Back to Arizona

Back to Arizona…

After leaving Green Valley we headed south and decided to visit an area we had never visited before. We had an Arizona birding guide but we were having a difficult time reconciling our map, the guide and our GPS and we weren’t even sure of our destination. But we saw a sign pointing to Lake Arivaca and, reasoning that a lake in the desert might be a big attractor for birds, we headed for the lake. We came to a part of the road that was paved, but the easiest way over it was to drive on the unpaved roadside where we could. One unhappy property owner had erected a large sign proclaiming the road as the “worst maintained road in Pima County”!

Our trip to the lake was worth the effort chiefly due to the presence of a pair of Vermillion flycatchers working the trees around the dirt parking lot. These photos are representative of the almost 40 photos I took of the pair.

On the way back through civilization we saw this Black-throated sparrow on a fence post. I was elated to obtain this photo, but later in the trip we encountered others.

Once back to civilization we continued to Patagonia where we stopped at the house formerly owned by the Paton’s and now under stewardship of the Tucson Audubon Society. It’s famous for its hummingbirds, but while there are many feeders the photographic opportunities aren’t that great. However there is habitat work in progress (a pond, sun shelter and seating) that promises to improve both viewing and photographic opportunities. All the remaining photos were taken at that location.