Subject: birding SE Arizona
Date: Jan 12 21:53:37 2000
From: Dan Lindsay - susandan2 at earthlink.net


There are two good guides to birding sites in SE Arizona that I know of: R.
C. Taylor's _A Birder's Guide to Southeastern Arizona_ (a Lane/ABA
Birdfinding Guide) and Davis and Russell's _Finding Birds in Southeast
Arizona_, sponsored by the Tucson Audubon Society. I have the 1995 edition
of each; I don't know if either has been updated. Taylor organizes his
book around nine suggested birding trips, with additional notes on 13 other
locations. The Davis and Russell book breaks the region into 12 areas.
Both are fascinating useful books, and if you want just one either will do
nicely.

My only visit to Arizona was in April 1997 and centered in Sierra Vista,
south of Tucson. The spots I would most recommend, based on 6 days only,
are the following (not in any particular order):

1.) the Desert Museum, West Unit (outstanding desert birding and a
fascinating outdoor museum as well);

2.) the area around the town of Patagonia, which has the famous Patons'
back yard hummingbird site, the Patagonia- Sonoita Creek Nature Conservancy
Preserve, the Patagonia Roadside Rest (which didn't have much for me when I
was there, but has given many people some amazing birds), and Patagonia Lake
State Park;

3.) Ramsey Canyon Nature Conservancy Preserve, famous for its hummingbirds
but also a fine place to see orioles and warblers, among others;
reservations are absolutely necessary to park there, and it's a very long
walk from any other parking spot;

4.) San Pedro National Riparian Conservation Area, just outside Sierra
Vista, has fields, marshes, oxbows, and the San Pedro River;

5.) The Chiricahua National Monument, which has dazzling scenery and
fascinating history as well as superb birding.

Someone else could pick five other places and have equally strong reasons;
I wish I had had a month to do more. But I did pretty well: in 6 days,
which included a lot of things besides birding, I saw 122 species, of which
53 were lifers!