Our American flight was from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to Philadelphia and then straight to Phoenix. I got home from work at midnight and we left for Scranton at 2:30 AM. We arrived in Phoenix a little after 10 AM Arizona time. We got our Nissan Rogue, which was an all-wheel drive, not a 4WD, and made the 3-3/4 hour drive to Pinery Canyon in the Chiricahua Mountains.
Along the way, we stopped at the Willcox Playa where we saw Green-winged, Blue-winged, and Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, Swainson's Hawk, Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit, a Bonaparte's Gull, Eastern Meadowlark, and lots of Horned Larks. A Harris's Hawk was circling over the road to Pinery Canyon.
We arrived at the spot and, soon after, found the Slate-throated Redstart going to and from its nest.
Also there were the striking Red-faced Warblers and Yellow-eyed Juncos.
Other notables seen there included Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Hairy Woodpecker, Western Wood-Pewee, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Cassin's Kingbird, Mexican Jay, Bridled Titmouse, Bushtit, Brown Creeper, Hermit Thrush, Painted Redstart, Hepatic Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, and Spotted Towhee.
We drove the few remaining miles up to Onion Saddle, which revealed only a few birds in the windy conditions. In the waning light, we stopped at Pinery Canyon Campground where we got nice looks at a Northern Pygmy-Owl high up in one of the pines.
On the way back out to I-10, I noticed a snake stretched across the opposite lane of the road. We turned around and found a fairly small Western Diamondback Rattlesnake soaking up the warmth from the macadam.
We got a room at Sierra Vista's Motel 6, where we'd spend the next two nights.
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