SE AZ Day 2: West to East to 600!

May 16 

Up before dawn as planned, we were all still very tired from the craziness of the last few days, combined with little sleep. We packed up camp, snacked on a few breakfast foods, and started hiking. 

Raymond took us on a short walk down a wash at California Gulch, producing for us a Five-striped Sparrow teed up on a hillside, singing near the top of a bush. Another lifer for me! Once everyone had their fill of the looks they desired, we got back into the car and headed out of the gulch. I think everyone was a bit on edge over the driving - we would be in a bit of a situation if we popped another tire on the way out. 

Out of the area and over east to the Huachucas we went - Carr Canyon was simply filled with new year birds (almost all lifers for me, too)...Grace's Warbler, Olive Warbler, Plumbeous Vireo, Buff-breasted Flycatcher, Hammond's Flycatcher....don't make fun of me too much...Western Wood-Pewee was also a life bird for me! I'd simply never been in the west during the time of year that the birds are present in the US. 

After Carr Canyon, we jumped over to the nearby Miller Canyon, where our first target was the White-eared Hummingbird coming to feeders at Beatty's Guest Ranch. We brought a small cooler up the hill to the feeding station, spreading out the remains of last night's appetizers on the bench in front of us, and sipping on cold sparkling water. Little did we know, Raymond had also packed the remaining wine so we could celebrate after seeing the hummingbird! 

Man, we have been birding in serious style these last few days! It will be in stark contrast when I go back to solo camping and living and eating out of my tiny Chevy Spark. Not a lot of time passed before the bird showed up, perching briefly in a nearby shrub, and then coming to the feeders for several long swigs of sugar water. I got identifiable photos, and we packed up our snacks and prepared to hit the Miller Canyon Trail. 

We barely made it inside the gate (literally, I was standing with the coded lock in my hands while looking at the bird), when Raymond spotted a Greater Pewee on the top of a dead snag a ways away. There were a few Cordilleran Flycatchers giving their unique call throughout our hike. We were hoping to happen upon the Spotted Owls that are sometimes seen roosting on this trail, but after checking in with the owners of the guest ranch, we heard that nobody had seen them in the last few days, and guides had been in the area, so we decided not to spend the time looking. We would instead plan to camp at Pinery Canyon in the evening and hopefully get them there. 

After a pit stop at Raymond's place in Portal to regroup and prepare for another night of camping, we headed the direction of Pinery Canyon in the Chiricahuas. Some listening stops along the way in the dark included heard-only Mexican Whip-poor-wills (SUCH a cool sound!). We were running ourselves ragged, and it was obvious to the other three of us that Alex was suddenly feeling pretty exhausted, when, on the short walk back to the car from the Whip-poor-will spot, he had suddenly transitioned from a normal walk to what I would call a heavy shuffle, just one step before sleepwalking. I had to, of course, call him out on it, and we all had a good laugh. 

Soon after, we got to Pinery Canyon, and walked around looking and listening for Spotted Owl. We had no success for a while, and then one suddenly called nearby! We looked for it a bit longer and then decided to settle for heard-only with this bird, at least for now. We would be camping directly under the trees it was calling in, and if it called again in the middle of the night, we could pop out and try again to see it. We set up camp, and the wind started to pick up a bit. None of us heard the Spotted Owl call again - but that could have been a product of the wind muffling the sound, or simply our tiredness keeping us from waking to the sound. We'll never know. 

Spotted Owl was both my 600th year bird and the very last of the North American owls for my life list. I find closing out families of birds on my life list to be simultaneously exciting and saddening (though closing out families of year birds is infinitely only exciting). It's exciting to have seen them all, but saddening that there are no new species to be pursuing in the future. In the case of the owls, I do still need to see Spotted Owl and Northern Saw-whet Owl, so there are "lifer experiences" still to be had (to quote Alex). These last few days had been infinitely amazing and incredible, but I think we were all ready for a break. 

Year List: 600