I was in that region back in 1969-1971. I see that the road up to Rustler park is still gravel; that would be Pinery Canyon, I think. I recall coming down that road after dark, after camping up at Rustler Park. There were lots of Owls. Two apparent Whiskered Screech Owls flew into the headlights/hood to catch large moths, etc. At the bottom and along the country road there were W. Screech Owls and Great Horned Owls. There were also Kangaroo Rats hopping around on the scrub desert flats on the left side of the road (going north). One can see many more species along creek bottoms such as Sonoita Creek, but the mountains were always an adventure.

Phil Hotlen
Bellingham, WA
------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: rccarl at pacbell.net
To: Tweeters at mailman2.u.washington.edu, kelsberg at u.washington.edu
Sent: Monday, July 12, 2010 3:32:52 PM
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] RFI: birding is SE Arizona near Sierra Vista and Willcox

The Portal area is usually lovely, but a huge fire went through the area last month. Roads are re-opened but some of the area is still a mess.

RCC

Richard Carlson
Full-time Birder, Biker and Rotarian
Part-time Economist
Tucson, AZ, Lake Tahoe, CA, & Kirkland, WA
rccarl at pacbell.net
Tucson 520-760-4935
Tahoe 530-581-0624
Kirkland 425-828-3819
Cell 650-280-2965

--- On Mon, 7/12/10, kelsberg at u.washington.edu <kelsberg at u.washington.edu> wrote:



From: kelsberg at u.washington.edu <kelsberg at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [Tweeters] RFI: birding is SE Arizona near Sierra Vista and Willcox
To: Tweeters at mailman2.u.washington.edu
Date: Monday, July 12, 2010, 4:23 PM


I agree that the book "Finding Birds in SE Arizona" is very helpful. the new edition is readily available in Tucson and at Audubon spots near Sierra Vista.

Wonderful birding at Ramsey Canyon, very close and easy from Sierra Vista with cool clear stream, great friendly visitor center, hummingbird feeders with convenient benches and ID info.

Also very close and easy from Sierra Vista: San Pedro House on San Pedro "river" with reliable Gray Hawk and Vermillion Flycatchers (I've seen them on 4 of 5 birding by bike visits, even walking in my cleats pushing my bike along). Again a great visitor center, well-stocked, with friendly and knowledgeable staff.

>From Willcox it is very nice to drive up to the Chiricagua Monument, with cooler temps and wonderful scenery and great birds. Smooth road with almost no traffic (a spectacular climb on a bicycle) and some nice other fauna (I caught a "horned toad" - very cute).

The same turnoff from the highway towards the Chiricagua Monument also leads up to Portal by a not-very-smooth gravel road up to Rustler's Park. I had a great sighting of Monezuma's Quail along this road. It is passable with courage (or foolhardiness) in a passenger car, but a high-clearance vehicle would be more sensible.
>From the east side, a smooth-paved road leads from the New Mexico border up to Portal and is ride-able on a road bicycle or any regular car. Very good spot for unusual birds.

Around Tucson itself there are lots of easy places to bird: the sewage ponds have a family of Harris' Hawks that are fun to watch (cooperative hunters with about 85% success rate, either thrilling or chilling, depending on how closely you identify with raptor or prey).

Gary Kelsberg
Seattle, WA
kelsberg at u.washington.edu

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