Five birders first stopped at Las Cienegas which is a mile or so before Gardner Canyon on Highway 83. We managed to see a Yellow-billed Cuckoo but the area had a lot of rain before we got there and it was alittle difficult making our way through the area. We could hear many birds, mostly Song Sparrows andYellow-rumped Warblers but they all were very elusive.

We then stopped at Gardner Canyon and there were many more birds that were in the open. Our target birdswere Cassin’s and Botteri's Sparrows. We were able to hear a number of Botteri’s Sparrows but no Cassin’s. We managed to get good looks at the Botteri’s and everyone was happy to compare them with the pictures in the field guides. There were many other birds in the canyon but we had promised Bill Brennan that we would have lunch at the Elgin Audubon Ranch at 1:00 so we had to leave.

We then started to explore the back roads of the ranch to look for birds but the roads were very rough and it appeared that a monsoon storm was soon to be upon us. We then decided it was time to leave for our Bed and Breakfast rooms to watch the rain fall.

The next morning we went to the Paton’s house in Patagonia to see all the hummingbirds and the other birds in her yard. We then went to the preserve and there was a Violet-crowned Hummingbird at the feeder—a life bird for one of us. We saw many birds at the preserve and also keep hearing the Yellowbilled Cuckoo, which we couldn’t see. We then decided to go to the rest area to find the Becard. On the way over to the rest area we saw a Gray Hawk calling in a tree at the roadside. It looked exactly as Jim’s picture. This was another life bird for one of us. We managed to see the Thick-billed Kingbird but missed the Becard's but Chuck and Loretta spent Saturday night in Patagonia and saw them on Sunday.

We also stopped at Keno Springs and were extremely disappointed that all the ponds had been left to dry up. There were very few birds at Keno Springs. We then stopped at the Hendricks who live off the North River Road. He has dozens of hummingbird feeders and we sat in his yard looking at the numerous hummingbirds at his feeders.