A Buggy Day (2nd installment of our Arizona trip journal)

We waited until the heat was more tolerable before we hit the birding trail at Sierra Vista. They were experiencing 3-digit temperatures the past few days and today was no exception.

As had been the case last year, we checked out the San Pedro Riparian area due to its proximity to the hotel. The moment we stepped out of the car, we were assaulted by bugs! And because of the muggy weather, we decided to wear shorts for our first birding sortie at Sierra Vista. Big mistake! The bug attack on our legs resulted in us doing an impromptu jig. But we were not going to allow some pesky flying insects to mar our ornithological foray. We proceeded to take the trail to the river, flushing a pair of Lazuli Buntings along the way. The expected species were there: Papa and Mama Vermillion Flycatchers teaching their brood the fine art of catching flies; Blue Grosbeaks would occasionally flash their deep indigo feathers..but never close enough for a photo op. The grassland along the way was punctuated every now and then by tall bushes and the tops of these bushes would inevitably be festooned by a Western Kingbird.

No longer able to endure the incessant onslaught of gnats, mosquitoes and their equally dreadful ilk, and dark clouds suddenly forming, foreboding a wet afternoon, we decided to call it day. We headed straight to the nearest Target store and purchased a large-sized bottle of insect repellant.

Bright and early the next day we returned to the San Pedro, this time fully covered in liquid armor. Freed from the winged pestilence, we were able to enjoy our birding more. Again we were not seeing anything unusual. The river did not yield the kingfishers that were supposed to inhabit its banks. As we were about to turn back, we heard the unmistakable chattering of a Yellow-breasted Chat. This species had been a bane for us, always being heard but very seldom seen, and when seen, always just a glimpse of some movement high up among the dense foliage. It was therefore quite a surprise when we came almost face to face with this individual. For almost half an hour, he just sat there, preening, in between singing his repertoire of whistles, chatters and chirps. 

Happy with this serendipitous encounter, we proceeded to Miller Canyon for a hoped for encounter with a lifer – the White-eared Hummingbird. There was already a couple – Austin and Ann - seated at the controlled-access-area provided by the Beatty’s where the rarity had been making its appearance. We plopped next to them and for the next hour or so, watched about 9 different kinds of hummingbirds enjoy the feeders hung by the hospitable owners. Then Austin suddenly shouted..”There it is!” Those are always sweet words to a birder. We pulled up our cameras and shot away. No fantastic flight shots nor full body shots of a perched bird, but we satisfied ourselves with pictures of a colorful hummer, tell-tale white stripes on the side of the head prominently showing. 

Having gotten our 3rd lifer of the trip, we bade goodbye to our new friends and headed down to Mary Jo Ballator’s yard. It was about noon and not surprisingly, there weren’t many birds at Ash Canyon. The resident Lucifer Hummingbird usually appears late in the day, we were informed. And we just missed a fly-by of a Gray Hawk (another would-be lifer), the couple who was just leaving told us. After talking with Graeme Lowe, a gentleman-photographer who was still patiently sitting behind his 500mm set-up, we heeded the call of our grumbling stomachs.

The rest of the afternoon was spent shopping for supplies as our next destination would be far from the amenities of a regular town. We also took stock of what we have accomplished thus far. Realizing we are quite short of our expectations, we hoped that the Chiricahuas would be kinder and gentler to us.

Whirr Am I?

We followed Mel & Elaine's advice and decided to go along with the bird walk to be held at 7 am at the San Pedro Riparian Area. The motel offers free continental (read: cheap) breakfast, so we partook of their cold cereal and hot cocoa before embarking on our adventure.

We arrived at the SPRA and found a gathering of birders. As I was setting up my gear, Mel (the tall guy with a hat in the middle of the picture) approached me and asked, "Did you see it?"

"See what?" was my curious reply.

He pointed to the top of the tree right beside the parking lot and there perched a Red-tailed Hawk enjoying the early morning sun.

Soon everybody started hitting the southbound trail. Not good, I whispered to Cynthia, most birds we will see will be against the light. Not discouraged by such prospects we ambled along with the group, stopping every now and then to watch the birds pointed out by Alan, a Bureau of Land Management(BLM) volunteer.

Thr circuitous route covered about 3 miles and as we trudged towards the San Pedro House (the visitor center), my left shoulder was already bruised from the more than 10-lb load hefted onto it. The walk added Vesper and Brewer's Sparrows to our life list. Blue Grosbeaks which we found to be very skittish in California are much more friendly here. At the San Pedro House, while everybody was discussing the birds they saw, we lingered a while near the feeders close by. David, another BLM volunteer, suddenly shouted, "White-breasted Nuthatch!", as he pointed to a black and white bird foraging near the base of a tree. Strangely enough, nobody paid attention to David. I, on the other hand, kept clicking away.

It was about 11 am when we left SPRA. We had lunch at Arby's where Cynthia finished off a Chicken Salad sandwich before I could even say "sandwich". Blame it on the 3-mile walk she explained.

After lunch we went to the Huachuca Canyon. According to my reference books there are four canyons that are great places to bird. The first, Ramsey Canyon, we learned, was pretty dead as far as birding was concerned. The 8 mile unpaved road to Carr Canyon is precipitous with numerous hairpin turns so Cynthia and I, acrophobics that we are, agreed not to take that route. We chose Miller Canyon first. It was a 2.5 mile drive of rocky road (not the ice cream) without any zigzag. At the end of the road was Beatty's Ranch and B & B. This place is famous for its hummingbirds (14 species were found in one day!). The hummingbird feeders around the Beatty store did not show much promise but we were told by a couple of birders who were on the way out, that there are more feeders, and consequentially, more birds, further up the trail.

Ignoring the pain on my shoulder, I once again carried my camera gear up a steep slope and finally ended at a relatively flat, albeit small area with chairs and a roof. There we met Lisa Williams, a local, who is also into bird photography (see her work at arizonabirder.com). The place was soothingly quiet that we can hear the whirr of hummingbird wings as if only inches away from our ears. The three of us spent about 2 hours enjoying and photographing the tiny winged wonders of the avian world. (Trivia: Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backwards). Here we met the Magnificent Hummingbird, arguably the largest hummer found in the United States.

Having had our fill of Beatty's hummingbird corner, we decided to check out the last canyon in our list. Ash Canyon is about 4 miles south of Miller and has a better (and even shorter) road. The road ended at the front gate of Mary Jo Ballator's B & B and like Beatty's she also had feeders in her yard. Lisa joined us here as well and we had a great time once again with hummingbirds. Our life list was now augmented by Broad-billed and Lucifer Hummingbirds and Mexican Jays. In between shots, we just sat on the patio chairs and took in the beauty of the multi-colored feathered jewels and the serenade of whirring wings that only the Huachuca Canyons can offer.