Arizona - California Trip ~ October 5, 2014

As I pulled into the Dairy Mart sod farm, a Long-billed Curlew was standing right beside the dirt road.

I drove around to the other side of the sod farm where Mr. McCaskie was. He told me that he had just seen two of the Red-throated Pipits, but they had flown off to another section of the farm. It wasn't too long until most of the birds returned to the same field and he refound one. I got a look at it through his scope. Both of us searched the same general area and we eventually found four of them among about 30 American Pipits. The streaking on the back, the bolder streaking underneath, and the pinkish legs were diagnostic. I took a long-distance, documentation photo of one of them standing on one of the irrigation pipes.

Guy asked if I wanted to follow him over to the 'Bird & Butterfly Garden' and I easily agreed since it isn't every day that you get the chance to spend the morning with such a knowledgeable birder. Once there, we found a "Western" Flycatcher (likely a Pacific-slope), Black and Say's Phoebe, Bushtit, California Towhee, White-crowned Sparrow, and Orange-crowned and "Audubon's" Warbler. At the nearby 'community gardens', additional finds included Lincoln's Sparrow, Common Ground-Dove, and Eurasian Collared-Dove.

At that point, I thanked Guy for his time and hit the road for Arizona. I was hoping that there might be another chance for a 'lifer' in California or Arizona, but that wasn't the case, so I decided to head for Madera Canyon. I took I-8 east over the Laguna Mountains and down through Mountain Spring Pass into California's Imperial Valley.

Just before reaching Arizona, the interstate passes through the Agodones Dunes.

After passing Gila Bend, I-8 enters the Sonoran Desert National Monument with its impressive stands of Saguaro cacti.

I reached Madera Canyon in the late afternoon and stopped at the Santa Rita Lodge to check out the feeders. There was still a nice selection of seven hummingbird species zipping in and out. Gambel's Quail, Canyon Wren, and Lesser Goldfinch were also present. A striking sunset appeared as I coasted down Madera Canyon Road.

I spent the night at a Tucson 'Motel 6'.

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