In February 2009 my girlfriend and I marked two milestone birthdays with a three week American road trip covering four thousand miles and five states.
Although wildlife watching was not the primary aim of the holiday, we did spend the majority our time in search of animals. We managed to see some impressive species and highlights include close views of a Golden Eagle, Harris’s Hawk, Great Horned Owl, Yellow-billed Magpie, Virginia Rail, Sora, two Bobcats, three Striped Skunks and loads of Javelinas.
Our holiday started in San Francisco where we explored the city on foot for several days. After picking up our hire car we headed south to Monterey for a whale watching trip, before making the long drive to Las Vegas. The Grand Canyon was our next stop followed by a couple of nights in Phoenix and two more in SE Arizona. We ended our fantastic trip exploring the Davis Mountains and the Big Bend area of SW Texas.
It goes without saying that we barely scratched the surface in most areas and we missed many target species. We are already talking of returning to our favourite areas to spend more time, especially SE Arizona where we particularly enjoyed the spectacular scenery and varied wildlife.
For those interested in reading more about our holiday please click on one of the following links:
CALIFORNIA
ARIZONA
TEXAS
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the many BF members that provided me with the information that made our holiday such a success. Your help is greatly appreciated.
So, Mike, how many birds did you record for this trip? Of those how many were "lifers"?
The other wildlife was also interesting to read about.
I enjoyed reading through all three sections!
Good Birding!
Excellent reports, Mike. I really enjoyed the Arizona one.