Arizona Birding Jan. 2012 + Upcoming Tour

Hello birders! I just returned from 14 days in southeast Arizona. For those who have not birded in the Southwest, one must realize that there is never a bad birding day. We had wonderful weather, nice clients and great birding, as always, yes, even in Jan.

The first part of my stay in AZ was spent leading a trip for High Lonesome Bird Tours, called: Ramsey Canyon New Years Trip. This trip included 15 birders with 128 species for the final tally. We began on the west side of the Huachuca Mountains, a well known wintering birding area called the San Raphael Valley along the Sonoran, Mexican border. Some highlights on the first day were large flocks of Chestnut-collared Longspurs mixed with Horned Larks. We had Golden Eagles, overwintering sparrows such as Brewer's, Vesper, Savannah, White crowned, Song, Lincoln's and Lark Buntings. We visited the former Patton's bird yard and got great looks at Abert's

Towhee, Green tailed Towhee, Pyrrhuloxia, Anna's, Broad-billed Hummingbirds. The next few days were spent in and around the Sulpher Springs Valley where we had a near record count of 20,800 of assorted sub species of Sandhill Cranes along with Merlin, Peregrine, Barn Owl, Great horned Owl, four thrashers: Curve-billed, Crissal, Sage, Bendire's, and topped off one day with four towhees: Spotted, Green-tailed, Abert's and Canyon. We were complimented with four races of Red-tailed Hawks (photo by Mary Kay Gardner, below) all from varying regions of the US: Rufous morph, Western, Fuertes, Harlan's. We finished one of our days with a beautiful dark morphed Ferruginous Hawk in the valley.
We finished this trip by spending the day at Ft. Huachuca, an army base in the Huachuca Mountains, birding for the specialties of the area including: Williamson's

and Red-naped Sapsucker, Mexican race of the Brown Creeper, a Black-eared Bushtit, which a subspecies from Mexico, not normally found north of the border. We ventured up a well known canyon in search of the Mexican Spotted Owl which we found as well. The Ramsey Canyon B&B, where our group stayed during the trip, was as comfortable and convenient to great birding spots, as always. Hand made pies awaited our every evening served with coffee and tea. It was a wonderful trip with nice clients whom I look forward to birding with again.

Spotted Owl

The next part of my stay in AZ began the day after the High Lonesome Trip ended with four clients from the San Bernardino Audubon. We revisited the Sulpher Springs Valley for a half day and found all the species previously mentioned and sought after. Some more clients were interested in birding, whom I met while staying at the Casa de San Pedro. We ventured out to bird along the San Pedro River and spotted Crissal Thrasher in breeding plumage. We were serenaded by Black throated Sparrows along the road to Bisbee, on our way to the Sulpher Springs Valley. After a long half

day, the clients were more than satisfied with species they hadn't ever seen before in excellent scope views: Cactus Wren, Verdin, Lark Sparrow, among others. We were treated to pie at the Casa de San Pedro while we went over our check list.

murmuration of icterids (blackbirds) approx 2000-2500

The last part of my 14 days were spent with my favorite clients from Hamilton, TX, Mary Kay and Debbi and their friend Deidre from NJ. I have to admit that I was impressed with the progress the two photographers, Mary Kay and Debbi had made with birding and photography skills, from the first time I met them at the Southwest Wings Birding Festival in 2009. They allowed me to use the great pictures attached to this blog. The murmuration you see in the pic above was shot as the Blackbirds e.g. Yellow-headed and Red wings left the cattails heading north. We had a grand time, two full days birding and lunching in the field, hitting the hotspots. The first morning we went out at 4am to capture the cranes and the full moon setting, with the sun rising. The sun and moon did not rise and set at the same time, this day. However, great photos came it anyway.

The second day we spent at Ft. Huachuca. The day was highlighted by spotting the Mexican Spotted Owl which we couldn't locate at first. He was lurking in the dark oak canopy. We had a Goshawk fly over at 60 miles an hour. We finished off the day by meeting a director of the American Birding Conservancy with a wonderful meal prepared by Mary Kay and Debbi. Fun, Friends, Birds, and Food, can't beat that for a wonderful ending to a great trip.

Winter Weekend at Ramsey Canyon

Feb. 17-21, 2012. I will be leading this tour for High Lonesome Bird Tours. Check the link for details about this trip. It is a short but sweet way to experience southeast Arizona in the winter, with lots of opportunities for central plains species.

Stay in touch for future trips for 2012!

Upcoming Tour Reminders

My busy season is approaching, like the holidays. 2 days after Christmas I will be co-leading the Ramsey Canyon New Years trip out of Sierra Vista, AZ. This trip is full.

I will be available from Jan. 4 - 6 for private guiding. If you plan to use me as a guide, please contact me asap. The best place to stay is the Casa de San Pedro, as that will be my home base while in AZ this trip.

If you would like to book me for a private tour anytime, please email me at wezil@wezilwalravenbirdtours.com and we can work around my schedule. Thanks!

Happy Holidays to all!

Wezil 828-581-4592

Wezil News...

For the past several months I have been writing stories based on my experiences as of a bird guide. These stories are in the hands of my editor who is proof reading, and tweaking them. I will meet with her during Thanksgiving break while in SE AZ birding.

I am gearing up for the busy season which runs post Christmas through September 1st of next year. Meanwhile, my wife and I have listed our house in the Appalachian Mountains of NC, trying to return to the Southwest once again.

On Oct. 23, 2011 I turned 61 and finally got a facebook page. Find me and friend me!

Watch the blog for trip postings and new trips in the upcoming weeks.

Upcoming Trips 2011/2012

I will be in Arizona for Thanksgiving 2011. I am almost completely booked for private tours at this time. But I will be leading another Arizona trip after Christmas.

Join me for the New Year at Ramsey Canyon trip through High Lonesome Bird Tours December 28-January 12. This is a great opportunity to find resident and wintering Hawks, Falcons, Eagles and Sparrows, along with Sandhill Cranes by the thousands and other surprises.

In April I will be leading the Colorado Prairie Chicken Tour through High Lonesome Bird Tours. Dates are April 12 - 21 and a perfect opportunity to see Greater and Lesser Prairie-Chicken, Greater and Gunnison's Sage-Grouse, Sharp-tailed and Blue Grouse and, possibly, White-tailed Ptarmigan. Other species of interest include Mountain Plover,Three-toed Woodpecker and Williamson's Sapsucker, Rough-legged Hawk, Black, Brown-capped, and Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, McCown's and Chestnut-Collared Longspur, and many others.

Watch for more postings as to where I will be and when. Send me an email at wezil@wezilwalravenbirdtours.com to find out details!

Dry Tortugas 2011

We had a great time in the Keys this May. It was a minimal fallout due to strange weather patterns, we suspect. Some birds of interest that we did see: Sooty Terns, Brown Noddys, Magnificent Frigatebird, Masked Boobys, Sandwich Terns, Brown Boobys, Palm Warbler, Gray Kingbirds, Black throated Blue, Black throated Green Warblers, Yellow throated Warbler, Yellow crowned Night Heron, Blackpolls, Black and White Warblers, Ovenbirds, Common Nighthawks, Peregrine Falcons, Bobolinks, Merlins, Common Minas, Laughing Gulls a Great white Heron and so many more. We were treated well on the boat "the Playmate" with great food every meal. This boat nearly sank last year due to rough seas, and was towed in by US Coast Guard and large pumps. We were happy to have calm seas coming and going to the Dry Tortugas, where we able to explore the islands. We were fortunate to experience the only recognized Masked Booby nesting colony in the US and had the alpha male flying over the boat protecting the sight. On the way to the islands we experiences large Loggerhead Turtles, and pods of Dolphins. In light of the recent oil spill in the gulf it was especially nice to see sea life thriving. Our last day involved driving north on Hwy A1A in pursuit of warblers that had reached the mainland and we were able to find the White crowned Pigeon, Black whiskered Vireo, White Ibis, Common Ground Dove, and Mangrove Cuckoo. My wife was able to join us the second to the last day of the trip. We were fortunate enough to be able to stay an additional four days. Although the group did not see the Antillean Nighthawk, my wife and I had one fly over while calling.

Colorado Chickens 2011

Just recently returned from another Prairie Chicken trip to Colorado. We had 14 clients this time, and great weather. We began in LeMar and had great views of Lesser Prairie Chickens and then we hit Wray for the Greater Prairie Chickens. For the second year in a row, we had what appeared to be a second year bird dancing on top of the car trying to attract females. The next stop was Greely where we saw the Greater Sage Grouse. We had about 25 this time. We headed over the Loveland Pass in attempt to find the White tailed Ptarmigan, with no success due to the 60 mph winds and cold temps. Our next stop was Craig for the Sharp tailed Grouse, where we had great views from above onto their lek. There we had a flyby of a Dusky Grouse, the only one we had on the trip. Crested Butte was our next destination, where we walked through downtown for several hours with looks at Brown-capped Rosy-Finches. We ventured up to the ski area where we had all three: Gray-crowned, Brown-capped and Black Rosy-Finches at a bird feeder. A Coyote graced our presence and snuck up under the feed to feast on the seed as well. We had great views of the first arriving McCowen's and Chestnut-Collared Longspurs at the Pawnee Grasslands. As exhausted as I am, I am grateful that we survived this 2500 mile trip. We had a fun group and saw a majority of the targeted birds.

Pictures by George Vlahakis

Past Trip Reviews - Winter 2010

New Year's Bird Tour at Ramsey Canyon

Dec. 28, 2010-Jan. 2, 2011

The trip was fruitful despite unusual inclement weather. Blustering winds and snow made our birding interesting, but we still had 114 species for the trip. That is the average so we were pleased. Some of the species we were able to view include: Lazuli Bunting, Gila Woodpecker, and Anna’s Hummingbird, a cooperative flock of Pine Siskins, at Patagonia Lake we discovered several Common Loons with rafts of Common Mergansers along the lake.

In the Sulphur Springs Valley—we viewed numerous races of Red-tailed Hawks, Prairie Falcons, Golden Eagle, Bendire’s Thrasher, Pipits, Brewer’s, Lark, Song, Lincoln’s, Savannah and Vesper sparrows, too numerous to count. We were treated to a flock of Sandhill Cranes during our picnic lunch numbering in the thousands.

In the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area--the first designated Globally Important Bird Area and one of the Nature Conservancies 12 "Last Great Places on Earth", we perused the bird feeders at the BLM gift store to find Green-tailed and Abert’s Towhee along with Lesser Goldfinches. We headed to Fort Huachuca and Huachuca Canyon, a remote section of the mountain not birded until recently. The canyon provided us with Madrone trees laden with fruits and small flocks of gorging Hermit Thrushes. For dinner we headed East to a small mining town to celebrate the New Years dinner at Cafe Roka in Bisbee.

The last day we went exploring the Ramsey Canyon Preserve with great looks at Yellow–eyed Juncos, Arizona Woodpecker, Painted Redstart and Hepatic Tanager were provided. In the afternoon we followed up on a report of a Crissal Thrasher in a neighborhood along Ramsey Canyon Road. The bird was spotted, as well as a home-owner looking back at us from his kitchen window. A catered dinner was provided at the inn to finish up yet another successful annual New Years trip.

Upcoming Trips Winter/Spring 2011

Winter Weekend at Ramsey Canyon Inn

Feb. 11-15, 2011

This trip mimics the New Year's trip, but chances are the weather will be improved. With that improvement of the weather we should get 15% more species to include birds such as Elegant Trogon, Ferruginous Hawks and Mexican Spotted Owl.

Southeastern Arizona is truly a birder's paradise. The tremendous variety of habitat types and the geographic proximity to Mexico provide for a phenomenal diversity of avian species.

Most of the neotropical species go south in the winter, but many other species move in to winter, and a number of resident species are easy to find. Hawks, eagles, falcons, sparrows and other resident birds will be our focus for this long weekend. We will enjoy some of the fine food in Southeast Arizona. Our last day, we’ll have a meal prepared at the Inn by our fine French chef from Phoenix.

Texas: Lower Rio Grande

Feb. 25 - March 5, 2011

South Texas is a birder's paradise at anytime of the year, but especially during late winter when the spectacular array of resident birds in South Texas is joined by an abundance of wintering shorebirds and waterfowl. This eight night tour begins and ends in Corpus Christi with a leisurely swing through the birding hot spots of the lower Rio Grande Valley.

Photo opportunities will abound on this tour. Comfort is, as always a prime concern on our tours. We will stay in the best motels available and eat in the best restaurants in each area.

Our days will begin anywhere from 5:00 AM to 7:00 AM, depending upon the destination. On early days, we will have a continental breakfast. The following schedule may be modified to take advantage of rare bird sightings or other conditions that could affect the birding.

Colorado Bird Tour: Prairie Chickens and Grouse

April 7 - 16, 2011

Colorado is the best place in the country for finding all the species of Prairie-chicken and Grouse. Its varied topography ranging from prairie grasslands through high plains to subalpine forests and alpine tundra supports as many as 500 species of birds. Furthermore, its geographical location astride the Continental Divide provides a mix of eastern, western, northern, and southwestern species not easily found together anywhere else.

Our trip will take us from the eastern prairies of Colorado into the high Rocky Mountains. We will cover about 1500 miles in searching for our target species. In order to see many of these species at their leks at dawn, we'll need to be up and out by 4 or 4:30 AM. We expect to find Greater and Lesser Prairie-Chicken; Greater and Gunnison's Sage-Grouse; Sharp-tailed and Blue Grouse and, possibly, White-tailed Ptarmigan. Other species of interest include Mountain Plover; Three-toed Woodpecker and Williamson's Sapsucker; Rough-legged Hawk; Black, Brown-capped, and Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch; McCown's and Chestnut-Collared Longspur, and many others.

Birding Spring Migration Dry Tortugas & South Florida

May 1 - 6, 2011

For the Dry Tortugas, we will be taking the very comfortable yacht, the R.V. Tiburon, to the Dry Tortugas, one of the premier sites in North America for spring migration. We spend more nights in the Tortugas because it is well worth the time. In addition, this increases our chances of experiencing a fallout, since there is usually a squall moving through every two or three days. Besides the numerous migrating passerines, we expect to see Magnificent Frigatebird, Brown Noddy, Masked Booby, Brown Booby, Sooty Tern. Black Noddy, Red-footed Booby & White-tailed Tropicbird have also been seen some years. On our final day, we will leave the boat early and spend the day in Key West. We will seek out Mangrove Cuckoo and Antillean Nighthawk. Weíll also be looking for vagrants and rarities. Shiny Cowbird, La Sagraís Flycatcher, Greater Flamingo and Loggerhead Kingbird have been spotted in the Key West area in recent years. The last night will be in Key West.

For more information on any of these trips, please contact Wezil.

888-577-0433