Madera Canyon, Tucson (Arizona 2025, Pt 3)

The first full day in Arizona was a weird one. Not bad. Not as planned.

First, got out of the tent early and wandered around Proctor Road and the Elephant Head trail, seeing some lifers including Mexican Jays, a Cassin's Kingbird and Hermit Warbler plus a few new hummers.

Then I went over to the Santa Rita Lodge to really see some hummingbirds--and my first Acorn Woodpeckers!

Then I did a little bit of the Nature Trail which was nice and quiet but very lacking in nature (by this point it was noon, so not a great time of day for birding).

Tired after a poor night sleep (heavy wind wanting to toss the tent around, noisy neighbors when I first wanted to sleep), I tried to nap, but the wind was incessantly sweeping down the mountains and over (it felt like) my campsite in particular. Knowing the noisy neighbors would be there again that night, I made the decision to seek an actual night of sleep and went into Tucson. Of course, the KOA was full. I should also add that my original plan was to be staying at the Bog Springs Campground, but that was also full. About ready to just sleep in the car, I called my mom's friend in Phoenix who kindly opened her home up to me a night early. But first, I did go through the Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson.

New Territories (Arizona 2025, Pt 2)

After my first birding in Kansas and a good night's sleep, it was time to add some color to Oklahoma and New Mexico on my eBird profile--and to see some new birds!

First up was Thompson Park in Guymon, Oklahoma. Many of the same species I recorded at Arkalon Park would turn up here.

After an hour of hanging around the park pond, I started the drive into New Mexico, and while cutting across the Texas panhandle, I spotted the trip's first lifer: a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher! Unfortunately, as I was driving on the highway, I didn't get any photos.

It was getting very warm when I stopped in Voiers "Pit" Park in Deming, New Mexico, and the ducks were using whatever shade they could find.

I would also see my first Neotropic Cormorants and a cute parent-chick pair of American Coots.

Then it was on to Arizona.

Back (Arizona 2025, Pt 1)

The trip to kick summer off has come and gone.

It started over two weeks ago, on the twenty-third of May, 4am. An early alarm put me southbound on I-29 as the first light of day crept onto the horizon. It would be a long and boring drive, straight and flat through South Dakota, Nebraska and deep into Kansas before I arrived to Arkalon Park.

I checked in with the camp site's host, quickly threw a tent together, and hurried to check out the campground and surrounding trails. It was actually a pretty cool spot, and there were plenty of active birds. I heard Northern Bobwhite for the second time (still waiting to actually see one) and saw lots of Red-headed Woodpeckers. Other first birds of the year included Mississippi Kites, Western Kingbirds, Bullock's Orioles and Great-tailed Grackles.

Arkalon Park provided good birding and (by far) the trip's best sleep in a tent.

Packing Up, Counting Down

Charging batteries, clearing SD cards, bagging tent and clothes and everything else--summer has unofficially started, and in less than an hour I'll be hitting the road for Arizona with some stops along the way. The weather here at home has been wet: three days of rain with a few impressive shots of lightning. Thankfully, forecasts are looking good for the trip (fingers crossed, knock on wood). Hopefully I can avoid any other troubles which could upset the trip, such as what happened the day before my ill-fated 2023 Arizona road trip.

Over the last week or so, I've continued the spring's occasional, light birdwatching, making stops down at the park and campgrounds, adding a few migrating and nesting species here and there.

The backyard has also seen some fun visitors, including this bunting shot through the screen on a cloudy day.

The last time I stayed in Arizona, I reported 84 species (including 45 lifers) over 16 days. That was in 2021 when I flew into Phoenix, but basically all of my birding was limited to the Jerome and Cottonwood area north of Phoenix. This time, I'll be driving all the way and making several stops, so even though the trip will be shorter, I'm hoping to see a lot more birds. Time to get back to packing.

Warbler Season Begins!

 For many North American birders, May marks the best birding of the year as late-migrating waterfowl and joined by raptors, sparrows, and warblers on their way to breeding lands. While awaiting my main May birding venture, I've been about town, checking a couple of the warbler hotspots.

I strolled through the park Sunday morning. I didn't get any great pictures of the Yellow-rumped and Orange-crowned Warblers, but I got to feed the first set of goslings and got a few other pictures I was happy to get.

Waterfowl parents may have to be extra careful as there was a North American River Otter swimming about the ponds (I've spotted them in the river before, but this was my first time seeing them in the ponds).

Two hours ago, I was at the Tree Disposal Site, catching sight of many first-for-the-year birds including Northern House Wren, Wild Turkey, and three species of warbler (Yellow, Black-and-White, Blackpoll).

April in One

Similar to last year, I've limited my spring driving and have kept almost all of my birding to walking distance. I added a few more birds for 2025 with trips down to the park and the sewage lagoons over in Breckenridge, but most of my time spent birding happened at the kitchen window.

This winter (now past!) was my third season of Project FeederWatch.

I wasn't able to enter as many counts through the winter as previous years, but the season still netted many interesting observations. Perhaps the most surprising thing I witnessed was two consecutive days without a house sparrow at my feeders. In 2022-2023, my count peaked at 132 house sparrows. This season, my highest count was 20, and more often than not the number of house sparrows at the feeders was in the single digits (my lowest count in '22-23 was 19).

As for Chahinkapa, I was happy to add Vesper Sparrow to the eBird birds list and to see a Brown Creeper up close!

My other April trips rendered few decent photos but satisfying if not exciting sightings.