Arizona birding - Day 1 at Boyce Thompson Arboretum and at Sweetwater Wetlands

One of the must visit birding places in US is the south east Arizona. Since its close to the Mexico border and all its mountains we get to see lot of the bird species that we would not in other parts of the states. I got both my vaccines in April. I planned my trip to Arizona in the end of May. Some suggestions from Facebook group "South East Arizona birding" helped. I took flight from Dallas to Phoenix, Arizona. The plan for the first day was to bird around the "Boyce Thompson Arboretum" and reach Tucson and bird for a while at "Sweetwater Wetlands" in Tucson. I reached Phoenix early in the morning. The drive to Boyce Thompson Arboretum was about an hour from the airport. The drive was good with some Harris hawks and Red-tailed hawks sightings along the way. The Arboretum is good with lot of different desert gardens. They have sections with desert plants from Africa, Australia and other countries. Looking at the ebird report it was good spot to see some of the desert species. I was not disappointed. Saw my first Hammonds flycatcher at the parking lot. At the start of the walking trail inside the arboretum there is a hummingbird garden. I saw my first Broad-tailed Hummingbird here and also present were Black-chinned hummingbirds. There were 3-4 feeders here and the birds were having some territorial fights here chasing each other all over the place. There were Norther Cardinals around as well. Saw both male and females here. There were Lesser goldfinches everywhere.

Hammond's Flycatcher

Northern Cardinal

Lesser Goldfinch

Broad-billed Hummingbird

Near the lake area I saw the Blue-grey Gnatcatcher and my first Plumbeous Vireo. White-crowned sparrows could be seen everywhere along with some chipping sparrows. In the pond I saw a lone Spotted Sandpiper. Couple of song sparrows at the edge of the lake. There was a Zone-tailed hawk flying over in the mix of Black vultures. My first sighting of this bird. It was great to see the way it glides in the sky similar to the vultures. One would need to take a closer look to make sure its a hawk but not a vulture. This fellow was kind enough to fly a little lower and I got some good pictures to get the correct ID of the bird.

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

Harris's Antelope Squirrel

Plumbeous Vireo

White-crowned Sparrow

Zone-tailed Hawk

Spotted Sandpiper

Near the pumping station I saw few Yellow-rumped warblers and couple of Yellow warblers. This is where I got to see my first Townsend's Warbler a beautiful bird which I was waiting to see for a long time. I knew I could see this bird at most of the places I'm going to be visiting during this trip. The Broad-tailed Hummingbirds were seen everywhere.

Yellow Warbler

Townsend's Warbler

Broad-billed Hummingbird

Yellow-rumped Warbler

I took the main trail over the mountains to try my luck with other desert birds. I got to see lot of Black-throated sparrows along the trail. I saw a small birding carrying some nesting material. On closer look it turned out to be a Verdin. The last time I saw this bird was in Big Bend National Park. I also got to see my first Phenopepla along this trail but later got to see them across the park.

Black-throated Sparrow

Phainopepla

Verdin

After this I took a trail where there was a small waterfall feature. Here I could see lot of birds visiting to take some morning water sips. Common Raven was seen along with some Pine Siskins and some White-crowned sparrows. I got to see my first Lazuli bunting here. Gila woodpeckers were also seen here and across the different areas of the park. The other good birds that I saw in the park were Ash-throated flycatchers, Great-crested flycatchers, House finches, Western Tanagers and Wilson warblers. Right before I left the park I saw couple of Inca doves and my only sighting of the Beardless-Tyrannulet from the trip.

Common Raven

Pine Siskin

Gila Woodpecker

Varied Bunting

White-crowned Sparrow

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Arizona Grey Squirrel

Western Tanager

Wilson's Warbler

House Finch

Inca Dove

Beardless Tyrannulet

Black-chinned Hummingbird

Harris's Hawk

After this I started driving towards Tucson. On ebird I had seen some spots where Burrowing Owls could be seen in the fields. I had been waiting to see this majestic bird for quite a while. Had tried my luck around Texas but with no results. I started driving through some of the roads which have these fields. I was not disappointed. It took some driving around these roads but I did get to see couple of pairs of Burrowing owls. I saw one of the owls taking some food into the hole as well. These birds were super cute. I was always fascinated with an owl which nests in ground. I saw this bird for the first time in a NatGeo documentary and was fascinated with this bird since then. I got to see the bird and spend some quality time with it at the end.

Burrowing Owl

Prairie Dog

After this went to the Sweetwater wetlands in Tucson. It was already late in the day. I thought of spending an hour here before the sun sets. I got to see my first Gambel's quail here. There were bunch of them feeding at the edge of the park. Once I went inside the park it started raining. The rain wasn't heavy. In the lake I saw some coots, cinnamon and blue-winged teals. I also saw some Mallards along with some shovellers. Got couple of good sightings of the Sora's. Also seen were couple of Green herons. The day ended with a sighting of Abert's Towhee. It was too dark to get any picture of the same.

Gambel's Quail

Desert Cottontail

Green Heron

Sora

Swainson's Hawk

It was a great way to end the first day of the birding trip. I had 14 lifers on this first day. 

ebird (Boyce Thompson): https://ebird.org/checklist/S86617416

ebird(Sweetwater Wetlands) : https://ebird.org/checklist/S87857250

Birds seen during the day: 

Boyce Thompson Arboretum(Arizona): 

1 Inca Dove 

2 White-winged Dove 

3 Mourning Dove 

4 Greater Roadrunner 

5 Broad-billed Hummingbird 

6 Spotted Sandpiper 

7 Turkey Vulture 

8 Harris's Hawk 

9 Swainson's Hawk 

10 Zone-tailed Hawk 

11 Red-tailed Hawk 

12 Red-naped Sapsucker 

13 Acorn Woodpecker 

14 Gila Woodpecker 

15 Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet 

16 Hammond's Flycatcher 

17 Ash-throated Flycatcher 

18 Cassin's Kingbird 

19 Western Kingbird 

20 Plumbeous Vireo 

21 Common Raven 

22 Verdin 

23 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 

24 White-breasted Nuthatch 

25 Black-tailed Gnatcatcher 

26 Cactus Wren 

27 Curve-billed Thrasher 

28 Hermit Thrush 

29 American Robin 

30 Phainopepla 

31 Pine Siskin 

32 Brewer's Sparrow 

33 Black-throated Sparrow 

34 White-crowned Sparrow 

35 Song Sparrow

36 Bullock's Oriole 

37 Lucy's Warbler 

38 Yellow Warbler 

39 Townsend's Warbler 

40 Wilson's Warbler 

41 Summer Tanager 

42 Western Tanager 

43 Northern Cardinal 

44 Black-headed Grosbeak 

45 Lazuli Bunting 

46 Green-tailed Towhee

 Sweetwater Wetlands(Tucson) : 

 1 Blue-winged Teal 

2 Cinnamon Teal 

3 Northern Shoveler 

4 American Wigeon 

5 Mallard 

6 Gambel's Quail 

7 Pied-billed Grebe 

8 White-winged Dove 

9 Mourning Dove 

10 Broad-billed Hummingbird 

11 Sora 

12 Common Gallinule 

13 American Coot 

14 Double-crested Cormorant 

15 Green Heron 

16 Black-crowned Night-Heron 

17 Turkey Vulture 

18 Gila Woodpecker 

19 Northern Flicker 

20 Ash-throated Flycatcher 

21 Cassin's Kingbird 

22 Common Raven 

23 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 

24 European Starling 

25 Curve-billed Thrasher 

26 Northern Mockingbird 

27 Hermit Thrush 

28 American Robin 

29 Phainopepla 

30 House Finch 

31 White-crowned Sparrow 

32 Abert's Towhee 

33 Yellow-rumped Warbler