Birding
Where I've been/What I've seen
Today would be the first of two days in the Huachuca Mountains, and the beginning of the ABA Rarities of the trip (3+). Our birding for the day started at around 7:30, and we would be at Hunter Canyon (Upper Trail) for about three hours. Our target bird here was to be a Rufous-capped Warbler, a rarity pretty much exclusive to southeast Arizona, and a target bird for many on the trip. On the way up to the shady area where the warbler had been reported, we spotted birds such as Greater Pewee, Scott's Oriole, and quite a few other species that we had either limited looks at previously, or were flat out firsts for the trip. There was also a bit more cooperative Black-throated Gray Warbler, and quite a few Dusky-capped Flycatchers on the hike up. Once we reached the shaded area, we took a break for water and sat down off to the side of the trail for about fifteen minutes, and were considering continuing onward before somebody stated: "I might have it." It took a while for everyone to see the bird, as it was at first in a very dense shrub. The bird then vanished, and we waited for a reappearance for what was probably another fifteen minutes before we heard it calling. The bird was perched nicely right out in the open, not terribly far off the trail, but just out of range for decent photos (the lighting was not optimal either). The bird sat there for a while, allowing us to study it through field sketching. We decided to hike down before it heated up, as it was already about eighty degrees out. Our next stop was a Private Residence which usually has a Lucifer Hummingbird over near Ash Canyon. Unfortunately, we missed this species while we were here, but we did hear a Montezuma Quail calling in the distance, along with a Loggerhead Shrike perched on top of a dead snag. The yard was also a haven for butterflies and beetles, so we saw quite a few species of both.
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