Phoenix to Portal - Feb 15 to 20, 2012

February 15

Val and Wayne gave us a great breakfast send off. We headed to Patagonia in south eastern Arizona. This is not a tourist hot spot unless you are an avid birder and want to see an Elegant Trogon. We gained a little altitude and the landscape changed to rolling hillsides of grass and scrub trees. A Ringtail [14] bolted across the highway as we neared Patagonia Lake State Park.

February 16
We awoke at sunrise to go birding along the lake shore, stream and dry gulches around the Park.

Arizona Grey Squirrel [15]

Patagonia Lake and Park are on the east side of Coronado National Forest and are slightly lower in elevation than Madera Canyon. As we wandered through the oak lined gulches we saw: 

Mexican Ducks (158)

Cinnamon Teal

It's easy to know what you are looking at when you see a colourful bird like the male Cinnamon Teal. Other birds can be more of a challenge.

Gray Flycatcher (159) 

The Empidonax genus has many closely related species and differentiating between them is a real challenge. The key to identifying the Grey Flycatcher is the fairly long narrow bill which is pale below and has a dark tip.

Sparrows are also a challenge. Many people write them off as LBBs (little brown birds). With time, patience and practice you start to appreciate the incredible subtleties in their coloration.

Lincoln Sparrow (160)  - note the fine spots and buffy wash on the chest

Abert's Towhee (161) was scratching about in the bushes with the sparrows while Ladder-backed Woodpeckers  (162) were drilling away in the tree tops.

Abert's Towhee

Other birds seen for the first time on this trip included: Pyrraloxia 163), Great Horned Owl (164), White-throated Sparrow (165), White-breasted Nuthatch (166), Hutton's Vireo (167) and Common Ground Dove (168). 

The Hutton's Vireo can be difficult to differentiate from the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Like Darwin's finches the big difference is in the bill. However, in this case these similar looking birds are not closely related.

Hutton's Vireo- note the thick bill

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - note the pencil thin pointed bill

Birders like a challenge. Try to differentiate between the above two birds when they are moving about and hiding in the tree tops. 

Back at the campground a neighbour had a few bird feeders hanging by their RV and we saw:

Broad-billed Hummingbird (169)

 

 Verdin

Emma's Note: yes, that is a marshmallow. The mind boggles at some people's choices.

February 17 
We woke early again for another hike around Patagonia Lake. This was one of the first days of rain that we had experienced since leaving Vancouver. It was sprinkling lightly but enough to keep most birds under cover. We did see a Cooper's Hawk and White-winged Doves (170).

 Cooper's Hawk with lunch in hand talon

Sad to say,  the Elegant Trogon eluded us.We headed back up the highway to the little village of Patagonia. It is a friendly, slightly hippyish, slightly hipster town. In the small village park, we saw a Williamson's Sapsucker ( 171) feeding from the sap wells he had drilled in a large pine tree.

Williamson's Sapsucker

At the south west corner of the village, there is a gem of  a private residence that is open for all birders to enjoy. The owner had always welcomed visiting birders and when she died her children decided to honor her memory by continuing the tradition. The backyard was wonderfully set up with a variety of feeders and bird baths.The drive way was filled with out of town vehicles. Given that we were there in the off season, imagine how busy their home is in prime birding time. That's generosity and dedication!

Violet-crowned Hummingbird (172)

We also saw a Green-tailed Towhee (173) and a Lazuli Bunting (174). We finished the day in Benson,  Arizona. The RV Park was memorable for it's outstanding wifi - unusual for most RV parks.

February 18
After a morning on the internet of Emma working and me blogging, we went to Kartchner Caverns State Park to do some spelunking. The caverns were well maintained and the tour guide very informative. No pictures were allowed inside the cavern.

Kartchner Caverns State Park

There were a large number of Chipping Sparrows, some Vesper Sparrows, a few Western Bluebirds, Curve-billed Thrashers and Pyrraloxia  and one Rock Wren in the parking lot. We stayed the night at the cavern campground.
 
February 19 
Before leaving Kartchner Caverns State Park we went for a two mile hike through the Sonora desert hillside. We saw an Eastern Meadowlark (175).

Hiking the trail at Kartchner Caverns State Park

Birding

Eastern Meadowlark

We drove south east to see the Riparian corridor along the San Pedro River. This is one of the few remaining natural migratory pathways through Arizona. The San Pedro starts in Mexico and flows north into Arizona. The river has not been dammed and the riverside willows and cottonwood trees are intact.

We stopped on the San Pedro River at the ghost town of Fairbanks.
  

  San Pedro River at Fairbanks

We saw a few Lark Sparrows (176) and continued on to Tombstone.

The historic town of Tombstone had a main street right out of the 1880s with wooden sidewalks, stage coaches and hitching posts. It did a reasonable job of reflecting the era when Wyatt Earp and his brothers were the law in town. There is a staged reenactment of the fight at the OK Corral that takes place at the actual location of the original gun fight..  

 

Watching gun play is not Emma's idea of a good time so she napped in the RV while I cruised the town. Mind you Emma is capable of slapping leather when the need arises.

* Emma's note: this picture was taken one day after my dental surgery, when I was on painkillers. I take no responsibility. 

We continued south to intersect with the San Pedro riparian corridor at San Pedro House. This  site is a definite birding highlight as the many bird feeders attract large numbers of perching birds. The walk along the banks of the San Pedro River was enjoyable with lots of sparrows flushing along the path. We saw many of the birds we had noticed earlier and added the Yellow-headed Blackbird (177) and Inca Dove (178) to our trip total.

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Pyrraloxia

Emma's note: this bird belongs to the 80's mod genus. 

We planned to spend the night at Sierra Vista but there were no RV parks available. We ended up back at the nice RV Park at Benson.

February 20
Before heading out to New Mexico, Emma had some work to do on the internet. I went birding in the nearby desert. There were lots of  LBBs in the scrub grass and desert bushes.

Black-throated Sparrow

Green-tailed Towhee

We packed up and headed to New Mexico. As we headed east, the terrain started to rise as we headed into the Chihuahua Desert. Near Bowie, we saw a Harris's Hawk (179).

We were eager to discover new terrain in New Mexico. More to come.....