The next morning I birded Florida Canyon a little bit since Madera Canyon seemed pretty dead. As always, the butterflies up in Florida Canyon provided me with some good chances for lifers.
First was this guy, which I misidentified as an Arizona Skipper, but was actually a new species for me, a SHORT-TAILED SKIPPER:
This is a SOUTHERN DOGFACE, a rather widespread species:
The good fortune continued yet again with this lifer, a DESERT MARBLE:
Even though it wasn't new species for me, I've always loved metalmarks. This is a FATAL METALMARK:
Every trip I've taken to southeastern Arizona has yielded dozens of GOLDEN-HEADED SCALLOPWINGS. This was the case again:
But seriously, how could I hike up Florida Canyon and not look at birds? Of course, I had a target in the back of my mind, the continuing RUFOUS-CAPPED WARBLERS. I've seen the species before, only once, back in 2004, but I would love to see it again and maybe add it to my photo list.
I DID end up seeing it but for so briefly that my only photos of it are out of focus. I hardly care:
After finishing in southeastern Arizona, it was time to zoom eastward yet again. I ended up staying in New Mexico and a local park provided me this CURVE-BILLED THRASHER:
The entire next day was spent drive through New Mexico and the behemoth, AKA Texas. No pictures.
The following morning I woke up early and headed to the Friedrich Wilderness Park just north of San Antonio. This is my bread-and-butter spot for seeing GOLDEN-CHEEKED WARBLERS. My luck continued and I got to see this Texas endemic:
Being in that part of Texas also put me in range for BLACK-CRESTED TITMICE which were common at Friedrich:
As I was driving through the middle of San Antonio, I chuckled when a flock of BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCKS flew over the interstate. A weird place to see this year bird. Just past San Antonio I started seeing CRESTED CARACARAS from the interstate as well. I must not be in California anymore.
After San Antonio, it was time to continue eastward. And that sums up 21-23 March.
