White Mountains, AZ - Trip Summary
Stuart Healy, May 19-23, 2008
Trip Log (journal entries)	Trip List	Photo List

This was a last minute trip that came about because of some unexpected found time. I scheduled May 19 to May 23 in the White Mountains where I had hoped to work on improving my knowledge of spring migration (something that I rarely get to do because I'm usually busy in SE AZ during this period). As things turned out, the trip was severely impacted by some weird weather and I didn't really accomplish anything in terms of the main goal. Taking away the travel days and one day that I couldn't bird at all because of wind, I actually managed very little quality birding time in the field. However, I certainly enjoyed the break from the normal routine and my stay at The Bunkhouse at Juniper Hill in Nutrioso (highly recommended). I added 2 species (Mallard and Cassin's Finch) to my overall Juniper Hill property list that now stands at 72.

The weather extremes were remarkable. Monday, May 19 was close to record high temperatures for the mountains. Tuesday was a little cooler and my only decent day in the field. Wednesday was a blowout (literally -- really high winds, no birding). Thursday was snowy, wet and windy, but I did find a few decent species. Friday? Wow! Five inches of snow at Juniper Hill and I later learned that 10 inches fell in some areas of Nutrioso. I drove home.

I didn't find too many migrants and wasn't able to look for the high elevation specialties. Consequently, bird highlights were few. The best birds were SNOWY EGRET at Bunch Reservoir, PRAIRIE FALCON at Sipe Wildlife Area, CALIFORNIA GULL at Sunrise Lake, FORSTER'S TERN & EASTERN PHOEBE at Becker Lake and CASSIN'S FINCH at Juniper Hill. Also of note (to weirdos like me) was a GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE at Becker Lake (a species that doesn't have much of a foothold in the White Mountains).

By using the links above, you can find day to day details of the trip (in my journal); see the the overall trip list; and view the bird photos that I took from the links in the photo list. Comments and questions welcome.