Arizona 2013 - May 22nd (Day 1)

 May 22nd - Day 1

Sweetwater Wetlands 

  

We arrived in Tuscon on May 22nd after an hour and half long flight. Tired from travel we went to bed early, ready for the following day.

Tuscon from the plane

The next morning we got up early and drove to the well known Sweetwater Wetlands. Due to construction, it took quite a bit more time than expected to get there. After a few U-turns and detours we finally made it to Sweetwater.

Sweetwater Wetlands

Right off the bat we noticed lots of bird activity. Singing Common Yellowthroats, Yellow Warblers, a Phainopepla, numerous Verdin, and many more birds.

Verdin. A tiny desert bird with a bright yellow head. 

We walked around the trails picking up Abert's Towhee, Wilson's Warbler, Western Wood-Pewee, and my lifer Curve-billed Thrasher. The Curve-billed Thrasher was my first of many lifers on the trip. 

Distant picture of my lifer Curve-billed Thrasher

 After the run in with the Thrasher, we walked over the the water basins. There wasn't much going on here, but we did see 3 duck species, a few Killdeer, Am. Avocets, and Black-necked Stilts.

Killdeer in flight

Feeding ducks in the recharge basin

Also in the area were lots of swallows and swifts, flying over the water. We saw many Northern Rough-winged and Cliffs, as well as a few Barn swallows.

White-throated Swift

 On the way out we saw another Curve-billed Thrasher, two Common Gallinule (or Moorhen), and my second life bird of the trip. A Tropical Kingbird. We identified this bird by its big, thick bill, brown tail (no white on the edges), greenish mantle, very yellow belly, and the call.  Apparently there were a few of them hanging out there while we were there.

Life bird #2. Tropical Kingbird

Complete Ebird check list here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14296623

Roger Road WRF

We drove down the road from Sweetwater, arriving at the Roger Road facility. We checked in with the guard and he let us in to bird. Inside the gates we were welcomed by a cooing Inca Dove on an over hanging power line. 

Poor shot of an Inca Dove

There were more doves in this area than I had seen in a long time. Mourning, White-winged, and Inca Doves were around in good numbers. They littered the grass and trees in the surrounding area.

Doves at Roger Road WRF

We walked into the wooded area by the two ponds and looked around. We found a few Yellow Warblers, a Green Heron, two Black-headed Grosbeaks, a Cassin's Kingbird, another Tropical Kingbird, and a little flock of 6 goldfinches. In this flock there were 4 Lesser Goldfinches and two American Goldfinches, which were very uncommon for the area.

Cassin's Kingbird.

Right after viewing the goldfinches we both heard an unfamiliar bird. It was a loud, almost laughing like sound. We followed the call until we found the culprit. High on a palm tree we found a pair of Gila Woodpeckers. These flicker like birds were my third life bird. It was fun to watch them fly back and forth between trees, calling back and forth. These would turn out to be quite common throughout the rest of the trip.

Gila Woodpecker

After watching the woodpeckers, we got in the car and began the long drive to the Chiricahua Mountains.

Complete Ebird check list for Roger Road: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14296679

Along the way we picked up new trip birds like Ash-throated Flycatcher, Cactus Wren, and a beautiful adult Harris' Hawk.

We took a stop in between Tuscon and Portal at the Cienega Creek Preserve. This place was hopping with birds. This was a very cool spot to bird. Right when we got out of the car we could hear singing Black-throated Sparrows from the desert surrounding the wash and the pit-tic calls of both Western and Summer Tanagers coming from the tall Cottonwood Trees.

Cienega Creek Preserve

Cienega Creek

We walked down the steep hill from the road into the wash. There were lots of birds about in the mid-morning sun. Warbling Vireos and Black-headed Grosbeaks sang from the top of the cottonwoods. Also around were Lucy's, Macgilivray's, Orange-crowned, and Yellow Warblers, Bell's Vireos, Bewick's Wrens, numerous Tanagers and Towhees, and a pair of Vermilion Flycatchers.

Abert's Towhee - Very common around the preserve.

Near the creek I found my first Broad-billed Hummingbird. These are really awesome birds, probably the most colorful of the hummingbirds. I wish I had those at my feeders...

Bright colored birds were everywhere along the creek. We saw Black-headed Grosbeak, Northern Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Summer and Western Tanager, and Bullock's Oriole, all in good numbers.

Here's a small taste of the colorful birds we saw on the preserve:

Summer Tanager - These birds stood out very well against the green of the leaves.

Northern Cardinal

Male Vermilion Flycatcher

As we were walking back to the car we saw our fifth life bird of the trip. A female Gray Hawk. It flushed out of a large cottonwood above us and flew through the trees and out of sight before I could snap a picture.

Other birds of interest included a male Bronzed Cowbird, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, and a single Purple Martin.

Ebird Checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14477193

After birding the preserve we drove straight to Portal, Arizona, where we would spend the next two days.

We arrived at Sunny Flat Campground in the Chiricahua Mountains that night at around 8:30 p.m. This would be our camping spot for the next couple of days. We set up camp and went owling. At first there was very little bird activity, but after a while the first Elf Owl called. Soon 4-5 of these little owls could be heard at once! When I finally found one with the flashlight, I was amazed at how tiny they were!

Elf Owl on xeno-canto: http://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Micrathene-whitneyi

I couldn't wait for the next morning. Tomorrow would be my first real day of birding in South East Arizona. I fell asleep listening to the Elf Owls and a "Mexican" Whip-poor-Will trilling.