Back in June, three of us drove to Arizona to try and see the young male Eared Quetzal that had been seen for a few weeks. Unfortunately, we spent four days looking for it and couldn't find it. Then in August, a pair of Eared Quetzals was found in nearby Rucker Canyon, so Jason Horn and I decided to fly out and hopefully be successful this time. I was hoping to change my luck, which had been pretty poor so far this year.
We boarded the 6:00 AM American flight from Allentown to Charlotte, North Carolina, taxied out to the runway, and sat there for several minutes until the pilot announced that we were going back to the gate because there was a crack in the windshield! We now knew that we weren't going to make our flight from Charlotte to Phoenix, which was supposed to get us there around 11:15 AM. We walked to the desk where they told us they were going to bus us from Allentown to Philadelphia and put us on a non-stop flight to Phoenix. So, after an hour-plus bus ride, we went back through security (again!) and boarded our flight to Phoenix, which thankfully got us there only about an hour-and-a-half later than planned. We got our rental car and headed for Patagonia. Along the way, we saw Harris's Hawk, Greater Roadrunner, Cactus Wren, Curve-billed Thrasher, and Blue Grosbeak.
We arrived at the Paton Center for Hummingbirds where a Plain-capped Starthroat had been regularly reported. It was my one other chance to see a life bird on this trip. It never showed up during the last hour or so of light that we had before dusk. However, the hummingbirds visiting the many feeders included a Broad-tailed, a few Rufous and Violet-crowneds, and several Anna's and Black-chinneds among the many Broad-billeds. Other birds noted while there included Gambel's Quail, White-winged Dove, Vaux's Swift, Gila Woodpecker, Vermilion Flycatcher, Bridled Titmouse, Bewick's Wren, Common Yellowthroat, Summer Tanager, Blue Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, Lesser Goldfinch, and a group of around 20 Cassin's Kingbirds that flew in to roost.
We left there and drove to Sierra Vista where we stayed the night at the Rodeway Inn just outside the gate to Fort Huachuca.
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