Species List

Stuart Healy Journal - August, 2006 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 Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Tuesday, August 1, 2006
White Mountains Day 23: Day List 64  Trip List 158 (no change)
A significant expanse of early morning blue sky and sunshine held promise of a better weather day. Unfortunately, that only lasted for a couple of hours and it was another soggy morning, even at low elevation. I visited Terry Flat and Hulsey Lake on Escudilla, Luna Lake and several locations around Nutrioso.

Conditions at Terry Flat (10,000 feet) were wonderful at 6:15am. Although I didn't see any species to write home about, I spent a very pleasant couple of hours observing the common birds as they went about their business. I found an east facing, sunny location loaded with GOLDEN-CROWNED & RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, MOUNTAIN CHICKADEES, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, BROWN-CREEPERS and RED-BACKED JUNCOS. Other regulars on the loop were DUSKY & CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHERS, MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD, WARBLING VIREO, CHIPPING and VESPER SPARROWS and GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE.

I barely had time to check Hulsey Lake before the rain began and drove me off the mountain. A small flock of BARN SWALLOWS seemed out of place here and they turned out to be a location first. VIRGINIA'S WARBLER working in the small marsh was also a new location species for me. I noted a dozen species in all.

I headed over to Luna Lake where I had to wait almost an hour for a let up in the rain. Highlights of 35 species observed during a 30 minute rain free window were an adult BALD EAGLE, the continuing wayward SANDHILL CRANE, a female WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER that flew into the tree I was sheltering under, a male CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD struggling to find a spot despite the plethora of feeders; a few MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS and a BULLOCK'S ORIOLE perched atop a ponderosa pine.

BLUE GROSBEAK was singing in the rain along Nutrioso Creek and in town I picked up the usual EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES along with a few BAND-TAILED PIGEONS seeking refuge from the rain. Auger Canyon Road produced at least 4 LEWIS'S WOODPECKERS. Nutrioso Reservoir may have held a few goodies but I could only find SPOTTED SANDPIPER in the poor viewing conditions.

64 species recorded:
Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Canada Goose, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Sandhill Crane, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Band-tailed Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Calliope, Broad-tailed & Rufous Hummingbirds, Lewis's & Hairy Woodpeckers, Williamson's Sapsucker, N. Flicker, Western Wood-Pewee, Dusky & Cordilleran Flycatchers, Say's Phoebe, Tree, Violet-green, Cliff & Barn Swallows, Golden-crowned & Ruby-crowned Kinglets, House Wren, Western & Mountain Bluebirds, Am. Robin, Mountain Chickadee, Pygmy, Red-breasted & White-breasted Nuthatches, Brown Creeper, Steller's Jay, Western Scrub-Jay, Am. Crow, Common Raven, House Sparrow, Warbling Vireo, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, Virginia's & Yellow-rumped Warblers, Western Tanager, Green-tailed Towhee, Chipping & Vesper Sparrows, Dark-eyed Junco, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks, Eastern Meadowlark, Brewer's Blackbird and Bullock's Oriole.

Wednesday, August 2, 2006
White Mountains Day 24: Day List 63  Trip List 158 (no change)
Finally, a blue sky sunny morning that lasted for a while and the rain held off until late afternoon. I spent a few hours at Sipe Wildlife Area then made short visits to Becker Lake, South Fork and Greer.

For me, one of the highlights of a visit to Sipe is a slow drive along the 5 mile long entrance road through the Pinyon-Juniper habitat. Disappointingly, I saw hardly any birds there this morning. On the plus side, the visitor center area had plenty of birds. One particular apple tree was loaded with WESTERN TANAGERS, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS and a lone BULLOCK'S ORIOLE. I didn't spend any time checking the hummingbirds feeders but RUFOUS and BROAD-TAILED were hard to miss.

I walked a short distance down Rudd Creek Trail to check for PINYON JAYS and found a few on the bluffs (more were along the entrance road when I left).

I noted 35 species in all including CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER, WESTERN & MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS (adults and young of both species), GREEN-TAILED & SPOTTED TOWHEES, BLUE GROSBEAK and at least 30 LAZULI BUNTINGS working in the weedy habitat along the creek.

On Becker Lake Road I noted ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, WESTERN SCRUB-JAY and 20+ NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRDS. The only bird of note at the lake was an adult BALD EAGLE. Slim pickings in terms of migrants with just a lone WHITE-FACED IBIS to show for lots of scanning. VIRGINIA'S WARBLERS were fairly common but hard to see in the minimal yet dense vegetation.

A very brief cruise through South Fork yielded regular species such as ROCK & CANYON WRENS, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, VIRGINIA'S WARBLER, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT and BLUE GROSBEAK.

I checked West Fork in Greer hoping for a decent photo opportunity of AMERICAN DIPPER but could only find a juvenile working in a shady area. I waited for the bird to come closer but in the end it went the other way! CLARK'S NUTCRACKERS were easy to see in town.

63 species recorded:
Pied-billed Grebe, Great Blue Heron, White-faced Ibis, Mallard, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Broad-tailed & Rufous Hummingbirds, Hairy Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Cordilleran & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Black & Say's Phoebes, Horned Lark, Violet-green, N. Rough-winged, Cliff & Barn Swallows, Am. Dipper, Rock & Canyon Wrens, N. Mockingbird, Western & Mountain Bluebirds, Townsend's Solitaire, Am. Robin, Bushtit, Mountain Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, Western Scrub-Jay, Pinyon Jay, Clark's Nutcracker, Common Raven, European Starling, House Sparrow, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, Virginia's Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat, Western Tanager, Green-tailed & Spotted Towhees, Chipping Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks, Lazuli Bunting, Western Meadowlark, Red-winged, Yellow-headed & Brewer's Blackbirds and Bullock's Oriole.

Thursday, August 3, 2006
White Mountains Day 25: Day List 72  Trip List 159
First of two days with Joan and Jim Clapp from Hebron, KY who I birded with once before back in February. Jim and Joan have just spent a week in southeast Arizona and will be returning there for a couple more days after their time with me. Over the next two days we'll be looking for a number of the usual White Mountain species. Weather conditions were very good to us today -- clear blue skies and calm winds in the early morning with clouds developing by mid morning. Mid afternoon was a little dodgy but, fortunately, the rain held off until 4:30pm..

I decided to start with the toughest birds first and we journeyed to Big Lake Lookout to grapple with grouse once again. Along the way, a brief stop at Crescent Lake yielded a couple of OSPREYS, a distant perched BALD EAGLE and the usual DOUBLE CRESTED CORMORANTS and COMMON MERGANSERS.

After more than an hour at the lookout,  it seemed like we might get skunked. However, splitting up paid off when Jim spotted a DUSKY GROUSE very high in a tall fir tree. As luck would have it, our vantage point in the lower rocky area was some 80 feet above ground so we had almost an eye level view. Even so, the bird was still very difficult to see. Our patience was eventually rewarded though -- we managed a decent view after the bird had preened for a while then walked along the branches to feed. An excellent start to the proceedings.

Our next stop was the Three Forks burn where it only took 15 minutes to find a very cooperative AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER, hallelujah. We heard the bird tapping from some distance away and this enabled us to track it down. We stayed with the bird for 15 minutes and had some great views, good enough to count the toes. However, the height of the bird was such that we only got a couple of brief glimpses of yellow on the head to indicate it was a male.

On the way to Nutrioso, a brief stop at Sierra Blanca Lake was not particularly productive. We heard calling SORA and saw a few CINNAMON TEAL. The recent rain has apparently not impacted the still-nesting PIED-BILLED GREBES.

Auger Canyon Road in Nutrioso again produced LEWIS'S WOODPECKER and we watched a bird flycatching for a while. We couldn't find an easy BAND-TAILED PIGEON in town but cruising around methodically eventually produced a dozen or so. We also picked up a CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER, a species that is not calling as much now.

Our 100% record for the day was in serious danger when we dipped on PINYON JAY at Sipe Wildlife Area. Amazingly though, despite some adverse conditions, we recovered at Nelson Reservoir. Traffic and construction noise made listening very difficult, especially since the birds were on the more distant west slope (they are normally seen on the east slope). We located and lost them several times but still managed to get one in the scope a few times.

A very successful day with all seven targets seen.

72 species recorded:
Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Gadwall, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Common Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Dusky Grouse, Sora, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Rock & Band-tailed Pigeons, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Broad-tailed & Rufous Hummingbirds, Lewis's, Hairy & Am. Three-toed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Western Wood-Pewee, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Say's Phoebe, Western Kingbird, Horned Lark, Purple Martin, Violet-green, N. Rough-winged, Cliff & Barn Swallows, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Rock & Canyon Wrens, Western & Mountain Bluebirds, Hermit Thrush, Am. Robin, Bushtit, Mountain Chickadee, Pygmy, Red-breasted & White-breasted Nuthatches, Steller's & Pinyon Jays, Western Scrub-Jay, Clark's Nutcracker, Am. Crow, Common Raven, European Starling, House Sparrow, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, Yellow & Yellow-rumped Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Western Tanager, Spotted Towhee, Chipping Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks, Lazuli Bunting, Eastern Meadowlark and Red-winged & Brewer's Blackbirds.

Friday, August 4, 2006
White Mountains Day 26: Day List 65  Trip List 161
Out again today with Joan and Jim on what for the most part was a miserable day for birding. After a cool, cloudy and rain free start that lasted for a few hours, the remainder of the day was quite wet and we had to improvise (unsuccessfully) to avoid the rain.

We began at South Fork where ROCK and CANYON WRENS could be seen from the roadside without getting out of the vehicle. I couldn't help but think back to last week when I had to work hard to see a Canyon Wren! A perched GRAY CATBIRD near the bridge and several others calling nearby were another "na-na-na-na-na" since it took some time to find this species last Sunday when I needed one!  Murphy at his finest.

Our first target was VIRGINIA'S WARBLER and they were quite common along the trail that runs upstream from the bridge. As usual, seeing them was another story. However, we wore the little suckers down and eventually had a decent look. Our second target was TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE -- great scope views of a close bird preening atop a snag just downstream from the campground. Among the other species from a total of 33 were BELTED KINGFISHER, CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER, many PYGMY NUTHATCHES, distant calling PINYON JAYS and CLARK'S NUTCRACKERS, WARBLING VIREO, my first WILSON'S WARBLERS of the trip (two females or immature males), YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, WESTERN TANAGER, SPOTTED TOWHEE and LAZULI BUNTING.

We moved on a short distance to Greer in search of four target species. Once again, CLARK'S NUTCRACKER was very easy to find in town along the stretch between Greer Lodge and Red Setter Inn. Some folks were breakfasting on the verandah of their cabin and throwing peanuts to the Nutcrackers. Almost cheating.

However, we paid in spades with our next target along West Fork. No peanuts to help us here and MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER proved to be a tough nut to crack (groan). Plenty of walking through the wet vegetation was required before we enjoyed several good views of the only bird that we actually saw (other individuals heard). After working for VIRGINIA'S WARBLER at South Fork, we saw them multiple times during the search including one group of three birds in the same bush! Arghhh. Other species included a calling DOWNY WOODPECKER, a fledged family of HERMIT THRUSHES and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER.

Back in town we turned our attention to WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER. It didn't take long to locate a female in a pocket of woodpecker activity with a couple of HAIRY WOODPECKERS and several NORTHERN FLICKERS.

So far so good but our day took a turn for the worse after this. We moved on to East Fork to look for a male sapsucker as well as Plumbeous Vireo. Our arrival coincided with the start of rain and we left rather quickly. Unfortunately, we never really escaped the rain again.

The weather to the east looked a little brighter and I decided to visit Luna Lake. We worked the deathly quiet pines for about 15 minutes before finding any activity. Then, wouldn't you know it, the rain caught up with us and we had to bail out again. Nothing of note seen save for CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD at the tackle shop with swarms of RUFOUS and BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRDS working the 18 feeders.

Our next stop was Rudd Creek #3, north of Nelson Reservoir, where we had a few rain free minutes. To compound our misery, a heard only (trip first) BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER got away from us on the pinyon-juniper slopes. JUNIPER TITMOUSE was calling here.

We headed over Water Canyon and Saffell Canyon hoping for a Plumbeous Vireo but the rain defeated us once again. Birds here included HAIRY WOODPECKER that I first thought was a male Williamson's Sapsucker, heard only OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER and JUNIPER TITMOUSE; TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, WESTERN SCRUB-JAY and WESTERN TANAGER.

A wet finish to a tough day. Nevertheless, we still managed to find five of our six principal targets during the first few hours.

65 species recorded:
Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Am. Coot, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Calliope, Broad-tailed & Rufous Hummingbirds, Belted Kingfisher, Williamson's Sapsucker, Downy & Hairy Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Western Wood-Pewee, Olive-sided & Cordilleran Flycatchers, Say's Phoebe, Western Kingbird, Violet-green & Barn Swallows, Rock, Canyon & House Wrens, Gray Catbird, Western Bluebird, Townsend's Solitaire, Hermit Thrush, Am. Robin, Bushtit, Mountain Chickadee, Juniper Titmouse, Pygmy & White-breasted Nuthatches, Brown Creeper, Steller's Jay, Pinyon Jay, Western Scrub-Jay, Clark's Nutcracker, Am. Crow, Common Raven, European Starling, House Sparrow, Warbling Vireo, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, Orange-crowned, Virginia's, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Gray, MacGillivray's & Wilson's Warblers, Yellow-breasted Chat, Western Tanager, Spotted Towhee, Chipping Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Black-headed Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, Eastern Meadowlark and Brewer's Blackbird.

Saturday, August 5, 2006
White Mountains Day 27: Day List 44  Trip List 161 (no change)
All good things must come to and end and today was my last day in the White Mountains. Tomorrow I drive back home which is such a shame now that there are a few signs of migration. Last year I was here until mid August and was able to find a few migrants at the end of the trip. I didn't do much birding today other than at Juniper Hill and a few stops while I was running errands. After a cool and cloudy start, the day was mostly sunny and completely rain free. Why couldn't it have been like this yesterday!

LAZULI BUNTING (image #2) was the last bird that I saw last night and three birds were early visitors this morning. This was one of four new Juniper Hill property species that I picked up on this trip; the others were Red-naped Sapsucker, Clark's Nutcracker and White-breasted Nuthatch. The bunting images (a photo first for me) are not very good  because of distance (taken from inside the house), poor light and obstructions. Other species at Juniper Hill today were TURKEY VULTURE, a male CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD at the flowers and a female at the feeders, RUFOUS & BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRDS, WESTERN BLUEBIRD, AMERICAN ROBIN, BUSHTIT, WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, COMMON RAVEN, HOUSE FINCH, PINE SISKIN, LESSER GOLDFINCH, VIRGINIA'S WARBLER, SPOTTED TOWHEE and BLACK-HEADED & BLUE GROSBEAKS.

Look for my journal reports to continue starting August 10 when I resume work in southeast Arizona (possibly before). Over the next few days, I'll put together a White Mountains trip summary.

44 species recorded:
Pied-billed Grebe, Great Blue Heron, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning & White-winged Doves, Calliope, Broad-tailed & Rufous Hummingbirds, Lewis's Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Western Wood-Pewee, Western Kingbird, Cliff & Barn Swallows, Western & Mountain Bluebirds, Am. Robin, Bushtit, Mountain Chickadee, Western Scrub-Jay, Common Raven, House Sparrow, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, Virginia's, Yellow & Yellow-rumped Warblers, Spotted Towhee, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks, Lazuli Bunting, Eastern & Western Meadowlarks and Yellow-headed & Brewer's Blackbirds.

Thursday, August 10, 2006
First of three days with Mel Schiavelli from Harrisburg, PA. We'll be looking for some of the current rarities as well as a few regulars that Mel has managed to avoid in the past. Today we left Sierra Vista at 4:00am for a visit to Sycamore Canyon then continued on to California Gulch. Déjà vu all over again.

Since I returned from the White Mountains, days have been moderately warm and muggy but there hasn't been much rain apart from the last couple of evenings. Yesterday there was a tremendous short lived downpour that lasted about an hour, one might even call it a monsoon. The first ten minutes produced some horrendous hail up to 3/4 inch diameter where I live close to town. This morning was mostly clear and very humid everywhere that we went.

Perhaps due to the onset of the monsoon in early July, the warbler in Sycamore Canyon moved about 1/2 mile closer to the parking area making it a very easy walk to where the bird is now hanging out. Great, anytime we can stick it to Murphy is a moment to be savored. The change in location happened after my last visit on July 5 so today I had to "fly blind" as it were. Not a problem as it turned out -- I could hear RUFOUS-CAPPED WARBLER singing just minutes after we left the parking area at 6:10am. The location was on the east side of the creek just south of the small "Hank & Yank" ruin (a paltry wall).

We crossed the creek (no real way to avoid wet feet) and soon encountered singing from conflicting locations. We eventually confirmed 2 RUFOUS-CAPPED WARBLERS when we saw them simultaneously at the base of the hillside east of the creek. Since male and female both sing, it's possible (likely?) that this is a pair and the potential for breeding exists despite the lateness of the season. We had wonderful close range looks -- one bird has a solid rufous cap while the other has some light colored flecks.

An INDIGO BUNTING was calling in the same (very dense) area and the eerie down slurred whistle of MONTEZUMA QUAIL drifted down from the hillside. Other species included YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO, BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, SUMMER & HEPATIC TANAGERS and BLUE GROSBEAK.

As we were leaving the parking lot, a party of three were just arriving and I passed on the sighting info. However, we later learned that they did not see a warbler. Que Bummer! The vegetation is very dense so be prepared to wait it out if you go. Make sure you know the warbler's songs and call and listen diligently. There's no magic -- just grunt work.

We moved on to California Gulch where multiple FIVE-STRIPED SPARROWS were easy to hear. I was happy that I'd lugged my scope down Heartbreak Hill since on this occasion (as on many others in the past) it was required to get a decent view (the birds we saw stayed well away from the trail). VARIED BUNTINGS and BLUE GROSBEAKS were both singing up a storm.

Returning through Patagonia we made a token stop at the Roadside Rest Area. Both old and new Rose-throated Becard nests are still visible but definitely much the worse for wear. I was amazed how high water has scoured away almost all of the vegetation along the trail -- it's basically bare dirt almost everywhere.

Our final target of the day was THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD. None detected at the Roadside Rest nor near the nest tree opposite the Paton's. However, we had good scope looks at a couple of vocalizing birds along Blue Heaven Road. One bird was definitely a juvenile indicating successful nesting.

Back in Sierra Vista at 2:00pm after a very successful outing.

53 species recorded:
Turkey Vulture, Gray & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Montezuma Quail, Rock & Band-tailed Pigeons, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Greater Roadrunner, Common Poorwill, Acorn, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, N. Beardless-Tyrannulet, Ash-throated & Brown-crested Flycatchers, Cassin's, Thick-billed & Western Kingbirds, Phainopepla, Cactus, Rock, Canyon & Bewick's Wrens, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Verdin, Mexican Jay, House Sparrow, Bell's & Hutton's Vireos, Lesser Goldfinch, Yellow & Rufous-capped Warblers, Yellow-breasted Chat, Hepatic & Summer Tanagers, Abert's Towhee, Rufous-crowned, Five-striped & Black-throated Sparrows, Northern Cardinal, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks, Indigo & Varied Buntings, Great-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird and Hooded & Scott's Orioles.

I've added a White Mountains summary for the recent trip.

Friday, August 11, 2006
Out again today with Mel for more target birding. We headed over to Madera Canyon where we failed to see Aztec Thrush during a five hour vigil. Consolation came in the form of Berylline Hummingbird and Botteri's Sparrow (hard to miss right now). A mostly cloudy and cool day in the Santa Rita mountains with a few late morning sprinkles. More serious rain looked imminent when we left in the early afternoon.

Box Canyon Road was quite birdy at sunrise this morning. CASSIN'S SPARROWS were abundant in the first few miles from highway 83; BOTTERI'S SPARROW was far less common (or at least, less vocal).  Other species on the drive to Madera included ROCK & CANYON WRENS, RUFOUS-CROWNED, RUFOUS-WINGED, LARK & BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS, BLUE GROSBEAK and VARIED BUNTING.

After hiking up the Vault Mine/Carrie Nation trail, we spent from 7:30am to 12:30pm staking out the "chokecherry location" along with ~18 other birders, a fair number of whom had no idea of stakeout etiquette. I could say more but I will refrain. If I needed a reminder why I find this type of birding so distasteful and unsatisfying, I got it today. There's plenty of fruit to be had and there were plenty of takers today. Unfortunately, Aztec Thrush did not show during the time we were present and I felt bad for Mel. If only he could have been here last week! Some info about Chokecherry trees (pdf).

BERYLLINE HUMMINGBIRD was also a target and we did have good looks at a male coming in to a feeder that someone hung on a tree. I felt a little uncomfortable about the hummer because I couldn't see any red on the bill -- it may have been a problem caused by the gloomy light but I don't think so.. However, all other field marks looked good. Other highlights included fantastic close range views of 3 ELEGANT TROGONS that didn't seem to care less about the crowd (1 adult male & 2 immature birds including an immature male sporting a brown back and green tail); ARIZONA WOODPECKER, numerous SULPHUR-BELLIED FLYCATCHERS; quite a few noisy PLUMBEOUS & HUTTON'S VIREOS; WARBLING VIREO, RED-FACED WARBLER, a fledged family of PAINTED REDSTARTS; WESTERN & HEPATIC TANAGERS and several BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS hitting the chokecherries.

A stop on Continental Road easily produced scope views of BOTTERI'S SPARROW that we didn't bother to stop for earlier this morning. I was looking forward to birding our way back along Box Canyon Road but it was raining for much of the journey. EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE in Sonoita and SWAINSON'S HAWK in Whetstone finished off the day.

48 species recorded:
Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks, American Kestrel, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Berylline, Magnificent & Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Elegant Trogon, Acorn & Arizona Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Western Wood-Pewee, Say's Phoebe, Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, Cassin's Kingbird, Barn Swallow, Rock & Canyon Wrens, N. Mockingbird, Hermit Thrush, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Mexican Jay, Common Raven, Plumbeous, Hutton's & Warbling Vireos, Grace's & Red-faced Warblers, Painted Redstart, Hepatic & Western Tanagers, Canyon Towhee, Botteri's, Cassin's, Rufous-crowned, Rufous-winged, Lark & Black-throated Sparrows, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks, Varied Bunting, Eastern Meadowlark and Great-tailed Grackle.

Saturday, August 12, 2006
Third and last day with Mel. We made brief visits to Carr and Garden Canyons for a couple of species. Conditions in Carr Canyon were fantastic early this morning -- some blue sky to start and zero wind. A blanket of white cloud soon enveloped the damp pines on the upper part of the mountain and it felt like a cloud forest. Wonderful peek-a-boo views of the city and valley below. Clouds built throughout the day and heavy rain began in mid afternoon.

CURVE-BILLED THRASHERS were common and very vocal in lower Carr Canyon. The road up to reef produced calling SULPHUR BELLIED FLYCATCHERS, the usual sky rats (MEXICAN JAYS) and a singing SCOTT'S ORIOLE.

Our primary target in Carr was Olive Warbler and our short search was a bit of a warbler fest. In order, we had to endure looking at VIRGINIA'S, GRACE'S, RED-FACED & BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS before stumbling into a silently foraging adult male OLIVE WARBLER in a regular spot. Also seen in the same location near Reef were an adult GREATER PEWEE feeding several fledglings, BROWN CREEPER, calling STELLER'S & WESTERN SCRUB JAYS, HUTTON'S VIREO, singing YELLOW-EYED JUNCOS, HEPATIC & WESTERN TANAGERS and a fair number of BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS.

The mesquite-grassland in Lower Garden Canyon was alive with birds. Most of them were singing CASSIN'S and BOTTERI'S SPARROWS and both could be seen just by driving along slowly. RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS, BLUE GROSBEAKS and EASTERN MEADOWLARKS were also vocal. WESTERN KINGBIRDS were very common.

Conversely, a round trip walk between the middle and upper picnic areas was almost birdless and we failed to find a Dusky-capped Flycatcher (also missed in the Santa Ritas yesterday and in Carr this morning). The only birds of note were a calling and easy-to-see male ELEGANT TROGON in the large Sycamore at the yellow gate above the upper picnic area; and an adult GRAY HAWK perched roadside in the grassland below the lower picnic area. I'm sure the bird wanted to be in the cottonwoods along the creek but lots of automatic gunfire was emanating from that area.

Schedule update: Most early dates for May 2007 are now filled. Don't hang about if you want April and May dates.

60 species recorded:
Turkey Vulture, Cooper's, Gray, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks, Rock Pigeon, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Elegant Trogon, Acorn Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Greater Pewee, Western Wood-Pewee, Ash-throated & Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Barn Swallow, Canyon, Bewick's & House Wrens, 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, House Sparrow, Plumbeous & Hutton's Vireos, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Olive, Virginia's, Black-throated Gray, Grace's & Red-faced Warblers, Hepatic & Western Tanagers, Spotted Towhee, Botteri's, Cassin's, Rufous-crowned & Lark Sparrows, Yellow-eyed Junco, Pyrrhuloxia, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks, Eastern Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackle and Scott's Oriole.

Sunday, August 13, 2006
First of two days with Jeremy Joseph and Abi Marsh from Washington, DC. We visited Patagonia Lake State Park, Kino Springs and Paton's yard without looking for any specific birds. It was a cloudy and cool day with thunderstorm activity by late morning.

My drive over to Sonoita to meet Jeremy and Abi yielded COMMON POORWILL sitting on Hwy 82 and 3 COMMON NIGHTHAWKS working close to the highway about two miles east of Las Cienegas south entrance. EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES were easy to see in town.

Today was my first visit to Patagonia Lake since July 2. Based on what I had read, I expected very wet and muddy conditions but the trail was quite dry. We spent most of our time here birding the roads outside the park before making a quick visit into the park where we found lots of bugs and few birds. We started in the grassland along the entrance road and had good success with sparrows. Multiple individuals of several species were singing and we had scope views of BOTTERI'S, CASSIN'S and RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS and BLUE GROSBEAK. Further along the road we added ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHER, LUCY'S WARBLER, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, RUFOUS-WINGED SPARROW and VARIED BUNTING singing while perched on a wire. Great looks at all species. Among the species inside the state park were fly over BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCKS, YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO (a decent view) and a number of reticent-as-ever BELL'S VIREOS. 45 species in all.

Next stop was Kino Springs where we had great looks at juvenile and adult GRAY HAWKS near the club house. CASSIN'S KINGBIRDS were very aggressive towards the hawks and twice we saw a kingbird actually riding on the back of an adult Gray Hawk for several seconds. We saw TROPICAL KINGBIRD feeding fledglings at the larger (northernmost) club house pond. BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCKS were at the sludgy sewage pond. Many LAZULI BUNTINGS worked the weeds at the first pond (Indigo and Varied seen by others). GREAT EGRET, BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON and a calling CRISSAL THRASHER were also at the first pond.

Not much activity in Marion Paton's yard but we did see some pristinely plumaged VIOLET-CROWNED HUMMINGBIRDS and an equally spiffy male BRONZED COWBIRD.

A drive & walk check of Blue Heaven Road didn't produce a Thick-billed Kingbird, just a few BAND-TAILED PIGEONS.

76 species recorded:
Pied-billed Grebe, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Cinnamon Teal, Turkey Vulture, Gray, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Am. Coot, Rock & Band-tailed Pigeons, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning, White-winged & Inca Doves, Common Ground-Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Common Nighthawk, Common Poorwill, Broad-billed, Violet-crowned & Black-chinned Hummingbirds, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Western Wood-Pewee, Black & Say's Phoebes, Vermilion & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Tropical, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, N. Rough-winged & Barn Swallows, Phainopepla, Cactus & Bewick's Wrens, N. Mockingbird,. Curve-billed & Crissal Thrashers, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Verdin, Common Raven, European Starling, House Sparrow, Bell's & Warbling Vireos, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Lucy's & Yellow Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat, Summer & Western Tanagers, Abert's Towhee, Botteri's, Cassin's, Rufous-crowned, Rufous-winged, Black-throated & Song Sparrows, N. Cardinal, Blue Grosbeak, Lazuli & Varied Buntings, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackle and Bronzed & Brown-headed Cowbirds.

Monday, August 14, 2006
Out again today with Jeremy and Abi. We birded in Carr and Garden Canyons in the Huachucas where it was cloudy, cool and eventually wet. Fortunately, the rain started just as we were leaving the mountains in the early afternoon.

Although we turned up many of the expected birds in Carr Canyon, none of them came easily. Perhaps due to a combination of the gloomy conditions and lateness of the season, birdsong was minimal and we had to scratch and scrape for almost every victory. Highlights were great looks at OLIVE WARBLER (okay, I'll say it, it was a cracking orange-headed adult male); a couple of relatively cooperative (by their standards) VIRGINIA'S WARBLERS; GRACE'S WARBLER, several PAINTED REDSTARTS and a pair of HEPATIC TANAGERS. A couple of BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHERS were less than cooperative and it was only because they called every now and again that we managed to home in on them.

The only break we got was driving back down the mountain when an ARIZONA WOODPECKER called to alert us of its presence. The bird remained by the road and we managed a decent look.

Garden Canyon was a little kinder to us with a serendipitous sighting of a male MONTEZUMA QUAIL just above the lower picnic area. We had stopped to look for a PLUMBEOUS VIREO that Abi spotted and stumbled into the quail. Unfortunately, only Jeremy and I saw the bird before it moused away through the grass. We never did find the vireo.

ELEGANT TROGON took a little effort to find at the upper picnic area. However, in this case we all got great views of an adult male and an immature female. A couple of SULPHUR-BELLIED FLYCATCHERS were vocal and visible in the same area.

55 species recorded:
Turkey Vulture, Cooper's, Gray & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Gambel's & Montezuma Quail, Rock Pigeon, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Greater Roadrunner, White-throated Swift, Elegant Trogon, Acorn, Hairy & Arizona Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Western Wood-Pewee, Buff-breasted & Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Barn Swallow, Canyon & Bewick's Wrens, Am. Robin, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Western Scrub-Jay, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, House Sparrow, Plumbeous & Hutton's Vireos, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Olive, Virginia's, Black-throated Gray & Grace's Warblers, Painted Redstart, Hepatic Tanager, Spotted & Canyon Towhees, Cassin's & Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Yellow-eyed Junco, Blue Grosbeak and Eastern Meadowlark.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Out today with Ken and Linda Bielek from Phoenix, AZ who I've birded with twice before, most recently in the White Mountains last month. Today our target was the "diabolically elusive" Montezuma Quail that Ken and Linda have been seeking for many years. Even though I saw one yesterday in Garden Canyon (and couldn't find it again after 10 seconds), I decided to go ahead with my original plan of working the Ruby Road in the Pajarito Mountains.

By my records over the past 14 years, the Ruby Road and its side roads such as California Gulch and Sycamore Canyon are far and away the most reliable places to find Montezuma Quail. At least 25% of my 250+ records are from the Pajaritos. Although I have twice as many records in the Huachucas (50%), I also have tons more visits and the reliability factor is far lower. The bottom line though is that Montezuma Quail is a very difficult species to target and the vast majority of my sightings are serendipitous. Generally, you don't find them, they find you. If you spend enough time in their habitat, you will eventually cross paths with one. For some birders this happens sooner rather than later. For most birders though, it's just the opposite.

We cruised the Ruby Road slowly starting from about milepost 4 on the blacktop section (the closest to I-19 that I've seen quail) to Sycamore Canyon. Our time to cover this 15 mile stretch was about 2 hours. Unfortunately, lots of diligent looking and a few stops at prime locations didn't pay off. However, I'd heard birds calling at Sycamore Canyon just a few days ago and I was hoping that I could locate the birds there today.

In Sycamore Canyon, it didn't take long to raise a calling MONTEZUMA QUAIL close to the "warbler spot" (an imprecise term since the warbler seems to be moving around). Not so today though -- we heard and then saw 2 RUFOUS-CAPPED WARBLERS in exactly the same location that I saw them a few days ago on August 10. The birds were active and vocal for the entire hour that we spent in the area (8:30-9:30am) and we had fantastic close range views with zero effort. Murphy at his finest  -- we didn't need to see them.

The quail were another story. We were looking up a steep hillside with fairly high and dense vegetation and into the sun. Hey, tie my hands behind my back as well. I finally figured out that we had a family of young birds when my poor whistled imitation of their call elicited multiple responses. I moved back and forth trying to triangulate the position of the little buggers. Unfortunately, they stopped calling rather abruptly after about 10 minutes and I figured that an adult had finally put a stop to their bad behavior. Now our homing beacon was gone. We struggled up the hill and wandered around for a while in the long grass and mosquitoes. Although we did stumble into one bird, only I got to see it! Nevertheless, Ken and Linda were happy with going from years of nothing to hearing the birds. A step closer.

We saw a number of area regulars (along the Ruby Road and in Sycamore Canyon) including GRAY HAWK, YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO, several GREATER ROADRUNNERS, ARIZONA WOODPECKER, DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER (I couldn't buy one last week), ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, SUMMER TANAGER, VARIED BUNTING and SCOTT'S & HOODED ORIOLES.

Thursday, August 24, 2006
Back in the field today after an enforced absence due to injury. In addition to losing the opportunity to gather data during the early part of migration, I also lost a substantial amount of income and had to disappoint a number of clients. Of course, now that I'm fit again I don't have any clients scheduled in the immediate future. Murphy wouldn't have it any other way.

I would have preferred to check on migrant activity on the San Pedro this morning but common sense told me not to risk walking in the mud. I decided to visit Sawmill Canyon where I hadn't been for quite some time (May 25 to be exact, almost 3 months to the day). There are a number of reasons for this including the fact that I spent several weeks in Wyoming in June and then a month in the White Mountains. I've also been spending more time in Carr Canyon in an attempt to increase my data for that location. Although Sawmill and Carr have similar birds, over the past 14 years I've done most of my forest birding in Sawmill (650 visits) and spent relatively little time in Carr (270 visits, many of which are night only).

I dawdled my way through Garden Canyon to ensure that the sun would reach Sawmill by the time that I arrived. I expected BOTTERI'S and CASSIN'S SPARROWS to be in full voice in the mesquite-grassland but that wasn't the case. Nevertheless, it would have been hard to miss either species. RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS were also conspicuous. A large gathering of VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS on the wires (something that happens every year around this time) were a definite sign of the season. Although they can be found at low elevation locations into November, most are gone from the mountains by the end of September

I detected SULPHUR-BELLIED FLYCATCHERS vocalizing in several locations between the lower picnic area and the pictograph site (where the song of CANYON WREN bounced off the canyon walls). I resisted the temptation to waste my time looking for Aztec Thrush.

I started birding near the cabin in Sawmill at 7:00am. Clouds prevented the sun from having much of an impact and they steadily increased over the next few hours. It was pouring (even in town) by mid afternoon. The canyon was very damp and smelled piney fresh this morning and I had the place to myself. The downside was that it was deathly quiet. Many birds (even common species) can be hard to find at this time of year. Breeding species are no longer on territory and they are not evenly distributed through the various habitats. Rather, they become part of wandering, mixed flocks. Success often depends on whether you encounter such a flock. I didn't. I knew I was having a bad day when I stumbled into a completely silent STELLER'S JAY!

Disappointingly, I failed to find a Buff-breasted Flycatcher. This is a species that usually sticks around into September and I even have a couple of October records (see Sawmill bar graph). My records for August week 4 show that I see them on 85% of visits; down to 80% after today! The only common birds were MEXICAN JAYS and BROWN CREEPERS. A couple of PLUMBEOUS VIREOS sang back and forth across the canyon. Juvenile ARIZONA WOODPECKERS entertained me for a few minutes with their hanging upside down antics. A migrant WILSON'S WARBLER worked an Arizona Walnut tree and a PAINTED REDSTART flitted among the pines. Back near the cabin, a possible migrant WESTERN TANAGER near the cabin was only the 15th species that I saw in Sawmill.

As I drove back down Garden Canyon, a brief stop near the "upper yellow gate" above the upper picnic area yielded a whopping three warblers -- VIRGINIA'S and BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS and PAINTED REDSTART. I also picked up DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER and HEPATIC TANAGER not to mention lots of mosquito bites.

A slow day at the office.

42 species recorded:
Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Ladder-backed & Arizona Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Western Wood-Pewee, Dusky-capped & Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers, Western Kingbird, Violet-green Swallow, Phainopepla, Canyon & Bewick's Wrens, Curve-billed Thrasher, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Plumbeous & Hutton's Vireos, Lesser Goldfinch, Virginia's, Black-throated Gray & Wilson's Warblers, Painted Redstart, Hepatic & Western Tanagers, Canyon Towhee, Botteri's, Cassin's & Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks, Eastern Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackle and Brown-headed Cowbird.

Friday, August 25, 2006
Today I headed east and birded at Kino Springs and Peña Blanca Lake. On my return I briefly checked Patagonia Roadside Rest Area, Blue Heaven Road, Paton's Yard and Las Cienegas. After a partly sunny morning, it was another cloudy day with rain beginning in Patagonia as I left around 1:00pm. The Huachucas were obscured as I arrived in Sierra Vista and it appeared that I had just missed some serious rain in town (plenty of water running down French Fry Boulevard).

Due to a decent monsoon season so far, lush growth is apparent everywhere and the late breeders are having a field day (pun intended). BOTTERI'S, CASSIN'S, RUFOUS-CROWNED, RUFOUS-WINGED and BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS, BLUE GROSBEAKS and VARIED BUNTINGS were all singing in multiple locations with appropriate habitat (which is almost everywhere at the moment!).

I started at the first pond at Kino Springs where the vegetation has grown significantly since I was last here a couple of weeks ago. In some areas I was submerged in weeds!. Fortunately, I came prepared clothing-wise and I think I escaped with just a few chiggers. Buntings, buntings, buntings, I should mention buntings. Several VARIED BUNTING were singing in the mesquite habitat on the west and south sides of the pond and across the wash to the north. LAZULI BUNTINGS were very common all around the pond. The big prize was a female plumaged (green) PAINTED BUNTING in the very dense weeds to the east of the pond (between the pond and the Santa Cruz river). Unfortunately, the bird quickly flew across the wash and I only managed a documentary quality photo. I don't know if this is a female or an immature male. I couldn't follow the bird quickly enough through the tangle of vegetation and I never found it again. Good luck if you look for this baby, you'll need it! While pishing in vain for the bunting, up popped an inquisitive immature BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK.

[Painted Bunting note: While they still probably have "rare late summer and fall visitor" status, it's my impression that Painted Buntings have become more regular and can almost be expected annually. Personally, I have only stumbled into them in 6 of the past 14 years but I think they have been reported somewhere every year. Not many of them are adult males (just one of my 6 sightings was an adult male).]

Despite the annoying noise of road machinery, an hour working around the pond produced 35 species. The bunting show was the highlight, of course; other species included GREEN HERON, BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON, SORA, COMMON GROUND-DOVE, BELTED KINGFISHER, my first of season DUSKY FLYCATCHER, CRISSAL THRASHER, LUCY'S & WILSON'S WARBLERS and YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT.

I moved on to the club house area where noise was again a problem -- this time it was a couple of ride-on mowers and a weed whacker! Nevertheless, during the next hour I was able to add a bunch more species for a total of 55 at Kino. Highlights were several BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCKS, whining GRAY HAWKS (they always sound like they're being strangled); a singing RUDDY GROUND-DOVE, many VERMILION FLYCATCHERS including plenty of juveniles in various stages of plumage development; at least four TROPICAL KINGBIRDS (photo of adult and juvenile) with well developed juveniles still being fed occasionally by adults (photo of juvenile); an oddly posed NORTHERN CARDINAL and a lone male YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD, a species that is fairly scarce at Kino (I only have 7 records in 4 of the 14 years that I've birded here).

After a pleasant, sparrowy drive via South River and Ruby Roads, I resumed birding at Peña Blanca Lake at 9:30am. BLACK VULTURES were overhead as I stepped out of the car and I just about reacted quickly enough. I didn't stay very long because the trail was infested with mosquitoes and I wasn't having fun (still scratching mosquito and chigger bites as I write these notes). Among the 20+ species that I noted before capitulating were GRAY HAWK, DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER, my first of season PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER, BELL'S VIREO, SUMMER TANAGER and BULLOCK'S ORIOLE.

I arrived at Marion Paton's yard just in time to see a couple of GRAY HAWKS overhead. WHITE-WINGED DOVES dominated the seed feeders and relegated COMMON GROUND-DOVES and INCA DOVES to picking up the droppings. Hummingbird activity wasn't particularly high and I saw only four species -- BROAD-BILLED (common), VIOLET-CROWNED (at least three individuals), BLACK-CHINNED and RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS. 20 species in all.

I stopped at Las Cienegas just long enough to pickup GRASSHOPPER SPARROW as the rain increased. I could hear them singing on the south side of Highway 82 before I turned into the property and even more were singing within 50 yards of the entrance.

A much birdier day than yesterday and the price was just a little blood!

90 species recorded:
Great Blue & Green Herons, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Black & Turkey Vultures, Cooper's, Gray, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Gambel's Quail, Sora, Am. Coot, Spotted Sandpiper, Rock Pigeon, Mourning, White-winged & Inca Doves, Common & Ruddy Ground-Doves, Broad-billed, Violet-crowned, Black-chinned & Rufous Hummingbirds, Belted Kingfisher, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Dusky, Pacific-slope, Vermilion, Dusky-capped & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Black & Say's Phoebes, Tropical, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Horned Lark, Tree, N. Rough-winged, Cliff & Barn Swallows, Phainopepla, Rock, Canyon & Bewick's Wrens, Curve-billed & Crissal Thrashers, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Mexican Jay, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, European Starling, House Sparrow, Bell's Vireo, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Lucy's, Yellow & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat, Summer & Western Tanagers, Canyon & Abert's Towhees, Botteri's, Cassin's, Rufous-crowned, Rufous-winged, Lark, Black-throated, Grasshopper & Song Sparrows, N. Cardinal, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks, Lazuli, Varied & Painted Buntings, Red-winged & Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Eastern Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird and Bullock's Oriole.

Sunday, August 27, 2006
This morning I spent three hours at Willcox ponds where the return on my investment was not particularly good (it's a 2 hour 15 minute round trip drive, 150 miles wear and tear on my aging vehicle and $20+ in gas). The water level in the main pond and all temporal ponds is fairly high but there's certainly enough shorebird habitat to support many more birds than I found on this day. Weather conditions were very good -- clear blue sky, calm, only moderately warm and moderately buggy (plenty of annoying flies, very few mosquitoes).

After a quick check of the golf course pond for landbird migrants (none found), I made a pass around the main pond at 7:00am and again at 9:15am. In between, I focused my attention on the temporal ponds and the golf course. A trip to Wilcox is very much a crap shoot. One day it can have lots of birds, another day none. Today was probably "average" and I found nothing unusual for this time of year. No gulls, no terns.

I was quite disappointed by the lack of shorebirds and I was only able to find the routine stuff -- who knows what was obscured by the grass around the main pond. The most common and/or conspicuous species at the main pond were GREAT BLUE HERON, BLACK-NECKED STILT, AMERICAN AVOCET and WILSON'S PHALAROPE, all of which were present in good numbers. I was pleased to find at least 6, maybe as many as 10 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES without having to do much scanning to weed them out of the 100+ Wilson's. Many LEAST SANDPIPERS and a few WESTERN SANDPIPERS were easy to find. Three WHITE-FACED IBIS were present on my second check.

RUDDY DUCKS were common and I noted 15-20 CINNAMON TEAL. Almost nothing present in the southbound duck department. A couple of NORTHERN SHOVELERS have joined the singletons of EARED GREBE and REDHEAD that have been around for a while. The golf course and temporal ponds yielded 1 SNOWY EGRET, 5+ immature BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS, a calling SORA, 5 GREATER & 2 LESSER YELLOWLEGS and BELTED KINGFISHER (a fairly scarce migrant at this location by my records).

At least 20 EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES were grazing on the golf course grass along with scads of KILLDEER and a few LILIAN'S MEADOWLARKS. I didn't see any quail. CASSIN'S SPARROWS were singing in multiple locations.

46 species recorded at Willcox ponds from 6:45-9:45am:
Pied-billed & Eared Grebes, Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Black-crowned Night-Heron, White-faced Ibis, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Redhead, Ruddy Duck, Swainson's Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Sora, Am. Coot, Black-necked Stilt, Am. Avocet, Killdeer, Greater & Lesser Yellowlegs, Western & Least Sandpipers, Wilson's & Red Phalaropes, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Black & Say's Phoebes, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Tree & Barn Swallows, Cactus Wren, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, House Sparrow, Common Yellowthroat,. Cassin's Sparrow, Red-winged & Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Eastern Meadowlark and Great-tailed Grackle.

I've published my Willcox bar-graph. Although the number of visits (250) is far below what I consider really meaningful (400), it still has some value. Not only does it help to put some of the sightings in perspective, you can also see the species that are to be expected yet I didn't find!.

Monday, August 28, 2006
The monsoon season appears to be winding down as September (a.k.a. June) approaches and the days are warming up again. The last few days have been mostly clear and definitely warmer (93 degrees in Sierra Vista at 12:15pm today). I visited Scheelite Canyon for the first time since early July.

Given that we haven't had any significant rain recently, I was really surprised by the amount of water running over the road at the stream crossings in Garden Canyon. Water level and flow velocity were considerably higher than last Thursday when I was last here. I was even more surprised to find water running heavily in lower Scheelite Canyon, a fairly rare event. In fact, I'd go as far as stating that this is the most running water I've seen in Scheelite in the past 14 years. There was also a fair amount of water in the lower roosting area and the bedrock "chute" that feeds the pools above the lower roosting area.

Sparrow activity in lower Garden Canyon mesquite grassland has dropped off a little. In particular, I noted far fewer BOTTERI'S SPARROWS singing today. Song from RUFOUS-CROWNED and CASSIN'S SPARROWS was about the same. This will become even more noticeable as we get into September since Botteri's is a migratory sparrow and is first to finish breeding. Rufous-crowned and Cassin's are both resident and don't have the same sense of urgency.

SULPHUR BELLIED FLYCATCHERS continue to be quite vocal once you get past the lower picnic area and into their habitat zone.

My time in Scheelite began well with a delightful PAINTED REDSTART flitting ahead of me as I got started on the trail. Shortly afterwards I saw a male ELEGANT TROGON facing me, sitting immediately over the trail.  Later I saw a female and immature male for a total of three trogons.

When I saw and heard the water in Scheelite, I immediately figured that I'd be in for a long walk. I doubted the owls would be roosting where they couldn't hear prey or predators and that's the way it panned out. Since I've been burned often enough when I try to "think like an owl", I did a thorough check of the lower roosting area before trudging higher up the canyon.

Today was one of those days that exemplifies the saying "you never know". I spent four hours in the canyon putting all my owl seeking knowledge to the test and was beginning to think I wasn't going to find an owl. However, since I wasn't with a client, I had the time and inclination to "push the envelope" a little (even if I didn't have the energy!). What are the odds on any given day that I would find 2 SPOTTED OWLS roosting separately and both of them would be in completely new (to me) roost locations! Well, that's just what happened today. I found the birds about a mile into the canyon roosting in oak trees about 250 yards apart on opposite sides of the canyon.

At least ten years ago, I identified one of these trees as a potential roost site and even gave it a name. Everything comes to he who waits. As usual during the warmer months, the owl was roosting in a shady spot and I had trouble getting any kind of useful image. This image of a very indifferent SPOTTED OWL belies how dark it really was. A couple of RED-FACED WARBLERS made a half-hearted attempt to bug the owl and certainly enhanced my enjoyment of the moment. However, I could have done without the screeching STELLER'S JAYS. My earliest Scheelite YELLOW-EYED JUNCOS were also present (I normally start seeing them in September which, of course, is not far away). The second owl was in an even darker spot located about 60 feet away from what I consider my "last resort tree" -- a place that I check when all else fails.

Earlier, as I walked up the trail, activity in the lower canyon was non-existent. My weary journey back down canyon was made to seem a little less of an effort by a few regular birds, now quite active. Species included the aforementioned ELEGANT TROGONS, ARIZONA WOODPECKER, DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER, PLUMBEOUS, first of season CASSIN'S and many HUTTON'S VIREOS, VIRGINIA'S, RED-FACED and WILSON'S WARBLERS, HEPATIC TANAGER and SPOTTED TOWHEE.

Not bad for a routine "back to basics" day.

43 species recorded:
Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Spotted Owl, Elegant Trogon, Arizona Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Dusky-capped & Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Violet-green & Barn Swallows, Canyon & Bewick's Wrens, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, Verdin, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Chihuahuan Raven, House Sparrow, Plumbeous, Cassin's & Hutton's Vireos, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Virginia's, Wilson's & Red-faced Warblers, Painted Redstart, Hepatic Tanager, Spotted & Canyon Towhees, Botteri's, Cassin's & Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Yellow-eyed Junco, Blue Grosbeak and Eastern Meadowlark.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Not much to report today. I made a brief early morning visit to Sierra Vista EOP then spent the rest of my day updating the usage distribution data for the 15 most used Spotted Owl roost sites. I hadn't updated this information since January, 2005.

Today's visit to Sierra Vista EOP was my first since the end of May. As I expected, the abundant growth in vegetation over the summer has resulted in zero visibility of open water from the viewing platform (hence, no water birds). I could see distant ducks and shorebirds occasionally take flight from the (inaccessible) interior ponds but wasn't able to identify most of them.  Basically, a wasted hour.

27 species recorded at Sierra Vista EOP:  SVEOP bar-graph.
Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Red-tailed Hawk, Sora, Least Sandpiper, Rock Pigeon, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Say's Phoebe, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Tree & Barn Swallows, Curve-billed Thrasher, Loggerhead Shrike, Chihuahuan Raven, House Finch, Common Yellowthroat, Cassin's, Lark, Black-throated & Song Sparrows, Blue Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting and Red-winged & Yellow-headed Blackbirds.

This log is in chronological order and the most recent entries are at the bottom of the page.
The last update was on Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Species List

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

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