Florida Wash,AZ Rufous-capped warbler

Howdee all,

This past Wednesday, Jeff, Kathie from Sycamore Canyon blog, and I went in search of the Rufous-capped warbler.

A rare visitor to Arizona..from Mexico..read about the bird here

Jeff had GPS coordinates and a some brief directions..

The GPS coordinates took us to us to a work station off the Florida Wash.

Jeff's directions said we were to look for a dam..and a tree above the dam. I headed downstream to where we crossed a small bridge over the wash.

Was this where they meant?

It wasn't a dam.

We decided this wasn't the area and went back to the parking area and started following a trail that crossed the water filled wash.

  Luckily, while on the trail, we met a photographer on his way back to the parking area.

He was out trying to get photos of the bird..he wasn't able to find it, he said he had been three times previously with no luck,

He did give us detailed directions to follow to the dam. Also the time of day the warbler was previously spotted 11am and 3pm.It was around 9:30, so we thought we may have a chance… So we thanked him and went on our way..gaining a bit in elevation.. Then to the dam…and the burnt sycamore above the dam.

We looked around the wash for the bird…

We were told it would be down low in the reeds……it was very quiet..…no birds..

Jeff went further up the wash…

Kathie and I stayed behind to hang out and wait …

No birds ..

but always something of interest..

Cactus growing on rock… Spiders…

  Kathie and I then heard a bird calling..close to the Sycamore tree..

We located a Canyon wren..and since we saw no other birds..focused our attention on it..

It was around 11am…

I happened to turn to my right…And out pops this little critter…

I was so excited…

I called Kathie as softly as my excitement would allow me..tee hee..

She started clicking away with her Camera..

check out her photos here….

also check out this photo I found on flickr  I took these photos after I calmed down..

and realized the bird was sticking around for a bit..  

There was another couple upstream looking for the bird as well and I motioned to them…

Still no Jeff….We had awesome looks!

…the warbler was working its way upstream..  Luckily, Jeff was on his way back to the area..and he was able to see the warbler

We followed the bird further upstream until it was difficult to follow any further..     We were all thrilled… We saw our target bird..and it was beautiful!

A life bird for all three of us!

Happy and Hungry we headed back to the car..

Another great day of birding!