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.
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| Hammond's Flycatcher |
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| Northern Cardinal |
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| Lesser Goldfinch |
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Broad-billed Hummingbird
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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.
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| Black-tailed Gnatcatcher |
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| Harris's Antelope Squirrel |
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| Plumbeous Vireo |
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| White-crowned Sparrow |
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| Zone-tailed Hawk |
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| 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.
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| Yellow Warbler |
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| Townsend's Warbler |
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| Broad-billed Hummingbird |
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Yellow-rumped Warbler
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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.
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| Black-throated Sparrow |
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| Phainopepla |
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| 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.
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| Common Raven |
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| Pine Siskin |
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| Gila Woodpecker |
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| Varied Bunting |
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| White-crowned Sparrow |
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| Ash-throated Flycatcher |
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| Arizona Grey Squirrel |
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| Western Tanager |
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| Wilson's Warbler |
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| House Finch |
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| Inca Dove |
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| Beardless Tyrannulet |
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| Black-chinned Hummingbird |
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Harris's Hawk
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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.
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| Burrowing Owl |
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| 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.
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| Gambel's Quail |
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| Desert Cottontail |
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| Green Heron |
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| Sora |
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Swainson's Hawk
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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
