May 22: Gavin Bieber on his just-completed tour of Southeastern Arizona
Our trip coincided with a period of unseasonably cool and overcast weather. We actually experienced rain for perhaps the first time ever on the tour, and the blustery winds at the end of the week were not ideal. Having said all that, we very much enjoyed birding in seventy degree air, and tallied an impressive 210 species in a week. As it is an "owls and warblers" trip our highlights often come from those groups; we recorded an impressive nine species of owls including a very cooperative Spotted Owl and 13 species of warblers including Red-faced and Black-throated Gray.
Spotted Owl
Red-faced Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Border specialties like the handsome Montezuma Quail and Five-striped Sparrow always liven up a birding day too.
Montezuma Quail
Five-striped Sparrow
No trip to Arizona can fail to mention the hummingbirds, and we marveled at a number, including the common but impressive Broad-billed (recorded on most days) and the rare Plain-capped Starthroat.
Broad-billed Hummingbird
Plain-capped Starthroat
Mexican species like Flame-colored Tanaget and Black-capped Gnatcatchers were detected this year too, but it was the gorgeous desertscapes that might have impressed the most.
A Southeast Arizona Landscape
Posted: May 22, 2015