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

No Solitaire

Richard — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 06:10:45 +0000

Southeast Arizona always attracts interesting birds from Mexico, but so far this year the birds have been surprising – a Gray-collared Becard (or maybe two, depending on who saw what) in the Chiricahuas, and now a Brown-backed Solitaire in the Huachucas, first at Miller Canyon, then at Ramsey Canyon (or are there two of these [...]

6th time lucky?

Richard — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 06:17:01 +0000

America’s first ever Sinaloa Wren was found at the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve last August, and since that time it has eluded me on no fewer than five occasions. To be fair, the only time I made a really concerted effort to see it was back in September 2008, and subsequently I’ve only given it half [...]

Snaking

Richard — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 05:10:18 +0000

There are few places in life that feel like home. For me, Cochise Stronghold is one of them. I’ve stayed there on many occasions over the past six years but it still gives me a buzz of anticipation every time I drive into the canyon.

[thumb:3346:i]

The wildlife is always interesting, [...]

Contrast

Richard — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 06:06:31 +0000

From Vegas to the Sulphur Springs Valley and Dragoon Mountains in Southeast Arizona… from the ridiculous to the sublime? Or the other way round? I don’t know.

Anyway, I headed out on my own, leaving Melanie and Val to meet me later. I started at Sweetwater Wetlands again and amazingly connected with my target bird immediately – [...]

Phoenix

Richard — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 05:37:52 +0000

My sister-in-law, Val, is staying with us for ten days, so I took the chance to get out with the camera on the way to collect her from Phoenix Sky Harbor. It’s great having Val here, as it means we’ll be getting out to do lots of cool stuff in the next week and a half. [...]

Dangerous!

Richard — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 06:02:53 +0000

I’d managed to wangle a day off and my original plan was to go to Patagonia again and try to see the wren, but in an attempt to inject a bit of success into my birding trips I changed my mind at the last minute and opted for a day of checking watery sites. I’m better [...]

Rattled!

Richard — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 06:32:22 +0000

Well, the trend of not seeing what I’m looking for continued, with the absence of not one but two Northern Waterthrushes at Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson, and an American Purple Gallinule (which was seen just before we got there but had wandered off back into the reeds).

But whilst the birds let us down again, the [...]