After finishing our camping expedition in the Chiris with the Birding Co-op, most of our camping buddies headed to Tucson for the Southeast Arizona Birding Festival. Nikki and I, however, had a different route: we needed to the head to the nearest center of population to get the tire patched on our lemon of a rental car. Thankfully our birding companion Corey had already dealt with flat tires in the Chiris before, and he pointed us to a Ford dealership in the town of Lordsburg just across the state border in New Mexico. That place proved to be cheap and efficient, and it was only $25 to get our tire patched up before we were ready to go. I still would have rather spared myself the extra 2 hours of driving, and that was sadly only the first of several rental car issues we were to deal with on our Arizona trip.
Back in Tucson, we were sharing an AirBnb with most of the other Co-op folks. The place was mostly great, located not too far from the conference center and with a nice pool and big common area we could hang out in. Some parts of the design left a little to be desired in terms of privacy, like the fact that one of the bathroom doors didn't fully close and offered a direct view to the toilet and shower for anyone passing by, but it was nonetheless a great spot for all of us to be in together.
August 7 was the first day of the Birding Festival, but unfortunately I missed it thanks to rental car woes. We did have time to make it to dinner with the rest of the crew, at a truly amazing vegetarian Mexican restaurant close to our AirBnb. That included a surprise appearance from Doug (my companion for many adventures in the Philippines last year), who was on his way home from a field job out West. The next morning, those of us who weren't guiding festival trips decided to head out to the Santa Catalina Mountains, another one of the sky island mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona. The lot of us piled into as few cars as we could manage, with me driving Erich and Nikki in our newly-functional rental car.
The reason the Birding Festival is held in August is that that's the time of the North American monsoon, when prevailing winds begin to blow northwards from the cooler coast of the Gulf of California to the hot interior of the continent. Huge thunderclouds drift northwards from the Mexican plateau to southeastern Arizona, bringing with them torrential rains that fill the dry riverbeds and turn the desert green. There are few sights as spectacular as watching a thunderstorm make its way across the plains and mountains, and the Sonoran Desert full of flowers and greenery in August is possibly one of the most surreally beautiful landscapes in North America.
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| The desert below the Santa Catalina Mountains |
Besides the scenery, the summer monsoon also means breeding season for many desert birds, including southwestern sparrows like Cassin's Sparrow and Botteri's Sparrow. The latter of these is a monsoon obligate, meaning that it will only start breeding after the first rains have come. We heard both of them singing as we got off the freeway and started driving through the desert, and we finally stopped behind Josh's car where they had a distant Cassin's Sparrow perched up and singing. Another stop got us a reasonably cooperative Botteri's Sparrow, and as we drove onward I stopped again for a nice Loggerhead Shrike perched up in a yucca flower. There were also enough desert flowers and insects to keep me entertained once I was done taking sparrow pictures.
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| Cassin's Sparrow with a weird extra tuft of feathers |
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| Botteri's Sparrow |
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| Loggerhead Shrike |
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| Some sort of cactus bee (Diadasia sp.) on a Southwestern Pricky Poppy (Argemone pleiacantha) |
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| Honey-tailed Striped Sweat Bee (Agapostemon melliventris) on a Prairie Sunflower, with a crab spider of some sort (Mecaphesa sp.) lying in wait |
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| Prairie Sunflower (Helianthus petiolaris) |
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| Arizona Blue-eyes (Evolvulus arizonensis) |
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| Sunrise in the desert |
Our real first destination for the morning was Box Canyon, a little ravine north of the Santa Cataline Mountains that's home to one of the only US breeding populations of Five-striped Sparrow, which is otherwise only found in the mountains of western Mexico. I'd been there once before in 2021 and had many sparrows singing far down at the bottom of the canyon, but only ever had an extremely brief look at one. This time, there was a Five-striped Sparrow singing almost as soon as we got out of our cars, and it didn't take long before we saw one perched out on the open! There were a few of them singing, and one of them ended up flying up to a cholla cactus right next to the road, giving us stupidly good views and pictures. We also had amazing looks at a gorgeous and accommodating male Varied Bunting that was singing next to the road without a care for how close we were. A male Costa's Hummingbird came in briefly, and further down the road there was a little group of Scott's Orioles, my second lifer of the trip. They never came in particularly close unfortunately, but a lifer is a lifer. There were a few Montezuma Quails calling from far down in the ravine as well, a series of cute trilled whistles.
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| Five-striped Sparrow! |
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| Varied Bunting |
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| Costa's Hummingbird |
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| Comanche Paper Wasp (Polistes comanchus) |
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| Morning in Box Canyon |
Back down the road we met up with Mollee and Jimmy who were joining a bit late, and stopped at a bridge over a little arroyo that seemed promising. There were lots of Phainopeplas around, and a Cassin's Sparrow came in surprisingly close to drink from the river. There were Northern Cardinals around everywhere, these the southwestern subspecies with their enormous bills.
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| Northern Cardinal |
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| Cassin's Sparrow |
Our final destination for the morning was the Santa Rita Lodge further up in the Santa Catalinas, one of the best-known birding spots in Southeast Arizona. The lodge is partly known because it offers easy access to Madera Canyon, another good spot to see Elegant Trogons and some other birds we'd previously seen in the Chiris. It also has an extensive feeder set-up, which makes it a popular destination for birding tours and in general a good spot for some nice, relaxed birding. The feeders were hopping, with hummingbirds of various types including Broad-billed, Anna's, Broad-tailed, Black-chinned, and our first Rivoli's Hummingbird of the trip, although the midday light was so harsh that I mostly didn't bother with pictures. There were a bunch of Bridled Titmice hanging around in the oak trees near the lodge, and there were some brief appearances by White-breasted Nuthatches, Mexican Jays, Hepatic Tanagers, and yet another Arizona Woodpecker.
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| Hepatic Tanager |
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| Bridled Titmouse |
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| White-breasted Nuthatch |
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| Mexican Jay |
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| Arizona Woodpecker |
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| Northern Cloudywing (Thorybus flava) |
We headed back to Tucson after that so that we could shower and head to the festival to man the booths. The festivals are great because they're a chance to reunite with old friends and make new ones from all over the birding world. This one was no exception, and it was great to catch up with even more friends and acquaintances. It was also a great excuse to hide inside from the colossal monsoon thunderstorm that ripped through Tucson, drenching the city with rain and giving us some impressive cloud formations as well.
That night we decided to head to Saguaro National Park east of Tucson to look for some nighttime herps, mammals, anything else that might pop up while cruising. I was excited since the national park is one of the best spots for that, and it's something that you can really only do in the Southwest and other warm-weather areas. (There is of course some nighttime cruising going on on the East Coast too, but it's of a decidedly different sort.) Kelly from the ABA treated us to pizza for the outing, and Ethan was able to snag a Festival van for us to use, although there ended up being so much of us that I drove another car with me, Nikki, and Doug following behind. We ate pizza while the sun set over Tucson and listened to the sounds of Curve-billed Thrashers and Rufous-winged Sparrows.
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| The appropriately-named Saguaro National Park |
The night started out with a tiny Desert Pocket Mouse in the shrubbery nearby the visitor's center, along with a Gamble's Quail I picked out in a tree with my thermal. We drove very slowly around Cactus Loop Drive, stopping first for a Sonoran Desert Toad next to the road. Shortly afterwards Kelly found a Stripe-tailed Scorpion with her UV light, and a bit down the road we had our best find of the night: a tiny Western Threadsnake, an extremely uncommon and difficult-to-find snake that's virtually never seen during normal herp cruising–I suspect it might have been flushed out of its burrow by the monsoon rains. Along the loop we also had several Couch's Spadefoots, Red-spotted Toads, a Western Banded Gecko, a Desert Blond Tarantula, a quickly-crossing Javelina, and many little kangaroo rats that ran away too quick to be photographed. It wasn't perhaps as active as many herping sessions in the area, but it was a great way to spend the evening nonetheless, and all of us ended up with some lifers.
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| Desert Pocket Mouse |
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| Sonoran Desert Toad (licking not recommended except in carefully controlled environments) |
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| Stripe-tailed Scorpion |
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| Desert Blonde Tarantula (Aphonopelma chalcodes) |
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| Western Threadsnake! |
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| Western Band-tailed Gecko |
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| Couch's Spadefoot |
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| A very different color morph of Couch's Spadefoot |
The next morning was our last one in Tucson before Nikki and I had to head north to Phoenix to meet with her family. Another huge group of us decided to do a morning of birding up on Mount Lemmon, the highest peak of the Santa Catalina Mountains just north of Tucson. Mount Lemmon is probably my second-favorite spot in Arizona after the Chiris, so I was excited for the chance to get up there again for the first time since 2021. We left around sunrise, and stopped at a few spots along the way to look for the Black-chinned Sparrows that had been reported recently, but sadly came up empty-handed. The views were gorgeous enough that I didn't mind too much, and there were lots of warblers moving through overhead- mostly Black-throated Grey Warblers and Hermit Warblers, the sign that fall migration was already starting.
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| The scenery going up Mount Lemmon |
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| Nikki above Tucson |
As with the other sky island mountain ranges in southeast Arizona the road up Mount Lemmon went from the saguaro-studded desert around Tucson up through the scrub and chaparral on the lower slopes, then to nice oak woodlands, and then pine-oak forest at middle elevations. We made our first proper stop in that habitat, on the road leading down Rose Canyon to the Rose Lake reservoir at the bottom. We'd heard good things about the birding there over the past few days and this morning was no exception.
There were a good number of flocks of warblers and other small birds moving through, including Grace's Warblers, Hermit Warblers, Black-throated Grey Warblers, Orange-crowned Warblers, Mountain Chickadees and Painted Whitestarts. The absolute star of the show though was a Red-faced Warbler that spent a while hopping around in the bushes right next to the road giving us amazing views, even if photographing it was a challenge. There were lots of Western Bluebirds and American Robins around, the latter of which spent most of their time harassing the young Red-tailed Hawk that was hanging out in the trees. The pine forests were absolutely full of nuthatches, including White-breasted Nuthatches and some adorable Pygmy Nuthatches that gave us more great views.
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| Mountain Chickadee |
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| Hermit Warbler |
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| Black-throated Grey Warbler |
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| Red-faced Warbler, possibly my favorite warbler in the US |
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| Red-tailed Hawk |
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| Pygmy Nuthatch |
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| Abert's Squirrel |
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| Echo Azure (Celastrina echo) |
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| Leafhopper Assassin Bug (Zelus renardii) |
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| California Bordered Plant Bug (Largus californicus) |
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| Balloon flies (Hilara sp.) feeding on a Pinewoods Geranium (Geranium caespitosum) |
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| Lemon Beebalm (Monarda cittriodora) |
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| Beardlip Penstemon (Penstemon barbatus) |
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| Southern Mountains Paintbrush (Castilleja nelsonii) |
Further down near Rose Lake we came across another huge mixed flock that included Chipping Sparrows, Warbling Vireos, Hutton's Vireos, Plumbeous Vireos, and the same warblers as before including another stunning Red-faced Warbler and a nice Virginia's Warbler. Another flock later on had even more warblers, including a Yellow Warbler, a Nashville Warbler, and a confusing bird that was either a Hermit Warbler or a hybrid between that and a Townsend's Warbler. There were also some very cute fledgling House Wrens hanging out on the ground, and while driving we heard a calling Greater Pewee.
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| Chipping Sparrow |
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| Warbling Vireo |
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| Plumbeous Vireo |
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| Hutton's Vireo |
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| Black-throated Grey Warbler |
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| Red-faced Warbler |
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| Grace's Warbler |
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| Hermit Warbler? Hermit x Townsend's Warbler? Unclear... |
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| Painted Whitestart |
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| Rock Wren |
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| Promachus sackeni |
We continued heading up Mount Lemmon, until the pine-oak forest transitioned into a thick coniferous forest filled with Douglas Fir and White Fir. I pulled over at a side road as we saw a raptor in the distance, which turned out to be a Short-tailed Hawk- a bird I'd only seen once before and never in the US. Unfortunately only Corey and I got on it, but that area was full of other birds anyway. The usual warblers were moving through, and there were some additional cold-weather birds that were less common further down, including Red-breasted Nuthatches, Brown Creepers, and a Western Flycatcher. Everything was fairly high up in the trees, so all I managed to photograph was a Yellow-eyed Junco along with some cool bugs and flowers.
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| Yellow-eyed Junco |
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| Adejeania vexatrix |
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| Hunt's Bumble Bee (Bombus huntii) |
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| Mock Pennyroyal (Hedeoma hyssopifolia) |
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| Alpine False Springparsley (Cymopterus lemmonii)- named for the same botanist Mount Lemmon is |
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| Richardson's Geranium (Geranium richardsonii) |
It was noon by then, so we decided to go find some lunch before it was time to head back to the festival. The little ski town of Summerhaven at the top of the mountain held little except grievously overpriced pizza and bad vibes, so we instead just headed down to Tucson to get tacos and then take much-needed showers and naps. I spent some more time manning the Birding Co-op booth with the other folks, and in the evening we spent some more quality time hanging out with good friends, sharing bird stories and catching up on birding gossip. It's that sort of thing as much as the wildlife that keeps me going back to Arizona.
That evening, Nikki and I said our goodbyes to everyone and headed up to Phoenix, where Nikki's sisters and brother-in-law were staying to watch her niece Lia compete in the
World Hip Hop Dance Championship. We were all staying at an AirBnb in one of Phoenix's many interminable suburbs, and with daytime temperatures getting into the triple digits by mid-morning it was an excuse to stay in and catch up on sleep. If I was a proper birder I'd have tried to get out early morning and hit up one of the urban parks or something, but I was exhausted and there wasn't much new for me anyway. I absolutely love southeastern Arizona, but Phoenix is... not so much my thing. With apologies to anyone who's from there, the whole city seems like the answer to the question of "what would happen if you built 500 strip malls in hell and connected them all with freeways?" I did randomly get one more lifer however–some feral
Rosy-faced Lovebirds hanging out in a tree in one of the suburbs, which counts according to eBird but not really for me.
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| The family getting food at a local Filipino joint (complete with videoke) |
The main reason we were there was to watch Lia compete in the Championship, as her crew had reached the final round. The plan was to leave mid-afternoon to have lots of time to see other crews perform before Lia's group did. Instead, we almost didn't make it, as my
terrible car luck (bad car-ma if you will) struck yet again. When we got in my rental car to head to the event, the damn thing wouldn't shift out of Park. Some frantic googling revealed that this was likely because of some sort of issue with the transmission, and definitely the sort of thing that requires some serious attention from a mechanic. I phoned the rental car company, and they sent someone out to tow it. The only problem was that that tow took more than 2 hours to actually come out and get the car, and the car company wouldn't replace it until the original car was brought in.
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| Here we go again... |
The fun didn't end there, though–even after the car was towed and we made our way to the airport to get a replacement, they still wouldn't give us a new car until the old one was brought in and checked off. Apparently the tow truck driver had managed to get hopelessly lost and spent 2 hours parked about 500 feet away from the airport entrance instead of following the directions provided to him by myself, the rental car people at the airport, and the agent on the phone. It ended up being almost 5 hours before we actually had a usable rental car again, doing very little to contradict my feeling that rental car companies are among the most unapologetically evil businesses in the world. We did finally make it to the Championship however, and we were able to watch Lia's team competing and stay for the final ratings (their team came 4th in the world, which is pretty impressive).
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| The family after the performance |
The next day was our last full day in Arizona, and the morning was spent sleeping in and helping Lia check out of her hotel. That afternoon there weren't any concrete plans, but Nikki and I realized that her sister and niece were going to spend the entirety of their first visit to Arizona having seen nothing but the suburbs of possibly the worst city in the country. That obviously wouldn't do. After a late lunch at another Filipino restaurant (of course), we took Gleng and Lia north so that we could cisit the Sedona area. I knew very little about it, but the Grand Canyon was too far away and our Uber driver the previous day had called it the most beautiful place he'd ever visited so we figured it was worth a try.
The drive north took us out of the concrete wastes of the city into the surrounding mountains, where Lia and Gleng saw their first cactuses of their visit (have I mentioned Phoenix is terrible?). We climbed from the desert up into a high plateau full of grassy plains, pine-covered hills, and dramatic cloud formations. It was the sort of landscape that gives the American West its deserved reputation as the best place in the world for a road trip, and I was glad that the others got to experience it.
It was clear when we were getting close to Sedona, as the landscape went from typical Southwestern mountains to a wide valley of strange mesas and rock formations, all of which were a shockingly bright red, contrasting with the green foliage of monsoon season. Our Uber driver hadn't exaggerated; this was one of the coolest landscapes I've ever seen, up there with El Nido and the high Andes. We stopped at the Bell Rock trail outside of Sedona, where we took a short hike to ogle the landscape and get pictures. There were a few birds around- lots of Phainopeplas and House Finches, along with a family group of Woodhouse's Scrub Jays and a gorgeous male Hooded Oriole. The red rocks made for some stunning backdrops for the wildlife, although not everything posed like I wanted it to.
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| Bell Rock |
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| Nikki getting landscape pictures |
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| Hooded Oriole |
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| Juvenile Phainopepla |
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| Adult male Phainopepla |
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| Juvenile Woodhouse's Scrub Jay |
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| Desert Cottontail |
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| Obscure Darkling Beetle (Eleodes obscura) |
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| Silverleaf Nightshade berries (Solanum eleagnifolium) |
We unfortunately didn't have all that much time before it got dark, so we were only able to make one more stop. I drove onwards to the Little Horse Trail, and we did a little more hiking until we found a nice viewpoint to enjoy the last bit of daylight. There was still some wildlife around, including a Northern Raven, more Woodhouse's Scrub Jays, and a distant Crissal Thrasher singing from the top of a dead snag. The best time to be in Sedona is apparently at sunrise and sunset, as the golden light makes the rocks even more extravagantly beautiful. There were a few too many clouds during our visit, but it was still one of the best sunsets I've ever seen just because of the backdrop. For anyone planning a visit to Arizona I can confidently say that Sedona is an absolute can't-miss destination (unlike, say, Phoenix).
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| Sunset in Sedona- the sort of thing that makes me wish I still did landscape photography... |
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| Nikki and I in Sedona |
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| Crissal Thrasher |
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| Hard to think of a better backdrop for this Woodhouse's Scrub Jay... |
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| Some sort of vesper bat flying over at dusk |
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| An extremely well-camouflaged grasshopper (Cibolacris sp.) |
I could have spent another day or two in Sedona, but alas we had to head back to Phoenix so that people could catch their flight the next day. Nikki and I were the last to leave, so we got to sleep in a bit in the morning before heading to the airport ourselves. We finished our week in Arizona with 110 species of birds, including 3 lifers for me and about 70 for Nikki, plus hundreds more species of cool mammals, herps, insects, and plants–Arizona's ranking as the best state in the US for general naturalisting remains unbeaten in my book. I fully expect I'll be back next year, and onwards after that as long as other good friends of mine continue to go and its amazing wildlife remains.
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