May 2025: Portal, AZ Trip Report

Southeast Arizona Trip Report

I'm breaking with my usual once monthly posting format to report on a trip to SE Arizona (Portal area) that I took at the beginning of May, the height of Spring Migration. It seems like it would be just too much to combine all the photos from this trip with whatever else might happen in May. In addition to loads of bird photos, I have just a few sketches of some birds that I wasn't able to photograph. That story later.

Southwestern Research Station

I stayed at the Southwestern Research Station. There was so much bird activity right at the research station that I spent most of the time right there on the grounds. 

The first thing you hear when you arrive at the research station are the raucous calls of the Acorn Woodpeckers as they chase each other through the trees. 

Ground Feeders (of all Kinds)

 On my first morning, I looked out from my window to find a flock of Wild Turkeys foraging on the lawn outside my room. Two males followed the females around, strutting in a full display of their wild regalia. 

This male was right outside my window for awhile. I was mesmerized watching the way he strutted with short quick steps, quivering his feathers.  "Right outside my window" became a recurring theme: Throughout my stay, I looked out my window frequently whenever I was inside, and there were almost always one or more birds foraging on the lawn. From top to bottom: Chipping Sparrow, Green-Tailed Towhee, Lark Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow. (Poor photo quality due to shooting through the window.)

Each morning, I would walk around the grounds, observing the bird activity. Many of the birds I was seeing each morning may have come in overnight, stopping for a rest on their migration. Perhaps that partly explained the unusual behavior of many of the birds. Birds that are normally rather hard to see as they move through the trees, birds that I have never before seen out in the open, or on the ground, were spending much of their time foraging on the ground to eat the seedpods that were being blown out of the trees by the wind. The wind was supporting them in an easy energy-saving way to fuel up for their journey, I guess. 

 

  Top to bottom, Western Tanager male, Wilson's Warbler male, and, most astonishingly, a Yellow-Breasted Chat collecting seedpods from both the ground and the roof.

 Flycatchers

Just about everywhere I looked, there would be a small flycatcher perched low to the ground to stake out insects. As far as I could tell they were mostly Hammond's and Dusky Flycatchers, but I did see one Gray and one Willow Flycatcher.

  Vermilion Flycatchers were prominent, mostly female. (I got one quick glimpse of a bright red male, and also saw a couple of fledglings.) 

SWRS Hummingbird Station

The Southwestern Research Station does Hummingbird banding research, and accordingly has a very nice Hummingbird feeder area. The area was bustling with Black-Chinned, Broad-Billed, Rivoli's Hummingbirds, and Blue-Throated Mountain Gem. We got to observe the banding one morning. Photos show a bander examining a Rivoli's Hummingbird's skin by blowing on his feathers with a straw, then bringing him to nectar for re-hydration before releasing (The Blue-Throated Mountain Gem you can recognize by the blue throat, and the Rivoli's is the one with the amazing green gorget.)

B

The Pond: My Favorite Spot

On a trail behind the buildings at the SWRS, I found a couple of small stagnant ponds. (I believe these are kept irrigated in spite of the drought due to this being one of the few breeding areas for the rare Leopard Frog.) One had a bench beside it, making it perfect as a place where I could sit comfortably for awhile and just observe. A Black Phoebe worked the surface of the pond to catch insects. A Chipping Sparrow landed at the edge of the water for a drink. There was a tree to the left of the bench, four feet away from me.

A Brown Creeper landed on the trunk right at my eye level and took my breath away. I wouldn't have dreamed of spoiling the moment by trying to take a photo. This is what can happen when we slow down enough: Wildlife may feel safe enough to come very close to us. The Brown Creeper moved up the trunk, then on to other trunks, their usual behavior. I came back to this sitting spot daily, and what do you know, the Brown Creeper repeated the performance, coming back to land on the trunk four feet from me three more times in the course of their foraging. Because I couldn't take a photo, I sketched to commemorate the event: 

I came to this spot each day of my visit, sitting on the bench for at least 45 minutes each time. One early evening, I was listening to a Dusky-Capped Flycatcher calling loudly in the vicinity. I thought to myself, "I bet that if I sit here long enough, that Flycatcher will show up."

Not long after I had that thought, a large flycatcher landed in a tree across from the pond. Rusty tail, yellowish breast, large bill. Not a Dusky-Capped, but a Brown Crested Flycatcher, a bird in the same genus (myiarchus) as the Dusky-Capped. That bird flew down to the creek. Just a minute later, a smaller myiarchus-shaped flycatcher appeared in a different tree. Dusky-capped Flycatcher! Didn't stay long, but these were the best views I've had of both of these southern flycatchers. Yay for stillness!

Portal

Though I spent most of my time up the road at the Southwestern Research Station, the town of Portal itself was a good place for seeing several birds that I didn't see at the station. Some people in town provide amazing feeder areas that are open to visitors, sustained by the donations of visitors. I find that I love more the quiet discovery of a pond in a natural setting. Yet I know the birds can really use the extra sustenance and hydration during the dryness of severe drought. And it is fun to see so much bird activity. 

A Bronzed Cowbird male very much appreciated the dripping water feature in the Jasper yard.

 

 

A male Hepatic Tanager preferred the oranges at the "Jam Bar" in another yard.

And both male and female Cardinals appreciated the seeds wherever they were offered

 

Mammals

In closing, I need to give the mammals their due. It's not ALL birds. In fact, deer were abundant at the Southwestern Research Station. I just didn't get any good pictures. I did get a photo of this Javelina which was just a few feet away from me (on the other side of a fence) foraging on the ground at a feeder area right in Portal. There were two of them, and I was close enough to hear how they snorted and grunted to communicate with one another as they foraged. 

Finally, that ever-present mammal, the homo sapiens. I had the fortune to connect with this fine crew of humans who also happened to be staying at the SWRS. Michele and Reuben live in Tucson: I knew them from when they lived in Albuquerque, and this is the first time I've seen them in years. Jan and Ernie live in Albuquerque. Thanks Michele, for sharing the photo.