As I had been contemplating a great southwestern U.S.
tour to pick up some target birds, mammals, and
perhaps a few herps for quite some time, I finally
settled on a roughly two week time frame with the
option to extend it as needed. While the first week's
itinerary was carefully laid out, the second half of
the trip was largely improvised.

The end result was nearly six thousand miles covered
within a 19 day period. I picked up three life birds,
eleven life mammals, and several life herps. Overall,
weather conditions were excellent. We had one day of
some rain in southern New Mexico, and a few afternoons
of vexing winds, but it was really hard to complain.

Thinking that few people would have the time or
patience to exert quite a bit of time and effort to
chase range limited, endemic chipmunks around various
isolated mountain ranges, I had originally planned
this grand tour as a solo trip. Despite my far flung,
intimidating scenario, Patricia Lott decided to join
me in Salt Lake City and wanted to go for the Gunnison
Sage Grouse and SE Arizona specialties. This meant
that I would have a good birder companion for a full
week of the trip.

While southwestern specialties were the gist of the
trip, I still had to drive down there first. Since I
state list Idaho, I initially did a bit of birding en
route within the southeastern portion of the state.

Day 1 - Tuesday, 4/24/07
After driving through Missoula, MT, I finally arrived
at my first Idaho birding spot by late afternoon. At
the glamorous Salmon Sewage Lagoon, I saw my first
Idaho state life bird: AMERICAN AVOCET. There was a
flock of a dozen of these birds present. OSPREYs were
nesting nearby.

Since my primary target for the day was the small
population of Gambel's Quail that exist along the
valley floor between Salmon and Baker, I slowly worked
the old Lemhi Road. At one point, a SANDHILL CRANE
flew over and landed out in a distant field. The plots
of native shrub-steppe habitat on the hillsides failed
to produce much of interest, and it looked like the
habitat on top of the bench had been severely stripped
away. After a couple of hours of rather tedious
sifting through fairly mundane agricultural type
birds, I finally ran into six GAMBEL'S QUAIL that were
pecking along the gravel road.

In the wetlands, there were WILSON'S SNIPEs and
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDs. The weird sighting of the
day was an electrocuted Great Horned Owl that was
hanging upside down from a power pole.

Unfortunately, I didn't reach Mud Lake until after
dark. I had to spend the night over thirty miles a
way in Rexburg (who knew that a mere inch on a map
could mean a distance of thirty miles?).


Day 2 - Wednesday 4/25/07
Since I was in Rexburg, I decided to try for grouse
and shrub-steppe birds in Sand Creek WMA, Fremont
County. The weather was cold (near freezing), but
clear.

Once I reached the wildlife area, I began seeing No.
Harrier, Red-winged Blackbirds, Yellow-headed
Blackbirds,Western Meadowlarks, Killdeer, Ame.
Kestrel, Wilson's Snipe, and SANDHILL CRANE. Farther
out into the sage, I picked up SAGE GROUSE, SAGE
THRASHER (at least 10), VESPER SPARROWs (abundant),
PRAIRIE FALCON, SHARP-TAILED GROUSE (three were
flushed by a Harrier), and a hunting SHORT-EARED OWL.

Strangely enough, I never did see or hear any Brewers'
Sparrows.

By noon, I was in the Mink Creek area south of
Pocatello. In Kinney Canyon, there were numerous
SPOTTED TOWHEEs, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, CHIPPING
SPARROWs, a couple of CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRDs, LESSER
GOLDFINCH, PINE SISKIN, HOUSE FINCH, RED-TAILED HAWK,
and best of all, a PLUMBEOUS VIREO. An unexpected
SAW-WHET OWL began delivering it's full tooting
repertoire from a dense thicket..

However, I never did see or hear any of my other
target birds (i.e. Juniper Titmouse, Virginia's or
Black-throated Gray Warblers, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher,
or Green-tailed Towhee). In order to meet Patricia at
the airport in Salt Lake City, I had to leave.

When I fueled up in Tremonton, Utah, a pair of
SWAINSON'S HAWKs were circling overhead. As the
traffic became heavier in the Ogden-SLC corridor , I
still noted a few interesting birds such as
WHITE-FACED IBIS, SNOWY EGRET, and CLIFF SWALLOWs.

Once I picked up Patricia, we had to make tracks for
Green River. We had reservations at the luxurious
Motel 6.

Day 3 - Thursday 4/26/07

After our early morning greeting by a Western
Kingbird, we drove down to Arches National Park. My
target mammal of the day was the Hopi Chipmunk. The
park itself is quite beautiful and is filled to the
brim with graceful natural arches, cathedral like
spires, and towering buttes. While galking at the
stunning scenary, we did see ROCK WREN, CANYON WREN,
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, MT. BLUEBIRD, HOUSE FINCH,
LESSER GOLDFINCH, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, WHITE-THROATED
SWIFT, TURKEY VULTURE, and BLACK-THROATED SPARROW.

Although it was not especially warm, we ran into herps
such as PAINTED DESERT WHIPTAIL, SMALL-SPOTTED LEOPARD
LIZARD, NORTHERN PLATEAU LIZARD, DESERT SPINY LIZARD,
and SIDE-BLOTCHED LIZARD. Heading northeastward
toward the interstate, we saw PRONGHORN ANTELOPE and
HORNED LARKs.

Due to road construction and massive urban sprawl
around Grand Junction, CO, the drive down to Gunnison
was long and tiring. While Patricia wisely napped, I
gritted my teeth and tried to make into Gunnison
before nightfall.

Fortunately, the town of Gunnison was very pleasant
and loaded with conveniences. For a mere $45/night, we
stayed at a truly high end motel (the Alpine Inn) that
we wished we could remained in for the rest of the
trip.

Since we had to be on site at the Gunnison Sage Grouse
lek an hour before sunrise, we had to leave no later
than 4:30 AM the next morning. I think that we
managed to obtain six hours of sleep that night.

Day 4 - Friday 4/27/07

When we arrived at the Waunita WMA, there were already
several other cars present. A friendly local biologist
greeted us and handed us a survey.

As dawn broke, we could eventually see "chickens" on
the plain below are viewing area. Here in all their
glory, were GUNNISON SAGE GROUSE performing their
elaborate spring ritual! The were a couple of dozen
grouse visible, and we could see their barred tails,
and amazing pompadour style filloplumes that flipped
around their heads. As we observed the spectacle, an
elk strolled across the lek and a White-tailed
Jackrabbit made a cameo appearance.

After a couple of hours, we noticed that the grouse
had been slowly departing from the lek and that it was
time to leave.Eventually, we turned in our survey to
the friendly Colorado biologists, we headed back into
town.

We stopped a mile east of Gunnison, and spent time
with a vibrant GUNNISON'S PRAIRIE DOG colony. The dogs
were up, chasing each other, eating, barking, and
generally being adorable. Birds around here included
SAY'S PHOEBE, ROCK PIGEON, TREE SWALLOW, MOURNING
DOVE.

Once we finished a lovely free breakfast at the Alpine
Inn (I can strongly recommend this place), we headed
south to New Mexico. We faced a long 490 mile drive to
Carrizozo, NM.

En route, we began seeing waterfowl along Russell
Lakes WMA. Some of the birds that we saw included
SNOWY EGRET, CINNAMON TEAL, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, GADWALL,
MALLARD, AME. WIGEON, PIED-BILLED GREBE, WESTERN
MEADOWLARK, YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD, RED-WINGED
BLACKBIRD, BREWER'S BLACKBIRD, WESTERN MEADOWLARK, and
CLIFF SWALLOW. We also saw WHITE-FACED IBIS (south of
Saugache), SWAINSON'S HAWK (south of Alamosa), and MT.
BLUEBIRD and WHITE-THROATED SWIFT (North Pass).

Crossing the stateline into New Mexico, we saw more
Pronghorn, Gunnison Prairie Dogs, Say's Phoebe, and
Horned Larks. After an arduous drive through road
construction laden towns north of Santa Fe, we found
smooth sailing through Santa Fe itself.

Around the town of Encino, we saw CASSIN'S KINGBIRD,
VESPER SPARROW, MOURNING DOVE, SWAINSON'S HAWK,
CHIHUAHAUN RAVEN, and RED-TAILED HAWK. At dusk (east
of Corona), we were pleased to see RUFOUS-CROWNED
SPARROW and four PINYON JAYs.


Day 5 - Saturday 4/28/07

Spending the night in Carrizozo, put us in good
position to search for Gray-footed Chipmunks in the
lava flows of Valley of Fires (BLM site).
Unfortunately, we didn't see any chipmunks there.
However, we did see EURASIAN COLLARED DOVE,
WHITE-WINGED DOVE, BREWER'S SPARROW, CHIPPING SPARROW,
CACTUS WREN, CANYON WREN, ROCK WREN, WHITE-CROWNED
SPARROW, BLACK-THROATED SPARROW, SCALED QUAIL, and a
Rock Squirrel.

Although we made another attempt for the Gray-footed
Chipmunk at the high elevation site of Cloudcroft, we
discovered that no one had seen them yet this season
(i.e. too early and too cold). While we saw
BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD, BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD,
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, DARK-EYED
JUNCO (appeared to be the Red-backed race) and
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, we dipped on the mammal
target.

In the later afternoon, we drove into the
Pinyon-Juniper habitat of Aguirre National Recreation
Area (in the Organ Mts. east of Las Cruces, NM), and
were delighted to see BLACK-CHINNED SPARROW,
OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, W. WOOD PEWEE, NO.
MOCKINGBIRD, and BULLOCK'S ORIOLE. More importantly,
we had fantastic views of our lifer TEXAS ANTELOPE
SQUIRREL.

>From the top of a large bolder that was situated in an
arroyo, this antelope squirrel was delivering an
alpha-male territorial declaration. With a flashy
white racing stripe on his side and a white underside
to his tail, this gray colored ground squirrel was
emitting some impressive sounds for such a small
creature.


Day 6 - Sunday 4/29/07

On this lazy (for us anyway), rainy Sunday morning, we
lounged around, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, and
didn't leave until 11:00 AM. We had already passed
beyond the Gray-footed Chipmunk's range, and we had
fortunately already seen the Texas Antelope Squirrel.
Our next port of call, was Portal, AZ, and the famous
Chiracahua Mts.

As we checked into the Portal Peak Lodge, we picked up
CARDINAL, BULLOCK'S ORIOLE, BAND-TAILED PIGEON,
WHITE-WINGED DOVE, MOURNING DOVE, CASSIN'S KINGBIRD,
ACORN WOODPECKER, BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD,
BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD, CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD,
GAMBEL'S QUAIL, and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER.

A short drive to some feeders in the Big Thicket
produced LAZULI BUNTING, BUSHTIT, WHITE-CROWNED
SPARROW, WHITE-THROATED SPARROW (white striped morph),
BLACK-THROATED SPARROW, CRISSAL THRASHER (great
views). CURVE-BILLED THRASHER, PYRRHULOXIA,
GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE, and LESSER GOLDFINCH.

After sunset, we saw an ELF OWL come out of nest hole.
A little night driving netted us Merriam's Kangaroo
Rats, Black-tailed Jackrabbit, and Desert Cottontail.

Day 7 - Monday 4/30/07

As we drove up the transmountain road, we saw MEXICAN
JAY, YELLOW-EYED JUNCO, WESTERN TANAGER, HEPATIC
TANAGER, DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER, PLUMBEOUS VIREO,
BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD, HAIRY WOODPECKER, WHITE-BREASTED
NUTHATCH, HUTTON'S VIREO, and BLACK-THROATED GRAY
WARBLER.

On the trail up to Barfoot Overlook, we observed
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, BROWN
CREEPER, PYGMY NUTHATCH, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH,
STELLER'S JAY, COMMON RAVEN, RED-TAILED HAWK, GRACE'S
WARBLER, RED-FACED WARBLER, OLIVE WARBLER,
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, and RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER.

At the overlook, we saw TURKEY VULTURE, ravens,
WHITE-THROATED SWFTs. While we waited for the proper
thermal to lift up our target Short-tailed Hawk, we
were kept amused by Clark's Spiny Lizards, and very
striking female SLEVIN'S BUNCHGRASS LIZARD. The
bunchgrass lizard is one of the high elevation "sky
island" specialties.

By late morning, we had not seen our target hawk, so
began the descent. When we ran into a flock of
warblers, we keyed in on an Olive Warbler. Suddenly, a
smaller forest hawk with creamy white, unmarked
underparts flew overhead and sailed down into the
valley below. This bird was clearly our much sought
after SHORT-TAILED HAWK.

Later in the afternoon, we ran into Dave Jasper at his
feeders on Crissal Lane. Dave showed us a brick
colored WESTERN DIAMONDBACK RATTLESNAKE that
apparently takes the occasional quail. A HOODED
ORIOLE, WESTERN SCRUB JAY, and a LADDER-BACKED
WOODPECKER made an entrance too.

That evening, I made another night drive.
Unfortunately, the full moon seemed to have suppressed
rodent activity. I saw one HISPID POCKET MOUSE, butI
didn't see any K-rats, and I couldn't even find the
road that was supposed to have "abundant" Bannertailed
K-Rats. By 10:00 PM, I was driving back into Portal,
and feeling burned out from driving some 60 fruitless
miles. Surprisingly, I spied a snake on the road.
Shining my light on this well patterned snake, I could
see that it was a young rattlesnake that had just
eaten dinner. Although I didn't key it out until a day
later, it was in fact a rather uncommon DESERT
MASSASAUGA. This snake made a most welcome life herp
for me.

Day 8 - Tuesday 5/01/07

On the Arizona side of Stateline Road, our morning
drive produced ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, LUCY'S
WARBLER, WILSON'S WARBLER, SCALED QUAIL, GREATER
ROADRUNNER, LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE, GRASSHOPPER SPARROW,
and an impressive flock of a hundred LARK BUNTINGs.

In and around Rodeo, NM, we found INCA DOVE, BULLOCK'S
ORIOLE, HOODED ORIOLE, GAMBEL'S QUAIL, SCALED QUAIL,
BARN SWALLOW, GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE, WHITE-CROWNED
SPARROW, YELLOW WARBLER, BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD, and
flock of CASSIN'S SPARROWs.

Since I had been informed that Gray-collared Chipmunks
were in the Gila National Forest above Silver City,
NM, we headed up there next. North of Lordsburg, NM,
we saw a LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE. North of Silver City, we
encountered GREATER ROADRUNNER and WESTERN SCRUB JAY.
In the Abastra Campground, we saw Southern Prairie
Lizards and WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH.

In the Cherry Creek Campground, we found it loaded
with BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKs, RED-FACED WARBLERs - 4,
GRACE'S WARBLER, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, HOUSE WREN WB
NUTHATCH, BROWN CREEPER, ACORN WOODPECKER, and
Patricia was pretty certain that she had seen a
BALTIMORE ORIOLE. We did see chipmunks, but there
were Cliff Chipmunks rather than our targeted
Gray-collared.

Several more hours of driving put us into Green Valley
for the night. I was even able to do laundry that
evening.

Day 9 -Wednesday 5/02/07

What could be better than birding Madera Canyon in the
morning? The weather was picture perfect, and the Kubo
Cabins were teaming with birds. While BLACK-HEADED
GROSBEAKs, MAGNIFICENT HUMMINGBIRDs, BLUE-THROATED
HUMMINGBIRD, BRIDLED TITMOUSE, and a ROSE-BREASTED
GROSBEAK mobbed the feeders, a pair of ARIZONA
WOODPECKERs and several ACORN WOODPECKERs worked the
oak trees. A CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER made a brief
appearance, and of course the big star of the show was
the gorgeous male FLAME-COLORED TANAGER.

The trails at the upper end of the canyon were highly
productive as well. As a local birder led us up the
path, we were quickly gazing at a male ELEGANT TROGON
that was picking insects of the foliage. PAINTED
REDSTARTs, SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, HERMIT WARBLER,
TOWNSEND'S WARBLERs, and PLUMBEOUS VIREOs were all
nice welcome additions as well.

Now what? Since I had seen my target bird of the day
(Flame-colored Tanager), I asked Patricia what she
wanted to do for her last day in Arizona. She made the
excellent decision to visit Patagonia.

Along the way, we stopped at Kino Springs and saw
BELL'S VIREO, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, CINNAMON TEAL, SONG
SPARROW, AMERICAN COOT, SNOWY EGRET, and GRAY HAWK.

At the Patagonia Rest Area, we were dazzled by
BROWN-CAPPED FLYCATCHER, PHAINOPEPLA, THICK-BILLED
KINGBIRD, NO. BEARDLESS TYRANNULET, PEREGRINE FALCON
pair, GRAY HAWK, DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER, BELL'S
VIREO, SUMMER TANAGER, and LESSER GOLDFINCH. In the
underbrush, there was a Desert Grassland Whiptail and
a SONORAN WHIPSNAKE.

Around the Patton's feeders, there were LAZULI
BUNTING, LARK SPARROW, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK,
BULLOCK'S ORIOLE, HOODED ORIOLE, CHIPPING SPARROW,
VIOLET-CROWNED HUMMINGBIRD, BROAD-BILLED HUMMINGBIRD,
BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD, SUMMER TANAGER, and GILA
WOODPECKER. Meanwhile, there was a ZONE-TAILED HAWK
patrolling the area.

Hold tight, the second installment is forthcoming.

Gina Sheridan
Spokane, WA



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