Portal, AZ - April 17, 2022

 I'm interrupting the 2005 Re-runs to start posting real time (almost) travelogues.  That's right, I'm once again on the road, and have been for a couple weeks.  My first stop was Portal, AZ, just a short distance from the New Mexico border.  Portal is a very small place, too small to even qualify as a village.  In fact, my campground was in New Mexico.  My reason for visiting Portal was to explore Cave Creek Canyon, a beautiful area on the less visited Eastern side of the Chiricahua Mountains.  Once the home of Apaches, it's now popular with birders, who come here from all over the country to see unusual birds.

I had little luck spotting birds as I drove the roads through the mountains.  A report of an elegant trogon was exciting, but by the time I arrived where he had been seen, a couple there told me the bird had flown away just a few minutes earlier.  So, I went to one of the several B & Bs that provide lodging for birders and allow day visitors to enjoy their yards for a fee.  Cave Creek Ranch is probably the largest of these, with cabins scattered through the woods.  I met a number of people from Tucson who come here for a week-end of solitude and bird watching.  While I didn't see a lot of exotic birds, I had fun watching a variety of species at the feeders.

Gambel's Quail

Acorn Woodpecker

Lesser Goldfinch

Curved-bill Thrasher

Mexican Jay

Cactus Wren

Costa's Hummingbird

Northern Cardinal (Male)

Black-headed Grosbeak

White-breasted Nuthatch