Southeast Arizona for more warblers and other stuff -April 12-15

Grace's Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Red faced Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Virginia's Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Sunrise, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Yellow eyed Junco, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Olive Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Pygmy Nuthatch, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Cassin's Vireo, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Steller's Jay, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Painted Redstart, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Wilson's Phalaropes, Green Valley WTP, Green Valley, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

The final leg of my trip involved continuing west to Arizona with the goal being to track down three more target warblers (and a few other species hopefully). With my body still on east coast time I was up early yet again, which was advantageous given that I like to get to places early. Sunday would be the last day of making long drives on this trip. My final destination would be an Airbnb in Green Valley where I would be spending three nights. I had a few ideas on what to do with my day before arriving at my lodging and I settled on driving directly to Mount Lemmon with the goal of potentially tracking down the last three warbler targets for the trip (Grace’s Warbler, Virginia’s Warbler and Red faced Warbler). All three species have been seen in the area recently so I had at least a chance of finding them. Traffic is usually the lightest on Sunday and I hoped it would work to my advantage in making the nearly four hour drive to the area on the mountain where the warblers have been reported and arriving early before crowds arrived. I got to the mountain right around dawn and my first stop was Incinerator Ridge and the wind I noticed on the drive up continued. In fact it stayed windy all day and it made for some tough spotting of birds at times. I was surprised to see so many people tent camping at the location…it must have been a very restless night of sleeping with the strong winds. I got all three of my targets at the location so still a productive stop despite the wind. The ridge itself was really windy and cold so after trying it for a bit I retreated down the road to get out of the worst of the wind. I ran into a decent mixed flock once I was almost to my car and this added several species for the day. After a couple of hours at the location I decided to try my luck elsewhere and with hordes of people driving further up I headed down to a dirt road known as Sollers Road and this was another good choice as I had lots of stuff in a mixed flock including better looks at a lot of the stuff I had earlier. I spent a hour and half plus sorting through the birds and getting lots more photos. A few more brief stops on the way down didn’t turn up anything else new. It was nearing midday so I look a lunch break and got permission to check in a little early. I did do a little more birding before heading to Airbnb with the main stop being wastewater treatment facility that produced a variety of waterfowl and shorebirds including a large group of Wilson’s Phalarope. By the early afternoon I was beat and decided to relax a bit plus the wind just made the birding tough. 

Broad billed Hummingbird, Santa Rite Lodge, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 13, 2026

Grace's Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 13, 2026

Mexican Jay, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 13, 2026

Black throated Sparrow, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 13, 2026

Black headed Grosbeak, Santa Rita Lodge, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 13, 2026

Hermit Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 13, 2026

Northern Shovelers, Ring necked Duck and American Coot, Green Valley WTP, Green Valley, AZ, Apr 13, 2026

As forecast the winds of the previous day continued on Monday and by the end of the day were even stronger. As I knew I would be up well before dawn I had to come up with a plan to try to make the most of my time in spite of the wind. At least in the morning it was a little lighter. I decided on heading down to Montosa Canyon to listen for a Buff collared Nightjar. I arrived around 4:15AM to find it quite breezy with a few lulls every now and then and after about ten minutes I heard the bird distantly. With that rarity found I headed to the Green Valley wastewater facility and although the gates were still closed you could view a little of the area and I had at least one Lesser Nighthawk flying around. At this point it was starting to brighten a little more so I headed up to Madera Canyon which was my main destination for the day. I headed to the end of the road to take a hike up the Old Baldy Trail mainly looking for warblers and some new species for the year and I had success. Not long after starting the walk just before 6AM I heard a Coppery tailed Trogon (the first of three of these species on this trail). Trying to get looks at it (and the others) was frustrating. There were other new species for the year including Greater Pewee and Dusky capped Flycatcher. Warblers were also in evidence with the highlight for me being a male Hermit Warbler, another new addition to my big warbler year in the US and my 400th species in the US for the year. In addition to the Hermit Warbler I had five other species of warblers. After the hike I tried my luck at the Santa Rita Lodge for a bit and the hummingbird show was fun to see even with the strong winds there. I stayed about a half hour before heading down to walk some trails near the Whitehouse Picnic Area before a return to the lodge again. A brief stop at McCleary Wash turned up a few more species for the day. By this point it pushing eleven and I decided on trying the wastewater plant again before going home for a late lunch. Super windy there with clouds of dust visible to the north toward Tucson. A nice variety of waterfowl and a few shorebirds without any rarities among them. The rest of the day was spent at my lodging relaxing and planning the final full day. 

Lucy's Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Ash throated Flycatcher, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Wilson's Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Hepatic Tanager, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

 

Coppery tailed Trogon, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Hooded Oriole, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Painted Redstart, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Black throated Gray Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Inca Dove, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Northern Beardless Tyrannulet, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Nashville Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Western Sandpipers, Green Valley WTP, Green Valley, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

On the last full day in Arizona I decided on a very early start in Madera Canyon to try for nocturnal species. The forecast called for much lighter winds than the previous two days so I was hopeful I would have some luck. My plan was to get there well before first light and hike up as far as I could on the Old Baldy Trail in the hopes of possibly getting an early Flammulated Owl or perhaps a Spotted Owl. I also would be listening for more expected species. I was out the door at around 3:15AM and immediately heard a Great Horned Owl hooting. I then made the roughly thirty minute drive up to the end of the road in Madera Canyon with a couple brief stops to take a quick listen which turned up an Elf Owl and some Mexican Whip Poor Wills. I started my walk up the Old Baldy Trail just before 4AM and was immediately greeted by multiple Mexican Whip Poor Wills and Whiskered Screech Owls. At about 1.2 miles up the steep trail I heard a Spotted Owl singing a few times and got a distant recording. I have never had this endangered species of owl before so was very happy to add a new life bird for the trip (species #2189). I walked a little further up as it started getting light before starting the journey back down. It was a productive walk down with lots of birds singing with one highlight being multiple Coppery tailed Trogons including one that actually briefly showed well. I made it down to the parking lot a bit after 7:30AM and then headed down to the Whitehouse Picnic Area to add more species for the day before taking a mid morning break at Santa Rita Lodge watching the feeders. My next stop was to head further down canyon to the Proctor Road area and this provided multiple new species for the trip thanks to a change in elevation and a corresponding change in species. Nothing too rare but some great looks at a variety of birds and butterflies. I finally left the canyon just after noon and made a brief stop at the Green Valley Wastewater Facility to add more species for the day. I ended the day with 93 species and easily could have broken a hundred with a little more effort. I was fairly beat by early afternoon so headed back to get a shower, pack for the trip home and take it easy. 

Overall for the Arizona portion of the trip I had 117 species with one life bird (Spotted Owl) and three new species for my Arizona list (the above mentioned owl, Wilson’s Phalarope and Spotted Sandpiper) bringing my state list there to 244 species.  Trip report from the Arizona potion of the trip here: Arizona trip report.

As far as totals for the entire trip from Texas to New Mexico and then Arizona I had 160 species with one life bird as mentioned above.  Entire trip report here: Texas, New Mexico and Arizona trip report.  In addition I found five new warbler species for the year in the US and more details on those can be found at the following link: Arizona warblers.