Species List

Stuart Healy Journal - February, 2000 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 Tuesday, February 29, 2000

Tuesday, February 1, 2000
I've watched the east coast weather with interest over the past few days, and last night I made the decision to go ahead with my trip to Maine. Although I've made several previous trips to the east coast for business and family vacation (Florida and a few New England states), this is my first time birding here. Consequently, there are several potential new birds for me, either lifers or U.S. birds, and they are:

Northern Gannet, Great Cormorant, Common Eider, King Eider, Purple Sandpiper, Iceland Gull, Black-headed Gull, Dovekie, Thick-billed Murre, Razorbill, Black Guillemot, Atlantic Puffin, Hoary Redpoll and Common Redpoll.

As you can see, some are easy requiring that I just show up; others are hard and, with effort, I'll find some and miss some; and a few are rare enough at this season to be unlikely. Most of the birds can be seen in Mass. as well as Maine, and in fact some are easier in Mass. However, Maine is a "life state" for me so I decided to focus there. Also, since almost all of them are waterbirds, I decided to put my emphasis on the coast.

In one respect, I wasn't looking forward to this trip. It's nice to see new birds, of course, but when I'm on vacation I like to bird somewhat casually and just enjoy what I see. However, having invested in a cross-country trip with only a few species possible, I realized that I would have to stay focused and do some "tick and run" birding which is too much like work!

My first birds of the month came as I left the house this morning. A WHITE-WINGED DOVE was perched on the wire singing, as were several others in the neighborhood. For them, it's been spring for a few weeks. Several GREAT-TAILED GRACKLES were "singing" on the roof as the "whit-wheet" of "my" resident CURVE-BILLED THRASHER rang out, and a couple of HOUSE SPARROWS chased each other around. Driving along Fry Blvd. I added CHIHUAHUAN RAVEN and a plethora of ROCK DOVES hanging around Denny's, which speaks to their taste. I only use Denny's as a last resort. It was sobering to note the temperature of 47 degrees, because I realized that it was probably the highest that I would see for a while! The drive north to Phoenix yielded a few more species -- COOPER'S HAWK, N. HARRIER, BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD and EASTERN MEADOWLARK.

I departed Phoenix at 12:30pm and, after an unscheduled plane change in Philadelphia, arrived in Manchester, NH at 9:00pm eastern time. The temperature was 28 degrees. I drove over to Portsmouth for an overnight stay and was happy to see that the roads were bare and dry. However, snow was piled high alongside the road and I did see a few flurries on the way.

Wednesday, February 2, 2000
My winter birding adventure began today but it wasn't very exciting, or enjoyable, as a number of factors combined to frustrate me. First of all was the narrow two lane roads with very few places to park (probably compounded by the snow along the roadsides). I didn't work very efficiently and ended up driving more than I birded. I became very angry with myself for piss poor planning (the triple-P award as Smitty used to say). The second problem was a biting, strong wind that made scanning the ocean difficult and uncomfortable. The temperatures weren't too bad at all, around 15 degrees to start, as I left Portsmouth, and up to 26 by mid-afternoon.

I birded my way along the coast from Kittery to Portland with stops in York, Cape Neddick, Cliff House in Ogunquit, and Biddeford Pool. I was fully prepared to see precious few birds, particularly land birds, but by day's end I was surprised that I had seen only three species -- ROCK DOVE, STARLING and AMERICAN CROW. However, I wasn't actually looking for landbirds

I picked up three of my target birds -- COMMON EIDER, first seen at Cape Neddick but abundant at Cliff House, and GREAT CORMORANT and BLACK GUILLEMOT, both first seen at Cliff House. I spent plenty of time scanning all the Common Eider for King, and scanning the rocks for Purple Sandpiper, both without success. I did see a Purple Sandpiper, but it was a restaurant by that name in Wells! I knew that King Eider, although rare, was regular enough that I should be able to find one if I stayed diligent and put in the effort. For some reason, this is the one bird from all my targets that I want to see more than any other. Time will tell.

Rounding out my day list were RED-NECKED GREBE, CANADA GOOSE, MALLARD, AMERICAN BLACK DUCK, OLDSQUAW, WHITE-WINGED SCOTER, COMMON GOLDENEYE, BUFFLEHEAD, RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, RING-BILLED, HERRING and GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULLS, COMMON and PACIFIC LOONS.

I was somewhat surprised by the Pacific Loon on the Atlantic coast, but after consulting my references (which said rare in winter) I was more willing to believe my eyes. Furthermore, I checked my recent copies of the Maine RBA and noted that one had been seen at Cliff House!

Thursday, February 3, 2000
A much better day for me today even though I didn't see many birds. I knew a little better what to expect on the roads so my frustration didn't get the better of me. With the narrow 2 lane winding roads (reminiscent of my many years in England) and the snow and ice, it's almost impossible to react quickly to a wrong turn (of which I made many), or a sudden view of a bay with birds. Therefore, I didn't even try, I just continued on and made adjustments when it was safe. Another thing I did today was not take the directions in the Maine birdfinding guide too literally. Instead, I found my own way and avoided busy areas like Saco and Biddeford. As I ate breakfast, I noticed the date which reminded me that it was my birthday. Happy birdday to me! The weather was much better today as well. Still cold, of course, around 10 degrees when I started out and in the high 20s by mid-afternoon. Sunny blue skies prevailed throughout the day and, for the most part, zero wind. Quite an improvement over yesterday.

I began in Back Cove in Portland where I made my first unsuccessful attempt for Iceland Gull. Lots of gulls were roosting on the ice and I saw several lumps in the ice that actually turned out to be gulls. I also saw several "Iceland Gulls" that turned out to be lumps in the ice! Species here were HERRING, RING-BILLED and GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULLS, RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, COMMON GOLDENEYE, ROCK DOVE and CROW.

I moved on to Eastern Promenade where I was surprised to see NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD and a SAVANNAH SPARROW that looked very different from what I'm used to seeing in AZ. Also here were OLDSQUAW, COMMON EIDER and all the same species as in Back Cove.

Next, I headed down to Cape Elizabeth seeing my first BLUE JAYS and BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES of the trip along the way. My first stop was at Fort Williams which had lots of COMMON EIDERS and OLDSQUAWS plus WHITE-WINGED SCOTER, COMMON LOON and COMMON GOLDENEYE.

My next stop was Two Lights State Park where the snow and ice made it difficult to reach a good vantage point. I had to work my way up some (dangerously) icy steps to get a good view of the water. However, I was glad that I persevered because I caught up with a flock of at least 40 PURPLE SANDPIPERS. A life bird and a nice birthday present. Here too was the largest COMMON EIDER flock so far which I scanned repeatedly, but again, no King. Now I had to get back to the car and ended up sliding down the steps on my backside using my tripod as an aid. Comical now, but not at the time.

I moved on to nearby Dyer Point where the views were spectacular on this pristinely clear day. Here I picked up several GREAT CORMORANTS, a surprise DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT (not listed as present until mid-March), 4-BLACK GUILLEMOTS (just another Black Guillemot, yesterday it was a lifer), and my first  HORNED GREBES, BLACK SCOTERS and HORNED LARKS of the trip.

I finished up at East Point, Biddeford Pool but it was almost dark and I saw very little. I scanned more eiders without success and saw RED-NECKED GREBE and many more PURPLE SANDPIPERS. As I was leaving, in my peripheral vision I caught a glimpse of an owl perched on a wire. Unfortunately, by the time that I turned round it was gone. Oh well, one that got away.

Friday, February 4, 2000
After two days in the field I've seen 4 of my target birds (Great Cormorant, Common Eider, Purple Sandpiper and Black Guillemot), which represent all the birds that I figured I'd just have to show up for. Today I worked exclusively (without success) on what I thought would be the "easiest of the harder but likely birds", Iceland Gull and King Eider. A cooler and windier day that made standing and scanning somewhat unpleasant. Skies were mostly sunny and temperatures ranged from 10 to 28 degrees.

I spent the morning looking for Iceland Gull beginning at Back Cove in Portland, where the tide was high and very few gulls were present. I moved on to the wastewater treatment plant where up to 6 Iceland Gulls had been reported on the RBA. I saw no gulls at all for 30 minutes, just a lone SAVANNAH SPARROW and a BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE. Around 10:00am., gulls started to move in and feed around the treatment tanks. I scanned everything I could find for over an hour, but saw only the "regular" HERRING, RING-BILLED and GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULLS  (now that I'm an expert after two days!). Next, I worked my way along the waterfront on Commercial street. Many 100s, probably 1000s of gulls were present, but no white-winged gulls that I could find.

In the afternoon I headed down to Ogunquit and birded at Perkin's Cove (along Marginal Way), and again at the Cliff House. Despite spending several hours at each location, I struck out on King Eider. COMMON EIDER were abundant and HARLEQUIN DUCKS were plentiful.

So, a day without target bird success and precious few birds. I saw a total of 24 species and added SURF SCOTER and AMERICAN GOLDFINCH to my trip list, both at Perkin's Cove.

Saturday, February 5, 2000
I headed further north today and continued looking for King Eider, Iceland Gull and alcids. However, the change of location and scenery didn't help as I again struck out on target birds. The weather was initially sunny, becoming cloudy at the end of the day. Did I mention it was cold?

I'd seen only one raptor so far (Red-tail) so a soaring bird along Hwy 1 near Warren caused me to pull over to check it out. Well worth a stop, a beautiful ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK.

I started at a fairly birdy Pemaquid Point but saw only the same species that I've been seeing each day. I found 14 species just off the point where BLACK GUILLEMOTS were quite numerous. A few CANADA GEESE were in Pemaquid harbor.

My next stop was Owls Head State Park near Rockland. I arrived just in time to get some nice views from the lighthouse before the skies became heavy. Conditions were excellent for scanning -- no wind, calm sea and flat light. However, very few birds were around. I saw a single GREAT CORMORANT, several BLACK GUILLEMOTS and the usual suspects. I'm reminded of my winter birding days around Bellingham, WA where you quickly reach species saturation. Many of the same species, too.

I finished up by checking various access points around Rockland harbor for Iceland Gull as well as checking the many gulls in Belfast Bay. However, again, no white-winged gulls at all.

Sunday, February 6, 2000
Today was predicted to be very cold and extremely windy, and it was! In anticipation, I had moved away from the coast and stayed last night in Bangor. After 4 days of coastal target birding, my intention was to do some casual birding for a change of pace, and I started out at the University of Maine campus in Orono. However, with the temperature around 10 degrees and some serious wind chill to deal with, I quickly decided to can that idea. I had the campus to myself, though (go figure!). Instead, I decided to bite the bullet and head south of Portland again in the hopes of warmer temperatures and less wind.

I started birding at East Point, Biddeford Pool where there was still a biting wind but not as bad as up north. I scanned for while and found a handful of regular coastal species. I continued south intending to bird along Marginal Way in Ogunquit. Here I found only wall to wall people and zero parking spots at Perkin's Cove, no doubt due to Sunday customers at the restaurant. So, off I went, having decided to try Cliff House once again.

I headed to a nice sunny and relatively sheltered spot that I had used on my previous two visits. As I approached this location I could see that the water below me had far more birds than I had been seeing here. Imagine my surprise and delight when the very first bird that I put my 'scope on was a beautiful male KING EIDER. Well, as beautiful as such a goofy looking bird can be.

The bird was in the same area as many COMMON EIDERS, 25+ HARLEQUIN DUCKS and many SURF SCOTERS, but tended to keep to itself. I enjoyed it for 30 minutes as it preened and drifted around the rocks. Even though I'd done my homework on Common/King id, and it seemed pretty easy with males, I could never be quite sure having never seen one! However, discounting the head pattern (which is obvious), the King's body is mostly black whereas the Common's is mostly white. This turned out to be reliable in the field and I could easily relocate the bird from a distance with my naked eye.

Finally, after 5 days and countless hours of scanning the ocean, I was rewarded for my persistence. It would have been tempting to quit and call this challenging day a write-off. However, as I've mentioned many times before, it rarely pays to be lazy!

Now I had a decision to make, work on redpolls or work on gulls. The redpolls would probably mean going back north again, for the gulls I could head south into Mass. From my research I had learned that Iceland and Black-headed Gulls are more commonly found in Mass. than in in Maine, despite the relatively short distance between them. I opted for Mass. since that would keep me close to Manchester, NH for my return flight. Besides, the redpolls are more widespread across the northern tier states, whereas the gulls are generally east coast only. In addition, I'd still have a chance at an alcid in Mass. That was my thought process and with my mind up, I headed south.

I arrived in Newburyport just as the tide was receding and starting to expose Joppa Flats. The temperature here was 30 degrees and there was almost zero wind. It felt positively balmy! I found a parking spot, set up shop, and started scanning. Gulls were everywhere. Here we go again, HERRING GULL, Herring, Herring, RING-BILLED GULL, Herring, Ring-billed, GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL ...... Whoa! What's this smaller all white job with a black bill -- a first winter ICELAND GULL. Finally! It was my "lucky" day. Two target birds found, proving once again that persistence and timing are very important aspects of birding. However, if you're reading these notes, I'm probably preaching to the converted.

An excellent end to a day that started extremely miserably. Now, as darkness approached, it was time to find a motel and take stock of my options

Monday, February 7, 2000
I had two targets for today, Black-headed Gull (which I fully expected to see) and any of three alcids, Dovekie, Thick-billed Murre and Razorbill. I  figured that if I saw an alcid at all it would probably be Razorbill, although I didn't really expect to find any of them. As it turned out, I had it backwards!

I made a bee-line for Andrew's Point on Cape Ann, arriving there quite early when it was still overcast but not too cold, somewhere in the high 20s. Best of all the wind was light and the sea quite calm. My hope was that yesterday's windy weather would perhaps have blown in some alcids.

A quick scan left me disappointed to see so few birds, but, amazingly, I soon saw a small group (circa 20) of RAZORBILLS. They were a fair distance out and it was definitely a BVD job, although I did get diagnostic views. I wasn't a moment too soon because they very quickly headed out into the ocean and out of sight.

After adding a few birds to my Mass. list, growing by leaps and bounds, I headed towards Boston, more specifically, Winthrop, to look for Black-headed Gull. The birdfinding guide for Eastern Mass. had led me to believe that I just needed to show up to see one, so my hopes were high. Several hours later after numerous checks of Lewis Lake and Winthrop beach, they were considerably lower! Lots of gulls roosting on the ice on the lake and lots more on the beach, just not the one I was looking for. Did I mention that timing is everything!

I was ticketed to fly home on the 9th. but since I had work scheduled for the 10th., I decided to fly home a day early. I headed north to Manchester where I encountered my first snowfall since leaving there a week ago.

Tuesday, February 8, 2000
A long travel day that began around 6:00am. eastern at 10 degrees, maybe less, and ended up at 82 degrees when I landed in Phoenix at 1:00pm. mountain. It was still 70 degrees by the time I arrived home in Sierra Vista at 5:00pm. Quite a contrast!

Even the NORTHERN HARRIERS, AM. KESTRELS, MOURNING DOVES and GREAT-TAILED GRACKLES that I saw along I-10 seemed fresh and exciting!

Ironically, having decided to come home a day early to catch up before working again on Thursday, a message from my client informed me that he was sick and wouldn't be able to make it. However, I'm still glad to be home. Folks in the east pay in winter whereas here in AZ we pay in summer. With east coast winters being cold and the summers hot and humid, and our winters being mild with hot and dry summers, on balance I think we get the best deal.

All things considered I had an enjoyable and successful trip. I saw 7 of the 14 potential target species, Great Cormorant, Common and King Eiders, Purple Sandpiper, Iceland Gull, Black Guillemot and Razorbill. I consider that I missed 2 species that should have been possible, Black-headed Gull and Thick-billed Murre. Of the remainder, Northern Gannet, Dovekie and Atlantic Puffin were hardly realistic, and I never even got around to looking for the two redpolls.

Thursday, February 10, 2000
The worst part of going on a trip is having to catch up on the stuff that piles up while your gone. After a day and half of such nonsense I ventured out around midday today, first to Sierra Vista sewage ponds and then to the San Rafael valley.

At the sewage ponds I got a chuckle out of a couple of sightings that someone had left in my notebook -- American Black Duck and White-rumped Sandpiper. Must have been someone from the east, the birds would have been, of course, Mexican Mallard and Least Sandpiper.

Despite the fact that the marsh has been swealed away to almost nothing, the multitude of YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS are still hanging around along with marsh denizens like SORA, COMMON MOORHEN, MARSH WREN, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT and SONG SPARROW. Perhaps the blackbirds are roosting somewhere other than the marsh now.  I saw a total of 25 species here from 11:30am-12:30pm.

I took a leisurely drive out the San Rafael valley to see if I my timing would enable me to find the Lapland Longspur without wasting my life away. I arrived there at 2:07pm. to find only hordes of blackbirds of 4 flavors. Around 2:45pm. the blackbirds began drifting away and were pretty much completely gone by 2:55pm. At 3:15pm. I was looking in the right place at the right time to see LAPLAND LONGSPUR drinking from the water trough, in fact there were two of them. At this point they were the only birds in the corral. However, only 30 seconds later a small group of blackbirds came back and the Longspurs beat it. I waited around for a few minutes hoping they would come back, but a MERLIN passing by spooked everything.

At this point I thought about heading into Patagonia to look for the Eastern Towhee, but decided against it. Instead, I took what I had (a 30 second look at state bird #409) and headed home.

Tuesday, February 15, 2000
I've been relaxing and doing almost all non-birding stuff for the past few days. My only birding was at Sierra Vista sewage ponds where the only birds of note were a MERLIN and both EASTERN (LILIAN'S) and WESTERN MEADOWLARKS, dueling by song. As I enjoyed this time to myself, I thought of the days ahead that pay for these days -- middle of the night starts for trips to California Gulch, late night owling sessions, tough afternoons in the summer sun, and the prospect of another season of mosquito and chigger bites. We all have our crosses to bear.

Today I was back in action with Louise & Ken Martin from Houston, TX. They had just finished a tour with VENT and we had a couple of target birds not seen on that trip -- Spotted Owl and Northern Pygmy-Owl.

It was like a spring day in Scheelite Canyon with blue skies, warm sunshine and lots of birdsong. Birds of note included several WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS back on territory, soaring over the cliffs. My earliest record in Scheelite is 2/6/95. Even better was a PAINTED REDSTART. Although they are common and a regular breeder in Scheelite, this was my first February record here. My previous early date was 3/10/94 and the average return date is March 12. Other singing (not calling) birds were BRIDLED TITMOUSE, BEWICK'S WREN, CANYON WREN (what a beautiful song, especially echoing off the canyon walls) and HUTTON'S VIREO. Other birds in the canyon were STRICKLAND'S WOODPECKER, N. FLICKER, STELLER'S, MEXICAN and SCRUB JAYS, COMMON RAVEN, HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, BROWN CREEPER, BUSHTIT, HERMIT THRUSH, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER and LESSER GOLDFINCH.

A single SPOTTED OWL was easy to find, roosting next to the trail. The bird hardly bothered to open its eyes to record two more lifers. However, NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL was just a tad harder to find. We eventually found one a little over a mile into the main canyon. After some initial difficulty as the bird played hard to get, we had good views near the top of a Douglas Fir. We enjoyed the bird  for about 15 minutes then committed the cardinal sin of walking away from it. I was very pleased for Louise and Ken. Any owl is always great, two in one day is better than I expected. It could easily have been 0 for 2.

Wednesday, February 16, 2000
Day 1 of 2 days with Deanna Campbell from Calgary, AB and her mom Jeanette from Edmonton, AB. On a warm day that began with clear blue skies and ended with heavy clouds, we visited Patagonia Lake State Park, Kino Springs, Paton's yard, and the San Rafael Valley. We saw some decent birds and recorded close to 100 species for the day.

At Patagonia Lake, the RUFOUS-BACKED ROBIN was easy to find today and we had some good views on our outbound and return walk. The bird was initially in the hackberries but soon flew into the large willows near "Nutting's wash". Later, the bird was again in the willows and at the water's edge. Along the creek trail we had excellent looks at the male ELEGANT TROGON, posing for a large group in atypical fashion (i.e. it didn't fly away!). There were a few signs of change today from the regular winter fare. Other birds from the 58 species seen included 6-NEOTROPIC CORMORANTS, 1-GREAT EGRET, increased numbers of CINNAMON TEAL, a male BUFFLEHEAD, 2-SORAS, 1-RING-BILLED GULL, singing INCA & WHITE-WINGED DOVES, continuing DUSKY, GRAY & ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS (but only one of each), a returning female VERMILION FLYCATCHER (they'll be thick in a week a so), SWAMP SPARROW and numerous ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS.

A brief trip to Kino Springs failed to produce a male Vermilion, but we did find a flock of at least 20-LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCHES near the club house.

At the Paton's we easily saw ANNA'S and VIOLET-CROWNED HUMMINGBIRDS and a good looking male LAZULI BUNTING. Of note overhead was a lone BLACK VULTURE, no doubt venturing east already because of the spring like weather.

Driving through Harshaw Canyon on our way to the grasslands we made an arbitrary stop and flushed 2-MONTEZUMA QUAIL from the roadside. The birds flew onto the oak covered slopes and, although we did manage to relocate them, we had to be satisfied with flying views.

In the San Rafael Valley we found 1-MERLIN, 2-PEREGRINES, a fly-by SPRAGUE'S PIPIT (near the old corral on the southern section of FR 58), 1 female MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD, 2-McCOWN'S LONGSPURS (at the Vaca Ranch corral), a lone LARK BUNTING (quite rare in the valley), two unidentified swallows and the regular common species.

Thursday, February 17, 2000
Out again today with Deanna and Jeanette. After yesterday's buildup of ominous looking clouds, I was hoping for some much needed rain overnight, but it didn't happen. Today was partly cloudy and 10 degrees cooler than yesterday at somewhere in the mid 60s. It was also very windy for much of the day, especially in the mountains. We recorded 75+ species with visits to Sulphur Springs valley, Scheelite Canyon, and the San Pedro river.

Our first stop on Frontier Rd. yielded a very cooperative BENDIRE'S THRASHER that sang and posed for a photo opportunity, a small group of GAMBEL'S QUAIL in the Pecan grove, several PYRRHULOXIAS, and the usual hordes of BREWER'S SPARROWS and LARK BUNTINGS.

At Whitewater Draw we improved a little on yesterday's female VERMILION FLYCATCHER when we saw a first year male. About 30 species here including 1-FERRUGINOUS HAWK, 2-GOLDEN EAGLES sharing prey, 40-LONG-BILLED CURLEWS feeding in a regular field near the entrance, 15+SCALED QUAIL, and VIOLET-GREEN & TREE SWALLOWS feeding over the water (the latter being my first of the season).

Nearby, Lee Rd. held a small group of white geese mixed in with 1000-SANDHILL CRANES. Most of the geese were SNOW GEESE, but at least 2-ROSS'S GEESE were present. Something spooked the flock which took off in unison making one hell of a racket. I was able to count the geese which numbered 35, but I couldn't tell how many of each.

A trip to Essary Hay was a little disappointing except for a plethora of FERRUGINOUS HAWKS. Even counting conservatively, at least 30 birds were present. We didn't look for Mountain Plover, just thrashers, of which we found none. Of note were a few continuing MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS.

In the Huachucas, a late lunch at the upper picnic area found the area alive with birds, mostly LESSER GOLDFINCHES and GRAY-HEADED JUNCOS, with just a few WESTERN BLUEBIRDS for color.

Unlike my trip on Tuesday, Scheelite Canyon was somewhat gloomy, cool, and very windy. As you might expect, birds were few and far between. SPOTTED OWL was harder to find today, well hidden off the trail and made even more difficult by the trees swaying in the wind. However, in the grand scheme of things, I'd have to rate the bird "easy to find" since it was in a regular roosting location.

Surprisingly, after experiencing so much wind in the Huachucas, we encountered calm conditions during our late afternoon visit to the highway 90 area of the San Pedro. However, it didn't help with the birding which was, at best, uninspiring. We saw about 35 common species from 4:30-5:45pm., the "rarest" of which was SWAMP SPARROW. Others included COOPER'S HAWK, a few COMMON GROUND-DOVES, many LARK BUNTINGS & LARK SPARROWS, and four species of Towhees.

Tuesday, February 29, 2000
My mailbox runneth over with people asking "why no reports", "am I sick", "where are you" and so on. It appears that more people read my journal on a regular basis than I had thought. The period since February 17 has been my longest non-birding stretch for quite some time. Multiple reasons for this included a couple of no-show clients, burnout (after a busy late December, January and then a birding "vacation" to Maine), home maintenance, upgrading my satellite system equipment, dealing with a flood of birding inquiries and preparing materials for my summer tour, mostly the latter two.

I've been a C band (big dish) satellite system user for over 15 years, but the gradual change to digital technology has finally got the better of me. I added a DISH Network 500 (small dish) system which allows simultaneous reception of different channels on different satellites using 2 receivers. I now get as much Spanish language programming and movies than anybody has a right to expect. Ironically, I couldn't find anything to watch the first night! The next night I was watching a C band channel and recording 2 other channels at the same time, go figure!

I had not planned to resume my birding activities for another couple of days. However, I figured it was easier to get in the field and update my journal than to answer all the emails! When I left the house this morning I intended to hit the San Pedro, but at the last minute I hung a left and headed into the Huachucas. My main goal was to check on Williamson's Sapsucker in Sawmill Canyon.

The temperature was 38 degrees leaving town at 7:00am and a little below freezing when I reached Sawmill. I didn't see any evidence of snow from the recent burst of winter but there were several areas with patchy ice. However, results of the mild winter are quite evident with the cottonwoods and willows well into leaf in the lower sections of Garden Canyon. On the down side, the lack of water in many parts of the canyon is very noticeable.

Sawmill was deathly quiet and it took me 30 minutes to find my first bird. However, since it was my target WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER, I wasn't complaining! I first heard the bird about 100 feet away and worked my way towards the sound. As I got closer, the bird stopped tapping and I lost track of where it was. I kept going towards a large pine on which I intended to lean. When I got within 3 feet I noticed eye-level movement on the back side of the trunk. Yikes! I backed away and circled around as the bird resumed foraging with the occasional glance in my direction. I was only 10 feet away. Fantastic! Now, would it have worked out this way if a client had been with me?

Some time later I heard a tiny insect like call, in the small junipers near the bottom of the canyon, and immediately said to myself LINCOLN'S SPARROW! I was excited because I knew that I'd never seen one in Sawmill before (it turned out to be species #111). For good measure, the bird popped into view for confirmation. Even though they nest at 10,000 feet and above in the White Mountains, I have only 15 previous records for the Huachucas, 12 in Garden and 3 in Scheelite.

I had worked through the night and by now  I was hungry and my hands were numb, so I headed back down Garden Canyon. About 1/4 mile above Scheelite I was startled by a red bird flycatching from a pine -- it was a beautiful male VERMILION FLYCATCHER. This was the most up-canyon location for me, having seen them only as high as the upper picnic area, a good mile below today's bird. As I later reflected, the bird was probably working with what it had. Perhaps just arriving on this cold and cloudy day, it sought out a sunny section along the creek where bugs were probably quite numerous. I left the mountains having seen only the following species in about 2 1/2 hours:

Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Mourning Dove, Acorn Woodpecker, Williamson's Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, Vermilion Flycatcher, Mexican Jay, Chihuahuan Raven, Hutton's Vireo, Loggerhead Shrike, Phainopepla, Bewick's Wren, Verdin, Bushtit, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bridled Titmouse, Lesser Goldfinch, Gray-headed Junco, Lincoln's, Chipping & Vesper Sparrows and Eastern & Western Meadowlarks.

Back in town the temperature had risen to 50 degrees and by 1:15pm (when I headed out again to Sierra Vista sewage ponds) had reached 70 degrees. It's been a couple of weeks since I was at the ponds and I was hoping to see Turkey Vultures (sometimes here by the end of February) and perhaps an early migrant. No such luck, in fact, very few signs of seasonal movement. My list here during a short visit was:

Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, Ring-necked Duck, 6-Northern Harriers, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, American Coot, Least Sandpiper, a few courting Killdeers, Mourning Dove, Say's & Black Phoebes, Chihuahuan Raven, European Starling, Marsh Wren, American Pipit, White-crowned, Savannah, Brewer's & Vesper Sparrows, Pyrrhuloxia, 1 lousy Yellow-headed Blackbird!, Red-winged Blackbird and Eastern Meadowlark.

As I headed home, I thought about how few birds I've seen in Arizona year to date (184 in fact). One year I saw 204 in January alone. This is what happens when I don't go birding!

This log is in chronological order and the most recent entries are at the bottom of the page.
The last update was on Tuesday, February 29, 2000

Species List

Stuart Healy Journal - February, 2000 If you use the contents of my journal for commercial purposes, please acknowledge the source to your clients - thanks.

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