Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Shadow of the Mountains: Get High on Birds in the Lowlands

Offering fantastic birds and cooler temperatures, the canyons and montane trails of southeastern Arizona are rightly lauded as the premier birding destination in the spring and summer months. This is well and good, but the surrounding lowlands should get their shake too, at least if one is looking for the complete birding experience and is an equitable shaker. Patagonia State Park and the Patagonia Rest stop are very well known for their seasonally attractive Kingbirds, but that's just the beginning. 
In fact, instead of showing a predictable Thick-billed Kingbird from that area, I'll show a singing Lucy's Warbler, because Butler's Birds is anything but conventional. 


The Proctor Road grasslands, down mountain from Madera Canyon, are some of the best. This time of year they host vocal Botteri's Sparrow, Beardless Tyrranulets, and Montezuma Quail. Where the mesquite thickets fill in and where there's a bit of water they also attract Flycatchers (Brown-crested in this case) and Yellow-rumped Shy-faced Tanagers.



Yellow-breasted Chats skulk around in the riparian oasis off the Proctor Road trail, along with several Towhee species. The best way to get crushing photos of a Yellow-breasted Chat, of course, is to find a dead one. He's skulking up in heaven now...



The Forest Roads leading up to Florida Canyon are also excellent. One junction is a pretty decent spot for Black-capped Gnatcatcher, and they're also very good for Rufous-winged Sparrow, another localized bird that is, perhaps, underrated because it has a pretty ubiquitous sparrow name. Botteri's and Baird's Sparrows sound like they're uncommon because those names--Botteri and Baird--don't come up much in the bird world, but Rufous-winged can be a tough find and should not be ignored by anyone visiting the area, especially when they're belting out defiance to the gods.
Nate over at This Machine Watches Birds got a nice recording, as he also did of the Buff-collared Nightjar we had off the afore-mentioned Proctor Road.


Of course, by 10am or so the lowlands are pretty scorching and bereft of shade, so sensible birds and birders both head up into the canyons. The liminal space here, were rocky grasslands meet hillsides of scrub oak, brings in the Wrens, Woodpeckers, and plenty of other cool stuff, like crushable Black-headed Grosbeaks, perhaps North America's "Most likely to be seen not in mature plumage bird." 


Butler's Birds will be relocating to Texas for the first couple weeks of June for some advanced birding. Hopefully there'll be another Arizona outing before then. Certainly the bounty of May has filled the reserves and the coffers and whatever else needs filling from one's home state for a fine send-off.

12 comments:

  1. Dude, why do you have a photo of Lucy's Warbler and I do not? The pain. I was probably having a piss.

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    1. I believe you have exactly described the situation.
      Finally! Some differentiation.

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  2. Sounds like you've got your own road trip planned, eh? Looking forward to seeing what you turn up in Texas

    Also, those are some intense grosbeak and sparrow photos!

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    1. Yarp, gotta head east to balance things out. I'm likewise looking forward to seeing the OR birding train starting up with y'all.

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  3. Texas?! Of all the unmitigated gall…please tell me at least that you aren't headed to the southern-most tip of Texas. Pretty please. I'll TRY to be excited about seeing what you find…ok, ok, good luck dammit! Cripes.

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    1. OH YEAH.

      I'm mostly going for the belt buckles and to keep myself from purchasing booze before noon on weekends, but the birds will be nice too.

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  4. Such sweet shots of awesome birds! Amazing stuff!

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    1. Thanks Scott, always nice to have you check in from Florida.

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  5. Your Chat pic fits nicely with your unconventional theme. I think you just set a precedent paving the way for us bird bloggers to post pics of the cool birds that strike our windows or get stuck in our car's grill.

    That Black-headed Grosbeak pic puts every field guide to shame. Well done!

    Have a great trip to Texas; looking forward to seeing what you turn up.

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    1. Oh yeah. I have a marvelous close up of a dead Barn Owl too, and putting giant panes of glass in heavy fly-ways, or even windmills, is a fantastic way to get Warbler close ups!

      Texas beckons. I'm looking forward to sharing.

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  6. I was thinking that chat looked remarkably dead, glad my initial observations were correct. Nice Grosbeak shot!

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