Species List

Stuart Healy Journal - September, 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 Thursday, September 30, 2004

Wednesday, September 1, 2004
Today I traveled to San Diego in preparation for a trip that starts tomorrow. From September 2 through 6, I'll be working with Stephen and Ann Williams from Houston, TX who I've birded with on two previous occasions. We'll be traveling around Southern California in search of area specialties. Jump ahead for a quick summary.

My Southwest flight from Tucson was inexpensive and almost on time, arriving in San Diego at 6:10pm (scheduled at 6:05pm). How can they make money charging just $36.28 ($47.60 with taxes and security fees)? Beats me.

Thursday, September 2, 2004
First day with Stephen and Ann. Our main targets for the day were Wandering Tattler, Black Turnstone, Surfbird, Nuttall's Woodpecker, California Gnatcatcher and Tricolored Blackbird. We saw all except Surfbird and picked up a few other targets that you just need to show up to see: Brandt's Cormorant, California Quail, Heermann's & Western Gulls, California Thrasher and California Towhee. It was unseasonably warm in all locations that we visited, including along the coast where there wasn't even a cooling breeze.

The day began badly at Otay Lakes (east of Chula Vista) where we missed California Gnatcatcher. Thankfully, however, we recovered at another site later in the day. I was completely dismayed and disappointed when we arrived at the scrub at the north end of the main lake early this morning -- all of the vegetation has been destroyed by fire. I don't remember reading about the fire on Calbirds (or anywhere else) and I haven't visited here since March of last year. This area has been a very reliable gnatcatcher spot for years and since these birds are under tremendous pressure due to habitat loss, this obviously doesn't help at all.

We didn't spend much time here and recorded only a handful of species including a covey of CALIFORNIA QUAIL, SAY'S PHOEBE and a pair of CALIFORNIA TOWHEES.

Next stop was Santee Lakes where we had to work for a while before finding a few TRICOLORED BLACKBIRDS. Although this is a fairly reliable place for them (I've averaged 85% success rate over the years), I have missed them a few times, perhaps due to seasonal variation. We also picked up WESTERN GULL and NUTTALL'S WOODPECKER (regular here). Other species from ~30 seen included WOOD DUCK, GREEN HERON, FORSTER'S TERN and WILSON'S WARBLER.

We moved on to La Jolla in time for high tide to look for "Rockpipers". It was unfortunate that high tide was around midday when the place was crawling with people and parking was a problem. We had mixed success here -- WANDERING TATTLER was eventually easy to find and we saw several of them (but only after a second pass of the various rocky areas); BLACK TURNSTONES were common and side by side with a few RUDDY TURNSTONES; we struck out on Surfbird despite lots of searching. WESTERN GULL and HEERMANN'S GULL were both present in numbers and couldn't have been easier to see. This WHIMBREL posed nicely on the rocks. Other species included lots of BROWN PELICANS, BRANDT'S CORMORANT, ELEGANT TERN, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, WILLET, good numbers of SPOTTED SANDPIPERS and a few LEAST SANDPIPERS.

We finished the day a few miles north at San Elijo Lagoon, one of my favorite spots in the San Diego area and a good place for the gnatcatcher (a visit to Orange County wasn't in the plan). Our only real target here was CALIFORNIA GNATCATCHER and we found a pair of them in the main canyon after considerable effort. Although we could hear both birds calling as they moved around, they stayed low and out of sight and it took quite a while before we laid eyes on them. As Murphy would have it, we stumbled into another pair later as we returned on the main trail.

Although the area wasn't very birdy in the heat of the afternoon (2:45-4:15pm), we did find a CALIFORNIA THRASHER up and singing. Stephen and Ann glimpsed a WRENTIT that I only heard. Among the other species recorded were COOPER'S HAWK, FORSTER'S TERN, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, WESTERN KINGBIRD, NUTTALL'S WOODPECKER and CALIFORNIA TOWHEE.

A reasonably traffic free drive put us in El Centro by 6:30pm -- the temperature here was just a "normal" 100 degrees or so. Despite a poor start and warm conditions, we recovered well and managed to see a total of 11 targets on the day.

64 species recorded (italics heard only)
Pied-billed Grebe, Brown Pelican, Double-crested & Brandt's Cormorants, Great Blue Heron, Great & Snowy Egrets, Green Heron, Wood Duck, Am. Wigeon, Mallard, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, Cooper's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, California Quail, Am. Coot, Black-necked Stilt, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Marbled Godwit, Whimbrel, Greater Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, Wandering Tattler, Willet, Ruddy & Black Turnstones, Least Sandpiper, Heermann's & Western Gulls, Elegant & Forster's Terns, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Anna's Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Nuttall's Woodpecker, Black & Say's Phoebes, Western Kingbird, Barn Swallow, House Wren, N. Mockingbird, California Thrasher, Wrentit, California Gnatcatcher, Bushtit, Western Scrub-Jay, Am. Crow, Common Raven, European Starling, Common Yellowthroat, Wilson's Warbler, California Towhee, Lark & Song Sparrows, Tricolored & Brewer's Blackbirds, Great-tailed Grackle, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch and House Sparrow.

Friday, September 3, 2004
Day two with Stephen and Ann was mostly a travel day with birding at both ends. We began at the south end of the Salton Sea and made a brief stop in Ventura on the way to Solvang. We saw all four targets for the day -- California and Yellow-footed Gulls, Ruddy Ground-Dove and Surfbird. 

Our first stop was the pig pen at the corner of Eddins and Sperry in Calipatria where RUDDY GROUND-DOVES have been hanging out for quite some time (much like the birds in Arizona at the Red Rock cattle pens). The biggest advantage here is the much smaller area, although viewing is more difficult and there are far more places for the doves to hide. Nevertheless, we saw a candidate almost immediately and it only took about 30 minutes to obtain good views of male and female. We saw them feeding on the ground and occasionally perched on fence wires. Also like Red Rock, this is a "dovey" location (perhaps more so) and during the search we noted ROCK PIGEON, EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE, MOURNING, WHITE-WINGED & INCA DOVES and, for good measure, COMMON GROUND-DOVES to keep us on our toes.

We moved on to the Salton Sea and saw the omnipresent BURROWING OWLS along Sinclair Road. I think if you come here and fail to see them you are required to forfeit your binoculars (I may regret this statement somewhere along the line!).

The water level at the sea is very low and birds were further away than usual. In fact, the end of Garst Road and the Red Hill area had very few birds. Continuing on, our first YELLOW-FOOTED GULL came at the small bay on (the continuation of) McKendry Road where a few WOOD STORKS were hanging out. I tried unsuccessfully to "sneak up" on the storks to get a photo -- they flew and I had to settle for a so-so flight shot..

At nearby Obsidian Butte, there was a YELLOW-FOOTED GULL bonanza. This is often a good location for them and there were certainly many adult birds present today. I managed a decent photo along with a BLACK SKIMMER flight shot, also a common species here. In fact, there were so many birds flying too close to me that I couldn't react quickly enough! Lots of CASPIAN TERNS and a handful of other species were loafing here. Some careful scanning through the heat haze revealed a few CALIFORNIA GULLS. Note the apparently lighter mantle color in this second YELLOW-FOOTED GULL image (probably a light issue since it's over exposed).

It was now 11:00am and very warm. Fortunately, with the three targets for this location seen we were able to get underway for the long drive north. Since it was the Friday of a holiday weekend, I feared the worst in terms of traffic. Surprisingly, even though the traffic was constant and heavy at times, we saw very few slow downs and even with a lunch stop arrived in Ventura Harbor at 4:00pm. After booking an Island Packers trip to Santa Cruz Island on Sunday, we headed over to Marina Park. The breakwater here is a good place for SURFBIRD and we eventually found a group of 15 birds. The sun angle was far from ideal but I managed a usable image without breaking my neck on the rocks. In the same location we found BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, WANDERING TATTLER and BLACK TURNSTONES.

We continued on for what turned out to be a very nerve wracking journey to Solvang, our overnight destination. Earlier, as we approached Ventura, I'd mentioned that we needed to get gas. Unfortunately, I forgot all about it and we ended up on a lonely 25+ mile stretch of highway without gas stations and the gas gage hard on empty. I drove slowly to conserve gas but I would have bet any amount of money that my AAA membership would start earning its keep. I was never so happy to see a gas station when we rolled into Buellton!

58 species recorded
Eared Grebe, Am. White Pelican, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great, Snowy & Cattle Egrets, Wood Stork, White-faced Ibis, Mallard, Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Black-necked Stilt, Am. Avocet, Black-bellied Plover, Killdeer, Long-billed Dowitcher, Greater Yellowlegs, Wandering Tattler, Willet, Black Turnstone, Surfbird, Least Sandpiper, Heermann's, Ring-billed, California, Western, Yellow-footed & Laughing Gulls, Caspian, Common, Forster's & Black Terns, Black Skimmer, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning & White-winged Inca Doves, Common & Ruddy Ground-Doves, Burrowing Owl, Anna's Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Black Phoebe, N. Mockingbird, Loggerhead Shrike, Am. Crow, Common Raven, European Starling, Abert's Towhee, Western Meadowlark, Brewer's Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle and House Sparrow.

Saturday, September 4, 2004
Out again with Stephen and Ann. Today we covered several areas in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties in search of more target species. I normally allot two days for this area but casual birding wasn't an option on this short trip. We began near Solvang, continued north to Oceano, then on to Shell Beach and Montaņa De Oro State Park (MDO). Our targets for the day were Pelagic Cormorant, Black Oystercatcher, Pigeon Guillemot, Yellow-billed Magpie, Wrentit, Chestnut-backed Chickadee and Oak Titmouse. We saw 5 of 7 (missed the guillemot and ended up not looking for the titmouse).

We started shortly after dawn on Alisal Road in Solvang and worked our way 6 miles south to Nojoqui Falls County Park. As usual, the very handsome YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIES were very accommodating. They are regular and fairly common along the first few miles of this road -- today we found our first birds at the entrance to the golf course. The County Park was closed (opens at 8:00, we arrived around 7:30) and the ranger wouldn't let us walk in. Consequently, we left Oak Titmouse for another day. Species along the road from 25 recorded included RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, CALIFORNIA QUAIL (probably 60-80 in several large coveys of adults and juveniles), NUTTALL'S WOODPECKER, WESTERN BLUEBIRD,  CALIFORNIA THRASHER and WRENTIT (the latter two heard only).

After breakfast back in Solvang, we drove to Oceano, arriving there at 9:15am. This is an excellent birding area with a large pond and willows, campground pines and chaparral between the dunes and beach. Although we really didn't have time to fully enjoy the place, we recorded a fair number of species as we searched for our two targets. In the case of CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE, "search" wasn't really appropriate since they found us as we stepped out of the car! We indulged in enjoying these cute little birds for a few minutes. [They were backyard birds for me when I lived in Bellingham, WA and will always have a place in my heart.]

Following the easy chickadee, we paid our dues big time on WRENTIT even though (in my limited experience) Oceano is consistently a good location to see these birds well (you can hear their distinctive song in lots of places, seeing them is another kettle of fish). We heard and followed a few birds before finally catching up with a family of them. It's amazing how these birds can hide in plain sight. Since they are often so hard to see let alone photograph, I was particularly pleased to get a couple of shots -- image #1, image #2. I had to use manual focus because of obstructions.

Between the Chickadee and Wrentit sightings, we spent about two hours at Oceano and recorded 40+ species including RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, a distant BARN OWL in flight, DOWNY (heard) & HAIRY (seen) WOODPECKERS (surprisingly, no Nuttall's), a nicely posed BLACK PHOEBE that just insisted on being photographed, PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER, MARSH WREN, WARBLING VIREO, ORANGE-CROWNED, YELLOW, TOWNSEND'S & WILSON'S WARBLERS, CALIFORNIA THRASHER, CALIFORNIA TOWHEE and WESTERN TANAGER.

Our next stop was just a few miles north at Margo Dodd Park, a cliff overlook in Shell Beach just north of Pismo Beach. This is a good location for loafing cormorants and we found a couple of PELAGIC among the many BRANDT'S CORMORANTS. We also had success here with BLACK OYSTERCATCHER.

Even though we had now seen the main targets for the day, we continued north to MDO to look for Pigeon Guillemot. We scanned the ocean from the headland trail (no landbirding) without success. At one point I was sure that I had sighted a guillemot but we were unable to relocate the bird. Species on the rocks below the cliffs included more PELAGIC & BRANDT'S CORMORANTS and BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS, WHIMBREL and plentiful WESTERN GULLS. There wasn't a breath of air here and it was extremely warm in mid afternoon.

Returning south to our overnight destination of Ventura, we saw our only WHITE-TAILED KITES of the trip near Los Osos.

68 species recorded
Pied-billed Grebe, Brown Pelican, Double-crested, Brandt's & Pelagic Cormorants, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Mallard, Ring-necked Duck, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, White-tailed Kite, Cooper's, Red-shouldered & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, California Quail, Am. Coot, Black Oystercatcher, Killdeer, Whimbrel, Heermann's & Western Gulls, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Barn Owl, Anna's Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Acorn, Nuttall's, Downy & Hairy Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Black Phoebe, Bewick's, House & Marsh Wrens, N. Mockingbird, California Thrasher, Western Bluebird, Am. Robin, Wrentit, Bushtit, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Loggerhead Shrike, Western Scrub-Jay, Yellow-billed Magpie, Am. Crow, Common Raven, European Starling, Hutton's & Warbling Vireos, Orange-crowned, Yellow, Townsend's & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Western Tanager, Spotted & California Towhees, Song & White-crowned Sparrows, Red-winged & Brewer's Blackbirds, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch and House Sparrow.

Sunday, September 5, 2004
Day 4 with Stephen and Ann. Today we visited Santa Cruz Island, part of the Channel Islands National Park. Our main target, of course, was Island Scrub Jay which is pretty much a forgone conclusion if you visit Prisoner's Harbor (not as easy at Scorpion Landing). We were also hoping for potential jaegers, shearwaters and alcids on the trip to the island with Island Packers. I've done this trip a handful of times now and it's just about the limit of my tolerance of boat rides. However, today the water was very calm and I didn't have any problems at all. If all boat rides were like this, I could add lots of lifers with a few pelagic trips. It's not going to happen.

I noted a few changes at Prisoner's Harbor since my last visit here in 2000. First, there's now a pier for docking the boat and it's no longer necessary to use small boats to come ashore, a definite improvement. Also, there's now an "orientation" when you come ashore outlining rules and regulations concerning the adjacent Nature Conservancy (TNC) property. Back at the harbor, Island Packers employees had told us that we needed to complete some paperwork only if we wanted to take a guided hike onto TNC property. As it turned out, the paperwork was also needed to take the trail on our own, something that we did. This was the only black mark against what was otherwise an excellent Island Packers trip. Even with the appropriate permit, only a small portion of TNC property is accessible and, disappointingly, this no longer includes the excellent habitat along the main road.

We departed Ventura Harbor at 9:06am and even with a couple of stops to look at COMMON DOLPHINS (note the calm water), we arrived at Prisoner's Harbor at 10:40am. [My previous trips have dropped passengers at Scorpion Landing first which together with the small boat landing added about 80 minutes to the journey (on shore at noon).] It was very warm on the island (no breeze) and the extra time that we had until the 4:00pm departure wasn't at all beneficial in terms of birding. In fact, landbirding didn't really pick up until it was time to leave.

ISLAND SCRUB-JAY was very easy to find and they were our constant (although not always obvious) companions throughout our time on the island. This photograph was taken near the lookout building above the harbor. They are significantly larger than their mainland cousins with a deeper blue color -- to me they also appear much more clean cut. Their call is instantly recognizable as a Scrub-Jay although, as I've noted in the past, their voice is considerably "coarser". This more distant photograph (taken in the gloom of the Eucalyptus grove near the pier) lacks detail but really shows their deep blue color.

We birded in the oak and chaparral along the first mile of the Pelican Bay Trail (which is initially quite steep) and in the willows along the wash that leads to the beach. Compared to previous visits, there was a startling lack of hummingbirds (just one unidentified female seen). Unless there's a colony that I'm unaware of, the most unusual sighting was perhaps this female YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD. We noted ~25 species on the island proper. The most common species (by far) was ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, present in nuisance proportions. Most of the birds were very dull, presumably the insular sordida race. Other warblers were TOWNSEND'S & YELLOW WARBLERS (Wilson's seen by others). Other species included HUTTON'S and WARBLING VIREOS, WESTERN TANAGER and BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK.

The boat departed Prisoner's Harbor at 3:55pm and cruised slowly along the shoreline to Scorpion Landing, slowing a couple of times for points of interest. I photographed a group of BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS at one of the locations (8 of the 11 birds present are visible in this shot).  We docked at Scorpion for almost 30 minutes to pick up passengers and noted a female SURF SCOTER as we got underway.

Species seen on the open water on the outgoing and/or return journey were PINK-FOOTED and BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATERS, PIGEON GUILLEMOT and RED-NECKED PHALAROPE (although none were seen well). There were a couple of unidentified fly-by Jaegers and other birders saw Cassin's Auklet and Red Phalarope.

We docked back in Ventura at 5:58pm. Among the birds present in the harbor were ELEGANT TERN, BLACK OYSTERCATCHER, WILLET, BLACK TURNSTONE, SURFBIRD and SANDERLING.

We got away from the harbor at 6:15pm and drove south in fairly heavy traffic (that flowed well), arriving at our overnight destination of Glendale at 7:30pm. All in all a successful day, although we could have used better looks at all the species seen from the boat.

40 species recorded
Pink-footed & Black-vented Shearwaters, Brown Pelican, Brandt's & Pelagic Cormorants, Surf Scoter, Black Oystercatcher, Killdeer, Willet, Black Turnstone, Surfbird, Sanderling, Red-necked Phalarope, Heermann's & Western Gulls, Elegant Tern, Pigeon Guillemot, N. Flicker, Black Phoebe, Barn Swallow, Bewick's Wren, Bushtit, Island Scrub-Jay, Am. Crow, Common Raven, European Starling, Hutton's Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Orange-crowned, Yellow & Townsend's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Western Tanager, Song Sparrow, Black-headed Grosbeak, Yellow-headed & Brewer's Blackbirds, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch and Lesser Goldfinch.

Monday, September 6, 2004
Day 5 and final day with Stephen and Ann. Our plan for the day was to start in the San Gabriel Mountains for Mountain Quail, Red-breasted Sapsucker, White-headed Woodpecker and Oak Titmouse, then move on to the Palos Verdes Peninsula to pick up Spotted Dove and scan for offshore species before heading to LAX. As things turned out, it was another very hot day and we abandoned the plan to head across town and spent all our time in the mountains.

A speedy drive from Glendale to La Caņada and a traffic free drive on the Angeles Crest Highway put us at Chilao Campground before 8:00am. All of our target species could be found here, although Mountain Quail is iffy (depends on the feeder situation) and Red-breasted Sapsucker is seasonal (breeds higher up the mountain).

It didn't take long to find a WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKER near the visitor center -- they are usually common here but we saw only one bird. The visitor center has been closed/irregularly staffed for a long time but has recently reopened -- we were lucky enough to meet the new full time manager shortly after we arrived. He soon filled the feeders and after a false alarm with CALIFORNIA QUAIL, we enjoyed great looks at several male MOUNTAIN QUAIL. The birds were fairly skittish and mostly stayed behind vegetation. It didn't take much movement to send them scurrying back out of sight. Although we only saw perhaps 5 or 6 birds at the same time, there could easily have been many more. OAK TITMOUSE was also at the feeders. BAND-TAILED PIGEONS and WESTERN SCRUB-JAYS were very common.

Three targets in very little time but the rot set in after that and we failed to find the Sapsucker. After spending a little more time at Chilao, we moved on to Buckhorn Flat Campground higher up the mountain (currently closed to campers). We spent over two hours here looking unsuccessfully for Red-breasted Sapsucker (seen here recently). Two NORTHERN PYGMY-OWLS were calling but we didn't make a serious effort to see them. We found lots more WHITE-HEADED WOODPECKERS that never presented a real photo opportunity (this is nothing more than a record shot, my first of this species). CLARK'S NUTCRACKERS were fairly vocal and we saw a few of them quite well. Of note were a couple of HERMIT WARBLERS among the more common ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS. Also present were WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, lots of WESTERN BLUEBIRDS & MOUNTAIN CHICKADEES, BROWN CREEPER and WARBLING VIREO.

The most excitement was provided by a BLACK BEAR, initially seen rummaging in a dumpster. I later managed a rather gloomy image (from a distance!) as the bear lumbered away.

Before leaving the mountain we returned to Chilao to eat lunch and I photographed one of the many PYGMY NUTHATCHES. I don't remember noticing before but I was struck by how richly colored their underparts are compared to the birds in Arizona.

In the late afternoon we arrived at LAX where the air conditioning in the terminal just wasn't up to the task on this super hot day. You know you're in trouble when the nation's high temperature for the day is Anaheim at 107 degrees!

30 species recorded
Red-tailed Hawk, Mountain & California Quail, Band-tailed Pigeon, N. Pygmy-Owl, Acorn & White-headed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Western Wood-Pewee, House Wren, Western Bluebird, Townsend's Solitaire, Wrentit, Mountain Chickadee, Oak Titmouse, Pygmy & White-breasted Nuthatches, Brown Creeper, Steller's Jay, Western Scrub-Jay, Clark's Nutcracker, Common Raven, Warbling Vireo, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped, Hermit & Wilson's Warblers, Spotted Towhee, Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco and Lesser Goldfinch.

Summary:  Trip Species List       Trip Photo List
From September 2-6 we traveled just over 1100 miles in southern California, starting in San Diego and ending in Los Angeles. It was unseasonably warm throughout the entire southern California area. Blue skies, lack of marine layer, minimal wind and very hot days were the norm every day.

We began in the San Diego area, moved inland to the Salton Sea, traveled northwest to inland Santa Barbara and coastal San Luis Obispo counties, spent a day visiting Santa Cruz Island and finished up in the San Gabriel mountains northeast of Los Angeles.

Our focus was entirely on target species and we didn't spend any time at all casual birding. Consequently, we recorded a fairly low 142 species (see trip list). This list contains links to all the photos that I took on the trip. All the photos can also be found grouped together in the trip photo log, accessible from the photo gallery.

We found 25 of the 27 targets that we specifically looked for and also saw 2 "hope to see species". We never got around to looking for Spotted Dove.

27 targets seen:
Pink-footed & Black-vented Shearwater, Brandt's & Pelagic Cormorants, Mountain & California Quail, Black Oystercatcher, Wandering Tattler, Black Turnstone, Surfbird, Heermann's, California, Western & Yellow-footed Gulls, Pigeon Guillemot, Ruddy Ground-Dove, Nuttall's & White-headed Woodpeckers, California Thrasher, Wrentit, California Gnatcatcher, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Oak Titmouse, Island Scrub-Jay, Yellow-billed Magpie, California Towhee and Tricolored Blackbird.

2 targets specifically looked for and missed:
Red-breasted Sapsucker and Sage Sparrow.

2 "hope to find" species not seen:
Lawrence's Goldfinch and Golden-crowned Sparrow (too early).

All in all a very successful, albeit hurried trip.

Saturday, September 11, 2004
Since returning from California I've been stuck at home feeling lousy with flu. I was far from 100% today but cabin fever got the better of me and I made short visits to the San Pedro River and Sierra Vista EOP (the temperature was up to 90 degrees by 9:00am and did nothing to encourage me to stay in the field).

With the exception of a very interesting empidonax flycatcher, the two hours that I spent on the San Pedro were quite dull. As soon as I saw this particularly individual, I could tell that it didn't fit the bill for the expected Hammond's, Dusky, Gray and Willow Flycatchers (I later saw one DUSKY and that was it for empids). The bird was extremely small, gray overall with buffy wing bars, bold eye ring and light colored lower mandible. Behavior included upward tail flicks and the call was a fairly loud "whit", given only a few times over the 5 minutes that I followed the bird. Unfortunately, I was too far away from the bird and it didn't present well enough for a photograph. Although I concluded that it was a LEAST FLYCATCHER, I cannot be 100% certain so, sadly, I'm not going to be adding it to my Arizona list. As far as I know, there are only three records for SE AZ and none in September. Add to this the fact that I didn't get a close enough look and there's enough reasonable doubt for a not guilty verdict.

Flycatcher aside, it was pretty standard fare for this time of year. BLUE GROSBEAKS and LESSER GOLDFINCHES were abundant in the weedy habitat that is currently providing lots of food for seed eating birds.

A couple of TROPICAL KINGBIRDS linger at the big pond, extending my late date for this location by three days. Also present were a couple of GRAY HAWKS and BULLOCK'S ORIOLE, both of which will likely be gone by the end of the month. Other breeding species that typically stick around on the river into October included VERMILION FLYCATCHER, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT and SUMMER TANAGER.

Recently returned GREEN-TAILED TOWHEES were quite numerous and a few of them were singing.

37 species recorded on the San Pedro (highway 90 area) from 6:30-8:30am:
Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Mallard, Gray Hawk, Spotted Sandpiper, Mourning Dove, Common Ground-Dove, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Gila Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Black Phoebe, Dusky & Vermilion Flycatchers, Tropical, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Barn Swallow, Bewick's & House Wrens, White-breasted Nuthatch, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat, Summer Tanager, Green-tailed & Abert's Towhees, Chipping, Brewer's, Vesper Sparrow & Song Sparrows, Blue Grosbeak, Bullock's Oriole, House Finch and Lesser Goldfinch.

Raptors were the only species of note at Sierra Vista EOP and in short order I saw SWAINSON'S HAWK, RED-TAILED HAWK and PEREGRINE FALCON perched within a pole's span of each other. YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS were numerous and a single GREATER ROADRUNNER was up on one of the berms between the ponds. Unfortunately, the only pond (visible from accessible areas) where one might see shorebirds is dry. The marsh ponds held very little.

Monday, September 13, 2004
I'd hoped to spend some time in the White Mountains after returning from California, however, the bout of flu spoiled my plans. Now that I'm finally recovered I'll be heading up there tomorrow, which is unfortunately a little later than I had hoped in terms of migration. Today I was just about back to normal and I decided to make a routine visit to the Huachucas. There was a slight chill in the air when I reached Sawmill Canyon but that didn't last long and it was another super warm day. Some of the boys of summer are still around and I also saw a few migrants.

Even though I didn't specifically stop to listen as I passed through lower Garden Canyon grassland, I did hear at least one BOTTERI'S SPARROW still singing. BLUE GROSBEAKS were also singing -- they are typically a late nester and will infrequently stick around until December, although not in high numbers. Other species in the grassland included COOPER'S HAWK, ROADRUNNER, WESTERN and CASSIN'S KINGBIRDS, LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE and numerous sparrows, although the only one that I identified was CHIPPING SPARROW.

As I drove by the middle picnic area, I was pleased and a little surprised to hear the "rubber ducky" calls of several SULPHUR-BELLIED FLYCATCHERS. As it turned out, this was my latest fall record in Arizona, previously September 7, 1996 in Miller Canyon. It's possible that sampling interval could be a factor but not likely -- I have well over 50 September week 2 visits in Huachuca locations where the bird is routinely present. Also calling in this area were DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER and PAINTED REDSTART.

I arrived at Sawmill just after 7:00am and spent the first 1.5 hours of my 2.5 hours stay around and below the cabin. My primary objective was to confirm the continuing presence of BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER. A few individuals normally stay through at least mid September then become much more difficult to find as the month progresses. [I have one October record.] When they first arrive (in March) and just before they leave, I often find them in the area of the cabin. Today I heard one bird about 200 yards below the cabin but couldn't track it down. A couple of hours later I had better luck with this richly colored individual in the main canyon near picnic table #2. Note the leg band.

Other continuing summer birds included WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER, PAINTED REDSTART (sometimes overwinters) and several HEPATIC TANAGERS (normally present in the canyon well into November). Among the residents that I recorded were ARIZONA WOODPECKER, BROWN CREEPER, the usual STELLER'S and MEXICAN JAYS, HUTTON'S VIREO  and a "phewing" OLIVE WARBLER.

Migrants were represented by SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (I have a few records here in September), RED-TAILED HAWK (rare in Sawmill), RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD and ORANGE-CROWNED, BLACK-THROATED GRAY, WILSON'S & YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS (the latter often hangs on here until it really gets icy in December).

At the puddles near the start of the trail, just above the cable, I watched a couple of PAINTED REDSTARTS bathing and preening. I stuck around for a while trying to get a good photograph but really wasn't happy with my efforts (the birds were constantly on the move). It was a photo first for me so it's a keeper for now.

45 species recorded in Garden and Sawmill Canyons:
Turkey Vulture, Sharp-shinned, Cooper's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Rufous Hummingbird, Acorn & Arizona Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Western Wood-Pewee, Say's Phoebe, Buff-breasted, Dusky-capped & Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Cactus, Canyon & Bewick's Wrens, Am. Robin, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Common Raven, Hutton's Vireo, Olive, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Gray & Wilson's Warblers, Painted Redstart, Hepatic Tanager, Canyon Towhee, Botteri's & Chipping Sparrows, Blue Grosbeak, House Finch and Lesser Goldfinch.

Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Today I got my trip to the White Mountains underway after a scant 3 hours of sleep last night. My laptop has been on the fritz for several months and just before my trip to California at the beginning of the month the disk finally crapped out. Late yesterday (if it wasn't for the last minute nothing would ever get done), I received a replacement disk and worked into the wee small hours to get the system up and running. Disk formatting, installing windows, drivers, utilities, application software and eventually, my own data (once bitten, twice shy, I had good backups). Didn't I quit all this shit 15 years ago? Note: All photos are being processed on a laptop screen until I get home and they may appear too bright or dark on a regular monitor. Please let me know if you have difficulty with any images -- thanks.

The main purpose of this trip is to check on migration happenings in the White Mountains. Consequently, I'll be focusing on the lakes and riparian areas and not so much on the higher elevation locations. I also want to make time to hike the trail up Escudilla (something that I've never done) and the Mt. Baldy trail that I've done a number of times (I may not have many hikes on this trail left in me!). However, since this is only a five day trip, something will have to give and I may not achieve all my objectives.

I began the journey, as I do most trips to the White Mountains, with a check of Willcox. I spent two hours here which was far more than I had intended and much less than I would have liked. The water level of the main pond remains very high and most shorebirds are bunched up in areas where the habitat is most extensive (extensive being a relative term). Apart from these areas, it takes time to weed them out (literally) and it's probably all too easy to overlook lots of stuff. Most of my time was spent at the main pond and I recorded a total of 38 species.

I started by driving slowly down the entrance road and turned up 10 EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES. As I've mentioned before, they are slowly but surely taking over. SWAINSON'S HAWK, WESTERN KINGBIRDS and LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE also lined the road.

The willows at the golf course pond held MACGILLIVRAY'S and WILSON'S WARBLERS. In and around the marsh, I found GREAT EGRET, several BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS, several chattering MARSH WRENS,  COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, SONG & LINCOLN'S SPARROWS and numerous YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS. The sparrow was an exercise in frustration of how to take photographs in very shadowy and mottled light.

I scanned the many (100+) mostly female WILSON'S PHALAROPES and eventually turned up six RED-NECKED PHALAROPES (3 male, 3 female). The best first level character at a distance is relative size -- look for smaller birds. Shorebird highlight was STILT SANDPIPER -- I counted at least five. The crafty little buggers were masters at just keeping enough distance between themselves and the business end of my lens. LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER was present in numbers and this individual was slightly more accommodating than the Stilt Sandpipers. I also photographed AMERICAN AVOCET in basic plumage, my only other photo is in breeding plumage. A lone SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, a couple of LESSER YELLOWLEGS and the usual WESTERN & LEAST SANDPIPERS rounded out the shorebirds.

Now it was time to head north. Plenty of music and 3 1/2 hours of driving time after leaving Willcox, I pulled into a very warm and windy Luna Lake at 12:30pm. It's often windy here so that was no surprise. However, wind hasn't been a problem for me for a while and that includes the California coast! My time in the White Mountains began in fine style as I stepped out of the vehicle and saw an adult BALD EAGLE soaring low overhead. By the time that I was organized a minute or so later the bird had disappeared and I didn't see it again during the next 30 minutes. The lake was about as dead as it gets (low water levels may be an issue) and I saw nothing out of the ordinary -- 2 female COMMON MERGANSERS, 11 WHITE-FACED IBIS and a few RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS to mention just a few of only 15 recorded.

The next step was to check in at The Bunkhouse at Juniper Hill in Nutrioso, get organized and take a break. This is the second time that I've stayed here (I was here for a couple of weeks back in June). It's truly a home away from home and I can highly recommend it, far better than staying in a motel. For information contact Ken and Karen Struthers at juniperhill@frontiernet.net.

In the late afternoon I ventured out again and checked Nelson Reservoir and Becker Lake. Looking west into the sun was a major problem at the reservoir and I wasn't really able to pick out many birds. I only checked the shallow south end where I saw a few migrants -- 2 SPOTTED SANDPIPERS and a few  BANK & TREE SWALLOWS plus a handful of duck species.

Becker Lake turned out to be very productive as it often is during migration. It's important to realize that it's not only water here that needs to be checked. The scrubby vegetation and few trees, especially on the east side of the lake, need to be checked. I began on Becker Lake Road where a CANYON TOWHEE  was only my fourth record in the White Mountains (previously seen on nearby Airport Road and at Sipe & Wenima Wildlife areas).

Pick of the bunch at the lake was a group of 4 COMMON TERNS, my second record at this location. I wanted to get a photograph but because of sun angle and the fact that the birds were on the wing, I knew it would be tough. So, I formulated a plan and wonders never cease -- it worked. First, I watched the birds for a few minutes to figure out their behavior. I set the camera on manual focus and focused on a plane through which the birds were regularly flying. Then, I aimed in one spot and pressed the shutter whenever I saw white pass through the viewfinder. I shot a total of 60 images and ended up with one usable flight shot showing the main field characters. The thought of a monkey at a keyboard randomly hitting keys and spelling out all the words of the English language came to mind as I waited for the birds to fly by.

Other stuff included 30+ WHITE-FACED IBIS, a couple of SORAS, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, my first White Mountain GREATER ROADRUNNER (documentary shot) and scads of BANK SWALLOWS.  I've been birding in the White Mountains for 10 years and this was my first Roadrunner. I later checked with local birders Gary and Donna who told me that the bird is not that uncommon here. I guess that I just need to get out more! I was pleased to see so many Bank Swallows, a species that I rarely see in such numbers in SE AZ.

I finished up on Becker Lake Road shortly before sunset and added OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER (caught a humongous dragonfly) and a couple of EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES. The doves have been in the Springerville-Eagar area for several years now but this was my first on Becker Lake Road.

All things considered, a decent day of birding. However, I hope the weather changes soon because it's way too warm for my liking.

Day List (76 species recorded):
Pied-billed & Eared Grebes, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Black-crowned Night-Heron, White-faced Ibis, Am. Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, N. Pintail, Cinnamon Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Common Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Sora, Am. Avocet, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Long-billed Dowitcher, Greater & Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted, Western, Least & Stilt Sandpipers, Wilson's & Red-necked Phalaropes, Common Tern, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Broad-tailed & Rufous Hummingbirds, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Black Phoebe, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Horned Lark, Tree, Violet-green, Bank, Cliff & Barn Swallows, Bewick's, House & Marsh Wrens, Curve-billed Thrasher, Loggerhead Shrike, Mexican Jay, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, European Starling, Yellow-rumped, MacGillivray's & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Canyon Towhee, Chipping, Vesper, Lark, Song & Lincoln's Sparrows, Eastern & Western Meadowlarks Yellow-headed & Brewer's Blackbirds, Great-tailed Grackle, Lesser Goldfinch and House Sparrow.

Wednesday, September 15, 2004
This morning I visited Wenima Wildlife Area, Lyman Lake State Park, Becker Lake and Nelson Reservoir. Later in the day I checked Sipe Wildlife Area. It was what you might call a slow day at the office and the birding was generally poor in all locations. After a cool start, it was another warm day in the White Mountains without much in the way of wind to provide relief.

I gave pride of place to Wenima WA and even here the birding wasn't particularly inspiring. At first I was very encouraged because the approach road was loaded with birds, not bad for a mostly rocky and grassy area. VESPER and  BREWER'S SPARROWS were both very common and I also saw SAVANNAH SPARROW, HORNED LARK, both species of MEADOWLARKS and at least 3 SAGE THRASHERS.

It was all downhill after that. I chose the wrong day to be here -- a prison crew were weed whacking on the north trail. Not wishing to compete with them, I birded the southern section, first on the less developed western side of the river and then on the east side trail.  HOUSE WREN, LINCOLN'S SPARROW, WESTERN TANAGER and GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE were the most common migrants. CANYON TOWHEES were also present in numbers. I noted HAMMOND'S, DUSKY and CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHERS but not much in the way of warblers -- singletons of ORANGE-CROWNED and MACGILLIVRAY'S, a few WILSON'S and many YELLOW-RUMPED. I recorded almost 40 species including BELTED KINGFISHER, CANYON & ROCK WRENS and BULLOCK'S ORIOLE.

At one point, an immature RED-TAILED HAWK flew in and perched on a rock. I managed to get off one shot before the bird realized its mistake when it saw me. Later in the morning the same bird flew by and I managed a decent flight shot -- I'm not sure how I managed to see the upper wings since the bird was above me!

Although I knew that a trip to Lyman Lake probably wouldn't be productive, it's less than 15 minutes from the Wenima highway entrance so I made the effort. Like everywhere else, the water level is low here and all the water birds were concentrated on the south shore. Apart from 50+ WHITE-FACED IBIS, I didn't see any wading birds. NORTHERN PINTAIL was the most common duck. 24 species total.

At Becker Lake I added SNOWY EGRET, an uncommon migrant in the White Mountains. It was hard to use the scope here due to heat shimmer.

Sipe Wildlife Area was inactive in the late afternoon (I should probably have gone earlier). Migrants included RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD, WILSON'S WARBLER and WESTERN TANAGER; and I picked up WESTERN and MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS new for the trip.

As I said, an uninspiring day. They can't all be good days like yesterday.

Day List (74 species recorded):
Pied-billed Grebe, Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, White-faced Ibis, Canada Goose, Am. Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, N. Pintail, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Ring-necked Duck, Ruddy Duck, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Sora, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Broad-tailed & Rufous Hummingbirds, Belted Kingfisher, N. Flicker, Hammond's, Dusky &
Cordilleran Flycatchers, Black & Say's Phoebes, Western Kingbird, Horned Lark, Violet-green & Barn Swallows, Rock, Canyon & Marsh Wrens, N. Mockingbird, Sage Thrasher, Western & Mountain Bluebirds, Am. Robin, Bushtit, Mountain Chickadee, Loggerhead Shrike, Western Scrub-Jay, Am. Crow, Common Raven, European Starling, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped, MacGillivray's & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Western Tanager, Green-tailed, Spotted & Canyon Towhees, Chipping, Brewer's, Vesper, Lark, Savannah, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Black-headed Grosbeak, Eastern & Western Meadowlarks, Brewer's Blackbird, Bullock's Oriole, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch and House Sparrow.

Thursday, September 16, 2004
This morning I started at Becker Lake then headed west to South Fork and continued on to Greer. After an afternoon break, I made an evening sortie into Nutrioso. It was another warm day in the mountains -- selected temperatures that I noted in passing were 40 degrees in Springerville at 6:00am, 70 degrees in Eagar at 8:15am and 84 degrees in Eagar at 1:30pm.

First, I worked along Becker Lake Road where I saw EURASIAN COLLARED DOVE, MACGILLIVRAY'S & WILSON'S WARBLERS and CANYON TOWHEE. Along the road that leads to the south end of the lake, I added ROCK WREN, VESPER and BREWER'S SPARROWS and HORNED LARK. Next, I walked the trail on the east side of the lake. I really didn't need breakfast, I ate enough bugs here to keep me going for a while. The thistle and scrubby areas were loaded with birds -- notably NASHVILLE WARBLER and BLUE GROSBEAK among the many HOUSE FINCHES. Others seen along the trail included SORA, SPOTTED SANDPIPER, BELTED KINGFISHER and SAVANNAH SPARROW.

Out on the water and in the marsh, I noted DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT, BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON and GADWALL that I had missed the last couple of days. All but one of the WHITE-FACED IBIS flock had departed. Conversely, yesterday's lone SNOWY EGRET had been joined by ten more for a total of eleven. By the time I left at 8:00am I had recorded 46 species at the lake.

At South Fork I found some of the best birding of the trip so far. It can often be quite dead here but not today -- during a very productive two hours I turned up 40 species. ROCK WREN and several TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRES were in the rocky juniper area just before the cattle guard as you drop down to the river. I spent most of my time in the riparian area upstream from the bridge on the east side of the river. The highlight here was a group of approximately 20 MONTEZUMA QUAIL that exploded from under my feet. The birds flushed in two separate groups as I happened upon their damp and shady  location. Scared the you-know-what out of me. I could hear the birds whistling to each other on the rocky hillside -- I joined in but they ignored me.

I soldiered on through the overgrown "trail". I would have been happy with just the quail but I also turned up a couple of GRAY CATBIRDS and an INDIGO BUNTING (both species breed here). I have a few September records for the bunting but this is the latest date. I have a number of September records for the Catbird and also one October record.

Other than the very common MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLERS (10 seen, many more heard), I saw a only sprinkling of other warblers -- ORANGE-CROWNED, YELLOW & WILSON'S. Not surprisingly in the thick undergrowth, SPOTTED and GREEN-TAILED TOWHEES mostly stayed concealed. OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER was the only flycatcher that I saw.

PINYON JAYS and CLARK'S NUTCRACKERS were common on the hillside near the campground. STELLER'S JAYS screeched away and PYGMY NUTHATCHES were constantly chattering. The campground itself was alive with tapping HAIRY WOODPECKERS and I also noted 3 RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS.

Now it was time for a well earned Breakfast Burrito at the Rendezvous Diner in Greer. After breakfast I took a brief peek at West Fork where it was generally quiet apart from some raucous CLARK'S NUTCRACKERS.

I finished up the morning session just north of town along Benny Creek. I don't think of this area as a migration spot, however, I've had some fall success with Three-toed Woodpecker here so I decided to give it a look. One side of the creek has a rocky hillside with pines and firs and is quite shady, the other side is more open with pines. RED CROSSBILLS were calling on and off and occasionally flew by during the 90 minutes that I spent here. WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE breeds here and there was still at least one around. The creek has intermittent water and the willows held plenty of MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLERS and HOUSE WRENS. I walked along slowly, listening for tapping, and the reward for my effort eventually came in the form of a female AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER. The bird was working quite high in a pine tree where it has obviously spent some time before (lots of bark missing!). I took many photos -- alas, I was just too far away for useful images.

In the evening I cruised around "downtown" Nutrioso and along the creek, ostensibly looking for Lewis's Woodpecker. EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES were all over town, perched on poles and wires. I started to ignore them and almost missed 2 BAND-TAILED PIGEONS, also perched on a wire. I found ACORN WOODPECKERS but no Lewis's.

I arrived back at Juniper Hill at dusk (just a couple of miles from town), bemoaning my luck at missing the woodpecker. However, the day ended on a good note as 2 VAUX'S SWIFTS flew low overhead heading south at a good clip. This was the second new White Mountain bird of the trip for me. It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings. A good end to a much better day than yesterday.

Day List (87 species recorded):
Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Black-crowned Night-Heron, White-faced Ibis, Am. Wigeon, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, N. Pintail, Cinnamon Teal, Ruddy Duck, Am. Kestrel, Montezuma Quail, Sora, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Band-tailed Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Vaux's Swift, Broad-tailed & Rufous Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Red-naped Sapsucker, Acorn, Hairy & Am. Three-toed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, Say's Phoebe, Horned Lark, Barn Swallow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Rock, House & Marsh Wrens, Gray Catbird, Western & Mountain Bluebirds, Townsend's Solitaire, Hermit Thrush, Am. Robin, Mountain Chickadee, Pygmy & White-breasted Nuthatches, Brown Creeper, Loggerhead Shrike, Western Scrub-Jay, Steller's & Pinyon Jays, Clark's Nutcracker, Am. Crow, Common Raven, European Starling, Orange-crowned, Nashville, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, MacGillivray's & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Western Tanager, Green-tailed, Spotted & Canyon Towhees, Chipping, Brewer's, Vesper, Savannah, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Dark-eyed Junco, Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Western Meadowlark, Yellow-headed & Brewer's Blackbirds, House Finch, Red Crossbill, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch and House Sparrow.

Friday, September 17, 2004
There was a welcome change in the weather today and it was a much cooler day. After a clear start, clouds built throughout the morning and rain fell at both high and low elevations by mid afternoon. Weather I can live with. I began at Wenima Wildlife Area then focused on several water areas -- Sunrise, Greer Lakes, Becker Lake and Nelson Reservoir. As yesterday, I ended up in Nutrioso.

Wenima was very birdy early this morning and, while I didn't see anything spectacular, the sheer numbers of several species were impressive. I also recorded a decent total of 50 species from 6:20-9:00am. I walked the newly weed whacked north trail where HOUSE WREN, GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW topped the quantity list -- roughly enough to sink a battleship. SAGE THRASHERS were also in good numbers and I probably saw as many as 30 birds, including 20 in the same location near the cabin at the end of the trail (where the photo was taken).

Breeding species still present included BLUE GROSBEAK (very common), YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT and BULLOCK'S ORIOLE (although the individuals seen could easily have been migrants). A migrant RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER worked the trees near the trailhead and a male WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER flew by the same location. Other (definite and probable) migrants included DUSKY FLYCATCHER, BREWER'S SPARROW, NASHVILLE, YELLOW, MACGILLIVRAY'S (fairly common) & WILSON'S WARBLERS, WESTERN TANAGER (common) and LAZULI BUNTING.

After an enjoyable drive over to Sunrise (PINYON JAYS seen along the highway near Greer), I spent some time checking the campground before I hit the lake (the main reason that I came here). At 9000+ feet, diversity at the campground is low even during the breeding season so I wasn't expecting to see much. I picked up a few trip species -- highlights were GRAY JAY and WILD TURKEY on the trails above the campground and the always delightful and endearing GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS (very common).

I worked Sunrise Lake for a couple of hours from a number of vantage points on the north and south sides. The water level is low and birds were clumped according to habitat preferences. Despite lots of searching, I found very few shorebirds. At one point  I saw five distant phalaropes and had to drive all the way around the lake to get close enough to identify them. I was only able to relocate three birds and they turned out to be RED-NECKED PHALAROPES (the other two were probably Wilson's and Red -- just kidding!). Other species from a total of 30 seen included one female BUFFLEHEAD (I have one earlier September record at Sunrise), a handful of WHITE-FACED IBIS and scads of WIGEON and PINTAIL.

Greer Lakes were essentially a waste of time and only CLARK'S NUTCRACKER was new for the day.

Becker Lake was productive in the rain and I saw a few species that I hadn't seen during several visits throughout the week -- a very ratty looking adult BALD EAGLE, a pristine male NORTHERN HARRIER and a single BLACK-NECKED STILT which was another new White Mountains species for me. At least 4 SNOWY EGRETS and a few WHITE-FACED IBIS continue. VIRGINIA RAIL and SORA were out in the open, perhaps enjoying the rain like me.

The day ended with a couple of ironies. First, at Nelson Reservoir where the afternoon light was finally okay due to the cloudy conditions, birds were essentially absent! In Nutrioso, LEWIS'S WOODPECKER was the first bird that I saw after turning off the highway -- yesterday I couldn't buy one despite lots of searching.

Day List (103 species recorded):
Pied-billed & Eared Grebes, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, White-faced Ibis, Canada Goose, Am. Wigeon, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, N. Pintail, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, N. Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Wild Turkey, Virginia Rail, Sora, Am. Coot, Black-necked Stilt, Killdeer, Red-necked Phalarope, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Lewis's, Acorn & Hairy Woodpeckers, Williamson's & Red-naped Sapsuckers, N. Flicker, Dusky Flycatcher, Black & Say's Phoebes, Horned Lark, Tree, Violet-green & Barn Swallows, Golden-crowned & Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Rock, Canyon, House & Marsh Wrens, Sage Thrasher, Western & Mountain Bluebirds, Hermit Thrush, Am. Robin, Bushtit, Mountain Chickadee, Pygmy, Red-breasted & White-breasted Nuthatches, Brown Creeper, Loggerhead Shrike, Gray, Steller's, & Pinyon Jays, Western Scrub-Jay, Clark's Nutcracker, Am. Crow, Common Raven, European Starling, Nashville, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, MacGillivray's & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat, Western Tanager, Green-tailed, Spotted & Canyon Towhees, Chipping, Brewer's, Vesper, Lark, Savannah, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Dark-eyed (Red-backed) Junco, Blue Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, Eastern & Western Meadowlarks, Yellow-headed & Brewer's Blackbirds, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch and House Sparrow.

Saturday, September 18, 2004
There are so many places where I would have liked to have gone birding this morning. However, despite the threat of rain, I went ahead with my plan to hike the Escudilla trail. At almost 11,000 feet, Escudilla is the third highest mountain in Arizona and I've been promising myself for years that I would hike the trail to the top. Fall is a good time to see the Aspens changing color -- they're already in fine color on the north facing slope but October is probably a better month for colors on the trail (south facing slope). I could have put it off until another trip but who knows just how many more trips lie ahead.

The fact that "tomorrow is promised to no man" was really brought home to me earlier this week. It was with great sadness that I learned of the death at a relatively young age of Carmen Tarantino of Buffalo, NY, who passed away on September 12. Away from his working life, Carmen was a birder, published photographer, client and friend. We were together on a number of birding and photography trips and it was Carmen more than anyone who kindled my interest in photography. Those of you who knew him can read about our adventures together in my journal with entries starting on the following dates: 03/08/01, 03/31/01, 04/09/01, 10/04/01, 01/11/02, 02/13/02 and 07/24/02. Rest in peace, Carmen.

The Escudilla trailhead starts from Terry Flat at an elevation of 9560 feet (I've driven past it many times!). The trail is 3 miles one way and passes through dense aspens, open meadows and mixed spruce-fir on its way to the summit at 10,877 feet. However, there are a couple of downs and ups along the way so the elevation gain is more than meets the eye. Under mostly cloudy skies, I started hiking at 6:45am and reached the summit at 8:40am, shortly after I heard the first ominous rumble of thunder. The wind was howling at the top and the weather closed in quickly. I'd been able to hike up in short sleeves but I definitely needed my sweater now! I started back down at 9:15am and by 9:30am it was time to break out the rainwear. The rain felt pretty cold as I traversed the open meadows.

All in all it was probably an ill advised trip, however, I'm still glad that I did it. Although I didn't get the views that I'd hoped for, didn't take any photos, didn't see many birds and got pissed wet through for my trouble, I had a real sense of achievement. It's not as tough a hike as the 6+ miles, 9300-11400 feet trail to Mt. Baldy that I've done a few times, but it still takes some doing!

As you might expect, birds were few and far between. I'd hoped that I might stumble into a Blue Grouse or a Three-toed Woodpecker. As it turned out, I just stumbled. On the trail proper I recorded 11 species -- in order seen they were DARK-EYED (red-backed) JUNCO, CLARK'S NUTCRACKER, MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER, STELLER'S JAY, GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE, MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD, MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, HAIRY WOODPECKER, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH and HERMIT THRUSH. Even though several towhees were still present at the summit, I wouldn't be surprised if they start thinking about beginning their journey to southeast Arizona right about now. It'll be cold up there tonight!

I saw an immediate effect of the change in weather when I returned to Juniper Hill. While working at the keyboard, I heard the unmistakable toots of a TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE. I looked outside and saw the bird perched atop a juniper in the yard -- a property first for me. Perhaps some down-slope movement caused by the weather.

The weather improved in the afternoon (at least, it stopped raining for a couple of hours) and I ventured out again. When I arrived on Tuesday I had hoped for cooler weather, just not wet and windy weather as well. However, this is just the kind of weather that brings migrants and keeps them around. Pity it's time for me to go home!

I visited Nelson Reservoir (8 species), Wenima Wildlife Area (15 species) and Becker Lake (24 species including Becker Lake Road). It was very windy in all locations. Wenima was really quiet and it's hard to believe I saw so many birds here yesterday. COOPER'S HAWK was new for the trip. At Becker Lake it was windy enough to create a few "white tops". An OSPREY battling the wind was another new trip bird. The lone BLACK-NECKED STILT was still present.

Day List (57 species recorded):
Pied-billed & Eared Grebes, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Am. Wigeon, Gadwall, Mallard, Ring-necked Duck, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Cooper's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Am. Coot, Black-necked Stilt, Killdeer, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Hairy Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Say's Phoebe, Tree, Violet-green & Barn Swallows, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Mountain Bluebird, Townsend's Solitaire, Hermit Thrush, Am. Robin, Mountain Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Steller's Jay, Western Scrub-Jay, Clark's Nutcracker, Am. Crow, Common Raven, European Starling, MacGillivray's Warbler, Green-tailed , Spotted & Canyon Towhees, Chipping, Vesper & Savannah Sparrows, Dark-eyed Junco, Blue Grosbeak, Eastern & Western Meadowlarks, Brewer's Blackbird, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch and House Sparrow.

Sunday, September 19, 2004
Plan A was to spend at least half of today in the White Mountains before heading home. Scratch that due to rain. Plan B was to leave early, bird at Luna Lake and then drive directly to Willcox. It rained on and off during the night and Nutrioso was socked in this morning, nevertheless, I remained optimistic.

I left Juniper Hill at 5:50am and arrived at Luna Lake shortly after sunrise around 6:10am (had there been a sunrise, that is). Heavy clouds were almost down to lake level and it was very dark and wet. There wasn't even a single fisherman present, just silly old me. I could hardly see the other side of the lake let alone any birds. I only stayed around for ten minutes or so then pointed the car south.

The rain stayed with me to varying degrees during the 3 hour 15 minute drive, intensifying as I approached Willcox (Murphy strikes again). I arrived at a very muddy, wet and windy main pond just after 9:30am. The water level is even higher than when I was here last Tuesday and it's still being pumped in. If you go in the next few days without a 4 wheel drive vehicle, be very careful on the road in the southeast corner of the pond -- this is always a treacherous section and the rain has already softened the surface.

I toughed it out for a while without being able to even open the windows. Around 10:00am the rain let up a little and I was able to start looking for birds. Most of what I found was very close to shore enabling me to get a few photographs despite the lousy conditions and crappy light. I stayed until 11:00am. The current weather system may bring some goodies to Willcox this coming week and it will likely pay to check regularly. I should probably have spent more time there today but I was ready for home.

At least 20 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES were present and quite confiding, no doubt due to the conditions. Most seemed to be juveniles. You can get an idea of the wave action from this photo. As I was stalking the phalaropes, a juvenile SANDERLING flew in and landed right in front of me. Snap. A dozen or so LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS continue but I could only find one LESSER YELLOWLEGS and one STILT SANDPIPER. The best bird was a lone MARBLED GODWIT, only my second September record at Willcox. The usual AMERICAN AVOCETS, WILSON'S PHALAROPES and LEAST & WESTERN SANDPIPERS rounded out the shorebirds.

What I'm assuming is the same ratty CALIFORNIA GULL that has been around for several months resurfaced again today (compare to photos taken on 7/19 and 8/16). It may be a different bird but I don't think so. Earlier, I watched this GREAT BLUE HERON catch something that might have turned into the "creature from the black lagoon" had it lived. Somebody tell me what it is. Yuk!

On this rather dismal day (raining heavily in Sierra Vista as I write these notes), my White Mountain trip came to a soggy end. I recorded a total of 150 species including 131 in the White Mountains as I define them (see map). I learned a little bit more about migration in the mountains (the main reason for my trip) and I added 3 species to my White Mountain list -- Black-necked Stilt, Greater Roadrunner and Vaux's Swift. I also made it to the top of Escudilla mountain which was another objective. All in all, a very enjoyable and successful trip. Thanks to Ken and Karen Struthers, my hosts at The Bunkhouse at Juniper Hill in Nutrioso.

Trip Species List       Trip Photo List

Day List (40 species recorded):
Pied-billed & Eared Grebes, Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, N. Pintail, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Ring-necked Duck, Ruddy Duck, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Am. Coot, Am. Avocet, Killdeer, Long-billed Dowitcher, Marbled Godwit, Lesser Yellowlegs, Sanderling, Western, Least & Stilt Sandpipers, Wilson's & Red-necked Phalaropes, California Gull, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Tree & Barn Swallows, Bewick's Wren, Mexican Jay, Am. Crow, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, Brewer's Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle and House Sparrow.

Monday, September 20, 2004
Out today with Scott Meyer and Doug Kieser from Minnesota. We spent all our time in the Huachucas looking for a few target birds. Based on the weather late yesterday, I thought that we might have to cancel. However, the day was dry and turned out to be successful despite occasional high wind.

We started in a very damp and quiet Sawmill Canyon where it didn't take very long to find ARIZONA WOODPECKER. We left almost immediately and saw very little else save for HEPATIC TANAGER and YELLOW-EYED JUNCOS.

We moved on to Scheelite Canyon where I was hoping for an easy owl following my recent Escudilla exertions -- no such luck,  Fortunately, it was a cool day since we had to work for quite a while and hike to the upper area where we eventually found a fairly well concealed SPOTTED OWL. The bird was totally unconcerned by our presence and Scott managed a few photos.

One benefit of having to go to the upper area was that we had a chance for a few other species. I only see OLIVE WARBLER a few times each year in Scheelite and today was one of those days!  Other species in a loosely associated flock included HUTTON'S VIREO, BRIDLED TITMOUSE, lots of BUSHTITS, BROWN CREEPER, WILSON'S & TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS, PAINTED REDSTART, HEPATIC TANAGER and BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK.

HAMMOND'S and CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHERS were also present. Hammond's normally start passing through Scheelite starting in the second week of September and continuing through November. Some years they'll even overwinter here. Cordilleran is a breeder in the canyon and they are normally gone my mid September -- today was my latest record here (previously, September 16).

While looking for an owl I flushed a roosting WHIP-POOR-WILL about one mile into the canyon. I saw where it landed (on a rock face) and was able to call the guys over to see it. I then tried to move closer to get a photograph -- unfortunately, I stepped on a branch and the bird flew away. Drat.

We also came across a migrant SWAINSON'S THRUSH, about 1/4 mile from the canyon entrance. Swainson's is an uncommon but regular migrant in Scheelite. However, they are much less common here in fall and most of my records are from spring.

A brief stop at the upper picnic area in Garden Canyon yielded PLUMBEOUS and CASSIN'S VIREOS in the same tree.

Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Some days it's better to stay home. It was a beautiful blue sky morning and I decided to check Whitewater Draw and Willcox. The temperature was about 10 degrees below average this morning and it felt quite crisp when I headed out, somewhat in keeping with the fall season that is now officially underway.

From a waterbird standpoint, I had a disappointing and frustrating visit to Whitewater Draw. After the recent rain, all ponds have high water levels and there's hardly any shorebird habitat. Also, since it's a little too early for ducks, the high water has no real benefit at the moment. The worst of both worlds. I was unable to walk the berm around the main pond nor reach the north viewing platform. At one side the water was lapping over the top of my wellies before I'd really got started. At the other side, cloying mud sucked me down with ease. All for the want of a little fill dirt/gravel, of which a large pile stands nearby. I talked to the area manager about this problem on my last visit. While he's aware of the problem and it is scheduled to be addressed, I didn't get the impression that it would be anytime soon. It's bad enough that lots of time, effort and money has been spent on building two poorly designed viewing platforms (not high enough), not being able to access one of them just adds insult to injury.

The birds reflected the conditions -- a few AVOCETS and 100+ WHITE-FACED IBIS were obvious. Other pickings were slim -- just one each of WILSON'S SNIPE, LEAST SANDPIPER, GREATER YELLOWLEGS and WILSON'S PHALAROPE were all that I spotted.

The good news was that the willows around the ponds held plenty of migrant landbirds. Highlights were several WILLOW and GRAY FLYCATCHERS, WARBLING VIREO, numerous ORANGE-CROWNED and one MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER, LAZULI BUNTING and a handful of BULLOCK'S ORIOLES. I noted most of the expected sparrows even though I did not check the south willow grove. Five of the six regular AZ swallows worked over the ponds (missed Violet-green).

57 species recorded at Whitewater Draw:
Pied-billed Grebe, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, White-faced Ibis, Mallard, N. Pintail, N. Shoveler, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, N. Harrier, Swainson's Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Scaled Quail, Sora, Am. Coot, Am. Avocet, Killdeer, Wilson's Snipe, Greater Yellowlegs, Wilson's Phalarope, Mourning Dove, Great Horned Owl, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Willow, Gray & Vermilion Flycatchers, Black & Say's Phoebes, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Horned Lark, Tree, N. Rough-winged, Bank, Cliff & Barn Swallows, Marsh Wren, Curve-billed Thrasher, Loggerhead Shrike, Warbling Vireo, Orange-crowned & MacGillivray's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Brewer's, Vesper, Lark, Black-throated, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Lark Bunting, Pyrrhuloxia, Lazuli Bunting, Eastern Meadowlark, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Bullock's Oriole and House Finch.

I arrived at Willcox at 11:00am and started birding near the golf course pond. After a few minutes I got that sinking feeling when I realized that I'd locked my keys in the car. By the time that I'd called AAA and recovered, it was 12:30pm and quite toasty. By this time my heart really wasn't in it and I probably missed lots of stuff.

Best bird on the main pond was a single BROWN PELICAN. Lots of them showed up in Arizona this year but I haven't seen any recent reports in SE AZ. Continuing birds include MARBLED GODWIT and CALIFORNIA GULL. I wasn't able to find any Stilt Sandpipers. My first lowland YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER of the season was in the big willow at the golf course pond.

26 species recorded at Willcox Ponds:
Eared Grebe, Brown Pelican, Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, White-faced Ibis, Gadwall, Mallard, N. Pintail, N. Shoveler, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, Swainson's Hawk, Am. Coot, Am. Avocet, Long-billed Dowitcher, Marbled Godwit, Least Sandpiper, Wilson's Phalarope, California Gull, Eurasian Collared-Dove, N. Rough-winged Swallow, Marsh Wren, Loggerhead Shrike, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Savannah Sparrow and House Sparrow.

Friday, September 24, 2004
First of two days with Todd Pepper from Leamington, ON. We spent today in Garden, Sawmill and Carr Canyons looking for three target species. On a generally slow birding day we found only one of them. The morning began quite chilly in Sawmill then became fairly warm in the afternoon. There was enough wind to clear the air and not enough to be a problem for birding. The pristine view from Carr Canyon was spectacular.

Our three targets were difficult for different reasons. Buff-breasted Flycatcher is all but done and my records show only a 30% chance in Sawmill during September week 4. Targeting migrants is mostly a question of being in the right place at the right time. Hermit Warbler migration is well past its peak, although I do have a few October records, Cassin's Vireo seems a bit late this year and I saw my FOS on Monday in Garden Canyon.

Some patient listening over a 30 minute period enabled us to pick up BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER in Sawmill. The bird was the same richly colored individual that I saw on September 13 (silver band on right leg), near picnic table #2. I left my camera in the car which ensured that we got great views of this very cooperative bird as it preened in the morning sunlight.

We stayed in the canyon for another hour looking and listening for our other targets without success. In fact, the canyon was very quiet which is normal at this time of year. Species noted from a total of 17 included a perched SHARP-SHINNED and a soaring COOPER'S HAWK, a singing GREATER ROADRUNNER (yes folks, they breed up here!), a couple of calling ARIZONA WOODPECKERS, a fly-by PAINTED REDSTART and several calling HEPATIC TANAGERS.

As we headed back down Garden Canyon, my SE AZ first of season TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE was perched near the pictograph site (actually, two birds). The bird was really too far away to photograph but I normally don't let such things stop me. This was my earliest record in the Huachucas by some margin. Prior to today, my average first sighting date (in Carr, Garden, Sawmill, Scheelite and Miller Canyons) was October 11 with extremes of October 4-18.

As we searched around the upper picnic area, we heard the unmistakable "clucking" of ELEGANT TROGON so we broke from what we were doing and soon tracked down a male and female. Any day with a trogon can't be all bad. Activity was low here and the only migrants that we noted were NASHVILLE, BLACK-THROATED GRAY and TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS.

Carr Canyon was even quieter than Garden and Sawmill had been -- perhaps not surprising since we didn't get up to Reef until almost noon. We worked the campground and the road for a couple of hours but really didn't find much until we returned to Reef around 1:30pm  RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES were surprisingly numerous and vocal in the campground -- normally they stay a little higher up the mountain. AMERICAN ROBINS were everywhere. I picked up a couple more SE AZ first of season species here -- RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER and RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET. Since we weren't looking for OLIVE WARBLER, it was perhaps inevitable that they would be (relatively!) easy to find -- a juvenile and an adult vocalized intermittently.

As we headed back down the road, a migrant OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER was perched atop a snag in typical fashion.

46 species recorded in Carr, Garden and Sawmill Canyons:
Turkey Vulture, Sharp-shinned, Cooper's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Gambel's Quail, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Anna's Hummingbird, Elegant Trogon, Red-naped Sapsucker, Acorn & Arizona Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Olive-sided & Buff-breasted Flycatchers, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Phainopepla, Canyon & Bewick's Wrens, Townsend's Solitaire, Hermit Thrush, Am. Robin, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, Red-breasted & White-breasted Nuthatches, Brown Creeper, Loggerhead Shrike, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Western Scrub-Jay, Common Raven, Hutton's Vireo, Olive, Nashville, Black-throated & Townsend's Warblers, Painted Redstart, Hepatic Tanager, Spotted Towhee, Yellow-eyed Junco, Blue Grosbeak, Eastern Meadowlark, House Finch and Lesser Goldfinch.

Saturday, September 25, 2004
Out again today with Todd. We visited Patagonia Lake State Park and Kino Springs in search of two targets -- Gray Flycatcher and Cassin's Vireo. After a mostly clear and sunny start, a monsoon-like cloud build up led to thunderstorms and afternoon and evening rain in the Sierra Vista area.

Patagonia Lake had plenty of birds on offer this morning. BOTTERI'S SPARROWS were "sputtering" along the entrance road as we drove in and several hours later we easily saw one during a brief stop as we left. We began at the deep end of the lake where there was a very large gathering of BARN SWALLOWS and a few TREE and VIOLET-GREEN. Nothing much of note on the water, just a couple of migrant OSPREYS.

After we started the creek trail it didn't take long to track down a calling GRAY FLYCATCHER, the first of only two individuals that we found. We then spent about four hours wandering around and turned up 60+ species. Unfortunately, Cassin's Vireo wasn't one of them. We found a nice mix of migrants and continuing summer species including VIRGINIA RAIL (first wet area after dropping down the steps), SORA, YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO, NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET seen at very close range, DUSKY and DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHERS, lots of ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, singletons of NASHVILLE, BLACK-THROATED GRAY and WILSON'S WARBLERS, a completely silent YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, SUMMER TANAGER, BLUE GROSBEAK and LAZULI BUNTING.

The first pond at Kino Springs was loaded with seed eating species in the weedy areas. Highlight was a male INDIGO BUNTING among the many BLUE GROSBEAKS and a few LAZULI BUNTINGS. [Most of my SE AZ records for Indigo Bunting are from Kino Springs.] Sparrows were also plentiful with LARK SPARROW being the most common. Other species included a juvenile GRAY HAWK, RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, 2 SPOTTED SANDPIPERS, WESTERN TANAGER and GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE.

The ponds and trees at the club house pond held 30 BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCKS, one or more adult GRAY HAWKS, several COMMON GROUND-DOVES and a very confiding GREATER ROADRUNNER We saw 40+ species in all.

Our last stop of the day was in the riparian section of lower Harshaw Creek Road. Unfortunately, the creek is completely dry and we saw very few birds. Only a lingering DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER was of note (most birds leave by the end of September-mid October, very few overwinter).

After we parted company, Todd visited a very muddy San Pedro river and saw GREEN KINGFISHER at Kingfisher pond.

Day list (82 species recorded):
Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue & Green Herons, Great Egret,  Black-crowned Night-Heron, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Mallard, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Gray, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Gambel's Quail, Virginia Rail, Sora, Am. Coot, Spotted Sandpiper, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Common Ground-Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Greater Roadrunner, Belted Kingfisher, Acorn, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Red-naped Sapsucker, N. Beardless-Tyrannulet, Gray, Dusky, Vermilion & Dusky-capped Flycatchers, Black & Say's Phoebes, Cassin's Kingbird, Tree, Violet-green & Barn Swallows, Bewick's, House & Marsh Wrens, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Common Raven, Bell's & Hutton's Vireos, Orange-crowned, Nashville, Yellow, Black-throated Gray & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat, Summer & Western Tanagers, Green-tailed & Abert's Towhees, Botteri's, Chipping, Brewer's, Vesper, Lark, Black-throated, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks, Lazuli & Indigo Buntings, Red-winged Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch and House Sparrow.

Tuesday, September 28, 2004
For the first time in a couple of weeks, I checked the highway 90 area of the San Pedro this morning. I wanted to check on migrant activity, looking in particular for Cassin's Vireo, a bird that I couldn't find recently while working. I was also hoping to find and photograph the Green Kingfisher that first showed up about a month ago and has been seen again several times recently. I went one for two. Conditions could not have been any better -- sunny and mild with very little wind. The same cannot be said for the trails that continue overgrown and very muddy in places after recent rain.

I started out by walking around the big pond (kingfisher pond), continued west along garden wash to the small pond (black phoebe pond), then back north along the river returning to the big pond. Trail conditions made this an arduous task, especially walking around the big pond. Fortunately, I had the sense to wear my wellies.

The abundant weedy habitat continues to attract lots of seed eating species -- fairly common to abundant species in this habitat today included GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE, WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, BLUE GROSBEAK (present in very high numbers), LAZULI BUNTING and LESSER GOLDFINCH. Also present in the same habitat were BREWER'S & VESPER SPARROWS and PYRRHULOXIA.

The highlight of the morning was WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER, a new species for me on the San Pedro. There are probably not too many records for this bird on the river -- they are very much a mountain migrant. However, I do have a few lowland records at Kino Springs. Interestingly, I also saw at least four RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS, an uncommon migrant along the river. Most of the few records that I have are from October and November (see SPRNCA bar-graph).

Soon after I reached the big pond for the second time (around 9:15am), I first heard (several double clicks) then saw a GREEN KINGFISHER sitting out in the open. The bird was on the east side of the pond in the central area where beavers have downed all the trees. I managed to get a fairly decent photo even though I was an estimated 45 feet away and not at a favorable angle in terms of sunlight. I watched the bird successfully fishing for about 10 minutes until it finally flew into the shadows on the west side of pond where it became hard to detect.

Green Kingfisher used to be a reliable species on the San Pedro (numerous breeding pairs) but the population took a serious nose dive starting in 1998. There was a slight recovery in 2000 but since then there have been very few sightings until recently. I am at a loss to explain why because their nesting habitat (created by incised banks) is still intact. Before today, my own last sightings were back in January 2002. I've birded on the river over 500 times so I have some fairly reliable data. Here's my sighting data as a percentage of visits -- it's not scientific because the route that I take is not consistent and I'm not always in locations where I might see the bird. Nevertheless, it's certainly an indication of a downward trend. Note: 1993 was only a partial year (Sep-Dec). The total number of sightings represented through 2003 is 104.

The gray headed race of ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was quite common today. Try as I did, I couldn't make any of them into Tennessee. The only other migrant warblers noted were a few YELLOW-RUMPED and WILSON'S -- COMMON YELLOWTHROATS were common but there's no way to tell if they are residents or migrants.

Continuing summer species included a couple of calling GRAY HAWKS, a fair number of YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS and a few SUMMER TANAGERS.

47 species recorded at SPRNCA (6:45-10:30am):
Mallard, Gray Hawk, Am. Coot, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Anna's Hummingbird, Belted & Green Kingfishers, Williamson's & Red-naped Sapsuckers, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Black & Say's Phoebes, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Barn Swallow, Bewick's, House & Marsh Wrens, White-breasted Nuthatch, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, European Starling, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat, Summer Tanager, Green-tailed, Canyon & Abert's Towhees, Chipping, Brewer's, Vesper, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Pyrrhuloxia, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks, Lazuli Bunting, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch and House Sparrow.

Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Today I checked Willcox Ponds, my 4th visit of the month. I'd originally planned to do this on Monday but the discovery of a Red Knot over the weekend prompted me to postpone. I long ago realized that routine birding is anything but routine when a rarity is around. I started early and had the place to myself for a while. Other birders drifted in and out as the morning wore on and the highest number of vehicles at one time was six. It was partly cloudy and mild when I arrived becoming moderately warm by late morning.

I started at the Golf Course Pond at 6:30am where I'd hoped to find plenty of landbird migrants, perhaps even a Dickcissel or a Bobolink. No such luck. There were plenty of birds around but not many migrants. Species around the pond included GREEN HERON (very uncommon here), a grunting VIRGINIA RAIL, at least two calling SORAS, LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKER (uncommon here), numerous singing MARSH WRENS, ORANGE CROWNED, YELLOW-RUMPED & WILSON'S WARBLERS, VESPER (common), SAVANNAH, LINCOLN'S & WHITE-CROWNED (common) SPARROWS and a small flock of YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS. The nearby temporal pond (a couple of hundred yards to the southwest) held a single SEMIPALMATED PLOVER.

The Wilson's photo (unfortunately, in poor light) is of a female and it caused me to notice an issue regarding the typical portrayal of this species. If you look at this photo as well as the photo of a male in Wyoming earlier this year, you'll note that both birds have a considerable amount of gray in the wings. However, this is not shown nor mentioned in Kaufman, National Geographic and Peterson field guides, nor in the specialist Garret & Dunn Warblers and Curson, Quinn & Beadle Warblers of the Americas. Of the books that I own, only the Sibley guide shows the gray. Interesting.

I headed over to the main pond at 7:30am and almost immediately saw the juvenile RED KNOT on the south shore, opposite the dock. I was quite surprised since I hadn't expected the bird to stay more than a day or so. As I birded around the pond (I made several loops), I saw the bird multiple times; most recently just before I left at11:00am. The bird seemed to favor the area on the north shore just west of the dock (this is where the photo was taken). In fact, most birds seemed to prefer this area, most likely because it contains the most exposed "mud flats", albeit pitifully small. The water level seemed even higher than when I was here exactly one week ago. On the plus side, water was not being pumped into the pond today.

A few LONG-BILLED CURLEWS drifted in at 8:30am and their numbers eventually grew to over 50. A couple of WHITE-FACED IBIS seemed to be hanging with the flock. A small group of 4 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS arrived at the same time and I was able to get a somewhat less than ideal photo of a juvenile. I had one fly-by of the continuing CALIFORNIA GULL, presumably as it headed over to the adjacent sewage ponds in disgust at being disturbed.

That it was it for highlights. I saw most of the usual suspects including perhaps as many as 30 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS but only 2 WILSON'S PHALAROPES. Ducks haven't really come in yet and the only birds of note were a few female BLUE-WINGED TEAL.

55 species recorded at Willcox Ponds:
Eared Grebe, Great Blue & Green Herons, Black-crowned Night-Heron, White-faced Ibis, Mallard, N. Pintail, Green-winged, Blue-winged & Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, N. Harrier, Swainson's Hawk, Virginia Rail, Sora, Am. Coot, Am. Avocet, Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Long-billed Dowitcher, Long-billed Curlew, Red Knot, Spotted, Western, Least & Pectoral Sandpipers, Wilson's Phalarope, California Gull, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Black & Say's Phoebes, Tree & Barn Swallows, Marsh Wren, Curve-billed Thrasher, Loggerhead Shrike, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Vesper, Savannah, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Eastern Meadowlark, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, House Finch and House Sparrow.

Thursday, September 30, 2004
I tried to squeeze in another September visit to Sawmill Canyon this morning. However, when I saw how windy it was driving up Garden Canyon, I decided to abandon the idea -- no point in trying to gather routine data under such adverse conditions. I turned around to head home then decided to stop at the lower Garden Canyon fishing ponds at the last minute.

Both ponds have been dry for some time and I was surprised to see that the main pond now has some water. Although the water level is still extremely low, the west side has some healthy green growth and the east side has open water. Surrounding brushy and weedy habitat had attracted many seed eating species and I was delighted to find a number of LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCHES among them.

The sighting was only my second September record in SE AZ and is perhaps an indication that it will be a good winter for them. Some years they are fairly common, other years we get hardly any. Quite a few were present but I was unable to count or even estimate how many due to the wind

I also noted a few PINE SISKINS. Although I typically start seeing this species in the Huachuca canyons starting in September, I don't usually see them at low elevation until later in the year.

CHIPPING and BREWER'S SPARROWS were present in about equal numbers. It seemed like there were 100s of them but since they were milling around in the wind I'm sure the number was actually much less.

BLUE GROSBEAKS, LAZULI BUNTINGS and LESSER GOLDFINCHES were common and I saw one bird that might have been a female Varied or Indigo Bunting. Unfortunately, it was only a fleeting view and I had to leave it unidentified.

I eventually headed home after an hour or so when a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK came by and spoiled all the fun.

20 species recorded at Garden Canyon Fishing Ponds:
Sharp-shinned Hawk, Mourning Dove, Anna's Hummingbird, Bewick's Wren, Western Tanager, Green-tailed & Canyon Towhees, Chipping, Brewer's, Vesper, Lark, Savannah, Song & White-crowned Sparrows, Blue Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch and Lawrence's Goldfinch.

This log is in chronological order and the most recent entries are at the bottom of the page.
The last update was on Thursday, September 30, 2004

Species List

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

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