We were up even earlier than usual today—4:30am. One good thing about the high desert here is that it cools down overnight. It was only 65° at sunrise. The refrigerator liked it as well. The temperature was down to 34° and 4° in the freezer. That was after about 16 hours on AC.
The forecast was much like yesterday—hot! So, we wanted an early start on our search for the Sinaloa Wren. It is an ABA Code 5 bird ("Species that are recorded five or fewer times in the ABA Checklist Area, or fewer than three records in the past 30 years."). It has been hanging around the DeAnaza Trail in the area of Santa Gerudis Lane by Tumacocari for the last month or so. It was worth looking for. There have also been sightings on a couple of other rarities, several Rufous-backed Robins and Rose-throated Becards seen in the area. One other notable bird we wanted to find was the Thick-billed Flycatcher.
We arrived at the parking lot at the end of the lane at just about 6am. We walked down to the river and back to the DeAnza Trail, but it crossed the road running to the north and south. From the little information I'd gotten online, it was unclear which way to go. As we pondered the question, leaning towards the northerly path, another birder came along. He was also looking for the wren, the robin, the becard and the flycatcher and he had been here several days in a row. The right direction was to the south. Without that help, we would have spent the morning on a fruitless search.
We started down the path with him and quickly found two new life birds we were not expecting, Lucy's and Virginia's Warblers in a little patch of activity. We also found a Phainopepla nest being constructed by a pair of birds. He stayed with us until we got to the area of the wren and robins. We looked in all the places they had been seen, but came up empty. On our way back up the trail, we did find the Thick-billed Flycatcher and another unexpected life bird, a Pacific-slope Flycatcher, a small greenish bird that I first thought was a vireo.
We didn't get the wren or robins, but four new birds is a pretty good haul.
Our next stop was in Tubac, several miles north. The Rose-throated Becards had a nest near the DeAnaza Trail just outside of town. We had some information that it was north of the bridge over the the Santa Cruz River. We really blew this one. We walked a mile along the trail, which paralleled the road in the hot sun finding nothing. At that point we realized that we were in completely the wrong habitat and it was getting quite hot. We turned around. The only interesting birds we saw were a pair of Gambel's Quail.
After getting back to Speedy, we went into the artsy town of Tubac for lunch at the Tubac Deli and Coffee Company. While walking around the town after lunch we stumbled onto The Bird House, a birding store. Along with the usual collection of books, feeders and seed by the pound, was the directions to find the becard's nest. We will try again tomorrow morning.
It was back to the DeAnza RV Resort for another afternoon of avoiding the 99° heat. The resort restaurant, the Greyhound Room, is open for dinner this evening and the cars started pouring in at 4:30. It is evidently a very popular place with the locals. We gave it a try around 5:30 after the crowds lightened a little. The restaurant is only open Thursday-Sunday and has a different limited menu each night. Tonight it was Broasted Chicken, Baby Back Ribs, several salads and burgers and a Southwestern Chicken sandwich. We went with the ribs and chicken sandwich, which were both pretty good. Only the fries were a bit lacking.
They have an interesting process, sort of like a cafeteria. You place your order at the door, are given a order number tag and you find a table. Your food is then delivered to your table. You can help yourself to unlimited coffee, iced tea and water, and there is also a cash bar. A bit of a strange experience, but the prices were good, the staff very friendly and the service prompt.
Tomorrow we will make an early start once again, heading back to Tubac to find the becards, then on to Santa Gerudis Lane for another attempt at the finding the Sinaloa Wren and the Rufous-backed Robins. After that it is off to Buenos Aires NWR to meet the new volunteer coordinator and get setup in The Outpost, the volunteer compound. We expect to start on Monday and volunteer for a week before heading back to Cohasset.
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