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.

Warblers on a brief trip to southeast Arizona

Red faced Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Jun 10, 2025

Grace's Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Jun 10, 2025

Virginia's Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Jun 10, 2025

Lucy's Warbler, Agua Caliente Park, Tucson, AZ, Jun 9, 2025

Wilson's Warbler, Agua Caliente Park, Tucson, AZ, Jun 9, 2025

Yellow Warbler, Agua Caliente Park, Tucson, AZ, Jun 9, 2025

Lucy's Warbler, Agua Caliente Park, Tucson, AZ, Jun 9, 2025

I took a brief trip out to Arizona now that things have settled back to the typical routine back home and I could be away for longer periods. June is one of the hottest times to be out there but I have never been there that time of year and I hoped to catch the end of warbler migration and have resident species singing. I did have any warblers that I have never seen before but I did have one species of warbler I have not seen in the United States and that was a Red faced Warbler. I previously saw the species on a trip to Guatemala in 2018. I also had a few targets to get photos and possible recordings of including Grace’s Warbler and Virginia’s Warbler. I arrived late and got a little birding in despite the extreme heat. One of the first species I got my eyes on when I arrived was a late Wilson’s Warbler and I took that as a good omen.  I added a couple more species before making it to my lodging.

Black throated Gray Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Jun 10, 2025

Red faced Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Jun 10, 2025

Grace's Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Jun 10, 2025

Grace's Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Jun 10, 2025

Virginia's Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Jun 10, 2025

Virginia's Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Jun 10, 2025

Yellow rumped Warbler 'audubon's', Mount Lemmon, AZ, Jun 10, 2025

Townsend's Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Jun 10, 2025

Hermit Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Jun 10, 2025

Lucy's Warbler, Agua Caliente Park, Tucson, AZ, Jun 10, 2025

Olive Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Jun 10, 2025

Looking south toward the Santa Rita Mountains, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Jun 10, 2025

 With my body still on east coast time and having been getting up early for weeks now I was awake before 3AM on Tuesday and headed out well before the sun came up as I took the drive up to the high elevations of Mount Lemmon. Once it got light enough to see I started looking and listening for warblers. It was a bit chilly to start with temps in the 50’s but it heated up as the sun warmed up the day. I spent several hours covering various locations on Mount Lemmon (Incinerator Ridge and Bear Wallow being the main spots) and had some fantastic luck with warblers including all my targets as well as a few unusual species. I got great looks, photos and recordings of Red faced Warbler, Grace’s Warbler and Virginia’s Warbler plus others. It was so cool to have all of these species around in good numbers. The Red faced Warbler was a new one for my United States list which now stands at 48 species. Among the unusual warblers were one each of Townsend’s Warbler and Hermit Warbler. I made my way back down the mountain by mid morning into the heat of the valley around Tucson. Despite the heat I stopped at a few locations and added multiple Lucy’s Warblers and Yellow Warblers for the day. Overall I ended the day with nine species of wood warbler (plus Olive Warblers which are not true wood warblers despite the name but are great looking birds nonetheless). Among these species several new ones for me for the year.

                                  

Red faced Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Jun 11, 2025

Hermit Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Jun 11, 2025

Black throated Gray Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Jun 11, 2025

Lucy's Warbler, Sweetwater Wetlands, Tucson, AZ, Jun 11, 2025

On Wednesday I decided to head off to the south with the eventual destination being the always impressive Madera Canyon. After making a number of stops before dawn and then immediately after looking for a number of target species I made it to Madera Canyon a little after 6:30 and started birding the area. I stuck mainly to the road and a few of the lodges. I got Painted Redstart fairly quickly and then added several more warbler species over the next three hours or so. The most unusual species I found were two different Hermit Warblers (one a bright male and the other a ratty looking female). Hermit Warblers should have already moved through the area but multiples seem to be lingering a bit. Once I was done at Madera Canyon I headed up to Sweetwater Wetlands to the west of Tucson. I had good numbers of Lucy’s Warbler, Yellow Warbler and Common Yellowthroat including multiple juveniles. The best bird there was a rare Chestnut sided Warbler that allowed me a brief look before it disappeared. The individual has been seen on and off in the area for several days. Despite a lot of looking to try to find it again and get a photo I failed in the quest. With the time getting past noon and the heat at over a hundred degrees I headed back to my lodging to relax a bit after a very busy morning. Overall for the day I had eight species of warblers. 

Black throated Gray Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Jun 12, 2025

Painted Redstart, Madera Canyon, AZ, Jun 12, 2025

With my full last day available on my all to brief getaway I was torn on where to spend it and I finally decided to head back south in the hope of finding another life bird with a Five striped Sparrow. I didn’t have any more likely warblers to find on this trip so any I came across for the day would be incidental. With this in mind I only had three species of warblers for the day but did have some good looks at a few of them. I started my morning seldom travelled Montosa Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains as it is a place I have never been before and it sounded like a place that doesn’t get a lot of traffic. I was up before two and then headed south where I spent the morning. After Montosa Canyon I spent the rest of my morning in Madera Canyon. The temps continued to rise and topped out a bit over a 100 in the valley. It was another great day even without too many warblers. 

Black throated Gray Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Jun 13, 2025

Red faced Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Jun 13, 2025

Grace's Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Jun 13, 2025

 

Painted Redstart, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Jun 13, 2025

On Friday I had most of the morning available before I had to head to the airport for an early afternoon flight back home via Dallas/Fort Worth. I decided to head back north to Mount Lemmon. I was up way before dawn once again and then started looking for warblers once it was light enough to see. On the way I had fairly decent looks at a Ring tailed Cat as it crossed the road in front of me and then stayed on the side of the road before disappearing...a life mammal for me.  I started my walk at Bear Wallow as I wanted to spend a little more time at the location than I did a few days ago. I was perhaps 3/4 of a mile in on my walk and got a message from American Airlines that my flight was delayed and I would then not be able to make my connection in Dallas. I was lucky to get the message as cell service is very spotty up in the mountains. I cut the walk short and started looking up other options to get to Dallas earlier and saw a flight at 11:30. After a talk with the airline I got rebooked on the earlier flight. The change cut off a couple hours of available birding time but worth the change to make my flight to Dallas. Without as much time I decided on walking again at Incinerator Ridge and then down at a lower elevation to get Painted Redstart for the day. My few hours of birding produced half a dozen species of warblers. My new earlier flight got out on time but then my flight home from Dallas got delayed and I never got home until almost 2AM.

Overall for the short trip I had a a lucky 13 species of warbler. Of those five were new for me for the year and two of those were new for me in Arizona (Red faced Warbler and Chestnut sided Warbler). My Arizona warbler list now stands at 18 species. I also added one new warbler species to my United States list with the Red faced Warbler bringing my United States warbler list to 48 species.