mjm@oliven.olivetti.com (Michael Mammoser) (08/04/88)
I took a week's vacation last week and decided to go to Arizona to see some of those specialty birds. Unfortunately, I drove there and used almost half my time on the road. Still, I managed to add 43 species to my list. black-bellied whistling duck gray hawk harris' hawk scaled quail gambel's quail white-winged dove common ground dove inca dove greater roadrunner lesser nighthawk blue-throated hummingbird magnificent hummingbird black-chinned hummingbird gila woodpecker strickland's woodpecker thick-billed kingbird cassin's kingbird sulphur-bellied flycatcher brown-crested flycatcher greater pewee vermilion flycatcher northern beardless tyrannulet rose-throated becard gray-breasted jay chihuahuan raven bridled titmouse mexican chickadee verdin cactus wren eastern bluebird curve-billed thrasher bell's vireo lucy's warbler painted redstart olive warbler pyrrhuloxia varied bunting abert's towhee botteri's sparrow cassin's sparrow rufous-winged sparrow yellow-eyed junco bronzed cowbird also seen: black-throated sparrow rufous-crowned sparrow (interior) western flycatcher (interior) black-throated gray warbler broad-billed hummingbird broad-tailed hummingbird allen's hummingbird anna's hummingbird phainopepla brown towhee (interior) western tanager summer tanager song sparrow (saltonis) hooded oriole dusky-capped flycatcher pygmy nuthatch house wren (brown-throated) bushtit (black-eared) hutton's vireo (southwest) Considering all the driving time, I only had about 4 days to actually bird the area of southeast Arizona; so I concentrated on the main spots. These were Madera Canyon, Patagonia-Sonoita Preserve, Ramsey Canyon, and Cave Creek Canyon (also, an afternoon at the Desert Museum outside of Tuscon). As a consequence, I missed many of the specialties; but then again, I need some incentive to make a return trip. :-) Looking and listing, Mike