Species List

Stuart Healy Journal - October, 2004 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 Sunday, October 31, 2004.

Friday, October 1, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day  
This morning I spent about four hours on the San Pedro (highway 90 area), primarily to test a new camera body that I received yesterday. I purchased the recently released Canon 20D (the next generation of the 10D that I have been using since January 2004). In a few days or so, after I get a feel for the new camera, I'll talk about my first impressions (and pros & cons of 10D versus 20D).

I was hoping to find the Green Kingfisher again (on the same perch) so I could get a good comparison shot. Dream on. I didn't even see nor hear the bird let alone on the same perch!.

It's only a few days since I was here but I noticed a few changes. Although LAZULI BUNTINGS are still very common, I didn't see a single Blue Grosbeak -- amazing. I was kicking them out of my way just 3 days ago. I noted a few (presumably newly arrived) SPOTTED TOWHEES to tie a record set by many -- a four towhee day. GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE was again very common. The bird in the photo wasn't real close but the 8.3 megapixels of the 20D helped to produced an excellent image, even after throwing away most of the resolution due to compression (for publishing on the web).

Less common species at this location were a calling DUSKY FLYCATCHER that I eventually managed to track down, a calling CRISSAL THRASHER and a silently foraging BELL'S VIREO. This was my latest Bell's sighting on the river by five days.

The only definite migrants that I saw were one RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER and a few ORANGE-CROWNED & WILSON'S WARBLERS.

YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS and SUMMER TANAGERS were still around, both will likely be gone by mid month. 

47 species recorded at SPRNCA (7:00am-10:45am):
Swainson's Hawk, Mourning Dove, Anna's Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Red-naped Sapsucker, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Dusky Flycatcher, Black & Say's Phoebes, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Barn Swallow, Bewick's, House & Marsh Wrens, Curve-billed & Crissal Thrashers, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatches, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Bell's Vireo, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat, Summer Tanager, Green-tailed, Spotted, Canyon & Abert's Towhees, Vesper, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Lazuli Bunting, House Finch and Lesser Goldfinch.

On the way home I stopped at Sierra Vista EOP where only the only bird of note was SORA.

In the late afternoon I checked Garden Canyon fishing ponds again. Although birds were generally hard to come, I eventually saw many of the species that I saw yesterday, albeit in much lower numbers. It took me almost an hour to kick up several male LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCHES so don't expect a slam dunk if you come here looking for them. A lurking COOPER'S HAWK replaced yesterday's sharpie and a GREAT HORNED OWL was calling, both of which may have had an effect on activity.

I kicked up a WILSON'S SNIPE in the marsh (perhaps two, or the same bird twice). NORTHERN HARRIER was a quick fly-by and I was able to get a usable image despite working into the sun. This image of an immature WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW taken from 30 feet is more evidence of what the 8+ megapixels of the 20D can do. The area of a rectangle drawn around the body of the bird represents just 4.3% of the frame!

22 species at Garden Canyon Fishing Ponds:
N. Harrier, Cooper's & Red-tailed Hawks, Wilson's Snipe, Mourning Dove, Great Horned Owl, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Cassin's Kingbird, Violet-green Swallow, Bewick's Wren, Bushtit, Common Yellowthroat, Chipping, Savannah, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Blue Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird and Lesser & Lawrence's Goldfinches.

Sunday, October 3, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day  
This morning I checked Whitewater Draw where I was able to make it to the north viewing platform by means of a muddy walk over the berm from the south. However, I was again unable to reach the south willow grove due to mud and water on the access road. All ponds still have high water levels and there isn't very much shorebird habitat. I didn't see anything unusual nor any particularly early or late birds.

The highlight was seeing thousands of TREE SWALLOWS both perched and on the wing. This is something that seems to be an annual event at Whitewater. Mixed in were a few VIOLET-GREEN, BARN and BANK SWALLOWS (the latter being only my second October record at this location.). Photographic highlight of the day was this SWAINSON'S HAWK, one of three or four that are still hanging around.

Duck numbers and diversity were up a little with NORTHERN PINTAIL and RING-NECKED DUCK being the most common. Shorebirds continue in low diversity and numbers -- 7 AMERICAN AVOCETS, 1 WILSON'S SNIPE, 15 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, 4 GREATER YELLOWLEGS and several small flocks of LEAST SANDPIPERS.

Although WESTERN KINGBIRDS numbered in the hundreds, they simply would simply not allow close approach. I tried unsuccessfully many times for a photograph -- why is it that you can get close when they're on a wire but not in a tree?. This shot caused some curses at the time when the bird flew at the critical moment, however, it turned into one of those shots that you can't achieve by design. Numerous VERMILION FLYCATCHERS were present in four plumages -- adult and immature, male and female. A single BULLOCK'S ORIOLE was my latest record at Whitewater by a few days.

I found a few migrants in the willows on the berms, but they were certainly not numerous -- ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER and LAZULI BUNTING were the pick of the bunch. At least 6 SORAS were in the marsh near the north viewing platform. BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS have arrived just about on time. I often see them in September in other locations but it's usually early October before they make it to Whitewater. I thought that I heard Western Meadowlark but couldn't get a confirmatory second call (usually arrives here with the Brewer's).

63 species recorded at Whitewater Draw:
Pied-billed Grebe, Great Blue & Green Herons, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Am. Wigeon, Mallard, Green-winged & Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Ring-necked Duck, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, N. Harrier, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks, Scaled & Gambel's Quail, Sora, Am. Coot, Am. Avocet, Killdeer, Wilson's Snipe, Long-billed Dowitcher, Greater Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Belted Kingfisher, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Black & Say's Phoebes, Vermilion Flycatcher, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Tree, Violet-green, Bank & Barn Swallows, Cactus & Marsh Wrens, Curve-billed Thrasher, Loggerhead Shrike, Chihuahuan Raven, Orange-crowned & Yellow-rumped Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Lark Bunting, Brewer's, Vesper, Savannah, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Pyrrhuloxia, Blue Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, Eastern Meadowlark, Red-winged, Yellow-headed & Brewer's Blackbirds, Great-tailed Grackle, Bullock's Oriole and House Finch.

Monday, October 4, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day  
This morning I was foiled again in my attempt to make a routine visit to Sawmill Canyon. Last week it was the windy conditions, today Garden Canyon was closed at the barrier just above the lower picnic area. I hung around for a while then headed back down canyon to the fishing ponds. The barrier was still up when I checked again around 8:45am. I saw some border patrol guys on horseback so perhaps the closure was due to UDA activity. Whatever the reason, it was a wasted morning for me.

As I waited in vain near the barrier, there was plenty of woodpecker activity to keep me interested. I tracked down a few RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS (including the rather drab but very cooperative individual in the photo) and at least two ARIZONA WOODPECKERS (not quite as cooperative in the shadows). NORTHERN FLICKER was by far the most common species. ACORN & LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKERS were just a little further down canyon. An easy to see male HEPATIC TANAGER was "chupping" at the top of a Sycamore. I heard the "dear-dear-dear" calls of a RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW emanating from a rocky area close to the road. MEXICAN JAYS (sky rats) were their usual obnoxious selves. You can't sneak up on anything when these babies area around.

In the mesquite-grassland below the lower picnic area, a small group of approximately half a dozen AMERICAN ROBINS were a little unusual so low in the canyon. [For those of you who live at low elevation (where robins are common elsewhere in the country), they are a high elevation bird in southeast Arizona and make news whenever the move to lower elevations.] I saw SHARP-SHINNED and COOPER'S HAWKS interacting in this area.

A search around the fishing ponds for 30 minutes or so again produced LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH. I eventually kicked up a couple of males from the weeds and they conveniently perched in a tree on the small island. I didn't get the pose I was hoping for (a side view), nor the right sun angle, but I did manage a decent photo. Beggars can't be choosers. Other birds at the "Gravel Pit Pond" pond included SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, WILSON'S SNIPE, a few sparrow species, PINE SISKIN, BLUE GROSBEAK and LAZULI BUNTING.

Sticker seen on a vehicle on Fry Boulevard: "If it has testicles or tires, you're going to have trouble with it". Perhaps I could get a modified version with feathers and wings added.

The cool down that normally occurs in Sierra Vista in mid October happened a littler earlier this year. Mornings have been in the 50s and afternoons in the 70s. However, today was significantly warmer and the temperature was 91 degrees when I headed down to the San Pedro at 4:00pm and still 88 degrees at 5:30pm. This is quite normal until mid month.

As might be expected given the temperature and time of day (it was also breezy), my visit to the river was quite lackluster. I didn't see anything exciting among the measly 23 species that I recorded over 90 minutes and 2+ miles of trails. Still, you've gotta buy that ticket...

47 species seen in Garden Canyon and on San Pedro River:
Great Blue & Green Herons, Sharp-shinned & Cooper's Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Gambel's Quail, Am. Coot, Wilson's Snipe, Mourning Dove, Anna's Hummingbird, Acorn, Gila, Ladder-backed & Arizona Woodpeckers, Red-naped Sapsucker, N. Flicker, Say's Phoebe, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bewick's Wren, Curve-billed Thrasher, Am. Robin, Bridled Titmouse, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Mexican Jay, Common Yellowthroat, Hepatic Tanager, Green-tailed & Abert's Towhees, Rufous-crowned, Chipping, Brewer's, Vesper, Savannah, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Blue Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Lesser & Lawrence's Goldfinches and House Sparrow.

Tuesday, October 5, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day  
This morning I made my first visit of the month to Willcox ponds. I left home before 5:30am and arrived just after sunrise at 6:30am. The early morning chill felt pretty good and it seemed like fall for the first time. Unfortunately, it was already too warm by 8:30am. Not much of a "pleasant window". I stayed until 9:30am. I spent the first 75 minutes working the golf course pond and adjacent grassy areas, moved on to the main pond for an hour, then finished up back at the golf course pond. Only 11 of the 62 species that I recorded were at the main pond only. Water levels remain disappointingly high.

After checking the willows at the east end of the golf course pond, I always check the lone salt cedar on the south side of the pond. Nothing special there today but it was loaded with common birds, especially ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER (at least 10 were in this tree!). A lone female BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD was unusual, I only have 5 records at Willcox.

Highlights:
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER at one of the interior ponds on the golf course (viewed by walking west along the south fence line from the accessible golf course pond); my 6th record at Willcox, all but one in fall. A single SEMIPALMATED PLOVER was in the same location (first detected by its chu-weet call as it flew in) along with many KILLDEERS.

Singletons of AMERICAN WHITE-PELICAN and WESTERN GREBE on the main pond (both are rare to uncommon here in October).

My first of season CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS -- 3 birds in the grass south of main pond. They typically show up during the first week of October at Willcox, as do WESTERN MEADOWLARK and BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS that were also present.

Oddity: I saw 30-40 GAMBEL'S QUAIL (in the minority here) and not a single Scaled.

Apart from LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS (at least 60 present), shorebird numbers continue to diminish. A saw six AMERICAN AVOCETS, one GREATER YELLOWLEGS, one WILSON'S PHALAROPE, a couple of WESTERN and perhaps 20 LEAST SANDPIPERS. Duck numbers and diversity were far from impressive.

Last year at this time, the main pond was extremely dry and HORNED LARKS were very common on the exposed sandy areas. This is a fairly common permanent resident at Willcox yet, until today when I saw just two, I had missed them on nine of my last ten visits. Weird. By the way, did you know that the contact call of Horned Larks south of the border is HOLA?

BARN SWALLOWS were abundant when I returned to the golf course pond and I spent some time checking through them as well as trying to get a flight photo. Now there's an exercise in frustration. I had to settle for a distant perched shot, my first of this species. I noted TREE and VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS but it wasn't until I got home and looked through my photos that I noted a BANK SWALLOW in one of the images! It's getting late for this species in SE AZ and this was my latest record at Willcox.

62 species recorded at Willcox Ponds: Willcox Bar Graph (wish I had more visits to make it really useful)
Pied-billed, Eared  & Western Grebes, Am. White Pelican, Great Blue & Green Herons, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Am. Wigeon, Mallard, N. Pintail, N. Shoveler, Ruddy Duck, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Gambel's Quail, Virginia Rail, Sora, Am. Coot, Am. Avocet, Black-bellied & Semipalmated Plovers, Killdeer, Long-billed Dowitcher, Greater Yellowlegs, Western & Least Sandpipers, Wilson's Phalarope, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Black & Say's Phoebes, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Horned Lark, Tree, Violet-green, Bank & Barn Swallows, Marsh Wren, Curve-billed Thrasher, Loggerhead Shrike, Chihuahuan Raven, Orange-crowned & Yellow-rumped Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Brewer's, Vesper, Savannah, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Eastern & Western Meadowlarks, Red-winged, Yellow-headed & Brewer's Blackbirds, Great-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch and House Sparrow.

On the way home I stopped off and spent an hour at St. David Monastery, something that I try to do when I visit Willcox in the cooler months (not that it's cool yet!). It was fairly quiet in the heat of the late morning and I could only rustle up 20+ species around the main pond and in the cottonwoods to the west. ABERT'S TOWHEE was the most common bird.  Highlights included the injured male WOOD DUCK that's been around for several years, at least 2 GRAY HAWKS, an active but mostly silent GRAY FLYCATCHER (reliable here in winter) and a NASHVILLE WARBLER.

The warbler was a milestone bird -- species #150 for me at the Monastery and only the 10th warbler species that I've recorded here in 85 visits over 11 years. You can always squeeze something out of even the most mundane of days.

Wednesday, October 6, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day  
Today I finally made it up to Sawmill Canyon for a routine visit. Although the temperature in town was somewhere in the mid 50s, it was downright cold when I reached the canyon at 7:15am. There was even frost on the grass in the shady spots (Phoenix readers are forgiven for crying in their beer). Apart from the squawking and screeching of MEXICAN and STELLER'S JAYS respectively, it took 30 minutes or so for activity to build up. I recorded a scant 20 species in two hours. Sawmill Bar Graph

I spent most of my time just below the cabin where the sun hits first. There's a wet, grassy area here that always seems to have some standing water even when it's dry elsewhere. Water is flowing at the moment and there were plenty of birds coming in to drink. The highlight was a group of some 20 CASSIN'S FINCHES. Most were females and perhaps immature males lacking any color at all. I only saw two brightly colored adult males like the individual in the photo. Unfortunately, I was 40 feet from the bird so this just qualifies as a documentary shot. Cassin's Finch varies significantly in numbers from year to year in southeast Arizona and is never common in Sawmill -- I have 15 records total in the canyon including 6 in October.

PINE SISKINS were milling around and I counted at least 30. They are uncommon to fairly common in Sawmill from about the end of September through mid March, some years continuing sporadically through May. YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS were absolutely abundant and a real nuisance, since each one grabs your attention. October is the peak of their numbers in Sawmill.

A single LINCOLN'S SPARROW was only my second record for the canyon so it probably qualifies as the bird of the day. Hummingbirds are not common in Sawmill, even during the summer months, so I was quite surprised to come across a perched bird. It was all fluffed up and preening having just bathed in a puddle and it took me a while to figure out that it was a female RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD, or Selasphorus species to be pedantic.

Residents and seasonal regulars included SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (bathing in a puddle), ARIZONA WOODPECKER, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET and HUTTON'S VIREO side by side for a good comparison, HERMIT THRUSH, AMERICAN ROBIN, OLIVE WARBLER, YELLOW-EYED JUNCO and several HEPATIC TANAGERS.

Heading back down Garden Canyon, I somewhat unusually saw ACORN, GILA, LADDER-BACKED and ARIZONA WOODPECKERS within 200 yards of each other -- just below the lower picnic area where the habitat transitions from oaks and junipers to mesquite-grassland.

Thursday, October 7, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day  
I visited the San Pedro again this morning -- with the price of gas inching up to $2/gallon again in Sierra Vista, I'll likely spend a higher proportion of my time closer to home to pay for a few more trips to Willcox and the like. It was another clear, calm and mild morning, slightly cooler than the past few days (80 degrees by mid morning). My three hour session didn't produce anything really unusual. I spent 15 minutes at Kingfisher pond without seeing Green Kingfisher (the bird was still present yesterday). San Pedro Bar Graph

Less common species for the season and/or location were an adult male (bluish-gray) MERLIN of undetermined race, a couple of RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS, an immature female VERMILION FLYCATCHER (most of the birds that breed here have departed, this was perhaps a migrant), a calling CRISSAL THRASHER close to the river in Garden Wash (they are normally closer to the Del Valle Road), this PLUMBEOUS VIREO (banded near the San Pedro House) and at least four PINE SISKINS (generally scarce on the river, I average less than three records per year).

Migrant LAZULI BUNTINGS continue in numbers, hopefully some will overwinter (I have a few December and January records on the river). GREEN-TAILED TOWHEES must have had a banner year -- lots of them around and many were singing. ABERT'S TOWHEES were also common, maybe even more so than Green-tailed. At least one SUMMER TANAGER lingers on.

After I had completed my standard loop and was just about to leave the cottonwoods, I looked up to see an adult RED-TAILED HAWK staring back down at me over its shoulder. I was shocked when it didn't immediately fly away. The bird turned around to face me and I had a chance to take another shot before it was gone. I love these serendipitous moments, even with something as common as a Red-tail.

As I walked back to the San Pedro House (where I encountered the Merlin and Plumbeous Vireo), this CASSIN'S KINGBIRD played chicken with me so I took the photo opportunity. It did eventually flinch as I took one more step forward after this shot!

42 species recorded on the San Pedro (highway 90 area):
Great Blue & Green Herons, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Merlin, Am. Coot, Mourning Dove, Anna's Hummingbird, Red-naped Sapsucker, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Black Phoebe, Vermilion Flycatcher, Cassin's Kingbird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bewick's & House Wrens, Curve-billed & Crissal Thrashers, White-breasted Nuthatch, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, European Starling, Plumbeous Vireo, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Summer Tanager, Green-tailed, Canyon & Abert's Towhees, Brewer's, Vesper, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Pyrrhuloxia, Blue Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, House Finch, Pine Siskin and Lesser Goldfinch.

Friday, October 8, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day  
I headed up Carr Canyon this morning, more for the fall colors than for birds. The aspens on the north facing slope are starting to look quite colorful. My original intention was to hike to Carr peak but I decided to wait a few weeks until the colors are better. Instead, I ended up spending 3 1/2 hours birding mostly in and around Reef campground. Despite being very quiet, the area had a fair number of birds -- it just took a while to find them. Although I didn't find anything truly unusual, I did have a few less common species.

Highlights were MONTEZUMA QUAIL, RED CROSSBILL and EVENING GROSBEAK. Carr Canyon doesn't spring to mind in terms of Montezuma Quail -- with good reason since I've only recorded them here on about 3% of my visits. Interestingly, though (to me anyway), my life sighting was here years ago. It's been a decent year for Crossbills in the Huachucas (and Chiricahuas) and I've seen them 5 times in my last 10 visits since July (but zero sightings on the first 20 visits earlier in the year). On one visit, I saw a male feeding a cowbird which is probably a good confirmation that they bred here! The Grosbeak apparently survived a Cooper's Hawk attack -- I heard the bird call then heard a kerfuffle behind me. I saw the hawk fly off empty handed and heard the calls of the grosbeak getting more distant. Good, there's not really enough to go around for hawk food.

RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH continues in the campground. Even though I've seen them here sporadically over the years, one normally has to go higher up the mountain before they become reliable. However, this year they have been regular in the campground. This isn't too unusual since they sometimes descend into Sawmill Canyon (which is 1000 feet lower than Reef) and breed there too. [I'll refer to this photo when I write my first impressions of the 20D.]

I first heard then found a HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, a decidedly scarce migrant at this location (fairly common as a migrant elsewhere in the Huachucas). OLIVE WARBLERS were easy to find by their "phew" calls and I came across at least four of them. Other regulars included  3+ RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS, ARIZONA WOODPECKER, a few EASTERN BLUEBIRDS, numerous BROWN CREEPERS, at least four HEPATIC TANAGERS and a boat load of YELLOW-EYED JUNCOS.

A good morning ended badly when I arrived home and found that I had a flat tire -- Carr Canyon road really beats up a vehicle. The worst part of a flat is not getting it fixed, it's having to put on the spare with a piddly little jack in order to drive to the repair shop. Fortunately, the tire was repairable which hasn't been the case for me in recent history of flats.

36 species recorded in Carr Canyon:
Cooper's Hawk, Montezuma Quail, Mourning Dove, Red-naped Sapsucker, Acorn & Arizona Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Hammond's Flycatcher, Cassin's Kingbird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bewick's Wren, Curve-billed Thrasher, Eastern Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, Am. Robin, Red-breasted & White-breasted Nuthatches, Brown Creeper, Western Scrub-Jay, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Olive & Yellow-rumped Warblers, Hepatic Tanager, Spotted & Canyon Towhees, Chipping & White-crowned Sparrows, Yellow-eyed Junco, House Finch, Red Crossbill, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch and Evening Grosbeak.

Sunday, October 10, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day
Yesterday I took a day off and watched England beat Wales 2-0 in a World Cup qualifier. Despite plenty of territorial dominance, I wasn't impressed by the performance. Stroking the ball around in your own half isn't pretty to watch and shows a total lack of inventiveness. Today I decided to check Sierra Vista EOP where I was fortunate to hook up with a scheduled trip. This is the first time that I've walked around the interior since 1993 when the ponds were completely open. However, since most of the interior ponds are completely dry, it was somewhat ironic that I didn't really see much that couldn't be seen from the viewing platform!

The one real exception to the above statement and the highlight of the morning was CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPUR. I heard them calling and saw about six birds in the air flying west of the viewing platform. Later on we saw three very drab winter plumaged female birds on the ground in the east fields. Very hard to identify without seeing them fly (less white in the tail than McCown's) and the real clincher, hearing them call. This was only my third record at SVEOP.

Apart from the longspurs, pickings were very slim. Lack of shorebird habitat translates into, you guessed it, lack of shorebirds! Only one WILSON'S SNIPE and a few LEAST SANDPIPERS were present.

About ten or so AMERICAN PIPITS were my season first. A fly-by group of six WESTERN MEADOWLARKS represented my earliest fall SVEOP sighting by ten days. COMMON MOORHEN is scarce at SVEOP (I only have 16 records in 850 visits) and today's sighting was my first here since February 2000.

Raptors were represented by a couple of constantly hunting juvenile NORTHERN HARRIERS, three or four RED-TAILS, one KESTREL and a PEREGRINE FALCON (seen perched and on the wing) that I think is the same bird I first saw back on August 16 and several times since.

41 species recorded at SVEOP from 7:45-10:45am; 60-82 degrees, fairly windy: SVEOP Bar Graph
Am. Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, N. Pintail, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, N. Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Virginia Rail, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Wilson's Snipe, Least Sandpiper, Mourning Dove, Black & Say's Phoebes, Western Kingbird, Horned Lark, Tree & Barn Swallows, Am. Pipit, Marsh Wren, Chihuahuan Raven, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Vesper, Savannah & Song Sparrows, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Western Meadowlark, Red-winged, Yellow-headed & Brewer's Blackbirds, Great-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird and House Finch.

Monday, October 11, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day  
October is a month of mixed blessings for me. Most of the summer birds have gone and the winter specialties are not yet established. Consequently, I don't work with many clients until I get busy again next month and I have time to catch up on routine stuff, check on arrivals and departures, etc. The downside is that I'm not getting paid a dime for all the grunt work! I thought twice about going out this morning because of windy conditions. Eventually, I decided to take a chance and headed to Sawmill Canyon. The wind became a problem around 10:00am by which time I'd seen a few interesting birds.

I'd no sooner turned onto Garden Canyon road (near the range control building) when I spotted two raptors perched on adjacent poles just ahead of me. One was obviously a RED-TAILED HAWK; the other looked a little skinnier and turned out to be a PEREGRINE FALCON. At the time I couldn't remember seeing one here before and, when I checked later, it was indeed a new species for the location, #197 in Garden.

I made a quick stop at the fishing ponds where I found that LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH numbers have increased dramatically. They were very easy to find but not to photograph, and that "killer shot" continues to elude me. If it wasn't for branches and shadows! PINE SISKINS were also more common. All this activity despite the continuing presence of SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. On any given day, you might find a Sharpie or Cooper's hanging out here, sometimes both. The finches are where the food is (in the weedy stuff) and so are the hawks! Lawrence's Goldfinch reports are pouring in from multiple locations around SE AZ so it looks like we're going to have these delightful birds to enjoy this winter.

Continuing on I added a nice silvery male NORTHERN HARRIER, adult male COOPER'S HAWK, a couple of AMERICAN KESTRELS, the usual ACORN WOODPECKERS and CASSIN'S KINGBIRDS, a few PHAINOPEPLAS and various flavors of sparrows.

My main objective in Sawmill was to check on the arrival of WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER and I found a female near the cabin working in the same tree as two RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS. Most years, up to four Williamson's winter in Sawmill and typically become regular here in November. However, I have a handful of October records (the earliest being October 9, 1995) and even one late September record. In addition to three sapsuckers in one tree, ACORN WOODPECKER, several ARIZONA WOODPECKERS and a FLICKER were working nearby. Arizona Woodpeckers were particularly common throughout the canyon today.

CASSIN'S FINCH and PINE SISKIN continue near the cabin. Compared to last week, Cassin's Finch numbers were down but Pine Siskins were much more numerous. I noted that DARK-EYED (Gray-headed) JUNCOS have arrived which is right about on time for this race in Sawmill. Oregon Junco usually shows up a little later.

Further up canyon, I found a number of regulars including three or four OLIVE WARBLERS, one BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER (normally gone from Sawmill before the end of October), scads of YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, a few HEPATIC TANAGERS and many YELLOW-EYED JUNCOS.

The most exciting (brown corduroy) moment of the morning came when I almost stepped on a large group of MONTEZUMA QUAIL. The birds rocketed every which way and it was all I could do to maintain my composure to count them in my peripheral vision -- somewhere between 15 and 20 birds. I wandered around in vain for 15 minutes trying to relocate them.

Not a bad routine morning.

48 species recorded in Garden & Sawmill Canyons:  Sawmill Bar Graph
N. Harrier, Sharp-shinned, Cooper's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Montezuma Quail, Mourning Dove, Williamson's & Red-naped Sapsuckers, Acorn, Ladder-backed & Arizona Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Say's Phoebe, Cassin's Kingbird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Phainopepla, Bewick's Wren, Am. Robin, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Common Raven, Hutton's Vireo, Olive, Yellow-rumped & Black-throated Gray Warblers, Hepatic Tanager, Canyon Towhee, Chipping, Vesper, Savannah, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Dark-eyed (Gray-headed) & Yellow-eyed Juncos, Eastern Meadowlark, Cassin's Finch, House Finch, Pine Siskin and Lesser Goldfinch & Lawrence's Goldfinches.

Tuesday, October 12, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day  
Not many birds to report today since I visited a typically low diversity environment. I made my first trip of the season to the San Rafael Valley, about 10 days earlier than normal. I was hoping to extend my early arrival dates for some typical winter targets -- most of my first sighting records are as a result of when I start looking as opposed to real arrival dates. Of all the data that's published for SE AZ species, it's my belief that (apart from longspurs) the arrival times of the wintering grassland species are the least definitive. Why? Because few (if any?) birders routinely bird in grassland habitats on a regular basis so there has to be a big hole in the knowledge base.

It was a fairly windy morning so I didn't pick a very good day for this endeavor -- grassland birding is tough enough when everything is in your favor! The valley is essentially bone dry and all roads were extremely dusty. Four of the five stock ponds that I checked had at least some water. All of the Santa Cruz river spots that I checked were dry.

I spent the first  two hours immediately after dawn looking for sparrows then I cruised around the valley for a further two hours. I failed in my attempt to locate Baird's Sparrow in locations where I see them every year (my first sighting date is October 23; the TAS birdfiinding guide shows them arriving in mid September with some records as early as mid August; the ABA guide lists the beginning of October). 

I did succeed with SPRAGUE'S PIPIT, flushing just one individual that took flight with the typical "squeet" call. My previous first sighting date was October 23; both TAS and ABA guides show them arriving mid October.

I noted five or six small flocks of CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS in different locations, some coming in to drink at stock ponds. Flock size varied from 15 to 30 birds.

In addition to moderate numbers of SAVANNAH and VESPER SPARROWS, I saw only 3 GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS perched on fence wires at 7:00am (none after this time). EASTERN (singing) and WESTERN (calling) MEADOWLARKS were common and I saw both species in multiple locations. CASSIN'S KINGBIRD'S were present in a few places. YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS worked the vegetation at the edges of stock ponds.

I added a couple of species to my San Rafael Valley list, only up to 89 species after eleven years of birding here. Like I said, species diversity in this vast grassland at 5000 feet is not very high. On the southern section of FR58 that leads to the San Rafael Ranch corral, I always check the small copse in the wash that feeds the Santa Cruz (hoping for Long-eared Owl). There was a handful of birds there today including LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKER and CANYON TOWHEE, both new valley species for me.

Apart from plenty of AMERICAN KESTRELS, I didn't see any raptors; waterfowl were non-existent and sparrows not very numerous. Bottom line -- later in October or, better still, November is a much better starting month when it can be biting cold and there are more winter birds are around. A day of few birds but some more positive and negative information to add to my data base. I stopped opposite lots of perched roadside Kestrels and finally found one that didn't fly away, albeit a little too far away for a photo.

24 species recorded in San Rafael Valley from 6:30-10:30am.
Am. Kestrel, Killdeer, Mourning Dove, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Black & Say's Phoebes, Cassin's Kingbird, Horned Lark, Barn Swallow, Sprague's Pipit, Loggerhead Shrike, Mexican Jay, Common Raven, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Canyon Towhee, Chipping, Vesper, Savannah & Grasshopper Sparrows, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Eastern & Western Meadowlarks and Brewer's Blackbird.

Wednesday, October 13, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day
There was a definite chill on the San Pedro early this morning and the temperature had only climbed to 72 degrees when I visited Sierra Vista EOP in mid morning. Great weather, mediocre birding.

On the San Pedro I walked the river to Garden Wash (with a brief stop at Kingfisher pond) and returned via Garden Wash and the Del Valle Road. Apart from the first couple of hundred yards of the wash, the return journey was almost birdless. Activity throughout was much lower than on my last few visits. LAZULI BUNTINGS continue in numbers (ten in view at the same time at one point). The most common species today were LINCOLN'S SPARROW and ABERT'S TOWHEE.

Highlights were a couple of LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCHES at the pond; PLUMBEOUS VIREO (singing) and WESTERN TANAGER near the San Pedro House. Perhaps the vireo was the same individual that was banded here last week -- I tried to see the bird's legs without success. Western Tanager is an uncommon migrant on the river, especially in fall, and this was my latest record here. In fact, I only have 10 records for October anywhere in SE AZ (latest October 18). A singing WESTERN MEADOWLARK represented a fairly uncommon sighting for this location. CRISSAL THRASHERS were calling in two locations.

Nothing of real note at SVEOP. The continuing PEREGRINE FALCON was sitting on on one of the berms. I stopped by to check out a report of a female Masked Duck from yesterday but found only RUDDY DUCK.

54 species recorded at SPRNCA and SVEOP:
Green Heron, Am. Wigeon, Gadwall, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Ruddy Duck, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Gambel's Quail, Sora, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Mourning Dove, Anna's Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Black & Say's Phoebes, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Barn Swallow, Bewick's, House & Marsh Wrens, Curve-billed & Crissal Thrashers, White-breasted Nuthatch, Verdin, Plumbeous Vireo, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Western Tanager, Green-tailed, Canyon & Abert's Towhees, Chipping, Vesper, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Pyrrhuloxia, Lazuli Bunting, Western Meadowlark, Red-winged & Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Great-tailed Grackle, House Finch, Lesser & Lawrence's Goldfinches and House Sparrow.

Thursday, October 14, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day
With the apparent departure of the Rufous-capped Warblers earlier this year, it's been a while since I visited French Joe Canyon. I've been meaning to go for several weeks but somehow always managed to put it off. Today I got off the dime motivated by a sense of duty, since October in the canyon didn't seem like an exciting prospect.

My only concession to the season was that I started hiking at dawn instead of my more normal 15 minutes before dawn. It was surprisingly cold in the lower oaks (somewhere in the 30s) and my fingertips were numb for a while. The water trough was the only place with water -- the stream bed and the upper spring are completely dry. It was a clear and sunny morning with zero wind for several hours, ideal listening conditions. Early activity was minimal and there wasn't much improvement as the day warmed.

I was really surprised to hear a CANYON WREN as I turned off highway 90 onto the canyon entrance road, unexpected here despite the fact that they are very common deeper into the canyon. WESTERN SCRUB-JAY (common throughout) and CRISSAL THRASHER were a couple more species lower than expected (I noted perhaps four or five Crissal Thrashers in total).

I birded in the upper canyon for 90 minutes where I willed the sound of a warbler to break the silence, alas to no avail. Although it is my belief that they are indeed gone (based on multiple failures earlier in the season), a single failure in October is by no means compelling evidence that the birds are no longer here. Given the terrain they could roam over and the amount of ground cover, plus their generally secretive behavior, they could easily go undetected when not vocalizing.

Highlight of the morning was a SWAINSON'S THRUSH near the spring, my fifth record in French Joe -- each sighting was in a different year and this was my first in fall. It was also my latest fall record in SE AZ. Published data shows them as uncommon migrants equally in spring and fall. My data is more skewed -- only 3 records of 45 are in fall. This perhaps has to do with where I spend my time in fall rather than reflecting a biased spring/fall migration.

Nothing much else of note -- several RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS in the lower oaks, HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHERS in the lower oaks and at the spring, and my first OREGON JUNCOS of the season.

29 species recorded in French Joe Canyon:
Sharp-shinned Hawk, Red-naped Sapsucker, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Hammond's Flycatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Cactus, Rock, Canyon, Bewick's & House Wrens, Curve-billed & Crissal Thrashers, Swainson's & Hermit Thrushes, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Western Scrub-Jay, Mexican Jay, Hutton's Vireo, Orange-crowned Warbler, Spotted & Canyon Towhees, Rufous-crowned & Chipping Sparrows, Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco, N. Cardinal, House Finch and Lesser Goldfinch.

Friday, October 15, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day
I'd planned to take a day off today to get some long overdue computer and paperwork done. However, it was such a beautiful morning that I decided to spend a little time in Garden Canyon. I stayed in the lower canyon and didn't venture above the lower picnic area.

It was clear, sunny and slightly chilly when I checked the fishing ponds at 6:45am (some clouds rolled in later). Initially, I couldn't find any LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCHES (nor LESSER for that matter) but they both showed up in decent numbers within 30 minutes. PINE SISKINS continue and even a half dozen or so CASSIN'S FINCHES joined the fray today. This low elevation location (~4800 feet) is only about 2.5 miles from French Fry Boulevard as the finch flies.

Also of note were my first Huachuca WESTERN BLUEBIRDS of the season -- half a dozen or so fly-bys that paused briefly at the ponds. Eastern is the resident bluebird in the Huachucas and Westerns are only present from fall through spring, roughly mid October through mid March. Today's sighting was my earliest record here by one week. DARK-EYED (Oregon) JUNCOS have also arrived.

A couple of hunting NORTHERN HARRIERS and a COOPER'S HAWK made sure that the birds were always on their toes. CHIPPING SPARROWS were the most abundant with lesser numbers of (in decreasing order of abundance) WHITE-CROWNED, SAVANNAH, BREWER'S, VESPER, SONG & LINCOLN'S SPARROWS. 23 species at the ponds.

I moved on to the lower picnic area and walked the road that heads east alongside Sycamore lined Garden Canyon creek. RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS were common here in the Oaks. About 1/2 mile from the picnic area I came across the highlight of the morning, a constantly calling ELEGANT TROGON. I followed the bird in a southeasterly direction for at least 3/4 mile until I reached a restricted area and had to give up. I never did determine if it was a male or female. This was only my third October record in Garden Canyon. Most of my fall and winter records are from Scheelite and Sawmill.

43 species recorded in Garden Canyon:
N. Harrier, Cooper's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Elegant Trogon, Acorn, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Red-naped Sapsucker, N. Flicker, Say's Phoebe, Cassin's Kingbird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bewick's & House Wrens, Curve-billed Thrasher, Western Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Verdin, Mexican Jay, Hutton's Vireo, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Spotted & Canyon Towhees, Chipping, Brewer's, Vesper, Savannah, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco, Eastern Meadowlark, Cassin's Finch, House Finch, Pine Siskin and Lesser & Lawrence's Goldfinches.

Sunday, October 17, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day
The weather didn't look very promising this morning so I decided to stay close to home and I joined the regular Sunday morning trip at SVEOP. Widespread clouds and breezy conditions kept the temperature down and it was actually quite pleasant. We covered a bit more ground than these tours normally cover and turned up almost sixty species including a few less commonly seen.

In fact, a GILA WOODPECKER first heard and then seen near the trash compaction plant was a new SVEOP species for me -- #188 on visit #853. Less common species included 3 ROCK WRENS (two seen, one heard; rare here from October to January, 20 records), BEWICK'S WREN (3 records) and 2 CHIPPING SPARROWS (my first fall record, 8 records total).

Shorebirds were again almost non-existent and apart from KILLDEER we only came up with 3 SPOTTED SANDPIPERS and a WILSON'S SNIPE. Duck numbers have increased a little but diversity is still low. Calling SORAS seemed numerous and we heard 2 VIRGINIA RAILS. Both EASTERN & WESTERN MEADOWLARKS were in the south field where WESTERN KINGBIRDS were very common. A few CASSIN'S KINGBIRDS remain near the trash compaction plant where we also saw CURVE-BILLED THRASHER,  PYRRHULOXIA and lots of BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS.

Highlight of the morning was watching the interaction between PEREGRINE and PRAIRIE FALCONS. I heard a call that sounded like a Long-billed Curlew only to quickly realize it was one of the falcons (not sure which). After some initial argy-bargy, the Peregrine sat on a pole and the Prairie on a berm, quite close to each other. Both birds took flight and we saw some close encounters in the air before the Peregrine headed away at speed pursued by the Prairie. It's not so often that you get to compare these two species side by side! The Peregrine is the same bird that has been around since August and we came across it several times as we walked around. Now the bird has some competition -- this was my first Prairie of the season at SVEOP, they are normally here from mid October through February. Earlier we had witnessed a COOPER'S HAWK harassing a NORTHERN HARRIER.

57 species recorded at SVEOP from 7:50-11:30am, 66-73 degrees, cloudy & breezy:  SVEOP Bar Graph
Am. Wigeon, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, N. Pintail, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Ruddy Duck, N. Harrier, Cooper's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Prairie & Peregrine Falcons, Virginia Rail, Sora, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Wilson's Snipe, Spotted Sandpiper, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Gila Woodpecker, Black & Say's Phoebes, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Tree, Violet-green & Barn Swallows, Cactus, Rock, Bewick's & Marsh Wrens, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Chihuahuan Raven, European Starling, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Canyon Towhee, Chipping, Vesper, Savannah, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Pyrrhuloxia, Eastern & Western Meadowlarks, Red-winged, Yellow-headed & Brewer's Blackbirds, Great-tailed Grackle and House Finch.

Monday, October 18, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day
I made my second trip of the season to the San Rafael Valley this morning (see October 12 journal for background info). This time I was successful in locating BAIRD'S SPARROW to extend my early sighting date by five days. Worth the effort of getting up early, driving on the dusty roads and doing the grunt work.

My favorite season has definitely arrived -- it was a cool 42 degrees as I left Sierra Vista in darkness and headed out through the west gate of Fort Huachuca. The valley was very cloudy and it was quite chilly when I reached my favorite sparrow spot. Activity was virtually zero and at this point I wasn't very hopeful. The sun poked through about ten minutes after sunrise but it only lasted about fifteen minutes. Fortunately, during this period I was able to see at least two perched BAIRD'S SPARROWS and two GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS. I waited around for another hour after the sun disappeared and saw nary a bird.

I was only in the valley for a total of two hours and didn't spend much time trying to rustle up any other species. I saw a few of the usual suspects including several small flocks of CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS -- one flock visiting a stock pond contained 30 birds.

It was still cloudy and cool (70 degrees) in late afternoon when I spent an hour down on the San Pedro. Unfortunately, it was also breezy and I saw nothing of note. VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS were surprisingly numerous, well outnumbering TREE and BARN. Perhaps they were pushed south by the change in weather, although they are regular on the river in late October. LAZULI BUNTINGS are still feeding in the weeds at Kingfisher pond.

Tuesday, October 19, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day  
On a very calm, sunny and initially chilly morning, I spent several pleasant hours checking the activity at Whitewater Draw. My second visit of the month produced almost 60 species and a couple of noteworthy species. Water levels remain high in all impoundments.

Four BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCKS took me completely by surprise and qualify as the highlight of the morning. The birds were loafing in the wet grass at the end of the dike that runs west from the south viewing platform. This is only the second time that I've seen them at WWD and only by 6th record in Cochise County.

ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER was also a bit of a surprise. I have a few records in April and May and they probably nest here. However, this was my first record at WWD in fall. This is a species that winters in a few locations in southeast Arizona. Rounding out the flycatchers were adult male and hatch year female VERMILION FLYCATCHERS, several BLACK & SAYS PHOEBES, and a handful each of CASSIN'S and WESTERN KINGBIRDS.

Duck numbers have increased with NORTHERN PINTAIL being the most numerous. A dozen or so REDHEADS and a few CANVASBACKS represented a couple of the later arriving species. Several PIED-BILLED and ~20 EARED GREBES were scattered throughout the various ponds.

There's not much habitat for shorebirds so I guess I should be thankful just to see KILLDEER and GREATER YELLOWLEGS. A few AMERICAN PIPITS and SAVANNAH SPARROWS had found what little exposed mud was present.

SANDHILL CRANES numbered only in the low 100s compared to the many 1000s that will be present next month.

Several thousand TREE SWALLOWS were again present. There seemed to be almost as many as on October 3 when I was last here. I wonder if they are the same birds or whether there's a turnover each day with birds arriving from the north and others leaving for points south. Difficult to say with any authority without checking on a daily basis.

Raptors were conspicuous by their absence. One each fly-bys of MERLIN, NORTHERN HARRIER and rufous morph RED-TAILED HAWK were all that I noted, apart from the usual KESTRELS.

Sparrows and blackbirds were well represented with all of the expected species present. LAZULI BUNTINGS continue in fair numbers. LARK BUNTINGS were easy to see thanks to a constantly on the move flock. However, they certainly weren't numerous.

59 species recorded at Whitewater Draw:
Pied-billed & Eared Grebes, Green Heron, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Am. Wigeon, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, N. Pintail, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Canvasback, Redhead, Ruddy Duck, N. Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Merlin, Sandhill Crane, Sora, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Ring-billed Gull, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Black & Say's Phoebes, Vermilion & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Tree & Barn Swallows, Am. Pipit, Cactus & Marsh Wrens, Curve-billed Thrasher, Loggerhead Shrike, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Lark Bunting, Brewer's, Vesper, Lark, Savannah, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Pyrrhuloxia, Lazuli Bunting, Eastern & Western Meadowlarks, Red-winged, Yellow-headed & Brewer's Blackbirds, Brown-headed Cowbird and House Finch.

Wednesday, October 20, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day  
October is rapidly rolling by and today I decided that it's time to start checking Patagonia Lake State Park, a place that I will visit regularly throughout winter and spring. It was a very mild and slightly cloudy morning and the first couple of hours at the lake turned out to be very productive. By 9:00am the wind kicked in (must have been last night's pizza) and bird activity declined quite dramatically. Sorry, I can resist anything except temptation.

Those of you who read the journal regularly will know that my modus operandi (when not working with clients) is to visit various locations in turn, checking to see if certain species have arrived, if others are still present, etc. Sometimes I'm successful, sometimes not. In any case, I see (or don't see) whatever targets I'm looking for plus a few incidentals during these routine and generally unexciting visits. That's why it's called work! Today I didn't have an agenda. I wasn't even planning on looking for the Black-capped Gnatcatchers. I've already spent too many hours of my life that I'll never get back looking for these birds. Besides, having seen them 60 odd times at the lake, the magic is pretty much gone. Qué triste! However, if I ever fail to look at a Vermilion Flycatcher, shoot me.

Today was a minor milestone for me at Patagonia Lake -- visit #350. Over the years I've seen more species here then any other single location. As I was driving over there today, I wondered just what the next new species might be. Nothing came to mind. As things turned out, I did see a new species and it was a bird that I could never have imagined seeing at this location. In fact, all things considered it was a rather bizarre morning. I saw a number of species that, taken individually, were nothing to write home about. However, put them all together on the same day and it makes for a very unusual day. The kind of day that I'm unlikely to repeat as long as I've got a hole in my astrakhan coat (apologies to the late Benny Hill).

As I turned off highway 82 and onto the entrance road, the first bird that I saw was a HORNED LARK perched on a power wire. A common bird for sure but one that I've only seen here on four previous occasions -- usually when I'm tramping the grassland for sparrows.

While scanning the deep (west) end of the lake, I spotted a WESTERN GREBE in with the EARED GREBES. Not a rarity by any means but always a good bird to see in SE AZ and a good start to the morning.

I moved on to the bridge near the Marina, a good vantage point for more scanning. The day got a little better when I looked down into the marsh and immediately saw an AMERICAN BITTERN standing in open view, bill pointing skyward in that typical frozen pose. I froze too, for about thirty seconds. Then, I slowly started to point my lens at the bird whereupon it took flight and the moment was gone. Drat. American Bittern is a rare but regular migrant at the lake. I have 10 spring and now 5 fall records.

Shortly after starting the trail at the east end of the lake, I paused near the bench to check the water. I started looking through the abundant CHIPPING SPARROWS until a sharp "sucked in" whistled call alerted me to the fact that a RUFOUS-WINGED SPARROW was very close. Sure enough, I soon spotted three or four of them in with the Chippies. Rufous-winged Sparrow seems to have become more and more regular at the state park in recent years, although I've never seen them so close to the lake before.

I dropped down to lake level and soon discovered that the willows were loaded with (mostly common) birds. In fact, this was the case all the way to the willow forest where the creek feeds the lake. I wandered around following sounds and movement until a whistled "phew" call stopped me dead in my tracks -- OLIVE WARBLER! Wait a minute, I thought, this can't be. Had I been in Sawmill Canyon I wouldn't have thought twice about recording the bird and moving on. However, even though I trust my ears more than my eyes, this was a bird I just had to track down. Fortunately, the warbler continued to call (perhaps in response to my whistled imitations) and at one point even sang. I followed the bird for more than 1/2 mile before I was able to lay eyes on it -- a very drab sub-adult male. This was a definite case of "I wouldn't have seen it had I not believed it". Although I'm aware of a few lowland records, since I get out more than most and I've never seen this high elevation bird lower than the foothills, I'd have to say that it is extremely rare in lowland habitats. Fact is stranger than fiction. Species #249 at the lake for me, I wonder what #250 will be (and when!).

Immediately after losing the warbler, I heard the unmistakable "chup" call of an HEPATIC TANAGER. Although I was somewhat taken aback, at least this is a species that is sometimes seen at low elevation and one that I'd seen at the lake before (4 records including today). I tracked down what turned out to be two females. Just to add to the weirdness, a latish SUMMER TANAGER was close by. Although I actually managed to photograph both tanager and warbler, neither of the images met my publishing standards.

I continued on, seeing ORANGE-CROWNED and BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS along with a number of common species. Then I heard a CASSIN'S VIREO singing and started to head towards the sound. As I got close, I heard a PLUMBEOUS VIREO singing nearby. Both birds were in the same tree. Am I in the Twilight Zone? Actually, I've seen these species together a number of times in migration.

This HUTTON'S VIREO turned out to be the 300th species that I've photographed (after getting rid of a bunch of early garbage photos taken a couple of years ago).

Walking back to the car, I came across a nicely posed BREWER'S BLACKBIRD. Although this is an extremely common wintering bird in SE AZ, they are rather scarce at the lake and I only have 19 records. Today they were common. The last in a sequence of unrelated sightings that added up to a very strange (in a good way) day.

Other species included a fishing OSPREY, a small flock of WHITE-WINGED DOVES that typically winter here, a couple of RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS, the usual GRAY & DUSKY FLYCATCHERS and various flavors of sparrows.

According to the (always accurate) weather guys, a storm is headed our way that might bring snow above 8000 feet over the next few days. We'll see. If so, it might be worth checking places like Willcox.

67 species recorded at Patagonia Lake State Park: PLSP Bar Graph
Eared & Western Grebes, Double-crested & Neotropic Cormorants, Great Blue & Green Herons, Am. Bittern, Mallard, Ruddy Duck, Osprey, Am. Kestrel, Sora, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Spotted Sandpiper, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Anna's Hummingbird, Red-naped Sapsucker, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Gray & Dusky Flycatchers, Black & Say's Phoebes, Cassin's Kingbird, Horned Lark, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Rock, Bewick's, House & Marsh Wrens, Curve-billed Thrasher, Hermit Thrush, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Common Raven, Plumbeous, Cassin's & Hutton's Vireos, Olive, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped & Black-throated Gray Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Hepatic & Summer Tanagers, Spotted Towhee, Rufous-crowned, Rufous-winged, Chipping, Black-throated, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Pyrrhuloxia, Eastern Meadowlark, Red-winged & Brewer's Blackbirds, Great-tailed Grackle, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch and House Sparrow.

Friday, October 22, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day  
I poked my head outside at 5:00am yesterday morning and decided to sit this one out. I can handle clouds and rain, but not wind. Today at the same time it was even cloudier, however, with zero wind and little chance of rain I headed over to Willcox. The heavy, low clouds had dispersed by the time that I cleared the Dragoons and dropped down through Texas Canyon. Conditions around the ponds at Willcox were crisp with on and off sunshine.

The forecast storm didn't really materialize with any intensity yesterday and certainly didn't produce any (visible) snow on the mountain tops. I didn't find any storm driven birds, just your typical solid bunch of species for this time of year.

The highlight on the main pond was a very uncooperative CLARK'S GREBE. I made several passes around the pond over the course of my visit and each time the bird had its head down. However, identification was assured by the very pale gray body, eye-in-the-white, and peek-a-boo glimpses of orange whenever I managed to see part of the bill. At one point I was sure that I caught sight of a Western Grebe as well -- unfortunately, I was only able to consistently relocate the Clark's. I have two fall records of Clark's at Willcox; Western is uncommon at this season.

EARED GREBES were quite numerous (20+). Or were they Horned Grebes? No, I think they were probably definitely Eared. Don't get me started.

As usual, SHOVELER AND RUDDY DUCK were the most common species on the main pond. A good sized group of RING-NECKED DUCKS and four REDHEADS flew in at 7:30am.

I found very little in the way of shorebirds other than 30+ LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS and about the same number of LEAST SANDPIPERS.

Gulls were represented by the continuing CALIFORNIA GULL and a handful of RING-BILLED GULLS. It's interesting to look at the California Gull's plumage development (especially the primaries and tail) in a sequence of 4 images, each taken about one month apart starting in mid July. The most convenient way to do this is via the gull section of the photo gallery.

The golf course pond held several BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS including one with a broken upper mandible, calling VIRGINIA RAIL and SORA, a lingering CASSIN'S KINGBIRD and an immature male VERMILION FLYCATCHER (decidedly scarce at Willcox but I see one or two at this time most years). A few SANDHILL CRANES occasionally circled overhead.

Out in the fields, I found a dozen or so LARK BUNTINGS, the usual assortment of sparrows, a small flock of CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS and almost 50 WESTERN MEADOWLARKS that well outnumbered EASTERN MEADOWLARKS.

57 species recorded at Willcox Ponds from 6:45-10:15am: Willcox Bar Graph
Pied-billed, Eared & Clark's Grebes, Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Am. Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, N. Shoveler, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Ruddy Duck, N. Harrier, Am. Kestrel, Scaled & Gambel's Quail, Sandhill Crane, Virginia Rail, Sora, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Long-billed Dowitcher, Least Sandpiper, Ring-billed & California Gulls, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Black & Say's Phoebes, Vermilion Flycatcher, Cassin's Kingbird, Horned Lark, Tree & Barn Swallows, Am. Pipit, Marsh Wren, Curve-billed Thrasher, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Chihuahuan Raven, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Lark Bunting, Brewer's, Vesper, Savannah, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Eastern & Western Meadowlarks, Red-winged & Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Great-tailed Grackle, House Finch and House Sparrow.

I spent an hour at St. David Monastery on the way home but the late morning hour ensured that I didn't see much (23 species in all). I was hoping to find that Lewis's Woodpecker had returned for another winter, however, it's probably still 3 or 4 weeks too early based on previous arrival dates.

Saturday, October 23, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day
The presence of a Groove-billed Ani, discovered yesterday near Kingfisher Pond,  prompted me to postpone birding on the San Pedro this morning. A significant rarity and a weekend day wasn't good news. By all accounts, lots of birders were out looking but the Ani wasn't seen (at least, I haven't seen any positive reports so far).

I decided to check on Lawrence's Goldfinch at Garden Canyon Fishing ponds. This morning was the coldest morning of the season so far and I saw frost on the roofs of some buildings in town. However, it was only chilly for a while. I spent almost two hours looking for the goldfinches without success, my first miss since I first detected them here at the end of September (seen Sep 30, Oct 1, 4, 11 & 15). Of course, this doesn't mean they weren't here. In fact, I thought I saw one fly-by but couldn't locate the bird after it landed.

Although sparrows of several flavors were still common, finch activity and activity in general was much lower. I saw only a a dozen or so LESSER GOLDFINCHES, a couple of LAZULI BUNTINGS and a flyover PINE SISKIN. Perhaps the presence of a juvenile male SHARP-SHINNED HAWK didn't help.

25 species seen at Garden Canyon Gravel Pit Pond:
Sharp-shinned Hawk, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Say's Phoebe, Cassin's Kingbird, Bewick's Wren, Bushtit, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Canyon Towhee, Rufous-crowned, Chipping, Brewer's, Vesper, Savannah, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Pyrrhuloxia, Lazuli Bunting, Eastern Meadowlark, House Finch, Pine Siskin and Lesser Goldfinch.

Monday, October 25, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day
Not having checked the weather forecast last night, I was quite surprised by the widespread, heavy clouds when I left home at 6:15am this morning. I had planned on visiting Carr Canyon for a couple of reasons -- to enjoy the fall colors and to look for Northern Pygmy-Owl. However, after driving to the bottom of Carr Canyon Road I realized just how socked in it was at high elevation so I turned around and headed down to the San Pedro.

Terribly, terribly dull and boring. A law firm? Maybe, but I'm describing the birding on the river. Cloudy conditions and intermittent, light rain certainly didn't encourage much bird activity and I struggled to find birds during three hours of birding. I walked south along the Del Valle Road, first west then east down Garden Wash, spent an hour at Kingfisher pond then returned north along the river.

Highlights were WILSON'S SNIPE (a very scarce migrant/wintering bird on the river), WHITE-WINGED DOVE (not often seen here after mid September), 2 BELTED KINGFISHERS and GREEN KINGFISHER at the big pond, DUSKY FLYCATCHER, CRISSAL THRASHER in the upper part of Garden Wash (west of Del Valle), several LAZULI BUNTINGS and circa ten PINE SISKINS.

Conditions at Sierra Vista EOP were about the same and it rained for most of the hour that I spent there. However, watching almost 1000 YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS working over the fields and marshes made it worthwhile.

58 species recorded at SPRNCA (42 species) and SVEOP (28 species):
Am. Wigeon, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Ruddy Duck, N. Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Am, Kestrel, Gambel's Quail, Sora, Am. Coot, Wilson's Snipe, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Common Ground-Dove, Anna's Hummingbird, Belted & Green Kingfishers, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Dusky Flycatcher, Black & Say's Phoebes, Cassin's Kingbird, Horned Lark, Barn Swallow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bewick's, House & Marsh Wrens, Curve-billed & Crissal Thrashers, White-breasted Nuthatch, Verdin, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Green-tailed, Canyon & Abert's Towhees, Chipping, Brewer's, Vesper, Black-throated, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Lazuli Bunting, Red-winged, Yellow-headed & Brewer's Blackbirds, Great-tailed Grackle, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Lesser and House Sparrow.

Tuesday, October 26, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day  
The weather this morning wasn't really any improvement over yesterday and lots of heavy clouds blanketed the higher elevations of the Huachucas. However, since the forecast is for it to get worse before it gets better, I decided to go ahead with my plan to visit Carr Canyon. It was mild in town but it felt quite chilly by the time I reached cloud level at 7000 feet. I encountered high winds and light rain for the first hour after which the cloud ceiling lifted to 9000 feet and the rain turned to intermittent drizzle. Unfortunately, the wind continued very gusty throughout the morning.

I hiked Comfort Spring trail as far as the saddle into the Ramsey drainage. From here I'd intended to continue into Ramsey as far as necessary to find a Pygmy-Owl -- often I'll drop down to the Hamburg Meadow trail. However, the wind was pretty bad and I knew there wasn't much of a chance that an owl would hear my calls. This being the case, I reluctantly turned around at the saddle (lots of UDA garbage here).

The hike wasn't entirely fruitless though. I must have seen at least 50 BAND-TAILED PIGEONS perched in small groups in adjacent trees near the spring. The image shows five miserable looking birds in a dead tree, shot from quite some distance. Why the hell don't they get out of the wind and rain?  (they were perhaps saying the same about me). I also saw a handful of loudly calling EVENING GROSBEAKS on the wing in the same area.

Even though the morning was a bust in terms of my Pygmy-Owl quest, I was able to enjoy some super fall colors in the bottom of the canyon as I dropped down the Comfort Spring trail. Although they were far from extensive, the dramatic contrasts of red, orange, yellow and green were spectacular. I didn't have the right lens with me and the light was awful; I had to use ISO 1600 just to get a usable image. This scaled down and compressed image can't really do it justice, nevertheless, it will give you an idea. Note: the file size is still 100K -- I couldn't compress it any more without losing too much quality. A full screen, full detail 8MB image looks pretty good though.

After my trail exertions, I spent a couple of slightly more relaxed hours working the campground and trails at Reef. Surprisingly, the birding here was fairly decent until the wind and rain picked up again around 11:00am. Highlights here were a pristine male WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER, three RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS, two or three OLIVE WARBLERS including a full adult "orange-headed" male, a male TOWNSEND'S WARBLER and several HEPATIC TANAGERS.

I photographed a STELLER'S JAY from about 40 feet in poor light (using ISO 1600) and I was pleasantly surprised by what my new 20D produced (after a little doctoring with Photoshop). By the way, my 10D sold for $850 on eBay, about $50 more than I hoped to get.

A wet, windy and miserable morning that turned out fairly well (I like solitude and I can accept a paucity of birds to get it).

32 species recorded in Carr Canyon from 6:45-11:15am:
Band-tailed Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Acorn & Hairy Woodpeckers, Williamson's & Red-naped Sapsuckers, N. Flicker, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Rock, Canyon & Bewick's Wrens, Curve-billed Thrasher, Eastern Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, Red-breasted & White-breasted Nuthatches, Brown Creeper, Western Scrub-Jay, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Olive, Yellow-rumped & Townsend's Warblers, Hepatic Tanager, Spotted Towhee, Yellow-eyed Junco, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch and Evening Grosbeak.

Friday, October 29, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day  
The storm of the last two days was actually a blessing in disguise because I needed to catch up on lots of paperwork and computer work. It's amazing how quickly it piles up when you go birding every day!  We didn't get a lot of precipitation in the Sierra Vista area but the wind was significant (did I ever mention how much I hate the wind?).

This morning I headed over to Willcox to see what the storm might have blown in. After overnight rain, the morning began with low, heavy overcast that quickly burned off once the sun was up. It was a super, crisp, blue sky morning. The kind of day that brings promise of good birds. I spent from 7:00-11:00am checking the main pond and golf course ponds several times. I also checked the nearby sewage ponds.

I started by working the golf course pond and the south fence line. Here I found the first obvious storm refugee in the form of a lone female MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD, my first of season in southeast Arizona. Mountain Bluebird is an irregular winter visitor to SE AZ -- very common some years, hardly any in others. A couple of GREAT EGRETS were also working the area but they soon left. An immature female VERMILION FLYCATCHER was not the same bird that I saw last week.

Later in the morning in the same location I saw a lone FORSTER'S TERN, another (presumed) storm driven refugee. Terns on the wing are tough to photograph! I have two previous October records in SE AZ (one from Willcox) but this was my latest sighting. Overall, I have spring and fall records in equal numbers (7 each) for SE AZ and and a handful of winter records on the Colorado river.

The water level on the main pond remains high and shorebirds were not plentiful. I was a little disappointed to find that duck numbers and diversity remain quite low. Highlights included 50+ EARED GREBES, 7 WESTERN GREBES, 20+ REDHEADS, 8 LESSER SCAUP new since last week, 30+ LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS still hanging in; 3 LONG-BILLED CURLEWS and 3 GREATER YELLOWLEGS that arrived during my stay, the continuing CALIFORNIA GULL and a couple of RING-BILLED GULLS. One of the Yellowlegs was swimming and looked for all the world like some giant new species of Phalarope.

A nice candid camera moment occurred when I encountered this PRAIRIE FALCON. The bird didn't like my presence and probably said "oh, shit", literally.

Surprisingly, species that I didn't see (and I tried to ferret them out) included Sandhill Crane, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Gambel's & Scaled Quail, Red-winged & Yellow-headed Blackbird and Chestnut-collared Longspur.

57 species recorded at Willcox ponds from 7:00-11:00am: Willcox Bar Graph
Pied-billed, Eared & Western Grebes, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Am. Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, N. Shoveler, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Ruddy Duck, N. Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Prairie Falcon, Virginia Rail, Sora, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Long-billed Dowitcher, Long-billed Curlew, Greater Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Ring-billed & California Gulls, Forster's Tern, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Black & Say's Phoebes, Vermilion Flycatcher, Horned Lark, Am. Pipit, Marsh Wren, Curve-billed Thrasher, Mountain Bluebird, Loggerhead Shrike, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Lark Bunting, Brewer's, Vesper, Savannah, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Pyrrhuloxia, Eastern & Western Meadowlarks, Great-tailed Grackle, House Finch and House Sparrow.

Saturday, October 30, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day  
It's that time of year again -- today was the coldest start so far this season in Sierra Vista. I had to do a little windshield scraping before heading out on another wonderful, crisp, blue sky morning. I usually don't go out on Saturday but I skipped a couple of days in midweek due to the weather. I made a routine visit to the Huachucas, although it turned out a little better than average. It was one of those days that exemplified the saying "you never know".

As I was driving through lower Garden Canyon mesquite-grassland, a calling CRISSAL THRASHER in regular Mockingbird territory necessitated a stop for verification. As it turned out, the "do-it do-it" calls were for real and I soon found two thrashers. I've birded here regularly during the past 11 years and this was my first record of Crissal Thrasher in the canyon (species #198). In fact, I only have 15 total records in the Huachucas (from Ash, Miller & Scheelite Canyons).

Other species in the area included the two "P" birds -- PHAINOPEPLA & PYRRHULOXIA and at least 6 CASSIN'S KINGBIRDS (perhaps gathering for departure, although they sometimes stay in Garden through mid November and occasionally until the end of the month).

The silence was deafening when I arrived at a very calm and cold Sawmill Canyon (it was probably a fair bit below freezing here last night). I was hoping to locate a Northern Pygmy-Owl as well as confirm the presence of Williamson's Sapsucker and Olive Warbler. My only success was the warbler. The owl is always a crap shoot outside the breeding season and it's a little early for the Sapsucker to be reliable yet (although I already have two sightings this season).

WESTERN BLUEBIRD was the least common species -- they show up in Sawmill once or twice each winter. This was my earliest sighting in the canyon.

RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS were easy to find and I noted at least four of them along with a couple of ARIZONA WOODPECKERS.

DARK-EYED JUNCOS were absolutely abundant on the juniper hillsides (mostly Gray-headed, some Oregon). YELLOW-EYED JUNCOS were definitely in the minority.

The plaintive "phew" calls of OLIVE WARBLER enabled me to track down several birds. Ironically, the bird in the photograph was completely silent and relatively cooperative at only 15 feet from the ground. I'm calling this bird a first fall male. You can tell that it's a young bird by the extensively pale lower mandible, plenty of green in the wings and an ill-defined facial mask. However, separating immature males and females in the field is often difficult and sometimes impossible. I'm going with male because of the well developed color about the head and face (females are usually paler) and the fact that orange tones are already starting show through the yellow.

I left Sawmill around 10:00am well satisfied even though I had only seen one target and a total of only 20 species. I really enjoyed the solitude and chilly conditions. At this point I was done -- on the way home to do some chores. However, a couple more doses of "you never know" were in store.

I drove slowly down Garden Canyon, listening for whatever might be around. I had just about reached the rappel cliffs when the "clucking" alarm call of an ELEGANT TROGON got my attention. I quickly abandoned my vehicle (hoping that nobody would come by) and attempted to track down the bird. I followed the sound and caught up with what turned out to be an immature male near the main pictograph site. The bird was in shadow and I was quite some distance away, nevertheless, I tried for a photo. Unfortunately, I had to use manual focus, something that I hate to do (mainly because I don't use it enough to be proficient). Even so, I managed a usable image. Here's a second image, note how the green hasn't yet fully developed (females are brown backed, immature males start out brown with the vertical eye mark and initially look like females).

Most trogons are gone from the mountains by the end of September Some linger through October and I have a number of winter records in the Huachucas (26 total records in either December, January or February in 9 different years). Generally, though, the birds that overwinter do so in lower elevation locations.

Back in the mesquite-grassland (about 200 yards below the lower picnic area), I once again proved that "timing is everything". Still driving slowly, I was scanning side to side when I suddenly noticed a MONTEZUMA QUAIL scurrying across the road in front of me. Unfortunately, my timing wasn't perfect -- this was the last bird to cross the road and I ended up looking into the sun as 6-8 quail waddled away from me into the grass. A few seconds earlier and I would have had the birds coming towards me for a perfect photo op. Oh, well. I followed them into the grass knowing full well that I didn't really have chance of a quality sighting (I've done it too many times without success). Actually, I did manage a very poor photo. I heard them "bleating" to each other as they moved away. I did witness one interesting thing during their "escape" -- one bird jumped up above the grass to look around, presumably to see what was following it!

A good end to a "routine" day.

36 species recorded in Garden and Sawmill Canyons from 7:00-11:00am:
Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Montezuma Quail, Mourning Dove, Elegant Trogon, Red-naped Sapsucker, Acorn & Arizona Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Cassin's Kingbird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Phainopepla, Canyon & Bewick's Wrens, Crissal Thrasher, Western Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, Am. Robin, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Common Raven, Olive & Yellow-rumped Warblers, Canyon Towhee, Vesper Sparrow, Dark-eyed (Gray-headed & Oregon) & Yellow-eyed Juncos, Pyrrhuloxia, Western Meadowlark, Pine Siskin and Lesser Goldfinch.

Sunday, October 31, 2004    Previous Day    Next Day  
A last minute change of plan caused me to return to the Huachucas again this morning. I was all set to join the regular Sunday morning Sierra Vista EOP tour when I realized that I hadn't visited Scheelite Canyon to check on the owls this month. Can't have that. It was another clear, calm and cold morning, but not quite as cold as yesterday.

After a quick stop at Garden Canyon fishing ponds, I headed directly to Scheelite. I didn't see any Lawrence's Goldfinches during this short stop (I heard them later in the morning). A couple of MALLARDS were present (the first waterfowl that I've seen here in a while) along with one WILSON'S SNIPE.

Scheelite Canyon was gloomy, chilly and relatively birdless (which is typical at this season). I easily found a pair of SPOTTED OWLS roosting in the most obvious and often used tree (this photo is entitled "Ain't Love Grand"). For info about this roost site, click here then select "Huachuca Hiking Club Tree". Although the trip didn't produce much of a challenge in terms of locating the birds, photographically it was another story. The light was really quite bad and I had to use ISO 1600 just to get an image at all with a shutter speed of 1/30 second. Yikes! Here's another shot of the birds paying more attention to me than themselves. Image stabilization doesn't buy much at such a slow shutter speed and the photos are not at all sharp as I've routinely come to expect shooting hand-held. Still, much better than nothing.

This is the first time that I've seen the pair roosting together since February. It's good to know that the birds are still going strong after breeding for three consecutive years. Two youngsters fledged in 2002 and 2004, one (possibly two) in 2003.

Not much else in the canyon. An out of place MOURNING DOVE was only my third record here. HERMIT THRUSHES were fairly common. A calling ARIZONA WOODPECKER was near the owls. I recorded a total of 15 species.

I wasn't able to repeat yesterday's serendipitous moments as I drove back down Garden Canyon. Even so, I didn't strike out completely -- half a dozen CASSIN'S FINCHES (one adult male, five females/immatures) were atop a roadside Sycamore just above the middle picnic area.

I stopped at the fishing ponds again to check for goldfinches but got sidetracked by a GREATER ROADRUNNER (photo #2). At first, the bird was perched up in a tree mostly obscured by branches. I was amazed when it didn't move as I stopped the car. I waited for a minute or two then opened the door -- still no reaction. I got out, walked around to get the sun behind me -- still the bird sat there. It knew something -- over the next 15 minutes I shot 80 images and couldn't get a single shot clear of obstructions. Eventually, I think the bird felt sorry for me -- it hopped down on to a stump and posed in the clear. I managed a couple of good images and couldn't decide which was best -- so I published both. Even after compression for web publishing, compare the quality of these images to those of the owls. "Light, Light, Light" is to photography as "Location, Location, Location" is to real estate.

I heard LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCHES during the time that I messed with the Roadrunner. Of course, no sign of them by the time I was done.

38 species recorded in Garden and Scheelite Canyons:
Mallard, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Wilson's Snipe, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Spotted Owl, Anna's Hummingbird, Ladder-backed & Arizona Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Cassin's Kingbird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Canyon, Bewick's & House Wrens, N. Mockingbird, Hermit Thrush, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Loggerhead Shrike, Mexican Jay, Common Raven, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Spotted & Canyon Towhees, Rufous-crowned, Chipping & Song Sparrows, Dark-eyed Junco, Pyrrhuloxia, Eastern Meadowlark, Cassin's & House Finches, Pine Siskin and Lesser & Lawrence's Goldfinches.

This log is in chronological order and the most recent entries are at the bottom of the page.
The last update was on Sunday, October 31, 2004.

Species List

Stuart Healy Journal - October, 2004 If you use the contents of my journal for commercial purposes, please acknowledge the source to your clients - thanks.

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