Montezuma Pass

The part of southern Arizona we're staying in is famous for its birds and other wildlife. Many of the birds and animals are similar to south of the Mexican border but if you want to see them in north America, the canyons of southeast Arizona are the place to come.

The various mountain ranges rise from the desert plains and today from Montezuma Pass we could see why they are known as 'sky islands'. When you look from one mountain range across the flat landscape to the next, it feels as if you're on an island in a greeny-brown sea.

It's all desert really in terms of rainfall but there's plenty of greenery, especially when you get high, and most especially in the damp steep-sided canyons where rare hummingbirds, warblers, flycatchers and woodpeckers can be seen. We found that the famous Ramsey Canyon was closed today so we're going back tomorrow. The feeders at the back of our house have been really good for birds today - here's a bird I don't even know how to pronounce with friends