There are good days and bad in birding. Yesterday was bad – well in terms of seeing our target birds that is. Today was good. We continue to steadily make our way west towards Arizona. We left our overnight accommodation at Study Butte after a makeshift breakfast and arrived at Carolyn Olh-Johnson’s oasis reserve at just after eight. It’s a small property, lost in the Christmas Mountains, where she started creating her fabulous sanctuary in 1996. Access is by invitation and is located at the end of a rough track ten miles from the highway. It’s perhaps the most reliable spot in America to see Lucifer Sheartail – or hummingbird as it was formally known. We spent three hours there watching a constantly changing cast of species. We saw over 40 including our target bird and two warblers that were rare for the site. Cape May – only seen once before – and Black-throated Grey, with less than a handful of records. An extraordinary experience. We then headed for Alpine where lunch at MacDonalds was accompanied by an overhead Zone-tailed Hawk chased by an American Kestrel. Johnsons Pools (no relation as far as I’m aware) is another birding oasis only this time in the suburbs. Still, some excellent birding including Northern Waterthrush – our first since we left the Gulf – and Western Tanager. A brief stop at the lakeside pull-off north of the town produced Green Kingfisher, Mexican Duck and Gadwall before we arrived at our overnight stop of Fort Davis. A quick visit to the Davis Mountains State Park interpretation centre produce good intel on our next target and a second shot at Elf Owl. The Montezuma Quail duly obliged at the look-out blind before supper as did the Elf Owl after. A captivating display of nighthawk on the road home rounded off a very productive and satisfying day. The rollercoaster that is birding – I love it!