Birding With Christian: SE Arizona Part II

How do you follow up the best birding day you've ever had? Of course, you try to follow it up with an even better day which is quite hard to do, but Miller Canyon gave me a chance to beat the prior day. Miller Canyon is also in the Huachucas and is closer to Mexico than Ramsey Canyon. It is also a very reliable spot for the Mexican subspecies of Spotted Owl, which is a prime candidate for a split in the future. In addition, Beatty's Guest Ranch is the only place in the country where you can find White-eared Hummingbird.

Black-throated Gray Warbler

I'll say it right off the bat: this morning was pretty disappointing. It was hotter than I thought because I was at a lower elevation, I was tired from the previous day, and I was SORE. It hurt to put a backpack on and look up with my sore neck, and my legs ached. I was also stressed about my afternoon plans, more on that in a bit. I was moving pretty slow. Still, there were awesome birds. My first lifer was a Black-throated Gray Warbler, which exceeded expectations. It was extremely cooperative. But after about 10 minutes on the trails things got eerily quiet. A predator was around. I quickly saw it and scared it. It was a Northern Goshawk! This was the only place I could expect to find one, so to get one in the first 30 minutes was really motivating. I saw it first in the forest and then it flew overhead. As is soared the woods came back to life.

Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers move fast, I'm just glad I got this picture

The Miller Canyon Trail is a beating, and I wasn't on it for long. It goes along a creek and like many other birders I'm sure I missed a quetzal or another insane bird by chickening out once things got hard, but I had a lot to try to accomplish today. Elegant Trogon had moved up to #1 ABA lifer after I got Red-faced Warbler, and Buff-breasted Flycatcher was my #2. This was one of the few places I could expect the latter in the United States, and this was my primary target.

Comforting

I could have sworn that I saw one! I was 99% sure, and after 30 minutes of watching I couldn't get a definite look at it as it was flying back and forth between tall trees. I desperately wanted to count it, but I didn't feel right doing it since I didn't confirm it. I was in this situation in the past with my lifer Painted Redstart in Big Bend in 2017 and once I saw it again later that year I felt way more comfortable ticking it. I had to find a way to confidently see it.

Male Broad-billed Hummingbird

But I continued on to the spot where Spotted Owl is reliable, but no one had seen it that day. I knew my chances were slim since I am an awful owler, but I did great looks at Red-faced Warbler and Hepatic and Western Tanager. This is where things got stressful, I knew a place for automatic Buff-breasted Flycatcher but it was supposedly a very tough drive, but I also wanted to get to Patagonia to look for desert birds. Would I have enough time and was it worth it? I decided to gamble it.

I got out of the canyon rather quickly going downhill, and was greeted by a pair of cooperative Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers. A birder on the way up encouraged me to try the drive up Carr Canyon, so I decided that was what I was going to do after looking at the hummingbird feeders at Beatty's.

Broad-tailed Hummingbird

I arrived at the feeder station on the way to my car and watched an aerial show of squeaking hummingbirds. Broad-billed, Rivoli's, Anna's, and Broad-taileds were dazzling in the air. I used to think hummingbirds were overrated until I saw this spectacle. I thought I had photographed a White-eared, but when I got to the car it was not one. That was probably the lowest point of the trip. Dipping on Spotted Owl and White-eared Hummingbird sucked, but I was out of time. I had to leave if I was to get to Carr Canyon and Paton's.

The female Broad-billed that bamboozled me

The low point did not last very long, and in fact everything started looking up. The drive to Carr Canyon has been said by some people to be the scariest birding drive they've ever done, and that it is a white-knuckler. The 7 mile road is unpaved, extremely steep, full of narrow one lane switchbacks, and there were no guardrails. I was terrified at the thought of it, but I had to do it. When I solo travel I really try to go out of my comfort zone both physically and mentally, whether it's going out in -40 weather in Minnesota, Sourdough Mountain in the Cascades (that was both physically and mentally brutal), or driving up a really scary road. Besides, if I want to bird in foreign countries I will have to learn to deal with tough roads.

Lil bit of a squeeze

While I usually had plenty of room, that's a steep drop

While a challenge, the drive was not that bad on the way up. I had only a few moments or nerves, and overall it was worth it. Carr Canyon's Reef Townsite Campground is a fantastic place to get high elevation birds without the crippling hike. I got to ditch my backpack, which made things so much easier. The weather was cool and made for an easy, scenic walk. I got to get very close to Grace's and Black-throated Gray Warbler, the former of which I only previously got a glimpse of in Ramsey Canyon before a runner scared it off. I sat down on a pine tree and soaked in amazing views of each, and then my Buff-breasted Flycatcher flew in to view. Elated is an understatement, and I could confirm that what I saw in Miller Canyon was also a buff breast. But now I could rest easy knowing what I saw. I stuck around for a little while longer and got Yellow-eyed Junco. My most important takeaway from this: I need to camp at Reef Townsite next time. The campground is beautiful and I think this place is poppin with birds in the morning.

Yellow-eyed Junco

Grace's Warbler

With little daylight left there wasn't a ton of time to spend at Paton's, which was fine considering I already had Violet-crowned Hummingbird. Still, this was a good sight for desert birds that I didn't have a chance to go after yet. It also was a great spot for Thick-billed Kingbird.

Phainopepla

Black-chinned Hummingbird

The yard is just that and not very big, but there is a garden and it packs quite a punch, even at the end of day. Lifer Abert's Towhee and Violet-crowned Hummingbird stole the show, but I also finally got my lifer Brown-crested Flycatcher and Lucy's Warbler. The feeders around the ponds were especially productive, and even a Zone-tailed Hawk flew over! Although it was too late to get Thick-billed Kingbird, Cassin's was there.