(Almost) Father's Day in Flagstaff!

We are going to make another trek to Flagstaff for some birding in the crisp mountain air of the high country! We'll be looking for northern specialties like the Williamson's Sapsucker, Clark's nutcracker, pinyon jay, band-tailed pigeon, mountain chickadee, red-breasted and pygmy nuthatches, and red-faced warblers. And would a Three-toed Woodpecker be too much to ask for?

We will plan on starting this adventure Saturday afternoon at the Rio de Flag Picture Canyon reserve at 3:00 pm and bird the loop trail for about 2-3 hours. Recent checklists show stellar jays, white-breasted and pygmy nuthatches, mountain and western bluebirds, hairy and downy woodpeckers, and various flycatchers and warblers. Picture Canyon also has a number of interesting petroglyphs along the paths, so it should be a very enjoyable afternoon. Afterwards, we'll head into town for dinner at the Beaver Street Brewery, Lumberyard, or another Flagstaff hotspot. (Final arrangement and time TBD.)

We'll get an early start Sunday morning and meet at Wilson Meadow at 8:00 am; Wilson Meadow is near the Hart Prairie Preserve, and is west of Flagstaff on Highway 180. Look for a sign for Hart Prairie Road to the right, and follow the dirt road until you reach the meadow. Williamson's and red-naped sapsuckers have been reported here, along with Townsend's solitaires, MacGillivray's, Virginia and red-faced warblers, Clark's nutcracker, western and mountain bluebirds, dark-eyed juncos, and green-tailed towhees. After about two hours, we'll get back in our cars and drive or carpool to Little Spring to see what we can find there. It's a rougher dirt road from Wilson Meadow, so be prepared for a bumpy ride! It's about a mile of lovely forest trail (mostly uphill) to Little Spring, and we will look for thrushes and red-faced warblers along the way. We have also seen the Williamson's sapsuckers here in the past, but they have not been reported here so far this year. We should wrap up our birding by 2pm so we can head back to Phoenix before the I-17 traffic gets too bad.

Be sure to make hotel reservations soon, since Flagstaff is a very popular summer destination!