SE Arizona, Part 4

[kestrel]

Our final stop on August 4 was the Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary (formerly a B&B). Just like at the other places, the hummingbird feeders were attended by swarms of birds.

We had just barely sat down in the provided chairs, when our main target (for here) showed up. It was a Plain-capped starthroat:
Plain-capped starthroat by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr

Also saw my first Lucifer hummingbirds:
Lucifer hummingbird by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr

On the last day, we had a Yellow-billed cuckoo at the San Pedro Riparian Conservation Area. Other than that, it was pretty much the same birds we had been seeing since day one.

At Beatty's Guest Ranch, we saw my favourite hummingbird of the whole trip, which was a White-eared:
White-eared hummingbird by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr

My final lifer of the trip was a Chihuahuan raven in Sierra Vista. One last visit to Sweetwater Wetlands, in Tucson, also produced a Mexican duck. This species used to be considered a subspecies of the Mallard.

Overall it was an awesome trip. Larry got 28 lifers, Ed got 13, and I got 17. The eBird trip report is below:
ebird.org/tripreport/107979/150855?view=checklists

[Chris]

Joel, thanks for posting the reports. Would love to get to Arizona to do some birding at some point.

So many hummingbird species and so many Broad-billed Hummers.

[kestrel]

You're welcome, Chris. If you want to see lots of hummingbirds, I'd recommend going at this time of year. If you'd rather avoid brutal heat, then you'd want to go there in early or mid May.

[Randy]

Amazing reports and photos!

I counted 37 lifers for me!!! I definitely need to get down there clearly!