Species List

Stuart Healy Journal - April, 2006 If you use the contents of my journal for commercial purposes, ease acknowledge the source to your clients - thanks.

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This log is in chronological order and the most recent entries are at the bottom of the page.
The last update was on Sunday, April 30, 2006

Sunday, April 2, 2006
First of two days with Garry and Deb Vaccaro from Elmhurst, IL. We'll be working on photo opportunities rather than targeting specific birds. Apart from a brief 10 minute stop in the Paton's Yard, we spent the entire morning at Patagonia Lake. Although the temperature on the drive over dipped to 33 degrees early this morning, it was the warmest day for quite some time and the afternoon high in Sierra Vista was well above 80 degrees. Very pleasant birding -- just a tad too warm by noon.

Despite not making any real attempt to locate anything in particular, we still managed to rustle up 73 species at the lake including a fair number of migrants. The downside of my recent visit to California was that I missed the opportunity to record arrival dates of the early returning breeding birds and migrants (I know your heart just bleeds for me). Consequently, today I was able to pick up a few season firsts.

Highlight of a three gnatcatcher species day was a pair of BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHERS building a nest. Actually, the nest is essentially completed and we watched male and female bring lining material and squish it down with their bodies. The nest height was in the 12-14 feet range in a mesquite, well over double the "normal" nest height for this species. I've also seen a nest as high as 25 feet. The image of this partially black-capped male is not very good but I've included it as documentation of nesting for the fourth consecutive year (2003-2006).

My last visit on March 28 didn't yield a single BELL'S VIREO. Today, their bubby song was evident throughout and we managed decent looks (and hopefully photos for Garry) of this often elusive bird in the still leafless mesquites. LUCY'S WARBLERS are now abundant, YELLOW WARBLERS common. Migrant ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS were fairly common and we also saw NASHVILLE and BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS, both of which are uncommon migrants at the lake. Other migrants/returning breeders included OSPREY, 4 RING-BILLED GULLS, CASSIN'S VIREO, WESTERN & CASSIN'S KINGBIRDS, CLIFF SWALLOW and PINE SISKIN (very scarce here).

The NEOTROPIC CORMORANT population has climbed to at least six birds. A wintering female COMMON MERGANSER continues (I have zero records at the lake after the first week of April). A lone BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK was just about on time for this location. Wintering VIRGINIA RAILS were in spring mode as evidenced by their "ka-dick" calls -- grunting is mostly what they do throughout the winter months.

Other species included GADWALL, several vocal NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULETS, a couple of GRAY FLYCATCHERS, 3+ ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS, BUSHTIT (not annual at the lake but this year they are breeding here) and a few male and female BULLOCK'S ORIOLES.

84 species recorded:
Pied-billed Grebe, Neotropic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Gadwall, Mallard, Green-winged & Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler,
Common Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Black & Turkey Vultures, Osprey, Gray & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Gambel's Quail, Virginia Rail, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Wilson's Snipe, Ring-billed Gull, Rock Pigeon, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Greater Roadrunner, Broad-billed, Violet-crowned, Black-chinned & Anna's Hummingbirds, Belted Kingfisher, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, N. Beardless-Tyrannulet, Black & Say's Phoebes, Gray, Vermilion & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Cliff Swallow, Am. Pipit, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bewick's & Marsh Wrens, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Blue-gray, Black-tailed & Black-capped Gnatcatchers, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, House Sparrow, Bell's & Cassin's Vireos, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, Orange-crowned, Nashville, Lucy's, Yellow & Black-throated Gray Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Abert's Towhee, Chipping, Brewer's, Black-throated, Song, Lincoln's, White-crowned Sparrows, Northern Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Red-winged Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle and Bullock's Oriole.

Monday, April 3, 2006
Out again today with Garry and Deb. Another warm day under high thin clouds; approaching 90 degrees in Sierra Vista by mid afternoon. We birded on the San Pedro and in Carr Canyon looking for photo opportunities.

Our activities on the San Pedro were confined to the area around the San Pedro House and on the river due east of the SP House. Birds were plentiful in both locations. Highlights were 2 GRAY HAWKS seen perched and flying and heard giving their distinctive calls with a beseeching quality; a single HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER and 2 CASSIN'S VIREOS.

Breeding activity for a number of species is in full swing. GILA WOODPECKERS and YELLOW WARBLERS were strongly defining territory. Wintering GREEN-TAILED TOWHEES, WHITE-CROWNED & BREWER'S SPARROWS are still plentiful. PYRRHULOXIAS were very common. Other species included PINE SISKIN, ORANGE-CROWNED & LUCY'S WARBLERS and CANYON & ABERT'S TOWHEES. 40+ species in all.

Carr Canyon was less active, especially at Reef where it was a little windy. Great looks at ACORN WOODPECKERS, PAINTED REDSTART and pristine BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS were perhaps the highlights.

In contrast to my visit on March 29, BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHERS were plentiful today. Initially, they were fairly quiet (just a few "pit" calls); eventually they began to sing. BAND-TAILED PIGEON, GRACE'S & VIRGINIA'S WARBLERS and HEPATIC TANAGER are also back on territory. Only Grace's was singing.

Disaster struck when Garry's 20D Camera died. He was able to use my 1D for the rest of the afternoon and I loaned him my 20D to keep the rest of his trip in photos (birds willing, of course).

70 species recorded:
Great Blue Heron, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Turkey Vulture, Sharp-shinned, Gray & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Gambel's Quail, Rock & Band-tailed Pigeons, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Anna's & Rufous Hummingbirds, Acorn & Gila Woodpeckers, Red-naped Sapsucker, N. Flicker, Black & Say's Phoebes, Hammond's, Buff-breasted & Vermilion Flycatchers, Cassin's Kingbird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Rock Wren, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Am. Robin, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Western Scrub-Jay, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, European Starling, House Sparrow, Cassin's & Hutton's Vireos, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, Orange-crowned, Virginia's, Lucy's, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Gray & Grace's Warblers, Painted Redstart, Hepatic Tanager, Green-tailed, Spotted, Canyon & Abert's Towhees, Chipping, Brewer's, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Dark-eyed (Gray-headed) & Yellow-eyed Juncos, Pyrrhuloxia and Red-winged & Brewer's Blackbirds.

Wednesday, April 5, 2006
First of two days with Fred and Donna Niedermeyer from Ranchos Palos Verdes, CA. This is our third outing together. We spent all of our time in the Huachucas looking for a handful of target species. Although well below the forecasted velocity, high winds were a definite problem. On the us side, a 30% chance of rain produced just a few sprinkles. A short report today.

We spent the early morning hours unsuccessfully trolling for Montezuma Quail along the road to Montezuma Pass. I've had recent success in this area but, alas, not today. High elevation warblers were also on our agenda and we found a few species in Carr Canyon despite the wind.

Migrant HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHERS were very common in the oaks around 5500 feet on Montezuma Pass Road. WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS whizzed over our heads. Highlights here were CASSIN'S VIREO and great looks at BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER and PAINTED REDSTART.

The leafing out sycamores and nearby riparian habitat at the first stream crossing in Carr Canyon hosted many species. The highlight for me was the most pristine (White-striped) WHITE-THROATED SPARROW that I've ever seen -- wonderful contrast between the white and yellow. The bird was detected by its singing and posed for several minutes (of course, I didn't have my camera today). A new Carr species for me. Other birds here included many of PINE SISKINS, VIRGINIA'S & LUCY'S WARBLERS and LAZULI BUNTING. A male ARIZONA WOODPECKER posed as it drummed near a nest cavity.

A stop at the Sorry Vista overlook near Reef Campground produced wonderful eye level views of a soaring ZONE-TAILED HAWK. Although we had to work for a while in the wind to find OLIVE WARBLER, our reward came with good looks at a pristine orange-headed adult male of which I'm so fond. GRACE'S WARBLERS were almost as elusive.

52 species recorded:
Turkey Vulture, N. Harrier, Cooper's & Zone-tailed Hawks, Band-tailed Pigeon, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Greater Roadrunner, White-throated Swift, Acorn & Arizona Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Say's Phoebe, Hammond's & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Violet-green Swallow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Phainopepla, Cactus, Rock, Canyon & Bewick's Wrens, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Hermit Thrush, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Verdin, Mexican Jay, Common Raven, Cassin's & Hutton's Vireos, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, Olive, Virginia's, Lucy's, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Gray & Grace's Warblers, Painted Redstart, Spotted Towhee, Chipping Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Dark-eyed & Yellow-eyed Juncos, Lazuli Bunting and Scott's Oriole.

Thursday, April 6, 2006
Out again today with Fred and Donna for a long day in the field looking for a few target species. We left Sierra Vista at 4:30am and returned at 7:00pm. We found 2 of 4 target species (saw Black-capped Gnatcatcher & Rufous-capped Warbler, missed Montezuma Quail & Flame-colored Tanager) and picked up a bonus Northern Pygmy-Owl.

We began hiking from Sycamore Canyon parking lot at 6:40am and arrived at the "warbler spot" (confluence of Sycamore and Montana Canyons) around 7:15am. Almost immediately, I heard a NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL tooting about 1/2 mile to the south. "Let's go after the owl" I said. Little did I know how sadistic the bird would turn out to be. The owl dragged us about 3/4 mile and then perched a long way from us on the opposite side of the canyon where I could just about make it out. After tooting away for what seemed like an age, the bird flew to our side of the canyon and a short hillside scramble produced a close range look. All's well that ends well.

We returned to the warbler location and had to spend quite some time in the canyon before finally obtaining wonderful looks at an eventually cooperative bird. We first heard the RUFOUS-CAPPED WARBLER give two very loud and brief bursts of song at 9:00am. Not a glimmer of movement ensued and we never heard the bird sing or call again for several hours. We patrolled up and down the canyon and made a brief sortie into Montana Canyon. Leo Miller arrived around 10:30am. After relating the story of our morning so far, I mentioned that I thought the warbler was a little down canyon. Leo headed that way and soon found the warbler foraging silently in a willow. We immediately lost the bird and then lost and found it again twice. Many thanks to Leo for the help. I had just walked within feet of the warbler without any sign of movement and then the bird popped up into a small willow where it sat for 5 minutes as we all chatted away and admired it from extremely close range. The bird showed no sign of being concerned and just looked at us as if to say "let's get this over with". This is in keeping with my experience in French Joe Canyon where the birds were absolutely fearless -- they perch where they want to perch regardless of the presence of people.

Although the bird was super cooperative in allowing close range looks, I could not obtain an unobstructed view even though I was able to circle entirely around the willow. Consequently, a killer photo of this species eludes me even though I have seen it over 100 times! Nevertheless, I did obtain a couple of intrinsically decent shots -- Rufous-capped Warbler image #1, Rufous-capped Warbler image #2.

Hummingbirds were quite active for much of the morning, particularly in the shallow water that runs over the bedrock. We watched COSTA'S and RUFOUS bathing; BROAD-BILLED, ANNA'S & BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRDS were also present.

Other species in the canyon included BELTED KINGFISHER, HAMMOND'S, DUSKY-CAPPED & ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS, an unidentified "Western" Flycatcher, ROCK WREN, CANYON WREN, many HUTTON'S and a single CASSIN'S VIREO, BLACK-THROATED GRAY & TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS and a calling HEPATIC TANAGER.

We didn't get back to the parking lot until 12:45pm and the time we spent looking for the warbler probably cost us a couple of birds (quail and tanager). After a brief and token effort for the quail near Sycamore, we drove slowly along the Ruby Road hoping for a roadside sighting without success. It seems that I rarely find Montezuma Quail when specifically looking for the bird. The vast majority of my 200+ sightings are completely serendipitous.

We arrived at Madera Kubo at 2:30m. An hour of looking and listening produced neither sight nor sound of "Flame Boy". The recently returned male Flame-colored Tanager had been seen in the morning (and at 1:00pm, as I later learned). Timing is everything. Among the birds in the immediate Kubo area were MAGNIFICENT HUMMINGBIRD, HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER (everywhere right now), CASSIN'S VIREO, several PAINTED REDSTARTS, lots of PINE SISKINS and SCOTT'S ORIOLE.

We finished up Patagonia Lake State Park where it was very birdy an hour before sunset. We had enough time to see a male BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHER near the (unoccupied) nest. BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER was in the same area. We recorded almost 40 species while walking to and from the nest including OSPREY, a grunting VIRGINIA RAIL, many swallows of four species, BELL'S VIREO and LUCY'S & ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS.

78 species recorded:
White-faced Ibis, Green-winged & Cinnamon Teal, Mallard, N. Shoveler, Ruddy Duck, Black & Turkey Vultures, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, Virginia Rail, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Mourning & White-winged Doves, N. Pygmy-Owl, White-throated Swift, Broad-billed, Magnificent, Black-chinned, Anna's, Costa's , Broad-tailed & Rufous Hummingbirds, Belted Kingfisher, Acorn & Arizona Woodpeckers, Black Phoebe, Hammond's, Vermilion, Dusky-capped & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Cassin's Kingbird, Tree, Violet-green, N. Rough-winged & Cliff Swallows, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Phainopepla, Rock, Canyon, Bewick's & House Wrens, Am. Robin, Blue-gray & Black-capped Gnatcatchers, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Verdin, Mexican Jay, Common Raven, Bell's, Cassin's & Hutton's Vireos, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, Orange-crowned, Lucy's, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Gray, Townsend's & Rufous-capped Warblers, Painted Redstart, Hepatic Tanager, Rufous-crowned, Chipping, Brewer's, Black-throated, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, N. Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle and Scott's Oriole.

Saturday, April 8, 2006
Out today with Jeanne Howard and Burnley Snyder from Seattle, WA. We birded at Patagonia Lake and Kino Springs. A calm, blue sky day up to the high 80s by noon. Is it really two months to getaway day?

At Patagonia Lake State Park, the change from winter to spring is readily apparent by a dramatic drop in waterfowl and (to a lesser extent) sparrows; an increase in passage migrants; and the breeding activity of permanent and summer resident species.

Highlights were a pair of NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULETS building a nest in a debris clump (in a tree used annually), a pair of foraging and calling BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHERS and my first of season YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT (my earliest record by 6 days).

Among the many migrants were OSPREY, SPOTTED SANDPIPER, HAMMOND'S & PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHERS, ORANGE-CROWNED, BLACK-THROATED GRAY & WILSON'S WARBLERS and PAINTED REDSTART.

After seeing unidentified "Western" Flycatchers on my last two outings, I was eased to hear today's bird calling (I hate not being able to put a name to a bird!). If my records are any indication, Painted Redstart is a very scarce migrant at the lake. Prior to today, I had 6 records -- all in the same year (1999) in March and April. It appears that there is a wave of lowland migrant Painted Redstarts this year.

Continuing winter species included a single near-breeding-plumaged EARED GREBE, ~10 GREEN-WINGED TEAL and a handful of WILSON'S SNIPE.

Despite the uncomfortable early afternoon temperature, Kino Springs was very crowded with golfers (I rank birders, fisherman and golfers equally in craziness). I expected to easily find GRAY HAWK but that wasn't the case. We stayed just long enough to locate an uncooperative bird at the first pond.

80 species recorded (73 Patagonia Lake, 30 Kino Springs):
Pied-billed & Eared Grebes, Neotropic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Gadwall, Mallard, Green-winged & Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Ruddy Duck, Black &
Turkey Vultures, Osprey, Cooper's, Gray & Red-tailed Hawks, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Wilson's Snipe, Spotted Sandpiper, Rock Pigeon, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Anna's Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Beardless-Tyrannulet, Black & Say's Phoebes, Hammond's, Pacific-slope, Vermilion & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Tree, Violet-green, N. Rough-winged & Barn Swallows, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Phainopepla, Cactus, Bewick's, House & Marsh Wrens, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Bushtit, Verdin, Common Raven, European Starling, House Sparrow, Bell's Vireo, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Orange-crowned, Lucy's, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Gray & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Painted Redstart, Yellow-breasted Chat, Green-tailed Towhee, Chipping, Brewer's, Lark, Black-throated, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, N. Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark and Great-tailed Grackle.

Monday, April 10, 2006
Out today with Frank and Mary Montgomery who share their time between Seattle, WA and Scottsdale AZ. Last year we be birded together on April 4 which was a very windy day. Unfortunately, we didn't fare much better this morning when we visited a very windy Carr Canyon. We abandoned after ~3 hours. However, since I have a cancellation for tomorrow, we can try again.

Although plenty of birds were present around Reef, they were certainly hard to hear and track down. Highlights of a short visit were a male OLIVE WARBLER and my first-of-season HERMIT WARBLER.

Other species seen or heard included a continuing flock of BAND-TAILED PIGEONS, calling BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHERS, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, singing BLACK-THROATED GRAY and GRACE'S WARBLERS, HEPATIC TANAGER and YELLOW-EYED JUNCO.

Definitely not a fun outing -- and if it's not fun, why bother?.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Today was a rescheduled day with Frank and Mary. Yesterday's high winds continued to build throughout the day and some rain fell late in the day. Thankfully, calm conditions prevailed this morning for a trip to Patagonia Lake and Kino Springs. A beautiful blue sky day in the mid 80s.

We started quite late at Patagonia Lake by my standards (8:00am) and bird activity was noticeably lower than on recent visits. Even so, after chipping away for about four hours, we eventually turned up 70 species.

I was dismayed to discover that the gnatcatcher nest that I first found on April 2 and still intact on April 8 was completely gone today! While investigating what might have happened, I heard a BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHER calling and the bird led us to a new nest in progress. Both birds were busy collecting nest material and adding it to an already well developed nest. The initial nest that didn't make it was in a very exposed position in a leafless mesquite at a height of 12 feet or more. The nest now under construction is at a more typical height below 5 feet. Let's hope that this one survives.

At least three migrant  PAINTED REDSTARTS were of note -- they are being seen passing through lowland locations throughout Arizona this year. Migrants were well represented today with SOLITARY SANDPIPER being the pick of the bunch (my third record at the lake). Others included SPOTTED SANDPIPER, PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER, several swallow species, CASSIN'S VIREO and several warbler species included lots of ORANGE-CROWNED, a handful of WILSON'S and a couple of BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS.

NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULETS (nest building), BELL'S VIREOS, YELLOW & LUCY'S WARBLERS and YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS were all in full voice. GRAY HAWKS soared over the creek.

Among the continuing wintering species were a single breeding plumaged EARED GREBE, a smattering of ducks, WILSON'S SNIPE, MARSH WREN and GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE.

On each visit recently I've expected to see or hear Least Bittern. So far nada. They typically arrive in March week 1.

Kino Springs was reasonably productive in the early afternoon (57 species in 1.5 hours). Highlights were a breeding plumaged EARED GREBE (only my 5th record here and the first in spring), GREAT EGRET, a female LESSER SCAUP, a couple of GRAY HAWKS, LESSER YELLOWLEGS, GILDED FLICKER and MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER .

93 species recorded:
Pied-billed & Eared Grebes, Neotropic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Am. Wigeon, Gadwall, Green-winged & Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Ruddy Duck, Black & Turkey Vultures, Gray, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Gambel's Quail, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Wilson's Snipe, Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary & Spotted Sandpipers, Rock Pigeon, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Greater Roadrunner, Black-chinned & Anna's Hummingbirds, Belted Kingfisher, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Gilded Flicker, N. Beardless-Tyrannulet, Pacific-slope, Vermilion & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Black & Say's Phoebes, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Tree, Violet-green, N. Rough-winged, Cliff & Barn Swallows, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bewick's & Marsh Wrens, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, European Starling, House Sparrow, Bell's & Cassin's Vireos, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Orange-crowned, Lucy's, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Gray, MacGillivray's & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Painted Redstart, Yellow-breasted Chat, Green-tailed & Abert's Towhees, Rufous-winged, Chipping, Brewer's, Lark, Black-throated, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, N. Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Red-winged & Brewer's Blackbirds and Great-tailed Grackle.

Thursday, April 13, 2006
The days are getting warmer and my thoughts are already turning to my annual June escape. Although I've been planning a trip to Maine and New Hampshire for some time, I can't rule out the possibility of the old Trogon pointing north to Wyoming again come June. Meanwhile, I have a few welcome days to myself and today I headed down to the San Pedro to test a new lens. I also visited Sierra Vista EOP. Another fairly warm day -- 60 degrees when I left home just after 6:00am and already up to 85 by 11:00am.

I spent an hour near the San Pedro House followed by a short time on the river due east of the house. I then walked north of the Highway 90 bridge and finished up on the river about 200 yards south of the San Pedro house trail. I didn't visit Kingfisher Pond. My limited coverage was reflected in a fairly low total for this time of year of only 50 species.

Migrant WILSON'S WARBLERS were by far the most common bird (present everywhere in bucketloads). I also saw a handful of ORANGE-CROWNED and a couple of MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLERS. Of course, breeding YELLOW and LUCY'S WARBLERS were easy to see. A couple of trilling male BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRDS represented an uncommon sighting on the river (I have a handful of spring and fall records).

Migrant flycatchers were much in evidence and I saw HAMMOND'S, GRAY, DUSKY and PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHERS. Breeding VERMILION and ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS were also present but I failed to detect Brown-crested.

I'm fairly sure that I heard the distinctly two syllable "wee-sit" of a Cordilleran Flycatcher (Pacific-slopes say "su-weet" in glissando style). Even though I trust my ears, I'm not going to claim it since I can't be absolutely 100% certain. Conventional wisdom states that lowland migrant "Western" Flycatchers are all considered to be Pacific-slope (but how the hell can anybody be really sure?). Since you can't tell them apart in the field and there are claims that slippery slopes sing the song of Cordilleran and vice-versa, it's a can of worms. Lump 'em!

A couple of WHITE-TAILED KITES north of the bridge represented the best sighting of the day for me. This is the second pair nesting in the area this year (also upriver at San Pedro River Inn).

It was pretty warm by the time I reached Sierra Vista EOP and my enthusiasm gauge was on empty. However, I hung in for about an hour and saw about 30 species. I'm fond of saying "it rarely pays to be lazy" and that sure was true today. I saw my earliest ever BLUE GROSBEAK (not counting wintering birds). In fact, I saw three of them -- all adult males. I'd never even seen one in April before.

The only definite migrants were WHITE-FACED IBIS and a few TREE SWALLOWS.

A few wintering/migrant duck species are still present along with SORA (May 10) and MARSH WREN (May 2). The dates are my latest sightings at the EOP.

I met a couple of birders who told me that THICK-BILLED KINGBIRDS are back at Patagonia Roadside Rest Area (seen yesterday, 4/12).

70 species recorded:
Great Blue Heron, White-faced Ibis, Gadwall, Mallard, Green-winged & Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Turkey Vulture, White-tailed Kite, Gray & Swainson's Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Gambel's Quail, Sora, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Black-chinned & Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Belted Kingfisher, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Hammond's, Gray, Dusky, Pacific-slope, Vermilion & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Black & Say's Phoebes, Cassin's Kingbird, Tree, N. Rough-winged & Barn Swallows, Cactus, Bewick's, House & Marsh Wrens, Curve-billed Thrasher, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Chihuahuan Raven, European Starling, House Sparrow, Bell's Vireo, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Orange-crowned, Lucy's, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, MacGillivray's & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Green-tailed & Abert's Towhees, Brewer's, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Pyrrhuloxia, Blue Grosbeak, Eastern Meadowlark, Red-winged & Yellow-headed Blackbirds and Great-tailed Grackle.

Friday, April 14, 2006
My recent schedule hasn't allowed me to spend any time on Fort Huachuca so I decided that a visit was in order today. Of course, since I wanted to continue testing my new lens, it was a very cloudy morning. Never underestimate the power of Murphy's Law. High clouds persisted throughout the day and it became very windy by mid afternoon.

I proceeded directly to Sawmill Canyon without lingering in Garden Canyon grassland. Among the roadside species that I noted were GREATER ROADRUNNER, LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKER, VERMILION & ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS, WESTERN & CASSIN'S KINGBIRDS, PHAINOPEA, NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD (very common and vocal in a recently burned area), VESPER SPARROW & EASTERN MEADOWLARK.

Sawmill Canyon was initially very quiet under cloudy skies. However, this was my first visit in 10 weeks and it didn't seem to matter. I hold the canyon in high regard and it always has a magical appeal to me. I chipped away steadily and eventually encountered many of the boys of summer while recording a total of 30 species..

A flock of WILD TURKEYS were doing their best trogon impressions. Not to be outdone, a real male ELEGANT TROGON called constantly. At times it seemed like they were dueling by "song".

BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHERS waited a while before becoming vocal and when all was said and done I had counted 6 singing birds (on the low side considering the amount of ground that I covered). All other flycatchers were heard only -- the melancholy whistled "peer" of a distant DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER; the "prit-wheer" calls of a couple of ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS on the juniper slopes; and some brief "peek-peek" calls from GREATER PEWEE.

GRACE'S WARBLERS were common and I saw 2-3 each BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS, OLIVE WARBLERS and PAINTED REDSTARTS (all species singing). Other species vocalizing included BAND-TAILED PIGEON, GREATER ROADRUNNER, CASSIN'S KINGBIRD, BEWICK'S WREN, HERMIT THRUSH, AMERICAN ROBIN, BROWN-CREEPER & HUTTON'S VIREO.

Numerous (8-10) ARIZONA WOODPECKERS were chasing each other around and giving their angry sounding scold calls. STELLER'S and MEXICAN JAYS were as obnoxious as ever (difficult to sneak up on anything when these suckers are present).

WILSON'S WARBLER was the only migrant that I detected. Continuing winter species noted were RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET and PINE SISKIN.

Back in Garden Canyon, a stop at the upper picnic area was productive. While the central "magic willow" didn't hold the 20 species that I once recorded at the same time, there was a feeding frenzy of LESSER GOLDFINCHES, ORANGE-CROWNED, VIRGINIA'S, LUCY'S, YELLOW-RUMPED & WILSON'S WARBLERS. It's not often that I get to see Lucy's and Virginia's side by side.

plenty of other species were nearby including a calling WHIP-POOR-WILL, DUSKY-CAPPED & ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS, PAINTED REDSTART, HEPATIC TANAGER and several male LAZULI BUNTINGS.

Not a bad morning of casual birding that I contrived to ruin by watching Manchester United draw 0-0 with bottom of the league Sunderland in the first E match of the Easter period. What a pathetic performance. Chelsea probably haven't stopped laughing yet.

62 species recorded:
Wild Turkey, Rock Pigeon, Band-tailed Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Whip-poor-will, Anna's Hummingbird, Elegant Trogon, Acorn, Gila, Ladder-backed & Arizona Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Greater Pewee, Buff-breasted, Vermilion, Dusky-capped & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Black & Say's Phoebes, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Phainopepla, Cactus, Bewick's & House Wrens, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Hermit Thrush, Am. Robin, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Verdin, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, House Sparrow, Hutton's Vireo, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, Olive, Orange-crowned, Virginia's, Lucy's, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Gray, Grace's & Wilson's Warblers, Painted Redstart, Hepatic Tanager, Spotted Towhee, Vesper Sparrow, Yellow-eyed Junco, Pyrrhuloxia, Lazuli Bunting, Eastern Meadowlark and Great-tailed Grackle.

Saturday, April 15, 2006
I've received a few comments recently that I seem to be turning into a photographer despite my published statement "I'm not a photographer, I'm a birder who takes photographs of birds". Let me set the record straight. Although I like to get images of birds, I am indeed not a photographer. I buy, use and upgrade my equipment in an attempt to get better images. The equipment is a means to an end, not the end in itself as it is to many "real" photographers. I don't spend any of my free time reading and learning about photography. I do such things simply to solve problems as they arise. Most of my knowledge comes via the school of hard knocks as well as what I learn from my clients.

Today is about photography - skip ahead to tomorrow if you find this boring!

This morning I spent a few hours in the immediate vicinity of the San Pedro House where I was finally able to test my new 400mm f/4 DO lens. I was hoping to justify the cost of the lens simply by  improved image quality -- mostly via the intrinsic quality of better optics and partly because I could use the lens stand-alone or with a 1.4X converter rather than the 2X that I have been using. I was quite eased with the results and can definitely state that the basic image quality of the lens is much better that what I have used in the past; and that chromatic aberration (color fringing) is substantially less with the 1.4X converter compared to the 2X. You'll see plenty of twigs against a clear sky in some of the images below -- this is where color fringing really shows when chromatic aberration is present.

I learned another lesson today. The minimum focusing distance of the 400mm DO lens is ~11.5 feet. My previous 300mm lens was less than 5 feet. It caught me out a few times. Generally, though, it won't be a problem because I normally can't get close enough to the birds! The solution (should I ever deem it necessary) is an extension tube that goes between the camera and the lens. This is a glassless deal that simply changes the minimum focusing distance. However, since there's no such thing as a free lunch, I'm sure that there's a side effect out there waiting to bite me in the ass.

I arrived at the San Pedro House at sunrise and immediately saw my first (AZ) WESTERN TANAGER of the season. The bird was quite some distance away and heavily obstructed by branches. Furthermore, I only managed one shot because the bird flew away. Nevertheless, I managed an in focus image that I seriously "photoshopped" to produce this result. Compare it to a scaled down original and you'll get the idea. Note how small the image is in the frame. Sunrise was at 5:57am and the image was shot at 6:11am. The resultant low angle light really made the bird glow and I didn't want to consign it "photo trash" (especially since I didn't have an image of a breeding umaged male), hence the Photoshop jiggery-pokery. My Photoshop skills still have a long way to go but I managed to salvage something,

Note: The best way to do the comparison is as follows. First, click to bring up a list of April image links (left side of screen). Click on Western Tanager under April 15 link after first clicking on scaled down original (you can then move the image window anywhere on screen). By the way, this image is with a 1.4X converter and lacks detail because of the shooting distance.

Another long distance image that I managed was BELL'S VIREO (no jiggery-pokery on this one). You can compare how small and far away it was using a scaled down original. (Use the same technique as above). I was  surprised and eased to get something useful for such a small bird that represents only about 6.5% of the frame -- a rectangle encompassing the bird is 876 x 622 pixels from the 3504 x 2336 full frame. At my web publishing standard of 504 pixels vertically, I'm still scaling down the image! Amazing.

Most of the other test shots that I took show some intrinsic quality:
WHITE-WINGED DOVE fairly distant
ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER 25 feet, lens alone without converter
HOUSE SPARROW 1 rich, early light; close (but can't be closer than 11.5 feet!)
HOUSE SPARROW 2 close, lens alone without converter
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW close, lens alone without converter
BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD 25 feet, lens alone without converter

30 species recorded:
Gambel's Quail. Rock Pigeon, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Say's Phoebe, Vermilion & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Western Kingbird, Cactus & Bewick's Wrens, Curve-billed Thrasher, Chihuahuan Raven, European Starling, House Sparrow, Bell's Vireo, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Yellow Warbler, Western Tanager, Green-tailed, Canyon & Abert's Towhees, Brewer's & White-crowned Sparrows, Pyrrhuloxia, Red-winged Blackbird and Brown-headed Cowbird.

Sunday, April 16, 2006
Easter Sunday and I wanted to go somewhere without the crowds. Patagonia Lake State Park? I think not -- like Lemmings to the slaughter. I decided to visit Las Cienegas National Conservation Area. Normally, I visit this location for grassland birds just off Highway 82. However, today I visited the riparian area near the ranch headquarters. Overall, the area was quite birdy and I recorded 57 species on the property in less than 3 hours. I met just one other birder -- Peter Salomon from Tucson. We birded together for a little while and Peter was kind enough to show me a Zone-tailed Hawk location -- thanks Peter!

I drove in from the south entrance on Highway 82 and only saw a few species in the mesquite-grassland -- typical stuff like AMERICAN KESTREL, several ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS & LOGGERHEAD SHRIKES; lots of HORNED LARKS, BREWER'S & BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS and EASTERN MEADOWLARKS.

The cottonwood-willow gallery had lots of birds, especially in the area that had water. Breeding species and migrants were quite entiful, although we didn't see anything unusual. Highlights were PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER, CASSIN'S VIREO, MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER, PAINTED REDSTART, my season first SUMMER TANAGER, LAZULI BUNTING and several very colorful BULLOCK'S ORIOLES feeding in the willows.

Among the other species were GRAY HAWK, GRAY, DUSKY and a distant calling DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER, HERMIT THRUSH, many WILSON'S & YELLOW WARBLERS and a few ORANGE-CROWNED & LUCY'S WARBLERS.

I enjoyed differentiating between the calls of the various flycatchers. You know, I think Gray Flycatcher was originally an old world species from Britain. Why? Because of its "dry whit", of course.

I finished up to trying to get a photograph of a fairly uncooperative ZONE-TAILED HAWK. I managed a distant image of a perched bird and a coue of better images of a bird in flight -- flight image #1, flight image #2.

64 species recorded:
Turkey Vulture, Cooper's, Gray, Swainson's, Zone-tailed & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Rock Pigeon, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Gray, Dusky, Pacific-slope, Vermilion, Dusky-capped & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Say's Phoebe, Cassin's Kingbird, Horned Lark, Violet-green Swallow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Cactus & Bewick's Wrens, Curve-billed Thrasher, N. Mockingbird, Hermit Thrush, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Loggerhead Shrike, Chihuahuan & Common Raven, House Sparrow, Cassin's Vireo, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Orange-crowned, Lucy's, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, MacGillivray's & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Painted Redstart, Summer Tanager, Canyon & Abert's Towhees, Rufous-crowned, Chipping, Brewer's, Vesper, Lark, Black-throated, Song & Lincoln's Sparrows, N. Cardinal, Lazuli Bunting, Eastern Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackle and Bullock's Oriole.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006
First of two days with Dean & Joan Luehrs from Sun City, AZ. We've birded together on four previous occasions. We visited the Chiricahuas for a coue of target birds (Northern Pygmy-Owl and Mexican Chickadee) then checked Willcox ponds. Not a cloud in the sky and very calm for much of the day.

Multie SWAINSON'S HAWKS and several large flocks of LARK BUNTINGS were conspicuous on our outbound journey through Sulphur Springs Valley. EURASIAN  COLLARED-DOVES were all over Elfrida including an almost pure white bird save for the collar. From all the aces available in the valley, a GREAT HORNED OWL is nesting in ain sight immediately adjacent to the busy Davis Road

Pinery Canyon Road was much less active than I had hoped. We had to work for a while to find our first NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL before ending up with wonderful scope looks at a cooperative bird, about 0.3 miles from a regular spot. Later in the morning we encountered a second, more aggressive bird that simy wouldn't leave us alone. Two for the price of one. MEXICAN CHICKADEES were easy to find throughout but not particularly forthcoming in terms of perching in the open.

Other species included ASH-THROATED & HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHERS, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET (occasionally vocal along the Barfoot Road but never seen), PYGMY & RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, my season first UMBEOUS VIREO, OLIVE, ORANGE-CROWNED, BLACK-THROATED GRAY & GRACE'S WARBLERS and YELLOW-EYED JUNCO. We didn't detect any tanagers or orioles.

Willcox was a little disappointing -- zero gulls and very few shorebirds (no habitat). LEAST SANDPIPER was the most common shorebird with lesser numbers of WESTERN SANDPIPERS scattered around. We noted 4 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS and 1 LESSER YELLOWLEGS. Also present were small numbers of WHITE-FACED IBIS, AMERICAN AVOCETS and WILSON'S PHALAROPES.

Waterfowl were mainly represented by lots of NORTHERN SHOVELERS and RUDDY DUCKS. A few CINNAMON TEAL worked the edges of the main pond where perhaps as many as 20 EARED GREBES in breeding umage were present. Several migrant WILSON'S WARBLERS worked the low vegetation around the golf course pond.

75 species recorded:
Eared Grebe, Great Blue Heron, White-faced Ibis, Am. Wigeon, Green-winged & Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Am. Coot, Am. Avocet, Killdeer, Long-billed Dowitcher, Lesser Yellowlegs, Western & Least Sandpipers, Wilson's Phalarope, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning, White-winged & Inca Doves, Great Horned Owl, N. (Mountain) Pygmy-Owl, Acorn Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Hammond's, Vermilion & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Black & Say's Phoebes, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Horned Lark, Cliff & Barn Swallows, Golden-crowned & Ruby-crowned Kinglets, House Wren, N. Mockingbird, Hermit Thrush, Am. Robin, Mexican Chickadee, Pygmy, Red-breasted & White-breasted Nuthatches, Brown Creeper, Loggerhead Shrike, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, House Sparrow, umbeous & Hutton's Vireos, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Olive, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Gray, Grace's & Wilson's Warblers, Painted Redstart, Lark Bunting, Yellow-eyed Junco, Lark & Savannah Sparrows, Eastern Meadowlark, Red-winged & Brewer's Blackbird and Great-tailed Grackle.

Thursday, April 20, 2006
Out again today with Dean & Joan. We spent the day in the Huachucas. Dean and I visited Scheelite Canyon in the morning and we all visited Carr Canyon in the early afternoon. Another blue sky day, somewhere in the low 80s by mid afternoon.

PHAINOPEAS were on mistletoe guarding duty in lower Garden Canyon grassland. EASTERN MEADOWLARKS sang atop the mesquites. WESTERN KINGBIRDS outnumbered CASSIN'S. Three GREATER ROADRUNNERS crossed the road.

A brief stop at the upper picnic area (before the trogon seekers arrived) wasn't very productive save for a few LAZULI BUNTINGS. As far as I know, Elegant Trogon wasn't sighted there today. My own records show that the average arrival date for this location is April 19. At least one male is present in Sawmill Canyon.

The trail log in Scheelite Canyon showed only one Spotted Owl sighting for April so far -- and that was early in the month. I knew right away that we had a long walk ahead of us. I figured that the owls are already nesting and, consequently, there would only be one roosting bird available to find. Furthermore, I expected that the bird would be located fairly high in the canyon. That's how it worked out. After a thorough and unsuccessful check of the lower roosting area, we proceeded to the upper area where it didn't take long to find a single SPOTTED OWL roosting in a regular tree. Unfortunately, although we were able to see the owl very well, the light was extremely poor for a photograph. However, since I'd lugged my backup 20D and 100-400mm lens with me, I decided to try anyway. Even at ISO 800 I could only manage a shutter speed of 1/60s. Yikes! Despite many 100s of visits to Scheelite, I still don't have a good Spotted Owl image (the light is almost always very poor). One of these days!

The canyon wasn't very birdy but we did encounter a decent selection of warblers -- ORANGE-CROWNED (uncommon here in spring, I have just 9 records); VIRGINIA'S, several singing BLACK-THROATED GRAY; TOWNSEND'S & HERMIT foraging in the same fir tree, a heard only RED-FACED and several delightful PAINTED REDSTARTS.

CORDILLERAN & DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHERS, HOUSE WREN, BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER and UMBEOUS VIREO are all back on territory. Wintering PINE SISKIN continues.

It was after midday by the time we got started at Reef Campground in Carr Canyon. Activity was very subdued and we had to work for a while to find BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER, our only target here. A coue of birds eventually obliged us. As a bonus, we had great looks at an adult male OLIVE WARBLER and a GRACE'S WARBLER foraging on the ground. Other species included 20+ BAND-TAILED PIGEONS, 6+ ACORN WOODPECKERS and 4+ HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHERS.

Back in the lower canyon, GAMBEL'S & SCALED QUAIL scurried across the road within a few yards of each other.

62 species recorded:
Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Scaled & Gambel's Quail, Rock Pigeon, Band-tailed Pigeon, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Greater Roadrunner
Spotted Owl, White-throated Swift, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Acorn & Gila Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Hammond's, Cordilleran, Buff-breasted & Dusky-capped Flycatchers, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Violet-green Swallow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Phainopea, Canyon, Bewick's & House Wrens, N. Mockingbird, Hermit Thrush, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Western Scrub-Jay, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, umbeous & Hutton's Vireos, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, Olive, Orange-crowned, Virginia's, Black-throated Gray, Townsend's, Hermit, Grace's, Wilson's & Red-faced Warblers, Painted Redstart, Spotted Towhee, Lark Sparrow, Yellow-eyed Junco, Lazuli Bunting, Eastern Meadowlark and Scott's Oriole.

Friday, April 21, 2006
Out today with Ruth Draper from Lewes, DE. We birded in a rather haphazard and inefficient fashion (don't let this happen to you) at Patagonia Lake, Patagonia Roadside Rest Area, Paton's Yard, San Pedro River and Sierra Vista EOP. Fairly short visits to all locations.

Patagonia Lake: Disappointingly, the second BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHER nest that I saw being built some time ago has been abandoned (or was destroyed -- it's only half cometed). The first nest "disappeared", probably a victim of high wind. Fortunately, we found a male foraging in the mesquite bosque (where it is getting difficult to bird now that the vegetation is dense).

We had a little more success with NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET at a nest site. Other species included NEOTROPIC CORMORANT, OSPREY, PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER, BELL'S VIREO, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, lots of SUMMER TANAGERS and a few BULLOCK'S ORIOLES. Still no sight nor sound of Least Bittern (about a month late). It could just be me but I haven't seen any reports from others.

Patagonia Roadside Rest Area: We failed to find Thick-billed Kingbird but did hear ROSE-THROATED BECARD (not pursued), my first April record for this species in AZ.

Paton's: Missed Thick-billed Kingbird here and along Blue Heaven Road (arrived a few days ago and was seen yesterday). Lots of beautifully umaged LAZULI BUNTINGS and a pristine WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. The highlight of my day was a location first BLACK-THROATED SPARROW (species #134 that I've seen in the yard). Among the other species were VIOLET-CROWNED HUMMINGBIRD, NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET and BELL'S VIREO.

San Pedro: Uncomfortable birding around noon with the temperature at 90 degrees under a layer of thin clouds. We had good looks at SWAINSON'S & GRAY HAWKS and DUSKY & PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHERS.

Sierra Vista EOP: YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS obliged. SORA and MARSH WREN continue. A coue of WHITE-FACED IBIS and a lone LEAST SANDPIPER were the only migrants noted.

86 species recorded:
Pied-billed & Eared Grebes, Neotropic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, White-faced Ibis, Gadwall, Mallard, Green-winged & Cinnamon Teal, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Gray & Swainson's Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Sora, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Least Sandpiper, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Broad-billed, Violet-crowned, Black-chinned & Anna's Hummingbirds, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Beardless-Tyrannulet, Dusky, Pacific-slope, Vermilion, Dusky-capped & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Black Phoebe, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Rose-throated Becard, N. Rough-winged & Barn Swallows, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Cactus, Rock, Canyon, Bewick's & Marsh Wrens, N. Mockingbird, Hermit Thrush, Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, House Sparrow, Bell's Vireo, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Orange-crowned, Lucy's, Yellow, Yellow-rumped & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat, Summer Tanager, Green-tailed, Canyon & Abert's Towhees, Chipping, Brewer's, Lark, Black-throated, Song, Lincoln's, White-crowned & White-throated Sparrows, N. Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Lazuli Bunting, Red-winged & Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Great-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird and Bullock's Oriole.

Saturday, April 22, 2006
Out today with Dean and Danielle Nicholson from Cranbrook, BC. We spent all of our time in Carr Canyon where it was very easant early on under partly cloudy skies; quite warm and windy later. Our time in the canyon was very productive.

An early morning stop in the lower mesquite grassland produced a number of typical species including GAMBEL'S & SCALED QUAIL coexisting in the residential area, ditto for WESTERN & CASSIN'S KINGBIRDS (but not without squabbling), ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, CURVE-BILLED THRASHER, CHIHUAHUAN RAVEN, CACTUS WREN and BREWER'S SPARROW. Appearances can be deceptive -- a PYRRHULOXIA and a CANYON TOWHEE feeding along the edge of the road seemed to be getting along but the Towhee eventually drove off the Pyrrhuloxia.

Among the roadside birds as we climbed were COOPER'S HAWK, ACORN WOODPECKER, HAMMOND'S & DUSKY FLYCATCHERS, BEWICK'S WREN and LAZULI BUNTING. In addition to the spectacular view from Reef overlook, we added ZONE-TAILED HAWK, MEXICAN & STELLER'S JAYS, WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, PAINTED REDSTART, WESTERN TANAGER and BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK

We had great success with warblers but some didn't give in without a fight, especially (you guessed it), VIRGINIA'S WARBLER. This bird is often the villain and is consistently my nemesis. They are usually relatively easy to locate but very difficult to see well. Today was definitely in that category. We had a bird singing on territory that led us around in circles multie times. However, a singing RED-FACED WARBLER found in the process provided excellent views and was the silver lining from that episode. Any day with a Red-faced Warbler is a day to be cherished.

Although it took a while to find the first OLIVE WARBLER (a beautiful orange-headed adult male), this was a very common species today. Multie birds singing and calling at every stop that we made. Migrant TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS were also very common with well into double figures seen. Other migrant warblers in decreasing order of abundance were WILSON'S, ORANGE-CROWNED and HERMIT (just 2 seen). YELLOW-RUMPED, BLACK-THROATED GRAY (common), GRACE'S (common) and more PAINTED REDSTARTS rounded out 11 species of warbler in the Reef area.

HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHERS were again very common, especially at Reef. Seen at every stop at low and high elevations. We had to work a little for BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER before getting great views.

I was shocked by the paucity of HEPATIC TANAGERS with just one heard as we worked on Virginia's Warbler. I ignored it which turned out to be a big mistake! Inexicably, we found just one silent GREATER PEWEE -- they should be singing their heads off by now. Also, I didn't detect a single umbeous Vireo, a species that should certainly be on territory (I saw them in Garden Canyon a few days ago). It's interesting to me that in a year with many species arriving early, another bunch of species seem to be tardy or not back in numbers.

TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRES have been quite scarce in the Huachucas this winter. An individual seen today near Ramsey Vista was perhaps a migrant rather than a bird that overwintered. Published data shows them lingering in SE AZ through the end of May. However, I don't have many May records in the Huachucas and none after May 6.

We returned to town at 2:00pm by which time the temperature was over 90 degrees. Some time ago I scheduled the upcoming week in the White Mountains to work on migration happenings up there. Not a moment too soon.

64 species recorded in Carr Canyon:
Turkey Vulture, Cooper's & Zone-tailed Hawks, Scaled & Gambel's Quail, Band-tailed Pigeon, Mourning & White-winged Doves, White-throated Swift, Acorn & Hairy Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Greater Pewee, Hammond's, Dusky, Cordilleran, Buff-breasted & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Say's Phoebe, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Cactus, Canyon & Bewick's Wrens, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Townsend's Solitaire, Am. Robin, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Loggerhead Shrike, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Western Scrub-Jay, Chihuahuan Raven, House Sparrow, Hutton's Vireo, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Olive, Orange-crowned, Virginia's, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Gray, Townsend's, Hermit, Grace's, Wilson's & Red-faced Warblers, Painted Redstart, Hepatic & Western Tanagers, Spotted & Canyon Towhees, Chipping & Brewer's Sparrows, Yellow-eyed Junco, Pyrrhuloxia, Black-headed Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting and Brown-headed Cowbird.

Sunday, April 23, 2006
Today was a travel day to the White Mountains where I'll be until Thursday. I started late so I could watch West Ham beat Middlesbrough in the English FA Cup semifinal. Go Hammers!. They'll have a tough task against Liverpool in the final. I was a regular at Upton Park in the days of ayers like Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst, Trevor Brooking, Martin Peters et al. They've had some lean years since then.

I made my customary stop at Willcox Pond where it was warm and windy around 11:30am. Consequently, I didn't stay long (~40 minutes). Highlights were a few WHITE-FACED IBIS, many female WILSON'S PHALAROPES in colorful breeding umage and a "yellow carpet" of WILSON'S WARBLERS on the golf course grass (I estimated 50). Most of the waders that I noted on April 19 were still present -- AMERICAN AVOCET, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, LEAST & WESTERN SANDPIPERS and LESSER YELLOWLEGS. Also present were a lone BLACK-NECKED STILT and SPOTTED SANDPIPER. 35 species in all.

I arrived at Luna Lake about three and a half hours after leaving Willcox. It was not quite as warm but considerably more windy and I wasn't able to use my scope. I noted a few summer arrivals/migrants -- a single male PURE MARTIN (battling the wind along with 100s of swallows), VESPER SPARROW and BREWER'S & YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS. enty of ducks including a few BUFFLEHEADS.

A brief stop in "downtown" Nutrioso produced RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER and a few WESTERN BLUEBIRDS.

Once again, I'm staying at The Bunkhouse at Juniper Hill in Nutrioso. Among the birds on the property when I arrived were BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD, WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, PINE SISKIN, "Red-backed" and "Pink-sided" forms of DARK-EYED JUNCO and a flock of recently arrived BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS.

54 species recorded:
Eared Grebe, Great Blue Heron, White-faced Ibis, Canada Goose, Am. Wigeon, Green-winged & Cinnamon Teal, Mallard, N. Shoveler, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, Swainson's Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Am. Coot, Black-necked Stilt, Am. Avocet, Killdeer, Long-billed Dowitcher, Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted, Western & Least Sandpipers, Wilson's Phalarope, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Red-naped Sapsucker, Say's Phoebe, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Horned Lark, Pure Martin, Violet-green, N. Rough-winged & Barn Swallows, Phainopea, Western Bluebird, Am. Robin, Steller's Jay, Western Scrub-Jay, Am. Crow, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, House Sparrow, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, Yellow-rumped & Wilson's Warblers, Vesper & Savannah Sparrows, Dark-eyed Junco, Eastern Meadowlark, Yellow-headed & Brewer's Blackbirds and Great-tailed Grackle.

Monday, April 24, 2006
Today I made multie short visits to a number of locations at low and middle elevations. On such a short trip, I don't have the luxury of spending lots of time at any one location. [By the way, the "flatlands" in this neck of the woods are 7000 feet; the highest elevation is over 11,000 feet] I started with a quick look at Nelson Reservoir at 6:00am then spent some time at Sipe Wildlife Area. After a quick look at Becker Lake, I had a rendezvous with a Breakfast Burrito at the Rendezvous Diner in Greer. Ah, life is good (sometimes). Next, I checked West Fork in Greer and finished up around 1:00pm at Greer lakes. In the late afternoon, I checked a few Nutrioso locations. It was a slightly cooler and less windy day.

On this trip I'm more interested in checking on migrants and returning breeding species rather than the White Mountain specialties. Unfortunately, in that regard I didn't have a particularly good day. Despite a mild winter and warm days, riparian area leaf-out is poorly advanced and migrants are not much in evidence, especially hummingbirds.

Even though the days are warm, frost was in evidence when I left Juniper Hill this morning. Water was present in all the locations that I checked today but levels are down. Very little snow is visible on the higher peaks. Generally, the habitat is very dry due to the lack of winter precipitation (just like Southeast Arizona) and the warm and windy conditions are continuing the drying process. It's hard to see how we can get through the next coue of months without forest closures, especially in SE AZ. Even if all goes well, there won't be any significant rain for 10-11 weeks -- and that assumes the monsoon season will start on time. Last year the rain was 3 weeks late.

Before heading out, I picked up 10 species at Juniper Hill included a nice MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD. The shallow end of Nelson Reservoir had skim ice but the blackbirds didn't seem to care. I saw RED-WINGED, YELLOW-HEADED & BREWER'S along with a lone BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD all perched together (perhaps for warmth!). A forlorn looking CANADA GOOSE was sitting in the icy slush.

The most birding that I did at any one ace today was at Sipe Wildlife Area (2.5 hours). The headquarters area had enty of birds but most of them were PINE SISKINS feeding in the willows. Perhaps the best bird of the day was a JUNIPER TITMOUSE singing as it foraged, also in the willows (it wants to be a Willow Titmouse). I also saw them later in more typical Juniper habitat. Last year was the first time that I've seen this species in my White Mountain coverage area. EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE was even more of a surprise. They are certainly well established in a few White Mountain locations but this doesn't seem to be typical of their habitat choice. Of course, the birds know best.

YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS were common but the only other warbler that I saw was the ubiquitous WILSON'S WARBLER (at epidemic proportions in SE AZ right now but not up here in numbers yet). Other migrants/non-resident breeders noted were ROUGH-WINGED & VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS and a coue of GREEN-TAILED TOWHEES. The visitor center doesn't have any hummer feeders in operation yet and I didn't encounter any birds. WESTERN BLUEBIRDS were entiful.

I spent some time in the juniper habitat along the entrance road and eventually detected a flock of 80-100 PINYON JAYS. I've never had the opportunity to photograph this species before and if  today's experience is anything to go by, I can tell you that it is not easy. Every time that I peeked out from behind a bush to take a shot at a perched up bird, it would fly away and I'd have to repeat the process. However, I did have a modicum of success as this image of a perched PINYON JAY will attest. Not a great shot but not too shabby either. I took many shots of several species but I won't publish any keepers until I get home (I detest doing photo processing on my laptop).

Becker Lake didn't yield anything of note (I don't enjoy birding here now that there's no vehicle access on the west side). Becker Lake Road had about a dozen common species including the now regular EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES at the south end.

West Fork (of the Little Colorado River) in Greer was fairly active and I had the ace almost to myself. This location is about 8500 feet and riparian habitat is still mostly dormant. The only non-resident species that I noted were RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, already present in numbers and very vocal; and a few BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRDS. Lots of CLARK'S NUTCRACKERS and a singing AMERICAN DIPPER perched on a rock were the highlights. A singing SONG SPARROW at Benny Creek seemed a little early (based on the general lack of migrants).

As I returned to Nutrioso, I could see extensive smoke billowing into the sky to the south -- beyond Alpine divide. However, I couldn't tell how far away it was. Not good.

An early evening visit to Nutrioso Reservoir was productive. CINNAMON & GREEN-WINGED TEAL worked the margins and a flotilla of BUFFLEHEADS stayed in the middle away from my prying lens. A coue of CANVASBACKS were a trip first. Three shorebirds were a treat -- KILLDEER and SPOTTED & LEAST SANDPIPERS; the latter was a Nutrioso area first for me. A few breeding umaged EARED GREBES were present. Many hundreds of swallows of four flavors swarmed over the water.

64 species recorded:
Pied-billed & Eared Grebes, Double-crested Cormorant, Canada Goose, Gadwall, Mallard, Green-winged & Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Canvasback, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, Am. Kestrel, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Spotted & Least Sandpipers, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Hairy Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Black & Say's Phoebes, Horned Lark, Violet-green, N. Rough-winged, Cliff & Barn Swallows, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Am. Dipper, Western & Mountain Bluebirds, Am. Robin, Bushtit, Mountain Chickadee, Juniper Titmouse, Pygmy & White-breasted Nuthatches, Loggerhead Shrike, Steller's & Pinyon Jays, Clark's Nutcracker, Am. Crow, Common Raven, European Starling, House Sparrow, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, Yellow-rumped & Wilson's Warblers, Green-tailed Towhee, Chipping, Song & White-crowned Sparrows, Dark-eyed Junco, Western Meadowlark, Red-winged, Yellow-headed & Brewer's Blackbirds and Brown-headed Cowbird.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Today I started at Grassland Wildlife Area then spent a coue of hours at South Fork. I continued west to check high elevation Sunrise Lake then finished up at Nelson Reservoir. Another sunny day with intermittent high winds, at their worst as I was scoping the water (Murphy wouldn't have it any other way).

[Good News: The smoke that I noticed yesterday (and today) is from a controlled burn.]

My second ever visit to Grassland Wildlife Area was a low key affair. For a brief description of this area see my journal for August 10, 2005. Just as at Becker Lake, Arizona Fish & Game are doing a bang up job of making access difficult. Since my visit last year, the gate has been moved back about 1/2 mile and it's not clear to me why this was done (other than to make an official parking area). Not a big problem for me but folks with limited walking ability are S.O.L

The old ranch house area is a easant and serene location but it doesn't have a lot of birds. During my first visit I thought this area might have good migrant potential but I take that back -- there simy isn't enough riparian habitat. On the way in, I saw lots of VESPER SPARROWS and HORNED LARKS and a coue of LOGGERHEAD SHRIKES in the grassland approaches. This is the general area and habitat where breeding Mountain overs and Long-billed Curlews have been detected. However, looking for such birds was certainly not my focus today. I have seen curlews in the neighborhood before.

The two ponds are low, especially the large pond, and the only shorebird that I detected was KILLDEER. I saw nothing in terms of migrants and the best birds were a flock of PINYON JAYS. Other species included WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, WESTERN BLUEBIRD and LARK SPARROW. It's always interesting to see EASTERN & WESTERN MEADOWLARKS coexisting and singing away, each doing their own thing.

My results at South Fork weren't much of an improvement. Neither the riparian area nor the campground had much activity, especially the latter; and I saw very few migrants. "Don't forget me" said the obligatory omnipresent WILSON'S WARBLER. A lone bird was foraging with the always cheerful BUSHTITS in the emergent willows near the bridge. The rattle of a BELTED KINGFISHER let me know that I had disturbed its peace. Highlights here were a singing GREATER ROADRUNNER (a South Fork first for me) and three species of jays including a small flock of PINYON JAYS. A furtive TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE was a far cry from the treetop percher that it will become in a few weeks. EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE near the ranch was another South Fork first -- these birds are (not so) slowly but surely taking over the world. Singing CANYON and ROCK WRENS on the rocky bluffs rounded out my meager total of 26 species.

Sunrise Lake was teeming with waterfowl. However, despite the low water level creating an abundance of shorebird habitat, I didn't see a single shorebird. This may have been due to the conditions rather than a real absence of birds -- heat shimmer and wind really precluded any serious searching. I picked up a few new trip species -- REDHEAD, RING-NECKED DUCK, LESSER SCAUP (all common); AMERICAN WIGEON, COMMON MERGANSER and RED-TAILED HAWK. 24 species in all including 13 species of ducks. At nearby White Mountain Reservoir, I added MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD and SAVANNAH SPARROW.

Today was the day of the PINYON JAY -- I saw them for the third time along Highway 180 on the outskirts of Eagar, near Murray Basin trailhead.

Despite the windy conditions, Nelson Reservoir was very productive in the early afternoon. Although duck diversity and number of individuals couldn't match Sunrise Lake, several species of shorebirds were taking advantage of the mudflats at the south end. I saw LEAST and WESTERN SANDPIPERS and a lone WILSON'S PHALAROPE (a colorful female). A coue of AMERICAN PIPITS represented a location first (I've only seen them twice before in the White Mountains, both times at Sunrise). By the way, in case you're wondering why I'm not as excited about these Least Sandpipers as I was about the Nutrioso area birds yesterday, Nelson Reservoir is in the Springerville area where there is more shorebird habitat. [See my arbitrary division of areas in the mountains.]

73 species recorded:
Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Canada Goose, Am. Wigeon, Gadwall, Mallard, Green-winged & Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Western & Least Sandpipers, Wilson's Phalarope, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Hairy Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Black & Say's Phoebes, Horned Lark, Violet-green, N. Rough-winged & Barn Swallows, Am. Pipit, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Rock & Canyon Wrens, Western & Mountain Bluebirds, Townsend's Solitaire, Am. Robin, Bushtit, Mountain Chickadee, Pygmy & White-breasted Nuthatches, Loggerhead Shrike, Steller's & Pinyon Jays, Western Scrub-Jay, Clark's Nutcracker, Am. Crow, Common Raven, European Starling, House Sparrow, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Yellow-rumped & Wilson's Warblers, Spotted Towhee, Chipping, Vesper, Lark, Savannah & White-crowned Sparrows, Eastern & Western Meadowlarks and Red-winged & Brewer's Blackbirds.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006
The temperature in Eagar/Springerville this morning as I drove through shortly after 6:00am was 39 degrees. Yesterday it was 35 degrees and on Monday it was frosty. There's been a gradual warming trend and the temperature was almost 80 degrees at 1:00pm. Now that it's time to go home, migrant activity has picked up and I found a fair number of migrants and returning species today. I certainly expect this trend to continue in the coming days but, sadly, I won't be around to enjoy it..

Today I started at Wenima Wildlife Area just north of Springerville then continued north to Lyman Lake State Park. Next, I checked Butler Canyon in Greer and finished up as yesterday at Nelson reservoir. It was very windy from mid morning onwards.

Wenima WA is a little lower in elevation than the other riparian areas that I've visited in the past few days. Consequently, as one might expect, the vegetation growth and associated insect life are considerably more advanced. I walked the south trail on the east side of the river where I found enty of evidence that the birds are aware of this! Some of the WILSON'S WARBLERS that are passing through SE in droves have finally arrived in numbers -- conservatively, I saw 30 of the little yellow guys (all males). Compared to recent days, warblers were much in evidence. In addition to YELLOW-RUMPED, I found ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER and COMMON YELLOWTHROAT.

Until today, I hadn't come across any flycatchers (other than phoebes) so WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE was good to see. It was a slight surprise for me this far north since I haven't even seen one in SE AZ yet (although a few have been reported). CASSIN'S KINGBIRD was another arrival along with its namesake, a singing CASSIN'S VIREO that I was able to track down and see well. I also saw HOUSE WREN, GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE and LINCOLN'S SPARROW. Together with the warblers, not a bad little batch of migrants given their paucity elsewhere.

Other species included BLACK & SAY'S PHOEBES, ROCK WREN, a very active NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD with quite a repertoire, WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, VESPER SPARROW, WESTERN MEADOWLARK and BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD.

Lyman Lake State Park is outside of my "official listing area" for the White Mountain but it does have migrant potential and it's only a 15 minute drive from Wenima. I made the trip which wasn't very productive. The first bird that I saw as I entered the park was WILSON'S WARBLER on a rock. Is there anywhere in AZ that these birds are not being seen at the moment! A small group of migrant BREWER'S SPARROWS sang their bubby song as they foraged in the campground.

Out on the water I was hoping for Clark's Grebe but found only 20+ WESTERN GREBES. Not much in the way of waterfowl save for a coue of CANADA GEESE, few GREEN-WINGED TEAL and a coue of COMMON MERGANSERS. The only shorebirds that I noted were KILLDEER and SPOTTED SANDPIPER. 25 species in all.

When in Greer, the Rendezvous Diner is always productive and I checked it out before heading to Butler Canyon where I worked the lower part of the nature trail only. PYGMY NUTHATCHES and STELLER'S JAYS were the most conspicuous species. A very silent CLARK'S NUTCRACKER was uncharacteristically inconspicuous. Also present were BAND-TAILED PIGEON, a coue of WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKERS, HAIRY WOODPECKER, BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD, MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE, PINE SISKIN and DARK-EYED (Red-backed) JUNCO.

I noted a coue of migrants as I drove back into Eagar -- 35 WHITE-FACED IBIS in a wet field opposite River Run golf course on Hwy 260; and a WESTERN KINGBIRD just east of town, also on Hwy 260.

Nelson Reservoir had pretty much the same set of birds as yesterday, although a lone TREE SWALLOW was new for the trip. The bird was battling some serious wind along with four other swallow species.

Thus came to an end my brief trip to the White Mountains that began on Sunday. In the next day or so I'll put together a summary including any photos that make the cut.

74 species recorded:
Pied-billed & Western Grebes, Great Blue Heron, White-faced Ibis, Canada Goose, Gadwall, Mallard, Green-winged & Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, Common Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, Am. Kestrel, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Spotted & Western Sandpipers, Band-tailed Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Williamson's Sapsucker, Hairy Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Western Wood-Pewee, Black & Say's Phoebes, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Horned Lark, Tree, Violet-green, N. Rough-winged, Cliff & Barn Swallows, Am. Pipit, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Rock & House Wrens, N. Mockingbird, Mountain Bluebird, Am. Robin, Mountain Chickadee, Pygmy Nuthatch, Loggerhead Shrike, Steller's Jay, Western Scrub-Jay, Clark's Nutcracker, Common Raven, European Starling, House Sparrow, Cassin's Vireo, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped, MacGillivray's & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Green-tailed Towhee, Chipping, Brewer's, Vesper, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Dark-eyed Junco, Western Meadowlark, Red-winged & Brewer's Blackbirds and Brown-headed Cowbird.

Friday, April 28, 2006
First of three days with Steve and Sybil Kohl from Brush Prairie, WA. We birded together previously for a couple of days in July, 2005. Today we visited Patagonia Lake, Kino Springs and Patagonia Roadside Rest area. It was "one of those days" in a good way -- we managed to see all of our targets well and still see lots of species into the bargain. A partly cloudy and cool morning becoming windy as the day wore on. WILSON'S WARBLERS remain abundant -- seen at all locations in high numbers.

Patagonia Lake State Park was hopping with birds from 6:00-8:30am. Despite focusing on target species and spending only 2.5 hours (and not checking the west end of the lake nor the creek), we still recorded 80 species. We heard BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHER almost immediately near the bench and saw the bird shortly afterwards. Of course, this took away some pressure and we could focus more easily on lesser targets. This was fortunate since it took a little while to find MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER (targeting migrants is far from a slam dunk). NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET (at the nest), DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER and BREWER'S SPARROWS were much easier.

Migrants were plentiful but wintering species are obviously diminishing. Add in the residents and the summer species and we saw an excellent variety. Less common species for the lake were BROWN PELICAN (14 records most in summer and fall) and SCOTT'S ORIOLE (10 records, most in April). However, the highlight for me was a female COMMON MERGANSER, a sighting that extended my late date for this species at the lake by 3 weeks (previous late date April 5 in 1997 and 2005). In fact, I have very few records in April.

Among the other species noted were both cormorants, BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK, a coue of SORAS, 4 SPOTTED SANDPIPERS, a singing GREATER ROADRUNNER, multiple HAMMOND'S, PACIFIC-SLOPE & ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS, four swallow species, MARSH WREN, BELL'S, CASSIN'S & 3 WARBLING VIREOS, ORANGE-CROWNED & BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT (great views of this often skulking species and a pristine individual to boot), lots of SUMMER and several colorful male WESTERN TANAGERS, RUFOUS-WINGED SPARROW, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK and BULLOCK'S ORIOLE.

A short visit to Kino Springs (first pond only) yielded ~40 species including our 3 target birds -- RUDDY GROUND-DOVE (male), GILDED FLICKER (at a nest) and several GREEN-TAILED TOWHEES. Other species noted during the search included GREAT EGRET, GRAY HAWK (seen perched and soaring), COMMON GROUND-DOVE, CANYON & ABERT'S TOWHEES, RUFOUS-WINGED, BREWER'S, LARK & BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS and PYRRHULOXIA.

Although I heard ROSE-THROATED BECARD at the Roadside Rest area during my last visit on April 21, I wasn't very optimistic about our chances since it has been hit and miss for many becard hunters  How wrong could I have been! The male becard was vocalizing often and busy building a new nest ~25 feet to the east and slightly south (closer to observers) than the obvious old nest. A quick glance at either of the two SE AZ birdfinding guides will tell you how rare the bird is at this time of year (no records shown for April in the TAS guide, casual during the last week of April in the ABA guide). Since I moved here in 1993, this is the first year that a bird has been present in April. This species is typically a late nester (and sometimes doesn't arrive until June) so the nest building activity is quite remarkable.

As if this were not enough, we managed to see another migrant target NASHVILLE WARBLER. Among the other species present were GRAY HAWK, HAMMOND'S, PACIFIC-SLOPE (singing) & BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHERS, WHITE-THROATED SWIFT, TOWNSEND'S WARBLER and WARBLING VIREO.

An excellent morning.

100 species recorded:
Pied-billed Grebe, Brown Pelican, Double-crested & Neotropic Cormorants, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Common Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Black & Turkey Vultures, Gray, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Gambel's Quail, Sora, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Spotted Sandpiper, Rock Pigeon, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Common & Ruddy Ground-Doves, Greater Roadrunner, White-throated Swift, Broad-billed & Anna's Hummingbirds, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Gilded Flicker, N. Beardless-Tyrannulet, Hammond's, Pacific-slope, Vermilion, Dusky-capped, Ash-throated & Brown-crested Flycatchers, Say's Phoebe, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Rose-throated Becard, Violet-green, N. Rough-winged, Cliff & Barn Swallows, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Phainopea, Cactus, Canyon, Bewick's & Marsh Wrens, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Bridled Titmouse, Verdin, Common Raven, European Starling, House Sparrow, Bell's, Cassin's & Warbling Vireos, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Orange-crowned, Nashville, Lucy's, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Gray, Townsend's, MacGillivray's & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat, Summer & Western Tanagers, Green-tailed, Canyon & Abert's Towhees, Rufous-winged, Chipping, Brewer's, Lark, Black-throated, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, N. Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Black-headed Grosbeak, Red-winged Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird and Bullock's & Scott's Orioles.

Saturday, April 29, 2006
Out again today with Steve and Sybil. We spent all our time in the Huachucas visiting Garden & Scheelite Canyons on Fort Huachuca and Coronado National Memorial. We found 5 target species (Scaled Quail, Spotted Owl, Elegant Trogon, Cordilleran Flycatcher and Scott's Oriole) and missed one (Black-chinned Sparrow). Yesterday's clouds had passed through and it was a blue sky, warmer day.

Despite a (deliberate) late start, we were the first birders into Garden Canyon this morning. I'd told Steve and Sybil that our main target would likely be calling as we stepped out of the car. Sure enough, a male ELEGANT TROGON was calling above the upper picnic area and it only took a coue of minutes to track down the bird in a Sycamore. Great views. We were soon on our way. Other species noted on the drive through the grassland and around the picnic area included SCALED QUAIL, GREATER ROADRUNNER, DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER, UMBEOUS & CASSIN'S VIREOS, BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW, PYRRHULOXIA, LAZULI BUNTING and LILIAN'S MEADOWLARK.

The trend of "no owl" and blank log entries in Scheelite continues (just one sighting since my last visit on April 20) and I fully expected to have to go to the upper area again to find an owl. However, I'm eased to say that this wasn't the case. As we reached the 1/2 mile mark (note: obvious markers are no longer visible), I pointed and said to Steve and Sybil "this is the lowest reliable summer roosting location" then raised by glasses. Would you believe it, there sat a very unconcerned SPOTTED OWL. Believe it or not, this has happened to me many times. We met a coue of other parties on the way down and I did my best to exain the owl's location. Even though the bird was in a regular roosting spot and visible from the trail, it could easily be missed if you don't look from the right trailside vantage.

We also picked up a target CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER but a singing and obscured SCOTT'S ORIOLE had to wait until later since there's no calling, whistling or pishing allowed in Scheelite. Other species in the canyon included ARIZONA WOODPECKER, HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, several PAINTED REDSTARTS and HEPATIC TANAGER We also had multie wonderful looks at a male ELEGANT TROGON. 25 species in all.

Back in Garden Canyon, a perched SCOTT'S ORIOLE obliged us to comete our Fort Huachuca birding.

Although there are a number of reliable aces to find Black-chinned Sparrow, none seemed appealing so we visited Coronado National Memorial, specifically Montezuma Pass. Our short walk along the crest trail was unsuccessful in the heat of the day. I suspect that the birds have moved further up the mountain (I last saw them here in November). Among the species present in this arid and rocky area were WHITE-THROATED SWIFT, CACTUS, CANYON, ROCK & BEWICK'S WRENS, WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW and SCOTT'S ORIOLE.

Our evening owling session was very successful. It was a mild, clear night with zero wind and a crescent moon. COMMON POORWILLS and WHIP-POOR-WILLS were calling as we got started. After some time and effort working on a reticent WHISKERED SCREECH-OWL, we ended up with an unobstructed eye-level view from 10 feet. [At certain points in their breeding cycle, I've regularly noticed that the owls will either remain silent or call while moving away in an attempt to lead you away from their territory.] Next, we turned our attention to chattering ELF OWLS and went one step better -- this time we saw the birds copulating, again at close range. The event didn't last long and the male soon moved away (wham bam thank you ma'am) but the female stuck around for a while. Super looks. Even though we located WESTERN SCREECH-OWL, we couldn't quite make it a trifecta. The bird called constantly from a tree located on private property and no amount of enticement caused it move. Nevertheless, another excellent day.

64 species recorded:
Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Scaled Quail, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, White-winged Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Western & Whiskered Screech-Owls, Spotted Owl, Elf Owl, Common Poorwill, Whip-poor-will, White-throated Swift, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Elegant Trogon, Acorn, Gila & Arizona Woodpeckers, Hammond's, Cordilleran, Dusky-capped & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Say's Phoebe, Cassin's Kingbird, Cactus, Rock, Canyon, Bewick's & House Wrens, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Western Scrub-Jay, Mexican Jay, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, umbeous, Cassin's & Hutton's Vireos, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Orange-crowned, Black-throated Gray & Wilson's Warblers, Painted Redstart, Hepatic Tanager, Green-tailed & Spotted Towhees, Rufous-crowned, Chipping & Lark Sparrows, Pyrrhuloxia, Black-headed Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, Eastern Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird and Scott's Oriole.

Sunday, April 30, 2006
Third and last day with Steve and Sybil. We made brief visits to Sulphur Springs Valley and Pinery Canyon for a few target birds then finished up at Wilcox pond. A mostly sunny and warmish day (mid 80s in Sierra Vista in the afternoon).

We began in Sulphur Springs Valley where we found a spontaneously singing BENDIRE'S THRASHER that couldn't have been more cooperative. The cloud to this silver lining was that we struck out cometely on Crissal Thrasher. We had no trouble finding still numerous LARK BUNTINGS in almost full breeding umage. Among the fairly common to common species were SWAINSON'S HAWK, SCALED QUAIL, EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE, GREATER ROADRUNNER, ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, BREWER'S SPARROW and PYRRHULOXIA. We also saw several WESTERN WOOD-PEWEES and a fair number of WILSON'S WARBLERS migrating through mesquite habitat.

Our time in the Chiricahuas was short and sweet. We managed to pick up two targets at the same location fairly low down the mountain. Great looks at MOUNTAIN PYGMY-OWL and MEXICAN CHICKADEE. Other species in the area included BLACK-THROATED GRAY & GRACE'S WARBLERS, PAINTED REDSTART, WESTERN TANAGER and BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK.

Steve and Sybil had to drive to Phoenix so we finished with a sacrilegiously short drive around the main pond at Willcox. Best birds noted were several pairs of BLUE-WINGED TEAL and a lone SANDERLING. The teal are uncommon and regular at Willcox from April through July. I have four Sanderling records here, all in different months and years (April, May, September & October).

Many (~50) colorful female WILSON'S PHALAROPES are still present along with 30+ very rufous tinged WESTERN SANDPIPERS, 6+ SPOTTED SANDPIPERS resendent with breeding spots; and a small group of LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS. 30 species in all.

Thus ended three enjoyable days with a high proportion of target species seen.

67 species recorded:
Eared Grebe, Great Blue Heron, Am. Wigeon, Green-winged, Blue-winged & Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, N. Harrier, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Scaled & Gambel's Quail, Black-necked Stilt, Am. Avocet, Killdeer, Long-billed Dowitcher, Sanderling, Spotted & Western Sandpipers, Wilson's Phalarope, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Greater Roadrunner, N. (Mountain) Pygmy-Owl, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Western Wood-Pewee, Say's Phoebe, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Horned Lark, Violet-green, Cliff & Barn Swallows, N. Mockingbird, Bendire's & Curve-billed Thrashers, Mexican Chickadee, Bridled Titmouse, Loggerhead Shrike, Mexican Jay, Chihuahuan Raven, European Starling, House Sparrow, Hutton's Vireo, House Finch, Black-throated Gray, Grace's & Wilson's Warblers, Painted Redstart, Western Tanager, Canyon Towhee, Lark Bunting, Brewer's, Black-throated & White-crowned Sparrows, Pyrrhuloxia, Black-headed Grosbeak, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackle and Bullock's Oriole.

This log is in chronological order and the most recent entries are at the bottom of the page.
The last update was on Sunday, April 30, 2006

Species List

Stuart Healy Journal - April, 2006 If you use the contents of my journal for commercial purposes, ease acknowledge the source to your clients - thanks.

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