Explorations of an Ecologist: Monsoon Season In Arizona, Part 2: The Huachucas

September 1, 2024

For the first and only time in the trip I managed a much-needed seven hours of sleep. Unfortunately, some of the others were woken up earlier than they would have liked. The owner of Beatty's Guest Ranch (he lives in a different building on the property) owns a pack of around 15 hounds, and their "dawn chorus" started sometime just after 4:30 AM. Luckily, I slept right through the ruckus. However, if you are planning on staying at Beatty's in the future - be warned. And bring earplugs.

View from our cabin - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Other than the early morning baying of the hounds, we really enjoyed our stay at Beatty's. Yes, the decor in our cabin might have been straight out of 1995, but it suited our needs just fine. The building had lots of room, the beds were comfortable, the shower was great and the kitchen included a fridge, coffee maker, stove and other appliances. Perhaps it is a little too rustic for some tastes, but for us it was perfect.

Multiple filled hummingbird feeders in the front yard could be watched while you were sipping your morning coffee. The property had amazing views up and down Miller Canyon, and we could begin our morning hikes from the front door of our cabin. The scenery photo above was taken a few steps from our building.

Arizona Gray Squirrel (Sciurus arizonensis) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Our morning agenda was to take the rocky trail up Miller Canyon. The path follows alongside a stream bed, and this riparian corridor is filled with sycamores, oaks and maples, occasionally passing through stands of pine. I had birded here once before on my April trip several years ago and had found a ton of interesting species. Mexican Spotted Owl was one that I missed. Miller Canyon has been a somewhat reliable site for birders hoping to find this secretive species as there are several pairs spaced out in the canyon. You just have to be a little lucky to spot one roosting during the day. We had not received intel on recent sightings here, so we just hoped that luck would be on our side.

Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

The morning was cool and crisp, with clear, clean air and just a light breeze. I didn't mind the cool start to the walk as my heart rate started to increase with the light exertion. Perfect hiking weather, I thought, and we waited for the warm sun to reach the depths of the canyon. Bird song was rather diminished and it stayed this way for much of the walk. As the main breeding season is over for many species, they have no reason to vocalize loudly and often. This limited what birds we found but eventually we caught up with species such as Sulphur-bellied, Hammond's and Western Flycatchers, Bridled Titmouse, Western and Hepatic Tanagers and Blue-throated Mountain-gem. The distinctive tumbling song of a Canyon Wren caught my ears. This was a new species for Laura and Nikki, and the first one that I had managed to photograph.

Canyon Wren - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

We continued on up the canyon, with Dan and I taking time to investigate the flowers and ferns whenever the birding was quiet. It was still a little too early to search for snakes in earnest; the canyon was mostly shaded at this early hour.

Coralbells (Heuchera sanguinea) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Fendler's Lipfern (Myriopteris fendleri) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Southwestern False Cloak Fern (Argyrochosma limitanea) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Nikki came through in a big way. There, a few dozen metres off the trail, she spotted an amorphous lump in a deciduous tree. Spotted Owl!!

Mexican Spotted Owl - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Needless to say, we were all pretty excited. This was my #1 bird target for the trip, and we couldn't have asked for a better view of it, to boot. This subspecies is known as the Mexican Spotted Owl and it ranges from the southwestern United States to central Mexico.

Mexican Spotted Owl - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Watching the Mexican Spotted Owl - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

As the morning progressed, the increased sunlight and warming temperatures instigated bird, butterfly and dragonfly activity.

Red-bordered Satyr (Gyrocheilus patrobas) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Hammond's Flycatcher - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Lizards came out of the woodwork as well. Most were Yarrow's Spiny Lizards (Sceloporus jarrovii).

Yarrow's Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus jarrovii) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

The morning continued to warm, and at one point Dan left the trail to look for snakes in the dry creek bed adjacent to the trail. This strategy paid off immediately. There, with half of its body exposed and the other half in a rock crevice was a Chihuahuan Mountain Kingsnake! Unfortunately, it shot back into the rocks and vanished before Dan could get a hand on it. A near miss.

Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

The kingsnake ended up as the only snake on this particular hike. We were really hoping for a Ridge-nosed Rattlesnake or Banded Rock Rattlesnake, so it was hard not to be just a little disappointed. Still, there was so much else to discover here; novel species around every bend, or every few steps if one looked carefully.

Mountain Yucca (Yucca madrensis) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Parry's Agave (Agave parryi) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Santa Catalina Paintbrush (Castilleja tenuiflora) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Later in the morning, after we turned around and started retracing our route back, Dan and I heard a Northern Pygmy-Owl tooting away up the hillside. It stopped calling after a minute or two and it remained out of sight, unfortunately. The birding on the way back was a bit slower -the day had really warmed up - but we still enjoyed species like Red-faced Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Hutton's Vireo and Steller's Jay.

Western Wood-Pewee - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

As we arrived back at Beatty's the butterflies were rather active, taking advantage of the numerous flowering plants.

Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

After lunch, three of us decided to have a little rest while Dan headed back out to walk more of the creek bed. I told him to call me if he found something really neat; 15 minutes into my nap, my phone rang. He had just found a Black-necked Gartersnake. Laura and I geared up and headed back out, eager to see this species for the first time.

Black-necked Gartersnake (Thamnophis cyrtopsis) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

We spent the next couple of hours exploring the creek bed with Dan. Damselflies were rather diverse and I photographed a handful of different species.

Springwater Dancer (Argia funebris) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Great Spreadwing (Archilestes grandis) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Canyon Rubyspot (Hetaerina vulnerata) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Sierra Madre Dancer (Argia lacrimans) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Laura found this beautiful Canyon Tree Frog clinging to a boulder at the edge of the creek.

Canyon Tree Frog (Hyla arenicolor) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

My contribution was a Chiricahua Leopard Frog at the water's edge. This species has declined for many decades due to habitat loss and the introduction of the chytrid fungus, among other factors. Various agencies in Arizona have been trying to conserve this species with a captive breeding and reintroduction program taking place in some of the canyons in southeastern Arizona.

Chiricahua Leopard Frog (Lithobates chiricahuensis) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

This creek bed was just full of life, and here a few photos from our afternoon hike.

Desert Grassland Whiptail (Aspidoscelis uniparens) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Chrysoecia atrolinea on Rough Horsetail (Equisetum hyemale) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Arizona Sister (Adelpha eulalia) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Funereal Duskywing (Erynnis funeralis) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Efferia sp. - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Spotted Bird Grasshopper (Schistocerca lineata) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Umbrella Papyrus (Cyperus alternifolius) - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Chauliognathus misellus - Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

The cloud levels increased and thunder rumbled from somewhere east of us. The rains began just as we made it back to the cabin. This was a good sign. Often, rain is a precursor to a successful road-cruising outing, as it instigates snakes, frogs and other herps to move around. We piled into the Rav4 around 5 PM and drove back down the mountain. A double-rainbow briefly delayed us.

Miller Canyon, Cochise County, Arizona

Nikki and Laura were in charge of scouting restaurant options and I have to say, they nailed it each time. Tonight's recommendation actually came from my cousin Amanda and her partner Greg, who had camped in this part of Arizona last year. Before dinner, however, we had a date with a particular quail. I had remembered a dead-end road near Nicksville where Scaled Quails are quite reliable and so that is where we headed.

Gambel's Quail - Nicksville, Cochise County, Arizona

Amongst the dozens of Gambel's Quails we quickly picked out several Scaled. It was, by far, the best looks that I have ever had of this species.

Scaled Quail - Nicksville, Cochise County, Arizona

Scaled Quails - Nicksville, Cochise County, Arizona

Pizzeria Mimosa did not disappoint, though it was well after dark when we finally were able to pay our bill and get out of there to start our road-cruising adventure. Ideally we would have started right at sunset.

Before cruising, we quickly detoured to try to tape in some Western Screech-Owls (a potential lifer for everyone but me). This worked exceedingly well; a pair flew in immediately and allowed for incredible views from eye-level.

Western Screech-Owl - Sierra Vista, Cochise County, Arizona

Lately, I have pretty much completely stopped taking flash photos of owls at night. It is debatable whether the practice is harmful to owls, but to me, it certainly doesn't seem enjoyable from the owl's perspective to have bright stobes going off frequently. Also, I find that the lighting in the photograph looks more natural (and much better) if one uses a flashlight to light up the owl.

In this photo, the owl briefly became distracted by this moth flying past!

Western Screech-Owl - Sierra Vista, Cochise County, Arizona

Happy with our owl diversion, we began the road-cruising session in earnest. As we were quite close to the Mexican border, we expected a heavy presence of border security vehicles. Indeed, just about every road had an officer in a truck, looking for suspicious activity.

The first half hour or so of our cruise was not very successful. Perhaps the afternoon rains had cooled the landscape just a little too much? However, our concerns were quickly put to rest when we spotted a snake on the road. Dan managed to straddle it safely with the car, and I ran back to see what species it was. A Chihuahuan Mountain Kingsnake!

Chihuahuan Mountain Kingsnake (Lampropeltis knoblochi) - Cochise County, Arizona

What wonderful redemption after the one that had escaped Dan earlier in the day. This was probably my most-wanted non-venomous snake species for the Arizona trip. Mountain Kingsnakes are absolutely stunning and this one did not disappoint.

Chihuahuan Mountain Kingsnake (Lampropeltis knoblochi) - Cochise County, Arizona

This species is quite popular with collectors; we were happy to help it off the road and hoped that it would never encounter a collector in its lifetime. What a rush to find such a gorgeous species!

Chihuahuan Mountain Kingsnake (Lampropeltis knoblochi) - Cochise County, Arizona

We were pulled over by border patrol just minutes later, and we had a brief but cordial chat with the officer. I'm sure he was relieved that we were just a few nerdy biologists looking for wildlife.

The rest of our cruising session was a bit slow. We found a few Sonoran Desert Toads but struck out with any other reptiles. A Barn Owl was a highlight in one area, while later on we found an American Hog-nosed Skunk. Everyone was pretty tired when we returned to Miller Canyon.

Of course the evening wasn't over yet as Dan and I still had the moth sheet to check. Though activity was a little bit slower this night, we still found quite a few new species for us. Below are some of the highlights.