May 19, 2015, Tuesday
At 6:30 am James and I met Bob Power from Oakland to bird today. He suggested we go north of Tucson to experience a habitat that would be somewhat different than our upcoming organized tour to the extreme southeastern part of Arizona. We headed to Mt. Lemmon in the Santa Catalina Range of the Coronado National Forest. We drove up the mountain and stopped at Cypress Day Use Area where we birded for about an hour and a half. We then moved up to Rose Canyon where we turned off the main road and drove to Rose Canyon Lake at about 7,000 feet. In between we parked at a couple of overlooks to see if we could spot any raptors.
We saw the birds we see at home but always love to see: White-breasted Nuthatch, Pygmy Nuthatch, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Pine Siskin. Of the less familiar birds the most the most colorful were Black-throated Gray Warbler, Grace's Warbler, Painted Redstart, Red-faced Warbler, and Hepatic Tanager. Mexican Jay and Yellow-eyed Junco were everywhere. Buff-breasted Flycatcher was the rare one.
We had a full birding morning but did not go further up the 9,000 foot mountain. Back in Tucson we had lunch at the Tucson Tamale Company. James liked the tamales. Good sides. I forgot I did not favor tamales and so did not take advantage of their other choices. Fairly decent for a quick lunch.
That evening we met our tour group. We were six clients and one tour leader, Bob Power, working for the Santa Clara Valley Audublon Society. The other four clients were all from the Bay area and members of SCVAS. We would be going to the Chiricahuas in the southeast corner of the state, staying at Cave Creek Ranch for five nights, and birding from one home base. After our introductory meeting, we went across the street to the R&R Bar and Grill for dinner. Contrary to the name of the restaurant, no one ordered cocktails or anything grilled. The food was good, the service excellent.
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