An Approaching Monsoon Storm

Last night Tim (father) and Thomas (15-year-old son) and I camped at a precipitous overlook along the Carr Canyon road in SE Arizona's Huachuca Mountains with anticipation of a sunny morning filled with Greater Pewee and mixed flocks of migrants including post-breeding Red-faced and Grace's Warblers.

Instead, we awoke at 5:45 a.m., staggered out of our tents, and peered out to a stunning sunrise with a decaying monsoonal rain cell  approaching from Mexico to the south, just about to engulf the entire mountain range. Without the merest expectation for the remainder of the day, we descended the rough series of switchbacks and found our way to a coffee shop for the next hour as the entire region was drenched with rain.

Here's a view of the approaching storm, looking southeast from our campsite. Click on the photo for a higher resolution.

The rest of the morning was nonetheless spectacular, with 10 species of hummingbirds at my friend Mary Jo Ballator's Ash Canyon  B&B and additional Violet-crowned and Blue-throated Hummingbirds as well as Spotted Owls at and above Beatty's Guest Ranch in nearby Miller Canyon, followed by Pyrrhuloxia, Bronzed Cowbird, and Dickcissel in the lowlands nearby.