Birding in Southeast Arizona – Day 2

Our first full day was to be spent in the hills around Arivaca, AZ.  Tim planned on prospecting for gold while I searched for birds.  The area is very arid with rolling hills.

This day was also Scarlett’s 2nd Birthday!  🙂

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Happy Birthday Scarlett!

On the way to the hills, we passed through the small town of Arivaca.  Among the tall trees around town, vultures were warming themselves up for a day of soaring.  I was happily surprised to see both Black and Turkey Vultures.

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Turkey Vulture on the left.  Black Vulture on the right.

We finally made it to the hills.  The views were expansive.

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Hills around Arivaca, AZ

As soon as I got out of the truck, I heard birdsong everywhere.  I thought to myself, “this is going to be a good day!”  🙂

On my list of birds to find, was the Rufous-Winged Sparrow.  As we were driving along the road to our destination, I figured I better play its song so I knew what to look for.  We had the windows down in the truck.  When I played the recording of the birdsong, we heard one reply outside the window.  Bingo!!!  I was gonna see this new bird for me!  And almost as soon as I started exploring around the truck, I saw one singing in a large bush.

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Rufous-Winged Sparrow

I had a great time hiking the area.  I saw so many birds.  As barren as the place looked, it was really full of life.

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Black-Throated Sparrow

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Phainopepla

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Pyrrhuloxia

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Ash-Throated Flycatcher

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Verdin with soft stuff to line its nest 🙂

One bird I saw and heard everywhere was the Lucy’s Warbler.  But it was a challenge trying to get a photograph of this quick, tiny bird!

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Lucy’s Warbler

Another bird I heard often was the Bewick’s Wren.  But in this part of the country, it’s song is way more simplified than where I live.  So it took me a while to realize it was the same species.

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Bewick’s Wren

I saw a few butterflies that day as well.  Most of them were new butterflies for me.   My friend Joe will hopefully tell me if I’ve incorrectly identified any.

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Empress Leilia

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Dotted Roadside Skipper

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Marine Blue

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Pahaska Skipper

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Mormon Metalmark

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Desert Checkered Skipper

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Common Streaky Skipper

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Tiny Checkerspot

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Pacuvius Duskywing

Near the end of the day, we decided to move to a different area so Tim could explore a different gold claim.  I was surprised at how the area offered different birds even though we only drove a few miles.

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Bell’s Vireo

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Cassin’s Vireo

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Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

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Juvenile Golden Eagle

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Canyon Towhee

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American Crow

We had a wonderful day together.  The weather was gorgeous, the birds plentiful and fun times exploring.  More fun ahead!

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12 thoughts on “Birding in Southeast Arizona – Day 2

  1. I am always amazed [and a bit envious] as to the great number of bird species you living in the southwest encounter. A joy to view and hear about, keep up the good work and happy birding.

    • Thanks Stephanie! Scarlett definitely enjoyed our road trip. I used the Nikon 1 for this trip. But I’ve just ordered me a new camera setup. It’s an olympus 4/3 camera. I rented it for a trip to Las Vegas and didn’t want to return it. It’s going to be a hard transition as it’s not an easy camera to learn.

    • It arrives this week. I’m anxious to try it out. I’ve heard lots of good reviews and seen some awesome bird photos with the new setup. I will keep you posted.

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