Steve Wolfe, one of our previous featured photographers, sent us this report on his recent trip to Arizona.

The Chiricahua Mountains in southeast Arizona are, in a word, spectacular. Located on the Arizona-New Mexico border and only 40 miles from Mexico, the Chiricahuas, like many "sky islands" of the American Southwest, are home to plant and wildlife species that are unique to that area. And because of its proximity to Mexico many indigenous Mexican birds are sometimes spotted here, adding to the feeling that, given time and luck, you could come across ANY bird of the region, rare or otherwise. I certainly had that impression when I spent 8 days in the Chiricahuas in late June 2008. I've always considered myself a "bird photographer" (I have a Canon 40D/100-400 IS lens mounted on a BushHawk shoulder mount)  but the abundance and variety I saw and was able to capture with my camera made me scour the Internet for information on the mountain range and its unique birds once I returned.

Even landscape-wise, the Chiricahuas are hard to beat. Coming from the east to the gateway hamlet of Portal, the traveler is immediately drawn-in by one of the grandest sights in all the Southwest, the entrance to Cave Creek and South Fork Canyons.

This photograph was taken on Foothills Road just outside of Portal. On this same dirt road is the Big Thicket and the home of Dave Jasper, whose feeders are open to the public from 6:30am to 7:30PM. Many of the local birds are seen here, including this rarely-out-in-the-open Crissal Thrasher.

While I was there I also saw Pyrrhuloxia, Hooded Oriole, Curve-Billed Thrasher, Varied Bunting, Black-Headed Grosbeak, and Black-Throated Sparrow. Also the Northern Cardinal and Canyon Towhee, shown facing off in this photograph.

From the desert valley it's a short drive past Portal to the second ecologically-different bird area of the Chiricahuas, the canyons. For many, South Fork Cave Creek is THE must-do hike in all the Chiricahuas. Arizona sycamores and lush growth follow the stream, dwarfed by the canyon's colorful cliffs.

Here, during spring and summer, resides one of the most elusive yet sought-after birds of the Southwest, the Elegant Trogon. I thought I didn't have the proverbial snowball's chance of spotting one, but on the very first day of my Chiricahua stay there one was at the picnic area at the end of the road; I spent about a half-hour watching it flying from ground-level perch-to-perch, scanning about looking for insects or berries.

I also saw Blue-Throated Hummingbird along the section of South Fork Cave Creek Road that spans the creek. It's one of the largest hummingbird species in the United States and fairly common in southeast Arizona's sycamore canyons.

When I saw my first Yellow-eyed Junco I thought I'd found something special. It is, but it's a common permanent resident in the southeastern mountains, so that by the end of my time at the Chiricahuas whenever I'd spot one I'd say "It's just another Yellow-eyed."  But it's a striking-looking bird with a musical, un-Junco-like song.

From the canyons of Cave Creek and South Fork the dirt road winds up the mountains to the third bird zone of the Chiricahuas, the mountain highlands. Rustler and Barfoot Parks are two stunningly-beautiful meadows with the High Chiricahuas as backdrops. Here's Barfoot Park; the view from the fire lookout on the distant peak yields views encompassing most of southeast Arizona and southwest New Mexico.

The birds in Barfoot Park were abundant when I visited in late June, and part of the reason was--a leaky pipe. An exposed water pipe stretching across the access road had broken, creating small pools from the steady drip of water.

The local birds came to bathe and drink in the pools. I soon learned that all I had to do was sit and wait. This Western Tanager and Black-headed Grosbeak were investigating the broken pipe.

Many of the birds would fly to the small pine trees opposite from the pools, then tentatively make their way to the water. Here's a Grace's Warbler in those small pines.

And I was rewarded for my patience by an encounter with possibly the most sought-after bird in the Chiricahuas, the  Mexican Chickadee. Unlike the Elegant Trogon, Mexican Chickadee is found on public lands north of Mexico only in the Chiricahuas and in one other spot in New Mexico to which access is difficult. And other Chickadees' ranges don't extend to here; if you see a Chickadee in the Chiricahuas, it's a Mexican. I first spotted this one in the small pines across from the pools. Its extensive black bib sets it off from the other Chickadees.

Then as I watched (and hardly dared to move or breathe) it hopped down to a pool and proceeded to take a bath.

It was the perfect end to a truly memorable time in the Chiricahuas, a place Richard Cachor Taylor, in his definitive "A Birder's Guide to Southeastern Arizona", calls possibly the "premier birding location in all of North America".