A Whirlwind Birding tour of southeastern Arizona. (Pt 1:Of Rufous-capped Warblers and Black-capped Gnatsnatchers)

Picture this: 

Two Bird-crazed teenagers driving around southern Arizona in a red '99 Ford Taurus, drinking Rootbeer, eating Nutter-butters, listening to Taylor Swift and seeing the rarest and best birds that southern Arizona has to offer.  

Set? good, because this really happened. 

My friend Jacob Cooper and I did exactly that this past weekend.  

Jacob told me that he was off work for the weekend so we decided to do a Whirlwind tour of southeast Arizona to see the Mexican rarities. All of them. 

We met on Friday afternoon at the desert museum in Tucson and, after dropping off Jacob's truck with a friend, we hopped into my little red '99 Ford Taurus and headed south to our first stop. Florida wash.  

We arrived at the wash about an hour before sunset and hiked up to the dam and the now famous Sycamore tree.  Our quarry?  exactly half of the entire population of Rufous-capped Warblers currently known to be present in the USA. 

As we hiked past the dam, Jacob heard the telltale chipping call of the warbler. Coming over a rise, he practically stepped on the bird. It was sitting right in the middle of the trail. As it flew out to a fallen tree, I managed to get on my first lifer of the trip. We both ended up getting spectacular looks at America's rarest warbler: 

As we watched the bird flutter down to the stream to drink and bathe, another bird flew up next to it and started singing. We were now looking at a confirmed pair of Rufous-capped Warblers!  Two of only 4 known individuals present in the ABA area. 

Feeling elated after the spectacular looks and photos, we headed back down the wash.  When we got back to the Ocotillo and scrub, Jacob heard a squeaky, gnatcatcher-like sound coming from the hill above us. Sure enough, there in the Ocotillo, about 30 yds above us, was a Black-capped Gnatcatcher! My second lifer of the trip. 

Our next stop was nearby Madera Canyon. We arrived as the sun was setting and drove straight to Madera Kubo. As we watched the feeders, a male White-eared Hummingbird flew down to the back feeder for a drink. This was only the 3rd of this rarest of ABA area nesting Hummingbirds that I had ever seen. As Jacob was watching the male, I spotted another Hummingbird at another feeder that appeared to have a dark patch through it's eye.  A second later, it clicked. This was a female White-eared Hummingbird! I quickly got Jacob onto the bird and both of us watched as the male came by and courted the female.  

We headed back to the car. Jubilant after seeing half of the known population of White-eared Hummingbirds in the ABA area.  

A quick stop at Proctor Rd added Botteri's Sparrow and Rufous-winged Sparrow to our trip list. As we headed back to the car in the quickly darkening light, a Poorwill called from the nearby hillside and a Lesser Nighthawk flew over. 

It was the end to a spectacular first day of birding in beautiful Southeast Arizona. 

As we drove on to Patagonia to stay the night, we wondered what else the weekend would bring. 

Coming soon, Pt 2 of Whirlwind birding: The rarest of the rare. 

Weekend birding

What a crazy weekend!   On Friday, we had a huge heat wave that pushed temps into the 80s! Had a decent migration too. Our first real wave of migrants arrived with flocks of Yellow-rumps, White-throated Sparrows, Gnatcatchers, and more!   

The weather on Sat proved quite miserable for birders, but made for fantastic birding!   

Temps hovered in the upper 40s and at times, it rained sideways instead of down, but the birding was good. Pheasant Branch in Madison proved a little bit productive with my FOY Gray Catbird, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and Black & White warbler.  After running into Mike McDowell and finding out that he was headed to Stricker's pond after an excellent list for the morning by Marty Pfeiffer, we soon followed.  We quickly found Mike on the trail at Stricker's. He had just seen a Winter Wren and had found an Osprey sitting out in the open. After seeing the osprey, we continued on down the trail with Mike.  Spotted and Solitary Sandpipers put on a show for us and my FOY Palm Warbler soon followed.  We laughed as we watched a Sandhill Crane stalk into someone's back yard.  Several species of ducks and a Green Heron also put on an appearance.  On the other end of the pond, we found a Northern Waterthrush lurking in the bushes.  In all, a decent day despite the miserable weather.  

Sunday was not a whole lot better in terms of weather.  I birded through Columbia County but found only a flock of Bonaparte's Gulls.  Fisher Rd just north of Ashton Corners in Dane county proved a good spot, with Am Golden Plovers, 4 Black-crowned Nightherons and a Sora.  

I later found out that 2 American Avocets and a Willet had been found the next day. 

I birded all the way north to Buena Vista Marsh where I picked up my FOY Tennessee Warbler! Rather early for them I thought since they're a later migrant.   I spent the night in a small RV camp just outside of Bancroft, WI. Sleeping in one's car is not the most comfortable, but it's cheaper than a hotel.   I arose at 10 minutes til 4 on Monday morning (which is early. Even for a birder) and drove the 10 minutes down the road to the meeting site for the NRF field trip that took place that day.  We met at 4:15 and were out in the blinds by 4:30am, waiting for the Prairie Chickens to show up.  Right around 5am, a Greater Yellowlegs flew over and then about 15 minutes later, a lone Short-eared Owl winged it's way past!  This was only the second time I'd ever seen one.  As if on cue, at precisely 5:30am, 11 Greater Prairie Chickens flew in to the Lek and set about their business. Surprisingly, this was a new state bird for me.  

Cramped inside the tiny blinds, we watched and photographed the Prairie Chickens for the next hour and a half.  During that time, a pair of N Harriers flew in a scared up the chickens a couple times, but they always came back.  I also spotted a Rough-legged Hawk in the distance.  Right around 7am, an Upland Sandpiper called! Adding yet another bird to my year list.  

We left the blinds shortly thereafter. Too stiff and cramped to stay any longer. When we got back to the cars, our leader said he had one more thing to show us. After a short drive through the now well lit grasslands, he stopped, got out and pointed to a field. Standing in the field, were 3 beautiful Whooping Cranes!!  This was by far the closest I'd ever been to one. The ones I've seen at Necedah have always been at a distance.  After spending about half an hour watching them (safely of course, without spooking them) we drove back to the meeting place where the leaders had morning refreshments ready and answered all our questions.  

I then birded my way back home. Surprisingly, I found nothing unusual.  Actually, very little at all.  Best bird was a Spotted Sandpiper in a fluddle. 

All in all, it was a good weekend!  Til next time, happy birding! 

Birding over the last few days.

Here's a quick summary of all the birding I've done since Thurs. The pictures will have to wait:

Thurs: saw my FOY Killdeer. It was a beautiful day!

Fri: drove up to Green Bay to attend the WBCI conference field trip. That was a fun trip. I got to meet a few people, see some old friends, put faces to old names and names to old faces! lol. The highlight of the trip was easily two adult SNOWY OWLS! One pure white male and a rather barred adult female. LaSalle county park in Door County had numerous ducks but not the Pine Grosbeak I was hoping for. Kewaunee had many many ducks and, of all things, a Common Raven. I picked up one lifer (Greater Scaup) and about 14 year birds... as well as 5 State birds (Snowy Owl, Long-tailed Duck, Greater Scaup, Gr Black-backed Gull and Glaucous Gull)

Sat: after orchestra in Madison, I birded my way back home. A stop at Bakken's Pond was productive. There is some open water on the main pond so I was able to find a few things. I picked up the following year birds: B Kingfisher, Gadwall and Canvasback.
There were also two beautiful Tundra Swans present and 14 Sandhill Cranes.

Sun: I stopped at a friends' house where I added the following birds to my Bigby list:
Red-winged Blackbird, C Grackle and Br-headed Cowbird (also a "Big year" year bird)

I ended the weekend with 81 species on my year list.
Tomorrow, I'm headed over to Milwaukee to look for some Grebes and Red-throated Loons before catching the evening plane to Houston Texas! I'll be spending a week down there birding the High Island area (http://www.birdinghighisland.com/). While I'm down there, I'll be hanging out with Tropical Birding Tours and their staff. I'll be birding, helping spot birds and maybe even lead a trip myself!

I'll post as often as possible. When I return, I'll post this weekend's pictures and pictures from Texas.

Happy Birding!