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Woke up around 9:30AM that morning…couldn’t bring myself to waking up much earlier than that since we didn’t get to bed until about 3AM the night before due to the long drive from California Gulch to Madera Canyon. I quickly packed up my gear and headed down the road to Proctor Road before it got any later…or hotter. I met up with a couple of other people who informed me there was a Black-throated Sparrow nest within one of the Cholla Cacti along the trail.
Since I didn’t see either of the parents around, I peeked in the nest and was delighted to find 3 recently hatched chicks and an egg still not hatched. I snuck some video of the nest with my iPhone careful not to disturb the surroundings…especially considering the fact I’d have a hand full of pokers if I got too close! Although you can see one of the chicks jump up with it’s mouth open toward the end of the video as it must have heard me thinking I was it’s mother returning with food.
I decided to head up the trail a bit more and check the nest on the way back. There were lots of Hepatic Tanagers, Blue Grosbeaks, Indigo and Varied Buntings all along the creek. Never found the Black-capped Gnatcatchers that have been hanging out there.
On the way out I was happy to see the female Black-throated Sparrow was on the nest and just a few feet away the male perched on a branch holding a grub for one of the chicks.
Black-throated Sparrow
Black-throated Sparrow
I didn’t have much more time that afternoon since I had to get back into Tucson to catch my flight back home. I made a quick stop at the Madera Kubo lodge and got some photos of the Hooded Oriole nest above the road. The juveniles were very close to fledging and as you can see from the second photo, the young Hooded Oriole almost flew out of the nest!
Hooded Oriole
Hooded Oriole
I’ve been to SE Arizona over 30 times so far and it never grows dull. I had a great time despite getting over 50 chigger bites and 15+ mosquito bites but it was quite worth it. I’m already planning my next visit.
After an interesting night at Motel 6 in Nogales, AZ we got off to an early start heading west along Ruby Rd. toward Sycamore Canyon and California Gulch.
Sycamore Canyon
As soon as we pulled into the Sycamore Canyon trailhead parking lot we heard a Thick-billed Kingbird calling from the top of one of the trees. We found it within a few moments as an Acorn Woodpecker was trying to chase it away from it’s perch.
Thick-billed Kingbird
Bell’s Vireos were calling everywhere around us and I finally got some decent shots of them! An Eastern Bluebird pair also made a nest out of an abandoned hole in one of the Sycamore trees just above the parking lot. The male and female were actively catching insects and taking them back to their nest.
Bell’s Vireo
Eastern Bluebird
We pretty much could have just stayed in the parking lot all day without getting bored with as much activity going on all around us. But we decided we better start hiking up the canyon before the mid-day heat became any more unbearable. We took care not to brush up against all of the Poison Ivy growing all along the creek.
Poison Ivy
Not even 75 yards down the trail, my friend yelled at me to not take another step and quickly grabbed my arm. As soon as she did, I heard the all to familiar sound of a Rattlesnake just a few feet away. I’m not sure how I didn’t hear it but I’m truly grateful for my friend’s quick reaction time in stopping me! I breathed a sigh of relief and realized this was a great opportunity to take video of the Rattlesnake!
Although the creek was relatively dry within the first half-mile that quickly changed farther down the Canyon. Pockets of water provided a home for the native fish, Sonoran Mud Turtles, Leopard Frogs and many different species of Dragonflies and Butterflies.
Playing with Leopard Frogs
Since there wasn’t much bird activity I took the opportunity to photograph our other winged friends that seemed to be begging for our attention.
Mexican Amberwing
One of the larger ponds held lots of native fish that I’m still trying to identify. While I was watching the fish swim about I took notice to a Sonoran Mud Turtle along the edge of the pond.
Sonoran Mud Turtle
Nick caught a Black-necked Garter Snake a little way down the trail and brought it back for all of us to look at and photograph. Not much later he came back with a gravid female Lesser Earless Lizard!
Black-necked Garter Snake
Lesser Earless Lizard
After a quick little break of playing with dragonflies and reptiles we hiked up the Canyon a bit more where we heard a Northern Pygmy-owl calling. It didn’t take very long for me to find him as he had lots of Bewick’s Wrens mobbing him certainly not appreciating him being so close to their nests. We all got spectacular views and I took one of my favorite photos from the weekend.
Northern Pygmy-owl
It was a beautiful day to be in Sycamore Canyon. Not a drop of rain and reasonable temperatures despite it being the middle of summer.
Sycamore Canyon
Since it was the middle of the day, we took a quick break back at the parking lot to eat lunch and I even fell asleep in my chair while I was waiting for the Eastern Bluebirds to return to their nest! It was close to 2PM before we decided to pack up and head over to California Gulch.
California Gulch
We took the long way around through Warsaw Canyon and Clayton Canyon. We were treated to a few Montezuma Quail with a juvenile along the way. While we were photographing and enjoying the scenery a US Customs and Border Protection helicopter circled around us for a few minutes. Clearly they were running all the license plates of our vehicles and to make sure we weren’t hustling drugs or illegal immigrants across the border. It was the first time I’ve ever seen a helicopter in that area let alone one that took such keen interest to what we were doing.
Sonoran Barrel Cactus
We drove past the southern entrance to California Gulch and I immediately noticed two individuals walking rapidly into the Gulch. I tried to grab my camera to get a photo and so I could get a closer look but they quickly disappeared around the mountain… There were no vehicles in sight and we never did see the two people again. Most likely they were Mexican immigrants trying to get into the U.S. but we’ll never know for sure.
We continued on our way to the north parking lot where everyone typically enters the Gulch. Just as we were pulling into the parking lot we spotted a male Lesser Earless Lizard sunbathing on one of the rocks.
Lesser Earless Lizard
Due to the steep mountains surrounding the Gulch, the sun was just going down as we hiked to the bottom so it did not provide the lighting conditions I had hoped for. Five-striped Sparrows were singing all around us and it didn’t take long to spot one up on the hillside.
Five-striped Sparrow
Also in the area were many Varied Bunting families of males, females and juveniles. We also had a Yellow-billed Cuckoo on the way back to the cars. I took a couple of photos at very distant range but nothing noteworthy enough to post here. We then headed about .2 down the road to the Oro Blanco Mine where the infamous Buff-collared Nightjar returns every summer. We met up with Melody Kehl and her tour group and thankfully we did as it provided many more eyes and ears to hopefully locate the Nightjar. With just a little bit of remaining light in the sky someone shouted out they heard the Nightjar. We all rushed over just quick enough to see it fly off into the wash. We tracked it down for a bit and got a couple of fleeting glimpses of it flying away as we followed it’s call. Unfortunately there were zero photo ops so I came back without any photos. 🙁
Feeling a bit defeated we headed back into town. About 40 miles outside of Nogales, along Ruby Road, we saw a HUGE Black-tailed Rattlesnake just spread across the middle of the road. At first I thought it had been run over but as soon as we all jumped out of the car it started moving off the road perfectly fine. I didn’t get any photos since my camera was already packed away so I grabbed my iPhone to take video.
Started off the morning on the Ft. Huachuca Army base located near Sierra Vista, AZ. On the way in we stopped alongside the road to get photos of Botteri’s and Cassin’s Sparrows. As usual, the Botteri’s were much more cooperative – at times they came so close I thought they might fly into one of the cars! The Cassin’s proved to be a bit more difficult. We could hear and see them skylark’ing inthe distance but they refused to come within 50 yards of us.
Botteri’s Sparrow
Botteri’s Sparrow
We continued up the mountain into Sawmill Canyon where we were immediately greeted with calling Elegant Trogons although we were never able to find them! Buff-breasted Flycatchers were in good numbers – calling and flycatching up and down the trails.
Buff-breasted Flycatcher
We also caught a Grace’s Warbler pair a little ways down the trail just before it started raining pretty heavily.
Grace’s Warbler
We took shelter under some pine trees and only had to wait about 15 minutes before the rain finally subsided. We hurried back to our cars before it started raining again. On the way out a bolt of lightning shot out of the sky directly above us leading to the loudest crack of thunder I’ve ever heard. Thankfully it didn’t hit any of us!
We continued on our way to Patagonia, AZ to look for the Sinaloa Wren. We spent an hour looking to no avail before it started pouring rain again. We decided to head into town and relax at the coffee shop while we waited for the storm cell to pass through. Unfortunately it wasted about an hour of precious daylight. As soon as the rain stopped we headed back to the Sinaloa Wren spot and searched until dusk. It wasn’t entirely boring as there were many Yellow-breasted Chats playfully calling to
each other above us.
Yellow-breasted Chat
Other than that all we managed to get was lots of Chigger bites!! I did take a photo of the Sinaloa Wren’s nest so I didn’t feel like I left completely empty handed.
Thanks to the Ramsey Canyon parking lot not opening until 8AM I was able to sleep in a bit later than normal – having taken the last flight into Tucson from LAX I was a bit exhausted. It was a gorgeous day to be in SE Arizona, despite the warm temperatures and high humidity. Fortunately we didn’t encounter any heavy downpours that would cause us to unexpectedly modify the day’s agenda.
Ramsey Canyon
Despite us getting a relatively late start on the morning, the canyon was still quite active with Acorn Woodpeckers, Hutton’s Vireos and Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers all attending their respective nests.
Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher
There were many young Hermit Thrushes along with Black-headed Grosbeaks and Hepatic Tanagers consuming the over abundant supply of Wilcox Barberries located throughout the Canyon.
Hermit Thrush
I managed to get a cute photo of an Acorn Woodpecker parent feeding a young fledgling in a nest hole. I even caught the inquisitive youngster trying to sneak a peek at what was going outside his humble abode.
Acorn Woodpecker
Acorn Woodpecker (chick)
Assuming most knew the purpose of starting off in Ramsey Canyon that day…for those do not, it was all for a single bird – a Brown-backed Solitaire, native to Mexico. There has only been one other record in the U.S. – over 10 years prior and was not accepted as a “wild” bird. There is still a lot of discussion surrounding whether the current Solitaire in Ramsey Canyon arrived on it’s own free will or if it was “assisted”. The Brown-backed Solitaire is widely valued as a popular cage bird due to it’s incredibly beautiful song so there is much desire to illegally transport them to the U.S. from Mexico.
Around 10:45AM the 40 or so of us in the Canyon were greeted with that exact call. It sounded as if the bird was just 30 or 40 feet off the trail but as much we tried we could not locate the bird. We patiently listened to the call every few minutes and hoped it would eventually show itself. And show itself it did. Just after 11:00AM it flew into one of the Wilcox Barberry bushes to feed on the berries. It sat there feeding for a couple minutes before flying up into the canyon.
Brown-backed Solitaire
After we all had great looks at the Solitaire we decided to head over to the Beatty Guest Ranch located within Miller Canyon. This was where the Solitaire was originally found before moving into Ramsey Canyon just a few miles away.
Miller Canyon
We were immediately greeted by Tom Beatty, Jr. who showed us a Sonoran Whipsnake that was feeding along the edge of their pond.
Sonoran Whipsnake
After enjoying a few minutes of observing the Whipsnake we hiked up to the hummingbird observation area where several Berylline and White-eared Hummingbirds have been treating guests to views just a few feet away!
Berylline Hummingbird
White-eared Hummingbird
Although not as infrequent as the Berylline or White-eared Hummingbird, several Broad-tailed’s fed amongst the hundreds of other hummers. It’s always a treat to hear the buzzing sound the Broad-tailed Hummingbird’s wings make.
Broad-tailed Hummingbird
I even captured some video with my iPhone to show how close to all the hummingbirds we were. I was literally holding my phone just a foot away from the feeder!
It was now getting late in the day so had just enough time to stop off at the Ash Canyon B&B just down the road. Beautiful female and male Lucifer Hummingbirds had been coming to the feeders there regularly.
Ash Canyon
Since the Lucifer Hummingbird didn’t show itself immediately I took some photos of a Costa’s Hummingbird and a Pipevine Swallowtail happily feeding on the plentiful supply of nectar, natural and artificial.
Costa’s Hummingbird
Pipevine Swallowtail
I didn’t have to wait long before the male Lucifer Hummingbird finally showed itself. Definitely one of my favorite Hummingbirds!
Ballona Creek (Black Oystercatchers in foreground)
I took a stroll up Ballona Cr. yesterday afternoon to look for any migrating Red Knots… Didn’t find any but saw a couple Semipalmated Plovers which I see very irregularly along the Creek. As I was coming to the second locked gate on the south end of the Creek I noticed a Western Grebe that was propped against a rock… I expected it to flush back into the water as I approached it but it didn’t move at all.
Western Grebe
It just watched me cautiously as I drew closer and closer. I realized it must be injured or sick so I decided to take a few photos and call Roy Van de Hoek with the Ballona Institute to see if he could come take the bird to a rehab facility. He recommended I phone the IBRRC bird rescue in San Pedro. I did so and only received a recording so I left a message. I decided to continue down the creek so I didn’t waste all the time in my 2 hour parking meter.
About 30 minutes later the IBRRC called me back and said that they were not able to come take the bird so they recommended I try to get it into a box myself and deliver it to the West LA animal shelter in the morning so that they could deliver it to them in San Pedro. Since I did not have a box or blanket to throw over the bird with me I phoned a friend who was able to bring me the items necessary to capture the Grebe.
While I waited for her, a curious Heermann’s Gull came close to see what was going on…
Heermann’s Gull
When my friend arrived with the blanket, I was able to easily toss it over the bird to pick it up gently and place it in the box. It certainly wasn’t happy about the situation but it seemed to have lots of energy, despite it looking under nourished, which was promising. Now the difficult part was figuring out how to keep it safe/warm at my house overnight!
Western Grebe
Roy recommended I try to get it over to Peter Wallerstein with the Marine Animal Rescue group in Playa del Rey. I was finally able to get ahold of him that evening and delivered the bird safely to him. He said the keel bone was sticking out so it hadn’t eaten in sometime but otherwise the bird felt and acted in good health. He told me the shorebird rehab clinic would pick up the bird in the morning so hopefully the little guy pulls through!
Oh and before I forget, the male Hooded Oriole has been visiting the feeder in my backyard regularly for the past week now. When I got home from Ballona I heard him calling across the street as soon as I opened my door. It appeared the male and female were either building a nest or already had one in the fan palms in my neighbor’s yard. Note, this was the same yard a pair (same pair?) nested in last year but their nest was cut down by the gardener… Hopefully the same outcome does not result again this year. Here’s the video I took of the male Hooded Oriole visiting my feeder this afternoon.
And I leave you all with a photo of my new Owling flashlight for Arizona this weekend!
My new flashlight
(Just kidding – I didn’t actually buy it, although I was tempted!)
