We have been back two weeks now and only just catching up with ourselves. The jet lag on our return was immense with a long haul flight and a 10 hour time difference. We were slightly shell-shocked for a few days ! Anyway, not a bad trip but the heat did spoil it. It was 90 degrees every day by 10am, and it is still their spring. Heaven only knows what it is like in summer, unbearable I would think. So we were up at 4am every day, birded until 10am, then to the supermarket for lunch and something for tea and breakfast the next day. I knew where everything was in Safeway by the end of the trip and had even got myself a clubcard for all the discount! Lot's of Walmarts to shop at but the quality was yuk. We did have a few buns in Subway but the prices for a breadroll were scandalous. I had hopes of eating out, steak and chips, ribs and a cold beer......but that never happened.
The birding was good, but the miles we had to travel were staggering. We booked through Booking.com every couple of days when we knew where we were heading to next. Most rooms were around the £60 mark for us both, and the rooms were all nice. I added 110 new birds to my world list, with around 226 seen in total. Sorry, I have yet to do my mammals, best look sharp else will have forgotten!
The bird of the trip for me was between the Californian Condor and Roadrunner, can see where it gets its name from ! Afraid the brown sparrow types (of which there was a lot), did nothing for me. And the hummingbirds were fantastic, could have sat and watched them all day long.
The areas and places we visited were Sweetwater Wetlands, Mount Lemmon, Madera Canyon, Grand Canyon, Patagonia, Paton's Yard, Sierra Vista, Beatty's Yard, Willcox Twin Lakes and Golf Course, Huachuca Mountains, Monsona Canyon, Miller Canyon, Chiricahua Mountains, Pinery Canyon, Barfoot Junction, South Fork Road, State Road, Snowbowl, Walnut Canyon, Conorado Monument Road, San Pedro House, Patagonia State Park, Whipple Canyon, Saguaro Desert, Santa Rita Lodge, Bob Rodrigues Yard, Dave Jaspers Yard, Cave Creek Ranch and George Walker's House and of course Tombstone. These are not in any order and I am sure we went to more places but after three weeks recon brain fog set in.
The scenery was absolutely stunning and would have liked more driving stops to appreciate it. The massive open spaces that went on forever were something we have never seen before. Breathtaking. My pics certainly do not do it justice at all. Cactus, canyons, mountains and deserts, big open spaces, massive skies and mind blowing scenery. Fantastic !!
Vancouver and Alaska next......!!
The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco as we come into land.
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