Arizona

February 28 - March 6, 2004

The view from behind Gramma Kerry's and CJ's house.

A wonderful first visit to Arizona, spent largely with Pattie's Gramma Kerry and CJ in their winter home near Florence. Their house lies at the edge of a sprawling portion of the Sonora Desert, but we had rather cool and wet weather for the most part -- Jasmine really wondered about this "desert" where it was cold and rainy!

Click here for a few pics from our stay.

The family (minus me, of course!) outside their new trailer

Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus)

As far as birds and such, we had around 30 species just in walks from the house, and added a few more in a couple of drives around the area, including a Great Horned Owl at the Casa Grande Ruins in Coolidge. Click here for a gallery of some birds we saw around Florence and neighbourhood.

We also spent about a day (one afternoon as family, and a rainy morning with just Pattie, David and I) at Boyce Thompson Arboretum, where we added another 20 species or so. Click here for a gallery of a few birds seen at the arboretum.

The family, again, at the arboretum with some Prickly Pear Cactus

We finished with a part day of "pro" birding with the assistance of Stuart Healy -- highly recommended. We had 78 species over the course of the day (March 5), which was relatively quiet but a great experience for us none-the-less. We stayed in Sierra Vista, and recent snow had blanketed the Huachuca Mountains. We were greeted that morning with a clear, crisp 34F/1C temperature, but it did get warmer and the day turned out well.

Click here for a gallery of some of the birds we saw with Stuart's guidance.

Stuart has a descriptive journal describing our excursion with him, and I'd recommend his site for any prospective visitors to south-east Arizona who would like a hand with birding the region.

Violet-crowned Hummingbird (Agyrtria violiceps)

Bird list for the trip:

Pied-billed Grebe	Eared Grebe	Western Grebe	Neotropic Cormorant
Least Bittern (heard only)	Great Blue Heron	Black-crowned Night-Heron	Green-winged Teal
Mallard	Blue-winged Teal	Cinnamon Teal	Northern Shoveler
American Wigeon	Redhead	Ring-necked Duck	Lesser Scaup
Greater Scaup	Bufflehead	Common Goldeneye	Common Merganser
Ruddy Duck	Turkey Vulture	Sharp-shinned Hawk	Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk	American Kestrel	Gambel's Quail	Killdeer
Ring-billed Gull	Rock Pigeon	White-winged Dove (Pattie saw, I heard)	Mourning Dove
Inca Dove	Greater Roadrunner	Great Horned Owl	White-throated Swift
Violet-crowned Hummingbird	Magnificent Hummingbird	Anna's Hummingbird	Acorn Woodpecker
Gila Woodpecker	Ladder-backed Woodpecker	Gilded Flicker	Dusky Flycatcher
Gray Flycatcher	Black Phoebe	Say's Phoebe	Eastern Phoebe (heard only)
Vermilion Flycatcher	Ash-throated Flycatcher	Tree Swallow	Violet-green Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow	Cliff Swallow	Steller's Jay	Mexican Jay
Common Raven	Mountain Chickadee (heard only)	Bridled Titmouse	Verdin
Bushtit	White-breasted Nuthatch	Cactus Wren	Canyon Wren
Bewick's Wren	Marsh Wren	Ruby-crowned Kinglet	Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
Black-capped Gnatcatcher	Hermit Thrush	American Robin	Northern Mockingbird
	Curve-billed Thrasher	Brown Thrasher	American Pipit
Phainopepla	Loggerhead Shrike	European Starling	Hutton's Vireo
Yellow-rumped Warbler	Northern Cardinal	Pyrrhuloxia	Lazuli Bunting
Spotted Towhee	Canyon Towhee	Abert's Towhee	Chipping Sparrow
Black-throated Sparrow	Song Sparrow	Swamp Sparrow	White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow	Red-winged Blackbird	Yellow-headed Blackbird	Meadowlark sp.
Great-tailed Grackle	House Finch	Lesser Goldfinch	House Sparrow