Sonora, Mexico Butterfly Trip

[Hank Brodkin]

There is still room on SEABA's Watching and Photography Butterfly Trip to
Sonora in September that leaves and returns to Sierra Vista, AZ.  Here are
details:

Butterflies of Northern Sonora
September 25-29, 2007
With Hank Brodkin AND MARK PRETTI

Day 1 - Sierra Vista to Hermosillo
 
After departing from the Sierra Vista area at 6:30 AM (the starting point
will be Mark's house near Sierra Vista, for which I will give you
directions), we'll cross the border at Naco and travel south along the
beautiful Rio Sonora as it weaves its way south through fertile valleys
bordered by rugged hills, passing through small towns established in the
1600s.  Along the way we'll travel through Chihuahuan Desert grassland, oak
woodland, Sonoran thornscrub, cottonwood/willow riparian woodland, mesquite
bosque, and a bit of tropical deciduous forest before arriving in Hermosillo
about 6 PM where we'll spend the night at the Hotel San Martin.  We'll make
several stops along the way for butterflies and should see many species
found in AZ as well as others such as Boisduval's Yellow, Mottled Bolla and
Erichson's White-Skipper.

Day 2 & 3 - Hermosillo to Yecora 
 
After a 6 AM breakfast, we'll head east on Highway 16 which cuts an amazing
transect FROM the plains of Sonora into the mixed conifer forests of the
high Sierra Madre.  See the excellent article included in this information
for details on the flora.  We'll make several stops along the way for
butterflying before arriving in Yecora.  Our first stop will be the Rio
Matape, a lush oasis in the Sonoran desert where we'll look for species such
as Mexican  Fritillary, White Peacock, and Hepburn's Metalmark.  We'll also
stop at a spring-fed, palm-lined canyon in tropical deciduous forest where
we'll look for Poes Metalmark, Bumblebee Metalmark and Boisduval's Owl.
We'll stop at Tepoca Canyon, which is an excellent butterflying spot, and we
may check a few spots in the pines and oaks of the Sierra Madre.  Along the
Highway 16 route, we'll be looking for west Mexican butterflies such as
White-dotted Cattleheart, Yellow-angled and Orange-barred Sulphurs, Palmer's
and Hyperglaucous Metalmarks, Long-winged, Mountain, Mexican-M and Tailess
Scrub Hairstreaks, and Glaucous and Black-patched Crackers.  We'll check in
to the Hotel King about 6PM, where we'll spend two nights, and have dinner
at Los Aguajitos, an excellent restaurant **.  

We'll have one full day in the Yecora area.  We'll spend time east of Yecora
near the town of Maycoba and explore several canyons near Los Pillares for
Barred Yellow, Crescent Metalmark, Red-spotted Patch, Red-faced Satyr (if
we're lucky) and other species not found west of Yecora.  We'll also visit
the lush Barranca Arroyo Hondo where flowering salvia should be good for
butterflies, including Magnificent Swallowtail.  We'll likely spend time in
the tropical deciduous forest near the small and picturesque towns of SANTA
Ana and Santa Rosa.  We'll have lunch in the field and return to Yecora for
dinner**.
 
Day 4 - Yecora to Hermosillo 
 
Today we'll retrace our route back to Hermosillo.  In addition to the
Barranca Arroyo Hondo we'll also do the "baccharis strip" which can be full
of hairstreaks, skippers and nymphalids not generally found north of here -
Walker's Metalmark, Tiny Metalmark, Clench's Greenstreak, and Mexican M
Hairstreak are possible.  Then we'll descend into TDF and Sonoran Desert as
we retrace our route back to Hermosillo, likely stopping at Tepoca Canyon
and other spots along the way before arriving in Hermosillo about 6 PM.  
 
Day 5 - Hermosillo to Sierra Vista

Today will be a travel day.  After an early breakfast we'll head straight
for the border in Nogales and cross our fingers in the hope that the line to
get back into the states won't be too long.  We should return to the Sierra
Vista area by about noon. 

Please let me know if you are interested.



Hank Brodkin
Carr Canyon, Cochise County, AZ
hbrodkin at cox.net
"Butterflies of Arizona - a Photographic Guide"
http://members.cox.net/hbrodkin/



 
 ------------------------------------------------------------ 

   For subscription and related information about LEPS-L visit:

   http://www.peabody.yale.edu/other/lepsl