Arizona birding - Day 2 at Madera Canyon

 Madera canyon in South East Arizona is a must visit spot for the bird watchers. I started early and reached the parking station and entrance to the canyon. Parked the car here and started walking the trail here. At the parking lot I saw Say's Phoebe and Ash-throated flycatcher. I also got to see a Greater Pewee here. I thought I would have to wait till I visit the Mount Lemmon to see this bird but I got lucky here. I also got to see my first Dusky Flycatcher and Black-throated Gray warbler. I also saw Summer Tanager and couple of Phainopepla's here. It started to drizzle a little. So I headed up towards the campgrounds. 

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Greater Pewee

Dusky Flycatcher

Summer Tanager

Dusky Flycatcher

Black-throated Gray Warbler

Phainopepla

I stopped at the Madera Picnic area. There was reports of Northern Pygmy owls here but we did not see any. Lot of other birders were here trying to find the same but with not much luck. Instead I saw couple of very busy Painted redstarts. It was my first time seeing these. Quite a beautiful and playful birds. Also saw some Wild Turkeys here. The other birds that I saw here includes White-breasted Nuthatch, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, Wilson's Warbler, Western Tanager, Townsend's Warbler, Hermit's Thrush, and Black-throated Gray Warbler. It was a great spot for birding which kept me busy for quite a while.

Wild Turkey

Painted redstart

Painted redstart

Wilson's Warbler

Painted redstart

Western Tanager

Townsend's Warbler

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Black-throated Gray Warbler

After this I headed towards the Santa-rita lodge which has feeders to attract some of these birds. It was a busy place with quite a number of birds which often visit the feeders. The usual feeder birds like Acorn Woodpeckers, Lesser Goldfinches, House Finches, Black-headed Grosbeaks and Nuthatches could be seen here. I also got to see my first Bridled Titmouse, Rivoli's Hummingbird, Yellow-eyed Junco and Red-naped Sapsucker. I forgot to charge my camera batteries the previous night. The gift shop here were helpful in putting my battery for charge here. While the camera battery was charging I was sitting and soaking in the beauty of the place outside. I saw Arizona woodpecker coming to the feeders. It was my first time seeing this bird but I did not have the camera to capture a picture of this beautiful bird.  The lodge also has lot of hummingbird feeders. The feeders were quite busy with Broad-billed Hummingbirds, Black-chinned Hummingbirds and Rivoli's Hummingbirds. They were chasing each others from these feeders.

Black-headed Grosbeak

Acorn Woodpecker

Broad-billed Hummingbird

Broad-billed Hummingbird

Black-chinned Hummingbird

Black-chinned Hummingbird

Rivoli's Hummingbird

Bridled Titmouse

Black-chinned Hummingbird

Gould's Turkey

Bewick's Wren

Lesser Goldfinch

Yellow-eyed Junco

Rivol's Hummingbird

Red-naped Sapsucker

After an hours charge I took the battery. I was told by folks trekking the Agua Caliente trail that they saw some Red-faced warblers up there. I decided to try my luck. The plan was to see this bird in Mt Lemmon but I did not know that they could be seen up here as well. It was quite a walk up the trail. After about a mile high in the trail I saw glimpses of the Red-faced warbler up in the trees. After waiting patiently for a while I saw the bird starting to descend. I was lucky enough to get some decent pictures of the bird before it flew away. At the same place I saw some birds quite high in the trees. I thought at the time it was Yellow-rumped warbler but after checking the same in laptop I found it was Grace's warbler. I did get a very good look of this pretty bird at Cave Creek canyon but I had not realized I had picture of this bird from Madera Canyon as well. The other birds that I saw along this trail were Stellar's Jay, Townsend's Warbler, Black-throated Gray warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler and Spotted Towhee.

Grace's Warbler

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Dusky Flycatcher

Red-faced Warbler

House Wren

Bronze-winged Blackbird

American Robin

Hermit Thrush

I wanted to wait till it got dark and look for the poorwills and the owls. But the weather had other plans. It started raining heavily. I had to pack up and start heading towards my next birding destination(Patagonia Lake State Park).

ebird(Proctor Road) : https://ebird.org/checklist/S88573629

ebird(Madera Picnic area) : https://ebird.org/checklist/S88573750

ebird(Santa Rita Lodge) : https://ebird.org/checklist/S88573843

ebird(Agua Caliente trail) : https://ebird.org/checklist/S88573964

Birds seen during the day :

1. Wild Turkey
2. White-winged Dove
3. Mourning Dove
4. Rivoli's Hummingbird
5. Black-chinned Hummingbird
6. Broad-billed Hummingbird
7. Turkey Vulture
8. Red-naped Sapsucker
9. Acorn Woodpecker
10. Arizona Woodpecker
11. Hammond's Flycatcher
12. Ash-throated Flycatcher
13. Mexican Jay
14. Bridled Titmouse
15. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
16. White-breasted Nuthatch
17. Bewick's Wren
18. Hermit Thrush
19. American Robin
20. House Finch
21. Pine Siskin
22. Chipping Sparrow
23. Yellow-eyed Junco
24. Spotted Towhee
25. Hooded Oriole
26. Bullock's Oriole
27. Scott's Oriole
28. Bronzed Cowbird
29. Yellow-rumped Warbler
30. Summer Tanager
31. Western Tanager
32. Black-headed Grosbeak
33. Lazuli Bunting
34. Broad-tailed Hummingbird
35. Gila Woodpecker
36. Northern Flicker
37. Gray Flycatcher
38. Brown-crested Flycatcher
39. Cassin's/Western Kingbird
40. Verdin
41. Curve-billed Thrasher
42. Phainopepla
43. White-crowned Sparrow
44. Green-tailed Towhee
45. Lucy's Warbler
46. Black-throated Gray Warbler
47. Townsend's Warbler
48. Wilson's Warbler
49. Painted Redstart
50. Northern Cardinal
51. Greater Roadrunner
52. Swainson's Hawk
53. Red-tailed Hawk
54. Greater Pewee
55. Say's Phoebe
56. Dusky-capped Flycatcher
57. Cassin's Kingbird
58. Common Raven
59. Northern Mockingbird
60. Sharp-shinned/Cooper's Hawk
61. Dusky Flycatcher
62. House Wren
63. Lesser Goldfinch
64. Orange-crowned Warbler
65. Grace's Warbler
66. Red-faced Warbler