February 12, 2003
After driving all night through west Texas and New Mexico, we reached Arizona just before daybreak. At Mrs. Paton’s feeders and the surrounding area, we saw Gambel’s Quail, Inca Dove, Anna’s Hummingbird, Acorn, Gila, and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Red-naped Sapsucker, “Red-shafted” Flicker, Bridled Titmouse, Curve-billed Thrasher, Green-tailed and Canyon Towhees, and White-crowned Sparrow.
Over at Patagonia Lake State Park, we were able to hear and then find the pair of Black-capped Gnatcatchers along the dry wash at the east end of the lake. Other birds found at the lake’s east end included Gray and Hammond’s Flycatcher, Black Phoebe, Bridled Titmouse, Bewick’s Wren, Pyrrhuloxia, Black-throated Sparrow, and a small group of electric-blue Mountain Bluebirds. The lake itself held Cinnamon Teal, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Virginia Rail, and American Coot. Say’s Phoebes were seen in the area of the campground’s restrooms.
Next, we visited the San Rafael Grasslands where we saw White-tailed Kite, Northern Harrier, Ferruginous Hawk, Merlin, Prairie Falcon, Short-eared Owl, Horned Lark, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Eastern Meadowlark, Vesper and Savannah Sparrow, and a single Baird’s Sparrow that was a real challenge to get to see well in the high grass.
We stopped back at Mrs. Paton’s to hopefully see the Ruddy Ground-Dove that had been sporadically reported there, but it never showed. Then, it was off to the town of Continental where we spent the night at the Best Western.
February 13, 2003
We awoke to a pouring rain and headed to Florida Canyon where the Rufous-backed Robin was being regularly seen. The problem was that it was being seen coming to water tank to get a drink. Obviously, it didn’t have to do that if it was raining. During the few hours we spent there, we found Acorn and Gila Woodpecker, Western Scrub-Jay, Common Raven, Bewick’s Wren, Western Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, Curve-billed Thrasher, Northern Cardinal, Spotted and Canyon Towhee, White-crowned Sparrow, and American Robin, but no Rufous-backed.
On the way back down to Continental, the rain stopped and the sun broke through. Several Phainopeplas were seen along the road. In the dry wash across from Continental’s Feedlot Café, we got great looks at Anna’s Hummingbird, Cactus Wren, Brewer’s and Lark Sparrow, and Rufous-winged Sparrow, a bird that I had missed on my only other trip to southeastern Arizona back in 1987. We also saw Gambel’s Quail, Acorn and Gila Woodpecker, “Red-shafted” Flicker, Curve-billed Thrasher, Cedar Waxwing, Phainopepla, Pyrrhuloxia, Bullock’s Oriole, Lesser Goldfinch, and the Lewis’s Woodpecker that had been a regular ‘hotline’ bird in that area. Across the road from the abandoned Pima County maintenance yard on Old Nogales Highway, we found Verdin and several Lawrence’s Goldfinches just before the rain started again.
Leaving Continental, we drove up to Madera Canyon to check out the feeders. There, we found a male Magnificent Hummingbird, Mexican Jay, Painted Redstart, “Gray-headed” and “Pink-sided” Juncos, Cassin’s Finch, and Pine Siskin. A little farther up the canyon at the Chuparosa Inn, we saw another male Magnificent Hummingbird, Mexican Jay, Yellow-eyed Junco, and Cassin’s Finch. As it got dark, we made several owling stops and heard Whiskered Screech-Owl and Northern Pygmy-Owl, but couldn’t manage looks at either one.
February 14, 2003
After spending another night at the Best Western, we decided to take another shot at the Rufous-backed Robin since it wasn’t raining. Again, we had no luck although we did find Mexican Jay, Cactus Wren, and Hutton’s Vireo in addition to the birds we had seen there the day before.
After some discussion, we decided to head towards Phoenix to try for some Ruddy Ground-Doves and another Rufous-backed Robin that were reported on Tucson’s Rare Bird Alert. A quick stop along the way at the San Xavier Mission produced Burrowing Owl. Exiting I-10 at Red Rock, we drove south on Sasco Road to a huge cattle feedlot to look for the reported Ruddy Ground-Doves. Walking around the entire area produced Northern Harrier, Prairie Falcon, Killdeer, Inca Dove, a few Eurasian Collared-Doves, Chihuahuan Raven, Pyrrhuloxia, White-crowned and Vesper Sparrow, Lark Bunting, Western Meadowlark, and Yellow-headed and Brewer’s Blackbirds. It was starting to look grim as we approached an intersection at the southwest corner of the feedlot. There, I saw several Ground-Doves fly off the road into the mesquite including one that looked extremely rufous. After patiently waiting and watching, we finally managed to get excellent looks at several Ruddy Ground-Doves among some Common Ground-Doves, which gave us a nice comparison between the two. This was doubly great because a thunderstorm was approaching and the close lightning was increasingly stealing away our attention.
Next, we headed for the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, getting a fairly close look at a Prairie Falcon along the way. After about a half-hour of searching at the arboretum, we got great looks at the Rufous-backed Robin near the creek just east of the Herb Garden. Other birds found there included White-winged Dove, Anna’s Hummingbird, Canyon Wren, Curve-billed Thrasher, Northern Cardinal, and Spotted and Abert’s Towhee. Thinking back on the day, Rick noted that we had seen seven species of doves in one day!
From there, we drove up to I-40 and took it east to Albuquerque, New Mexico where we checked into a Motel 6 well after midnight for a whole four hours of sleep.
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