Dark-eyed Junco
Photo by George Wall

When we started from Phoenix it was doing what the weather never does in May - Sprinkling! We were hoping that we wouldn’t spend the whole day ducking lightning bolts and getting soaked in a torrent of heavy rain.  When we turned off onto the fire  control road just south of Pine it didn’t take us long to spot our first bird on top of a tall pine tree. The lighting wasn’t all that great because of the clouds and the bird was not giving us any clues. We couldn’t pick up any color, no wing bars, eye rings, stripes or outstanding characteristics. He didn’t have the decency to let out with so much as one peep or fly around to give us a clue. He just sat there and chuckled at all the humans calling out different species names as he morphed from one species to the next. Finally we figured it out – after all he was sitting on one! A tree swallow! It was all up hill from there!

We pulled into the parking area for several trails outside the Geronimo Boy Scout Camp and Warblers, Robins and Western Tanagers were all singing a greeting song. We looked up and above our heads was a beautiful Grace’s Warbler in gorgeous bright spring colors. We proceeded to walk into the camp in spite of the “trespassers will be shot” signs. I had been there many times with my hiking club and the rules for entry always seems to change. The last three times were “you don’t need a permit”, you’re welcome anytime. Fortunately the Rangers greeted us with open arms and empty shotguns. As we strolled through the camp we picked up a few rarer birds, such as a Yellow-Breasted Chat, a Cedar Waxwing , a Virginia’s Warbler and a Painted Redstart. There were Robins, Western Tanagers, and Warblers calling and appearing constantly as we walked through the camp. There were a number of Acorn Woodpeckers, Says Phoebe’s, Broad-Tailed Hummingbirds, Western Wood Pewee’s, and Stellar’s Jays flying around as we walked along.

We finally got midway through the camp and stopped at some restrooms when the sky started falling. It looked like it was going to be the end of our day. We decided to eat an early lunch as we watched the rain pour down for about a half hour (We were under a covered patio). Fortunately it stopped raining and we were able to continue. We saw so many interesting birds going through the camp that we didn’t get to the start of the East Webber Creek Trail until 1:00PM. 

Everyone in the group got to see how gorgeous it is to follow that trail along the creek though the fern covered forest floor and among the old forest large pines, fir and spruce. They also discovered how refreshing it is to fall into the creek while boulder hopping the three or four creek crossings along the way. We kept hearing Hermit Thrushes calling with their beautiful haunting sound as we hiked up the trail. They are out of place like the Fir and Spruce trees because they are usually found above 8500ft and not at 6500ft during the hot times of the year. There were also Gray-headed Junco’s hopping around in the forest bushes chirping away. I learned something new as a result. As a consequence of using 10 to 40 year old field guides, I miss out on a lot of changes in bird names and new groupings and split outs. I didn’t realize there was such a thing as a Redbacked Junco. It has a dark beak and a smaller red back splotch than the Gray-headed. You learn something new every trip!

The birds we saw were: robin, tree and violet-green swallow, broad-tailed hummingbird, ash-throated flycatcher, western wood pewee, Stellar’s jay, raven, bridled titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, house wren, cedar waxwing, yellow, Virginia’s and Grace’s warbler, painted redstart, western tanager, Lincoln’s sparrow, gray-headed and red-backed junco, mourning dove, turkey vulture, acorn woodpecker, yellow-breasted chat, Say’s phoebe. The birds that we heard and did not see were: hairy woodpecker, red-shafted flicker, mountain chickadee, Bewick’s wren, hermit thrush, and summer tanager.(31 total). Whoops, I forgot! There were 32 total species if I count the Townsend’s Bunting.

Those attending were: Tim Cullison, Richard Filley, Haylie Hewitt, Carole Anne Kinney, Ann McDermott, Betty Roberts, Richard and Rosemary Sedowski, George Wall, Rosemary Zanter and Dan Bohlmann (leader).