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Day 5 |
Day
5 (Tuesday, 20th May)
The morning started well on the drive
from Continental to the Box Canyon road junction, where we had a pair of
Red-tailed Hawks on overhead wires, 2 Black-throated Sparrows (one sharing a
bush with a Botteri’s Sparrow), American Kestrel on the wires, and Western
Kingbird.
The minute we set foot out of the car, we
found a pair of Lucy’s Warblers, which were feeding young in a nearby bush.
They showed the very obvious rufous crown, which was nice because it confirmed
the first definite Lucy’s that we had seen. We had been chasing a few small
grey warblers earlier in the week, but had nothing clinching seen. We crossed
the barbed wire fence via a small metal “style” to the East of the road, and
wandered down into the Wash itself, which was not in the least bit aptly named
at this time, since the river bed was completely dry. We thus “waded” along a
rock strewn path, bordered by thorn bush woodland on the left, and single row
of bushes to the right. This was immediately productive for singing
Black-throated Sparrows, and perching (briefly) Broad-billed Hummingbirds. A
little further down was an unexpected male MacGilvray’s Warbler, which was
feeding its way through the denser part of the bushes. After following a
Northern Beardless-tyrannulet from the wash into the adjacent bushes, we
stumbled on a Verdin’s nest under construction. The birds themselves added to
the nest only a couple of times before we left them to their chores. Putting in
an appearance while waiting here were another Beardless-tyrannulet, Wilson’s
and Grey Warblers, and singing Black-throated Sparrow.
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Dry river bed at Florida Wash |
Black-throated Sparrow |
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Madera picnic site |
Trail North from picnic site |
Only about 4 miles further up the Canyon
from Florida Wash, we parked the car at the Madera picnic site, and paid the $5
fee. A small gathering of Mexican Jays were pecking up titbits around the
picnic tables, and these were accompanied in the surrounding trees by Summer
Tanagers, Townsend’s Warbler, Acorn Woodpeckers, and Bridled Titmouse. We were
taken aback a little when we found running water in the stream, so we set off
to look for birds downstream. First to be seen were Flycatchers, in the form of
Dusky-capped and Western Wood-pewee, which were both very vocal. We covered a
distance of about ½ to ¾ of a mile, criss-crossing the water a couple of times
via bridges along the way. Most of this was under the cover of trees, with the
occasional open views to the West. Birds were picked off along the way, and it
was a particularly good stretch for Hepatic Tanagers (with one Western Tanager
male singing) and Mexican Jays (2 parties, one of which almost fed at our
feet). A couple of small flocks of Bushtits were nurturing newly fledged young,
including one happily resting and begging on a branch which seemed to take an
age to locate. The parents eventually saw to its needs before it moved on. Of
the 2 species of Woodpecker here, 1 of the 3 Acorns was almost immobile at the
top of a telegraph pole, while an Arizona was more difficult to pin down
feeding lower in the denser bushes. A couple of Rufous-crowned Sparrows also
preferred to forage in the shade at ground level. We disturbed a pair of
Cooper’s Hawks when we returned to the car park, which then flew downstream. We
had hoped to find Black Phoebes here, but the only Flycatchers here were
Dusky-capped and a single Western Wood-pewee.
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Male Hepatic Tanager |
Female Hepatic Tanager |
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Mexican Jay |
Lesser Goldfinch |
This is a very pleasant small collection
of rentable cabins, consisting of about 8-12 properties, a gift shop (closed on
our visit), a restaurant and site office. A small wildlife attraction area had
kindly been provided, which is a small enclosed section of the premises, with
both hummingbird and seed feeders. On first pass, it seems to be overrun by
House Finches and Goldfinches, but these can be seen to be augmented by
Black-headed Grosbeaks and Black-chinned Hummingbirds. 15-20 minutes into this
small spectacle, the first convoy of 3 birders minibuses that we had encountered
on the whole trip pulled up and ejected their contents on the surrounds – they
did seem to have a habit of sticking together like glue, and were in fact the
only party we were to meet. Apart from these, the sites we visited were fairly
quiet, with never more than a few people milling around. The most impressive
site around the lodge were at least half a dozen Acorn Woodpeckers plying to
and fro, with 3 at the top of one telegraph pole at one time. Another first
here were clouds – covering most of the sky, and together with a brisk wind,
providing a little bit of cool (making it hot, as opposed to very hot). This
also seemed to coincide with a few more birds passing through. A couple of
Broad-billed Hummingbirds were followed by a female Lazuli Bunting (quite a
boring little individual, with a buffy coloured breast and barely discernible
blue tinge to the tail). The more outstanding birds returning to the feeders
were the Black-headed Grosbeaks, with at least 3 females and 2 males. The trail from the lodge to the
amphitheatre, about 400 metres long, was quiet and relatively birdless, apart
from Bridled Titmouse and White-breasted Nuthatch, with Acorn Woodpecker seen
and Arizona heard. We did find a pair of Bell’s Vireos at the amphitheatre car
park. They are a very pale vireo, overall quite grey, with barely demarcated
spectacles, contrasting starkly with the deeper grey, more obviously patterned
Plumbeous. Distant Swainson’s Thrushes were on the trail and in the car park. |
About half a mile up from the Santa Rita
Lodge is a rather attractive wooden lodge on the right hand side of the road,
which we had thought was another gift shop harbouring more feeders. The latter
was true, but the owner told us of a Flame-coloured Tanager which was to be
found at times in the Madera Kubo surrounds. This is a collection of 4 holiday
cabins set in the woods, and the Madera Kubo gift shop. The lady in the gift
shop pointed us to the blue cabin next to a large boulder some metres along the
road, which we found very easily. The first quarter of an hour there was
lively, with 3 types of Vireos singing and calling (Warbling, Plumbeous, and
Bell’s), Swainson’s Thrush and White-breasted Nuthatch. While we sat on the
wall in front of the blue chalet, we spotted a dark Flycatcher on the opposite
side of road and behind a fence, which turned out to be a Black Phoebe. The
unsuccessful search earlier around the Madera picnic site would have fitted the
description of the site it was frequenting here, with a bridge over running
water – the bird preferred the open perches just down from the bridge.
As we continued our pilgrimage between
the blue chalet and the gift shop, birds of varying species kept appearing. The
3 previous Vireos were upped to 4, with the addition of a very unexpected
Red-eyed, a species which is seen with difficulty in the western states. Plumbeous
Vireo proved very common, with more singing birds, and even one on a nest
overhanging the road. We thought for a brief moment that we had found the
Flame-coloured Tanager, but it proved to be a male Western Tanager, sporting
the much paler yellow underparts, as compared with bright orange of the rarer
species. In the same tree outside of the gift shop were Hooded Orioles and a
lone Painted Redstart. For some reason, this location improved as the afternoon
progressed, despite the clouds dispersing, the wind dropping, and the
temperature rising. The Painted Redstart became bolder, and fed right in front
of us, down to about 3 metres distant. A sortie back to the blue cabin finally
pinpointed the Flame-coloured Tanager. Once seen, it isn’t hard to miss, with bright
orange head and breast, spotted double white stripes in the wings, greyish ear
coverts, and dark thick set bill. Returning yet again to the gift shop, we
heard Canyon Wren singing, and thought that a long hike up the hill was needed
to find it. Instead, we decided to try to improve on our Black Phoebe photos,
which was still returning to the stream behind cabin #3. While there, we were
pleasantly surprised when a pair of Canyon Wrens appeared in the cabin yard,
initially on the back of a truck and apex of a shed roof. They were taking food
to a nest in the adjacent cabin #4. They returned repeatedly, singing and
perching on the shed, veranda, and truck in front of us for around 10-15
minutes before their silence set in. It was then that the lady who was hiring
cabin #4 entered the scene and pointed out the nests of Cooper’s Hawk over
cabin #3, which was vacant at the time, and Western Wood-peewee, sitting on the
nest. A female Lazuli Bunting put in a brief appearance in the surrounding
trees. The one job outstanding was to return to look for the Flame-coloured
Tanager, since one of our party was yet to see it. Returning to the vicinity of
the blue cabin and our earlier success, it was only a matter of about 5-10
minutes before it was relocated, this time with much more prolonged periods out
in the open. |
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Plumbeous Vireo |
Painted Redstart |
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Western Wood-pewee |
Canyon Wren |
The day finished well. We checked into
the Motel 6 in Nogales, which is just off junction 4 in Interstate 19
(definitely recommended at only $45 for a 4 person room). A quick dip in the
swimming pool to shake out the Arizona dust also totted up an interesting pool
list – the more interesting species included Phainopepla, House Finch, Cassin’s
Kingbird, and Great-tailed Grackle seen from the water, and topping the bill
single Barn and 3 Cliff Swallows drinking from the surface of the water on the
wing while we were still half submerged (an even better reason to stay here).
The hotel was used for two nights, and was not only cheap and cheerful, but
also in a convenient location for the Patagonia sites.
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Day 5 |
