Rufous-capped Warbler:
“Well, we haven’t been there in Spring…” An easy excuse to go back to a place Jeanette and I love, it didn’t take much arm bending to convince Jeanette we “needed” to be back in South Eastern Arizona.
We had some target birds and some target activities and targeted late May as our time of arrival. We landed in a seasonably cool Phoenix after a bit of rain and made our way to the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort. Our second trip to Arizona was as much about going back to this hotel as it was about the birds. Seriously, Jeanette really likes the place. And what’s not to like? The views are amazing, the amenities are spectacular and the birding on property is simply wonderful.
We met up with Keith Kamper (of AZ Birding – http://az-birding.com/guides/keith-kamper/) to do some night birding and to track down some of the birds we missed on our September trip. While we only had two days with Keith we made the most of it and he provided us with some top notch guiding and some exceptional birds. On the first day we birded Florida Wash and Madera Canyon with a crisp and early wake-up time of 3:30am. While this day didn’t produce my most wanted bird, the Rufous-capped Warbler, it laid the foundation for my subsequent attempts on Monday and Tuesday that eventually did produce a pair of exciting birds. The Kubo B&B started us off with the highly sought Flame-colored Tanager and some wonderful looks at Arizona Woodpecker and Bridled Titmouse.
Flame-colored Tanager:
Elegant Trogon:
Five-striped Sparrow:
Red-faced Warbler:
Dan & Jeanette on Mt. Lemmon:
Gambel’s Quail:
Verdin:
Arizona Woodpecker: