Multiple new warbler species for the year in southeast Arizona -April 12-15

Grace's Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Grace's Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Grace's Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Red faced Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Red faced Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Red faced Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Virginia's Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Virginia's Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Painted Redstart, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Painted Redstart, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Black throated Gray Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'Audubon's', Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Townsend's Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Sunrise, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Sunday would be the last day of making long drives and I was up well before dawn again (an advantage to keeping my body on east coast time). My final destination would be an Airbnb in Green Valley where I would be spending three nights. I had a few ideas on what to do with my day before arriving at my lodging and I settled on driving directly to Mount Lemmon with the goal of potentially tracking down the last three warbler targets for the trip (Grace’s Warbler, Virginia’s Warbler and Red faced Warbler). The three and a quarter hour drive occurred almost completely in the dark. The weather was not as cooperative as I would have liked as the wind was obvious as I started up Mount Lemmon. On the plus side it was fairly sunny so it certainly could have been worse. I arrived at Incinerator Ridge and started walking up to the ridge from the main road. I had a Grace’s Warbler singing right away although seeing it was not in the cards right away. I made it to the top of the ridge and the wind was really strong and it was cold (air temps in the upper 40’s with a wind chill). I was really surprised to see many people camping out along the road…must have been a cold and uncomfortable night with all the wind. I then ran across a Virginia’s Warbler and got some distant photos as it got buffeted around in the wind. I tried walking some trails and although I heard a distant Red faced Warbler it was really tough to see any movement in the constantly swaying trees so I headed down the road back toward the car to get out of the worst of the wind and this proved to be a good idea as I got much better looks at both Grace’s Warblers and Red faced Warblers as well as a mixed species flock not far from the main road. Other warblers at the location included Audubon’s subspecies of Yellow rumped Warbler (the most numerous species at the location), Black throated Gray Warbler, Townsend’s Warbler and Painted Redstart. I then had to decide where to go next and decided to descend a little in elevation instead of going up higher on the mountain as there seemed to be lots traffic heading up. I picked a dirt road known as Soller's Road and yet again was happy with my choice as I immediately had warblers as I walked down the road with all the the species seen early (except Red faced Warbler) plus a male MacGillivray’s Warbler (not cooperative at all but it did add another new warbler species for the year) and an Orange crowned Warbler. I hit a few other spots on my way down without finding any other new warblers so ended the morning with nine species (including my three remaining targets for the trip). The stop at Mount Lemmon produced warbler species # 32-35 for the year. 

Grace's Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 13, 2026

Grace's Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 13, 2026

Hermit Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 13, 2026

Hermit Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 13, 2026

Monday was forecast to be just as windy as the day before and I knew this would make birding a bit tough to say the least. Nonetheless I had hopes that I could find some sheltered spots and turn up some warblers. I was up way before dawn and after doing a little nocturnal birding I headed up to Madera Canyon. I had a few singing Lucy’s Warblers at a dry wash on my way up the road before arriving at the top to take a hike up the Old Baldy Trail. Seeing a few Painted Redstarts before leaving the parking lot was a good omen. Although breezy at times it was not as bad as I feared it would be initially. As I continued to gain elevation I started hearing Grace’s Warblers, more Painted Redstarts, Black throated Gray Warblers and a Yellow rumped Warbler. There was also a silent Orange crowned Warbler moving through and best of all was a male Hermit Warbler working through a pine tree and showing well enough to ID. I had this species as a possibility for the trip and was very happy to see it thus adding another new warbler for the year. The Hermit Warbler became species #36 on my quest. I will certainly catch up with more of them when we visit Oregon this summer on the way home from Alaska. I then tried the Santa Rita Lodge to see if any warblers were coming into the water feature (they were not) and took a walk near the Whitehouse Picnic Area where I had a few Lucy’s Warblers and a Black throated Gray Warbler. I called it quits by midday given the ever increasing wind. By the end of the morning I had seen seven species of warbler for the day with one new one for the year…not bad given the weather. 

Lucy's Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Lucy's Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Lucy's Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Lucy's Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Wilson's Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Wilson's Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Wilson's Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Painted Redstart, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Painted Redstart, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Black throated Gray Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Nashville Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Nashville Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Townsend's Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

On my last full day of the trip I took advantage of less windy weather to start my day way before sunrise in Madera Canyon listening for nocturnal species and had great luck including my only lifer of the trip with a Spotted Owl. I hiked up the Old Baldy Trail in the dark and once it was light enough to see and the warblers started waking up I started my journey back down. Along the way I had decent numbers of warblers with the most numerous being Painted Redstarts and Grace’s Warblers with lesser numbers of Black throated Gray Warblers and Townsend’s Warblers. I finally made it to the parking lot at bit after 7:30AM (I started the walk a little before 4AM) and then headed to the Whitehouse Picnic Area trails and had three species of warblers including my first Lucy’s Warblers of the day. A brief stop at Santa Rita Lodge for a mid morning break produced a few Painted Redstarts moving through. I then tried my luck a bit further down the canyon in the area of Proctor Road and had some good luck there with a new warbler species with multiple Wilson’s Warblers. I finally left the canyon a little after noon after finding seven species of warblers for the morning. 

For the Arizona portion of this trip I found a lucky 13 species of warblers with five new ones for the year. 

Overall for the entire trip from Texas, through New Mexico and then Arizona I found all my targets as well as a couple of bonus western warblers to add to my US year total. The eight new species found on this trip in order of finding them were as follows: Golden cheeked Warbler, Colima Warbler, Lucy’s Warbler, Grace’s Warbler, Virginia’s Warbler, Red faced Warbler, MacGillivray’s Warbler and Hermit Warbler. I reached all my goals and more on the trip so it was worth the effort with lots of hiking and driving (1700 miles of driving overall was not fun at all). I now stand at 36 warbler species for the year and with May rapidly approaching I should be adding more to that total soon with the arrival of peak warbler migration at home.