Species List

Stuart Healy Journal - January, 1999 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 Saturday, January 30, 1999

Friday, January 1, 1999
Day 1 of 5 days with Sue Lendborg of Madison, WI, who I've birded with just once before in the summer of 1995. This winter trip was planned back in August 1998 and there's a good list of birds for me to find. I separated them out into three categories and have listed them below, so you can see just how well we do over the next few days!

Regularly Occurring (Should see): Ferruginous Hawk, Golden Eagle, Prairie Falcon, Scaled Quail, Mountain Plover, Anna's Hummingbird, Williamson's Sapsucker, Strickland's Woodpecker, Hammond's Flycatcher, Gray Flycatcher, Dusky Flycatcher, Hutton's Vireo, Western Bluebird, Sage Thrasher, Bendire's Thrasher, Le Conte's Thrasher, Crissal Thrasher, Juniper Titmouse, Cassin's Finch, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Brewer's Sparrow, Black-chinned Sparrow, Sage Sparrow, Rufous-winged Sparrow, Green-tailed Towhee, Lazuli Bunting

Regularly Occurring (May see): Western Grebe, Northern Goshawk, Montezuma Quail, Western Screech-Owl, Whiskered Screech-Owl, Northern Pygmy-Owl, Mountain Bluebird, Sprague's Pipit, Cassin's Vireo, Townsend's Warbler, McCown's Longspur, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Cassin's Sparrow, Lawrence's Goldfinch

Very rare or Irruptive (possible): Clark's Grebe, Ruddy Ground-Dove, Eared Trogon, Lewis's Woodpecker, Pinyon Jay, Clark's Nutcracker, Rufous-backed Robin.

With the new year come resolutions. I've decided to concentrate on an Arizona year list rather than look for life birds (of which I still have lots to find). Instead of setting an absolute target, I'm just going to try to exceed my previous best year which was 345 species seen in the state during 1996. If I can add to my current state list of 405, then so much the better. I think the 1 year record stands at 375. To have a chance at exceeding that will mean chasing lots of birds, but more than likely I won't have the time or inclination to do that as the year wears on.

Yesterday I returned to shorts and shirt sleeves as the weather stays warm and I continued today since I was headed to the valley of the sun, even though it was a bitter 49 degrees when I left town at 7:00am <grin> (with apologies to my climate challenged readers). On my drive up to Phoenix to meet Sue at the airport came my first species of 1999 -- those highly prized roadside birds. In order seen they were CHIHUAHUAN RAVEN, HOUSE SPARROW, GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE, COOPER'S HAWK, SAY'S PHOEBE, RED-TAILED HAWK, EASTERN MEADOWLARK, MOURNING DOVE, HARRIS'S HAWK, STARLING and VERDIN. A total of 12 birds in 180 miles, blacktop is such wonderful habitat.

After spending an hour in line to pick up a rental vehicle at Sky Harbor, we arrived at "the thrasher spot" near Buckeye at 1:00pm for one main target bird, Le Conte's Thrasher. Unfortunately, we did not find one. I knew that we would struggle at this time of day but I fully expected that later in the day we would find one. Someone who was leaving as we arrived had seen one earlier in the day. We worked hard until sunset at 5:30pm and ironically saw the only thrasher species that I thought we might not see, SAGE THRASHER. They winter here in moderate numbers but are usually easier to see in a month or two, during northbound migration.

I expected Le Conte's, Bendire's and Crissal to be active in the late afternoon but it didn't happen. It should be the start of their breeding season, but perhaps still a little on the early side based on today's evidence. Birds were fairly scarce in general and we found only (in order seen) BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHER (2-3 pairs), NORTHERN HARRIER, LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE (3-4), a lone TURKEY VULTURE, RED-TAILED HAWK, BLACK-THROATED SPARROW (quite a few), SAGE SPARROW (very common and easy to see), CACTUS WREN (totally silent!), a few BREWER'S and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS, 2-SAGE THRASHERS, PRAIRIE FALCON, MOURNING DOVE, HOUSE FINCH and GAMBEL'S QUAIL.

So, even though we found 4 target birds, it was disappointing to miss Le Conte's since this will likely be our only shot. Hardly an auspicious start.

Saturday, January 2, 1999
Day 2 with Sue Lendborg. After walking ourselves silly yesterday in a fruitless search for Le Conte's Thrasher, we did it again today for Rufous-capped Warbler. On this holiday weekend, it seemed like everybody and his brother were at the San Pedro River Inn today. However, as far as I know, nobody saw the warbler. We made morning and afternoon visits from 8:00am-11:30am and from 3:15-5:15pm. Around 3:45pm we saw the RUFOUS-BACKED ROBIN quite some distance from its "normal" location -- about 3/8 mile due north of the Inn in the cottonwoods at that spot. Thanks to Chris Benesh and the Field Guides tour group for getting us on the bird, and to Walt and May Kolbe for hosting so many folks.

The area was very birdy today and we saw a total of 55 species here. In addition to the Robin, target birds found were HAMMOND'S and DUSKY FLYCATCHERS, BREWER'S SPARROW, CRISSAL THRASHER and GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE. The latter two were heard only so we still need to work on them!  Other birds seen included  SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, COMMON GROUND-DOVE (Ruddy was seen by others), GREAT HORNED OWL, RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, PINE SISKIN, AMERICAN GOLDFINCH and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER.

In between stints at the river we headed over to Bisbee and the Mule Mountains. As if we hadn't got enough exercise, a bird that has been easy to find of late, BLACK-CHINNED SPARROW, took almost 3 hours and lots of walking today. However, bonus birds were a small group (6-8) of MONTEZUMA QUAIL that exploded under Sue's feet, and a first winter GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW in with WHITE-CROWNED. Other regulars usually seen here included WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, ROCK WREN and RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW.

Sunday, January 3, 1999
Day 3 with Sue Lendborg. It was a definite relief to be away from the crowds chasing rarities today, and to get back to the far more satisfying task of finding "regular" birds. We visited Sulphur Springs Valley in the morning and the Chiricahuas in the afternoon. It was definitely on the chilly side today -- the temperature was a brisk 24 degrees as we left town at 7:00am and when we left Sally Spofford's yard in Portal at 5:00pm, the ice below the drip feed was quite solid. In between we encountered sunny but cold conditions and a few decent birds. I was hoping for 10 target birds, but by day's end we had found only 9.

Our day began well on Hwy 80 near Bisbee where a GOLDEN EAGLE was still roosting as the sun was rising. We had great 'scope looks at the bird for a few minutes until it headed gracefully towards the San Jose mountains in Mexico. On Frontier Road we failed to find a Crissal Thrasher in its "regular" spot, but we did find a BENDIRE'S THRASHER perched up catching a few early morning rays. On nearby Coffman Road we enjoyed 'scope views of BENDIRE'S, CRISSAL and CURVE-BILLED THRASHERS, all within a few feet of each other. Only the Curve-billed was singing. We cruised down Coffman in search of quail, first finding a MERLIN and another BENDIRE'S that stayed perched up until just a few milliseconds before I setup my 'scope. Before too long we found a small covey of SCALED QUAIL. Other birds here included ROADRUNNER, GAMBEL'S QUAIL, CACTUS WREN, AMERICAN PIPIT, CANYON TOWHEE, LARK BUNTING and BREWER'S and BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS.

Heading northwards, our next success was a good looking FERRUGINOUS HAWK, perched on an irrigation rig as we watched the hordes of SANDHILL CRANES on Central Highway. Several more Ferruginous Hawks were on Hwy 191 north of Elfrida. I was a little worried about our last valley target, since I had not seen any reports nor seen the bird myself this season. However, after very little time searching in the interior fields at Essary Hay (formerly Spitler's), we found the "field of the day" with at least 70 MOUNTAIN PLOVERS, perhaps more. This particular field was loaded with sheep and birds and we saw PRAIRIE FALCON, KILLDEER, HORNED LARK, BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS, and both EASTERN and WESTERN MEADOWLARKS. Flushed with the success of all six target birds seen, we headed north to the Chiricahuas.

Pinery Canyon road was generally in pretty good shape, but there was packed ice in many places. We worked long and hard without success for Northern Pygmy-Owl up to Onion Saddle, and for Cassin's Finch on the way down Rustler Park Rd. I later learned that only a single Cassin's was recorded on yesterday's Christmas count, and that no Pygmy-Owls were found during the day. Now I didn't feel so bad. After several hours in the mountains we had found but one target bird, WESTERN BLUEBIRD. Other higher elevation birds included MEXICAN CHICKADEE, MEXICAN and STELLER'S JAYS, WHITE-BREASTED and RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, BROWN CREEPER and PINE SISKIN. 

On the Paradise Road we quickly found JUNIPER TITMOUSE, but it was quite some time later near the cemetery that we finally got "life" views. We spent about 30 minutes at the George Walker House where a lone INCA DOVE was a definite surprise. Our host, Dale Julian, told us about the birds seen on the CBC, the most interesting of which was MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD. Sure enough, a little while later on the Paradise Road we found a small flock of them. (circa 15 birds), thanks Dale! All but one that we saw were females, just one gorgeous male. Also here were COOPER'S HAWK, BUSHTIT, HERMIT THRUSH,  PHAINOPEPLA, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, CEDAR WAXWING, AMERICAN ROBIN and AMERICAN GOLDFINCH.

Sally Spofford's yard was in the shade and very cold from 4:15-5:00pm. We saw 17 species here including LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKER, CANYON WREN and PAINTED REDSTART. As our day was ending, it was time to go to work for the 3 GREAT HORNED OWLS that we saw on Hwy 80. A nice end to a good day.

Monday, January 4, 1999
Day 4 with Sue Lendborg.  It was 30 degrees when we left town today, up from 24 yesterday. Another pleasant day with zero wind and quite warm in the afternoon. We birded at Patagonia Lake State Park from 8:00-9:30pm, recording a meager 36 species!. My shortest visit in some time since we only needed two birds here. Because of the heavy frost still in the shaded areas, flycatchers were concentrated where the sun had already warmed. Our target was GRAY FLYCATCHER that took very little time to find, in fact three of them were active along with two DUSKY FLYCATCHERS. Our next target was WESTERN GREBE which on this day was at the west (dam end) of the lake along with many EARED GREBES. Other birds included 8-NEOTROPIC CORMORANTS and 6-COMMON MERGANSERS.

In the Santa Ritas we found RUFOUS-WINGED SPARROW in the time it took us to get out of the car and set up the scope. As I demonstrated the bird's song to Sue, up popped the bird! In Madera Canyon our experience was quite the opposite. Our two targets here were HUTTON'S VIREO and STRICKLAND'S WOODPECKER. We heard the woodpecker and gave chase but became distracted when a Hutton's called. We eventually got good views of the vireo but never saw nor heard the woodpecker again in a couple of hours of searching. Other birds around the Santa Rita Lodge feeder area included the usual scads of ACORN WOODPECKERS and MEXICAN JAYS, RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKER (in the oaks!), MAGNIFICENT HUMMINGBIRD, DUSKY FLYCATCHER, CANYON WREN, PINE SISKIN and PAINTED REDSTART.

On the way over to the Paton's Yard, I mentioned to Sue that I had seen an out-of-habitat STRICKLAND'S WOODPECKER there some weeks ago, but that it was unlikely to be there again. Wouldn't you know it, it was -- all that chasing in Madera!! We struck out though on Anna's Hummingbird and Lazuli Bunting. Mrs. Paton told us that an Anna's is present but is only a sporadic visitor. We saw about 25 species in the yard including RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, ACORN, GILA and LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKERS and HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER. Along nearby Blue Heaven Rd came our final success of the day, GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE.

An evening owling expedition to the Huachucas proved entirely unsuccessful with not a whiff of either of our Screech-Owl targets. Other than the fact that the temperature was around freezing, it was a perfect night, very clear and no wind. Although I've often had success at this time of year, on this night the owls had the last laugh.

Tuesday, January 5, 1999
Day 5 with Sue Lendborg. Another cold morning in the mountains followed again by a warm and pleasant afternoon. Our day began with a fruitless 3 hour search for Cassin's Finch in Carr Canyon, during which time we saw 22 species. After spending so much time yesterday before finally seeing STRICKLAND'S WOODPECKER (in the Paton's yard of all places), today we had one fly  in close and stay for a photo opportunity.

Next, we headed up Garden Canyon seeing HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, several EASTERN BLUEBIRDS and 2-OLIVE WARBLERS. Lots of ice in the shady areas. Conditions in Sawmill Canyon were perfect when we arrived at 11:00am and it didn't take long to find a very cooperative female WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER. After a brief search for a male, time pressure demanded that we move on. EASTERN and WESTERN (rare here) BLUEBIRDS were both present.

A 5 minute check at Sierra Vista Sewage ponds produced no geese, but we did see both PRAIRIE and PEREGRINE FALCONS.

At the Vaca Ranch corral in the San Rafael Valley, a flock of 35-40 McCOWN'S LONGSPURS were easy to see. Some are starting to acquire partial breeding plumage with solid black breast markings and chestnut wing patches. Ironically, for the second time this season, the normally easy to see CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS proved difficult. There was a good sized flock present near the corral but, apart from a few fly-bys, they remained in the long grass. At the corral on FR 58 we walked the grass and played cat and mouse with a group of 12 birds without ever getting great views.

A tough day with only three target birds located. Tomorrow, another crack at Le Conte's Thrasher and then I'll be traveling around the state for a few days.

Wednesday, January 6, 1999
Since I was heading north and Sue had to return to Phoenix, we decided to try again for Le Conte's Thrasher. I wanted to give ourselves the best chance of success and that meant starting at first light. Consequently, we were on the road at 3:30am. Yikes, shades of California Gulch! We began birding at "the thrasher spot" west of Phoenix at 7:25am where it was fairly cold and totally silent. After about 30 minutes of hearing nothing, it was clear to me that we were not going to find the bird perched up and singing. Hey, I know how to put two and two together (and sometimes I even get 4). Off we went into the scrub, me with my 22lb scope, hoping to find the little bugger. Around 8:40am I heard three times the very soft and seldom heard "weep" call of our quarry. I beckoned Sue to come over and after another couple of minutes I finally spotted LE CONTE'S THRASHER running ahead of me. I told Sue to position herself and I tried to force the bird to run across her line of sight. Ha! The bird thwarted us several times, although Sue was able to see it fairly well on the ground. As we headed back to the vehicles, we spotted 2 birds about 100 feet ahead of us and succeeded in getting 'scope views as one of them perched up and sang briefly. Success at last.

From the original list of targets (see Jan 1), we saw 23 of the 26 "should see" birds, missing Anna's Hummingbird, Cassin's Finch and Lazuli Bunting (Sue later saw Anna's in Phoenix), 5 of the 14 "may see" birds (with 4 not looked for and 1 other not present), and 1 of the 7 "possible" birds (with 4 not present). I expected the percentages to be 90, 50 and 10 for the three categories, so all in all we did pretty well.

We parted company around 9:40am and I headed west for my annual winter circumnavigation of the state for some "Arizona year ticks". My main target birds were Clark's Grebe, Horned Grebe, Red-breasted Merganser, Barrow's Goldeneye, Northern Shrike and Black-billed Magpie. I also wanted to look for Black-capped Chickadee and Tundra Swan,  present in some winters. I visited the Colorado River, several locations in the extreme northern part of the state on both the west and east sides, and finally, the White Mountains. Conditions throughout were very mild for this time of year: clear, sunny and without significant wind. Most days started a little below freezing with afternoon temperatures in the 40s or 50s. I encountered extremes from the low 20s to high 70s.

Unfortunately, these same conditions that made for pleasant birding probably kept away those northern birds that reach their southern winter limits in northern Arizona. On the plus side, some of the birds that are sometimes present in numbers in Southeastern Arizona were still to be found in the north. All of the lakes that I checked (except Sunrise in the White Mountains) were at least partially open and had some waterfowl. Common Goldeneye and Common Mergansers were common to abundant throughout my trip, and both were present on most of the lakes. Mountain Bluebirds were common to abundant (with several flocks of many hundreds) in suitable habitat from Ganado south to the Mogollon plateau. 

My first destination was Parker Dam on the Colorado River. As usual, below the dam were many COMMON and a few BARROW'S GOLDENEYES. Above the dam on the Bill Williams arm (viewed from "Take Off Point") I saw COMMON LOON, several hundred CLARK'S GREBES, many DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS, and a handful of RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS. 

I continued north up the river to Lake Havasu where I hoped to find Horned Grebe, but no luck on this one. A brief stop at Havasu NWR produced NEOTROPIC CORMORANT, GREAT EGRET, and WESTERN and CLARK'S GREBES. By now it was unseasonably warm, I was extremely tired (getting up at 2:45am will do that to you), so I headed to Kingman for the night. I never thought I'd say this (kind of like "and the Emmy for best actor goes to Jean Claude Van Damme"), but I can highly recommend the Motel 6 there -- very clean, well lit and spacious rooms. The on premises "Calico" restaurant was excellent -- try the southwestern chicken!

Thursday, January 7, 1999
My next destination was Colorado City in the northwestern corner of the state. My long and circuitous route took me through Las Vegas, NV which seems to double in size each time I pass through. The smog here was as bad as I've seen anywhere. I began birding again along the Virgin river as I reentered Arizona. The problem here is lack of access with much private property, and I spent much of my time figuring out if I was trespassing or not, always erring on the side of caution. I found only 1 posted (BLM) public access that proved birdless. Habitat along the river is quite sparse and I saw only 15 species including SHARP-SHINNED HAWK and 3-MERLINS, all in the same tree!

I arrived in Colorado City quite late and stayed the night at the Mark Twain Inn in neighboring Hildale, UT. A very nice (albeit small) room was good value. The rather upscale restaurant was excellent -- how can a small town support such a place. Must be the tourist traffic to the UT parks and Grand Canyon.

Friday, January 8, 1999
I wasn't very hopeful of finding Black-capped Chickadee in such a mild winter and I was right! They breed not far away in UT and in harsh winters have been found in Colorado City.  Despite working along the creek and other areas with trees, I came up empty on the Chickadee and birds in general. I did manage quite a few odd looks from residents of this Mormon community who are obviously not used to birders. In the fields west of town I found 2-FERRUGINOUS HAWKS and a MERLIN. On Cane Beds Road south of town were small flocks of PINYON JAYS and MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS.

I headed south through the Kaibab National Forest where a quick stop produced HAIRY WOODPECKER, WHITE-BREASTED and PYGMY NUTHATCHES, MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE and STELLER'S JAY. My next destination was Lee's Ferry which was loaded with fisherman and boats. Nevertheless, it was also loaded with birds and I saw AMERICAN WIGEON, GADWALL, GREATER and LESSER SCAUP, CANVASBACK, REDHEAD, COMMON GOLDENEYE, BUFFLEHEAD, COMMON MERGANSER and a few landbirds.

I continued upriver to Lake Powell which was not very birdy. Below the dam were both COMMON and BARROW'S GOLDENEYES and COMMON MERGANSER, but the lake had little to offer -- lots of RING-BILLED GULLS and a few WESTERN GREBES. I was somewhat surprised to find BUSHTITS at Wahweap Marina. I checked Page sewage ponds, to the extent possible from the highway, and saw absolutely nothing! On that note I headed into Page for the night.

Saturday, January 9, 1999
A below freezing start as I hit the road at 6:00am for the journey to Teec Nos Pos, in the extreme northeastern corner of the state. Almost 200 lonely miles, but thankfully I had my Selena tapes for company! Predictably, with the first gray light of dawn, COMMON RAVENS drifted into view. It's amazing how these birds are able to eke out a living in this harsh environment. It was mild when I reached Teec Nos Pos -- a little above freezing which is good here at this time of year. The first bird that I saw as I passed the city limit sign was BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE. (I saw more today than on any other trip, perhaps as many as 45-50 birds in various locations). I thought my luck was in when I spotted a Shrike but it turned out to be a LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE. The town was surprisingly birdy today, no doubt due to the mild conditions that were probably also responsible for no Northern Shrike! In addition to regular city birds I found ROCK WREN, WESTERN and MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, AMERICAN ROBIN, PINE SISKIN and AMERICAN GOLDFINCH.

Driving south, in addition to ravens, I saw only PRAIRIE FALCON on the way to my next stop at Round Rock Reservoir. Mostly open water with the omnipresent COMMON GOLDENEYE and MERGANSERS plus GREEN-WINGED TEAL, SHOVELER, MALLARD, GADWALL, and CANVASBACK. I was hoping for good things at my next stop, Many Farms Lake, but even though the lake was almost entirely open, I was disappointed with the results. Add RUDDY DUCK, PINTAIL and WOOD DUCK (1 male, 2 females) to the above list and that's it. The Wood Duck was a little surprising since there's almost no edge habitat here.

Continuing south I checked Ganado Lake (mostly ice) and saw many MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS on my way to Lyman Lake State Park (mostly open water). I was hoping for Tundra Swan here and when I saw a large white bird in the distance I hurried to get my scope. However, it turned out to be "just" a WHITE PELICAN, in itself quite surprising here at this time of year. I saw my first geese of the trip with 150-CANADA and 1-SNOW. My last stop of the day was at Becker Lake in Springerville, about 60% ice. The seemingly ever present BALD EAGLE was surveying its kingdom from nearby cottonwoods, while on the lake were most of the species that I had been seeing throughout the trip plus PIED-BILLED GREBE and REDHEAD.

Sunday, January 10, 1999
It was 24 degrees as I left Springerville for a paltry (and sacrilegious) 4 hours in the White Mountains before heading home. The mountains belied their name and relatively speaking, hardly any snow was present compared to normal. At 9000 feet in January, all highways were bare and dry throughout and even most of the interior forest roads were open! I checked South Fork (TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE), Greer (CANADA GOOSE, MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE) and Sunrise (nada, except for skiers) before heading west to try my luck. Nelson Reservoir was 90% ice but was still heavy with waterfowl. New here were AMERICAN WIGEON and RING-NECKED DUCK. On the east slope was a noisy flock of at least 60-PINYON JAYS. In Round Valley (west side of Nutrioso) I found more PINYON JAYS, WESTERN BLUEBIRD, AM. CROWS, and my target LEWIS'S WOODPECKER. Nutrioso Reservoir was iced over but had 80-CANADA GEESE. My last stop in the mountains was at Luna Lake with 80% ice, but again had many concentrated waterfowl and EASTERN MEADOWLARK still hanging in.

On the way home I checked Willcox where the almost certain hybrid EURASIAN WIGEON continues. Also present were a few CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS.

Monday, January 11, 1999
Day 1 of 2 days with Paul and Joyce Aicher from CT, and Susan Stroud of DC. A beautiful "winter" day that started well at Patagonia Lake State Park. We birded from 8:30am-noon checking only the east end of the lake. It was one of the days that exemplified "I'd rather be lucky than good". On our outbound walk we easily saw VIRGINIA RAIL but could not buy a Sora. On our return I was scanning the marsh edge at various locations and finally spotted a SORA. As everyone was looking at the bird, a LEAST BITTERN walked into view! Wow. This is a breeding bird at the state park but is rarely seen in SE AZ during winter. For good measure, a Virginia Rail put in another appearance. All three were lifers for Paul, Joyce and Susan. We saw the usual array of flycatchers including DUSKY, GRAY and ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS, both BLUE-GRAY and BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHERS, 10-NEOTROPIC CORMORANTS, 4-CINNAMON TEAL, COMMON SNIPE, HUTTON'S VIREO (very uncommon here), lots of AM. PIPITS and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER among the 55 species recorded

In the San Rafael Valley, the McCOWN'S LONGSPUR flock continues at the Vaca Ranch corral and afforded good looks. It's a pity that most are so drab right now! CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS were flybys that we didn't work on. An adult BALD EAGLE was in one of the few trees northwest of the corral.

We ended our day in Scheelite Canyon where a group 8-12 MONTEZUMA QUAIL greeted us about 100 yards from the entrance. Some flew immediately upslope and some just waddled away. However, SPOTTED OWL was hard to find today and since I was the only one to see it, it doesn't go in the win column. The bird was not in the lower area and I left the group at the 3/4 mile mark as I searched the left and right forks of the upper canyon. After finding the bird I returned to the split only to find they had headed out because of impending darkness. A somewhat sorry end to a good day, with "just" the Montezuma Quail as a consolation.

Tuesday, January 12, 1999
Out again with Paul, Joyce and Susan. An early morning stop at Sierra Vista sewage ponds quickly produced two of our three target birds --the PRAIRIE FALCON obligingly on its regular pole, and ROSS'S GOOSE along with 3-SNOW GEESE. However, I was dumfounded not to find a single Yellow-headed Blackbird despite checking the marsh roost area and the neighboring fields where they feed. Where can 1000s of blackbirds go at 7:30am in the morning?

We headed over to the Sulphur Springs Valley where our first target birds were thrashers. Again, I was completely surprised and frustrated at not finding a single thrasher after almost two hours of checking "regular" spots. During the search we found GREATER ROADRUNNER, SCALED and GAMBEL'S QUAIL, scads of SANDHILL CRANES and LARK BUNTINGS, BREWERS and VESPER SPARROWS and PYRRHULOXIA. For a change of pace we headed over to Whitewater Draw and had great looks at a roosting immature BARN OWL and a very cooperative GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE. As we were leaving I noticed a thrasher go to ground. After some strategic circling I managed to relocate the bird, whereupon it perched up long enough for me to set up the scope and for everybody to see it -- CRISSAL THRASHER! Another case of being lucky rather than good. It happened again shortly afterwards. As we checked the Harris Hawk tree (that didn't have the birds today), I heard a BENDIRE'S THRASHER singing nearby and we eventually got good looks at this bird. We continued on to the Essary Hay fields and after obtaining permission to bird, we quickly found lots of MOUNTAIN PLOVERS in the same field as last week. I didn't count them but there were easily over 100 birds. Also present were at least 3 FERRUGINOUS HAWKS and a PRAIRIE FALCON.

Next, we headed to Bisbee and the Mule Mountains to work on BLACK-CHINNED and RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS. We found both but had to work hard for them. I had been taking flak all day for not seeing Yellow-headed Blackbirds, either at the sewage ponds or at any time during the day. To put the matter to rest we returned to SV ponds. Gasp! Not a blackbird to be found. We worked the fields around both sides without seeing a single blackbird of any flavor, almost totally ignoring 2-GOLDEN EAGLES (only my 3rd sighting here) and a PEREGRINE FALCON. Just as things were starting to get desperate, I spotted a few hundred YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS near the trash compaction plant.

With failing light we finished the day at the San Pedro River where we managed to get marginal looks at some uncooperative LINCOLN'S SPARROWS and ABERT'S TOWHEE. However, a great bonus bird was CLAY-COLORED SPARROW (those of you in the east can stop laughing now). A tough day, but all's well that ends well. Over the two days we saw about 100 species with 30 lifers for Paul and a few more for Susan.

Friday, January 15, 1999
Having been in the field for the first 12 days of the year, and since I'll be doing the same for most of the rest of January, I decided to take a few days off just to catch up and relax a little. Today I got cabin fever and ventured out to Scheelite Canyon to check on the owl. As I drove along French Fry Blvd. at 1:30pm it was 73 degrees. I know that winter will eventually come and we will pay for the 15 blue sky days in a row so far this year.

I started up the canyon at 2:00pm and met a couple on their way out without having seen an owl. However, I did not let this discourage me because if I gave up every time it happened, I would see the bird far less often. The canyon was very quiet and birds came slowly -- first a complaining HERMIT THRUSH with its "choop choop" calls, then the high "seep" of a BROWN CREEPER and the "beet" notes of a CANYON WREN. I could imagine it bouncing up and down in sync with each call. Continuing on I heard nothing for almost 1/2 mile until the soft but assertive chattering of a RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET and lots of  "zweeps" from a flock of PINE SISKINS. Finally, I came across my quarry, a fairly easy to find SPOTTED OWL that was uncharacteristically high in a regular tree offering only, to be polite, "ventral region" views. On the way down I tried to rustle up a Northern Pygmy-Owl, but found only a couple of additional species -- SPOTTED TOWHEE and BEWICK'S WREN.

Monday, January 18, 1999
Out today with Warren and Janet Jones of Anchorage, AK and 4 other family members, in town for a family reunion. Another perfect blue sky day with temperatures ranging from 38-77 degrees. We spent 5 hours at Patagonia Lake State Park where I got to do something rather rare when I'm working -- spend time looking at birds! Lots of people and boats were present on this holiday. Nothing spectacular but almost all of the 57 species that we found were seen well. Most of the usual winter suspects were present including PIED-BILLED, EARED and WESTERN GREBES, 8-NEOTROPIC CORMORANTS, 4-CINNAMON TEAL, 18-COMMON MERGANSERS, (2-LEAST BITTERNS seen by others), VIRGINIA RAIL, SORA, COMMON SNIPE, DUSKY and GRAY FLYCATCHERS, GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE and SWAMP SPARROW. The most exciting thing we saw was a RED-TAILED HAWK stooping like a Peregrine to attack a pair of GOLDEN EAGLES. At campsite feeders, WHITE-WINGED and INCA DOVES were plentiful.

It was fairly quiet in the Paton's yard in mid-afternoon with 1-ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD and a continuing HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER. Appropriately, on the rocks in the water display was a ROCK WREN, a new species (#104) for me at this location.

At the Vaca Ranch Corral, the flock of McCOWN'S LONGSPURS continue and they are easy to see once they settle down. In a nearby cottonwood, an adult BALD EAGLE was in the exact same spot as a week ago. HORNED LARKS were abundant throughout the San Rafael Valley. 

Although already closed when we arrived, our day ended successfully at Sierra Vista sewage ponds.  Despite the fading light we were able to get good looks at 3-SNOW and 1-ROSS'S GOOSE from outside the fence along Dake Road. Swarms of YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS made a nice backdrop as they converged on the marsh to roost.

Tuesday, January 19, 1999
Day 1 of 5 days with Dave and Shirley Berry of Louisville, KY who I've birded with once before when they were participants on a custom tour I did for Beckham Bird Club in July, 1998. A late arrival time left us with very little time to bird today and we made only a late afternoon foray into the Huachucas where SPOTTED OWL was extremely easy to find in Scheelite Canyon. Very little was stirring in the canyon and we heard only WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, CANYON WREN and SPOTTED TOWHEE.

On the way back to town, we stopped at the upper picnic area to look for Red-naped Sapsucker without success. However, somewhat surprisingly, the sycamores were alive with birds and at the top of one tree in particular we found many EASTERN BLUEBIRDS, a few PINE SISKINS and a single male CASSIN'S FINCH. Common oak woodland birds also present here included BRIDLED TITMOUSE, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET and HUTTON'S VIREO. Continuing at the middle picnic area is at least one of the two PAINTED REDSTARTS that are (so far!) overwintering here.

Wednesday, January 20, 1999
Day 2 with Dave & Shirley Berry. A few signs of an impending weather change today with some white stuff in the sky and high winds developing in the afternoon. An early morning check of Sierra Vista sewage ponds produced our target PRAIRIE FALCON as many YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS were flying out of the marsh to feed in the fields. For good measure, 3-SNOW and 1-ROSS'S GOOSE flew in as we were leaving. A good start to the day.

Patagonia Lake state park was much quieter today than on the holiday Monday, both in terms of people and, unfortunately, birds. However, since our only target was DUSKY FLYCATCHER and we found several along with the usual GRAY FLYCATCHERS, I can't complain too much. We stayed for a couple of hours and saw 45 species.

We had to make morning and afternoon trips to the Paton's yard to locate the HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, but the bird finally obliged us with close up views. Also present were BLACK VULTURE, GRAY FLYCATCHER and ROCK WREN among the 25 species seen here.

In between visits we birded in the San Rafael Valley where McCOWN'S LONGSPURS seem to be increasing in numbers and were again easy to see at the Vaca Ranch Corral. Several now have easily visible field marks of chestnut wing patches and narrow black breast bands.  At the stock pond east of the Santa Cruz river we had to work for over an hour before getting good looks at CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS, some with solid black bellies and chestnut collars. The adult BALD EAGLE was again present, this time very close to the road allowing us great looks from close range. As usual, many HORNED LARKS and SAVANNAH SPARROWS were in evidence and we also saw a PRAIRIE FALCON. Returning to Patagonia, we saw a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK in Harshaw Canyon

I told Dave and Shirley not to expect too much on our evening jaunt into the Huachucas because results so far this month had been terrible. However, that was not the case tonight. We arrived in the canyon at 6:15pm exactly 30 minutes after sunset, always the best time to find a screech-owl. Surprisingly, conditions were perfect and only the season was against us -- even though the wind was blowing hard in town, the canyon was mild and completely still. After a couple of whistles from me, I heard the bouncing ball response from our target WESTERN SCREECH-OWL only 100 yards away. Another whistle from me and the bird went into its excited tremolo call and flew into a nearby oak. We had great views as the bird checked us out, and were on our way home within 5 minutes of arrival. An excellent end to a good day.

Thursday, January 21, 1999
Day 3 with Dave & Shirley Berry. Oh boy, was I right about the change in weather. The wind was howling all day and, in the lowlands, the dust was so bad that visibility was down to 100 yards at times. In the end it was somewhat of a miracle that we saw 3 out of our 5 target birds on such a crappy day. If I  had to make a living by regularly finding birds on days like this, I would very quickly starve to death.

It was most unfortunate that I chose today to go to the Sulphur Springs Valley, perhaps the worst place to be on a windy day. Our attempts to locate a Crissal Thrasher were fruitless and soon abandoned. The only bird of note during the relative calm early morning period was a SAGE SPARROW on Frontier Rd. We moved on to successfully locate many MOUNTAIN PLOVERS in the Essary Hay fields where several FERRUGINOUS HAWKS and a PRAIRIE FALCON were also present.  

Next, we made a brief attempt to find a Northern Pygmy-Owl in the Chiricahuas, but we sensibly gave up in favor of lunch at the Portal Cafe. Our only success in the mountains came in Paradise where we found a very elusive RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER near the George Walker House.

At Willcox, the AMERICAN WIGEON flock was at the northern edge of the golf course and it took lots of scanning to find our target EURASIAN WIGEON. Feeding with the wigeon was a single ROSS'S GOOSE. The only birds of note on the main pond were 4 COMMON MERGANSERS.

Our final stop of the day was at St. David Monastery where we saw 2 male WOOD DUCKS, GREEN HERON and quite a few WHITE-WINGED DOVES.

Friday, January 22, 1999
Day 4 with Dave & Shirley Berry. The weather returned to normal today -- another blue sky day that started below freezing and became pleasantly warm in the afternoon. We began on the Hereford Rd. looking for Crissal Thrasher, again without success. Around 9:00am we headed down to the San Pedro River Inn  only to discover two van loads of "Wings" participants, so we did an immediate about turn. It's tough enough to find birds when you're alone! Instead, we returned to the Sulphur Springs Valley after the blowout (literally) in yesterday's duststorm. However, it didn't help our search for the thrasher and we bombed out again at several of my regular and reliable spots.

At Whitewater Draw where I have seen the bird on my last three trips, we were finally successful. No sooner had I mentioned to Dave that I had seen the bird perched up on the fence on my last visit when he said "hey, here's a thrasher on the fence". Bingo,  at last a CRISSAL THRASHER, and one that cooperated long enough for us to get 'scope looks. Sometimes the easy birds aren't so easy  -- we put in over 8 hours for this bird in two days, ridiculous! Shortly afterwards I heard another one calling and we soon saw it perched in a mesquite. Other birds here were 2-GREAT HORNED OWLS, a few male CINNAMON TEAL, 1-LEAST SANDPIPER and, of course, 1000s of SANDHILL CRANES.

A lunchtime stop at Palominas Pond produced 2-VERMILION FLYCATCHERS, uncommon in the San Pedro River Valley in winter but reliable at this location. Also here were INCA DOVES and WESTERN MEADOWLARKS.

An afternoon visit to the San Pedro River Inn was people free and, in fact, we were the only folks present. Not that it helped, we did not see a single dove of any species in our search for Ruddy Ground-Dove. Of the 30 species seen here, only a single YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER of the "MYRTLE" form was of any note.

Saturday, January 23, 1999
Day 5 and final day with Dave & Shirley Berry. We headed into the Huachucas for our only target bird of the morning -- Northern Pygmy-Owl. We worked for about 4 hours in the lower part of Scheelite, along Garden Canyon, and in various parts of Sawmill Canyon. On our way up Garden we located a calling NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL in a fairly inaccessible side canyon. The bird was about 250 yards upslope in some trees along a ridgeline. I was unsuccessful in trying to find the bird in the 'scope and eventually a group of MEXICAN JAYS drove the owl away. On our way out we again heard the bird calling but could not entice it any closer than previously. Since the slope was extremely steep, we decided to pass on trying to get any closer. C'est La Vie. Among the 30 species found during our search were ACORN and STRICKLAND'S WOODPECKERS, 3-RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS,   STELLER'S and WESTERN SCRUB JAYS, HUTTON'S VIREO, 2-TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRES, PYGMY NUTHATCH, PINE SISKIN, CASSIN'S FINCH, YELLOW-EYED JUNCO and SPOTTED TOWHEE.

Over the 5 days (actually 3 full days, including 1 blowout because of wind, and 2 half days), we looked for 13 target birds and saw 11 of them. Along the way we recorded a total of 125 species. As always, it could have been better and it could have been worse. All in all though, quite successful.

In the late afternoon I headed over to Whitewater Draw to look for Short-eared Owl and bumped into my clients for tomorrow, Fred and Chris Pratt. I birded for about 45 minutes while waiting for darkness and saw 22 species including SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. After sunset there were a couple of dark and distant shapes that we tried unsuccessfully to make into Short-ears, and then the GREAT HORNED OWLS became active. It was now quite dark and things did not look promising. Just as Fred and Chris headed back to the parking lot, about 6:05pm, I was looking at a Great Horned perched on a fence when a SHORT-EARED OWL popped into my view about 100 yards away. However, by the time Fred and Chris got back the bird was some distance away and eventually dropped into the grass. Anyway, it was a good end to my day!

Sunday, January 24, 1999
Out today with Fred and Chris Pratt of Moretown, VT. We began at Patagonia Lake State Park where we birded from 8:15-10:30am and saw 50 species. The number of NEOTROPIC CORMORANTS has increased dramatically and there are now at least 20 birds present. On checking my records, I noted similar increases in late January and February of previous years. Also on the water were the usual EARED GREBES, COMMON MERGANSERS, CINNAMON TEAL and LESSER SCAUP. As with my last visit, rails were hard to come by with none heard and only a single SORA seen. Other birds around the marsh included COMMON SNIPE, numerous MARSH WRENS and a small flock of AMERICAN PIPITS, We worked a little on empids and found several DUSKY and a couple of GRAY FLYCATCHERS to study. With a little practice, the difference in "whit" calls of each species is quite easy to discern, and the tail behavior is even more diagnostic. No myiarchus species were seen or heard but we did find a calling NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET.

In Harshaw Canyon, on the way to the San Rafael Valley, a small flock (circa 10) EASTERN BLUEBIRDS were flycatching from the tree tops, as were many ACORN WOODPECKERS. In the valley we walked several miles in search of Baird's Sparrow without flushing a single likely candidate, just HORNED LARKS, CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS, VESPER and SAVANNAH SPARROWS, and EASTERN MEADOWLARKS. An adult and an immature BALD EAGLE were soaring over Baird's Sparrow Hill and we flushed a PRAIRIE FALCON off the rocks there. Many McCOWN'S LONGSPURS in good plumage continue at the Vaca Ranch Corral.

Activity was very low during a 90 minute mid-afternoon visit to Kino Springs where two "regular" and a single "minima" CANADA GOOSE continue. Depending on viewing angle, the difference in size can appear obvious or not very apparent at all. However, the difference in bill size cannot be missed. Among the 30 species seen here in 90 minutes were MOORHEN, WHITE-WINGED DOVE, GILDED FLICKER, GRAY FLYCATCHER and GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE.

Back in Patagonia, a couple of BLACK VULTURES soared near the Roadside Rest area. The Paton's yard was dead in comparison to my recent visits. No Hammond's Flycatcher today but we did see MERLIN and ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD.

A check of Sierra Vista sewage ponds near sunset did not yield any geese, but a majestic looking GOLDEN EAGLE was a more than adequate substitute. It was interesting to note how the eagle caused the ducks to take flight whereas a NORTHERN HARRIER passing by had no effect.

Monday, January 25, 1999
Out today with Susan Wilkinson and Dave Axt of Cincinnati, OH. We birded from 8:30-11:00am at Patagonia Lake State Park where activity continues to dwindle, as evidenced by the fact that we recorded only 40 species. Even our target DUSKY and GRAY FLYCATCHERS were quieter and less visible on this cloudy and windy day. A couple of species that I hadn't seen here in some time were BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON and BELTED KINGFISHER.

The wind picked up at Kino Springs but we were able to see TURKEY and BLACK VULTURES, the "minima" CANADA GOOSE, GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE and GILDED FLICKER,

It was even more windy in the San Rafael Valley where it was deja vu all over again with BALD EAGLE and easy to see McCOWN'S LONGSPURS at the Vaca Ranch Corral. Surprisingly, it took no time at all to get good looks at CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS at the stock pond east of the Santa Cruz. In the wind I expected problems, but I think it actually worked to our advantage because the birds didn't want to fly!

Conditions in the Huachucas were no better and in Scheelite Canyon we saw only one bird! Thankfully, it was an off the beaten track but easy to find SPOTTED OWL.

Although it was now 4:00pm, we decided to head over to the Mule Mountains in Bisbee. Since it was blowing very hard and we didn't have much light, I wasn't very confident about finding our target BLACK-CHINNED SPARROW. However, what do I know, we actually found one a little easier than on my last 3 trips! Despite the wind, we had a pretty good day.

Tuesday, January 26, 1999
Three days off, during which time I plan to work on some AZ year birds. After a morning of e-mail and paperwork I headed to Nogales sewage ponds where I hoped to turn yesterday's reported Red-necked into a Red Phalarope. Despite carefully checking each pond at least twice, I failed to find the bird. Oh well, it would have been a nice AZ year tick. However, I was pleased to see a TREE SWALLOW, my first swallow of the year and only the second time that I've seen this species in AZ in January. I saw about 40 species here from 12:25-1:45pm including several ROSS'S GEESE with one "Blue Phase" bird, 14 species of ducks and grebes, 3-SPOTTED and many LEAST SANDPIPERS.

On my journey north to Madera Canyon a VERMILION FLYCATCHER was working near the river on Rio Rico Drive. A check of Amado sewage pond turned up nothing of note.

I birded the Proctor Road area in Madera from 3:00-4:20pm looking for previously reported species. At 3:30pm I found the GRAY CATBIRD feeding in a Hackberry tree just above the stream crossing, but had no luck with the Brown Thrasher which is now officially an Arizona nemesis bird for me. The area was quite birdy and I saw HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, BLACK PHOEBE, VERDIN, BEWICK'S and HOUSE WRENS, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, N. MOCKINGBIRD, HERMIT THRUSH, AM. ROBIN, N. CARDINAL, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, GREEN-TAILED, CANYON and SPOTTED TOWHEES, SONG SPARROW and GRAY-HEADED JUNCO.

I returned home via Box Canyon Road and, as I approached Hwy 83, I noticed one bird that did not fly away amongst the myriad CHIPPING SPARROWS. I got out of my vehicle and the bird hardly bothered to move from the side of the road -- it was a GRASSHOPPER SPARROW.

Wednesday, January 27, 1999
Today I birded in the Tucson area visiting Agua Caliente Park, Fort Lowell Park, Sweetwater Wetlands, Roger Road. Sewage Ponds, the Santa Cruz River at Ina Road, and Marana. It makes a nice change for me to chase other people's birds instead of finding them for myself! I again started late and Agua Caliente Park was fairly quiet around midday. In one hour I saw about 30 species with only PINE SISKIN of note. At Fort Lowell Park I found only one HOODED MERGANSER of the four previously seen there.

At Sweetwater Wetlands I searched in vain for the Pine Warbler, although from all accounts the area in which it was seen is off limits. I saw 32 species here in 90 minutes including GREATER SCAUP, copulating HARRIS'S HAWKS, calling SORAS and VIRGINIA RAILS, ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD, at least two "MYRTLE" and several ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS. Across the street at the sewage ponds were male CINNAMON and BLUE-WINGED TEAL.

I had no luck with either Fox Sparrow or Brown Thrasher on the Santa Cruz at Ina Road, but in Marana at the small pond on Luckett Road I easily saw the VARIED THRUSH. Also at the pond were BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON and BELTED KINGFISHER. I ended the day at Marana Pecan Grove where I was disappointed not to find Burrowing Owls.

Thursday, January 28, 1999
The first real taste of winter and the first snow of 1999 came today. I had planned to bird in Phoenix but a late start killed that idea. Instead I spent a completely unproductive day trying to pick up a few species. Light snow was falling in the grassland between Sierra Vista and Sonoita and by the time I reached Madera Canyon it was snowing a little more heavily. I then spent a cold and fruitless three hours trying to find the Brown Thrasher again at Proctor Road. I saw all the same species as a couple of days ago plus HUTTON'S VIREO, PAINTED REDSTART and PINE SISKIN.

Later in the day I worked the Palominas area for about 2 hours trying to locate White-tailed Kite. Not satisfied with getting skunked twice, I headed into the Huachucas to look for Whiskered Screech-Owl and complete my hat trick of strike-outs. Heavy clouds were swirling low, light snow was falling and the temperature was right around freezing. Nevertheless, I worked up and down the canyon, trying to get a response to my whistles. After about 30 minutes of this nonsense, even I was ready to call it quits. I think the owls exhibited a little more common sense I did. And so it goes, at least I was on my own and nobody else was disappointed!

Friday, January 29, 1999
Out today with Peter and Louise Wickham from Cedar Rapids, IA. I left the house this morning to find a real "pea souper" and the "trogon" was completely iced over. I had to use boiling water to get a door open! I almost canceled our trip but amazingly, the day turned out pretty nice and by lunchtime we needed to use air conditioning.

We spent the morning in Sulphur Springs Valley thrashing around in the fog trying to find a CRISSAL THRASHER. Eventually we found one perched on a fence at Whitewater Draw in almost the same spot that I've seen one on a handful of recent visits. Other birds here included GREAT HORNED OWL, a continuing ROCK WREN, and, of course, lots of SANDHILL CRANES. Elsewhere in the valley we saw MERLIN on Coffman and FERRUGINOUS HAWK on Central Highway plus the usual complement of BREWERS SPARROWS and LARK BUNTINGS. Others saw HARRIS'S HAWK on Davis Road that we had driven past in the fog.

Back in Sierra Vista, 2-GOLDEN EAGLES cruised over Hwy 90 north of Fry Blvd. as we headed over to Patagonia. We birded for almost 3 hours at Patagonia Lake State Park in what was a rare afternoon visit for me. Although not as active as a morning visit, we did surprisingly well. In fact, we saw all of the flycatchers that I have seen there this winter, the first time I have seen them all in a single visit  -- excellent close up looks at NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET located by its hard-to-describe but easy-to-recognize wheezy call, all three winter empids HAMMOND'S, DUSKY and GRAY FLYCATCHERS, an ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER and the usual BLACK and SAY'S PHOEBES. We also had great looks at VIRGINIA RAIL and SORA along the edge of the marsh. As if that were not enough, we found an adult male ELEGANT TROGON along the creek trail. The bird was working very low (sometimes on the ground) on the north side of the trail, about 150 yards past the very muddy area. All the water birds present of late were also seen.

Saturday, January 30, 1999
Out today with Bob Williford and Stacy Bonn from Phoenix, AZ. Another cold morning but certainly much warmer than yesterday, again turning into a beautiful afternoon. We began at the San Pedro House where the temperature was in the mid-20s. Our plan was to work most of the day on sparrows but after a couple of hours we were chilled to the bone. The birds were fairly active, however, and we saw plenty of representatives from the sparrow family -- GREEN-TAILED, CANYON and ABERT'S TOWHEES, CHIPPING, CLAY-COLORED, BREWER'S, VESPER, LINCOLN'S and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS and LARK BUNTING. The Clay-colored Sparrow was in the same location that I saw it earlier this month, along the fenceline just south of where the trail from the SP House meets the river. Driving back into town, a female/immature plumaged MERLIN was perched on a pole near the sewage ponds.

Like yesterday, results at Patagonia Lake State Park from 11:00am-2:00pm were excellent, albeit with a couple of different species. About 50 species overall including all three winter empids again -- HAMMOND'S, DUSKY and GRAY FLYCATCHERS. We also had one bird that exhibited characteristics of both Hammond's and Dusky and may have been a hybrid, the first such bird that I've seen in some time. Good looks at both SORA and VIRGINIA RAIL working the edge of the marsh, and for good measure we also had wonderful views of a LEAST BITTERN. I walked into a swampy area hoping to find a snipe and instead found the bittern! We then walked the creek trail without seeing either the Green Kingfisher (seen earlier by Jim Burns) or yesterday's Elegant Trogon. However, our reward came on the return journey -- a group of 10-12 MONTEZUMA QUAIL! The birds were resting in a grassy area between willows and mesquite where the southeastern-most section of the creek trail begins. A most unexpected bird, somewhat out of habitat, and certainly the first time that I have seen them at the state park.

We then headed into the San Rafael Valley and had excellent looks at McCOWN'S LONGSPURS at the Vaca Ranch Corral. One bird in particular is now showing a good black breast band, black cap, white throat and face, and chestnut on the wing -- a very good looking bird. At least one BALD EAGLE, an adult, was in the area. As has been the norm this season, the fairly common CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS proved difficult and we had to settle for numerous fly-bys and a few brief looks on the ground at the stock pond east of the Santa Cruz river.

When I returned to Sierra Vista, I headed into the Huachucas to do battle again with the pesky WHISKERED SCREECH-OWLS. This time I'm happy to report success with this species for the first time this year! It was a calm night, fairly mild, and with a full moon, certainly much different from the cold, snowy night a couple of days ago. After much whistling and almost giving up, I finally got a response and one bird came in fairly close. I was surprised at how long after sunset it was before the birds became active, no doubt due to the full moon.

This log is in chronological order and the most recent entries are at the bottom of the page.
The last update was on Saturday, January 30, 1999

Species List

Stuart Healy Journal - January, 1999 If you use the contents of my journal for commercial purposes, please acknowledge the source to your clients - thanks.

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