Species List

Stuart Healy Journal - January, 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 Saturday, January 31, 2004

Thursday, January 1, 2004
Another year has rolled insidiously by and 2003 is history. Throughout the year I managed to see 21 new species, most of them on a memorable trip to Alaska in June. I recorded a total of 340 species in Arizona (roughly my average for the past three years) and added 5 new species to my Arizona list bringing my cumulative total to 426 --  Magnolia, Palm & Prothonatory Warblers, Pine Grosbeak (a long time Arizona nemesis) and Bobolink. I could probably have added many more had I bothered to chase them. 

After moderate overnight rain, the new year in Sierra Vista began quite mild, a little soggy and mostly cloudy; with sunshine increasing as the morning wore on. As I left home, my first birds of the year were HOUSE SPARROW and GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE. Although the Huachuca Mountains were mostly obscured, I could see a light dusting of snow even on the lower peaks. My birding year began on the San Pedro where conditions were very pleasant and bird activity was quite high in places.

As I turned in to entrance road of the San Pedro House, I was greeted by GREATER ROADRUNNER and GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE. The feeders had the usual customers including a large flock of mainly female RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS, GAMBEL'S QUAIL seemingly scurrying around everywhere, many LESSER GOLDFINCHES and at least one continuing WHITE-WINGED DOVE.

After several recent sightings at the big pond, I was hoping to find the two Common Gallinules that I thought might have taken up residence again after an absence of several years. However, I was unable to find them, just a very bold SORA out in the open in the rather sparse marsh vegetation. 

The west bank of the river immediately east of the pond had the most activity. Here I saw HAMMOND'S and DUSKY FLYCATCHERS, tons of bathing CHIPPING SPARROWS, a very active and vocal SWAMP SPARROW (only the third calendar year that I've recorded them on the San Pedro) and several male LAZULI BUNTINGS. The buntings don't normally winter on the river and this was my first January record.

Leaving the big pond area behind, I walked north along the river and started looking and listing for the wintering waterthrush. As I paused to recycle the coffee, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH foraging right in front of me! The bird was either oblivious to or (more likely) unconcerned by my presence. Perhaps it knew that I was indisposed. This reminded me of Smitty's "look before you leak" story about how he peed on his lifer Whip-poor-will. The location was about halfway between the pond and the trail to the San Pedro house, a little south of the linear pond.

I recorded the following 43 species on the San Pedro:
Pied-billed Grebe, Gadwall, Mallard, N. Shoveler, Great Blue Heron, Red-tailed Hawk, Gambel's Quail, Sora, Am. Coot, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Greater Roadrunner, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Hammond's & Dusky Flycatchers, Say's & Black Phoebes, Loggerhead Shrike, European Starling, White-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick's Wren, Verdin, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bridled Titmouse, House Sparrow, Lesser Goldfinch, House Finch, Louisiana Waterthrush, Song, Lincoln's, Swamp, White-crowned, Chipping, Brewer's & Vesper Sparrows, Green-tailed, Spotted, Canyon & Abert's Towhees, Lazuli Bunting and Red-winged Blackbird.

Friday, January 2, 2004
I couldn't have wished for a better day -- clear blue sky and plenty of sunshine with a mild start and a pleasant afternoon temperature. I visited Scheelite Canyon where I had to work hard for my first Spotted Owl of 2004. I could see snow on Carr and Miller peaks as I headed towards the mountains, however, I didn't see a trace on the ground even in the upper area of Scheelite. 

I spent about 4 hours in the canyon doing a thorough search of all the regular roosting locations without success. Eventually, I started looking in new places and, hey, what do you know, I found this SPOTTED OWL in a tree where I had never seen an owl roosting before. Here's a small context shot showing the general area and roost tree near a small cave unknown to the majority of folks who visit Scheelite.

As you might expect at this time of year, there wasn't a lot of diversity in the canyon. The best bird was a calling ROCK WREN, a very scarce winter visitor in this location. They typically stay in the first 1/2 mile of canyon on the sunny slopes away from the trail. ARIZONA WOODPECKERS were very common and vocal. Others from 20 recorded included BUSHTIT, CANYON WREN, BROWN CREEPER, SPOTTED TOWHEE and PINE SISKIN.

As I was driving back through Garden Canyon, I ran into Chris Benesh and his Field Guides group. A fortuitous meeting because I was able to pass on the location of the Spotted Owl and repay the favor of the Black-capped Gnatcatcher sighting given to me by Chris at Patagonia Lake a couple of days ago.

Sunday, January 4, 2004
First of two days with Pat and Sherron Lynch from Wexford, PA.  Despite excellent weather for birding (not too warm, not too cold, not windy, not wet), we mostly had one of those days. However, after a largely unsuccessful morning in the San Rafael Valley where we managed only one of three targets, we redeemed the day with a successful visit to Scheelite Canyon.

The valley was almost devoid of birds early this morning and we had to scratch and scrape for everything that we saw, and even then it wasn't much. We spent lots of time looking for BAIRD'S SPARROW in regular locations without any success at all. Surprisingly, Sherron and I heard one briefly singing at the Meadow Valley Flat stock pond. This is the first time that I have heard one sing in Arizona. It didn't do us any good though, because the bird never showed itself.

We saw several hundred CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS in flight (multiple flocks), some at close range, but they never settled despite several promising passes over the Vaca Ranch stock pond. The only perched bird that we saw was a female on a fence wire. I had a good look at a McCOWN'S LONGSPUR at the Vaca pond but Pat and Sherron were looking the other way at the time. Like I said, one of those days. Other species from 18 recorded  included a beautiful WHITE-TAILED KITE at the east end of the valley and a GRASSHOPPER SPARROW at the west end..

After such poor results, I was somewhat dreading the trip to Scheelite Canyon fearing that a missed owl would really put the tin lid on the day. Fortunately, my fears were unfounded and I found this SPOTTED OWL in the lower area without much in the way of effort (apart from the hike up the canyon!). The bird was in a tree where I've only seen an owl once before. Other species in the canyon included STELLER'S JAY, HUTTON'S VIREO, BUSHTIT, BRIDLED TITMOUSE, BROWN CREEPER and lots of HERMIT THRUSHES.

We finished up in the late afternoon with a brief visit to Sawmill Canyon to pick up YELLOW-EYED JUNCO, another bird for which we had to work far harder than usual. 

Monday, January 5, 2004
Out again today with Pat and Sherron. Just as yesterday, today was another one of those days, only this time in reverse -- the day began well and went downhill from there. After a mild morning yesterday, the day began much colder (25 degrees at 6:30am in Sierra Vista) then became quite warm in Patagonia later in the day.

We started at the west end of San Rafael Valley where, in complete contrast to yesterday, we found a perched BAIRD'S SPARROW after only ten minutes of effort (in exactly the same location that we failed so miserably yesterday). Furthermore, the bird popped up onto the fence alone so we didn't even have SAVANNAH SPARROW false alarms. This is what I like to call a "Murphy gets screwed moment".

Little did we know that was to be the end of our success for the day -- six hours at Patagonia Lake produced only one of four target birds. We began with a two hour search for the gnatcatcher by chasing a couple of titmice flocks around the mesquite bosque; followed that with a 90 minute vigil for the Rufous-backed Robin and a trudge up the creek for the Elegant Trogon -- all unsuccessful. To compound the misery, hours later we relocated the titmice flock near the first wash and I heard a BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHER calling. Unfortunately, despite lots more checking of every bird in the flock multiple times, we again came up empty.

A frustrating negative side effect of all this fruitless effort was that general birding possibilities went by the wayside and all the regular birds had to be pretty much ignored. I guess that's why it's called work. I recorded only 45 species including LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH along Sonoita Creek (seen and heard as we walked upstream and back downstream), many DUSKY (our only target bird success), several GRAY and one HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER; and SWAMP SPARROWS calling in the marsh.

The day ended on a good note when we saw a GOLDEN EAGLE being harassed by ravens on highway 82 at milepost 45.

Wednesday, January 7, 2004
I don't have many January visits to Willcox (10 before today), perhaps because there's usually very little of note present at this season. This morning I headed over there to make sure that I make at least one visit this month (I'll be working from now through the middle of the month and then I'll be in California). It was a beautiful morning with mostly clear skies; quite crisp when I started around 8:30am and a little chilly when the sun occasionally disappeared behind a cloud. 

The birding was extremely slow and, as I had expected, not really worth the round trip drive. However, as I've mentioned before, I don't know of a way to collect data without getting out and doing it! The absence of winter sparrows was very noticeable. Although the main pond is considerably higher than my last visit in early December, it's still very low. Consequently, winter waterfowl diversity and numbers are commensurately low.

I was greeted by a scruffy looking GREATER ROADRUNNER playing peek-a-boo on the apex of a roof along Rex Allen Drive. Each time that a car drove by the bird retreated out of my view then returned to the top, presumably to enjoy the sun (or maybe the view!). Eventually, I answered the question "how close can I get?" to which the answer is invariably "one step less than I thought".

A large flock of AMERICAN WIGEON and the hybrid EURASIAN WIGEON were at the golf course pond. Most of the species that I saw were around this pond including 2 BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS and a SORA out in the open. 

As usual, NORTHERN SHOVELERS were the most common species on the main pond, and even they were not in the usual large numbers. Other species included 12 CANADA GEESE, 1 male BUFFLEHEAD, 1 male COMMON MERGANSER. another BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON sunning itself on one of the rock islands, 1 LEAST SANDPIPER and 1 RING-BILLED GULL.

I recorded the following 32 species in a couple of hours:
Pied-billed & Eared Grebes, Ruddy Duck, Canada Goose, Am. Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, N. Shoveler, Bufflehead, Common Merganser, Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, N. Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Sora, Am. Coot, Least Sandpiper, Killdeer, Ring-billed Gull, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Black Phoebe, Chihuahuan Raven, Loggerhead Shrike, Curve-billed Thrasher, Marsh Wren, Horned Lark, Am. Pipit, House Finch, Song & Savannah Sparrows and Red-winged Blackbird. 

Thursday, January 8, 2004
Out today with Duncan & Carol Himes and Colin, from Mesa, AZ. We had but one target bird -- Spotted Owl in Scheelite Canyon. Over the past 15 years, Duncan has had the misfortune to visit Scheelite 10 times without seeing an owl. Unfortunately, after two recent success, I was unable to find an owl on my third visit of this young year. I don't believe in superstitions and jinxes but is this a major nemesis bird for Duncan or what?

My two visits last week had resulted in sightings of an owl in a new roost site (January 2) and in a tree for only the second time (January 4). Due to this, and the fact that it was January, I was expecting erratic behavior -- January is my highest failure rate month which I attribute to ice and snow in the canyon. However, no such reason today because the weather couldn't have been better for hiking the canyon -- mostly overcast, cool and very calm. We searched the lower roosting area twice and slogged on to the middle and upper areas. I feel good about the fact that I did a thorough search, but the owl(s) sure outsmarted me. In reality, if they really want to hide (up slope, away from the canyon bottom) there's no way that they can be found. Scientific folks with "license to call" excepted.

Not much else to view in the canyon either. Several noisy ARIZONA WOODPECKERS and a calling HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER were the pick of only 11 species that I recorded.

Our day wasn't totally without reward though. Just as we were about to enter Scheelite, a couple of NORTHERN GOSHAWKS flew down Garden Canyon, almost over our heads. This is a bird that I don't see very often in the Huachucas, usually just a few sightings per year and almost always a fly-by. 

Friday, January 9, 2004
Out today with Don and Pat Frey from Charleston, SC. It was a super warm day for January, somewhere in the mid to high 70s by early afternoon. We visited Patagonia Lake State Park followed by a stint in the Paton's Yard. Birding at the lake was about as slow as I've seen it for some time and there was almost zero activity by late morning. Perhaps the warm conditions were the reason. We didn't look for any of the rarities and I was surprised that we managed 50+ species, especially since we didn't bird along the creek. 

We began by scanning the west end of the lake where there was nothing of note save for 100+ EARED GREBES. A group of 4 WHITE-WINGED DOVES were near the visitor center -- a couple of them sang, something they regularly do as January wears on.

About a dozen NEOTROPIC and a single DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT were at the east end of the lake along with the continuing male GREATER SCAUP, several LESSER SCAUP, male and female BUFFLEHEADS and many COMMON MERGANSERS.

GRAY and DUSKY FLYCATCHERS were common along the marsh trail and I heard just one HAMMOND'S. Sparrow numbers are very low this winter and I didn't see nor hear a single White-crowned! I noted just one SWAMP SPARROW and a few LINCOLN'S SPARROWS.

54 species recorded at Patagonia Lake from 7:45am-12:00pm:
Pied-billed & Eared Grebes, Neotropic & Double-crested Cormorants, Ruddy Duck, Am. Wigeon, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, N. Shoveler, Ring-necked Duck, Greater & Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Merganser, Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Am. Coot, Wilson's Snipe, Mourning, White-winged & Inca Doves, Anna's Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Hammond's, Gray & Dusky Flycatchers, Black Phoebe, Common Raven, Phainopepla, Hermit Thrush, White-breasted Nuthatch, Marsh, Bewick's & House Wrens, Verdin, Bushtit, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bridled Titmouse, House Sparrow, House Finch, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Song, Lincoln's, Swamp, Chipping & Black-throated Sparrows, N. Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird and Great-tailed Grackle.

The birding in Marion Paton's yard was also slow, perhaps due to the heat of midday as well as the presence of a marauding SHARP-SHINNED HAWK; a very small male that spooked the birds a couple of times. Nevertheless, we did find the highlight of the day here. I've mentioned many times before that I trust my ears more than my eyes; however, even I did a double take when I heard the "chupping" of a HEPATIC TANAGER. I gave my rendition of the bird's call and we were soon looking at a female perched up in a cottonwood. They are generally pretty scarce in winter in SE AZ and this was only my second record in January. It was also a new location species for me bringing my Paton's Yard list to 131. 

We spent about 1 1/2 hours here and recorded 25 species. Unfortunately, Lazuli Bunting was a no show. Apart from the tanager, a soaring HARLAN'S HAWK was the highlight. Woodpeckers were common -- GILA, LADDER-BACKED and ACORN. Several WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS briefly visited the feeders along with a couple of PYRRHULOXIAS. The only hummer noted was ANNA'S.

Saturday, January 10, 2004
Out today with Sue Chickman and Bob Lynette from Sequim, WA. Today was like an episode of Tru Calling -- we visited Patagonia Lake and Paton's Yard and it was déjà vu all over again with the weather as well --  another mild morning followed by a warm afternoon, although it was a little breezier with some high clouds to filter the sunshine. Even though I was a little more focused than yesterday, five hours at the lake still produced 50+ species. 

We didn't look for the gnatcatcher other than to check the BRIDLED TITMOUSE flocks that we ran into, including one with the HUTTON'S VIREO. It may be too early to tell for sure, however, I don't think the gnatcatchers are spending as much time with the titmice as they did last winter. We did spend some time looking for the RUFOUS-BACKED ROBIN (which we possibly flushed about 1/2 mile upstream from the main north/south fork of Sonoita Creek).

Our main focus was on the ELEGANT TROGON and I'm happy to say that we had stunning views of the wintering male that is looking quite pristine. After walking upstream for about 3/4 mile on the north side of the creek, we crossed to the south side and began walking back towards the lake. Sue saw a potential candidate on the north side and we crossed over again for what seemed like the umpteenth time (mud, glorious mud). After a few minutes of searching we inadvertently flushed the trogon and the bird promptly flew into view and gave its alarm call. Shortly afterwards it resumed feeding in its clumsy hover-gleaning mode.

Thanks to directions from Jim Burns, we also found the WINTER WREN just downstream from the trogon's position. Thanks Jim -- I hope that we didn't ruin your trogon stalking and photo opp!  

A check of the lake from the eastern shore produced the continuing male COMMON GOLDENEYE but not the Greater Scaup. Seen there today but not yesterday were a couple of pairs of CINNAMON TEAL. Earlier, at the west end of the lake, EARED GREBE numbers were down (lots of boats) and a SPOTTED SANDPIPER was present.

52 species recorded at Patagonia Lake from 7:45am-1:00pm:
Pied-billed & Eared Grebes, Neotropic & Double-crested Cormorants, Ruddy Duck, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Common Merganser, Great Blue Heron, Am. Coot, Wilson's Snipe, Spotted Sandpiper, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Elegant Trogon, Belted Kingfisher, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Gray & Dusky Flycatchers, Black Phoebe, Common Raven, Hutton's Vireo, Phainopepla, N. Mockingbird, White-breasted Nuthatch, Marsh, Bewick's, Winter & House Wrens, Verdin, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bridled Titmouse, House Sparrow, House Finch, Orange-crowned & Yellow-rumped Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Song, Lincoln's, Swamp, White-crowned & Lark Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbird and Great-tailed Grackle.

Paton's yard was far less active than yesterday and an hour there produced only 15 species with nothing of note seen. Lazuli Bunting was again AWOL.

Sunday, January 11, 2004
Out today with Jonathan Reader from Madison, NJ. We've birded together just once before, for five days in July last year. For the next four days we'll be looking for some of the typical SE AZ winter target species. Today brought a change in the weather and it was a mostly cloudy day with light rain a couple of times, not quite as warm in the afternoon and much breezier.

We started at the west end of San Rafael Valley at 7:30am where nothing save for a WHITE-TAILED KITE was stirring under the cloudy skies. The sun finally broke through at 8:25am and SAVANNAH SPARROWS immediately started popping up like champagne corks. Next to show was a GRASSHOPPER SPARROW and by 8:35am we had wonderful scope looks at our target BAIRD'S SPARROW.

After a brief check of a very quiet Meadow Valley Flat stock pond we moved east to the Vaca Ranch stock pond where several large flocks of CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS were wheeling around and occasionally landing for just seconds at a time. We had excellent flight views but not once did we get on a settled bird. We returned in mid afternoon and managed to get on one bird that landed for about 20 seconds.

At Patagonia Lake we picked up the BRIDLED TITMOUSE flock at the bench near the trailhead and stayed with it for almost an hour as they moved to the second wash. The usual HUTTON'S VIREO and lots of VERDINS and BEWICK'S WRENS were present but not once did I catch a glimpse of nor hear the sound of a Black-capped Gnatcatcher. I seriously doubt that they were with the flock.

We turned our attention to the robin and headed over to Sonoita Creek. How ironic was it that today I would easily stumble into the male ELEGANT TROGON since it wasn't a target. Initially, the bird was near where the creek opens up into the grassy area and then it moved ahead of us as we walked along the creek. Multiple times we had absolutely stunning views from just a few yards as the bird perched completely in the open very close to the ground. Of course, I didn't have a camera with me! The trogon almost cost us the robin because we held back not wishing to keep forcing it upstream and to allow other folks to see it. 

We arrived at the "rag hackberry" about 12:15pm to learn that the bird had just been seen. Drat! We waited around patiently (across the creek) and at 1:10pm we were rewarded with great views of the RUFOUS-BACKED ROBIN in good light. This bird is probably the most richly colored individual that I've ever seen.

Other birds at the lake included BALD EAGLE, EASTERN PHOEBE, HAMMOND'S (heard), GRAY, DUSKY and my first ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER of the year.

A weird day on which we had great looks at the more difficult birds that we found and lousy looks at a common bird like the longspur.

Monday, January 12, 2004
Out again today with Jonathan. We put in a long day and traveled over 500 miles to look for 4 target birds, of which we saw 3  -- Ross's Goose, Ruddy Ground-Dove and Le Conte's Thrasher (missed Mountain Plover). 

We left Sierra Vista at 4:00am and began birding at the  Baseline/Salome thrasher spot at 7:30am where it was a chilly 35 degrees. The location lived up to its name today and we found 1 BENDIRE'S, 3 LE CONTE'S and 1 CRISSAL THRASHER -- all singing strongly. We found the first Le Conte's at 8:10am and after a little effort we had great scope looks at 8:40am, as two birds competed by song separated by three or four hundred yards. 

Not much was stirring when we began but as the temperature climbed to 60 degrees the area became quite birdy, albeit with a total of only 15 species. Other species noted included a fair number of BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHERS, lots of SAGE SPARROWS and ABERT'S TOWHEE. 

Ross's Goose was also a target today because I didn't want to rely on Whitewater Draw where the views are at best distant, most often just flight views. We checked the ponds on Lower River Road near Palo Verde where there was no sign of the recently reported bird. Birds in the area included COMMON MERGANSER, OSPREY, FERRUGINOUS HAWK and RING-BILLED GULL. I had hoped to see the goose here so we could head back south via Old Highway 80 and do a little casual birding. Therefore, it was with some disappointment that we headed back into Phoenix traffic to El Dorado Park in Scottsdale. Here we found the incredibly tame ROSS'S GOOSE looking really tiny compared to the domestic geese that it was hanging out with.

After a fast drive south, our next stop was Western Sod Farm on Greene Reservoir Road to look for Mountain Plover. The results here were extremely disappointing in the early afternoon -- we didn't even see a Killdeer and hardly any birds at all.

We continued on to the cattle pens on Sasco Road near Red Rock. The moment that we turned on to Hollis Road at the SW corner of the pens we spotted a small group of INCA DOVES and one male RUDDY GROUND-DOVE. Just minutes later they were gone, timing is everything! A large group of EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES were on nearby Coachway Road.

Our last stop of the day was at the Marana Pecan Grove which is looking decidedly shabby these days (not that it was ever much more than this). We had hoped for a glimpse of Burrowing Owl but came up empty -- perhaps the 80 degree temperature didn't help. However, I enjoyed the consolation prize of 3 LEWIS'S WOODPECKERS working the northwestern corner of the grove. 

Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Out again with Jonathan on a day that was a disappointing washout as we struck out completely -- 0 for 3. I failed to find Hammond's Flycatcher, Black-capped Gnatcatcher and McCown's Longspur. I can't remember a worse day in terms of target birds (if there was I'm sure that somebody out there will remind me!). It was a mostly cloudy, warm and grungy kind of day and birds generally seemed subdued.

We started early at Patagonia Lake where it took almost an hour to find the BRIDLED TITMOUSE flock and another hour to conclude that the gnatcatchers weren't traveling with them. The only bird of note was EASTERN PHOEBE.

We moved on to Peña Blanca Lake which is the highest percentage place that I know for Hammond's Flycatcher in winter. Not only did we come up empty, we didn't even see a single empid of any species. Highlights here were WILSON'S SNIPE, multiple RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS and a MONTEZUMA QUAIL that crossed the Ruby Road near Walker Canyon.

Next stop was the open land near Green Valley WWTP where we saw nothing for an hour, perhaps due to our noon arrival. Over the next hour we saw feeding HORNED LARKS, AMERICAN PIPITS and WESTERN MEADOWLARKS. However, the combination of heat haze and distance (they were well out in the field) didn't offer much hope of picking out a McCown's Longspur.

We returned to Patagonia Lake and spent some time on the creek trail looking for Hammond's Flycatcher. Once again, not a single empid was active and I know the area is loaded with Dusky Flycatchers (we did see GRAY FLYCATCHER along the marsh trail). Since we weren't looking for them, it was perhaps more than a little ironic (try sadistic) that we stumbled into ELEGANT TROGON, WINTER WREN and LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH, all within yards of each other 1/4 mile upstream from the creek fork.  

Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Fourth and last day with Jonathan. We headed out this morning secure in the knowledge that we couldn't do any worse than yesterday (it's tough to do worse than an "ofer"). It was a lousy weather day -- heavy cloud all day, light to moderate rain from mid morning onwards, and blustery at times.

We were on the road early and arrived at the open land adjacent to Green Valley WWTP a little before sunrise. The light was very poor (and remained poor for almost an hour) so when I finally spotted a large flock of KILLDEER that were far from obvious, the magnitude of the task dawned on me. Eventually, WESTERN MEADOWLARKS and HORNED LARKS "appeared" and we began sifting through them. At 8:40am our reward came in the form of a single McCOWN'S LONGSPUR.

As yesterday, we checked Peña Blanca Lake for Hammond's Flycatcher, again without success. The rain started just as we arrived a little after 10:00am and stayed with us for the rest of the day. The highlight here was a PAINTED REDSTART, brightening this drab day. As usual, RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS were common.

We put in three hours at Patagonia Lake State Park where the rain was persistent and heavier. We didn't spend any time along the creek. therefore, I have no rarities to report. Our efforts were focused on the willow forest opposite the Rufous-backed Robin location where many birds were foraging After a ridiculous two days of effort, I'm happy to say that we finally caught up with HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, although it took us an inordinate amount of time to see the bird well enough. Ditto DUSKY FLYCATCHER that we wanted to see for comparison.

We glimpsed a possible Fox Sparrow in the willow forest (reported here recently) but couldn't be certain. A couple of soaring BALD EAGLES provided the highlight. We bumped into the BRIDLED TITMOUSE flock in the second wash as we were leaving. A few minutes of searching produced the usual suspects such as HUTTON'S VIREO, VERDIN and BEWICK'S WREN, but not a sight nor sound of the gnatcatchers. Having checked the flock many times in 6 visits to the lake so far this month, I'm more convinced than ever that the gnatcatchers have changed their habits. My last sighting was December 31, although I heard one call in early January. 

I recorded the following species at the lake during our search.
Pied-billed Grebe, Neotropic Cormorant, Ruddy Duck, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Common Merganser, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Am. Coot, Inca Dove, Ladder-backed & Gila Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Hammond's, Gray & Dusky Flycatchers, Black Phoebe, Common Raven, Hermit Thrush, Marsh, Bewick's & House Wrens, Verdin, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bridled Titmouse, House Finch, Orange-crowned & Yellow-rumped Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Song, Lincoln's, Swamp & Black-throated Sparrows, Green-tailed & Spotted Towhees and Great-tailed Grackle.

We finished the day and the trip with a brief visit to San Rafael Valley where we had hopes of getting a better look at Chestnut-collared Longspur. Not a chance! The rain was heavier here and conditions were terrible. The roads in this area are very bad in wet conditions and looking for birds became a secondary concern as we did some slipping and sliding. We backtracked into Patagonia and returned home the long and safe way.

Despite the very poor day on Tuesday, we enjoyed a reasonable amount of success over four days as we looked for 10 species and found 8 of them. Target's seen were Ross's Goose, Ruddy Ground-Dove, Hammond's Flycatcher, Rufous-backed Robin, Le Conte's Thrasher,  McCown's & Chestnut-collared Longspurs and Baird's Sparrow. Target's missed were Mountain Plover and Black-capped Gnatcatcher.

Thursday, January 15, 2004
Today was my first opportunity to return to Scheelite Canyon since I failed so miserably to find an owl on January 8. The day began cool and cloudy and I didn't go out until early afternoon to allow the tail end of the weather front to pass through. I noted some fresh snow on the higher peaks of the Huachucas as I drove through Garden Canyon. 

As I headed up the Scheelite Canyon trail, I met someone  coming down who informed me that that he hadn't found an owl. Unfazed, I continued on and began my routine checking. I thought about Duncan Himes (see January 8 entry) when I eventually found a very well concealed SPOTTED OWL in the lower roosting area. The bird was sitting uncharacteristically high in a large oak tree (McMoran Tree) catching some rays from a weak sun. This particular location is not visible as you walk up the trail unless you know the right place to look, and only slightly visible when walking down canyon. 

Other species in the canyon included ARIZONA WOODPECKER and a calling and singing CRISSAL THRASHER (the first time that I've heard one singing in Scheelite)

Today was also my first opportunity to field test a new camera that I received about a week ago. I purchased a Canon 10D digital SLR and a 100-400mm image stabilized lens (640mm digital equivalent). When I've had a chance to use it for a while, I'll add comments about my experience with this equipment to the photography section of the web site.

The Spotted Owl was too high and concealed for a photo and my only real photo op today was of a RED-TAILED HAWK as I was driving back down Garden Canyon. I took this shot from the car, appropriately in auto mode (ha-ha), and was quite pleased with the result. Check it out!

Friday, January 16, 2004
Even though I've visited Patagonia Lake State Park lots of times in the past few weeks (December 27, 30, 31; January 5, 9, 10, 11, 13 & 14), I returned there this morning just for a change! In fact, it was a change because all of those visits were working visits and most of them were to look for target birds. Today I wanted to smell the roses, enjoy whatever I found and get a feel for the capabilities of my new camera and lens. After a mild start despite a mostly clear sky, it was a very pleasant morning becoming quite warm by late morning. Water levels are up slightly following the recent rain so I was glad that I donned my wellies.

I started at the deep end of the lake and beat all the boats to the punch. However, except for EARED GREBE it didn't buy me anything that I didn't see elsewhere. COMMON MERGANSERS and NEOTROPIC CORMORANTS were both common.

As I got started on the trail at the east end of the lake, I snapped this PYRRHULOXIA enjoying breakfast in the sunshine. A little further down the trail I caught up with a GRAY FLYCATCHER that led me a bit of a dance. It's interesting to note that the bird doesn't show an eye ring in this photo, no doubt due to the rather acute angle of the shot. Also note how yellowish this species can be in winter. As I scanned the lake from the eastern shore, a SPOTTED SANDPIPER bobbed its way past me and a SONG SPARROW popped up to check me out. While these photos are far from spectacular, I'm pleased with the intrinsic quality of the Canon 10D (even after compression for web publishing). I was also pleased to get shots that would have been next to impossible by digiscoping, simply because the birds don't sit still long enough. The combination of the camera's 6.3 megapixels and the image stabilized lens certainly make it possible to get usable results at some distance without a tripod. Based on my initial experience, this equipment is going to be quite fast (like a speeding bullet compared to digiscoping); i.e. it offers the capability to get on a moving bird quickly. 

I wandered up and down the creek trail hoping to stumble into the trogon. I couldn't help but think of a couple of recent visits when I had stunning close up views of the bird. Of course, on those occasions I wasn't even looking for it and I certainly didn't have a camera! I did find the cute little WINTER WREN and the LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH that flew fairly high up in a tree, wobbling and bobbing out on a branch in typical fashion. The key to finding both these species is to listen for their calls. The most common bird along the creek was WILSON'S SNIPE.

I recorded the following 54 species from 7:30-11:45am:
Pied-billed & Eared Grebes, Neotropic Cormorant, Ruddy Duck, Am. Wigeon, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Ring-necked Duck, Greater & Lesser Scaup, Common Merganser, Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Am. Coot, Wilson's Snipe, Spotted Sandpiper, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Gray & Dusky Flycatchers, Say's & Black Phoebes, Common Raven, Hermit Thrush, Cactus, Rock, Marsh, Bewick's, Winter & House Wrens, Verdin, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bridled Titmouse, Lesser Goldfinch, House Finch, Orange-crowned &Yellow-rumped Warblers, Louisiana Waterthrush, Common Yellowthroat, Song, Lincoln's, Swamp, Chipping & Lark Sparrows, N. Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Red-winged Blackbird and Great-tailed Grackle.

Sunday, January 18, 2004
This morning I made my first visit of the year to Sierra Vista EOP. Although this is the time of year when the birding is at its best here, I've lost all enthusiasm to continue my data collection at this location simply because of the poor access. As usual, I saw very little from the viewing platform. Most of the decent stuff that I recorded was seen by standing on my vehicle at several places close to the fence along Moson Road. 

Perhaps the best birds were a couple of BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERS -- I've only recorded this species on 4 previous occasions at the EOP, never before in January. Also of note were GREATER WHITE-FRONTED and SNOW GEESE (seen at a distance), PRAIRIE and PEREGRINE FALCONS and a large flock of LARK BUNTINGS (they don't seem very common this winter).

I recorded the following 30 species at Sierra Vista EOP from 10:00-11:30am
Greater White-fronted Goose, Snow Goose, Mallard, N. Pintail, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Prairie & Peregrine Falcons, Sora, Am. Coot, Least Sandpiper, Mourning Dove, Say's & Black Phoebes, European Starling, Marsh & Bewick's Wrens, Verdin, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Horned Lark, House Finch, Lark Bunting, Song, White-crowned, Savannah, Brewer's & Vesper Sparrows, Canyon Towhee and Yellow-headed & Red-winged Blackbirds.

Tuesday, January 20, 2004
Trip Species List       Trip Photo List
Today I started a short trip to California to visit my son and his family in Oroville. I'll also be spending some time on the coast to recharge my batteries. This was mostly a travel day and I only managed a few birding whistle stops. I left home a little later than planned and had to battle through construction traffic in Tucson where there was a brown haze reminiscent of LA. A roadside sign pleaded "Pray For Tucson". Gee, you know what, I think it's already too late. Phoenix traffic was almost as bad. The day began mild and partly cloudy then became very windy on I-10 west of Phoenix. I enjoyed sunshine and 70 degrees in Parker and Havasu (me and a plethora of grockles -- britspeak for tourists) and I encountered rain later in the day as I approached Barstow. I ended up in Mojave for the night.

I decided to give LA a miss and worked my way north along the Colorado instead. I knew that snowbird traffic would be slow but what I didn't expect was so much construction -- it was on and off all the way from Parker to Barstow, especially in. Lake Havasu City. What a mess!

Parker Dam was a disappointment. First off, Take Off Point was closed (construction!) and to make matters worse, foot traffic on the dam was prohibited. Consequently, there was no way to check above the dam.  However, I didn't strike out completely. Below the dam is usually a good place to find BARROW'S GOLDENEYE in winter and I soon found a male along with scads of COMMON GOLDENEYES. In fact, it was the first bird that I looked at and the only one that I saw. Murphy gets screwed again. Also here was a SPOTTED SANDPIPER right at the foot of the dam, several BUFFLEHEADS and a singing CANYON WREN.

Further upriver I stopped near the Bill Williams Delta where I found lots of CLARK'S and WESTERN GREBES. Despite the distance to the birds from the roadside overlook, in such good light I could easily separate them by body color just using binoculars. (pale Clark's, dark Western). In the scope, bill color differences were very obvious. This area is one of the best in AZ for Clark's Grebes that normally far outnumber Westerns. Also here were a group of AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS, lots of DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS and COMMON MERGANSERS, more COMMON GOLDENEYES and a few GREAT EGRETS.

I made a quick stop in Havasu City where I scanned the lake from Community Park (didn't want to spend time going out to Site Six)  I saw more grebes, a COMMON LOON and lots of RING-BILLED GULLS.

Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Today was another travel day, although I did manage to do considerably more birding than yesterday, mostly at Sacramento NWR and east of there on the road to Oroville. Not only was it a travel day, it was a tough travel day. Even by foggy central valley standards, it was a real "pea souper" all the way north on highway 99 as far as Fresno, finally clearing by the time I reached Sacramento at 11:00am. After that it was a very pleasant and warm day, somewhere in the high 60s in Oroville in late afternoon.

I saw very few birds along the highway (just tail lights) and didn't see a YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIE until I was about 10 miles north of Merced. At Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge I recorded a solid 50 species without seeing anything unusual. In some respects it's difficult to bird here because there are few places where it's legal to get out of the vehicle. Consequently, scoping is not possible on much of the refuge unless you have a window mount (I don't). I remembered seeing lots of geese here on past visits and today's highlights were certainly the sheer numbers of SNOW, ROSS'S and GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE. I used the 6 mile auto route to do some more playing with my new camera (when the sun wasn't in my eyes!). In order I snapped RING-NECKED PHEASANT, COMMON GALLINULE, WESTERN MEADOWLARK and CINNAMON TEAL (all taken hand held from my vehicle).

It made a change to be sifting through GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROWS for WHITE-CROWNED! In one particular flock that I counted, I found 25 and 1 respectively.

TUNDRA SWANS were abundant on several ponds as I drove east on highway 162. I've seen them here before in winter so, presumably, this is a reliable location. The photo shows a tiny sample of several hundred on this particular pond.

Day list: (59 species recorded):
Ruddy Duck, Tundra Swan, Greater White-fronted, Snow & Ross's Geese, Am. Wigeon, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, N. Pintail, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, White-faced Ibis, Turkey Vulture, White-tailed Kite, N. Harrier, Red-shouldered & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Ring-necked Pheasant, Common Gallinule, Am. Coot, Greater Yellowlegs, Black-necked Stilt, Ring-billed & Herring Gulls, Mourning Dove, Acorn & Nuttall's Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Black Phoebe, Western Scrub-Jay, Yellow-billed Magpie, Am. Crow, Common Raven, Loggerhead Shrike, European Starling, Marsh Wren, Bushtit, Tree Swallow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Horned Lark, House Sparrow, Am. Pipit, House Finch, Yellow-rumped Warbler, White-crowned, Golden-crowned & Savannah Sparrows, Red-winged & Tricolored Blackbirds, Western Meadowlark and Brewer's Blackbird.

Thursday, January 22, 2004
I headed over to the coast this morning and again encountered thick fog and difficult driving conditions, although not as bad as yesterday. I also got a little dose of bay area traffic. How did I manage to live there so long? As was the case yesterday, my first significant bird of the day was YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIE just north of Winters on highway 505. I spent most of my day at Point Reyes with a brief visit to Bodega Bay in mid afternoon; night in Sebastopol.

I started at Waldo's Dike (Black Rail spot) and waited for the tide to push them into my path. Ha!  All I can say is where's Waldo? (that rascally rail). At 6.4 feet, it was only a moderate tide and apparently not high enough. Around midday the area became fairly well flooded and the egrets and herons gathered encouragingly. However, neither I nor they had any success.

I spent the early afternoon just peedling around Point Reyes National Seashore, enjoying the sunshine and the scenery (it's been a while since I've visited the outer peninsula). I again practiced with my new camera and today's photos are GREAT BLUE HERON, RING-BILLED GULL, WESTERN SCRUB-JAY and GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW. The sparrow was very obliging even if it wasn't in spiffy plumage. Most winter birds that I see look like this.

At Bodega Bay I enjoyed seeing a few EARED GREBES in with scads of HORNED GREBES. In SE AZ, the ratio is god knows how many (tens of?) 1000s to 1 the other way. RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS were common at Point Reyes and north along Highway 1

Day list (64 species recorded):
Pied-billed, Horned, Eared & Western Grebes, Double-crested & Pelagic Cormorants, Canada Goose, Brant, Greater Scaup, Black & Surf Scoters, Bufflehead, Red-breasted Merganser, Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, N. Harrier, Red-shouldered & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, California Quail, Am. Coot, Marbled Godwit, Greater Yellowlegs, Willet, Black Turnstone, Killdeer, Mew, Ring-billed, Glaucous-winged, Western & Herring Gulls, Pacific & Common Loons, Anna's Hummingbird, Say's & Black Phoebes, Western Scrub-Jay, Yellow-billed Magpie, Am. Crow, Common Raven, Western Bluebird, Am. Robin, European Starling, Marsh & Winter Wrens, Bushtit, Ruby-crowned & Golden-crowned Kinglets, Wrentit, Pine Siskin, House Finch, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Fox, Song, White-crowned, Golden-crowned & Savannah Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbird and Western Meadowlark.

Friday, January 23, 2004
This morning I spent an hour at Bodega Bay then drove north to check Point Arena Cove (alas, Al the Albatross wasn't home). If you know Highway 1 through this part of Sonoma County, you'll realize what a difficult drive it is between these locations. Afterwards it was another long and windy drive east with a stop at Colusa NWR in mid afternoon on my way back to Oroville. No chance of Yellow-billed Magpie as the first bird of the day today, that honor fell to NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD in the Sebastopol Inn parking lot.

Bodega Bay was quite foggy from 7:30-8:30am and I took the opportunity to test my new 10D camera in poor light. Conditions probably couldn't have been worse -- gray, black and white birds against a glassy, gray bay, with fog and an overcast gray sky to contend with to boot! Shutter speed was way too low and hand holding even with the image stabilized lens simply wasn't going to produce any useful results. I stepped up the sensitivity setting to ISO 400 (figuring noise wouldn't be too noticeable with the type of images that I was shooting) and managed to get shutter speeds from 200 upwards, some as high as 350. They look poor on my laptop screen so I hope they're OK.

Now, to the birds. I was hoping to photograph both EARED GREBE and HORNED GREBE so I could show a good comparison. Every winter in Arizona, non breeding plumaged Eared versus Horned seems to be a major challenge, I'm not quite sure why. Ironically, in contrast to yesterday, my problem today was lots of Eared and very few Horned! However, I did manage to find both at relatively close range because the tide was in. Looking at these photographs it's hard to see how the two could be confused, although I'll admit that it can be a little tricky at a distance in choppy water. However, given good views, identification should not be a problem.

Species noted this morning that I didn't see here yesterday were COMMON GOLDENEYE, SANDERLING and BELTED KINGFISHER. I also managed photos of SURF SCOTER, COMMON LOON and MARBLED GODWIT. 

Continuing north I picked up VARIED THRUSH near Fort Ross before being disappointed at Arena Cove where I was hoping to improve on my photos of the Laysan Albatross taken in February 2002. This bird is spending its 8th or 9th, maybe even 10th winter at the cove. Today it was presumably out on patrol (at least while I was there around 10:30am). A small flock of BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS were some consolation.

I finally left the fog behind as I traversed the mountains only to pick it up again in the central valley. Consequently, my first ever visit to Colusa NWR was a foggy affair. The refuge is part of several in a group of Sacramento NWRS. The auto route is shorter than the main refuge but has more access to open water. Ducks were more common here while geese were less common. Most of the species that I saw at the main refuge were present here. WHITE PELICAN and  LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER were present here but I didn't see them at the main refuge on Wednesday. I saw only one TRICOLORED BLACKBIRD (female).

Day list (75 species recorded):
Pied-billed, Horned & Eared Grebes, Double-crested & Pelagic Cormorants, Am. White Pelican, Ruddy Duck, Tundra Swan, Greater White-fronted, Snow & Ross's Geese, Am. Wigeon, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, N. Pintail, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Ring-necked Duck, Greater Scaup, Surf Scoter, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Snowy & Great Egrets, Great Blue Heron, White-faced Ibis, Turkey Vulture, White-tailed Kite, N. Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Ring-necked Pheasant, Common Gallinule, Am. Coot, Marbled Godwit, Greater Yellowlegs, Willet, Long-billed Dowitcher, Sanderling, Black Oystercatcher, Killdeer, Ring-billed & Western Gulls, Common Loon, Belted Kingfisher, Downy Woodpecker, Black Phoebe, Steller's Jay, Western Scrub-Jay, Am. Crow, Common Raven, Loggerhead Shrike, Varied Thrush, Western Bluebird, Am. Robin, N. Mockingbird, European Starling, Marsh Wren, Bushtit, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Oak Titmouse, Am. Pipit, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Song, White-crowned, Golden-crowned & Chipping Sparrows, Spotted & California Towhees, Red-winged & Tricolored Blackbirds, Western Meadowlark and Brewer's Blackbird.

Saturday, January 24, 2004
Just for a change, rain accompanied the typical early morning fog today. I made a very brief and disappointing visit to Gray Lodge NWR (northwest of Yuba City) and then headed south to Morro Bay.

When I reached Gray Lodge NWR, I was shocked and dismayed to see a virtual village of RVs and trucks -- the place was absolutely loaded with hunters. To say that I didn't feel safe would be an understatement. In reality though, I probably was. Even so, I wasn't about to take any chances. Besides, how much fun would the birding have been amidst the noise of so many shotguns blasting away?. To each his own I guess, but how can this country allow hunting on a so called "wildlife refuge". I use the term "hunting" loosely. More like blasting the shit out of sitting ducks that have been seduced by this "sanctuary" of safe and appealing habitat. Birds noted on the approaches to the refuge were the typical species that I've been seeing including SNOW GOOSE, TUNDRA SWAN, RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, NUTTALL'S WOODPECKER and YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIE.

I'd originally planned to head to the Mendocino Coast at this point in my trip, however, last night I changed my mind and decided to head east on I-80 then south through Owens Valley to Mono Lake. When I checked the weather channel and saw the snow forecast in the Sierra Nevada, I changed my mind again! After a long drive south to Morro Bay, I resumed birding again in the late afternoon. Even though I left the fog and rain behind north of San Jose, it was cloudy for the entire drive and I saw only a few sun breaks just before sunset in Morro Bay.  Don't worry, I'm not about to go all Ansel Adams on you. After a few days in northern California the differences in the south seem to stand out more. Just a tad more old beetles with worn CND stickers. Pony tailed males wearing sandals are also more prevalent; you know the type. I call them "everlasting students" -- folks that just don't seem ready to join the workforce any time soon. But I digress.

I birded near "the rock" on Coleman Drive and from the bay overlook in the State Park. BRANT, COMMON LOON, MARBLED GODWIT, LONG-BILLED CURLEW and SANDERLING were all very common (The curlew in the photo is a very short billed individual.) WESTERN GULLS, WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS and BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS were trash birds (literally). I've never missed Black Oystercatcher here before but I didn't find one today. My first tern of the trip was a lone CASPIAN TERN working the bay where a PEREGRINE FALCON surveyed the scene atop the mast of a boat. I know that I missed many species because of bad light. The bay photo above makes it look brighter than it actually was.

Lots of miles and very few birds today. However, I've broken the back of my journey home so I can now a spend few days of leisurely birding and less driving. Today I recorded the following 60 species:
Pied-billed, Horned, Eared & Western Grebes, Double-crested & Pelagic Cormorants, Am. White Pelican, Ruddy Duck, Tundra Swan, Snow Goose, Brant, Am. Wigeon, Gadwall, N. Pintail, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Bufflehead, Red-breasted Merganser, Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Turkey Vulture, White-tailed Kite, N. Harrier, Red-shouldered & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Am. Coot, Marbled Godwit, Long-billed Curlew, Willet, Sanderling, Killdeer, Ring-billed Gull, Western Gull, Caspian Tern, Common Loon, Rock Pigeon, Anna's Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Nuttall's Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Black Phoebe, Yellow-billed Magpie, Am. Crow, Common Raven, European Starling, Bushtit, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Pipit, House Finch, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Dark-eyed Junco, White-crowned & Savannah Sparrows, California Towhee and Red-winged Blackbird, Western Meadowlark and Brewer's Blackbird.

Sunday, January 25, 2004
As things turned out, I was very happy with yesterday's decision to leave the fog and rain of northern California behind. On a simply gorgeous day in coastal San Luis Obispo County (lots of sunshine, mid 60s), I started by checking the bay from Morro Bay State Park then spent the rest of the morning at Montaña de Oro State Park (MDO). I checked Sweet Springs as I left and then spent the afternoon at Oceano. I've birded all of these delightful locations quite a number of times before, often in a working situation. Today I just wandered around seeing whatever came my way and taking advantage of photo opportunities. The nice thing about not looking for anything specific is that you can't fail; nor fail to enjoy yourself. Try it, you'll like it.

While scanning Morro Bay this morning, I noticed that the birds were not at all afraid of approaching a guy who was digging for clams (or whatever) in the yucky mud. I donned my wellies and sidled out to his location hoping the birds wouldn't really notice me. However, let me tell you that they did! A number of GREATER YELLOWLEGS were following the guy around, (investigating the holes produced by his digging plunger) and I managed to catch one of them semi unaware. FORSTER'S TERN was the only new find compared to yesterday at this location.

At Montaña de Oro, I started by working the coastal scrub (chaparral) with some success. Numerous CALIFORNIA THRASHERS were singing and I managed to see several of them well, although I didn't really get close enough for an unobscured photo. While pishing unsuccessfully to bring one of the many skulking WRENTITS into view, up popped this inquisitive FOX SPARROW. Every dark cloud has a silver lining! The dark area on the bill tip is some kind of berry/bug juice.

The campground was surprisingly empty for a weekend and I was able to wander around without encountering many people and, better still, very few vehicles. CALIFORNIA QUAIL, CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES and CALIFORNIA TOWHEES were all very common. So too were GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROWS scratching around the campsites here, there and everywhere. Other species included NUTTALL'S WOODPECKER and TOWNSEND'S WARBLER, both uncooperative. I knew the Nuttall's was in a particularly tree but couldn't see any movement. Each time that I turned away to leave the bird would call again, so back I went. This happened half a dozen times before I finally said "screw you" and left.

At Sweet Springs I recorded a solid 30 species at high tide -- new trip species were BLUE-WINGED TEAL, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER and CEDAR WAXWING (also seen in Morro Bay). I spotted the plover that was almost certainly going to be Black-bellied, however, I couldn't be sure because it was hunkered down in the grass about 100 yards away. I setup to digiscope the bird and periodically took shots with the remote as I looked at other stuff. Amazingly, I got this diagnostic image to confirm its identity as BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER.

The trail around the pond at Oceano was very birdy, the campground much less so. I enjoyed watching the many TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS and a single WILSON'S WARBLER without ever being able to get a decent photograph. CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES were common. I noted three species of woodpeckers -- NUTTALL'S and DOWNY (both fairly common) and one (new for the trip) HAIRY. Also new for the trip was HUTTON'S VIREO. The photographic highlight of the day came when I happened upon this RED-SHOULDERED HAWK perched in a pine tree. Fortunately, even though I walked right underneath it, the bird didn't flush. However, it did regard me with some suspicion as I took several shots from various angles. This side view photo shows why the bird is so named.  In my quest to photograph every bird in (my part of) the world (and then some), I snapped this handsome AMERICAN CROW (hey, everybody has to do it at least once). Ditto for this DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT.

While in Phoenix a couple of weeks ago, I saw what at the time was the tamest Ross's Goose that I'd ever seen. Well, that record has been broken! This ROSS'S GOOSE was at the pond across the street from the campground (in fact, two of them). They followed the mutant ducks and geese around whenever anyone offered bread and were absolutely as bold as brass. I had to zoom out and back up to take a photograph! These birds are amazingly small when you're so up close and personal.

Day list (77 species recorded):
Pied-billed & Eared Grebes, Brandt's, Double-crested & Pelagic Cormorants, Am. White Pelican, Ruddy Duck, Ross's Goose, Brant, Am. Wigeon, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, N. Pintail, Blue-winged Teal, N. Shoveler, Greater & Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Red-breasted Merganser, Snowy Egret, Great Egret, Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, California Quail, Am. Coot, Marbled Godwit, Long-billed Curlew, Greater Yellowlegs, Willet, Sanderling, Least Sandpiper, Black-bellied Plover, Ring-billed & Western Gulls, Forster's Tern, Common Loon, Mourning Dove, Anna's Hummingbird, Nuttall's, Downy & Hairy Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Black Phoebe, Western Scrub-Jay, Am. Crow, Common Raven, Hutton's Vireo, Cedar Waxwing, Hermit Thrush, Am. Robin, N. Mockingbird, California Thrasher, European Starling, Marsh & Bewick's Wrens, Bushtit, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Wrentit, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, House Sparrow, Lesser Goldfinch, House Finch, Yellow-rumped, Townsend's & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Fox, Song, White-crowned & Golden-crowned Sparrows, Spotted & California Towhees and Brewer's Blackbird.

Monday, January 26, 2004
Today I put in some serious miles traveling from San Luis Obispo to Calipatria in preparation for birding at the Salton Sea tomorrow. Consequently, this report is short because I didn't do too much birding. After a chilly and foggy start, it was another sunny and pleasant day. 

I started the day by driving east on Hwy 58 then south through Carrizo Plain. The fog soon cleared as I headed inland and the drive along 58 through oak savannah yielded typical birds of the habitat including ACORN & NUTTALL'S WOODPECKERS, several scattered groups of YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIES, WESTERN BLUEBIRD, CALIFORNIA THRASHER, OAK TITMOUSE and CALIFORNIA TOWHEE.

I didn't drive any of the back roads on the Carrizo Plain and drove straight south on Soda Lake Road. The lake was dry as were several other small ponds and the entire area was relatively birdless. Highlights were a handful of FERRUGINOUS HAWKS and a fair number of MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS at Soda Lake. This is lonely and barren habitat -- serious HORNED LARK and WESTERN MEADOWLARK country along with a few RED-TAILED HAWKS, NORTHERN HARRIER, AMERICAN KESTREL and LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE. 

After the always delightful drive down 5, 215 and 10, I headed down the western side of Salton Sea and made a couple of brief (30 minute) stops at Salton City and Poe Road, the latter in failing light. Johnson Landing in Salton City yielded tons of BLACK-NECKED STILTS and a few AMERICAN AVOCETS, 30 BONAPARTE'S GULLS, 1 FORSTER'S TERN plus another 15 or so common species.

The last time that I checked the sea at the end of Poe Road there wasn't a bird to be seen. Today I saw many individuals and 20 species. New for this mini trip were 1-DUNLIN and 2-SNOWY PLOVERS.

Day list (57 species recorded):
Eared Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Am. White Pelican, Ruddy Duck, Am. Wigeon, N. Pintail, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Lesser Scaup, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, N. Harrier, Red-tailed & Ferruginous Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Am. Coot, Long-billed Curlew, Least Sandpiper, Dunlin, Black-necked Stilt, Am. Avocet, Black-bellied & Snowy Plovers, Ring-billed, Herring & Bonaparte's Gulls, Forster's Tern, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Acorn & Nuttall's Woodpeckers, Say's Phoebe, Western Scrub-Jay, Yellow-billed Magpie, Am. Crow, Common Raven, Loggerhead Shrike, Western & Mountain Bluebird, California Thrasher, European Starling, Bewick's Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Oak Titmouse, Horned Lark, House Sparrow, House Finch, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Lincoln's, White-crowned, Chipping, Vesper & Lark Sparrows, California Towhee, Western Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackle and Brewer's Blackbird.

Tuesday, January 27, 2004
This morning I birded for three hours at the south end of the Salton Sea then headed home. I skipped a couple of  regular haunts (Obsidian Butte and Red Hill) to explore new places. I didn't look for any recently reported rarities, although I was at the location of a recent Ruff sighting and didn't see it. 

In the sea and on freshwater ponds, the most abundant species were AMERICAN AVOCET, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER and RING-BILLED GULL. Also easy to see were all three egrets, SNOW GOOSE, BLACK-NECKED STILT and LONG-BILLED CURLEW. I noted two PEREGRINE FALCONS and one FORSTER'S TERN.

I took advantage of the symmetrical image offered by this GREATER YELLOWLEGS. This shot gives you an idea of what the Canon 10D and image stabilized lens can do -- it was taken hand-held from about 30 yards away while in my vehicle with the engine running.

In the category of "has to be photographed once", here's a female GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE.

It's my understanding that if you visit the Salton Sea and fail to see a BURROWING OWL, you have to turn in your binoculars as you leave. They are devilishly cute! I like this close up shot of a "hidden dragon, crouching owl".

As usual, the fields on most roads around the sea were teeming with CATTLE EGRETS.

It was quite warm when I arrived at the Wister Unit and dicky bird activity was high. While unsuccessfully chasing this BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHER around, I stumbled into what was best bird of the morning, a male AMERICAN REDSTART. Since I saw one at this location in September, 2000, I'm assuming that the status of this species is probably "rare but regular" as a migrant and in winter. The gnatcatcher never strayed more than a few feet from me, calling incessantly. However, it never sat still for more than a second at a time and even then usually behind dense vegetation!

I finished up with a quick check of Ramer Lake as I headed south to I-8. Other than lots of coots and Ring-bills, hardly anything was present here. The ducks obviously know that it's hunting season. WESTERN GREBES were doing their amazing courtship dances. 

It was chilly when I rolled into Sierra Vista at 6:30pm and it certainly felt colder than anywhere that I visited over the past week.

Trip Species List       Trip Photo List

I recorded 57 species:
Western Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Ruddy Duck, Snow Goose, Green-winged Teal, N. Pintail, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Lesser Scaup, Great Blue Heron, Snowy, Great & Cattle Egrets, White-faced Ibis, Turkey Vulture, N. Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Am. Coot, Long-billed Curlew, Greater Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitcher, Least Sandpiper, Black-necked Stilt, Am. Avocet, Black-bellied Plover, Killdeer, Ring-billed & Herring Gulls, Forster's Tern, Rock Pigeon, Mourning & Common Ground-Doves, Burrowing Owl, N. Flicker, Say's & Black Phoebes, Loggerhead Shrike, Northern Mockingbird, Marsh Wren, Verdin, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, House Sparrow, Am. Pipit, House Finch, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Am. Redstart, Common Yellowthroat, Song, White-crowned & Savannah Sparrows, Abert's Towhee, Red-winged Blackbird, Western Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackle and Brewer's Blackbird.

Thursday, January 29, 2004
Glistening snow on Carr and Miller peaks gave the Huachucas a seasonal feel as I headed out this morning. Back to "work birding" today with a routine check of Sawmill Canyon. Despite the frost and frozen puddles on upper Garden Canyon road, some of the willows were incongruously budding out. It was chilly and birdless here and I was happy to reach Sawmill where the sun was just starting to have an impact near the cabin.

The canyon is not a very birdy place in January and I delayed my start until 9:00am to give the birds a chance to become active. Even so, it was almost 10:15am before I heard my first ARIZONA WOODPECKER -- they became fairly common after that. In fact, this was the only woodpecker species that I saw today, no sapsuckers and not even a flicker.

My reward for several hours walking around and listening came in the form of two hardy OLIVE WARBLERS, one of which was a pristinely plumaged adult male. I saw very little else of note and even MEXICAN JAY and DARK & YELLOW-EYED JUNCOS were scarce. HERMIT THRUSH was eventually fairly common, AMERICAN ROBIN a little less so. I surprised the thrush feeding on the ground and it flew up and perched absolutely frozen for over two minutes. Pity that it was partly in shadow.

The canyon was generally very silent and the most vocal bird was a singing BROWN CREEPER. I heard some brief calls from HUTTON'S VIREO and LESSER GOLDFINCH which together with a flock of chattering BUSHTITS fleetingly provided evidence of life.

I enjoyed the solitude even though I only recorded 15 species:
Mourning Dove, Mexican Jay, Common Raven, Hutton's Vireo, Hermit Thrush, Am. Robin, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Bewick's Wren, Bushtit, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Lesser Goldfinch, Olive Warbler and Dark-eyed & Yellow-eyed Juncos.

Friday, January 30, 2004
After a chilly night in Sierra Vista, I had to do a little windshield ice scraping before I headed out to Whitewater Draw this morning. Surprisingly, it wasn't particularly cold in the valley and even though the water in some of the impoundments was a little frozen at the edges, I didn't need a jacket when I got started at 7:45am. It was beautiful sunny and crisp morning to be out birding. A perched BENDIRE'S THRASHER greeted me as I entered the wildlife area and several hundred SANDHILL CRANES were feeding in the fields. (the vast majority had already left for the day). 

Water levels are not very high at the moment and both waterfowl diversity and number of individuals are low. If there were many raptors around they certainly kept a low profile and I saw only a few RED-TAILED HAWKS and NORTHERN HARRIERS (plus FERRUGINOUS HAWK a little north of the wildlife area). Sparrows are scarce in general this winter and that was certainly the case here this morning. The highlight was a lone SWAMP SPARROW.

Although far from plentiful, shorebirds were quite evident and in addition to the expected KILLDEER, I noted 30+ LEAST SANDPIPERS, 4 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS and 2 DUNLINS. Other species included my first of the year SCALED QUAIL, 2 GREAT HORNED OWLS (including this very confiding bird), at least 4 male VERMILION FLYCATCHERS in various plumages, the usual SAY'S and BLACK PHOEBES, this VERDIN feeding low to the ground and chattering away the whole time, and a small flock of AMERICAN PIPITS.

I recorded the following 46 species:
Pied-billed Grebe, Am. Wigeon, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, N. Harrier, Red-tailed & Ferruginous Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Scaled Quail, Am. Coot, Sandhill Crane, Long-billed Dowitcher, Least Sandpiper, Dunlin, Killdeer, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Great Horned Owl, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Say's & Black Phoebes, Vermilion Flycatcher, Loggerhead Shrike, Bendire's & Curve-billed Thrashers, Cactus & Marsh Wrens, Verdin, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Horned Lark, House Sparrow, Am. Pipit, House Finch, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Lark Bunting, Lincoln's, White-crowned & Savannah Sparrows, Canyon Towhee, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern & Western Meadowlarks and Brewer's Blackbird.

Saturday, January 31, 2004
First of two days with Jim Kopitzke from Mesa, AZ. Today definitely qualified as a tough day at the office. We spent almost seven hours in the San Rafael Valley with very little success (one for four) and followed that with a completely unproductive visit to Patagonia Lake.

Grassland birding can be tough at the best of times and today it was especially difficult. Cold and cloudy conditions ensured that virtually nothing was stirring between our 7:30am start  time and 10:00am, at which time we saw perhaps the highest activity level of the day. After that, the wind kicked in (eventually becoming strong) and we didn't have any success until 2:00pm. As I said, a tough day at the office.

We struck out completely on our only target sparrow -- Baird's Sparrow; with perhaps just one flying candidate chased. However, with just two people, chasing Baird's Sparrows through the grass in the wind is doomed to failure. Not a single sparrow perched on the fence wires for several hours and even SAVANNAH SPARROWS were hard to come by until later in the day. VESPER SPARROWS were locally common (south corral) and we saw just one GRASSHOPPER SPARROW. 

We spent many hours looking for longspur flocks and walking around in vain for Sprague's Pipit. We fared a little better on CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPUR, although it took us until 2:00pm to get a good view of a perched, breeding plumaged male at the Vaca Ranch stock pond. There was a very large flock present here at this time (ones and twos earlier in the day). Two female McCOWN'S LONGSPURS were also present at the pond but were far from a "countable" view.

As an indication of how difficult the conditions were, we almost left the valley after seven hours with seeing a NORTHERN HARRIER. Other raptors were WHITE-TAILED KITE, BALD EAGLE, RED-TAILED HAWK, AMERICAN KESTREL and a PEREGRINE FALCON chasing MOURNING DOVES without success. We later saw the falcon perched.

The species diversity in the valley is never high and rounding out the unimpressive list today was MALLARD, KILLDEER, SAY'S & BLACK PHOEBES, COMMON RAVEN, LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE, HORNED LARK and EASTERN & WESTERN MEADOWLARKS.

Targets at Patagonia Lake were Rufous-backed Robin and Gray Flycatcher. We arrived at 3:00pm to find nothing at all active in the high wind. A token effort for a hour and a half produced less than 20 species, most of those on the water. We did come across the BRIDLED TITMOUSE flock with HUTTON'S VIREO. There wasn't any sign of the Black-capped Gnatcatchers so I was happy that this wasn't a target species to compound the misery. As I mentioned earlier this month, I think that the birds have changed their habits (or moved on completely?). I don't know of any positive sightings since I last saw a bird on December 31.

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

Species List

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

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