Southeast Arizona Bird Guide, Birding Tours SE AZ: Welcome to Fun Birding Tours in AZ with Richard Fray » favorites

Miller Canyon, Ash Canyon

Richard — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 06:40:37 +0000

Beatty's Guest Ranch was low on quantity of hummers, but as usual very high on quality. BERYLLINE, WHITE-EARED, BLUE-THROATED, MAGNIFICENT, ANNA'S, BLACK-CHINNED, BROAD-TAILED and BROAD-BILLED were all seen in 40 minutes. We hiked up canyon and enjoyed good looks at a SPOTTED OWL roosting in a [...]

Ash Canyon, Miller Canyon – Hummingbird workshop

Richard — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 01:28:48 +0000

At Beatty's Guest Ranch in Miller Canyon we added BERYLLINE (male and female), WHITE-EARED (male and female), BLUE-THROATED (multiple), MAGNIFICENT and BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRDS, plus the leucistic hummingbird thought by most to be a Black-chinned. The feeders were really buzzing as the rain started to fall. SULPHUR-BELLIED FLYCATCHER also put in an [...]

Pena Blanca Lake, Sycamore Canyon, California Gulch

Richard — Wed, 26 May 2010 06:32:14 +0000

A ZONE-TAILED HAWK was hunting over the valley midway to the gulch from Ruby Road. In the gulch, FIVE-STRIPED SPARROWS were vocal and reasonably easy to find. At least five birds were tallied between the first and second stream crossings, as well as a good number of VARIED [...]

Richard’s Photothon 2010

Richard — Tue, 11 May 2010 10:47:42 +0000

After a decent effort last year where I photographed 105 species, I took my photothon even more seriously this year and aimed for 110. I decided on a new route, spending more time in the car to reach more sites, so even though I would be in the field less I'd be exposed to more birds. And it paid off. I saw/heard a total of 127 species and somehow got photos of 114! [...]

Patagonia, Miller & Ash Canyons

Richard — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 06:24:34 +0000

We stopped just along the road and found the MAIN flock! It was staggering; I've NEVER seen anything like it, anywhere. We flagged down a few more birders and all stood in awe as somewhere between 200 and 300 birds, almost all of them warblers, streamed downhill away from the snow. We only got binoculars on a fraction of the flock but we picked out nine warbler [...]

Tubac, Florida Canyon

Richard — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 05:43:52 +0000

Then the highlight, a fine adult Common Black Hawk, wheeling around several times right above us. By the time we headed along the Anza trail we had seen around 70 Turkey Vultures, five Swainson's Hawks, three Zone-tailed Hawks and one Common Black [...]

Amado, Florida Canyon, Madera Canyon

Richard — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 06:13:48 +0000

The gorgeous Rufous-capped Warbler burst into life, feeding excitedly and calling frequently. It ranged slightly upslope, and then came right down to investigate me and my camera. It was difficult through the forest of small branches but I was quite pleased with the [...]

Take the Ruff with the Smooth

Richard — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 05:15:16 +0000

I’m on a roll!

I started the day at Sweetwater Wetlands and had a fine time with the camera.

From there I headed to Pinal Air Park to look for Burrowing Owls. I wasn’t disappointed either, with two splendid owls by the side of a dirt road to the east of the old pecan grove.

I [...]

Bay-breasted Warbler

Richard — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:10:38 +0000

I’ve been in Arizona for seven years without exactly setting the place ablaze with my rare bird finding exploits. I’ve chanced upon a few notables, but nothing to really get people racing to the scene. That finally changed on Saturday…

I was looking for a Rusty Blackbird, itself a very rare bird here, found by Mark Stevenson [...]

Goldilocks and…

Richard — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 05:07:52 +0000

We only really had time to take a leisurely drive through Yosemite with a few photo stops before we had to be on our way. I wanted to go back to Olmsted Point in the early morning light, and it didn’t disappoint.

I’d asked Bruce about the possibility of seeing bears. Yosemite is obviously a good [...]