August in Arizona

Elegant Trogon

Grandson Peter joined me for a one-week trip to Arizona with Wildside Nature Tours. Alex Lamoreaux, our guide, lived up to his reputation as one of the best birders in the country. He also has extensive knowledge of the other fauna and vegetation.

Our fellow travelers included two retired teachers from Ohio and a retired teacher from New Mexico. We were all eager to spend as much time birding as possible, so we stretched our days and our week to the limit. We all arrived in Tucson a day early, so we were able to start our adventure right after breakfast instead of waiting until after noon.

Sunday August 14, Mount Lemmon

We stopped several times on our way up Mount Lemmon and enjoyed the scenery while seeing a few of our target birds.

Some of our first day sightings included:

Black-headed Grosbeak

Townsend's Warbler

Yellow-eyed Junco. This bird looks like the inspiration for "Angry Birds."

A young Short-tailed Hawk was spotted heading towards us. It landed nearby and we were able to get pictures of it in a variety of poses.

Short-tailed hawk - Photo by Alex Lamoreaux

Hermit Warbler - photo by Betsy MacMillan

Cassin's Vireo - Photo by Alex Lamoreaux

An afternoon stop at Reid Park allowed close-up views of Neoptropic Cormorant.

I love the blue eye!

Mexican Duck

This blue morph Snow Goose is out of place in Arizona in August. It was probably injured in winter and has been hanging around ever since.

Zoomed-in shot of Snow Goose preening.

We traveled throughout Southwest Arizona but we were always birding!

Harris Hawk

After dinner we ended each day with a search for owls. We heard two Western-Screech Owls, one of which flew to a nearby tree. A ferruginous Pygmy-Owl was also calling as were three common poorwills.

Western Screech-Owl

August 15

The first of many 5:00 alarms signaled the start of the day. We were in the van and on our way by 6:00. After a second night in Tucson, we packed our bags and headed east. A nice walk at las Ciengas NCA was very productive.

The White-tailed Kite seen below was far away and hard to spot. Alex managed to capture this photo.

White-tailed Kite - photo by Alex Lamoreaux

Scott's Oriole. One of the few North American orioles that is yellow and black rather than orange and black.

Grasshopper Sparrow

We headed to Box Canyon for the rare Five-striped Sparrow. We had nice looks at it, but no good photos. However, I did get a nice picture of a Varied Bunting, a new life bird for me.

Varied Bunting

While the birds were the stars of the show, the flowers were also amazing.

Madera Canyon is another must-see spot for Arizona birders. Our number-one target for the trip was the Elegant Trogon, and we got good looks at this handsome male.

The back side of the trogon has beautiful green and blue feathers.

Photo by Alex lamoreaux

From underneath, the trogon looks like a different bird with its orange breast and white collar.

Coues Deer

Female Lucifer hummingbird at its favorite flower.

Photo by Alex Lamoreaux

Try to find the lizard on this tree.

Here is a zoomed in close-up.

Swainson's Hawk soaring. Photo by Alex Lamoreaux

Another target bird was the rare Berylline Hummingbird. One has been seen regularly at the Santa Rita Lodge Feeders in Madera Canyon. We waited patiently but did not see one on our first visit.

Santa Rita Lodge Feeders

We did see Rivoli's Hummingbirds...

.. and Anna's Hummingbirds...

Photo by Alex Lamoreaux

... and Black-headed Grosbeaks and Mexican Jays...

(note dark bill on adult Mexican Jay on right)

... and young Mexican Jays (note light-colored bill)..

... and many other birds including this Broad-billed Hummingbird.

Desert vegetation

Our last bird of the day was a Whiskered-Screech Owl that we heard but did not see

August 16

After a night in the Best Western Green Valley Inn, we headed to Desert Meadows Park.

Desert Cottontail

Curve-billed Thrasher

At our second stop, we found a redhead that overstayed after its winter visit.

Redhead

Black-chinned Sparrow

It was time for a return trip to Santa Rita lodge and another attempt to see the Berylline Hummingbird. We started with some other good birds.

Broad-billed hummingbird

Hepatic Tanager

Arizona Woodpecker - photo by Alex Lamoreaux

And finally a Berylline Hummingbird!

My pictures do not do it justice. Here it is hovering to the left of the feeder.

And a zoomed-in shot

Arizona fence - the natural way

More cacti

Tropical Kingbird - photo by Alex Lamoreaux

Northern Beardless Tyrannulet. Big name for a little bird. Photo by Alex Lamoreaux

Another much sought after bird was the Rose-throated Becard. The place to go is the famous Patagonia Roadside Rest Area. We saw this female flying into and out of its huge nes. Alex captured this photo of it between feeding forays.

Rose-throated Becard, female - photo by Alex lamoreaux

Zone-tailed Hawk - Photo by Alex Lamoreaux

The Paton Center for Hummingbirds is another great place for birders. We made a concerted effort to see the Ruddy Ground Dove that frequently visits the area, but it was a no-show. We did see some other nice birds including:

Violet Crowned Hummingbird. Photo from back of Betsy MacMillan's camera.

After dinner, we drove to our next hotel. En route we saw a Great-horned Owl perched on a metal arch by the side of the road.

August 17

Our first "good bird" of the day was a Scaled Quail in a residential area.

Scaled Quail - Photo by Alex Lamoreaux

We spent most of the day in and around Car. Canyon where we saw:

Buff-bellied Flycatcher - Photo by Alex lamoreaux

Border Blimp. This unmanned aircraft is used for border surveillance.

Olive Warbler - Photo by Alex Lamoreaux

Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay

Gray Hawk

Ash Canyon Reserve was another great birding spot.

Lucifer Hummingbird

Lucifer and Anna's Hummingbirds

Broad-billed Hummingbird

We pulled over to take a closer look at this turtle in the road.

Oriental Box Turtle

August 18

Our first stop of the day was at Paradise Cemetery where we were able to hear a Montezuma Quail calling. Although we did not see it, This was still one of the highlights of the trip.

Zone-tailed Hawks look alot like Turkey Vultures when flying. They frequently fly with these scavengers which may fool their prey long enough to gain a crucial advantage. They look nothing like turkey vultures when perched, but most people are not lucky enough to find one at rest.

Zone-tailed Hawk

A visit to Pinery Canyon turned up Bridled Titmouse, Black-throated Gray Warbler and this Mexican Chickadee.

Mexican Chickadee with characteristically large black throat patch.

Photo by Alex Lamoreaux

Greater Pewee making its "Jose Maria" call. Photo by Alex Lamoreaux

Greater Pewee showing crest.

The George Walker House is another hotspot in Paradise.

George Walker House

A rare White-eared hummingbird was the star attraction.

White-eared Hummingbird - Photo by Alex Lamoreaux

Rufous Hummingbird

Blue-throated Mountain Gem - Photo by Alex Lamoreaux

Verdin

White-winged Dove

Gambel's Quail

Black-throated Sparrow

We ended the day being serenaded by a pair of Whiskered Screech Owls. The night skies were incredibly dark. I don't believe I have ever seen so many stars, especially when I looked through my binoculars.

August 19

The bird of the day showed up at our first stop - a Bendire's Thrasher.

Photoshop has really improves some bad pictures:

Blue Grosbeak - backlit

Same bird after Photshop

Female Blue Grosbeak

More cacti

Wilson's Snipe - a rare find in Arizona

Mississippi Kite

Cooper's Hawk

As the sun set on our last full day in Arizona we had see 202 different species on the trip, a new record for this tour. Grandson Peter added 144 species to his lifelist and I added 50 to my year list, 49 of which were new to my life list. I ended the trip with 673 for the year.

August 20

We needed to be at the airport by 9:30 a.m., but everybody wanted to get one last look at some Arizona birds. So we set the alarm for 5:00 and visited a nearby park for a nice final walk.

American Kestral

Another Lizard

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise! We found one more new bird - a young Common Gallinule (on the right) swimming with an American Coot.