Painted Redstart, Madera Canyon, AZ, Feb 21, 2025
Yellow rumped Warbler 'audubon's', Sweetwater Wetlands, Tucson, AZ, Feb 20, 2025
Orange crowned Warbler, Sweetwater Wetlands, Tucson, AZ, Feb 20, 2025
Yellow rumped Warbler 'audubon's', Sweetwater Wetlands, Tucson, AZ, Feb 20, 2025
I was up early on Thursday morning after a few hours of sleep and waited for Sherri to wake up. Due to the extreme cost of renting a car in Phoenix and dropping it off in Tucson (several hundred more that renting and returning in Tucson), we got an Uber from Phoenix to Tucson where we picked up a rental and started our little getaway. Once we picked up our rental we headed to nearby Sweetwater Wetlands and although it was almost midday there was still some warbler activity with three species around with the most common by far being the “Audubon’s” subspecies of Yellow rumped Warbler (which really should be a full species). There were also a few Common Yellowthroats and Orange crowned Warblers around. No other warblers for the day as we made the rest of the drive to Sonoita. It was a pleasant sunny day with temps in the 70’s.
Painted Redstart, Madera Canyon, AZ, Feb 21, 2025
Painted Redstart, Madera Canyon, AZ, Feb 21, 2025
Madera Canyon, AZ, Feb 21, 2025
On Friday I somehow convinced Sherri to get up early with me and head out before sunrise to the Madera Canyon area. We were out the door around 6:30 to make the hour or so drive over the dirt road through a box canyon with our first stop being Florida Canyon. It was cold to start the morning with temps near freezing with clear conditions. Once we arrived at Florida Canyon it had warmed into the low 40’s and it was not too bad to be out. My main warbler target there would be the long staying resident Rufous capped Warblers. I walked up to the area of the old dam and fairly quickly got a rarity (and lifer) with a continued Golden crowned Sparrow. Unfortunately the warbler was a no show and I didn’t have a lot of time to wait around for it to show. There were many (too many) birders arriving to look for the two rare species and I hate crowds plus one person there was quite loud so I doubted the warbler would show. I headed down the trail and we made our way to Madera Canyon. Our first stop in Madera Canyon was the picnic area and almost immediately I heard a Painted Redstart singing and quickly got some great looks at it plus a few others along the stream bed. It really is one of the more impressive looking warblers in the US and I was glad to see them again. I tried without any luck to find a rare for the area Louisiana Waterthrush that is overwintering along the paltry stream of water still flowing in parts of the canyon. We hit a number of other areas in Madera Canyon over the course of the morning into the early afternoon with the only other warbler species being Yellow rumped Warblers. I did hear one odd chip note that I was never able to track down in the early afternoon near the upper parking lot of the canyon. After we left Madera Canyon around two we decided I one more stop at Florida Canyon in a vain attempt to find a Rufous capped Warbler. It was a bit breezy and there were still several people crowding the area where the warbler has been including the one guy that insisted on carrying on a conversation at high volume. I threw in the towel and we then drove back over the dirt road to our lodging with a stop off at a cidery and a restaurant to get dinner. A slow day for warblers with just two species although with one being Painted Redstart it has to be described as a good day.
Black throated Gray Warbler, Patagonia Lake State Park, Patagonia, AZ, Feb 22, 2025
Black throated Gray Warbler, Patagonia Lake State Park, Patagonia, AZ, Feb 22, 2025
Yellow rumped Warbler 'audubon's x 'myrtle' hybrid, Patagonia Lake State Park, Patagonia, AZ, Feb 22, 2025
Yellow rumped Warbler 'audubon's x 'myrtle' hybrid, Patagonia Lake State Park, Patagonia, AZ, Feb 22, 2025
Yellow rumped Warbler 'audubon's, Patagonia Lake State Park, Patagonia, AZ, Feb 22, 2025
Yellow rumped Warbler 'audubon's, Patagonia Lake State Park, Patagonia, AZ, Feb 22, 2025
Yellow rumped Warblers 'audubon's' and Orange crowned Warbler, Patagonia Lake State Park, Patagonia, AZ, Feb 22, 2025
Yellow rumped Warbler 'audubon's, Paton's Center for Hummingbirds, Patagonia, AZ, Feb 22, 2025
On Friday we decided to head south to the Patagonia area with the first stop of the day being to Patagonia Lake State Park. We arrived there a bit after eight and spent the next three hours exploring the area with most of the time spent on the birding trail at the upper end of the lake. The feeding station featured a couple warbler species coming into a suet feeder with both Orange crowned Warbler and ‘Audubon’s’ Yellow rumped Warblers. A bit of walking turned up at least one Common Yellowthroat skulking through the marsh vegetation. After poking around some areas around the campground I headed back to the birding trail and noticed a few locations were a variety of species were feeding on insects on emerging vegetation high up in the trees. I quickly located a single Black throated Gray Warbler among them…a fourth warbler species for the day and one I hoped I would find at the location. A little more looking turned up at least Black throated Gray Warblers and despite a lot of looking for other warblers beyond what I already found I had no luck. We were next going to go to the nearby Sonoita Creek State Natural Area but it appeared to be closed so we headed toward the town of Patagonia instead where we visited the Paton’s Center for Hummingbirds. The only warbler species around that area was a Yellow rumped Warblers. Not too bad a day for warblers.
Painted Redstart, Ramsey's Canton Preserve, Sierra Vista, AZ, Feb 23, 2025
For our last full day in Arizona we headed a bit east and south to Ramsey’s Canyon to try our luck there. The Ramsey Canyon Preserve did not open until 9 so we made a brief stop at the trailhead to Brown Canyon. Once the preserve opened we were some of the first people there and immediately started up the trail. It was quite cool to start with temps in the 30’s but it warmed fairly quickly once the sun made its way into the canyon. One of the first species I had was a Painted Redstart…a good start to any day. The walk in the lower part of the preserve had a few pockets of birds with many very quiet areas and no warblers. The hike further up the canyon was very quiet although the views made up somewhat for the lack of birds. On our way back down the activity picked up a little as we neared the parking area and I got even better looks at Painted Redstarts in a small mixed flock. I got a very brief view of a Townsend’s Warbler within the group but it disappeared further into the woods before I could get any photos. After a quick break for lunch in the parking lot we made a trip over to San Pedro House along the San Pedro River. We arrived there around 12:30 and I immediately started checking the hordes of birds coming into the feeding stations (mainly White crowned Sparrows) and I located the Harris’s Sparrow which added my third life bird of the trip. A walk along the river through the grove of cottonwood trees eventually turned up a single Common Yellowthroat in the area of the kingfisher pond. This was the last warbler of the day so finished with just three species with the Townsend’s Warbler being new for the trip.
On Monday we had a midday flight out of Tucson so had a few hours in the morning to spend out in the sunshine before a return to the arctic hellscape of home. We toyed with multiple ideas and decided on leaving our lodging around 7:45 and make the drive up to a small park in Green Valley south of Tucson. I would have loved to go back to Madera Canyon and/or Florida Canyon but we just didn't have the time and we wanted to check some other areas. After a slight navigation error we arrived at Canoa Ranch Conservation Park and the only warbler I had for the entire day was a Yellow rumped Warbler. By a little after ten we had to head to the airport to catch our flight home.
For the entire trip I had a total of half a dozen species of warblers (Orange crowned Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, 'Audubon's' Yellow rumped Warbler, Black throated Gray Warbler, Townsend's Warbler and Painted Redstart) plus a hybrid Yellow rumped Warbler (audubon's x myrtle). My big miss for the trip was not seeing the Rufous capped Warbler in Florida Canyon despite a couple attempts.
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