My most recent post discussed the morning of December 16, 2018 with local guide, Richard Fray. We’d had a very successful morning of fabulous scenery, spectacular raptor viewing and I’d observed two new life birds, Baird’s Sparrow and Chestnut-collared Longspur.
After grabbing lunch ‘on the fly’, a birder’s special, we drove to the Madera Canyon and the renowned Santa Rita Lodge. The lodge features a very impressive feeder array that takes up an entire yard. The feeders are all numbered for quick reference as the birds come and go. The overall list of birds seen would be quite long but I managed to photograph a few of them.
The variety of Dark-eyed Junco sub-species makes for an interesting study session. I was unable to photograph an Oregon sub-species. Also, I had great looks at Yellow-eyed Junco but no photo record!
We ventured out onto the trails after feeder-watching in search of a late-staying Elegant Trogon. No luck but a Hammond’s Flycatcher was a nice find.
Our day was getting shorter and it was time to head to Green Valley. Enroute, we passed through a long stretch of mesquite with a lot of mistletoe, a recipe for Phainopepla! We saw at least a dozen of these lovely ‘black cardinals’ on prominent perches.
Richard took us to a park along a stretch of the Santa Cruz river and the sparrow-viewing was very satisfying. He’d assured me that finding Rufous-winged Sparrows would be easy and he wasn’t exaggerating. It didn’t take long to locate my third lifer of the day. These are cooperative birds and tend to rest on fairly open perches for long periods of time.
In the second photo, a bit of rufous can be seen on the lesser covert (shoulder, basically).
Brewer’s Sparrows were present. David Sibley describes them as plain and drab. He’s not wrong but I think they’re rather delicate and charming, in their way.
We were running out of time and had one more stop to go. Occasionally, Richard had seen Lawrence’s Goldfinches in this area. He tried a little playback and pishing but nothing responded. A hallmark of an excellent guide is persistence, however. Just before we headed back to the vehicle two birds flew overhead and landed in a mid-distance tree. Female Lawrence’s!
I was happy but then I became ectastic! A male appeared in a bush within twenty feet of us. Lawrence’s Goldfinch was my fourth lifer on the day.
Our last stop was a very exclusive suburban neighbourhood. The key feature of the site is a fairly good number of Saguaro cacti. We strolled up and down the streets, checking on the cacti, listening and looking for Gilded Flicker. It took twenty minutes or so, but once we found the right spot we observed a Gilded Flicker at and around it’s cavity nest. We were unable to approach closely as the cactus loomed over a private home. A long-range photo would have to do. The daylight was on the wane as I recorded my fifth lifer.
Obviously, I had a very rewarding day. Richard was a pleasant and personable companion as well as an excellent birder. I’m not sure when I’ll visit Arizona again but, when I do, I won’t hesitate to look up Richard Fray in Southeast Arizona and also Gordon Karre in the Phoenix area.
The Experienced Intermediate Birder 