes before we arrived.  Chris and I wandered down stream a bit further and found a spot that looked good for it and we stood there for about 15 minutes, when suddenly, we saw a movement in the brush pile of a bird that darted out in the shade and then back in for a split second.  Adrenalin just kicked up a notch for both of us!  We wanted to make sure it was the Sinaloa Wren and not a Bewick's Wren, and a couple of minutes later it popped out into the opening once more.  A quick photo and confirmation got me quickly running back to get the girls to join us.  

What happened next was utterly astounding, this shy little bird, started to put on a show for us.  At first, it started coming out but staying undercover in the brush and grasses occasionally popping its head out for us.

Eventually, it came out and perched on a small twig and sat there in the light and just took its time and looked both, right and left, multiple times while our cameras clicked away.  By this time the other person that was there earlier had found his way down to where we were and he also got to see it well.  Another young couple had showed up and they too, knew that we were on it and they came in behind us to get in on the show. At one point, it almost looked like it was resting and relaxing; may have been the clicking of the cameras.  Good example of where persistence pays off.  I finally got some great photos of a rare US bird as did Chris, and Jen and Peggy got a new life bird, which is hard for them as their lists are very high already.  So glad to be a part of the special occasion! 

After this success, and since we were on Cloud 9, we decided to head to the Patagonia area to see what we could find.  The stop at the Paton House was quite good, but we really missed our good friend, Larry Morgan, who has been the host for this place for the last couple of years.  He was Mr Congeniality for that place and everyone that visited, left with a great experience. In the process, I captured some photos of a Bewick's Wren, a Green-tailed Towhee, and an Inca Dove. 

Bewick's Wren

Green-tailed Towhee

Inca Dove

And a quick short stop in downtown Patagonia, resulted in an Anna's Hummingbird, which was already nesting.  Note the nest well disguised on the top of a pine cone in the first photo and the female Anna's Hummingbird on it in the second photo.

Anna's Humingbird nest on the top of a pine cone.

Anna's Hummingbird

Since our day was getting shorter and we wanted to get to Madera Canyon with some daylight left, we headed in that direction so we could arrive in time to get some birds before calling it a day.  Santa Rita Lodge has an awesome set up for birders.  Very relaxing where one can enjoy the many birds that come to visit the feeders.  We had a total of 4 species of hummingbirds at Santa Rita Lodge.  In addition to Anna's and Broad-billed Hummingbirds, we also had the first of the season, Rufous and a Magnificent Hummingbird.  

 Magnificent Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

A couple of the stars of the show were a male and a female Arizona Woodpecker along with the regular Mexican Jays and the always classy looking Yellow-eyed Junco.

 Arizona Woodpecker - Male

 Arizona Woodpecker - Female

 Mexican Jay

Yellow-eyed Junco

We also got a 'lifer' butterfly on this day, an Arizona Powdered Skipper.

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the Phoenix area and we had to bid adieu to Chris.  It was a remarkable day with some really great birds and the icing on the cake was the Sinaloa Wren.   

Pinal Mountains: Warbler Wonderland

Finally tired of the summer heat in the desert around the Phoenix area and wanted to go birding.  Had a couple of options: head to Glendale Recharge Ponds to see a couple of rarities or head to the Pinals and look for migrants.  Glendale, with no trees and no shade and temps hovering around 110° F, or the Pinals with lots of trees and shade and temps hovering around 72° F near the top?  As much as I wanted to add a couple birds to my Maricopa list (but not life birds), the cooler temps of the Pinals won this battle.  The Pinal Mountains is a fairly small mountain range south of Globe, AZ and at the highest point, Pinal Peak has an elevation of 7848 feet, so they are not huge by any standards, but they are much cooler than the surrounding desert and are considered to be part of the Arizona Sky Islands.  

August tends to be a great time to visit as many migrants, including warblers, pass through here to fuel up on their trek south into Mexico and points beyond. In some cases, it brings juvenile birds of some species that can be difficult to identify at times, but very often it also brings in some strikingly stunning adults as well, still dressed in their breeding plumage.  I found at least 6 species of warblers on this day and probably could have found more had I spent more time.  Maybe a trip involving an overnight camp out, might be something to plan for the future.  I know of a special place where there is most generally a small spring of water that rises above the ground and trickles down a short distance before disappearing back into the sandy stream bed.  That bit of water is a mecca for many of these birds to drop in for a drink and a quick bath.  My list of warblers for this awesome 6 hours included:  Nashville, Wilson's, Orange-crowned, Hermit, Black-throated Gray, and one of Arizona's favorites, the Painted Redstart.  

 Hermit Warbler

 Nashville Warbler

 Nashville Warbler

 Orange-crowned Warbler

 Orange-crowned Warbler

Painted Redstart

Wilson's Warbler

Of course, warblers were not the only migrants to be found, but they are some of the most interesting and since most warblers are prone to be fast movers gleaning insects from plants, they are almost always a challenge to photograph.  Not to be outdone by the warblers the family of hummingbirds was right up there with 6 species as well.  Getting 6 species of hummingbirds in one area this close to the Phoenix metro area is rather special.  Of course, there are many spots in southeastern Arizona that can double those numbers, but coming up with 6, is still pretty special this far north;  Anna's, Black-chinned, Broad-tailed, Rufous, Calliope, and Magnificent were the 6 species.  Part of the success for this, is the fact that one cabin owner at the tops of Pinal Peak has 5 hummingbird feeders out and many of these birds are fueling up and taking advantage of this on their southbound migration route.

Black-chinned Hummingbird

 Broad-tailed Hummingbird - Female

Broad-tailed Hummingbird - Male

 Magnificent Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

Migrating Western Tanagers were thick and covered a large area of the mountains.  This photo is definitely not the brilliantly colored male that most people go gaga over, but I have to admit, that this happens to be one of the most stunning female Western Tanagers that I have seen in a long time.

Western Tanager

Yellow-eyed Juncos must have had a banner year for breeding as they were quite numerous at almost all elevations.  The Pinals are the northern most point in this bird's range.  Will they eventually expand further north?  Who knows, but one was located in Coconino County near Flagstaff a year ago.  

 Yellow-eyed Junco

Yellow-eyed Junco

And how can one ignore a bathing Mountain Chickadee or a foraging Brown Creeper, two of my favorite mountain dwelling birds?

 Mountain Chickadee

Moluntain Chickadee

 Brown Creeper

Brown Creeper - Note that thin bill which is designed for probing into cracks and crevices in the bark of trees for insects, grubs, and insect eggs.

One more item to mention, was that I found my first bear track.  I did not know it was there, but a vehicle coming down from the mountain stopped and pointed it out to me in the mud on the side of the road. It was right above me and my warbler spot where I was watching warblers.  Next time, I need to place an object next to it, to give an indication of its size.  This track was about 7 or 8 inches in length.  Maybe someday I will finally see an actual bear at a distance! 

I definitely do not regret giving up the 2 rarities at Glendale for this turned out to be a great outing!  

Chiapas, Mexico - Let the Field Trips Begin!

We had 5 field trips lined up with excellent leaders for the next 5 days and on each day, we had the opportunity to explore certain areas with different leaders.  Luck of the draw gave us the first group to be going to the nearby charming city of San Cristóbal east of Tuxtla.  At an altitude of about 7200 feet higher than Tuxtla it put us in a pine-oak rain forest.  Our guide, Alberto, had scouted this area in advance and had received permission from some of the native people of Mayan descent to do some exploring on some of their property.  A couple of them even assisted our search and we are indebted to these people in allowing us this opportunity.  These are not lands that people can easily access without permission.

Our target bird was the stunning Pink-headed Warbler.  This bird is endemic to Chiapas and parts of Guatemala and is listed by IUCN as 'vulnerable' due to habitat loss.  The unfortunate part of our visit was that it rained most of the morning, so camera and photography gear was kept under wraps to avoid the moisture.  The good part was the fact that we saw about 6 of these stunning birds.  I would have loved to obtain my own photo of this bird, but I was not able to do so.  I checked out the photo on Wikipedia and was shocked to find the photo being used in Wikipedia is by someone that I know and have birded with in the past, Dominic Sherony.  What a coincidence and I was happy to see his photo being used on the Wikipedia's site.  I contacted Dominic to ask permission to use his photo in my blog and he was gracious enough to allow me to use his photo.  One has to see a photo of this bird to truly appreciate it.  Thank you Dominic for allowing me to use your great photo!!!

Pink-headed Warbler - Photo by Dominic Sherony

We also had really great visuals of another new bird for me, the Yellowish Flycatcher.  I caught a glimpse of one earlier when we had several warblers in one spot and it struck me as a 'Western' type flycatcher from what I could see; a bit similar to Cordilleran or Pacific-sloped that we see in Arizona.  Once the guide saw it he was quick to identify it as the Yellowish Flycatcher.  By that time the rain had subsided a bit and I was able to capture a bad photo of 2 of them together.

Yellowish Flycatcher (What an original name!)

After visiting this unique habitat, we then moved and explored one of the local parks where they had a hummingbird feeder set up that was vigorously being defended by an Amythest-throated Hummingbird. This is another new and beautiful bird for me.  By hummingbird standards, this is a rather large hummer about the same size as the Magnificent Hummingbird seen in Arizona.  

 Amythest-throated Hummingbird

The interesting thing about this one and its defense of the feeder was that the 2 species it was chasing off were a couple specie we have right here in Arizona; the Magnificent Hummingbird and the smaller but awesome White-eared Hummingbird.

 Magnificent Hummingbird

White-eared Hummingbird

While photos were few and far between, it was still a very productive day as I was able to add 15 new species to my life list, even if the rain put a damper on some of the birding.

Will sign off from this post by adding a few other photos that were taken with my iPhone that help to show the uniqueness of this magical place with its forest and many trees draping with bromeliads.