Spontaneous birding
Once the 2016 Texas/Nevada Trip was over I started planning a trip to Arizona. Why Arizona? you may ask. Well besides Alaska and the Lower Rio Grande Valley TX, Southeast AZ is where birders go to see coded birds. Which is perfect because I have not birded AZ making most of these birds new to me.
As with all birding trips planning is the key. First I had to make sure Brad and Sam could go because without them the trip would have been a bust. Yes we have a blast together but 6 eyes and ears are better than 2 when it comes to birds. As it turned out they were both on-board for an adventure. The advent of smart phones makes planning a birding trip relatively easy. Just pick the "hot" spots ie: campgrounds, National-State and City parks, Wildlife Management areas, private/public land, even a pelagic.. and soon enough you will have a route.
For this AZ trip there were too many "Life Bird" opportunities spread out across the state, so we narrowed it down to a very ambitious route. I want to back-up a bit and give perspective on our idea of a birding trip. In May of 2014 we (Brad, Sam, Me) took a trip to Colorado. This trip started and ended in Denver, lasted only 60 hours crisscrossing the State and logging over 700 miles in our rental. At the end we saw 111 different species of birds 36 of which were life birds for me. Highlights from the trip were many but seeing the Gunnison Sage-Grouse was tops. This AZ trip would have the same time frame.
The trip would start at Phoenix Sky Harbor International airport (10:00 a) and end there 55 hours later (5:00 p). The route was: April 29th Encanto Park, Glendale Recharge Ponds, Thrasher "hot spot" (all of these are west of Phoenix) then to Tuscon area for an overnight at Madera Kubo .. Madera Canyon, - April 30th Madera Canyon, Florida Canyon then off to Serra Vista for Hauchuca Canyon (Fort Huachuca Army Base) back to Tuscon for an overnight - May 1st Sabino Canyon Park, Mt. Lemmon and Back to Phoenix for Pima Canyon and a 6:30 flight home. Looking back at the trip we could have used 2-3 more days to really see all the birds but life right now doesn't allow for more than 55 hours.
The trip totals: 122 different species 25 Life Birds for me and over 700 miles driven. Of the 122 birds seen i was able to Photograph around 15 and only 10 were worthy of sharing! This is the nature of birding.
Highlights: Painted Redstart (P), Red-faced Warbler (P), Elf owl (P), Olive Warbler, Hermit Warbler, Mexican Whip-poor-will (heard only...Sam), Getting background checked at Fort Huachuca Army base, meeting Christian Hagenlocher (www.thebirdingproject.com) who is doing a Big Year, Hiking Madera Canyon and the drive up Mt. Lemmon...
I plan on keeping the blog dedicated to my trips chasing and hopefully Photographing birds.
Next entry I will highlight the March Texas/Nevada trip.
-Jonathan
Life Birds AZ 2016 :
Zone-tailed Hawk - Mt. Lemmon
Elf Owl - Madera Canyon
Ferruginous Hawk - Florida Canyon
Vaux's Swift - Fort Huachuca
Wilson's Phalarope - Glendale Recharge Ponds
Magnificent Hummingbird - Madera Kubo
Broad-billed Hummingbird - Madera Canyon
Gila Woodpecker - Encanto Park
Arizona Woodpecker - Madera Kubo
Gilded Flicker - Sabino Canyon
Brown-creasted Flycatcher - Huachuca canyon
Casin's Vireo - Huachuca Canyon
Steller's Jay - Mt. Lemmon
Mexican Jay - Madera Canyon
Bridled Titmouse - Madera Canyon
Canyon Wren Madera Kubo
Olive Warbler - Mt. Lemmon
Grace's Warbler - Mt. Lemmon
Red-faced Warbler - Mt. Lemmon
Painted Redstart - Madera Canyon
Yellow-eyed Junco - Mt. Lemmon
Hepatic Tanager - Madera Canyon
Hutton Vireo - Hauchuca Canyon
Rosy-faced Lovebird - Encanto Park
Hermit Warbler - Pima Canyon
Mexican Whip-poor-will (heard) - Madera Canyon