Today was a beautiful day in AZ. We had our 6 AM breakfast at the hotel, then off to Florida Canyon-lower to look for Black-capped gnatcatcher and Rufous-capped warbler. The BCGN are year round residents and we found them pretty easily once the sun came up and got things moving. Prior we found a pair of Rufous-winged sparrows by the road near the parking lot, and explored the area. On the walk up we noted a bird initially thought to be a black phoebe, but on study was an Eastern phoebe, very uncommon for the area, but clearly seen Black cap, white throat and underside, buffy wing bars, phoebe shape and size. Re the BCGN we had killer looks at the birds, an apparent pair, one male, one female in basic plumage. Saw the longish black bills, white under-tails and heard the huskier calls after the came within 6-8 feet to iPhone recording. Later saw 4 more birds, two more we felt were Blue-gray and two likely BCGN, all white under-tail and silent.
From there we continued up the trail, taking the righthand trail across the stream after the iron gate. It was pretty overgrown in places, nearly washed out in others after the big thunder storms last night. We forged thru and spent a couple of hours looking for Rufous-capped warblers, reportedly commonly seen there year around, but for us the nemesis bird of the trip. Missed again today. Overall though a beautiful hike and morning.
From here we dashed the 2+ hours to the Boyce-Thompson Arboretum in Superior, AZ to chase a Rufous-backed robin that had been seen there yesterday. No luck for us, though we later learned it was seen by another birder this AM. Unfortunately for us as birders today this is the largest arboretum in AZ, and is spectacular and vast. We did add a few birds for the trip there, including an uncommon Gray catbird.
Next stop was the Kiwanis Park in Mesa where almost immediately we found the target bird, Rosy-faced lovebird. This introduced and recently ABA accepted as listable species was a lifer for both Bruce and me. Really a pretty small parrot-like bird. We added several water birds including a Green heron, Neotropic cormorant, Am. coot, mallard, Ringed-neck duck, Pied-billed grebe and overall had a nice leisurely stroll around the park while local high-school kids ran some sort of race. Noisy parents-fans cheered them on.
Dinner at a family style Mexican fast food place set us up for the drive back to Tucson. Tomorrow we have a leisurely day of waterfowl and wader watching at the Sweetwater Wetlands planned first off as no more target birds are readily available for our lists. It’s been a great trip. Home tomorrow night late.