Post by kestrel on May 15, 2019 21:21:22 GMT -8
After breakfast at the hotel, we set out towards the town of Willcox. While we were loading up the van, I spotted my lifer Cassin's kingbird perched on a wire.
En route, we made a short detour to see a Burrowing owl that has been hanging out next to a roadside ditch:
Burrowing owl by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr
This was right in Tucson, outside a bank.
The drive to Willcox was mostly uneventful, though we did see a Say's phoebe along with a couple of EC doves and some House sparrows.
Our first birding stop was the edge of a golf course just outside the town. There's a nice big marsh that had lots of waterfowl including all three teals. as well as Mexican ducks (recently split from the Mallard), Ruddy ducks, and Eared grebes. There was also a good variety of shorebirds such as American avocets, Black-necked stilts, and a pair of Willets (all 3 were lifers). Other birds we saw included White-faced ibises, Great-tailed grackles, and a Cactus wren.
My mom happened to look out the window and see a pair of Scaled quail:
Scaled quail by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr
We also spotted a few Gambel's quail:
Gambel's quail by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr
From there we headed to the sleepy town/village of Portal where we spent the next two nights. On the way there, we stopped by an old campground to do some birding along the road. We got good looks at Hepatic tanager and Red-faced warbler.
Our main target bird here was "Mexican" Spotted owl, which we found:
Spotted owl by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr
At dusk we found a Whiskered screech-owl just outside Portal. A nightbirding excursion produced several Mexican whip-poor-wills and good views of a Flammulated owl.
Flammulated owl by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr
It was a great second day of the trip.
En route, we made a short detour to see a Burrowing owl that has been hanging out next to a roadside ditch:
Burrowing owl by Joel Schmidt, on FlickrThis was right in Tucson, outside a bank.
The drive to Willcox was mostly uneventful, though we did see a Say's phoebe along with a couple of EC doves and some House sparrows.
Our first birding stop was the edge of a golf course just outside the town. There's a nice big marsh that had lots of waterfowl including all three teals. as well as Mexican ducks (recently split from the Mallard), Ruddy ducks, and Eared grebes. There was also a good variety of shorebirds such as American avocets, Black-necked stilts, and a pair of Willets (all 3 were lifers). Other birds we saw included White-faced ibises, Great-tailed grackles, and a Cactus wren.
My mom happened to look out the window and see a pair of Scaled quail:
Scaled quail by Joel Schmidt, on FlickrWe also spotted a few Gambel's quail:
Gambel's quail by Joel Schmidt, on FlickrFrom there we headed to the sleepy town/village of Portal where we spent the next two nights. On the way there, we stopped by an old campground to do some birding along the road. We got good looks at Hepatic tanager and Red-faced warbler.
Our main target bird here was "Mexican" Spotted owl, which we found:
Spotted owl by Joel Schmidt, on FlickrAt dusk we found a Whiskered screech-owl just outside Portal. A nightbirding excursion produced several Mexican whip-poor-wills and good views of a Flammulated owl.
Flammulated owl by Joel Schmidt, on FlickrIt was a great second day of the trip.
