Species List

Stuart Healy Journal - April, 1998 If you use the contents of my journal for commercial purposes, please acknowledge the source to your clients - thanks.

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This log is in chronological order and the most recent entries are at the bottom of the page.
The last update was on Thursday, April 30, 1998

Wednesday, April 1, 1998
Today I was out again with Ann White of London, Ontario who needed 4 birds for 700. I had told her that two were likely on the Arizona portion of her trip - both were owls and would be her last two North American owls. Last night we had great success with Whiskered Screech-Owl and today we were after Northern Pygmy-Owl.

When it comes to finding birds I'm a great believer in playing the percentages, and Carr Canyon is where I would normally go for NPO if someone held a gun to my head. Since that area has been closed for most of the winter, I opted to go to Miller Canyon which is also an excellent spot but requires much more walking. It became clear as we hiked into the higher elevations that success was not likely. It was windy, the stream noise was drowning out any chance of hearing the bird, and the snow became deeper and deeper the further we went. Birds were few and far between and we saw only about a dozen species including HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH.and 3 species of Jays.

Now to plan B. Scheelite Canyon is one of my secondary NPO spots and often produces the bird when specifically targeted. It's a rare day when I head to Scheelite without looking for Spotted Owl! As we started up the canyon, NPO toots brought in a couple of birds that are not often seen in lower Scheelite -- OLIVE WARBLER and BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER. We continued on and, between 3/8 and 1/2 mile, fortune smiled upon us as we heard the distant tooting of a NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL. Generally speaking, if you're not within the owl's territory the bird will toot back, but will not approach, and such was the case today. We advanced toward the sound on the snowy slope and the bird eventually circled around us and started calling in the open near the top of a nearby Juniper. All's well that ends well.

Thursday, April 2, 1998
A brief morning visit to Sierra Vista sewage ponds produced a couple more season firsts for me -- a soaring SWAINSON'S HAWK later seen perched on Hwy 90, and 2 SNOWY EGRETS in pond #2. Snowies have been regular migrants at the ponds in April for the past five years. Other species included several continuing winter sparrows: VESPER, BREWERS, SAVANNAH and LARK BUNTING, four species of swallows: CLIFF, BARN, TREE and N. ROUGH-WINGED, LEAST SANDPIPER and 12-LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS. I saw a total of 37 species from 9:00-10:00am

Friday, April 3, 1998
California Day 1: Today was the first day of a week long trip to California with Eugene and Eloise Armstrong (who I had worked with a couple of times before) and their friend Jim Sinclair, all from Iowa. The trip was planned back in late 1997 and the timing was predicated on several factors. First: start early enough in Phoenix to get Le Conte's Thrasher still singing; second: return to Phoenix late enough to ensure that Gray Vireo had returned; and third: align the schedule to fit with Island Packers boat trips to Santa Cruz Island. Compared to arranging the schedule, finding the birds should be easy!

Our 16 primary target birds (for Gene and Eloise) were Black-vented Shearwater, Chukar, Mountain Quail, Xantus's Murrelet, Spotted Dove, Red-breasted Sapsucker, White-headed Woodpecker, Island Scrub-Jay, Yellow-billed Magpie, Le Conte's Thrasher, California Gnatcatcher, Gray Vireo, Cassin's Vireo, Oak Titmouse, Lawrence's Goldfinch and Tricolored Blackbird. Jim had not birded in CA before and had many other possibilities.

Our route was Phoenix - Mojave Desert - San Gabriel Mountains - Ventura - Palos Verdes Peninsula - Huntington Beach - Newport Beach - San Diego - Laguna Mountains - Salton Sea and back to Phoenix. Although the weather was never particularly bad for long periods, it was mostly cool (sometimes cold) and windy near the coast, and we saw some heavy rain in the Mojave Desert and moderate snow in the San Gabriel Mountains. As we moved inland to the Salton Sea, we lost the wind and temperatures were more comfortable.

Unfortunately, because of the weather, we were unable to get to Santa Cruz Island and lost the opportunity to look for the Jay, Murrelet and Shearwater (although we did find one from shore). Our composite trip list was a little over 200 species and we found 11 of the remaining 13 target birds, missing on Chukar and Cassin's Vireo.

Although I left home at 2:00am to pick up the group in Phoenix, the adventure did not begin until 6:30am in the middle of nowhere (Baseline and Salome Highway near Buckeye) for our first target bird - Le Conte's Thrasher. The area was about as birdy as I have ever seen it and before long we had seen BENDIRE'S, SAGE, CRISSAL and finally LE CONTE'S THRASHERS. Other birds included GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE, VESPER, BREWER'S and numerous singing CASSIN'S SPARROWS that caught me a little by surprise since the habitat for them here is not great

Then came the long drive to California for our next target birds, Chukar and Mountain Quail. To break up the journey we made a brief stop on Lone Pine Canyon Road at the east end of the San Gabriel Mountains. Plenty of snow where the pines begin that wasn't there a couple of weeks ago. Not very birdy but we did see SCRUB and STELLER'S JAYS, NUTTALL'S and HAIRY WOODPECKERS, PYGMY NUTHATCH, MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE, and WRENTIT.

As we entered the Mojave Desert the wind picked up and temps cooled considerably. On Jawbone Canyon Road at the "Black Pipe" (very green here near the buildings), birds were everywhere but very hard to see. I could hear Lawrence's Goldfinch but couldn't find them in the wind among the many LESSER GOLDFINCHES. Other birds here were CALIFORNIA QUAIL, ANNA'S HUMMER, WESTERN KINGBIRD, VIOLET-GREEN, TREE and CLIFF SWALLOWS, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT and LINCOLN'S SPARROW. A little further into the canyon we found COSTA'S HUMMER, SAY'S PHOEBE, WHITE-THROATED SWIFT and ROCK WREN.

The weather continued to get worse as clouds built up and the wind increased. By the time we reached Butterbredt Spring it was bitterly cold. The effects of El Nino were very evident - lots of water had obviously passed through and scoured away the vegetation. Needless to say, birds were few and far between - FLICKER, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, a few YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS but no sign of Chukar or Mountain Quail. As we drove away feeling somewhat dejected, two MOUNTAIN QUAIL flushed from the road just ahead of us and flew into a gully (about 1/2 mile above the spring). We played hide and seek with them for a few minutes but none of us managed see them, except for flying views. Definitely a BVD job.

Back on Jawbone Canyon Road it was now very windy but, nevertheless, we managed to find a male LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH in the trees at the "Black Pipe" house. Gene decided that he didn't want to return for Chukar the next day so we headed south in a cold, driving rain to spend the night in Palmdale. Not a bad first day, 3 target birds found and one kissed off. Mountain snow down to 5000 feet was predicted overnight.

Saturday, April 4, 1998
California Day 2: A cool and partly cloudy morning as we headed into the San Gabriel Mountains. Old snow was on the ground starting around 4000 feet. At our Chilao destination around 8:30am, about 7 inches of snow was on the ground in the uncovered areas and before we left at 9:30am moderate snow was falling. Despite the cold conditions, the birding was excellent.

I had seen RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKERS here in the past but none two weeks ago, so this was a bird I was a little worried about - would they be back? My question was answered as soon  as we arrived at the visitor's center - not one but three working the bare trees, great! Numerous BAND-TAILED PIGEONS were sitting in the trees around the visitor's center waiting for the next hand out as another target bird, WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKER, flew in and started working on a pine cone at close range. Another one bites the dust! It was now starting to feel like a Miller commercial, does it get any better than this? Yes! I was hoping for Mountain Quail at the feeders but a quick first check disappointingly revealed only a group of CALIFORNIA QUAIL scratching around in the snow. However, after a brief delay to look at another target bird, OAK TITMOUSE, closer scrutiny produced 2 male MOUNTAIN QUAIL looking 20-25% bigger than their California cousins. Other birds included 2-RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS circling overhead, ACORN WOODPECKER, MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE, SCRUB and STELLER'S JAYS, WESTERN BLUEBIRD, and BREWER'S BLACKBIRD. As we left, the feeders were filled and the Pigeons descended on them.

A pretty good start to the day that took very little time, so we headed north in heavy rain to Solvang in Santa Barbara County for Yellow-billed Magpie, at the southern edge of their range here. After a good lunch at Pea Soup Anderson's in Buellton (a place I frequented on weekend getaways when I lived in CA), sunny skies and numerous YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIES greeted us on Alisal Road. Several WARBLING VIREOS were singing and two RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS at close range were stunning. We continued down Alisal Road to Nojoqui Falls County Park which was fairly crowded. The park is a very reliable place for PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER and we found several along with OAK TITMOUSE, YELLOW WARBLER, and CALIFORNIA TOWHEE, then left fairly quickly.

Our next stop was at Stearns Wharf (pier) in Santa Barbara - a good place to scope the beach and the ocean. Here we found a very ratty looking RED-THROATED and a COMMON LOON, WESTERN and CLARK'S GREBES, BROWN PELICAN, DOUBLE-CRESTED and BRANDT'S CORMORANTS, many SURF and 2-WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, HEERMAN'S, RING-BILLED, CALIFORNIA, GLAUCOUS-WINGED, WESTERN, and BONAPARTE'S GULLS, CASPIAN and ROYAL TERNS and BLACK SKIMMER. Shorebirds were few with WHIMBREL, WILLET (abundant everywhere along the coast), and SANDERLING (common everywhere)..

A brief stop at Andree Clark Refuge added a few ducks, EARED and PIED-BILLED GREBES, GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE (somewhat of a rarity here - these babies are spreading though), SORA and BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON.

As we checked into a motel in Ventura (here's a tip - don't stay at the Seaward Inn), a call to Island Packers left us very confused. "All trips for tomorrow, Saturday, April 5 have been canceled". Since April 5 was Sunday we were not quite sure what to make of it. Target bird successes stand at 8 with 7 still possible.

Sunday, April 5, 1998
California Day 3: Our worst fears were confirmed as we arrived at the departure point in Ventura Harbor to find no activity. Although it was a beautiful day, many folks had anticipated bad weather and canceled earlier in the week. Consequently, there were insufficient participants to make the trip. Our schedule had taken this possibility into account and we decided to "waste" a day and try again tomorrow when plenty of folks were scheduled.

As we waited for the office to open to reschedule, birds in Ventura Harbor were pretty uninspiring. Among the birds new for the trip were RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, FORSTER'S TERN, SURFBIRD, BLACK TURNSTONE and GREATER YELLOWLEGS. We also saw a few "collared" doves that we didn't positively identify.

We headed back north to Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens, a very pleasant place to bird. A few of my lifers were seen here years ago. We saw about 30 species from 10:15am-12:00pm including PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER,  BLACK PHOEBE, BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER,  CALIFORNIA THRASHER, CANYON WREN, PURPLE FINCH, ORANGE-CROWNED, TOWNSEND'S and WILSON'S WARBLERS, GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW and SPOTTED TOWHEE .

We then retraced yesterday's route adding  SPOTTED SANDPIPER at Santa Barbara Beach and SNOWY EGRET and KILLDEER at Andee Clark Refuge. Three days in the field before seeing a Killdeer! Returning to Ventura County we checked out Oxnard Harbor (for tomorrow's departure) which had MARBLED GODWIT and a few of the common coastal birds. Back in Ventura at Marina Park was an UN-BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD. In the past I've seen some with very little brown, but this bird did not even have a line of demarcation where the brown would be.

No target birds worked on, count still at 8 with 7 more possible. Night in Ventura.

Monday, April 6, 1998
California Day 4: A beautiful day as we arrived at Oxnard Harbor. However, we were soon informed that the seas were very rough and that all boats except ours had been canceled. Our captain told us that he would give it a try and fully expected to make it. We departed at 9:40am but had to turn around by 10:05am. White caps were visible ahead and even though we hadn't reached the first wind line, waves were already about 12 feet high and in a small boat that's pretty high! Although disappointed at losing the chance to see Island Scrub-Jay, I was somewhat relieved to be heading back to shore. We also lost the chance to see Black-vented Shearwater and Xantus's Murrelet.

We headed south through LA traffic (always a thrill) to the Palos Verdes Peninsula for our first shot at California Gnatcatcher and Spotted Dove. It was blowing a gale at Point Fermin as I heard a SPOTTED DOVE calling deep inside one of the trees. As we searched and got brief glimpses, the bird flew out and attempted to land on a wire - a feat that took about 20 seconds as it tried to keep its balance.

Next stop was Forrestal Drive where I've had mixed luck with CALIFORNIA GNATCATCHER. However, on this day we would soon find one female along with more numerous BLUE-GRAYS. Other birds here included ANNA'S and ALLEN'S HUMMERS, WESTERN KINGBIRD, SPOTTED and CALIFORNIA TOWHEES and LAZULI BUNTING.

Continuing south into Orange County we headed to Carr Park in Huntington Beach where I've had good luck with Tricolored Blackbird. Not today, however, but we did see a two more SPOTTED DOVES. Onward - a short drive over to the Edwards street access of Central Park and we had our TRICOLORED BLACKBIRD. Yes, singular, one lousy Blackbird! However, one is all that it takes. Our first AMERICAN WIGEON of the trip and a few other birds were on the lake.

Our next stop was Newport Beach. Jim wasn't happy with the Gnatcatcher at Forrestal Drive and wanted another look. Over the years I've found Big Canyon in Newport to be the most reliable spot and I've never missed them there. Although Back Bay is closed due to a landslide, by driving down San Joaquin Hills Road to the dead end you can access Back Bay and walk about 1/2 mile to Big Canyon. It was starting to get gloomy at 6:10pm but it didn't take long to locate a calling pair of CALIFORNIA GNATCATCHERS that eventually provided great views. We birded here until dark and found a few more trip birds including GREEN-WINGED, CINNAMON and BLUE-WINGED TEAL, BUFFLEHEAD, WHITE-TAILED KITE, CLAPPER RAIL and COMMON MOORHEN.

Our target bird count stands at 11, but now only 2 more are possible - Gray and Cassin's Vireos. Night in San Clemente.

Tuesday, April 7, 1998
California Day 5: This was our day of "less-serious target birding" working on some species for Jim, but generally a day of enjoying the birds at a more relaxed pace. We began about 8:00 in La Jolla to catch a receding high tide - a good time for the rock loving birds that are quite easy to find in La Jolla. It was raining and quite windy so we were in and out of the vehicle between showers. Among the  birds here were BRANDT'S and PELAGIC CORMORANT, WANDERING TATTLER, SURFBIRD, RUDDY and BLACK TURNSTONES and SEMIPALMATED PLOVER. While scanning the ocean I could see a few BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATERS, but in the wet and gloomy conditions Gene and Eloise were unable to see the birds.

We moved on to the San Diego River with sunny skies and just a little wind. Here things took a "tern" for the better as we were able to compare ELEGANT and ROYAL TERNS along with CASPIAN, FORSTER'S and GULL-BILLED TERN. Shorebirds were not plentiful in numbers but we found quite a few species - MARBLED GODWIT, WHIMBREL, LONG-BILLED CURLEW, WILLET, BLACK TURNSTONE, SURFBIRD, WESTERN and LEAST SANDPIPERS, AMERICAN AVOCET, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER and BLACK SKIMMER. Other birds included COMMON LOON, BRANT, LESSER SCAUP, BUFFLEHEAD, HORNED LARK and WESTERN MEADOWLARK..

Although we'd seen all the cormorants, we made a brief stop at Sunset Cliffs to see all three species at close range. Next stop was "F" street in Chula Vista, a great shorebirding spot but otherwise not very celubrious. However, it appears as though an attempt has been made to clean up the place a little and it looks much better. The flats were teeming with birds but the tide was well out and they were hard to see. This is a good spot for Red Knot but we couldn't find any today. Most of the shorebirds present on the San Diego River were here and the only new birds were GREAT EGRET and BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER.

In Imperial Beach at the 13th street ponds I was hoping for Phalaropes but none were present. A few more trip birds though - GADWALL, BLACK-NECKED STILT and SNOWY PLOVER. A walk out on the pier was unproductive with only a possible poorly seen Pacific Loon of interest.

We headed south into the Tijuana River Valley where we found precious few birds. NORTHERN HARRIERS carrying nesting material and WHITE-TAILED KITES at a nest were the only highlights. Our final stop of the day was along the Silver Stand, another good shorebirding spot with limited vehicle access where you often need to jump the curb to park near the birds.Good numbers of ELEGANT TERNS and many of the shorebirds previously seen were present, and we added LITTLE BLUE HERON, SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER, RED KNOT and DUNLIN.

Night in El Cajon. Whenever I'm in the San Diego area I always stay at the Motel 6 in El Cajon where it's much cheaper than in San Diego. It's a cut above the average Motel 6 and I highly recommend it. Another benefit of staying in El Cajon is easy access in any direction - to the mountains in the east, north to Santee, La Jolla or San Elijo Lagoon, south to Imperial Beach or the Tijuana River Valley, and west into San Diego.

Wednesday, April 8, 1998
California Day 6: We headed into the Laguna Mountains for our first try at Gray Vireo. Unfortunately, the road above Cibbet's Flat was closed to vehicles and Gene and Eloise were unable to walk the distance to see the bird. Instead, we birded in and around the campground and along Kitchen Creek Road. It was very cold when we arrived at 7:00am - not much above freezing. However, the birds were quite active and we saw NUTTALL'S WOODPECKER, FLICKER, SCRUB-JAY, HUTTON'S VIREO, WESTERN BLUEBIRD, BEWICK'S and HOUSE WRENS, BUSHTIT, WRENTIT, OAK TITMOUSE, FOX and BLACK-CHINNED SPARROWS, OREGON JUNCO, SPOTTED and CALIFORNIA TOWHEES and BULLOCK'S ORIOLE.

We had intended to cross the mountains to the Salton Sea, but since Kitchen Creek Rd was closed and we didn't want to backtrack, we took the direct route along I-8. In the fields near Brawley were the usual multitudes of CATTLE EGRETS and a few WHITE-FACED IBIS. Behind the rest stop next to Ramer Lake was quite birdy with INCA DOVE, WESTERN KINGBIRD, CACTUS WREN, VERDIN, BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHER and ABERT'S TOWHEE. Seems like we're back in Arizona again!

Along Sinclair Rd were the usual BURROWING OWLS and around Salton Sea HQ we found  a pair of GULL-BILLED TERNS chasing each other around. Garst Rd is one of the better birding spots but the current conditions are terrible. There is construction going on and truck after truck is constantly tearing down the road making birding difficult, unpleasant and dangerous. They are removing material from Red Hill and pretty soon it might have to be renamed Red Flat. We did stay to bird, however, and found a couple of trip birds - LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER and STILT SANDPIPER among many other species  Schrimpf Rd was quite active and birds here included CLARK'S GREBE, GREEN HERON, BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON, GREATER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS and LESSER NIGHTHAWK.

Working our way over to Obsidian Butte and roads to the west we found RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, PINTAIL, REDHEAD, LESSER SCAUP, HEERMAN'S GULL (fairly uncommon at the Salton Sea), COMMON TERN, and ROADRUNNER. Our final stop at Ramer Lake was generally quiet and unproductive in mid-afternoon - only about 15 species including GAMBEL'S QUAIL, COMMON GROUND-DOVE, PHAINOPEPLA, MARSH WREN and YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD.

Now the drive back to Arizona. A stop at Tacna Marsh was uninspiring and the best bird of the journey was a WHITE-TAILED KITE along Highway 85 at the Gila River near Buckeye. Night in Mesa for a shot at Gray Vireo tomorrow.

Thursday, April 9, 1998
We arrived at Slate Creek Divide at 7:00am and it wasn't long before we heard at least two GRAY VIREOS singing - bingo, they're back. We stalked the birds for a few minutes and eventually had nice views of a perched bird as well as some views flitting through the junipers, singing as they went. A neat bird to see and target bird number 11 of 13 for the trip. Other birds present included SCRUB- JAY, CRISSAL THRASHER, ROCK WREN, WHITE-CROWNED, CHIPPING, BLACK-CHINNED, VESPER, BLACK-THROATED and RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS.

We headed south a few miles to the creek at Sunflower. It's a testament to the lack of suitable habitat that birds put up with such a lousy location with traffic constantly roaring by. Maybe they don't care but it sure bugs me to bird here! After a little searching we found a COMMON BLACK-HAWK perched in a bare Sycamore. Also here were GILA WOODPECKER, lots of CASSIN'S KINGBIRDS, YELLOW and LUCY'S WARBLERS and SCOTT'S ORIOLE.

Our final stop before heading to the airport was at Gilbert Ponds - sure looks nice here now and hey, what do you know - there was water in most of the ponds! We saw about 20 species from 9:15-10:00am and added 3 birds to our trip list - RING-NECKED DUCK, COMMON SNIPE, and BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD. Did not find any Whistling-Ducks.

After I dropped Gene, Eloise and Jim at the Airport I headed home and had time for a quick visit to Sierra Vista Sewage Ponds seeing AVOCET and WHITE-FACED IBIS among the usual species.

Friday, April 10, 1998
Out today with Jack Stephens from Edmonds, WA. I had worked with Jack in April two years ago and today we had only 4 target birds - Buff-breasted Flycatcher, Mexican Chickadee, Juniper Titmouse and Black-chinned Sparrow.

We started in Sawmill Canyon about 6:30am. Very cold, some ice on the puddles. I heard a flycatcher near the cabin and as we searched for it we stumbled across a pair of MONTEZUMA QUAIL, a very nice bonus bird. As we walked up the canyon, many noisy CASSIN'S KINGBIRDS were calling and a GREATER PEWEE was singing. Eventually, we ran into a little group of about 6 BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHERS chasing each other around.

On our way over to the Chiricahuas only SWAINSON'S HAWKS along Hwy 80 were of note. A check of Willow Tank produced CINNAMON TEAL, WHITE-FACED IBIS, ROADRUNNER, WESTERN KINGBIRD, and CLIFF and N. ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS.

We birded Paradise Rd first before the day warmed too much. SCRUB-JAYS were present at the start of the road and at several other spots. We worked diligently for an hour without success looking for Black-chinned Sparrow, seeing ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, PHAINOPEPLA and RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW as we searched. We turned our attention to JUNIPER TITMOUSE and found a small group just past the cemetery. Driving back towards Portal, a couple of BLACK-CHINNED SPARROWS were singing and we saw one perched up. Another case of being lucky rather than good!

Spofford's yard was quite active around noon and we saw 2 pristine male SCOTT'S ORIOLES and a male HOODED ORIOLE. Other customers at the feeders included GAMBEL'S QUAIL, BLUE-THROATED and BLACK-CHINNED HUMMERS and PINE SISKIN.

Although the trans-mountain road is now open, we were unable to reach Rustler Park which cost us Mexican Chickadee. There was a small patch of snow just above Onion Saddle with a stuck vehicle that we could not pass. No sign of them below the saddle or along Pinery Canyon Road. I guess we used up our luck for the day on Montezuma Quail.

At Willcox we saw  25 species including DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT (seldom seen here), CATTLE EGRET, WHITE-FACED IBIS, BLACK-NECKED STILT, AVOCET, GREATER YELLOWLEGS and LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER.

An expectant night of owling in Garden Canyon soon fizzled out. The noise from the stream as the snowmelt increased after a warm day was totally deafening. Not that it really mattered - there was nothing calling, not even insects. A full moon, warm evening, but a washout

Saturday, April 11, 1998
Out with Jan Zoeller and non-birding spouse from Loveland, OH. Our only target birds for the day were Buff-breasted Flycatcher and Northern Pygmy-Owl.  The wind was a major factor and we abandoned birding around 11:00am. Sawmill Canyon was much warmer this morning than yesterday and we soon found several BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHERS calling and singing. The male ELEGANT TROGON was calling hopefully at the nest site in a bare Sycamore and appeared unconcerned by our presence. As we worked up a side canyon in search of  NPO, the wind was relentless and prevented any sound from being directed to, or heard from the owl - although I know he's there! I flushed perhaps the same 2 MONTEZUMA QUAIL as yesterday, drinking from a puddle at the side of the trail. Not many birds singing - ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, EASTERN BLUEBIRD and GRACE'S WARBLER.

We continued the search in Scheelite Canyon where I had found an NPO on territory not too long ago. However, the wind continued unabated and it was clear to me that the day was a write-off so we called it quits. A little more activity in Scheelite than in Sawmill with a calling DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER, HAMMOND'S and DUSKY FLYCATCHERS, and singing VIRGINIA'S and BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS.

Sunday, April 12, 1998
Today was Day 1 of what should have been 3 days working with photographer Tom Vezo, from New York. The wind was again a major factor and we abandoned the day at noon. I advised Tom to return to Tucson to work on desert birds and reschedule with me next week It's quite rare that I'm impacted by weather to the extent of having to stop birding, however, today was the second such day in a row!

We started in Sawmill hoping to find the trogon. Not only did we not see or hear it, we found virtually no birds at all. Ironically, having tried here yesterday without success when I needed the bird, we heard a NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL calling near the cabin. Allthough the bird briefly approached us, he quickly headed upslope back to his territory.

Next, a trip to Scheelite to look for Spotted Owl. I headed up the canyon quickly ahead of Tom carrying his equipment. Unfortunately, I couldn't find an owl in the lower area and Tom decided not to proceed to the upper roosting spots - maybe we'll get lucky next week when he returns. Scheelite was a little more active than Sawmill and we found another NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL near the 1/4 mile mark ,but he also passed us by as he headed up-canyon and up-slope to his territory.

Monday, April 13, 1998
I enjoyed a day of R & R due to rescheduling, and only ventured out to Sierra Vista sewage ponds in mid-afternoon. Sometimes a bird comes along that doesn't quite add up and such was the case today. A couple of Yellowlegs had almost everything that its takes for a Lesser - slender build, small head, and a dead straight and unicolored bill as opposed to the slightly upturned and bicolored bill of Greater. However, the bills on both birds appeared to be a bit too long for Lesser. I agonized for some time and finally decided that 3 positive characters outweighed a negative one that was iffy and I went with my gut feel for Lesser. I came back to the birds a few times and tried to second guess myself. Finally, one flew and gave the mellow call of LESSER YELLOWLEGS. Redemption!  

Here's a list of the 26 species that I saw from 2:10-3:20pm:
Ruddy Duck, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, Lesser Scaup, Great Blue Heron (rare here), 3-White-faced Ibis, Turkey Vulture, Swainson's Hawk, Sora, American Coot, 2-Lesser Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitcher, 15-American Avocet, Say's Phoebe, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Chihuahuan Raven, Curve-billed Thrasher, Marsh Wren (this is my latest sighting at the ponds - perhaps this will be the first year of breeding here!), Barn Swallow, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-headed & Red-winged Blackbirds, Eastern Meadowlark

Wednesday, April 15, 1998
Out today with Charles and Joan Oldham from Lake Oswego, OR. We went out last December for a couple of days when our efforts were sabotaged by heavy wind and rain. As it turned out, today wasn't much better. We began in Sawmill Canyon where winter is hanging on and it seemed more like mid-January than mid-April. By the time we left, the windchill was well below freezing. Quite a few birds around but all were extremely hard to find. The only bird we managed to get decent looks at was BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER, others included STRICKLAND'S WOODPECKER, GREATER PEWEE, PYGMY NUTHATCH,  and OLIVE and GRACE'S WARBLERS. Perhaps the COOPER'S HAWK that was in the area kept the birds subdued, but more than likely it was the cold and windy conditions.

We moved on to Scheelite Canyon where the wind was less of a problem. I could not find an owl in the lower roosting area so we continued on to higher elevations, as I started to feel quite ill. With each step I became worse and I was praying that the owl would be round the next bend. Unfortunately, it wasn't in the middle roosting area and we headed to the upper area. Finally, I found 1 SPOTTED OWL in a tree that I had anticipated, well hidden and sheltered from the wind. In situations such as these, when I have a "gut feel" for where the birds might be, I still discipline myself to go through my standard routine and check every tree. Tedious, yes, but it usually gets results. Some other birds in the canyon were WHITE-THROATED SWIFT, DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER, BUSHTIT,  CANYON, HOUSE and BEWICK'S WRENS, BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER and PAINTED REDSTART. On the way out Charles and Joan saw a HERMIT WARBLER - I haven't seen one yet this spring. I was now quite sick and had to take the rest of the day off.

I had made reservations at Ramsey for the afternoon so Charles and Joan went along and found what were probably the first RED-FACED WARBLERS of the season. I felt a little better by evening so we went owling in Carr Canyon. No problem finding and getting good looks at a pair of WHISKERED-SCREECH OWLS but we were unable to find Western or Elf Owls.

Friday, April 17, 1998
Day 1 of three days with Floyd and Kathleen Mitchell from PA, rescheduled after I took a day to recover from my second bout of food poisoning in as many months. Gotta start watching where I eat! The best weather day for some time, light wind and moderate temps - and the birds responded, 76 species on the day. There were 3 male ELEGANT TROGONS at 8:15am in Garden Canyon Upper Picnic Area but yours truly passed them by. Although it was a much better birding day, birds were never plentiful as evidenced by my inability to find a Buff-breasted Flycatcher in Sawmill Canyon. The canyon was quite birdy at 8:30am when we began and we were able to find 26 species including ELEGANT TROGON, STRICKLAND'S WOODPECKER, GREATER PEWEE, HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, RED-BREASTED, WHITE-BREASTED and PYGMY NUTHATCHES, EASTERN BLUEBIRD, HUTTON'S and my first PLUMBEOUS VIREO of the year, PAINTED REDSTART and OLIVE, BLACK-THROATED GRAY and GRACE'S WARBLERS.

In Scheelite Canyon the SPOTTED OWL was easy to find in the lower roosting area,.and an ELEGANT TROGON scolded us around the 1/4 mile mark. DUSKY and DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHERS and VIRGINIA'S warblers were among about a dozen other species.

A stop at Sierra Vista Sewage Ponds was not very productive but the sight of hundreds (sometimes thousands) of YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS is always worth the price of admission.  Among the other species here were AVOCET, LEAST SANDPIPER, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, a continuing MARSH WREN and ROADRUNNER.

We concluded birding for the day at the San Pedro Hereford crossing between 3:30 and 5:00pm. Quite  birdy, especially near the bridge and we found 26 species - here's the list -- MALLARD, COOPER'S HAWK, KILLDEER, MOURNING and WHITE-WINGED DOVES, BELTED KINGFISHER, GILA and LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKERS, FLICKER, BLACK PHOEBE, VERMILION and HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHERS, CASSIN'S KINGBIRD, BUSHTIT, LUCY'S, YELLOW, YELLOW-RUMPED and WILSON'S WARBLERS, YELLOWTHROAT, LESSER GOLDFINCH, HOUSE FINCH, SONG SPARROW, ABERT'S TOWHEE and BULLOCK'S and SCOTT'S ORIOLES. As we left, a SWAINSON'S HAWK and ROADRUNNER were on the Hereford Rd.

Saturday, April 18, 1998
A beautiful morning at Patagonia Lake State Park where we spent from 8:00-11:00am. Although we were only searching for one bird -- Gray Flycatcher, we found about 55 species in the process. I eventually found a GRAY FLYCATCHER but, unfortunately, Floyd and Kathleen did not see it. I had mentioned that we'd probably see SUMMER TANAGER, a year first for me. However, I wasn't prepared for the numbers - they were quite common. A particularly interesting sighting for me was a latish SWAMP SPARROW.  Also of interest: GREAT EGRET, several BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCKS, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, SORA, 3-RING-BILLED GULLS, NORTHERN BEARDLESS TYRANNULET building a nest, my first BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK of the year, and BULLOCK'S ORIOLE.

In the Paton's yard we had two targets: LAZULI BUNTING which we found almost immediately, and COSTA'S HUMMER that took about two hours from 11:20am-1:25pm. While waiting we saw  30 species with the usual array of hummers including VIOLET-CROWNED and RUFOUS, GRAY HAWK, NORTHERN BEARDLESS TYRANNULET, still a PINE SISKIN, and somewhat surprisingly, a singing WHITE-THROATED SPARROW.

Sunday, April 19, 1998
Today I was out with Dave and Carol Castaner of Warrensburg, MO. We began at the upper picnic area in Garden Canyon around 7:15 and found ELEGANT TROGON right away. However, it took a while to see it well. The area was more active than of late with PLUMBEOUS VIREO,  HEPATIC TANAGER, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK and SCOTT'S ORIOLE.

Sawmill Canyon was (finally!) pretty much close to normal for the date with far more activity than just a few days ago. A few more species and many more individuals -- 27 species seen between 8:40 and 11:10am. WILD TURKEY at the cabin, GREATER ROADRUNNER heard singing again for the first time in a while (no wind!), STRICKLAND'S WOODPECKER, ELEGANT TROGON calling near the upper nest site, a persistently singing GREATER PEWEE, lots of singing and chasing BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHERS, DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER,  EASTERN BLUEBIRD, PLUMBEOUS VIREO, GRACE'S WARBLERS singing everywhere, several OLIVE WARBLERS singing, and a pair of foraging HEPATIC TANAGERS (first time I've seen them in Sawmill this year). A very pleasant morning.

Spotted Owl was not in the lower area in Scheelite and I'm still a little weak from my recent ailment to search all the other areas. The canyon was fairly active considering the noon start time and we found VIRGINIA'S and BLACK-THROATED GRAY as well as my first NASHVILLE WARBLER of the season.

Monday, April 20, 1998
Day 3 with Floyd and Kathleen. We broke our journey to the Chiricahuas  at Whitewater Draw in the Sulphur Springs Valley, seeing about 20 species in our brief 15 minute stop -- I wish it could have been longer. My first WILSON'S PHALAROPES of the season, plenty of WHITE-FACED IBIS, all three EGRETS, several RING-BILLED GULLS and a few assorted shorebirds.

In the mountains, many RED-FACED WARBLERS were singing along Pinery Canyon Rd and we also found GRACE'S and OLIVE, all fairly low down. MEXICAN CHICKADEES were present in several places. Rustler Park road is still impassable to small vehicles just below the Barfoot split. It would be probably be possible to get past the snow with caution.

In and around Paradise we saw LEWIS'S WOODPECKER, BROAD-TAILED HUMMER, JUNIPER TITMOUSE, EASTERN BLUEBIRD, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, SCOTT'S ORIOLE and AMERICAN GOLDFINCH. Thanks to Dale Julian at the George Walker House for her hospitality. The Spofford's feeders were quiet around noon but we added LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKER and BULLOCK'S ORIOLE to our day list.

Our last stop at Willcox around 4:00pm was loaded with birds. At the temporal ponds near the golf course we found BUFFLEHEAD, LESSER YELLOWLEGS, WILLET, MARBLED GODWIT, WESTERN and LEAST SANDPIPERS, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER and BLACK-NECKED STILT. Mostly NORTHERN SHOVELERS on the main pond with EARED GREBES involved in courtship displays, SPOTTED SANDPIPER, many WILSON'S PHALAROPES  and a fairly late COMMON MERGANSER.

Tuesday, April 21, 1998
A mid-morning visit to Sierra Vista Sewage Ponds produced almost 30 species including a single breeding plumaged CATTLE EGRET. This is only my second spring record at the ponds (May '94 was the other) and I have only a 3 fall records from October '93, October '94 and September '95. Thus, a fairly rare bird in this neck of the woods. Among the other species were WHITE-FACED IBIS, AVOCET and LARK SPARROW.

Wednesday, April 22, 1998
A mid-afternoon visit to Sierra Vista Sewage Ponds was more significant for a milestone than for the birds seen -- visit #500 to the ponds since I started birding there in October, 1993. Surely there must be an award for such things, perhaps the "big stinky". No great birds to report -- in fact most of the ducks have disappeared. However, I did see a GREAT EGRET - my first spring record for the ponds.Like yesterday's Cattle Egret, I have fall records -- 1 each year from 93-96. Other species seen included GREATER YELLOWLEGS and SORA.

Thursday, April 23, 1998
Up at O-dark:30 and on the road by 4:00am for a trip to California Gulch with Floyd and Kathleen Mitchell. I had told them it was really too early in the season and I didn't expect to find the sparrows, but they were still optimistic. As it turns out, their optimism was entirely justified!

The Ruby Rd is freshly graded as far as Sycamore Canyon and is in about as good a condition as it gets. The grader is still working and should be complete as far as CA Gulch turnoff in a few days.The road to CA Gulch from the Ruby Rd is generally in pretty bad condition and high clearance is most certainly required. I did not use 4 wheel drive today, but there were times when it was close to being needed. There is plenty of standing water on the road (about as much as monsoon season) and the area is very green with lots of flowers. Since the gulch is now closed to vehicles at the north end, I opted to drive to the south end to avoid the steep walk in and out. Unfortunately, I was unable to get as far as I had hoped because the Forest Service has inexplicably made some more closures at the south end as well. There are two main closures that I was able to determine:

1) The road leading north from "Ralph's place" to the south end of CA Gulch is is now blocked near the house. This road is in good condition and I don't understand why it could not have been blocked closer to the gulch. Nevertheless, this is still a good way to go since the walk is no further than walking down from the top of the gulch and is much less strenuous a walk. There is the problem of standing water, however, and today there were three places where it was difficult not to get our feet wet.

2) The road leading south from "Ralph's Place" through the riparian area (where Zone-tails nest) to FR 217 near California Spring is also blocked off. Foot access for birding this area is still available.

The way to reach the south end of the Gulch is to take the "new" (three year old) road from the "parking area" at the top (north) end of the gulch, and go 1.3 miles until you see a road on the left signed "dead end". This is a another new road put in by the Forest Service that is now the only way for Ralph to access his property. It's a good road, and from the dead end near the house it's then only a moderate 5 minute walk to the Gulch. The biggest negative of not being able to drive to the birds is having to lug a scope up and down the north hill, or through the south stream crossings.

The area was quite birdy today (about 40 species) with 2-FIVE-STRIPED SPARROWS seen near the first (north) stream crossing. One bird perched up twice in about 15 minutes for a couple of minutes each time, and sang a fairly half-hearted song on one occasion. We found the birds after the sun was above the east ridge (about 8:30am) and they were extremely hard to see. As we watched the sparrows, a MONTEZUMA QUAIL gave a single quavering call from the slopes. A bird very much in evidence today was NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET -- many were singing throughout the gulch with a few individuals chasing each other. Circling near the house were 2-ZONE-TAILED HAWKS which are presumably nesting again, and a little further down FR 217 where it turns into Warsaw Canyon was a perched GRAY HAWK -- my first for the area. Most of the expected species were seen with ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, BELL'S VIREO, LUCY'S WARBLER and RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW all common. Perhaps indicative of this very wet year, the first SONG SPARROW that I have seen in the gulch was singing near the second stream crossing. Other birds included COOPER'S HAWK, COSTA'S HUMMINGBIRD, BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHER, ROCK and CANYON WRENS, SUMMER TANAGER and SCOTT'S ORIOLE.

Nogales Sewage Ponds was disappointing between 12:30 and 1:00pm and yielded only 20+ species. SPOTTED SANDPIPER and WILSON'S PHALAROPE were the only shorebirds seen. At Kino Springs I hoped for an early Tropical Kingbird, but I used all my luck for the day on Five-striped. At the clubhouse pond were the seemingly ever-present GRAY HAWKS (2 perched birds) , BLUE-WINGED TEAL and over 20 BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCKS.

Friday, April 24, 1998
A day to myself and I used it to try to find Red-faced Warbler territories without sucess. Although I found 25 species in Sawmill, the canyon was fairly quiet today. I found most of the commonly expected species including 4-WILD TURKEYS, ELEGANT TROGON, HEPATIC TANAGER, SCOTT'S ORIOLE and a pair of BULLOCK'S ORIOLES, a species I rarely see in this location.  

Scheelite Canyon was also quiet and I found only 20 species there. By late morning the wind picked up considerably and birding was not very enjoyable. BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER arrived just about on time and the best bird was a ROCK WREN, which may be a possible breeder in the canyon this year. Spotted Owl has not been seen for a week and I couldn't find the bird today, perhaps off looking for a new mate.

Saturday, April 25, 1998
Out today with Mal and Laura Tracy from Brookfield, IL. Another very windy day making for less than ideal birding conditions, and we managed only 80+ species on the day. Our first stop was the upper picnic area in Garden Canyon where we saw both male and female ELEGANT TROGON without much effort. Sawmill Canyon was quiet again with almost no bird song and it was an effort to scratch out birds. Among the 20 species that we found were ELEGANT TROGON, BUFF-BREASTED, DUSKY-CAPPED and ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS, OLIVE and GRACE'S WARBLER and BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK. WILD TURKEYS and other species continue to come in to the corn being supplied by Game Management  personnel (which has also attracted Montezuma Quail)..

The Paton's yard had plenty of customers today (human and avian) and we saw the usual hummingbirds plus NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET, LAZULI BUNTING and LARK SPARROW. Unfortunately, we didn't find any Thick-billed Kingbirds (first reported yesterday) despite checks of the Roadside Rest, the stream crossing, and the sanctuary. During the search we came across BLACK VULTURE, GRAY HAWK, BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER, LUCY'S WARBLER, GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE, SUMMER TANAGER and YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT. Somewhat surprising at the stream crossing (at this time of year) were ACORN WOODPECKERS and MEXICAN JAYS.

Our luck with Tropical Kingbird at Kino Springs (first reported yesterday) was the same -- bad! No sign of the bird in the high wind, just a few BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCKS, perched GRAY HAWK, VERMILION and ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS, BELL'S VIREO and LINCOLN'S SPARROW.

Monday, April 27, 1998
A pleasant morning birding on the San Pedro River (Hwy 90 crossing), an area that I've neglected somewhat recently. Despite a fairly late start, I was able to find exactly 50 species in about 2 1/2 hours. Disappointingly, however, apart from several DUSKY and 1 HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, and numerous WILSON'S and a couple of male BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER'S, I found very few migrants. Almost all of the birds that I saw were either permanent residents or summer breeders. Definitely not disappointing though was a NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET, rarely seen in this neck of the woods and the first that I've seen on the San Pedro since I started birding there in May, 1993. Species #185 for me at the river.

I first heard the bird call at the north end of the big pond. Although I trust my ears more than my eyes, I was initially very dubious. I waited around for 30 minutes and heard the bird sing 3 times, and by now I was almost convinced! I tried to find it without success and my excitement was a little tempered by the possibility of a Mockingbird -- I've heard them do some remarkable imitations. However, about an hour later as I worked the south end of the pond, I heard the bird singing again and finally tracked it down as it foraged and sang.  Albeit not extensive, the habitat at the pond is fairly good for this species and perhaps it might breed.

Later I saw another species that I don't see much in lowland riparian habitat -- a migrating male BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD. I initially heard and finally tracked him down foraging in the cottonwoods. Abundant along the river were VERMILION FLYCATCHERS, YELLOW WARBLERS, YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS and SUMMER TANAGERS. Here's a complete list of what I saw from 8:05-10:25am.

Mallard, Gray, Swainson's and Red-tailed Hawks, Gambel's Quail, American Coot, Mourning,  White-winged and Common Ground-Doves, Black-chinned and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Gila  and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Northern Flicker, Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Hammond's,  Dusky, Vermilion and Ash-throated Flycatchers, Say's Phoebe, Cassin's Kingbird, Chihuahuan Raven, Curve-billed Thrasher, European Starling, White-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick's and House Wrens, Verdin,   Violet-green and Northern Rough-winged Swallows, Bridled Titmouse, Lesser Goldfinch, House Finch, Lucy's, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Gray and Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat, Song, Lincoln's, Chipping and Lark Sparrows, Green-tailed, Canyon and Abert's Towhees, Summer Tanager, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird.

After leaving the river I birded at Sierra Vista Sewage Ponds for 45 minutes, seeing 32 species. A few more shorebirds around today, mostly in the ponds along Moson Road. Here's a list of what I saw from 10:30-11:15am.

Mallard, 20+ Cinnamon Teal, 1 female Bufflehead, 35 White-faced Ibis, Turkey Vulture, American Coot, 3 Spotted Sandpipers, 20 Long-billed Dowitchers, 10 Western Sandpipers, 10 Least Sandpipers, 3 Semipalmated Plovers, Cassin's Kingbird, Western Kingbird, Chihuahuan Raven,  Northern Mockingbird, Verdin, Tree, Violet-green, Northern Rough-winged, Barn and Cliff Swallows, House Sparrow (uncommon here!), House Finch, Common Yellowthroat, Song, White-crowned, Vesper and Lark Sparrows, Yellow-headed and Red-winged Blackbirds,
Eastern Meadowlark and Brown-headed Cowbird.

A late afternoon visit to Scheelite Canyon was successful in that I found a very well concealed SPOTTED OWL. However, I broke my routine and got burned. Whenever I do not find an owl in the lower roosting area, I have a set routine for searching the middle and upper areas. Today, for no tangible reason, I changed my search method and ended up wasting an hour because of it.

After several consistent two-owl years, I have not seen two owls in Scheelite Canyon since December 16, 1997. Since that time, there have been various absences lasting from 1 to 2 weeks. I surmised that perhaps the bird goes off periodically to find a mate, which is the best reason I can come up with. I could be way of the mark, of course. This is their breeding season and one bird could be at a nest. However, that being the case, I would have expected to be seeing only one owl since, say mid-March at the earliest, certainly not since last December. Also, if they are nesting, I would expect the male to be roosting more consistently in a "sentinel" tree, somewhere near the nest site. But no, I fear the worst for #2.

After another 1 week absence, I was happy to find an owl today. However, if the bird is looking for a new mate, there is no sign of success yet. The fact that there is only one bird in itself makes it more difficult to find. Add to that the tendency of the current bird to use the upper and middle roosting areas much more than in the past and you have a tough situation. Some days the owl is still very easy to find. However, any folks planning to go to Scheelite in the near future should be prepared for a long walk and a thorough search -- and perhaps more than one trip.

Tuesday, April 28, 1998
Today I was out with Marie Zangger and 3 non-birders from Larchwood, IA. I had helped Marie in April '96 and we had only two main target birds for the day - Elegant Trogon and Red-faced Warbler. We birded in the Huachucas followed by brief visits to the Paton's Yard, Patagonia Lake State Park, Patagonia Roadside Rest and Kino Springs. About 90 species for the day.

Garden Canyon upper picnic area around 7:30am resembled a convention site as a fair number of people gathered to watch what is usually a very reliable occurrence. Today there were 2 male and 1 female ELEGANT TROGONS putting on a show.

We headed up to Sawmill Canyon to look for the warbler. In the Huachucas, Sawmill is perhaps the place where you can find Red-faced with the least amount of walking. When they first arrive, they can be found at lower elevations, but they soon move higher to their breeding areas. I hadn't yet seen one in Scheelite this year, but was hoping to get lucky because I knew Marie would have a tough time with the walk up Ramsey. It wasn't long before I heard the sweet song of RED-FACED WARBLER and we got some nice close up views. In fact, there were several. Due to our quick success we spent just an hour in the canyon, but managed to pick up several regulars including BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER, GREATER PEWEE,  GRACE'S and OLIVE WARBLERS.

At the state park we quickly added NEOTROPIC CORMORANT and headed to Kino Springs for TROPICAL KINGBIRD. Although we heard the bird during a Tropical/Western/Cassin's interaction, we never did see it. GRAY HAWK and BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCKS were both easy to see. Uncommon here was a VIRGINIA'S WARBLER. At the Roadside Rest, THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD was both vocal and visible. Stunning LAZULI BUNTINGS continue at the Paton's along with the usual hummers and a first year male HOODED ORIOLE..

Wednesday, April 29, 1998
A few days to myself due to a client's illness so I was able to make a rare morning visit to Sierra Vista Sewage Ponds. About 35 species from 9:30-10:30am. The best shorebird area continues to be the small ponds on Moson Rd where I saw BLUE-WINGED TEAL, 50 WHITE-FACED IBIS, BLACK-NECKED STILT, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, SPOTTED, LEAST and WESTERN SANDPIPERS, and a few WILSON'S PHALAROPES.

I birded the San Pedro River from 5:00-7:00pm seeing 44 species including my first Arizona  LESSER NIGHTHAWK of the year and my first BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER at the river this year. Uncommon species were HERMIT THRUSH and VIRGINIA'S WARBLER. It's interesting to note that although Virginia's Warbler has been on territory in Scheelite Canyon since March 24, migrants are still passing through riparian areas more than 5 weeks later. Not surprising really, it's still cold in the White and Rocky Mountains!

Thursday, April 30, 1998
I was the only witness to the ELEGANT TROGON early show at Garden Canyon upper picnic area this morning -- great close up views. The Sawmill bird was also very friendly this morning as he followed me up and down the canyon as I backtracked several times. I'm sure the bird had its own agenda but it certainly felt like he was escorting me along! Sawmill was quite active around 7:00am and I saw all the usual species plus MONTEZUMA QUAIL (near the cabin) and my first WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE of the year. It won't be long before they're annoyingly abundant again. Although they have only just arrived back in the canyon, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK'S were in full song. Contrast that with HEPATIC TANAGERS, back for some time but not yet singing.

Scheelite Canyon resembled a convention site with 7 parties in the canyon ahead of me as I started up about 9:30am. One by one I met them -- none had found an owl. Whenever I see folks that haven't found the owl, I've learned not to dispense with checking the easy places since it's common for a first time owl seeker to overlook an obvious bird. However, when 7 parties hadn't found it I figured that I was in for a tough time. Sure enough, I searched the lower, middle and upper areas extensively without success, except for a RED-FACED WARBLER around the 1 mile mark. Although it's an obvious statement, when the owl isn't found in any of its regular spots and assuming I didn't screw up, then the bird must be in a new tree. Since I was on my own today and had the time to do it, I decided to spend some more time rather than get skunked. I began at the scene of the last crime (where I had found a well concealed owl a few days ago) and to my delight I found the owl in a new (and again very well concealed) roosting location. My effort was rewarded -- I wish it could always be that way!.

It was quiet at Sierra Vista Sewage Ponds in the early afternoon but I did see a lone FRANKLIN'S GULL among 30 other species from 1:00-1:45pm. Most of the birds that have been around all week are still present including BUFFLEHEAD, 2 BLUE-WINGED TEAL, 180 WHITE-FACED IBIS and several shorebird species. I also saw PYRRHULOXIA which is quite uncommon here.
 

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30

This log is in chronological order and the most recent entries are at the bottom of the page.
The last update was on Thursday, April 30, 1998

Species List

Stuart Healy Journal - April, 1998 If you use the contents of my journal for commercial purposes, please acknowledge the source to your clients - thanks.

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