Our last day of the trip was 11 May (day 16) and, since our flight home was not until the evening, we decided to do some birding along the way as we drove from Paradise to Phoenix. Based on reports we’d read about birding in Arizona, we settled on the Playa Wildlife Area in Willcox (location I on the map), which has a large area of scrub and a lake that draws in wader. The best time to visit is in winter when thousands of birds are present, but we still saw some interesting waders.
On the short drive between Willcox and the Playa Wildlife Area we stopped near the Twin Lakes Golf Course to see the Scaled Quail that are found in the scrub. By this time of the day the light was getting very bright but we did get a very distant photo of the bird. On the wires there were a number of Barn Swallows.
There is a dirt road that runs around the lake giving good views of the birds on the water. Using the car as a mobile hide we photographed American Avocet, Wilson’s Phalarope, Black-necked Stilt, Greater Yellowlegs, Short-billed Dowitcher, Northern Shoveler, White-faced Ibis and American Coot. However, the bright light in the middle of the day made photography very difficult.
