GOING BACK IN TIME….
7/4 – 7/21/2025 We flew into Tucson, wandered from Mount Lemon to the canyons (including Madera and Miller), then went visiting family in Las Vegas, after which we headed through the CA Mountains to San Diego for a pelagic trip. Highlights were: Hearing the Buff-collared Nightjar, seeing hummingbirds including a Broad-billed/Berylline Hummingbird hybrid, catching images of the Flame-colored Tanager and Buff-breasted Flycatcher, Mountain Quail and White-headed Woodpecker, and finally, Craveri’s Murrelet and Scripp’s Murrelet in San Diego where we also caught a “speck picture” of the visiting White-winged Tern! Had a super trip!
7/10/2025 Spot Farm Rd, AZ: It was a treat to have a Burrowing Owl fly in and pose for us! Also: Greater Roadrunner, Wilson’s Phalarope, and Western Kingbird . Kingbirds were hovering along with tons of yellow butterflies over the fields of purple flowers (lavender?). We just couldn’t capture it all!
7/10/2025 Spot Farm Rd, AZ: Black-necked Stilt, Black-throated Sparrow , Long-billed Curlew (at least 10), Least Sandpiper, a little Verdin insisting on catching a drink of water the hard way, and a Spotted Sandpiper and a Redhead (f), both backlit but still of interest. It was fun to have a little Kit Fox come towards us for a drink, sniffing the air, obviously smelling us before it saw us.
7/9/2025 Miller Canyon, Ash Canyon Preserve, and Las Cienegas NCA: Rivoli’s Hummingbird , Rufous Hummingbird , Anna’s Hummingbird , Black-chinned Hummingbird (m,f), Broad-billed Hummingbird (f,m) House Finch (f,m), and Lesser Goldfinch . At the NCA, we actually saw lots of birds around the water with it being 114 degrees! Heat waves made photography hard so just came away with a Chihuahuan Meadowlark and Cassin’s Kingbird .
7/8/2025 Miller Canyon, Carr Canyon , Battiste Bird Garden, AZ: Hiked up to see the Flame-colored Tanager – so beautiful with a female hanging around too. Afterwards we headed to Battiste Bird Garden, then drove up Carr Canyon (quite a bad road BTW!) where we focused on a Buff-breasted Flycatcher we heard up there. On the way back we caught a Chihuahuan Raven in a parking lot. At a brief stop at Battiste B&B, we found a Warbling Vireo, Anna’s Hummingbird and Broad-billed Hummingbirds (among others), Bushtit (including a melanotis group individual with mask), Curve-billed Thrasher , Gambel Quail , House Finch and Lesser Goldfinch .
7/4 -7/8/2025 Madera Canyon, Miller Canyon , AZ: Broad-billed Humingbird , White-breasted Nuthatch , Acorn Woodpecker , and the sneaky Broad-billed/Berylline Hummingbird hybrid. Also: Broad-tailed Hummingbird and Black-chinned Hummingbird .
7/5 -7/8/2025 Madera Canyon, Miller Canyon, AZ: A beautiful Painted Redstart had a nest hole in the dried grass and gave us a few opportunities for pictures (opportunities we needed since it was moving so fast). Also: Rivoli’s Hummingbird , Anna’s Hummingbird , Rufous Hummingbird , Violet-crowned Hummingbird , and White-winged Dove .
7/5 -7/7/2025 Madera Canyon, AZ: Black-headed Grosbeak , Blue Grosbeak , Brown-crested Flycatcher , Mexican Jay , and male Hepatic Tanager taking a bath. Also: Arizona Woodpecker , Bronzed Cowbird , and Wild Turkey preening .
7/5/2025 Mt. Lemon, AZ: Western Flycatcher , Yellow-eyed Junco with nest material, Grace’s Warbler , Hermit Thrush , Greater Pewee , House Wren , Olive Warbler , Pygmy Nuthatch , Plumbeous Vireo , and Spotted Towhee .
7/4/2025 Box Canyon Rd. nr Madera Can., AZ: Verdin at nest. We watched him nest-build until it was time for the Buff-collared Nightjar to start calling. We heard it call exactly at 8:10 pm as we listened with a number of other hopeful birders.
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