Species List

Stuart Healy Journal - August, 2002 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 Wednesday, August 28, 2002.

Friday, August 2, 2002    Previous Day    Next Day  
First of three days of target birding with Tim Leahy from Appleton, WI and Roger Tess from Sheboygan, WI. After considerable overnight rain it was a cloudy and soggy day with some intermittent rain. Nevertheless, we had a successful day of birding, seeing all but one of the targets that we looked for.

We left town at 5:00am and began with a hike up a very quiet and humid (can you say 100%) Miller Canyon, arriving above the old mine at 6:20am. Neither Roger nor Tim were particularly worried about seeing the Flame-colored Tanager and at 8:00am we decided to leave. A large group (>20) had gathered and we met plenty more headed up canyon as we left. I would guess well over 40 people in total. Mob birding is definitely not my cup of tea. Among the birds in the canyon from 21 recorded were BLUE-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, ARIZONA WOODPECKER, GREATER PEWEE, CORDILLERAN & SULPHUR-BELLIED FLYCATCHERS, EASTERN BLUEBIRD and PAINTED REDSTART.  

We moved over to Fort Huachuca and resumed birding in Garden Canyon grassland where BOTTERI'S & CASSIN'S SPARROWS were both singing and easy to find. Also in the grassland were COOPER'S HAWK, SCALED QUAIL, GREATER ROADRUNNER, WESTERN & CASSIN'S KINGBIRDS, lots of VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS and BLUE GROSBEAK.

Further up canyon we paused briefly to pick up PLUMBEOUS VIREO before making a brief stop at Sawmill Canyon where a very cooperative BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER obliged us near the cabin.

Our trip up Scheelite Canyon was very eventful and successful. Two parties were leaving as we started up and neither had seen an owl, so I figured we were in for a long walk. Unfortunately, that's the way it turned out, something we didn't need in the very humid conditions. 

After an exhaustive and negative search of the lower roosting area we continued on, pausing to rest in the bedrock area between  the pools and dry waterfall. Imagine our surprise when Tim sat down very close to a newly hatched family of  MONTEZUMA QUAIL. I've said many times how most sightings of this species are completely serendipitous, but surely none more so than this one! Tiny Quail babies scattered as the adults started some distraction techniques. I managed a shot of the male.

We left them to regroup and continued our trudge up canyon. Due to the two month closure it's been some time since I've looked for an owl in Scheelite, so when we reached the fork at 3/4 mile I had a decision to make. Fortunately, I chose correctly the first time and after 30 minutes of searching I located a very hard-to-find but quite viewable SPOTTED OWL in a new tree (for me at least, perhaps not the owl), henceforth to be known as the "Tess" Oak. Spotted Owl had become a nemesis for Roger so he got the honor. Among the few other species in the canyon were ARIZONA WOODPECKER, CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER, all three regular JAYS, BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER and PAINTED REDSTART.

Back in Garden Canyon we stopped at a rather soggy Upper Picnic Area to pick up DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER. Several noisy SULPHUR-BELLIED FLYCATCHERS were present but eluded us, fortunately we saw them earlier in Miller Canyon.

Both Tim and Roger picked up 5 (different) birds for the day leaving Roger at 695 ABA area birds. I doubt that he'll make 700 on this trip.

Day List (58 species recorded):
Turkey Vulture, Cooper's & Red-tailed Hawks, Scaled & Montezuma Quail, Rock, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Greater Roadrunner, Spotted Owl, Blue-throated, Anna's & Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Acorn & Arizona Woodpeckers, Greater Pewee, Western Wood-Pewee, Cordilleran, Buff-breasted, Dusky-capped & Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers, Say's Phoebe, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Western Scrub-Jay, Chihuahuan Raven, Hutton's & Plumbeous Vireos, Eastern Bluebird, Am. Robin, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Brown Creeper, Cactus, Canyon, Bewick's Wrens, Verdin, Bushtit, Violet-green & Barn Swallows, Bridled Titmouse, House Sparrow, Lesser Goldfinch, House Finch, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Painted Redstart, Lark, Botteri's, Cassin's & Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Spotted & Canyon Towhees, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks, Eastern Meadowlark and Great-tailed Grackle.

Saturday, August 3, 2002    Previous Day    Next Day
Day 2 with Tim and Roger. Another cloudy but rain free morning created excellent conditions for our trip to California Gulch. The area west of Nogales has received far less rainfall than Sierra Vista over the past week because all standing and running water is down considerably since my last visit. 

A seasonally adjusted start time (we left Sierra Vista at 3:00am) produced no less than 7 COMMON POORWILLS along the Ruby Road. Of course, the numbers reflected the fact that it wasn't a target bird today, last week I could hardly buy any. I even had to swerve to avoid two of the birds! A calling GREAT HORNED OWL was the only other bird along the road.

A calling NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET greeted us as we arrived in California Gulch and the bird perched up long enough for us to get a scope set up. The gulch was fairly active and it didn't take long to locate a couple of singing FIVE-STRIPED SPARROWS and VARIED BUNTINGS. We had good scope looks at both species, although the poor light didn't really do justice to the bunting. Our stay was very short and we recorded only 30 species including VERMILION & BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHERS, THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD, the omnipresent BELL'S VIREOS, BLUE GROSBEAK and HOODED ORIOLE.

After a long drive back to the Huachucas we resumed birding near Reef Campground in Carr Canyon where we played hide and seek with several VIRGINIA'S WARBLERS, our only target here. As is often the case, especially post breeding, they were very elusive and it took a while to build an inventory of fleeting glimpses. Among the other species in the same habitat were BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER, YELLOW-RUMPED, BLACK-THROATED GRAY and RED-FACED WARBLER, lots of singing SPOTTED TOWHEES and YELLOW-EYED JUNCO. 

Sunday, August 4, 2002    Previous Day    Next Day
Third and last day with Tim and Roger. A very cloudy and dreary morning with a few sprinkles as we left town at 4:15am for a trip to French Joe Canyon. Apart from a couple of deep puddles along the road, water levels throughout the canyon were much lower than on my most recent visit last week. 

The drive in darkness was uneventful except for a single COMMON POORWILL perched up on a rock. We arrived at the upper spring at 5:50am and I first heard a RUFOUS-CAPPED WARBLER singing 5 minutes later. Just as last week, the bird was above the spring on the south slope. Over the next 1 1/2 hours two birds sang a number of times, sometimes quite strongly, from a location that it seemed impossible not to see them. However, the adult birds managed to stay out of our binoculars. At one point, I saw a juvenile working on the ground in deep vegetation and later both Roger and I saw another (or the same juvenile) perched up very briefly. With impending rain we left the spring at 10:45am without improving on those views.

Although BLACK-CHINNED SPARROWS were singing in multiple locations, they also played extremely hard to get. After lots of scanning in vain we eventually  had to go after them and get scratched up in order to get a decent view. I managed to get stabbed by an Agave and twist my ankle again just for good measure. The good news was that these two species represented ABA birds #698 and #699 for Roger (he had already seen the warbler in Mexico so a killer view wasn't necessary).

With the exception of the seemingly always singing CANYON WRENS, a couple of calling CRISSAL THRASHERS, singing BLACK-CHINNED and RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS and some occasional song from SCOTT'S ORIOLE., the canyon was generally quiet today. We recorded the following 30 species:

Cooper's Hawk, White-winged Dove, Common Poorwill, Anna's & Rufous Hummingbirds, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Western Wood-Pewee, Cassin's Kingbird, Western Scrub-Jay, Mexican Jay, Hutton's & Plumbeous Vireos, Phainopepla, Crissal Thrasher, Cactus, Rock, Canyon & Bewick's Wrens, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, House Finch, Rufous-capped Warbler, Black-chinned, Black-throated & Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Spotted & Canyon Towhees, N. Cardinal, Blue Grosbeak and Scott's Oriole. 

Monday, August 5, 2002    Previous Day    Next Day
First of two days with Pete Ferrera from Slingerlands, NY. Another cool, mostly cloudy and humid morning west of Nogales, warming by midday in Patagonia and raining in Sierra Vista by late afternoon.

Our primary target bird for the day was Montezuma Quail, a bird that most people who hire me are not willing to commit time and effort to target, perhaps with good reason. Most sightings are serendipitous and when specifically targeted, locating the bird does not often result in a satisfactory sighting. Such was the case today. Many of my sightings are in the Pajarito Mountains and this is certainly the easiest place to look for them. Even though I'd seen them well in Scheelite Canyon a couple of days ago, I knew that the chances of repeating that were about a billion to one and I stuck with the plan made some time ago. 

We left Sierra Vista at 4:00am and cruised the Ruby Road as far as a mile or so beyond Sycamore Canyon without the much hoped for roadside sighting. The area immediately east of the Sycamore Canyon turn is an excellent spot for the quail and we set about walking the very soggy grass here. After about 45 minutes (by which time our feet were well and truly soaked) we flushed a couple of MONTEZUMA QUAIL that exploded in typical fashion and provided the also typical ass-end view as they flew away. I saw where the female landed and I was able to track it down again with the same result -- i.e. the bird rocketed way. With that, we abandoned our efforts and headed east to work on secondary target birds. We recorded 30, mostly roadside, species as we looked for the quail including BAND-TAILED PIGEON, ARIZONA WOODPECKER, ROCK WREN, EASTERN BLUEBIRD, scads of RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS (perhaps the Pajaritos were named for these birds!), HEPATIC TANAGER and HOODED & SCOTT'S ORIOLES.

A hour at the first pond at Kino Springs was very productive and we managed excellent looks at YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT and a male VARIED BUNTING looking immaculate perched up in the sunshine. As usual, BELL'S VIREO was a little more elusive. Regulars included BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK, COMMON GROUND-DOVE and GRAY HAWK. Although monsoon rainfall has raised the water level, there's still plenty of mud/shoreline at the pond. However, the only customer was a SPOTTED SANDPIPER.

At the Roadside Rest area we were defeated by a very reticent CANYON WREN that outlasted us. Among the species here were YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO, THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD, BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER, WESTERN TANAGER and a singing VARIED BUNTING. 

A brief stop at the Paton's yard produced 20+ species including VIOLET-CROWNED & RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS, THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD and LAZULI BUNTING (they are normally present here from now until May).

Our last stop of the day was at Sierra Vista WWTP where YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS could have been a bit more cooperative (they continually flew into the marsh and disappeared without perching). Also in the marsh were a couple of immaculate male LAZULI BUNTINGS and my first SORA and BANK SWALLOW of the season. Along Moson Road we located a couple of calling SCALED QUAIL but had to quit without seeing them as the rain started shortly before 4:00pm. 

Tuesday, August 6, 2002    Previous Day    Next Day
Second and last day with Pete Ferrera. A lull in the monsoons today with lots of clouds but zero rain in Sierra Vista and a warm afternoon temperature in Tucson.

We began in the Huachucas working on a number of target birds and with some hopes for a chance Montezuma Quail sighting that didn't materialize. As is usual at this time of year, BOTTERI'S and CASSIN'S SPARROWS were both singing and easy to locate in the grassland in lower Garden Canyon. Better still, a SCALED QUAIL (unseen yesterday) was perched up and calling on a pile of old tires and later in a tree, and Pete managed some photos.

Further up canyon near the pictograph site we worked for about 30 minutes trying to get a view of a singing but rather secretive CANYON WREN. Only after we decided to move on and try again on the way back did we get excellent views of another bird just a few hundred feet away. ELEGANT TROGON and BAND-TAILED PIGEON were both calling in this area.

BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHERS were very easy to find in Sawmill Canyon. GREATER PEWEE was another story and we had to work for quite some time before we located and then tracked down just one calling individual. The canyon was fairly quiet except for a small flock of GRACE'S WARBLERS. Among the 15 species that we recorded was a lone PINE SISKIN, my earliest "fall" record for the canyon. They are normally present here from late September through mid May. 

Back in Garden Canyon, just a little effort produced a singing SPOTTED TOWHEE.

Next, we visited Ramsey Canyon to see the female BERYLLINE HUMMINGBIRD at the nest. 

After a drive to Tucson we resumed birding in Tucson Mountain Park where BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHER was easy to find but a couple of calling GILDED FLICKERS managed to get away from us. However, we managed to track one down at a regular spot near Mile Wide and Sandario. RUFOUS-WINGED SPARROWS, also regular here, were singing away in the heat of the afternoon.

During a short stop at Sweetwater Wetland we easily picked up ABERT'S TOWHEE but failed to find Lucy's Warbler. We recorded 25 species here including a HARRIS'S HAWK that flew in as we were leaving.

We finished up back in the Huachucas at dusk where we cruised Miller Canyon looking unsuccessfully for Montezuma Quail. 

Pete was unlike most of my clients in that he is a world birder (birding more outside the U.S. than in it) who doesn't care about where he sees birds or such things as an ABA list. Over the past two days we looked for 15 from his original list of 18 species, of which we located 14 but managed to see only 13 (Montezuma Quail flushed but not seen, Lucy's Warbler missed). We also picked up 6 "target" birds that I learned about along the way  (which is why I always stress the importance of providing me with a comprehensive list in advance). We recorded the following 119 species over the two days (target birds underlined):

Pied-billed Grebe, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Ruddy Duck, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Green Heron, Turkey Vulture, Harris's Hawk, Gray Hawk, Swainson's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Scaled, Gambel's & Montezuma Quail, Sora, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Spotted Sandpiper, Killdeer, Band-tailed Pigeon, Rock, Mourning, White-winged & Inca Doves, Common Ground-Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Broad-billed, Berylline, Violet-crowned, Blue-throated, Black-chinned, Anna's, Broad-tailed & Rufous Hummingbirds, Elegant Trogon, Acorn, Gila, Ladder-backed & Arizona Woodpeckers, Northern & Gilded Flicker, Greater Pewee, Western Wood-Pewee, Say's & Black Phoebes, Buff-breasted, Dusky-capped, Ash-throated & Brown-crested Flycatchers, Cassin's, Thick-billed & Western Kingbirds, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, Bell's, Hutton's, Plumbeous & Warbling Vireos, Loggerhead Shrike, Phainopepla, Eastern Bluebird, Am. Robin, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Cactus, Rock, Canyon & Bewick's Wrens, Verdin, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Bushtit, Purple Martin, Violet-green, Bank, Barn & Cliff Swallows, Bridled Titmouse, House Sparrow, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, House Finch, Yellow & Grace's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Painted Redstart, Yellow-breasted Chat, Yellow-eyed Junco, Song, Lark, Black-throated, Botteri's, Cassin's, Rufous-winged & Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Spotted, Canyon & Abert's Towhees, Hepatic, Summer & Western Tanagers, Black-headed Grosbeak, N. Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Blue Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, Varied Bunting, Hooded & Scott's Orioles, Yellow-headed & Red-winged Blackbirds, Eastern Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackle and Bronzed & Brown-headed Cowbirds.

Thursday, August 8, 2002    Previous Day    Next Day
A last minute cancellation left me with three days to myself. After a lazy day yesterday, I headed over to Willcox this afternoon to check on shorebird migration. The water level on the main pond has risen considerably since my last visit in mid July. Nevertheless, even with the big reduction in habitat, there were plenty of shorebirds present.

Less common species were SEMIPALMATED PLOVER and MARBLED GODWIT. The Godwit was a nice milestone for me -- somehow they have eluded me in August (I have records for April, May, June & September) and the bird represented my 300th cumulative species for August in Arizona. I've only seen 300 in one other month (306 in May), although April at 299 is getting close. 

BAIRD'S and WESTERN SANDPIPERS were both well represented. Among the other species were a fair number of EARED GREBES, a dozen or so CINNAMON TEAL, a slightly early AMERICAN WIGEON, lots of AMERICAN AVOCETS and a few BLACK-NECKED STILTS, a couple of GREATER & perhaps as many as 6 LESSER YELLOWLEGS, many LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS still in alternate plumage, a few SPOTTED & LEAST SANDPIPERS, scads of rather drab WILSON'S PHALAROPES, a lone BLACK TERN in basic plumage, a calling SCALED QUAIL and several singing CASSIN'S SPARROWS..

Friday, August 9, 2002    Previous Day    Next Day
The new facilities at Sierra Vista WWTP continue to disappoint. An hour there this morning didn't even produce a Coot and just one duck species -- MALLARD. Pathetic. As I've mentioned, the new viewing area doesn't have any visibility to open water and all the ponds visible from the old viewing area are dry.

The highlight was a WESTERN TANAGER, species #186 for me at the ponds. The bird was flying south at a pretty good clip and paused for a few nanoseconds in the pines near the viewing platform.

The grass near the old viewing area where CASSIN'S SPARROWS have been singing has been mowed. Needless to say they were not singing today! However, they were singing on the other side of Hwy 90 opposite the entrance gate and along Moson Road.

Normally I'm content to record GRASSHOPPER SPARROW as a heard only, today I took the time to track down a singing and perched bird (in the field due west of the new viewing area).

Among the other species from 25 recorded were SWAINSON'S HAWK, BLACK-THROATED SPARROW, BLUE GROSBEAK, LAZULI BUNTING and YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD.

Saturday, August 10, 2002    Previous Day    Next Day
First of two days with Bob Williford and Stacy Bonn from Phoenix, AZ. We've birded together on four previous occasions, always without any particular targets in mind. On another blue sky, warm and humid day without any monsoon rain, we visited Willcox and St. David.

Highlights at Willcox were the continuing SEMIPALMATED PLOVER and MARBLED GODWIT, increased numbers of GREATER YELLOWLEGS (20+ between the main pond and the temporal pond to the west) and a perched up and singing CASSIN'S SPARROW.

Among the birds at the Golf Course pond were 3 BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS, a perched up SCALED QUAIL, a foraging SORA (I only have a handful of fall records here including one other in August), several BANK SWALLOWS (regular here in August) and a WESTERN TANAGER (my first here, just as at Sierra Vista WWTP yesterday).

Except for American Wigeon and Black Tern, all of the birds that I saw at Willcox on Thursday were still present today and our session from 7:15-9:25am produced the following 41 species:

Eared Grebe, Ruddy Duck, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Swainson's Hawk, Scaled Quail, Sora, Am. Coot, Marbled Godwit, Greater & Lesser Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitcher, Spotted, Western, Least & Baird's Sandpipers, Wilson's Phalarope, Black-necked Stilt, Am. Avocet, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Mourning Dove, Say's & Black Phoebes, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Chihuahuan Raven, Loggerhead Shrike, N. Mockingbird, Tree, Bank, Barn & Cliff Swallows, Common Yellowthroat, Cassin's Sparrow, Western Tanager, Blue Grosbeak, Eastern Meadowlark and Great-tailed Grackle.

As we entered St. David, a few minutes near the San Pedro bridge produced adult and juvenile MISSISSIPPI KITES (a new bird for Bob and Stacy) soaring with a GRAY HAWK.

Although bird activity at the Monastery was on the low side in the late morning, we managed to record 30 species including a flyover MISSISSIPPI KITE, a singing YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO seen in flight a couple of times, a singing NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET, adult and juvenile VERMILION FLYCATCHERS, singing BELL'S VIREOS, several noisy but unseen YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS, a small group of LARK SPARROWS and a male BLUE GROSBEAK.

Sunday, August 11, 2002    Previous Day    Next Day
Out again today with Bob and Stacy, birding entirely in the Huachucas. After significant overnight rain, the day began fairly cloudy and Garden Canyon was a little soggy and quiet early this this morning. The clouds were gone by mid morning and it was quite warm and humid in Carr Canyon.

Birds were generally hard to come by in Garden Canyon and we recorded only 35 species in 2 hours. We birded our way slowly through the grassland (most activity was here) and then spent some time at the upper picnic area. As usual, BOTTERI'S and CASSIN'S SPARROWS were both singing. LARK SPARROWS were conspicuous in small flocks and a few RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS were singing. BLUE GROSBEAKS were very common and singing in multiple locations. My first mountain CHIPPING SPARROW of the fall was also in the lower grassland. They become fairly common here in September and very common by October. My earliest fall sighting in Garden Canyon is August 7.

Later, as we were leaving, the transition zone between the oaks and junipers and the mesquite grassland (below the lower picnic area) produced the most activity that we saw. A small mixed flock passed by consisting of a few BLACK-THROATED GRAY and half a dozen or so VIRGINIA'S WARBLERS, HEPATIC and WESTERN TANAGERS and a fair number of BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS.

The upper picnic area was very quiet except for a number of noisy SULPHUR-BELLIED FLYCATCHERS and a few WESTERN WOOD-PEWEES.

Carr Canyon wasn't exactly teeming with birds but we managed 45 species in a little under 5 hours. We birded the trails around Reef Campground and then hiked the Comfort Spring trail. It was along the Comfort Spring trail that the highlight of the day occurred with a most unexpected KENTUCKY WARBLER, a new bird for Bob and Stacy and state bird #419 for me. The bird also has the distinction of being the 400th species that I've seen in the southeast part of the state. Now that I don't chase state birds anymore (case in point -- the Purple Gallinule in Tucson), each state bird that I stumble into is much more satisfying and rewarding.

We saw the bird at Carr creek crossing (the low point of the trail) on the up canyon side where the vegetation is very dense. I haven't seen too many of them but, judging by the very well defined face pattern, I would say that the bird was a male. I did some checking and found that most Arizona records come from the Chiricahuas and the Huachucas. The somewhat outdated Monson & Phillips reference (status through 1980) states that there are no records in July and August; the more recent Tucson Audubon publication shows two records for August.

Other species included BAND-TAILED PIGEON (regular here, although we only saw one today), BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER (Reef Campground), and OLIVE, GRACE'S & RED-FACED WARBLERS.

We recorded the following 60 species in Garden and Carr Canyons:
Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, Band-tailed Pigeon, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Greater Roadrunner, White-throated Swift, Blue-throated, Black-chinned & Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Acorn & Hairy Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Western Wood-Pewee, Buff-breasted, Dusky-capped & Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers, Cassin's Kingbird, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Hutton's & Plumbeous Vireos, Loggerhead Shrike, Phainopepla, Am. Robin, Curve-billed Thrasher, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Canyon, Bewick's & House Wrens, Verdin, Bushtit, Violet-green Swallow, Barn Swallow, Bridled Titmouse, House Sparrow, Lesser Goldfinch, Olive, Virginia's, Lucy's, Black-throated Gray, Grace's, Kentucky & Red-faced Warblers, Yellow-eyed Junco, Chipping, Lark, Botteri's, Cassin's & Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Spotted & Canyon Towhees, Hepatic & Western Tanagers, Black-headed Grosbeak, N. Cardinal, Blue Grosbeak, Eastern Meadowlark and Brown-headed Cowbird.

Monday, August 12, 2002    Previous Day    Next Day  
First of 2 days with Deanna MacPhail from Juneau, AK, Jean Turner from Bradenton, FL and Kate Richardson from Seattle, WA. Although it was only 56 degrees when I left home shortly before 6:00am this morning, today was the warmest day for some time and the temperature was up to 95 degrees in Sierra Vista by early afternoon. We spent the morning in the Huachucas where the canyons remain quite humid.

Grassland birds were again easy to find in lower Garden Canyon and we had no trouble seeing BOTTERI'S and CASSIN'S SPARROWS and BLUE GROSBEAK, all singing. Also in the grassland were SCALED & GAMBEL'S QUAIL, GREATER ROADRUNNER, lots of VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS, VERDIN, LARK & RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS, CANYON TOWHEE, PYRRHULOXIA and EASTERN MEADOWLARK.  Further up canyon we added SULPHUR-BELLIED FLYCATCHER and a number of other common species.

During a really short visit to Sawmill Canyon it didn't take long to find a cooperative BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER. A calling ELEGANT TROGON wasn't as accommodating and we were unable to track it down. However, as we headed back down Garden Canyon, we picked up a juvenile ELEGANT TROGON about a half mile above Scheelite.

We started hiking up a very humid Scheelite Canyon and bumped into two parties exiting that had not seen an owl. Fortunately, the third party that we met (a local birder who I had not met before and whose name I have already forgotten -- sorry) had found an owl in the upper area, thanks for the info!. This was good news because it saved me the chore of searching the lower area which can be very time consuming. I'm not sure whether the bird moved or the distance conveyed to us was incorrect because the owl wasn't where I expected. Not to worry though, because I found this juvenile SPOTTED OWL very close to a regularly used location. This makes the second consecutive year that the owls in Scheelite have successfully fledged young after a number of non breeding years.

Back in Garden Canyon, now close to 90 degrees, the third ELEGANT TROGON of the morning was about 3/8 mile below the upper picnic area, although it got away having only shown itself for a second or two..

We recorded 43 species in Garden, Sawmill and Scheelite Canyons from 6:30am-1:30pm.
Am. Kestrel, Scaled & Gambel's Quail, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Greater Roadrunner, Spotted Owl, Rufous Hummingbird, Elegant Trogon, Acorn, Gila & Arizona Woodpeckers, Western Wood-Pewee, Buff-breasted &  Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Hutton's Vireo, Am. Robin, N. Mockingbird, Brown Creeper, Canyon & Bewick's Wrens, Verdin, Bushtit, Violet-green & Barn Swallows, Bridled Titmouse, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, Yellow-eyed Junco, Lark, Botteri's, Cassin's & Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Spotted & Canyon Towhees, Black-headed Grosbeak, Pyrrhuloxia, Blue Grosbeak and Eastern Meadowlark. 

Tuesday, August 13, 2002    Previous Day    Next Day
Second and last day with Deanna, Jean and Kate. Another warm day without any monsoon rain; 73 degrees at 4:30am as we left town for a trip to French Joe Canyon; in the 90s again by late morning. Today, the RUFOUS-CAPPED WARBLERS vocalized for longer periods and at more frequent intervals than on any recent trips. Although this made them easier to track, it certainly didn't make them any easier to see. Eventually, the birds put on a good show, but not before we put in some hard (and dangerous) work and showed some patience to earn the reward of excellent views.

About half a dozen LESSER NIGHTHAWKS were hawking insects around the lights of the Border Patrol checkpoint on highway 90 and we saw four more plus two COMMON POORWILLS during the drive into the canyon. On the walk up to the upper area we had excellent looks at a singing BLACK-CHINNED SPARROW perched on a Sotal.

We arrived at the upper spring at 6:15am to find a RUFOUS-CAPPED WARBLER singing from the north slope. The song and first opportunity to find the bird soon disappeared and it wasn't until almost 7:00am that we heard two birds singing again not far above the spring. That was the furthest down canyon that they came and we had to embark upon a death scramble in order to track them above the upper dry waterfall. (Each time that I do this I wonder if it will be my last.) Around 7:45am, Jean and I saw what was probably the entire family (3 birds definitely seen) working low to the ground and vocalizing very strongly, about 50 yards above the waterfall. For the next 45 minutes they stayed low, sang and flitted tantalizingly into view. Deanna and Kate had now climbed the slope and their reward came a little after 8:30am when an adult perched up on an Agave, did a little song and dance, and gave us all around great views. Very satisfying and definitely well earned!

Migration is now underway and migrants were well represented with GRAY FLYCATCHER (lower canyon mesquite), WARBLING VIREO, abundant NASHVILLE (lower oaks and near spring), VIRGINIA'S and a few ORANGE-CROWNED and WILSON'S WARBLERS. Other, regular, species recorded included a soaring and calling COOPER'S HAWK over the lower oaks, CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER at the spring, WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, a couple of calling CRISSAL THRASHERS and PLUMBEOUS and HUTTON'S VIREOS.

We recorded the following 43 species:
Cooper's Hawk, White-winged Dove, Lesser Nighthawk, Common Poorwill, Black-chinned, Broad-tailed & Rufous Hummingbirds, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Western Wood-Pewee, Gray & Cordilleran Flycatchers, Western Scrub-Jay, Mexican Jay, Hutton's, Plumbeous & Warbling Vireos, Phainopepla, Crissal Thrasher, White-breasted Nuthatch, Cactus, Rock, Canyon & Bewick's Wrens, Verdin, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, Lesser Goldfinch, Orange-crowned, Nashville, Virginia's, Wilson's & Rufous-capped Warblers, Black-chinned, Black-throated & Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Spotted & Canyon Towhees, Western Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, N. Cardinal, Blue Grosbeak and Hooded & Scott's Orioles.

Thursday, August 15, 2002    Previous Day    Next Day
First of two days with Kenneth Petersen from Campbell, CA and Linda Fineman from Santa Cruz, CA. Yet another sunny and warm day without rain as the monsoons continue to take a break (hopefully). We covered quite a few miles today working on a handful of target birds in the Sulphur Springs Valley, the Chiricahua Mountains and at Willcox.

[NOTE: I was contacted by the journal police reminding me that I chased the Snow Bunting back in April (see my notes for April 13). Consequently, my remark on August 11 "Now that I don't chase state birds anymore..." would be better written as "Now that I rarely chase state birds anymore...". Forgive me Father for I have sinned.]

We began the day on Frontier Road where CASSIN'S and BOTTERI'S SPARROWS were very active, singing, and easy to see. Other sparrows here were LARK and BLACK-THROATED. All were outnumbered by mosquitoes .

At Whitewater Draw (and on Coffman Road) we easily picked up SCALED QUAIL but had zero success with thrashers, just a calling CRISSAL THRASHER. Whitewater Draw water level is high and shorebird activity was minimal with 60+ WHITE-FACED IBIS, a few LONG-BILLED CURLEWS, KILLDEER and a handful of distant unidentified peeps. Also present from 20+ species recorded were BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON, a fly-by PEREGRINE FALCON and a calling COMMON GROUND-DOVE.

The Pinery Canyon road was about as inactive as I've ever seen it. It's not uncommon for me to record close to 50 species from the turnoff near Chiricahua National Monument entrance to Onion Saddle. That journey today yielded just 8 species!

Rustler Road was a little more kind to us and we picked up MEXICAN CHICKADEE and OLIVE WARBLER without too much trouble. In the "timing is everything" category, a SHORT-TAILED HAWK glided by as we scanned the treetops for the chickadee and warbler. Other species included HAIRY WOODPECKER, WHITE-THROATED SWIFT, PYGMY and RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES and my first HERMIT WARBLER of the fall on the Barfoot Road.

Back at lower elevation on the Paradise Road it was now extremely warm, quite humid and fairly buggy as we scoured the Pinyon-Juniper habitat. Mercifully, it didn't take long to find a couple of JUNIPER TITMICE. 

We arrived at a very warm and quite windy Willcox at 2:30pm hoping for a couple of target birds. The main pond was teeming with shorebird activity and an hour here was very successful. Less common species were SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, SEMIPALMATED and SNOWY PLOVERS and an out-of-season FRANKLIN'S GULL (couldn't make it into a rarer but more in season Laughing Gull).. Also present were a few EARED GREBES, a lone REDHEAD, a small group of WHITE-FACED IBIS, a couple of LONG-BILLED CURLEWS, good numbers of GREATER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS, 10 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, SPOTTED, WESTERN, LEAST, BAIRD'S and 2 STILT SANDPIPERS, oodles (I don't use this descriptor much) of WILSON'S PHALAROPES, scads of AMERICAN AVOCETS and a dozen or so BLACK-NECKED STILTS.

Not a bad collection for a hot Thursday afternoon in August in landlocked Arizona. I wish that we could have spent more time scanning, who knows what was hiding in there!

Friday, August 16, 2002    Previous Day    Next Day
Second and last day with Kenneth and Linda. I left home at 2:30am to meet them in Nogales for another trip to California Gulch. Water levels in the gulch continue to fall. Just a brief report today.

Although we only encountered one COMMON POORWILL on the Ruby Road, one was all that we needed since we had great looks. A bird was calling fairly close to the road and a few whistled imitations brought it down from the hillside to perch on a roadside pole. WESTERN SCREECH-OWL and GREAT HORNED OWL were both calling nearby.

In California Gulch, two FIVE-STRIPED SPARROWS were singing in the short stretch of habitat that we covered and both birds obliged by perching up as they sang. VARIED BUNTINGS were also very vocal and active. Simultaneous singing cuckoos from two families (YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO and GREATER ROADRUNNER) provided a serendipitous moment. We managed to see the Cuckoo but not the Roadrunner, just the opposite of what might be expected.

Among the migrants noted moving through the gulch today were ORANGE-CROWNED and WILSON'S WARBLERS, WESTERN TANAGER and BULLOCK'S ORIOLE. 

Among the regulars from a total of 35 recorded were GRAY HAWK (juvenile), NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET, VERMILION FLYCATCHER, BELL'S VIREO, LUCY'S WARBLER, SUMMER and HEPATIC TANAGERS and HOODED ORIOLE. 

Saturday, August 17, 2002    Previous Day    Next Day  
First of two days with Tom and Linda Rawles from Mesa, AZ. For a change, I left home early to meet Tom and Linda in Nogales for yet another trip to California Gulch, this time on back to back days. After a slightly cooler start it was another warm and humid day with an afternoon temperature in Sierra Vista around 95 degrees. We had a successful day seeing all four of our target birds.

Our first success came on the Ruby Road with a COMMON POORWILL that was surprisingly responsive (for the time of year) and cooperative. Just as yesterday, the bird responded to a few whistled imitations and perched atop a Sotal allowing good looks for about one minute. This was in a different location and hence a different individual than yesterday.

Although overnight rain had raised the water levels and created some new puddles in California Gulch since yesterday, we didn't have any problems staying dry. An hour in the gulch easily produced both our targets, VARIED BUNTING (several) and a couple of FIVE-STRIPED SPARROWS, and we enjoyed several scope looks at both species.

We recorded much the same 30+ species as yesterday including an adult and juvenile GRAY HAWK (breeders in the gulch for the past couple of years) and 2, possibly 3 YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOOS, one of which was very bold flying around in the open (perhaps a young bird that hasn't taken lessons in secrecy yet?).

After the drive back to Sierra Vista and a short break, we headed up Scheelite Canyon in the heat of the early afternoon. I was hoping that we would find an owl low in the canyon and not have to slog to the upper area in the very warm and humid conditions. Fortunately, Murphy was not against us today. Just after I had mentioned to Tom about having to start searching diligently, since we were approaching the lowest reliable spot for the bird in summer, I raised my glasses and there sat a fairly well concealed adult SPOTTED OWL. Shortly afterwards, Tom spotted a juvenile.

Both the adult and juvenile SPOTTED OWLS were roosting about 50 feet apart in separate trees. It was interesting to note that the juvenile took its cues from the adult by glancing over at it too see if it should be concerned or not. Notice that both birds have their left eye open and are squinting with their right eye. Coincidence or like father like son? As you can see, the adult was somewhat less than excited by our presence. The juvenile was just a tad more alert! Compare today's photo of the juvenile with the photo taken on August 12. Today's bird looks (more than 5 days?) older and definitely has considerably more feather development. I have only seen one juvenile at a time but, based on this evidence, I'd say it's likely that two birds have fledged.

On our way back to town, a short stop in the grassland confirmed that BOTTERI'S and CASSIN'S SPARROWS were both singing despite the fact that the temperature was in the mid 90s.

Sunday, August 18, 2002    Previous Day    Next Day
Second and last day with Tom and Linda. A slightly less early start for a trip to French Joe Canyon today. Another mostly clear and sunny day; in the 90s by early afternoon, cloudy and raining by late afternoon. The first significant rain where I live for about one week.

We entered the canyon in darkness and flushed 3 LESSER NIGHTHAWKS and 3 COMMON POORWILLS during the drive in. Of course, since we had to work for a Poorwill yesterday, it was only natural that we had great looks at a bird sitting in the road today. Over time, that Murphy guy gets his licks. BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS, CANYON TOWHEES and BLUE GROSBEAKS were all singing in the morning gloom.

The pre-sunrise hike to the upper spring was pleasant despite a fair amount of humidity and our payoff for an early start came almost immediately. I could hear a RUFOUS-CAPPED WARBLER singing as we approached the (currently dry) pools below the upper spring at 6:10am. It didn't take long to track them down and we soon had excellent looks at all four birds, 2 adults and 2 juveniles. We stayed at the spring until 7:30am and the warblers were present the entire time, singing on a regular basis. We committed the cardinal sin of ignoring them to watch migrants. 

Migrants were present more in terms of numbers of individuals than in species diversity. We spent time looking at migrants at the upper spring and at a small pool in the lower oaks. NASHVILLE WARBLERS were very much more abundant than any other species at both locations. Other migrants were a female CALLIOPE and plentiful RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS, my first HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER of the fall (a little bit later than usual), 2-WARBLING VIREOS, several ORANGE-CROWNED, 2-BLACK-THROATED GRAY, 2-HERMIT, and many WILSON'S WARBLERS. Unfortunately, we didn't see the one we were looking for -- Virginia's Warbler. A presumed migrant ACORN WOODPECKER was only my third record here.

We recorded the following 45 species in the canyon (Hwy 90-Hwy 90) from 4:50-9:50am
White-winged Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Lesser Nighthawk, Common Poorwill, Calliope & Rufous Hummingbirds, Acorn &, Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Western Wood-Pewee, Hammond's & Cordilleran Flycatchers, Western Scrub-Jay, Mexican Jay, Hutton's, Plumbeous & Warbling Vireos, Phainopepla, Curve-billed & Crissal Thrashers, Cactus, Canyon & Bewick's Wrens, Bushtit, Barn Swallow, Bridled Titmouse, Lesser Goldfinch, House Finch, Orange-crowned, Nashville, Black-throated Gray, Hermit, Wilson's & Rufous-capped Warblers, Chipping, Black-chinned, Black-throated & Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Spotted & Canyon Towhees, Hepatic & Western Tanagers, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks and Hooded & Scott's Orioles.

Monday, August 19, 2002    Previous Day    Next Day
Today I was happy to start a much anticipated trip to the White Mountains (I had planned to start tomorrow but a cancellation allowed me to get away a day earlier). For the rest of the week I'll be checking on migration activity.

Before heading north I spent a couple of hours at Willcox where shorebird migration continues in fine style. I was able to find most of the recently reported birds (missed Semipalmated Sandpiper and California Gull). I spent almost an hour scanning the WILSON'S PHALAROPES and finally came up with one RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. The only other shorebird of note was a STILT SANDPIPER.

I recorded 44 species from 7:10-9:20am.
Eared Grebe, Ruddy Duck, Canada Goose, Am. Wigeon, Cinnamon Teal, Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, White-faced Ibis, Scaled Quail, Am. Coot, Common Snipe, Long-billed Curlew, Greater & Lesser Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitcher, Solitary, Spotted, Western, Least, Baird's & Stilt Sandpipers, Wilson's & Red-necked Phalaropes, Black-necked Stilt, Am. Avocet, Semipalmated & Snowy Plovers,  Killdeer, Franklin's Gull, Mourning Dove, Black Phoebe, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, Loggerhead Shrike, Cactus Wren, Tree, Barn & Cliff Swallows, Lark & Cassin's Sparrows, Blue Grosbeak, Eastern Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackle and Brown-headed Cowbird.

It's remarkable how often my arrival at Luna Lake coincides with bad weather. Today it was barely 60 degrees and raining when I started birding there at 1:00pm. I saw very few birds with only a lone BELTED KINGFISHER and a handful of PURPLE MARTINS of note.

Further north, Nutrioso Creek was also pretty quiet, although I did manage to escape from the rain and pick up a PINYON JAY here.

The town of Nutrioso was much more productive and LEWIS'S WOODPECKERS were conspicuous and easy to find as is usually the case at this time of year. While checking poles in the residential area for the woodpeckers, I spotted a couple of EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES on a wire near the post office The doves had to scatter for cover when a COOPER'S HAWK made a run at them. Also in town were a flock of 20 or so BAND-TAILED PIGEONS feeding in a yard, a lone WHITE-WINGED DOVE (my first in the White Mountains), an ACORN WOODPECKER (uncommon here) and a very noisy juvenile INDIGO BUNTING.

Nutrioso Reservoir held only a dozen species including 15+ BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS, more LEWIS'S WOODPECKERS and my first BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS of the trip.

Continuing on to my base of Springerville I made a brief stop at Nelson Reservoir where there was no sign of the Long-tailed Jaeger seen here a few days ago. PINYON JAYS were active on the east slope opposite the reservoir.

I finished birding at Becker Lake where I was pleased to find calm conditions, because so often when I bird here it's very windy. Among the species noted were 1 WESTERN GREBE, 3 COMMON MERGANSERS, 85 WHITE-FACED IBIS, 1 BLACK TERN, 3 WESTERN KINGBIRDS (generally uncommon in the White Mountains) and a NASHVILLE WARBLER (passing through Arizona like an epidemic at the moment).

I recorded 53 species in the mountains on my way to Springerville from the AZ/NM state line east of Luna Lake.
Pied-billed, Eared & Western Grebes, Ruddy Duck, Canada Goose, Gadwall, Mallard, N. Pintail, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Common Merganser, Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, White-faced Ibis, Turkey Vulture, Cooper's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Am. Coot, Spotted Sandpiper, Killdeer, Black Tern, Band-tailed Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning &White-winged Doves, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Lewis's & Acorn Woodpeckers, Black Phoebe, Western Kingbird, Pinyon & Steller's Jays, Am. Crow, Common Raven, European Starling, Purple Martin, Tree, Violet-green, N. Rough-winged, Barn & Cliff Swallows, Lesser Goldfinch, Nashville & Yellow Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Chipping & Lark Sparrows, Indigo Bunting, Eastern Meadowlark, Brewer's Blackbird and Brown-headed Cowbird.

Tuesday, August 20, 2002    Previous Day    Next Day
A somewhat slow birding day in the White Mountains, at least in the locations that I visited. I didn't stray too far from Springerville where I started at Sipe Wildlife Area, took the back door route to Nelson Reservoir, continued south to Terry Flat then returned north to Becker Lake. The day started mostly sunny (49 degrees at 6:00am) but clouds rolled in by 9:00am and by 10:30 it was raining. The afternoon continued mostly cloudy with on and off distant thunderstorms without any further rain.

The most conspicuous migrants at Sipe Wildlife Area were hummingbirds with BROAD-TAILED outnumbering RUFOUS, although not by many. Broad-tailed are breeders in the White Mountains so it's difficult to know how many are really migrants. In fact, I saw some fledglings being fed to prove that point.

VIRGINIA'S WARBLERS were the most common migrant along Rudd Creek, far outnumbering WILSON'S and MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLERS that were both in single digits. The most interesting sighting was a female BULLOCK'S ORIOLE that was feeding on the ground with a group of AMERICAN ROBINS.

PINYON JAYS were very noisy and common; I noted a flock of 50 or so birds and several smaller groups of around 12 birds each. The larger of the two ponds was almost dry and VIRGINIA RAIL and SORA were working on the mud flats. Other species included a couple of RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS, small flocks of WESTERN and MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE and two GREEN-TAILED TOWHEES.  

PINYON JAYS were all over the eastern slopes at Nelson Reservoir and a PLUMBEOUS VIREO (also a regular there) was singing. Lots of swallows and a few PURPLE MARTINS were working over the water. I saw exactly one each RED-WINGED and YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS.

Terry Flat was almost birdless around midday but it was a pleasant place to eat lunch while I listened to the MOUNTAIN CHICKADEES and GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS.

Becker Lake is similar to Willcox in one respect -- during migration the bird life often changes on a daily basis. Gone were the White-faced Ibis and Black Tern from yesterday; today's visit yielded a couple of WESTERN SANDPIPERS, the first that I've seen in the White Mountains proper. This is why I wanted to put some time in during the latter part of August (most of my August visits have been early in the month). Others present today that I didn't see yesterday were OSPREY, RING-NECKED DUCK, SPOTTED SANDPIPER, BELTED KINGFISHER and YELLOW WARBLER

Working the grass, weeds and thistles along Becker Lake Road where at least 12 WESTERN KINGBIRDS, lots of LESSER GOLDFINCHES and PINE SISKINS and a BLUE GROSBEAK. Sitting on the fence near all this activity was a CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD.

Day list (66 species recorded):
Pied-billed Grebe, Ruddy Duck, Gadwall, Mallard, Ring-necked Duck, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Virginia Rail, Sora, Am. Coot, Spotted & Western Sandpipers, Killdeer, Mourning Dove, Calliope, Broad-tailed & Rufous Hummingbirds, Belted Kingfisher, Red-naped Sapsucker, N. Flicker, Say's Phoebe, Western Kingbird, Pinyon & Steller's Jays, Western Scrub-Jay, Common Raven, Plumbeous Vireo, Loggerhead Shrike, Western & Mountain Bluebirds, Townsend's Solitaire, Am. Robin, European Starling, White-breasted Nuthatch, Canyon & House Wrens, Bushtit, Purple Martin, Tree, Violet-green, N. Rough-winged & Cliff Swallows, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Mountain Chickadee, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, Virginia's, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, MacGillivray's & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Dark-eyed Junco, Chipping & Lark Sparrows, Green-tailed & Spotted Towhees, Blue Grosbeak, Bullock's Oriole, Yellow-headed & Red-winged Blackbirds, Western Meadowlark and Brewer's Blackbird.

Wednesday, August 21, 2002    Previous Day    Next Day
I decided to return home today and I scheduled more time in the White Mountains a couple of weeks from now (last year I spent some time in the mountains during the second week in September when the birding was fairly decent). Before heading south I checked Becker Lake, Wenima Wildlife Area, Nelson Reservoir and Luna Lake.

The early morning sun created poor viewing conditions at the south end of Becker Lake but I was able to pick out a few WESTERN and LEAST SANDPIPERS on the mud flats. A lone WESTERN GREBE continued on the lake.

Juvenile LEWIS'S WOODPECKERS and noisy WESTERN SCRUB-JAYS were very conspicuous at Wenima WA. Migrants were represented by WESTERN KINGBIRD, WARBLING VIREO, ORANGE-CROWNED, YELLOW and MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLERS and WESTERN TANAGER. Also present were several singing BLUE GROSBEAKS and an INDIGO BUNTING.

Nelson Reservoir produced 2 SORAS foraging in the open and my first BREWER'S SPARROWS of the fall.

My final stop in the mountains was at Luna Lake where I spent about 90 minutes and turned up 30 species. Most interesting were the swallows working over the lake and then taking a break on the TV antenna at the boat rental building. All Arizona swallow species and PURPLE MARTIN could be compared side by side. The martins were very aggressive towards whatever swallow species happened to be perched next to them. BANK SWALLOW was a first for me in the White Mountains. The hummingbird feeders here had plenty of BROAD-TAILED and RUFOUS customers. A lone COMMON NIGHTHAWK was a fly by. 

Among the regular species in the pines at the east end of the lake were HAIRY WOODPECKER, WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, PYGMY NUTHATCH, WESTERN BLUEBIRD and a singing PLUMBEOUS VIREO. Less regular were a small flock of PINYON JAYS.

I left a somewhat breezy and pleasant Luna Lake at 9:45am and rolled into a calm and very unpleasant Willcox Pond back in Southeast Arizona at 1:15pm. It was far too warm to be enjoyable and I lasted only 30 minutes here. Compared to Monday morning, the numbers of shorebirds were greatly reduced, although I managed to find most of the species that have been present of late including continuing SNOWY PLOVER and FRANKLIN'S GULL. 

Tuesday, August 27, 2002    Previous Day    Next Day
Unless a late miracle happens, it would appear that the monsoon season has finished early in southeast Arizona (we haven't had any significant rain for two weeks). Afternoon temperatures in Sierra Vista have been in the high 90s and I've been content to stay home and work on software. I recently upgraded my AviSys birding software to version 5 and I needed to update my bar graph software and other custom reports that I create to accommodate the changes. Just to give you an idea of what I do: -- when I get a target list from a client, I feed it into the "Itinerary Planning" software that I created, usually with a date span of +/- two weeks from the planned visit date. The software reads my database of AviSys sighting records and produces a list of best places where the target birds can be found during the relevant time period; and also gives percentage chances of seeing each bird. Now that I have 10 years worth of detailed Arizona data, it gives me a pretty good initial plan that I can refine manually. There's more to this bird guiding stuff than meets the eye if you want to do it right.. 

Today was the first of two days with Urban Lehner and Nancy Leonard from South Orange, NJ. The temperature was barely over 50 degrees early this morning as we drove past the Patagonia Roadside Rest Area on our way to Kino Springs. Sad to say, it was almost double that when we returned to Sierra Vista in the early afternoon. Nevertheless, we had a fair morning before the heat started to take its toll.

At Kino Springs we started near the first pond (almost dry although, thankfully, water is finally being pumped into it) where we recorded a number of typical species including GREEN HERON, COMMON GROUND-DOVE,  GRAY HAWK (only one seen), good looks at a preening and mostly silent NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET, many VERMILION FLYCATCHERS (mostly juveniles), a calling but unseen CRISSAL THRASHER, BELL'S VIREO (as elusive as ever until we saw the first one), a very washed out YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, lots of singing BLUE GROSBEAKS and a nice male VARIED BUNTING. Migrants noted were WESTERN TANAGER and NASHVILLE, MACGILLIVRAY'S and WILSON'S WARBLERS.

Over at the club house pond we added a first year GRAY FLYCATCHER, a singing and pristine looking season first CASSIN'S VIREO (I've seen them as early as August 8), a single LUCY'S WARBLER (often hard to find/see by late summer), a couple of SUMMER TANAGERS and lots of LAZULI BUNTINGS working the weedy areas. The water level is pitifully low and all we found on the water was one lousy COOT!

It wasn't looking good for kingbirds but after some work we eventually saw all three expected species. We found WESTERN and CASSIN'S KINGBIRDS (both feeding young) in the field to the north of the clubhouse pond; TROPICAL KINGBIRDS were at the small sewage pond -- the last place we checked (what else is new) . 

56 species recorded at Kino Springs:
Green Heron, Turkey Vulture, Gray Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Am. Coot, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Common Ground-Dove, Broad-billed, Black-chinned & Rufous Hummingbirds, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, N. Beardless-Tyrannulet, Black Phoebe, Gray, Vermilion, Dusky-capped & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Tropical, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Common Raven, Bell's & Cassin's Vireos, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed & Crissal Thrashers, European Starling, Bewick's Wren, Verdin, Barn Swallow, House Sparrow, Lesser Goldfinch, House Finch, Nashville, Lucy's, Yellow, MacGillivray's & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat, Song, Chipping, Lark, Black-throated & Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Summer & Western Tanagers, Black-headed Grosbeak, N. Cardinal, Blue Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, Varied Bunting and Great-tailed Grackle.

A stop at the Roadside Rest area produced some noisy but far away THICK-BILLED KINGBIRDS that we had to scope on a distant hillside. Not much else seen here save for BLACK VULTURE and ROCK WREN.

Having worked for the THICK-BILLED KINGBIRDS, we saw a bunch of them close up as we arrived at the Paton's. The hummingbirds feeders here had plenty of customers, most of which were frantically active BROAD-BILLED and BLACK-CHINNED in all plumages, plus a few RUFOUS. The more reserved VIOLET-CROWNED was a also frequent visitor. We noted about 25 species including lots of INCA DOVES, ACORN WOODPECKER, LAZULI BUNTING and BRONZED COWBIRD. 

Wednesday, August 28, 2002    Previous Day    Next Day
It was another warm day in Sierra Vista, 70 degrees at 6:00am and up to 95 degrees when we quit at 2:00pm. Clouds built up late in the day and there was some overnight rain where I live. If I'd known that the mere mention of the monsoon season being over would bring rain, I'd have done it a couple of weeks ago!

The second and last day with Urban and Nancy was spent birding mostly in the Huachucas. We started in lower Garden Canyon grassland where BOTTERI'S SPARROWS were absolutely abundant and singing in multiple locations. I didn't count them but it certainly would not be an exaggeration to say there were more than 50, perhaps many more. Amazingly, CASSIN'S SPARROWS were nowhere to be found. We cruised several miles of back roads south of the main canyon road and only heard a single song phrase from Cassin's. The closest we came was a backlit and preening RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW that I initially tried to turn into Cassin's.

Among the other birds noted in the grassland were two GREATER ROADRUNNERS, GAMBEL'S QUAIL (very uncommon here), a somewhat out of place WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH (in a wash with a few small cottonwoods), 5 LOGGERHEAD SHRIKES, a handful of PHAINOPEPLAS, a CANYON TOWHEE carrying food, a few CHIPPING SPARROWS, lots of LESSER GOLDFINCHES and many BLUE GROSBEAKS continuing to sing.

I've seen a couple of reports of how quiet Garden Canyon has been lately but our experience was just the opposite -- we had the good fortune to stumble into a mixed flock along the stream near the lower picnic area. For me the most interesting birds were a couple of early RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, a bird that I normally don't see this far south in Arizona until at least mid September. My previous first fall record was September 8, 1994 in Sawmill Canyon, and even that was early; most of my first fall records occur in the last week of the month. 

The mixed flock consisted mostly of BRIDLED TITMICE with ones and twos of HUTTON'S, PLUMBEOUS and WARBLING VIREOS, NASHVILLE and BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS and BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK; and a couple of unseen HEPATIC TANAGERS. Further up canyon we added SULPHUR-BELLIED FLYCATCHER (vocal in several locations) and PAINTED REDSTART.

40 species recorded in Garden Canyon:
Turkey Vulture, Gambel's Quail, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Greater Roadrunner, Acorn Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Western Wood-Pewee, Say's Phoebe, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, Mexican Jay, Hutton's, Plumbeous & Warbling Vireos, Loggerhead Shrike, Phainopepla, Curve-billed Thrasher, White-breasted Nuthatch, Cactus & Bewick's Wrens, Verdin, Barn Swallow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bridled Titmouse, Lesser Goldfinch, Nashville & Black-throated Gray Warblers, Painted Redstart, Grasshopper, Chipping, Botteri's, Cassin's & Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Canyon Towhee, Hepatic Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, Blue Grosbeak and Eastern Meadowlark.

By the time we reached Sawmill Canyon (10:30am) it was already warm and completely silent and we had to do plenty of walking to turn up any birds at all. Reward came with excellent looks at our main target BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER and not so good looks at ARIZONA WOODPECKER. We recorded only six species here included a briefly heard GRACE'S WARBLER.

We finished up the day at Sierra Vista WWTP where it was plenty hot at 1:30pm. Nevertheless, we didn't have any trouble seeing our target YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS (always spiffy looking and a treat to see), albeit on the wing. A more spectacular sight, however, came in the form of a group of 15 SWAINSON'S HAWKS putting on a great display of aerobatics over the fields.

It had been about 3 weeks since I visited the ponds (my enthusiasm for birding here is all but gone due to the changed and "improved" conditions). I was completely taken aback and dismayed to find that the large expanse of grass due west of the viewing platform has been cut down (so much for the native grass restoration project). At least three Grasshopper Sparrows were nesting in this area, "were" being the operative word.

This log is in chronological order and the most recent entries are at the bottom of the page.
The last update was on Wednesday, August 28, 2002.

Species List

Stuart Healy Journal - August, 2002 If you use the contents of my journal for commercial purposes, please acknowledge the source to your clients - thanks.

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