CO-NM-AZ Trip ~ May 3, 2009

We left the motel early enough to make the one-hour drive across Route 152 and get up to Emory Pass by sunrise. A Great Horned Owl flew from the road, probably with one of the many Jackrabbits or Kangaroo Rats that we spotted in the 'high-beams' along the roadside. Just below the east side of Emory Pass at around Mile Marker 30, we swung around one of the many hairpin curves and found a Flammulated Owl standing on the shoulder of the road, about 15 feet in front of the car! It stayed there in the headlights for about 15-20 seconds, the best look that either of us had ever had of this secretive owl. Unfortunately, it flew off before I could get my camera out of the back seat. Our main objective was to hopefully hear Northern Pygmy-Owl here, but that didn’t happen.

Part-way down on the west side of the pass, we stopped at the Iron Creek Picnic Area and found this Red-faced Warbler.

Although this photo's not the greatest, I included it because it shows the Red-faced Warbler in flight.

Other birds that we found on the western side of the pass included a ‘fly-by’ Zone-tailed Hawk, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern (Red-shafted) Flicker, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, Steller's Jay, Mountain Chickadee, Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatch, Winter Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, Western Tanager, Dark-eyed (Red-backed) Junco, and Black-headed Grosbeak.

Chihuahuan Raven and Phainopepla were the two new trip birds seen along the way through Silver City, New Mexico, to the Arizona border on I-10.

We stopped at Willcox, Arizona where we found this very cooperative Harris’s Hawk.

This Swainson's Hawk was seen circling over the Willcox Playa.

Other birds seen at the Willcox Playa included American Wigeon, Blue-winged Teal, many Ruddy Ducks, Eared Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, American Coot, Black-bellied Plover, Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, Willet, Spotted, Western, and Least Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitcher, many Wilson’s Phalaropes, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Horned Lark, Cliff Swallow, Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) Warbler, Lark and Savannah Sparrow, and Great-tailed Grackle.

After driving on to Tucson and getting our room at a Motel 6 for the next two nights, we headed down to Madera Canyon to try for Northern Pygmy-Owl at the Wrightson Picnic Area at dusk. Unfortunately, the picnic area held several very loud families, which made listening for owls difficult. Our luck quickly turned around when a couple looking for an Elegant Trogon that had been previously reported just beyond the picnic area told us that the Flame-colored Tanager had returned to Madera Kubo a few days before! A bird we thought we had no chance of seeing was now put back at the top of our ‘want’ list. Babe suggested that we park ourselves there early the next morning and I quickly agreed.

While at the picnic area, we saw Mexican Jay, Hermit Thrush, Painted Redstart, Hepatic Tanager, and Black-headed Grosbeak. We left the picnic area and stopped at the ampitheater parking lot just after dusk. There, we heard Western and Whiskered Screech-Owl, Whip-poor-will, Common Poorwill, and a distant Northern Pygmy-Owl that stopped calling before we ever had a chance of finding it.

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