Mary Ann and I went for a Hike in Aravaipa Canyon on 3/22/2012, and then to Oak Flats the next day. This post has pictures and comments from that trip.
Aravaipa Canyon is a beautiful mixture of riparian area and desert. It is home to a great variety of wildlife, including 238 species of birds and 200 species of butterflies. Here is a link to more information: http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=wildView&WID=15. We spent the first day in Aravaipa Canyon, and spent the night in Globe at Noftsger Inn. Noftsger Inn is an old school house that has been converted into a bed and breakfast. The rooms were previously classrooms, and still have the original old woodwork, chalkboards, etc. The next day we spent the morning at Oak Flats campground, which is a nice birding spot.
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Here are some pictures of birds from Aravaipa Canyon. I didn’t get any what I would consider great bird shots, but this gives an idea of just some of the species we saw (the ones I was able to get that had at least an identifiable bird). For me the highlight was the Common Blackhawk. There was a Phainapepla chirping loudly and regularly at the hawk.
Here are some butterfly pictures from Aravaipa Canyon:
Here are some landscape pictures from the canyon. There are no ‘killer’ shots in there, but you get the idea – it’s a nice place:
Here are some hikers:
Here is Noftsger Inn:
Here are some bird pictures from Oak Flats. I really need to get a good tripod to get better pictures, especially for situations like the Harrier, where he was roosted for a while, or the Bewicks, where I know they’ll be returning.
