I was now in New Mexico - very exciting. It was freezing, the name suggests it would be really hot! But it felt like I'd been steadily climbing ever since leaving Patagonia, and that I was now in the high desert. I headed out to Lordsburg Sewage Ponds shortly after dawn, arriving to realise that like the place at Sierra Vista I couldn't get in. Great. Instead I spent a little while working the perimeter, using the car as a viewing platform to try and see at least some of the water. This was partially successful, with a few Northern Shovelers, Gadwall and Ring‑necked Ducks, as well as a single Bufflehead. Sandhill Cranes called from the fields to the north, and Mourning Dove, House Finch, White-crowned Sparrow and Say's Phoebe were on and around the chain fence, but this was rather dispiriting birding, and really really cold. I warmed myself up at the local MacDonalds, the only building that seemed not to be falling to bits. Grackle in the car park.
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| Lordsburg Playa |
I needed a plan. I had assumed I'd clean up at the sewage ponds and get a decent start to my NM list but in fact I was on just 14. I mean it's around the same as Connecticut (12), Wyoming (15), and Michigan (20), all States visited in a similar side-show manner, but still really poor given the effort and distance taken to get here. I decided to cut my losses and drive slowly back to Arizona, stopping as and when. The first of these stops was Lordsburg Playa (aka South Alkali Flats Duckpond), a peculiar shallow lake in the middle of the desert. Amazingly this had a group of American Avocets on it, as well as a single California Gull. I had thought little of it but this bird later came to the attention of the eBird police. However a bit like the Cassin's Kingbird in Sierra Vista my report had generated some local interest and someone had come along and verified the record, helpfully taking a photo and pinning to the list just after mine. I pointed the officer in this direction, and now several months later have uploaded my own photo.
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| American Avocet |
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| California Gull. Not convinced it's the cutest Gull in the world. |
The road I was now on, just off the I10, looked quite interesting and so I continued on down it for a few miles. I stopped a few times at completely random places and had some amazing views of a Sagebrush Sparrow, a bird that I had found impossible for years and years, and only finally ticked in 2021. There were also Black-throated Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, and a large flock of Lark Bunting out in the desert scrub, identifiable by the obvious white wing bars. Things were looking up, but at the same time the clock was ticking. I got back in the car.
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| Sagebrush Sparrow |
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| Sagebrush Sparrow |
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| Lark Bunting |
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| Lots of Lark Bunting |
My final stop before crossing back into Arizona was at a place called Granite Gap. I hadn't intended to stop but I noticed a sign saying something about birding and so swung the car around and pulled over. Turns out this was part of the New Mexico Birding Trail, and it too was pretty decent. Not only did I easily find only my second Brewer's Sparrows, but there were some amazing cooperative Cactus Wrens here. Cooperative enough for photography and so what should have been a five minute stop turned into 20 minutes. I think it was worth it.
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| Cactus Wren |
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| Brewer's Sparrow |
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| Black-throated Sparrow |
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| Granite Gap, NM |
So it wasn't until late morning that I finally reached Portal. This is the start of Cave Creek Canyon, another legendary southern birding spot. My first port of call was at the Cave Creek Ranch which I had earmarked for Blue-throated Mountain-gem. I paid my $5 fee and sat down on the porch, joining an American couple. I forget where they were from but unlike most birders I had encountered these people really knew their stuff. They had even been on a Sparrow course! Fair play! The feeders here were really good, and it couldn't have been more than about five minnutes before the main target came in, literally just above our heads. I had to move to get a photo. Had I known it was this reliable and easy I probably would have spent longer in New Mexico, and as you will come to find out from the rest of my day, that would have been the sensible option. The Blue-throated Mountain-gem came in several times as it happens, giving good views each time, but just by sitting quietly on the bench I added Steller's Jay, Lincoln's Sparrow, Townsend's Warbler, Pyrrhuloxia, Bushtit, Verdin, and Curve-billed Thrasher amongst others.
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| Cave Creek Ranch |
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| Blue-throated Mountain-gem |
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| Blue-throated Mountain-gem |
The other targets in this area were Mexican Chickadee and Montezuma Quail, and this is where the day started to go wrong. Both had been seen relatively recently at the Southwestern Research Station a little higher up the canyon, so once I felt I'd exhausted the feeders at the Ranch I headed up there. I gave the site a good go, and I found the specific areas as described in previous eBird lists, but it was really quiet. Cedar Waxwings were probably the best bird, and there were some Western Bluebird as well, but no sign of any Chickadees despite many good looking pines. This species is really only found in these mountains, so I decided to carry on up the 42 Forest Road and see if I got lucky. I did not. Over the next couple of hours I drove very carefully along a mixture of muddy, snowy, icy and rutted tracks, stopping all the time to listen for birds. Nothing. I ended up doing a loop through the mountains to Paradise and then back down into the top of Portal. The 4x4 was essential.
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| One of the lower elevation roads near Paradise |
Back in the canyon I drove up to South Fork in case the Chickadees were hanging out here - they did feature on some eBird reports a bit further back. Here I met a guy watching a Williamson's Sapsucker, a decent bird, but not what I needed at this precise moment. He thought I was far too low, and suggested driving back the way I had came, and instead of turning off to Paradise to carry on and up, through Onion Saddle to Rustler Park and Pinery Canyon, essentially driving all the way through the Chiricahuas and out the other side. This felt like quite an undertaking but I felt I still had time, and in any event it was in the right direction - I needed to back in Patagonia the next day. I took it extremely carefully and extremely slowly, this was serious driving in the middle of nowhere and no help was coming if I messed up. Needless to say I made it across, but it was treacherous to say the least and with the benefit of hindsight I am not sure I would do it again. Especially as it took the whole rest of the day and I didn't find any Mexican Chickadees.
I descended via Pinery Canyon to Bonita Creek. The light was fading but I did a quick circuit of the area, adding my first Green-tailed Towhee but little else of note. To add insult to injury when presented with a great photo opportunity of a Spotted Towhee actually out in the open the battery on my camera died. I dashed back to the car to get the spare but when I returned the bird had vanished. The day was over, I was still miles from where I needed to be, and I'd wasted hours in the mountains looking for a single bird. At least I survived I suppose. Anyway, that is just the way it goes sometimes. I set the satnav for Nogales, two and a half hours and 130 miles distant but still the nearest place to Patagonia that had a reasonably priced bed, and got on the road.
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