October 8, 2022
After the Yellow Grosbeak several months past, I had no obsession with any one species, no nemesis bird. So several days ago this Philadelphia Vireo was seen at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, This would make a convenient nemesis. The amazing arboretum is just west of Superior, AZ on Highway 60. This is a 2-hour drive from Green Valley if you go fast and can avoid congestion. As the first report was on a mid-afternoon, I would not go chasing immediately. I decided to wait and see if the bird showed up the next day, a Sunday (10-16-22). It did show up early very near the coordinates that were included with the first report. It was seen and photographed by several birders. However, there was moderate rainfall later, this slowed things down. The next day I got there with a birding partner just after the place opened at 8. We stumbled around with the GPS and map and finally found a some familiar faces scanning a couple of trees. After a couple of false alarms, Brian Johnson finally located the bird in a large hackberry. The vireo posed and mugged for about 20 minutes. Along with the original post of the vireo was a Black-and-White Warbler and a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak. We found the Warbler, but the Grosbeak was gone.
Excellent post!