Arizona - September 2004

154 bird species - see list   51 ode species - see list

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Sierra Madre Dancer

Tonto Dancer

Riffle Darner

This trip resulted in some lousy football but a good time looking for birds and bugs with old friends and new.  On September 12 I flew into Phoenix, rented a vehicle, and dead-headed to the Tucson airport to pick up friend Kate who was on her way from Chicago.  By 2:00 we were in Sierra Vista meeting new friends Doug Danforth and Sandy Upson.  Doug and Sandy are two of the three guys who have supplied me with the bulk of photos and data for the Arizona Odonates website.

Doug and Sandy took us onto Fort Huachuca and into Huachuca and Garden Canyons where I added some great new odonates to my life list.  After seeing several damselflies, including introducing Kate to the outrageous Painted Damsel, we wandered up Garden Canyon to the cabin.  On the way down the darners had begun flying and we had a ball.  The Arroyo Darner at left was one high on my list of bugs I wanted to see.

Monday, September 13th

For once I had a vehicle capable of traversing some of the rocky and rutted trails of the back country.  Kate and I started the day early and headed up into French Joe Canyon.  We knew that finding the Rufous-capped Warbler this time of year was a long shot but it is a neat canyon anyway.  The trees were loaded with both Summer and migrating Western Tanagers.  After birding there for awhile we headed east to Willcox and Cochise Lake for a quick stop.  It was fun to find numerous Wilson's Phalaropes, Ruddy Ducks, and other water-related birds.  Every damselfly I caught morphed into a Familiar Bluet.  So much for finding something unusual at the alkaline edges.

From there it was on to spend a bit of time at Muleshoe Ranch.  This Nature Conservancy property is definitely a place for next time and worth an entire day.  Bass Canyon was loaded with pockets of dancers but the only ones I identified were Sooty and Springwater.  A walk along the nature trail netted Kate her first Neon Skimmer and gave her a good comparison with Flame Skimmer.  Although we got lost trying to find the right trail a time or two, the target species suddenly appeared and hung up in an opportune place just long enough for me to snap a couple of shots.  Malachite Darner was probably the target for the day and there was one just a few feet in front of me!  Other critters giving Kate lifer looks included the Pale-faced Clubskimmer below.

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Pale-faced Clubskimmer	Sooty Dancers	Flame Skimmer