In Search of Rufous-capped Warbler

After another night of Phase 10, I was exhausted at 5:30 a.m. again, but I was driven by the chase, and I was able to get out bed and make it to McDonald's by 6:30 once again. Actually, I think I was the first person there. Carrie kindly dropped me off, and stuck around for a bit to talk with Leo, Jenny, and Leo's two friends, Mike McClintock and Christine Harvey, who had traveled from San Diego in search of Rufous-capped Warbler and Black-capped Gnatcatcher. Our primary target bird for the day would be the Rufous-capped Warbler, but it would also be possible to find Black-capped Gnatcatcher at Florida Canyon. After breakfast, Carrie left, and we boarded Jenny's van. It was nice getting to know Christine and Mike on the way to the canyon as it had been nice getting aquainted with Jenny, Gary, and Leo the previous day. It was very intriguing to hear how great the birding is in San Diego. Perhaps Carrie and I will make the trip there one day.

On the rocky dirt road to the canyon, someone spotted what would be my only Greater Roadrunner of the trip. Jenny even positioned the van so that I could snap a shot.



When we arrived, we birded the parking area a bit before heading up the canyon. This yielded my first lifer of the day--a female Spotted Towhee. The hike was manageable though challenging and a little different than what I expected--a lot of bushwacking. I was not quite prepared for this. I regretted wearing shorts instead of jeans and would regret this more before the day's end. The hike yielded such birds as Green-tailed Towhee, Lincoln's Sparrow, and Pyrrhuloxia. When we reached the area where Jenny and Leo had seen the warblers, we spread out and waited. I heard my first Canyon Wren, but was unable to get a look as it was all the way on the other side of the canyon. I think I might have seen it land, but it was very far away, and as soon as it hit the rocks, it scurried out of sight. I also was able to snap a couple of shots of this female Pyrrhuloxia. Compare the stubbier yellow bill with the orange bill of a female Cardinal.



After a long wait, I walked back and forth along the trail a bit, watching and listening, hoping for looks at a Canyon Wren or a Rock Wren, while we waited for the warblers to come foraging down the canyon. I was faked out by a pair of House Wrens. Then Christine heard a couple of Rock Wrens and one landed just a few feet away from us. My auto-focus would not focus, and I missed the look as well as the photo, and the Rock Wrens both flew up the side of the canyon behind us. I made the mistake of trying to follow up the canyon for another look and ended up scratching up my legs and getting Rocks in my shoes all for looks a backlit silhouette of a Rock Wren with a stick in its mouth. After giving up on this pair, they flew to the other side of the canyon, and I was able to follow along the trail and get a few shots of one of them as it sang from the top of the rocks. Following Spotted Towhee and the "heard only" Canyon Wren, this was my third lifer of the day.





Alas, the Rufous-capped Warblers were not seen by any of our party, nor by any of the other numerous birders there for the same reason. The hike back to the van yielded a heard only Hutton's Vireo and a Bell's Vireo in the parking area. As we began the drive back to Green Valley, I thought I would continue on with the group to Montosa Canyon to search for Black-capped Gnatcatcher, but as we neared McDonald's, I began to change my mind. I was exhausted, and I wanted to be with Carrie. I had not slept the night before we flew to Tuscon, and I had had two late nights of playing cards and two intense days of birding. I decided to call Carrie and have her pick me up. I said goodbye to my new friends, not knowing that it would be the last time I would see them on this trip.

After Carrie and I had lunch back at the house, her parents and Ben picked us up to go to the Farmer's Market in town. There we bought a mug with a painting of a Greater Roadrunner on it, and Carrie's dad, Dave, bought us a second mug with a painting of an Elegant Trogon on it. Elegant Trogon was the bird that both Carrie and I wanted to see the most on this trip, and we hoped to see one the next day at Patagonia Lake State Park. It was a risk letting Dave buy us a mug with this bird on it. It was the mug I liked the best, but if we missed the trogon, it would be a reminder of the bird we did not see. However, I intended to see this bird, and if we did see it, the mug would be a reminder of an amazing experience that we had shared together.

When we returned to the house, I was feeling refreshed, and Carrie and I decided to take a walk along the golf course to see what we could see. I told her I did not think we would see anything new, but it would be nice to photograph some of the golf course birds. And one of my favorite subjects did not disappoint.





Although I had seen Great-tailed Grackles on our last trip to Arizona in 2011, I had not yet gotten close or had the opportunity to photograph them. But now, there were several of them grazing on the golf course.



They were soon accompanied by a good-sized flock of Red-winged Blackbirds. Then it turned out that I was wrong after all. We did find something new. This handsome Cassin's Kingbird was another lifer for both of us.



By this time, Carrie was ready to start heading back, but I continued on a little further to find a pair of Abert's Towhee, perhaps the same pair I had seen the night of our arrival.



Then I enjoyed the opportunity to photograph this White-winged Dove.



As I started walking back, I saw Carrie in the distance trying to get my attention. Once I caught up with her she revealed that she had watched a couple of Gilded Flickers feeding on the ground just a few feet away from her and that they had flown over some dense brush into a pecan orchard. I could see the tops of the pecan trees, but I only Great-tailed Grackles were perched in them. I was happy that Carrie had yet another lifer, but disappointed that I had not stayed with her. I was also frustrated because I had missed birds before because I had tarried when Carrie was ready to go on or turn back, and it seemed I had repeated this mistake once again. While we were watching the orchard for the flickers, we had good looks of this Anna's Hummingbird nearby.



Then Carrie spotted one of the flickers in the orchard, and I decided to bushwack to get a look, while Carrie headed back. My attempt ended in success--another lifer! I had missed it at the feeders with Leo, but thanks to Carrie, there it was nonetheless!





and then, there was another! Both were males.







I took my time getting back to the house, enjoying Say's Phoebe and its more colorful cousin! This Vermilion Flycatcher landed on the tree trunk as shown, allowing what I thought to be an incredible photo opportunity.







Click on the photo above to see more photos of the same bird.

Thanks to Carrie's mother Laura and the Colonel, I returned to an excellent chicken dinner once Carrie's Aunt, Uncle, and cousins arrived. I called Leo to see what his plans would be for Thursday. He told me that they had seen a pair of Black-capped Gnatcatchers and some other nice birds at Montosa. I was very happy for the whole group, especially for Christine and Mike, who had traveled to Southeast Arizona in order to see this particular bird. Perhaps one day I would be disappointed, having missed the opportunity to see such a rare bird, but not today. I had enjoyed resting with my family and seeing two new birds with Carrie. I had been waiting to see a Gilded Flicker for a long time, and now Carrie and I had both seen two of them. I was satisfied with the choice I had made.

Leo, Jenny, Christine, and Mike would not be going to Patagonia Lake State Park the next day. They planned to return to Florida Canyon to give the Rufous-capped Warbler another shot. Again, more experienced birders might think me crazy to walk away from an opportunity to see a Rufous-capped Warbler, but Carrie and I were looking forward to Patagonia. It was the place in Arizona that Carrie had wanted to bird most ever since she had seen and read "The Big Year." And though Elegant Trogons are more common, if I had to choose between a Rufous-capped Warbler and an Elegant Trogon, having never seen either, I preferred the opportunity to see an Elegant Trogon! And I knew Carrie would prefer the same! So I thanked Leo for his help and for inviting us to go with him, congratulated him on the Black-capped Gnatcatchers, wished him luck, and let him know that on the morrow Carrie and I would be going to Patagonia Lake State Park in search of Elegant Trogon.

Written and published on April 1, 2013