West to the Mountains

If you have been following livin_on_the_ham you have had a few brief glimpses of some of the locations we went to. We drove to Estes Park, Colorado primarily to see the Yellow Grosbeak. This is a Mexican species that rarely visits the US. It had been routinely visiting a feeder at a suburban home there.
The homeowner was welcoming all birders to view the bird from her fence line where it’s favorite feeder was clearly visible. Many birders from around the country had already visited the yard, some having to wait for hours or visit many times to finally see the bird. We were very fortunate. As soon as we parked the car on the roadside, another birder approached us, taking us to the feeder immediately where we had good looks.

We spent all of the next day, August 7th, in Rocky Mountain National Park. We had been there before but had only driven through. This time we had more time to enjoy the scenery from the pull-offs. We didn’t do any major hikes. Dad did a short hike and found the White-tailed Ptarmigan-with three babies. We were at 12,000 ft and every little thing I did made me feel out of breath. We had hoped to see the Brown-capped Rosy-Finch but failed. Wildlife at the park included the North American Elk, otherwise known as wapiti, moose, mule deer, Yellow-bellied Marmot, and the Pika.

After Rocky Mountain National Park we drove straight through to Tucson. We put the car in long term parking at the Tucson airport and met our tour group at the hotel across the street from the parking lot. There were eight other birders in the tour.

The tour was billed as ” Arizona: Sky Island Specialties”, lead by Alex Lameroux and Chris Brown. Author Deirdre Rosenberg describes the Sky Islands in her article “The Spectacular Madrean Sky Islands”. “Stretching from southern Arizona and New Mexico into Mexico, this archipelago of roughly 63 independent mountain ranges contains an array of distinct biomes, as the elevation changes from desert floor to subalpine ecosystem. Here, weather from the temperate Rocky Mountains to the north and the subtropical Sierra Madre Occidental to the south collides, producing particular conditions, with each range a microcosm unto itself.
“The Sky Islands are a rich crossroads, where temperate and subtropical species intermix and find refuge among the forested mountains, foothill grasslands and valley deserts,” says Emily Burns, a program director with the conservation group Sky Island Alliance.
This convergence of climates creates one of the most biodiverse areas in the world, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, with unique habitat in every range. More than 7,000 plant and animal species flourish here, including the planet’s northernmost jaguars and smallest owl, the Elf Owl.

The map shows all of the birding locations we visited. The red flags are established “hotspots” and the blue flags are brief stops. We started in Tucson on the 10th of August and finished there on the 17th. We saw a total of 207 species on the tour, 17 of them were Life Birds!

Birding began immediately after we met with the tour guides, Alex and Chris. We did some local Tuscon spots. Then we drove north to the Saguaro National Park and saw the beautiful cacti.
After a quick dinner of tacos we drove up into the hills and saw the Western Screech Owl. We heard the Ferruginous Pygmy Owl but it wouldn’t come in for a visual.

Keeping up with the tour was demanding. We began at 6 am every day and some days went until 10:00 pm. We stopped for meals and bathroom breaks and a certain amount of time was spent driving to the next spot. Dad and I were familiar with a lot of the birds. We had visited the area twice before, each time in April. The birds we needed for our life list weren’t there on those trips so coming at a different season was ideal. Speaking of seasons, this is considered monsoon season in the Southwest. Most days were in the low 100º’s with thunder storms in the afternoons. After a cool Midwest summer I looked forward to some warm sun. But in that latitude you need to wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants to protect yourself from sunburn. One afternoon there was a thunderstorm while we were at a hummingbird spot. There was enough covered areas for us to keep mostly dry but when we went to drive down the mountain we found the only road flooded! Fortunately we were able to drive through it.

On the whole trip we saw thirteen species of hummingbirds. The White-eared Hummingbird and the Berylline Hummingbirds were lifers. There are tons of bird photos but I only selected a few for the blog.

We drove home through New Mexico and stopped at Santa Fe. We had fun looking at the shops and had lunch in a nice restaurant on the square. After that we pretty much drove straight home with one motel stop. We had a great time but were really glad to be home.

p.s. A series of all the bird photos from the trip is available at https://ebird.org/tripreport/401786?view=photos. Dad and I put in most of the photos.