…Or does it? I get the saying basically means when things are bad they just keep getting worse but that wasn’t really the case for John G. And myself.

When it comes to birding you cannot control the weather, and I think my least favorite weather to go birding in has to be high winds. While rain can be somewhat hit or miss, full on downpours are challenging. When John and I started our day of birding it was both of those- windy and raining.

Let me back up just a little, John had contacted me about doing some birding around Tucson since he was coming to the area with his wife, who is not a birder, and wanted to maximize a day of birding. John had a strong list of target birds, many of which would be life birds for him. John had a nice round number “500” that he could possibly hit while out birding here in Arizona. John and I had birded together in Texas and I was really looking forward to our day out.

John and I had planned to meet at daybreak for a staked out Red-breasted Sapsucker that I had mentioned in my previous blog post. When we met up the weather was ugly, rain, wind, cold (for Arizona) on top of that there were no birds to be seen except a lone raven sitting on a utility pole. After some brainstorming I thought we could run up to Madera Canyon and possibly have luck at the feeders at the Santa Rita Lodge. The rain picked up and the birding got even more bleak for the moment, I saw the number “500” John had wanted quickly slipping away.

John reassured me that the rain should break around 9am and with that bit of information we decided to drive back to to our first location, sapsucker still not in its known location so we decided to walk around and try for a Lewis’s Woodpecker and John quickly got on the bird, with the Lewis’s in hand and a lifer secured for John the momentum seemed to shift. We walked back over to the sapsucker tree and BAM! Just sitting there like it had been there all along, Red-breasted Sapsucker was lifer #2 for John.

We jumped back in the car and it finally started drying off even seeing some blue skies. We stopped at a couple places for some sparrows with little luck and finally made it to the White House picnic area. The walk was overall not very diverse but we got crushing looks at a Painted Redstart that just posed for us as well as a Red-naped Sapsucker that seemed jealous of the redstart.

Back in the car for a minute and we’re back at the lodge looking at the feeders. A complete 180 from this morning, we snagged some coffee and snacks from the cafe and we were racking up birds – Hepatic Tanager, Yellow-eyed Junco, Rivoli’s Hummingbird, Arizona Woodpecker, Acorn Woodpecker. The Painted Redstart ended up being John’s 500th life bird. 

Time was flying and John needed to back back with his wife by 3pm so we left Madera and went to Green Valley, hit the Historic Canoa Ranch where I was hoping for Lawrence’s Goldfinch. No luck with such a time crunch we had to dip on the finches but Brewer’s Sparrow obliged with looks and photos, for a relatively slow sparrow day it was much welcomed. 

A quick lunch stop for a Sonoran Dog hit the spot and we were off to look for another big target bird- Bendire’s Thrasher on the west side of Tucson. Although distant the thrashers were there and singing loud enough for us to ID them as they perched up. As well as a bonus Great Horned Owl on nest which was the much grayer subspecies B.v. pallescens. We also had a large flock of over 70 Lark Buntings. 

So with all this being said sometimes when it rains it does not actually pour, it just clears up and you can go birding. John and I had a fantastic day in the field, talking birds, getting lifers, sipping on some coffee and eating Sonoran Dogs. 

Go Birding,

Jeremy

Ohio guiding availability- I will be available for guiding in Ohio this May 2026.

Southern Ohio/Shawnee State Park area on May 3 and 4

Northwest Ohio/Magee Marsh area on May 6, 7, 18, 19, 20

Reach out if you are interested in any of these dates!