On Sunday morning we hightailed it to Whitewater Draw. This picturesque site includes multiple lakes and riparian corridors. We had fine looks at waterfowl, dragonflies, damselflies, and many more bugs. A Northern Harrier almost collided with us as it quartered the marsh in search of food.

Our next stop was Miller Canyon in the Huachuca Mts. At the Beatty's B&B we watched dozens of Anna's Hummingbirds, a few new damselflies, and a number of the endangered Chiricahua Leaopard Frogs. Note that this frog has its eye on a small bug atop the water plant.

At the mouth of Ash Canyon we visted with Mary Jo and watched her feeders for Lucifer Hummingbirds. We missed those little curve-billed hummers, but did see (or hear) Montezuma Quail, Mexican Jay, Arizona Woodpecker, and Scott's Oriole.

A run up to Sawmill Canyon proved to be very productive. I whisted in a large flock of mountain birds: Hepatic Tanager, Plumbeous & Cassin's Vireos, nuthatches, creepers, Yellow-rumps, and Grace's Warbler. Farther on, we found a flock bathing in a coule of creek puddles: a pair of Cassin's Finches, a Painted Redstart, Yellow-eyed Junco, and more Bridled Titmice.

The butterflies in Garden and Sawmill Canyons were awesome, dominated by the showy California Sisters.

A light but steady rain convinced us to head back to the Pathfinder, but not before Jim spotted this young Ridge-nosed Rattlesnake slithering through the grass. It is one of three small rattlesnakes that live in the mountains of SE Arizona, and the only variety that we managed to see on this trip.

In the grasslands below the canyons we braked for this large gopher snake as it crossed the road. It did a fair amount of hissing and was not in a mood to be picked up.

On Monday morning the skies were dark and threatening. We hiked around the San Pedro House and down to the San Pedro River. The area was alive with birds, and we spotted a number of Gree-tailed Towhees, serveral Lawrence's Goldfinches, a Vermilion Flycatcher, and scad of sparrows. But the best two birds here (and perhaps on the whole trip) were two Dickcissals--grassland birds from the Midwest.

After saying goodbye to Jim back in Tucson, I continued on to Kitt Peak. The entrance road was remarkably birdy, with singing Rufous-winged Sparrows, Gilded Flickers, and a Gray Flycatcher among many others. As the afternoon wore on, I added a few more birds and saw a lot more desert scenery--arriving back in Yuma around 7:00 pm. It had been a fantastic nature-filled four-day weekend.