Pinal Mountains, Sept 23, 2020

Mary Ann had the day off on Wednesday, so we decided to go up to the Pinal Mountains. I’ve been wanting to get up there before the summer birds leave, and I was worried that they would be gone by now. Some were gone, but we were fortunate to see some migrating warblers on this trip.

We left at around 6:30 AM. On the way up, we passed through some small towns: Superior, Miami, Claypool, Globe (in order). In Miami we saw a beautiful little church from the highway. The lighting on it was good, so we decided to stop and photograph it. It was also beautiful on the inside. We took the opportunity to drive around in Miami a little bit. The town had seen better times. There were a lot of abandoned buildings and homes, some just a shell. It was a mining town, and I think the mines aren’t active anymore.

When we got to Sulfide Del Rey Campground, I suggested we skip it and head up to Ferndell Spring, because our stop in Miami had taken some time, and I wanted to get to the Spring while it was still early. But, we decided to stop and use the restroom. We were lucky we did. There were quite a few birds in the campground, and some migrating warblers (Wilson’s Warbler and Nashville Warbler). The Warbling Vireo and Painted Redstart hadn’t left for the winter yet. We wound up spending a couple of hours there.

The next stop was Ferndell Spring. We hit the jackpot there, with a lot of birds showing up for the water, and the flies. It was obvious that cattle had been to the spring, but the good thing was that they left ‘something’ that attracted birds (flies? larvae?).

It was Wilson’s Warbler Day. I’ve seen them before, but never so many in one place (4 at the campground, another 4 at the spring). It was also cool to see the migrating Nashville Warbler (not common here) and Hermit Warbler. I was hoping to see a Red-faced Warbler, but no luck. I think they have migrated by now.

There are some nice views from the mountain, but it was a hazy day, and the light wasn’t great when we went to the top from the campground. On the way out, the sun was a little lower, and we made one quick stop for a photograph. I thought I’d include one mountain view.

It was a great day in the mountains. The weather was fantastic, and we saw some memorable birds.