National Monument

Every year we take one big trip and for 2015 it was an eight-day trip through northern Arizona and southern Utah to visit several national parks and birding, of course.  After arriving in Phoenix, our first stop was to pick up a couple of our favorite Whataburgers for the drive toward Flagstaff. Turning west, we arrived at a place called Tappan Spring, which back in the Wild West days was a hangout for outlaws and rustlers as well as a watering hole for those settlers passing through. Wherever there is water you will find birds and we were happy to find Black and Say’s Phoebe, Black-throated Sparrow, and lifer Violet-green Swallow.

The first National Park on our Grand Circle tour was the Grand Canyon. There are so many overlooks along the way to Grand Canyon Village that you can’t stop to enjoy them all or you will never get there. The views are incredible for us, especially since it is our first time. We checked into the El Tovar Hotel, a historical place that was built in the early 1900s. We dropped our bags and off we went to catch the park bus to Mohave Point for incredible views of the sunset. We see a lot of sunsets here in Florida, but nothing compares to the color changes you experience here.  The next morning, with coffee in hand, we walked out behind the El Tovar to watch the sunrise over the Canyon while birding through the juniper and pine scrub. Birds we found include Western Scrub-jay, White-throated Swift, Juniper Titmouse, Dark-eyed Junco (Gray-headed), and three types of Nuthatch.

Later that day we arrived at the entrance to Zion National Park where we spent two days exploring what became one of our favorite places on earth. If you ever visit you should plan to stay at the Zion Lodge because they have great little cabins and each one has beautiful views of the canyon walls. There are a couple of restaurants on the property that serve very good food and the staff is quite friendly. The difference between the view here and the Grand Canyon is there you look down and at Zion, you are looking up at the canyon. Of course, we got up early to bird before breakfast coming across Lucy’s and Yellow Warbler, Spotted Towhee, and Juniper Titmouse. Next, we took the bus up Canyon and saw several rock climbers scaling the cliffs and one was very happy to have his safety lines intact, as we saw him swinging about 500 feet above the ground. At the north end of the canyon is the Narrows where we found our lifer American Dipper, doing his thing, jumping from rock to rock and diving into the swift current of the Virgin River. The next morning, on the way to coffee, we were surrounded by chattering Wrens and several male Wild Turkeys in full display, trying to get the attention of a lone female.

On the way to Bryce Canyon, we made a roadside stop to see Meadowlarks, Swallows and a Black–billed Magpie. The rock formations at Bryce, if it is possible, are even more stunning than anything we have seen at the other two parks. Birding here was great and we found another lifer, Red-naped Sapsucker.  After leaving Bryce we checked out the City Ponds where there were Cinnamon Teal, Western and Mountain Bluebirds along with Yellow-headed Blackbirds in the cow pasture.

More amazing scenery along Highway 12 East where we stopped for delicious sandwiches at Escalante Outfitters. During a quick stop at Calf Creek campground, we saw a flock of Lesser Goldfinch. Our final destination for the day was Green River and we wanted to pick up a bottle of wine before going to the hotel. This proved more difficult than expected when our cell phone told us the nearest liquor store was 50 miles away. Now we understand the sign we saw that read: Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you may be in Utah!

The next day while driving south to Moab we passed by a group of Pronghorn Antelope racing down the fence line with a Park Ranger in hot pursuit, desperately trying to get them on the other side of the fence and safely into the preserve.  We drove first into Canyonlands, our fourth National Park on this trip, to Grand View Point for an incredible view of the confluence of the Colorado and Green Rivers. Birds at this stop included Say’s Phoebe, Black-throated Sparrow, and Black Rosy-Finch.  Next, we headed over to Arches National Park which is one of the most photographed destinations in Utah. On hikes to both Turret Arch and the famous Delicate Arch, we get incredible photos that will be with us forever. We also located several Rock Wrens, a bird we have been searching for several days for.

Wednesday night we stayed at the Red Cliffs Lodge located about 12 miles east of Moab. There is a winery on the property as well as a highly rated restaurant. Many Western movies were filmed near or at this location including the Rio Grande starring John Wayne. This is a great place for horseback riding, mountain biking, whitewater rafting, and birding. We have seen paintings of blue skies at night and did not believe it until we saw one for ourselves just after sunset.

In the morning we went south toward Arizona making a detour along the way onto the dirt road at Recapture Reservoir and found a variety of ducks, Lark Sparrows, and an Eared Grebe.  After leaving there we turned back west at Blanding on Hwy 95 looking for Butler Wash which is the site of an Anasazi Indian Ruin. We hiked along the creekside and up a hill where we found the Target Ruin, one of several dwellings in the area. Amazing to think about those who lived and survived in these cliff dwellings so many years ago. There are petroglyphs visible on the cave walls and remnants of their fires still on the ground.

Just after crossing back into Arizona, we arrived at Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. This is another place that we have all seen in Western films and we took a self-guided tour over the sometimes rough but always dusty roads of the reservation. Views are stunning wherever you look and we even saw a cowboy poised on a ridge in the distance.  This is a great place to end our Grand Circle National Park tour of the past several days. It is almost impossible to put into words the sights we have seen and you really just have to experience it all for yourself.

Next up: It’s getting Verde Birdy

Trip : Total Species:   84  Year Birds:  36  Life Birds: 6

2015 : Year Birds: 267   Life Birds: 12

Here’s the list: 2015 Bird List