I have been to Arizona many times over the years but logically always during the winter to avoid the extreme heat. However, if you want to get the good birds in AZ you have to go in the summer. August is typically the best time to go because the monsoon rains give some respite from the extreme heat and seems to get birds moving. This year AZ has had tons of rain which has turned the usually brown hued desert into a green oasis. My sweet mother agreed to come house sit and make sure the boys and Paco didn't get into trouble and Melissa and I jumped on a plan and was over to Tucson before lunch time. I guess they ran out of economy cars at Avis so they gave us a cherry red Mustang which Melissa wasn't happy about considering all the dirt roads we would be driving on but I had fun with.
We started out visiting an amazing restaurant called Tumerico in Tucson in an unassuming strip mall. https://www.tumerico.com. I highly recommend the Mole Latte (latte with chocolate sauce in it) and Chile Relleno. Most of the meat type dishes are made with Jack Fruit made to look like carnitas.
From Tucson it didn't take long to make it to the Madera Canyon area, our base of operations for a couple days.
Every time I take the approach road into Madera Canyon, I feel compelled to stop for the Ravens on the poles. So far I have not been able to definitively identify a Chihuahuan Raven. They are supposed to have smaller bills and the base of their neck feathers are white when blowing in the wind. I made some recordings of the calls and moved on.
It was still relatively early so I convinced Melissa to take a short detour to Box Canyon which is one of the nearby canyons as you take the approach road into Madera. The target was a Five-striped Sparrow but I didn't know precisely where it was and we ended up stopping a half mile before the spot. It was probably in the high 90s and there was not much activity.
I think this is a Golden Eagle with a beheaded snake. If you zoom in you can just make out the lighter nape and vent and see the white feathers on the rump.
Green hillsides near Box Canyon.
We checked into the Santa Rita Lodge and while Melissa rested up a bit I made my way over to the feeder set up.
Black-chinned Hummingbird is a species I have not had a good opportunity to hang out with until now. Most of my previous looks were quick and dirty.
Acorn Woodpeckers are probably the one species along with Mexican Jay that can always be seen and heard in Madera Canyon no matter where you are.
Female Rivoli's Hummingbird (previously Magnificent) - it's funny that there seems to be a move away from patronymic naming yet when they split this species they named it after an obscure duke that happened to have a large collection of bird specimens. Apparently he gave his collection to Wilson another ornithologist with many birds named for him. Personally I thought Magnificent was better and they had a good name for the split of Talamanca.
Broad-billed Hummingbirds are the most numerous and yet probably best looking of all the AZ hummingbirds.
The Coatis were struggling with the heat and humidity but making their rounds none the less.
Black-headed Grosbeaks are numerous as well.
Black-chinned barely showing the purple gorget.
Male Rivoli's
Broad-billed
Lesser Goldfinch
That evening before bed I headed out and joined up with some people listening for owls and nightjars in the canyon. Pam and Craig from South Carolina were part of the group and it was nice meeting them in person after being facebook friends for a while. We heard Whiskered Screech Owls and perhaps Western although I kept the Western off the list. For me the highlight was this Mexican Whip-poor-will we were able to spotlight.
It was pretty high and far away in a tree so it was difficult to get a decent pic especially with my manual focus not working, but I was happy enough with this record shot.
I slept like a baby despite the butterflies of possibility fluttering in my stomach. Next installment will come much more quickly this time as I have curated all the pics. Thanks for your patience.
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