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The Grand Canyon never disappoints in its sheer beauty. Here at the South Rim, we had spectacular panoramas of the canyon while we successfully scanned for Zone-tailed Hawk. Photo by participant Walter Ammann.

When most birders think of Arizona, they think of trogons, hummingbirds and Sulfur-bellied Flycatchers in the southeast corner of the state; however, the forests and woodlands of the northern half of the state also make for some rich springtime birding. For this short, Flagstaff-based tour, we racked up numerous specialty birds like Lewis’s and Three-toed Woodpeckers, breeding MacGillivray’s Warbler, and of course California Condor, in some of Arizona’s most breathtaking landscapes. It was my first run of the tour, and having grown up in Prescott, just 2 hours down the hill from Flagstaff, I was glad to be able to co-lead a tour in my “extended backyard.”

Our first morning we birded the San Francisco Peaks – the majestic snow-covered mountains that dominate the Flagstaff horizon. Snow in June is not normal, but no weather these days is “normal” anymore. Nonetheless, we had had a beautiful snowy backdrop as we birded Hart Prairie, where we searched the soggy meadow for MacGillivray’s Warbler, Green-tailed Towhee, Dusky Flycatcher, and Orange-crowned Warbler—all of which are localized breeders in this part of Arizona. John and I had scouted the day before and couldn’t find a single Clark’s Nutcracker, so we made all sorts of contingency plans if we missed them the day we went with the group. Luckily, we didn’t need to fall back on those plans because we saw at least seven Nutcrackers that day at Hart Prairie, all calling and making a ruckus. Where were they hiding the day before?

Williamson’s Sapsucker is a local breeder on the San Francisco Peaks. In my opinion it is the best looking of all the sapsuckers (sorry, Red-breasted!) with its uniform black upperparts, crisp white wing patch, red throat, and lemon-yellow belly. John and I found a responsive pair the day before the tour so we returned to the same area to see if they were around. It took a little while, but eventually we got nice views of the male as it spiraled up a trunk.

The Three-toed Woodpecker is another scarce Arizona woodpecker. I had only seen two in my 25 years of living in Arizona: one in the White Mountains and one in the Chuska Mountains in the northeast corner of the state. They are known for their affinity to burned sites and are somehow able to find fresh burns in the tremendous expanse of forest. It took us two visits to a burn site outside of Flagstaff to locate the birds, but when we finally saw them it was a tremendous view, as they allowed us to get close enough to count the toes!

One cannot visit northern Arizona without spending a day at the Grand Canyon—it is indeed one of the most dramatic landscapes in all of North America. We went with the intent of enjoying the vistas, and also finding condors, which sometimes make an appearance on the south rim. We searched and searched but couldn’t find them, but a nesting pair of Zone-tailed Hawks wasn’t too shabby. On our way back from the Canyon we made a few stops in Pinon Juniper woodland to find Gray Vireo. When we exited the van, we could hear one singing from inside a short Pinon. We got closer, but the sound didn’t move. Hmmm. Eventually we got close enough to see the bird singing from its nest. Fantastic! Apparently, this behavior is shared among many vireos.

Having missed the condors at the Canyon, we thankfully had a back-up plan. From Flagstaff, we drove north to Navajo Bridge, which is one of the most reliable places to see condors in Arizona. There are actually two bridges, one for traffic and one for pedestrians. We walked out on the pedestrian bridge and, across the way, there it was: a California Condor roosting in the shade of the other bridge. While we were watching the condor, we heard the cry of a falcon from the distant cliff. We scanned the steep cliff side and saw a Peregrine perched on a white-wash-covered rock—perhaps its nest was back in one of the many caves that riddle the canyon wall.

Common Crane is an exceptionally rare bird in North America but, for the second year (the first being 2017), one of these majestic birds from Asia has made Mormon Lake its summer residence. From our first viewpoint of the lake, we scoped it out, but it was barely more than a few pixels on Walter's SLR image, to give an idea of how far away it was. We then drove to the other side of the lake and had far better views, albeit still distant, of the bird foraging in the wet meadow.

Our last day of the tour we dropped into the Verde Valley to look for some lower-elevation species. Rufous-crowned Sparrow and Scott’s Oriole were welcome treats as we wrapped up a fun-filled week of birding.

John and I had a great time with all of you. We hope to cross paths again soon!

Micah

KEYS FOR THIS LIST
One of the following keys may be shown in brackets for individual species as appropriate: * = heard only, I = introduced, E = endemic, N = nesting, a = austral migrant, b = boreal migrant

This California Condor was enjoying the shade under Navajo Bridge. Photo by participant Walter Ammann.

Broad-tailed (not to be confused with Broad-billed) Hummingbirds were plentiful at Hart Prairie. Photo by guide Micah Riegner.

The San Francisco Peaks seen from Mormon Lake. Photo by guide Micah Riegner.

Micah's watercolor study of a Pinyon Jay.

We had outstanding views of Three-toed Woodpecker outside of Flagstaff. Photo by participant Walter Ammann.

Painted Redstarts breed in the canyons of the Mogollon Rim. Participant Walter Ammann photographed this bird in Oak Creek Canyon.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Totals for the tour: 138 bird taxa and 9 mammal taxa