Species List

Stuart Healy Journal - September, 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 Friday, September 29, 2006

Saturday, September 2, 2006
First of two days with Josh Murphy from Chicago, IL who I've birded with on two previous occasions. Today we visited (in order) Patagonia Lake State Park, Kino Springs, Patagonia Roadside Rest Area, Paton's Yard and Las Cienegas. Generally, our objective was to enjoy whatever species that we came across although we did look for a couple of U.S. birds for Josh -- Black-capped Gnatcatcher (seen) and Ruddy Ground-Dove (not seen).  It was a mostly cloudy day with a few sprinkles in mid afternoon .

The day began well with a PRAIRIE FALCON as we drove through the grassland on highway 82.

Despite the somewhat challenging conditions at Patagonia Lake State Park (long grass, mud, bugs & cowshit), our 4.5 hour session was very productive and we recorded a total of 77 species (including 3 new location species for me). Shorebirds were the unexpected highlights. A quick look at my Patagonia Lake Bar Graph will tell you that shorebirds are not a major attraction here (there's very little habitat). However, the northeast part of the lake currently has very good shorebird conditions and many SPOTTED SANDPIPERS were present  (Spotted Sandpiper and Wilson's Snipe are the only regular shorebirds at the lake that occur in numbers). Two Spotties were interacting and indulging in weird displays. More interesting though were singletons of SOLITARY, LEAST, WESTERN & BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS. The latter two were new for me at the lake and I only have a few records for the other two sandpipers.

Also of note along the eastern shore of the lake was a well studied NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH, another new location species for me. An hour or so later, I set a personal record two waterthrush day in Arizona when we found LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH (perhaps two) along the creek in a location where one or two individuals usually spend the winter. This sighting is two weeks earlier than my previous early date for Louisiana Waterthrush at the lake (September 16, 2005). It's interesting to note the pattern of  fall/winter occurrence of Louisiana Waterthrush in the state. There are records from mid July to mid September, then a small gap without any sightings followed by records from early October to mid March. I interpret the data as migrants in the former case and wintering birds in the latter. Difficult to state with certainly the status of today's bird.

Also of interest was a singing HUTTON'S VIREO (winters at the lake) two weeks earlier than my previous early sighting date. Other migrants/winter arrivals included SORA and GRAY & DUSKY FLYCATCHERS. Among the definite migrants noted were PACIFIC SLOPE FLYCATCHER, WARBLING VIREO, NASHVILLE & WILSON'S WARBLERS and WESTERN TANAGER.

Continuing summer breeding/resident species included BROAD-BILLED HUMMINGBIRD (feeding fledged young), YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO (numbers drop sharply in September), NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET (winters in small numbers), BELL'S VIREO, LUCY'S WARBLER, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, SUMMER TANAGER. and the following late breeders all still singing -- BOTTERI'S, CASSIN'S, RUFOUS-CROWNED, RUFOUS-WINGED & BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS, BLUE GROSBEAK and VARIED BUNTING.

We found several BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHERS (recently fledged family?) in the area between where the second wash loops back to the first wash.

During a two hour visit to Kino Springs, we turned up ~50 species but failed to find Ruddy Ground-Dove (although we certainly didn't go all out to find one). Highlights were GRAY HAWK, BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK, numerous VERMILION FLYCATCHERS, TROPICAL KINGBIRD and BANK SWALLOW.

The Roadside Rest area was fairly devoid of birds and very quiet save for the delightful song of CANYON WREN.

Marion Paton's yard yielded GRAY HAWK, fours species of hummers -- BROAD-BILLED (common), VIOLET-CROWNED (2), BLACK-CHINNED (mostly females) and ANNA'S (1), ACORN WOODPECKER and a heard only LAZULI BUNTING (surprisingly AWOL today).

EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES were in Sonoita. Just outside town, a brief stop at Las Cienegas produced a singing GRASSHOPPER SPARROW very close to highway 82.

A productive day to get my September birding underway.

105 species recorded:
Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Am. Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Ruddy Duck, Black & Turkey Vultures, Gray & Swainson's Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Prairie Falcon, Sora, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Solitary, Spotted, Western, Least & Baird's Sandpipers, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning, White-winged & Common Ground-Doves, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Greater Roadrunner, Broad-billed, Violet-crowned, Black-chinned & Anna's Hummingbirds, Belted Kingfisher, Acorn, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, N. Beardless-Tyrannulet, Gray, Dusky, Pacific-slope & Vermilion Flycatchers, Black & Say's Phoebes, Tropical, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, N. Rough-winged, Bank & Barn Swallows, Phainopepla, Cactus, Canyon, Bewick's & House Wrens, Curve-billed Thrasher, Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, European Starling, House Sparrow, Bell's, Hutton's & Warbling Vireos, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Nashville, Lucy's, Yellow & Wilson's Warblers, Northern & Louisiana Waterthrushes, 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 Buntings, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackle and Bullock's Oriole.

Sunday, September 3, 2006
Out again today with Josh on what was an extremely dreary and wet day in Cochise County. The Huachucas were completely socked in by clouds this morning which was very unfortunate since our plan was to spend the entire day in the mountains. We started up Carr Canyon at 6:15am then immediately did an about face and continued south to Coronado Memorial. We returned to Carr Canyon a couple of hours later and managed a few hours before admitting defeat and heading over to Willcox. We persisted through light drizzle, moderate rain and extremely heavy rain (while traveling) and eventually salvaged something from a rare SE AZ day without any sunshine.

Coronado National Memorial is at the extreme southern edge of the Huachucas (very close to Mexico). I figured that the more open aspect might allow us to escape the rain while still providing an opportunity for a few mountain birds. Although the memorial is officially closed due to monsoon rain damage, we managed to find a few places to bird. All the washes have been scoured out and widened. The picnic area is closed -- among other damage there's a 2-3 foot high wall of rocks in the parking area washed down the mountain by the rain. The road over Montezuma Pass is blocked by a barrier at the visitor center so I couldn't assess the damage.

The mesquite-grassland approaches had many singing CASSIN'S, BOTTERI'S & RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS, BLUE GROSBEAKS and EASTERN (LILIAN'S) MEADOWLARKS (great views of the meadowlarks). What a year all of these birds are having.

In the oak, juniper and manzanita chaparral we encountered a mixed flock containing a few migrants. BRIDLED TITMOUSE is always a key component of such flocks and their chatter is usually the reason for finding the flock in the first place. Warblers in the flock were NASHVILLE, several spiffy BLACK-THROATED GRAYS, a handful of WILSON'S, TOWNSEND'S and an absolutely stunning HERMIT WARBLER.

We recorded ~30 species between highway 92 and the visitor center.

Next, we took another shot at Carr Canyon. In hindsight, this was a major mistake and we burned three hours with very little reward. Quite apart from the paucity of birds, the cloud level was down to about 6000 feet so we weren't even afforded the normally spectacular views. In the lower canyon, a brief stop to investigate chattering BRIDLED TITMICE (TITMOUSES? an endless debate) produced HUTTON'S & PLUMBEOUS VIREOS, TOWNSEND'S, BLACK-THROATED GRAY and BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLERS and PAINTED REDSTART. Unfortunately, I didn't get my glasses on the best bird of the day Black-and-White Warbler (a rare transient) until a millisecond before it flew. Drat! Consequently, I was unable to count it with a clear conscience. Josh saw it well, creeping along the branches. This was a long time Arizona nemesis for me and to this day I only have 6 records in the state.

By the time we reached Reef, visibility was absolutely lousy and I decided not to bird in the campground or along the road. Instead, we walked the old Sawmill Spring trail in hopes of an Aztec Thrush. This was a pretty miserable walk in the mist, drizzle and eventual rain. The famous Chokecherry tree had minimal fruit so we didn't hang around. The only bird of note along the trail was BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER which we couldn't see through the fog even though it was calling not far away. Other species along the trail included ACORN WOODPECKER, BUSHTIT, STELLER'S & SCRUB-JAYS, ORANGE-CROWNED, NASHVILLE, BLACK-THROATED GRAY & WILSON'S WARBLERS and SPOTTED TOWHEE. To give you an idea of the conditions, we failed to see the abundant towhee.

We abandoned the mountains and drove over to Willcox. We passed through heavy rain on the outbound and return journeys but our two hours at the ponds were mostly rain free. We left just as it was starting. Conditions were certainly gloomy under heavy cloud cover but, compared to how hot it can be here even in September, it was a bargain and we managed to record almost 50 species.

Even though it's still early in the fall season, ducks are seriously lacking compared to my records from previous years. See Willcox Bar Graph. I'm wondering if the large amount  of water in Willcox Playa and the presence of many temporal ponds that are undoubtedly scattered throughout area are diluting the birds. We noted only the resident RUDDY DUCKS, a small flock of CINNAMON TEAL, a moderate number of NORTHERN SHOVELERS and the continuing REDHEAD

GREEN HERON and BELTED KINGFISHER are both rare migrants at this location and the presence of both emphasize that "timing is everything". Speaking of which, VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW is the least common migrant swallow at Willcox yet today it was the most common (many 100s) of all six swallow species that we saw.

A distant NORTHERN HARRIER coursing over the grassland was my first of season. Published data shows them returning to SE AZ as early as mid July. My earliest record at Willcox is August 5 and my earliest record for SE AZ is July 23.

AMERICAN AVOCET numbers have increased significantly since I was here last week and there were easily 100 birds. WILSON'S PHALAROPE numbers are down making it even easier to see the 6+ RED-NECKED PHALAROPES.

Shorebirds were not particular plentiful but we found LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, a few LONG-BILLED CURLEWS, a couple of GREATER and half dozen LESSER YELLOWLEGS, the usual WESTERN & LEAST and a single STILT SANDPIPER. It appeared that we would go gull and ternless until a single BLACK TERN put in an appearance. We also just squeaked by with a single SCALED QUAIL perched in a mesquite as we left (almost at the highway).

Even though the day was far from being a spectacular birding day, it turned out to be quite respectable given the conditions.

83 species recorded:
Eared Grebe, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, White-faced Ibis, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Redhead, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, N. Harrier, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Scaled Quail, Am. Coot, Black-necked Stilt, Am. Avocet, Killdeer, Long-billed Dowitcher, Long-billed Curlew, Greater & Lesser Yellowlegs, Western, Least & Stilt Sandpipers, Wilson's & Red-necked Phalaropes, Black Tern, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Anna's Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Acorn Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Buff-breasted Flycatcher, Black & Say's Phoebes, Western Kingbird, Horned Lark, Tree, Violet-green, N. Rough-winged, Bank, Cliff & Barn Swallows, Canyon & Bewick's Wrens, Curve-billed Thrasher, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Loggerhead Shrike, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Western Scrub-Jay, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, Plumbeous & Hutton's Vireos, Lesser Goldfinch, Orange-crowned, Nashville, Virginia's, Black-throated Gray, Townsend's, Hermit & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Painted Redstart, Western Tanager, Spotted & Canyon Towhees, Botteri's, Cassin's & Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks, Red-winged & Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Eastern Meadowlark and Great-tailed Grackle.

Thursday, September 7, 2006
On another rain impacted day, I was out birding today with Truitt Ellis from Birmingham, AL  It's been a rainy week in the Sierra Vista area and unfortunately, after a brief respite yesterday, the rain was back again with a vengeance today. By the way, this is not monsoon type rain. We abandoned the original plan of birding on the San Pedro and in the Huachucas, opting instead to visit the Patagonia area. Despite some periods of heavy rain, we managed to get some birding done at Patagonia Lake State Park and Kino Springs. Judging by the conditions when we returned to Sierra Vista (socked in with heavy rain), I don't think that we would have fared well here.

We visited Patagonia Lake twice and on neither occasion did we bird in the park proper. Our early visit was rained out within minutes and we drove on to Kino Springs where conditions were a little better. The Santa Cruz river (where I walked the dry riverbed a few days ago) was flowing heavily with very muddy water. Quite a sight.

Highlights while dodging the rain were BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK, GRAY HAWK, TROPICAL KINGBIRD, MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER and LAZULI BUNTING. Two adult and two very small immature Whistling-Ducks were at the sewage pond and it would appear that the brood has suffered a high mortality rate. At least two Tropical Kingbirds continue near the club house (my latest date at Kino is September 11).

Other species from 60 seen in 3.5 hours included the continuing GREAT EGRET, GREEN HERON and SORA, all at the first pond, a few COMMON GROUND-DOVES, GREATER ROADRUNNER, GILDED FLICKER (the nest tree used this year has fallen down),  numerous VERMILION FLYCATCHERS, migrant WARBLING VIREOS and NASHVILLE WARBLERS, immature LUCY'S WARBLERS, my FOS GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE, ABERT'S and CANYON TOWHEES and BULLOCK'S ORIOLE.

Conditions at Patagonia Lake were much better around noon. Still very cloudy but at least it was dry. We birded along the entrance road and side roads only. Many BOTTERI'S and CASSIN'S SPARROWS were singing but Cassin's was hard to see. RUFOUS-WINGED SPARROW wasn't exactly cooperative but we eventually had a decent look at a singing bird. BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS were also in full voice but, ironically, we couldn't lay eyes on a single individual of this common species. We did much better with a very close look at VARIED BUNTING, although we could certainly have used some sunlight to see its true colors.

Among the other species were ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, BELL'S & WARBLING VIREOS, NASHVILLE & LUCY'S WARBLERS, GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE and numerous singing BLUE GROSBEAKS.

We intended to finish up in the Paton's yard but Sonoita creek was running heavily and we sensibly didn't take the risk of driving through the deep water near the house. No bird is worth the ignominy and cost of getting washed away and ending up on the 6 o'clock news (or in the cemetery).

72 species recorded:
Pied-billed Grebe, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Green Heron, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Mallard, Turkey Vulture, Gray, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Sora, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Rock Pigeon, Mourning, White-winged & Inca Doves, Common Ground-Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Broad-billed Hummingbird, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Gilded Flicker, Black & Say's Phoebes, Vermilion & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Tropical, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Tree & Barn Swallows, Phainopepla, Bewick's & House Wrens, Curve-billed Thrasher, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Chihuahuan Raven, European Starling, House Sparrow, Bell's & Warbling Vireos, Lesser Goldfinch, Nashville, Lucy's, Yellow, MacGillivray's & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Green-tailed, Canyon & Abert's Towhees, Botteri's, Cassin's, Rufous-crowned, Rufous-winged, Chipping, Lark, Black-throated & Song Sparrows, N. Cardinal, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks, Lazuli & Varied Buntings, Red-winged Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird and Bullock's Oriole.

Saturday, September 9, 2006
First of two days with Jenny and Tom Michaels from Tucker, GA. We spent time at Patagonia Lake State Park, Kino Springs and the Paton's in search of a number of typical target species. We left Sierra Vista in darkness at 5:30am. Clear skies led to a rain free birding day (at last!), although a little rain fell as we drove back to town around 2:00pm.

The first hour at Patagonia Lake was extremely productive and we quickly picked up one target species after another. We didn't get cheated on the views either. First up was BOTTERI'S SPARROW in the grassland, killer looks at a very cooperative bird.  Next came RUFOUS-WINGED SPARROW, LUCY'S WARBLER and VARIED BUNTING all seen well (the latter singing from an exposed perch still defending territory as mid September approaches). Great views in good light. We found these birds on the entrance road before entering the state park along with ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, PHAINOPEPLA, BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHER, LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE, BELL'S & WARBLING VIREOS, NASHVILLE WARBLER (very common today), CASSIN'S, BREWER'S & BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS, CARDINAL and BLUE GROSBEAK. It's interesting to realize that newly arrived Brewer's Sparrows have returned from doing their breeding up north while species like Botteri's, Cassin's, etc. are still not done yet.

Our first target in the park proper was BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHER and it didn't take long to find a female in the same location where I saw one last weekend (in the area between where the second wash loops back to the first wash). We also picked up another target here -- a migrant CASSIN'S VIREO was singing in the same mesquite as the gnatcatcher!

Now we had to start working for our birds. The recent rain has created more muddy areas and debris to negotiate so it was quite a challenge. We stuck at it and weeded out three more targets -- GRAY, DUSKY and DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHERS plus a number of other species including WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, VERMILION & PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHERS, many NASHVILLE WARBLERS, SUMMER TANAGER, ABERT'S TOWHEE and BULLOCK'S ORIOLE. We didn't quite make it as far as the creek where another birder had seen Louisiana Waterthrush. All told we saw 65 species in just under 4 hours.

Kino Springs wasn't quite as productive (later in the day of course) and we dipped on three of our four target species here. The only success was TROPICAL KINGBIRD (several of them continue near the club house). We missed Gray Hawk, Ruddy-Ground-Dove and Gilded Flicker despite considerable effort. Of course, it wasn't all bad since we did find 40+ species during the search and it was good not to be walking in mud.  In addition to the Tropical Kingbird, species not seen at the lake included CINNAMON TEAL, CASSIN'S KINGBIRD, TREE, NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED & CLIFF SWALLOWS, LAZULI BUNTING and YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD.

After searching high and low for Gray Hawk at Kino, Murphy struck again shortly after we entered the Paton's Yard when GRAY HAWK called! Even better, THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD was also calling, a bird that I thought may have left already. After we finished in the yard, we made a brief sortie along Blue Heaven Road and easily saw the now silent kingbird along with 3-4 raucous Gray Hawks and GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE.

Hummingbird activity at the feeders was fairly reasonable from a limited number of species -- BROAD-BILLED (common), BLACK-CHINNED (fairly common) ANNA'S (1) and star of the show VIOLET-CROWNED. Also present were a number of regulars such as GAMBEL'S QUAIL, ACORN WOODPECKER, ABERT'S TOWHEE and LAZULI BUNTING.

Another day, another 50 cents, lots of birds and a few more chiggers.

92 species recorded:
Pied-billed Grebe, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Turkey Vulture, Cooper's, Gray, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Gambel's Quail, Sora, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Spotted Sandpiper, Rock Pigeon, Mourning, White-winged & Inca Doves, Common Ground-Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Broad-billed, Violet-crowned, Black-chinned & Anna's Hummingbirds, Belted Kingfisher, Acorn, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Western Wood-Pewee, Gray, Dusky, Pacific-slope, Vermilion, Dusky-capped & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Black Phoebe, Tropical, Cassin's, Thick-billed & Western Kingbirds, Tree, N. Rough-winged, Cliff & Barn Swallows, Phainopepla, Cactus, Bewick's, Curve-billed, Black-tailed & Black-capped Gnatcatchers, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, European Starling, House Sparrow, Bell's, Cassin's & Warbling Vireos, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Nashville, Lucy's, Yellow & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Summer & Western Tanagers, Green-tailed & Abert's Towhees, Botteri's, Cassin's, Rufous-crowned, Rufous-winged, Brewer's, Lark, Black-throated & Song Sparrows, N. Cardinal, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks, Lazuli & Varied Buntings, Red-winged & Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Great-tailed Grackle and Bullock's Oriole.

Sunday, September 10, 2006
Out again today with Jenny and Tom. All off our time was spent in the Huachucas where we encountered a mixture of clouds, clear skies, sunshine and rain.

I saw a report yesterday about "unprecedented quiet" conditions in the Huachucas. However, anyone who birds the mountains regularly would know that such conditions are actually normal and expected after the breeding season ends. As we headed into Carr Canyon, I warned Jenny and Tom that we would have to work for our birds and, for the most part, that's the way it turned out.

Our first stop in the lower canyon produced wonderful looks at ARIZONA WOODPECKER. However, we had to pay by expending 30 minutes of effort tracking a secretive bird before it eventually revealed itself.. Conversely, we never even glimpsed a leaf move in an area where HEPATIC TANAGERS were calling. A roadside stop to investigate a chattering BRIDLED TITMOUSE flock produced good looks at HUTTON'S VIREO and PAINTED REDSTART; and a brief look at BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER.

Conditions were cloudy and cool around Reef, although nothing like last weekend's thick fog and rain. The birding was tough going and we had to work the area for several hours just to turn up a handful of target species. Even the common YELLOW-EYED JUNCOS were not obvious and we actually had to look for one. We tracked an alternately calling and silent OLIVE WARBLER to a successful conclusion. Great looks at an orange-headed adult male. To my mind, the rather unfortunately named Olive Warbler should be known as Orange-headed Warbler. Let's start a campaign to get this done.

The best birds were in a regular spot just beyond Reef campground. Soft "pit" calls and a partial burst of "José" song led us to BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER and GREATER PEWEE respectively. We had to scramble up a steep slope to see them well. I figured that we had a good chance of the flycatcher since I see them regularly through September and sometimes into October. However, even though I've seen Greater Pewee into October in the mountains, I hadn't really expected to get this bird because they're thin on the ground and usually silent in September.

While looking for the flycatchers, a flyover RED CROSSBILL was the least expected bird of the day. Although resident, they are very scarce in the Huachucas and I only have a total of 52 records here over the past 14 years. I've seen them in every month but this was only my second September record.

Other species from 45 recorded in Carr Canyon included 3 WILD TURKEYS,  a flock of ~20 WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS working low under the cloud cover, a ratty looking male MAGNIFICENT HUMMINGBIRD, ACORN, HAIRY & LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKERS, all three regular jays, ORANGE-CROWNED, NASHVILLE and TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS and many singing RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS.

Garden Canyon creek is still flowing strongly and water continues to flow in Scheelite Canyon, including over the trail for a stretch of 150-200 yards. However, it certainly isn't an impediment to getting up the canyon. The rain that fell several times as we hiked up the canyon was more annoying. Since there's plenty of water noise in the lower roosting area, I fully expected to be slogging up to the upper area and that was the case. As usual though, I checked the lower area before heading up. Our reward was a great look at a very wide awake SPOTTED OWL in the upper area. The bird was preening when we found it and continued to be alert over the next 5 minutes. Usually, they don't even bother to open their eyes.

There wasn't much else going on in the canyon in mid afternoon. A few calling ARIZONA WOODPECKERS and an occasional burst of song from CANYON WREN broke the silence. I also recorded MEXICAN JAY, HUTTON'S VIREO, HERMIT THRUSH, NASHVILLE WARBLER, PAINTED REDSTART and RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW.

58 species recorded:
Turkey Vulture, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Wild Turkey, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Spotted Owl, White-throated Swift, Magnificent Hummingbird, Acorn, Ladder-backed, Hairy & Arizona Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Greater Pewee, Buff-breasted Flycatcher, Say's Phoebe, Cassin's Kingbird, Barn Swallow, Canyon, Bewick's & House Wrens, Curve-billed Thrasher, Hermit Thrush, Am. Robin, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Western Scrub-Jay, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, European Starling, House Sparrow, Hutton's Vireo, House Finch, Red Crossbill, Lesser Goldfinch, Olive, Orange-crowned, Nashville, Black-throated Gray, & Townsend's Warblers, Painted Redstart, Hepatic Tanager, Spotted & Canyon Towhees, Botteri's & Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Yellow-eyed Junco, Blue Grosbeak, Eastern Meadowlark and Great-tailed Grackle.

Monday, September 11, 2006
Out today with Ramki and Swarna from Bangalore, India. We spent time on the San Pedro and in lower Carr Canyon looking for photo opportunities. After a sunny start, clouds built steadily and rain began by mid afternoon.

Birding around the San Pedro house was fairly decent early this morning. Unfortunately, our attempts to reach the river to increase species diversity ended up in a muddy mess and we never actually made it beyond Kingfisher pond.

LESSER GOLDFINCHES and BLUE GROSBEAKS were the most common species. Many grosbeaks along with BOTTERI'S and CASSIN'S SPARROWS were singing strongly. Three species of towhees were conspicuous -- CANYON, GREEN-TAILED and ABERT'S (very common). Migrants and returning wintering species noted were WARBLING VIREO, MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER, BREWER'S & LINCOLN'S SPARROWS and LAZULI BUNTING.

Best birds were ZONE-TAILED HAWK over Kingfisher pond (only my second sighting here) and a huge flock of YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS, a  fairly scarce species on the river. Other species included GREEN HERON, GRAY HAWK (heard only), SWAINSON'S HAWK, COMMON GROUND-DOVE, VERMILION FLYCATCHER and PYRRHULOXIA. 46 species in all.

Activity in lower Carr Canyon was quite low from late morning through mid afternoon and we struggled to find birds. RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW was probably the most common species (many singing but not easy to see). Highlights were good looks at ARIZONA, ACORN & LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKERS. Other species included WILD TURKEY, OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER and NASHVILLE & BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS.

65 species recorded:
Green Heron, Turkey Vulture, Gray, Swainson's, Zone-tailed & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Wild Turkey, Rock Pigeon, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Common Ground-Dove, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Acorn, Gila, Ladder-backed & Arizona Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, Black Phoebe, Vermilion Flycatcher, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Violet-green & Barn Swallows, Cactus, Bewick's & House Wrens, Curve-billed Thrasher, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Loggerhead Shrike, Mexican Jay, Common Raven, House Sparrow, Bell's, Hutton's & Warbling Vireos, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Nashville, Black-throated Gray & MacGillivray's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat, Summer & Western Tanagers, Green-tailed, Canyon & Abert's Towhees, Botteri's, Cassin's, Rufous-crowned, Chipping, Brewer's, Lark, Song & Lincoln's Sparrows, Pyrrhuloxia, Blue Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, Yellow-headed Blackbird and Great-tailed Grackle.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006
First of two days with Randall Mains from Phoenix, AZ. On another rain impacted day, we looked for Buff-breasted Flycatcher in the Huachucas (not seen) and Mexican Chickadee and Juniper Titmouse in the Chiricahuas (both seen). Today's episode reads more like a weather related news report than a birding report.

Although there was a serious thunderstorm and rain cell to the east of Sierra Vista this morning, the Huachucas were clear as we left town at 6:00am for Carr Canyon. After a couple of roadside stops in the lower canyon, we headed directly to where I had seen Buff-breasted Flycatcher on Sunday. I was hoping that the bird would have stuck around for a couple more days. If it did, we couldn't find it before the rain began at 7:30am. By 8:00am it was pouring and we abandoned all hope of further birding in the near future.

Among the birds in the lower canyon were COOPER'S & SWAINSON'S HAWKS and 6 WILD TURKEYS. Roadside birds on the drive up to Reef included HUTTON'S & WARBLING VIREOS, BLACK-THROATED GRAY & NASHVILLE WARBLERS in a mixed flock in the oak zone; and a very crisp HERMIT WARBLER with a PAINTED REDSTART higher up the canyon in a fir tree. Activity around Reef was good just before the rain started and we found a mix of residents and migrants including ACORN & HAIRY WOODPECKERS, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, BROWN CREEPER, OLIVE & TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS and SPOTTED TOWHEE.

When looking for Mexican Chickadee, I usually enter the Chiricahuas on the Pinery Canyon Road which usually yields the Chickadee. However, I was worried about the potential for heavy running water and decided to go the long way around via Portal (not such a big deal I thought since we also needed Juniper Titmouse and would have to cross the mountain anyway). We encountered a few sprinkles along Highway 80 north of Douglas but the mountains were rain free when we resumed birding on Paradise Road around 11:30am.

JUNIPER TITMOUSE was easy to find near Paradise Cemetery and we had good looks at multiple birds. Other species here included GRAY FLYCATCHER, WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, many WESTERN BLUEBIRDS, BUSHTIT, PLUMBEOUS VIREO, my first lowland YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER of the season, WESTERN & HEPATIC TANAGERS and CHIPPING & RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS.

Next came the first of a couple of annoying backtracking situations that we encountered. We continued on the Paradise Road hoping to join Rustler Park Road at the Paradise cutoff. However, the stream crossing above town was a running a little too fast and deep for our vehicle and we reluctantly turned around. After backtracking, we started up the Rustler Road just above Portal and worked the road in vain for Chickadees up to Onion Saddle. This is far from the best area except for the Paradise cutoff where Murphy got his licks (the water noise was way too high at that location).

We finally found and had good looks at MEXICAN CHICKADEE on Pinery Canyon road just below the saddle. Other birds in the area were BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD, HERMIT WARBLER and YELLOW-EYED JUNCO.

We asked about the condition of the streams down below and were told that we should be able to make it. We headed down canyon for about 7 miles until we hit a heavily running crossing that looked pretty formidable. I waded in to knee depth to test it and the current would certainly have been strong enough to push me over without sufficient concentration and resistive force. After some discussion, we decided to backtrack once again to Onion Saddle, down the mountain to Portal then back home via Douglas and Bisbee. This was at least an hour longer than it would have taken had we been able to cross the stream and return home through Sulphur Springs Valley. We picked up heavy rain near Portal and it was raining cats and dogs back in Sierra Vista at 5:00pm.

It's not just a job it's an adventure! What a day. Nevertheless, despite the adversity, we did see two of our three targets.

51 species recorded:
Turkey Vulture, Cooper's, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Wild Turkey, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Acorn & Hairy Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Gray Flycatcher, Barn Swallow, Bewick's & House Wrens, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Western Bluebird, Am. Robin, Bushtit, Mexican Chickadee, Bridled Titmouse, Juniper Titmouse, Red-breasted & White-breasted Nuthatches, Brown Creeper, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Western Scrub-Jay, Chihuahuan Raven, Plumbeous, Hutton's & Warbling Vireos, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Olive, Nashville, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Gray, Townsend's & Hermit Warblers, Painted Redstart, Hepatic & Western Tanagers, Spotted Towhee, Rufous-crowned, Chipping & Black-throated Sparrows and Yellow-eyed Junco.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Out again today with Randall. We visited Sycamore Canyon for Rufous-capped Warbler. After the frustrations of a wet day yesterday, today was just plain disappointing even though conditions in Sycamore were sunny and clear. Water levels in the canyon have dropped considerably since my last visit on August 15.

We began the search shortly after 7:00am, at which time bird activity was very high. We worked the section of riparian habitat between the parking area and the Hank & Yank "ruin". Around 8:20am, I heard RUFOUS-CAPPED WARBLER singing just south of the first stream crossing. We tracked the warbler as it moved south about 100 yards and continued to sing from an oak tree located just east of the trail about 20 yards north of the ruin (small wall).

Unfortunately, we failed to lay eyes on the bird over a period of 5 minutes. The oak held several other species and the warbler must have eventually slipped away unnoticed as we looked at the wrong birds! Even so, I was still confident of relocating the warbler. As things turned out, my confidence was completely unfounded and I didn't detect it again through 11:30am when we left. Activity was minimal after 10:30am.

For the first couple of hours, warblers were active and conspicuous in the riparian area east of the ruin. ORANGE-CROWNED was by far the most common followed by NASHVILLE and MACGILLIVRAY'S. We also saw a few BLACK-THROATED GRAY & WILSON'S and singletons of YELLOW and TOWNSEND'S.

Other species among the 34 that we recorded during the search were an adult GRAY HAWK, BELTED KINGFISHER, a calling and unseen DUSKY FLYCATCHER, numerous DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHERS (fairly common and vocal), all three species of regular tanagers and several SCOTT'S ORIOLES.

The return journey was quiet save for BOTTERI'S and CASSIN'S SPARROWS singing along highway 82 in the Sonoita grasslands where we saw a good sized herd of PRONGHORN. Heavy rain in Sierra Vista in the early afternoon.

40 species recorded:
Turkey Vulture, Cooper's, Gray, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel. Mourning & White-winged Doves, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Acorn Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Black Phoebe, Dusky & Dusky-capped Flycatchers, Bewick's & House Wrens, Bridled Titmouse, Mexican Jay, Hutton's Vireo, Lesser Goldfinch, Orange-crowned, Nashville, Yellow, Black-throated Gray, Townsend's, MacGillivray's, Wilson's & Rufous-capped Warblers, Hepatic, Summer & Western Tanagers, Botteri's, Cassin's, Rufous-crowned & Chipping Sparrows, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks and Bullock's & Scott's Orioles.

Sunday, September 17, 2006
Today I made routine visits to Garden and Sawmill Canyons in the Huachucas. September so far has been cooler and much wetter than usual and mornings have been getting noticeably cooler. I left home at sunrise this morning (~6:10am) when the temperature was in the low 50s. Conditions in the mountains were excellent -- sunny and clear and very calm.

Sparrow activity in lower Garden Canyon mesquite-grassland was in direct contradiction to what I said would happen in my journal notes for August 28. I counted 19 singing BOTTERI'S SPARROWS (several seen) and just one singing CASSIN'S SPARROW. Go figure. CANYON TOWHEE, several RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS, a couple of BLUE GROSBEAKS and EASTERN (LILIAN'S) MEADOWLARK were also singing.

Highlight of my time in the grassland was a roadside MONTEZUMA QUAIL directly opposite the marker for "Area Y". GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE called as I tracked the quail and many VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS swirled overhead.

Although it's been a few weeks since I last visited Sawmill, I deliberately waited until the start of September week 3 for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I like to keep tabs on when Buff-breasted Flycatcher departs. They are routinely present through mid September so sightings in the first couple of weeks don't advance my knowledge very much. However, from now on they really thin out and I'll take all the data points that I can get. Today I found at least two extremely quiet BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHERS fairly low in the canyon. I walked up canyon about a mile and checked below the cabin for about 1/2 mile without detecting any more individuals. There could well have been more present -- but if they don't call....! The graphic below shows my cumulative sighting numbers for September 1994-2006 in Sawmill..

Secondly, I wanted to check for early arriving wintering species and in this regard I didn't fare too well. It's still a bit early to expect sapsuckers and Dark-eyed Juncos in the canyon but I'd hoped to see Ruby-crowned Kinglet and maybe an early Pine Siskin. YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS are back in numbers and I also found a few HERMIT THRUSHES. The following partial bar graph for Sawmill Canyon should put the species that I've mentioned into context (full Sawmill Bar Graph).

While not exactly "in my face", migrant activity was there to be found with a little patience and persistence. I spent a total of 3 hours in the canyon and recorded 26 species including several expected warbler species. HERMIT WARBLER was by far the most common. I saw more than 20 individuals and probably missed at least the same number while trying to get some photos. This being the case, their numbers were an order of magnitude greater than any other warbler except Yellow-rumped. I noted 3 OLIVE WARBLERS (one singing), 1 BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, 1 TOWNSEND'S WARBLER, 3 GRACE'S WARBLERS (one singing) and a singing PAINTED REDSTART.

Hermit Warbler was a photo first so I've included a couple of under par images. I think this bird is an adult female. I'd like to see a little black under the chin but I think the amount of yellow and dark bill rule out a first fall female. I feel fairly comfortable calling this bird a first fall male.

Other species included 2 ARIZONA WOODPECKERS, lots of BRIDLED TITMICE (find them, find the warblers), BROWN CREEPER, STELLER'S JAY, COMMON RAVEN, PLUMBEOUS, CASSIN'S & HUTTON'S VIREOS, HEPATIC & WESTERN TANAGERS and YELLOW-EYED JUNCO (photo is of an immature bird). 

Back in Garden Canyon around 11:00am, BOTTERI'S SPARROWS had really quieted down and I heard just a couple. However, many CASSIN'S and WESTERN KINGBIRDS were now hawking insects from the wires and mesquites (not a one to be seen earlier).

The fishing ponds have some water and the weedy habitat of previous years is nowhere to be seen. Consequently, I didn't see any sparrows nor finches around the ponds. The Gravel Pit pond is as full as I've ever seen it and the deep end is probably 35 feet deep, certainly deep enough for diving ducks. Today I saw just a solitary COOT and a BELTED KINGFISHER.

57 species recorded:
Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Montezuma Quail, Am. Coot, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Gila, Ladder-backed & Arizona Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Buff-breasted Flycatcher, Say's Phoebe, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Violet-green Swallow, Phainopepla, Cactus, Canyon & Bewick's Wrens, Curve-billed Thrasher, Hermit Thrush, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Verdin, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, House Sparrow, Plumbeous, Cassin's & Hutton's Vireos, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Olive, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Gray, Townsend's, Hermit & Grace's Warblers, Painted Redstart, Hepatic & Western Tanagers, Green-tailed & Canyon Towhees, Botteri's, Cassin's & Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Yellow-eyed Junco, Blue Grosbeak, Eastern Meadowlark and Great-tailed Grackle.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Out today with Bill Shields from Medina, OH. We visited Patagonia Lake State Park, Kino Springs and Paton's Yard for some light target birding and opportunistic photography. Unfortunately, it was a mostly cloudy day not very conducive to photography.

We began at Patagonia Lake where we had some early success along the entrance road with BOTTERI'S, RUFOUS-CROWNED, RUFOUS-WINGED and BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS, all singing and all seen well. A few CASSIN'S SPARROWS were singing but too far away to see. Next, we picked up MACGILLIVRAY'S and LUCY'S WARBLERS and a juvenile male VARIED BUNTING. We had stunning, in the clear views of YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT when neither of us was carrying a camera. Other species seen before entering the park proper included WESTERN TANAGER, GREEN-TAILED & CANYON TOWHEES, BREWER'S & LARK SPARROWS and BLUE GROSBEAK.

Inside the park we had good success with flycatchers including NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET (common and vocal today after being inconspicuous on recent visits), my first of season HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, a number of GRAY FLYCATCHERS and a couple of DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHERS.

Among the other species recorded on a short visit (no birding in the washes and only a cursory look at the water) were a soaring OSPREY, one calling SORA, my first of season MARSH WREN chattering in (where else but) the marsh, BELL'S VIREO, NASHVILLE & WILSON'S WARBLERS, SUMMER TANAGER, a small flock of YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS (uncommon at the lake) and BULLOCK'S ORIOLE. 57 species in all.

Late morning activity at Kino Springs was minimal and we had to work for a while just to find LAZULI BUNTING. I didn't see nor hear any Tropical Kingbirds so they may have departed. Among the species seen at Kino and not at the lake were GREEN HERON, my first of season GADWALL, COMMON GROUND-DOVE (silent), WILSON'S SNIPE, numerous CASSIN'S KINGBIRDS and five species of swallows.

Activity in Marion Paton's Yard in the early afternoon made Kino Springs look busy. We stayed for less than 30 minutes during which time we did not see Violet-crowned Hummingbird. The only hummers noted were BROAD-BILLED (male and female in equal numbers) and many female BLACK-CHINNED (just one male noted). Most of the Black-chins are typically gone by the end of September and I have just a few October records.

81 species recorded:
Pied-billed Grebe, Neotropic Cormorant, Great Egret, Green Heron, Gadwall, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Sora, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Wilson's Snipe, Spotted Sandpiper, Mourning, White-winged & Inca Doves, Common Ground-Dove, Broad-billed & Black-chinned Hummingbirds, Belted Kingfisher, Acorn, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, N. Beardless-Tyrannulet, Hammond's, Gray, Vermilion & Dusky-capped Flycatchers, Black & Say's Phoebes, Cassin's Kingbird, Tree, Violet-green, N. Rough-winged, Cliff & Barn Swallows, Bewick's, House & Marsh Wrens, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Common Raven, European Starling, House Sparrow, Bell's Vireo, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Nashville, Lucy's, MacGillivray's & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat, Summer & Western Tanagers, Green-tailed & Canyon Towhees, Botteri's, Cassin's, Rufous-crowned, Rufous-winged, Brewer's, Lark, Black-throated & Song Sparrows, N. Cardinal, Blue Grosbeak, Lazuli & Varied Buntings, Red-winged Blackbird, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle and Bullock's Oriole.

Thursday, September 21, 2006
Today I made my first of season visit to San Rafael Valley. It's still a little early for this location and most years I don't start working the valley until October. However, last year I made my first visit during the last week of September and managed to set a personal early date for Baird's Sparrow on September 26 (simply because this was my earliest ever visit). Today I decided to push the envelope a little further.

If you look at the data in the two SE AZ Birdfinding Guides (see my review), you'll see quite a discrepancy in the arrival and departure times of Baird's Sparrow in southeast Arizona. The ABA guide shows them as rare starting in October; then uncommon from mid November through mid March; then rare again through mid April. The TAS guide shows them as casual from mid August through mid September; then rare from mid September through mid April; and finally casual again with records into the first week of May. Since I don't usually look for Baird's Sparrow after February, I can't comment on the accuracy of departure dates. However, based on my results last year and again today, I'd have to say that the TAS guide is more accurate on arrival dates.

It took some discipline to drag myself out of bed at 4:00am in preparation for a 5:00am departure. First of all, a visit to the valley is hardly a cure for what ails you in terms of seeing a variety of birds (diversity is quite low to put it mildly). Secondly, finding the sparrow is tough even when you know they are present so trying to find an early bird could certainly be considered an act of masochistic behavior. Nevertheless, I gave it a shot.

The drive through Fort Huachuca and out the west gate was birdless (of course, it was dark!). Wonderful views of the pre dawn valley with patchy low lying fog was my first reward as I crested out at Canelo Pass. My objective was to get to the west end of the valley in time for the first rays of sunlight. A few clouds over the Huachucas gave me a few extra minutes to achieve that goal.

My first bird in the valley was a perched PRAIRIE FALCON on FR 58. When I got to my favorite sparrow watching location, I was dismayed to find that an electric fence now blocks access. The area that I'm referring to is at the extreme west end of the valley on the south side of FR 58 where it intersects with Apache Road. This is now fenced off along FR 58 and Apache. In the past, I've taken a small access road (FR 5661) off Apache Road that leads uphill to where there is a lone tree and a stock pond. The electric fence also blocks this road. It's not that this is a particularly good birding spot, but it did give an elevated vantage for convenient viewing of fence wires and small bushes in the vast expanse of grass. At sunrise, several flavors of sparrows will usually perch up and preen in these locations before heading out to feed.

What I don't understand is how this area (that I took to be part of the National Forest) can be commandeered by the "landowner". Is this a legal action? What's the deal? A couple of other birding locations have been lost in the San Rafael Valley in recent years when landowners have (legally) blocked access. That's bad enough -- but to lose an apparent U.S.F.S access is galling to say the least. Anyone reading this who knows what happened, please let me know.

Although the fenced area wasn't posted and has probably been installed to keep cattle in rather than people out, I didn't walk in even though I was tempted. Therefore, I had no choice but to setup on the grass verge of FR 58. Hardly ideal because of vehicle dust and being too close to the north fence even from the south verge. However, based on my results today, my presence didn't bother the birds. GREATER YELLOWLEGS was calling from the inaccessible stock pond behind me and over the ridge. The sun peeked through the clouds at 6:20am and over the next 20 minutes I enjoyed numerous SAVANNAH and VESPER SPARROWS, 10 GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS and a single BAIRD'S SPARROW. My location was about 250 yards east of the intersection at the extreme west end of the valley. I stayed in place for an hour but all the action was in those first 20 minutes. Made me feel a little better about getting up early.

After the sparrow fest, I headed north on Meadow Valley Flat road (my lifer Baird's came here years ago). After a mile or so, I spotted a couple of WHITE-TAILED KITES in a location where they may have roosted. While obviously wary, this kite allowed me to point my lens at it -- unfortunately, I was too far away for a killer shot. Still, much better than nothing and my first shot of an adult. I continued on and shot images of EASTERN MEADOWLARK (with quite a mouthful of bugs, apparently still feeding young) and a very cooperative HORNED LARK. I checked a few stock ponds without seeing anything of note -- I didn't really expect longspurs (too early) but I did expect to find Western Meadowlark.

Next, I checked Bog Hole Wildlife Area. Not surprisingly in such a wet year, the water level is very high (however, I didn't see any waterfowl). There's also a decent amount of marsh habitat and healthy looking cottonwoods. A bold SORA stood its ground until I put my hand on the camera. COMMON YELLOWTHROATS chased around the marsh where MARSH WRENS chattered. Lots of CASSIN'S KINGBIRDS, a few YELLOW WARBLERS and a singing BLUE GROSBEAK were in the cottonwoods. A VERMILION FLYCATCHER and scads of SAVANNAH SPARROWS worked the willows.

The best bird of the morning was one that I never thought I would see in the heart of the valley. A group of approximately 8 MONTEZUMA QUAIL exploded from under my feet along the grass verge below the dam. I tried to relocate them without success. As I searched, I was more than a little surprised to hear a singing BOTTERI'S SPARROW, my first in San Rafael Valley. The habitat in the valley generally and in this location in particular doesn't seem right. This bird obviously needs to start reading.

My so-far so-good morning took a turn for the worse as I checked the stock pond about 3/4 mile east of the Santa Cruz river crossing. I found a lone NORTHERN PINTAIL then discovered that I had a flat tire. Good thing that I had already seen a few decent birds to amortize the pain otherwise I might have been a tad annoyed. An opportunity to use my hydraulic jack for only the second time and I was done in a low effort 15 minutes (did I really struggle with a crank jack all my life -- argggh!).

Heading back though Fort Huachuca, I decided to make a late morning sortie into Garden Canyon. The valley had been really calm so I was surprised to find windy conditions here. Whether it was the wind or time of day (11:00am), I didn't hear a single Botteri's Sparrow covering the same ground where I had counted 19 just a few days ago! I drove to the upper picnic area where I found HEPATIC TANAGER and a few dicky birds.

Gas prices in Sierra Vista have steadily dropped over the last 6 weeks and the lowest price that I saw today was $2.37. I can't help but think this is the calm before the storm.

47 species recorded:
N. Pintail, Turkey Vulture, White-tailed Kite, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Prairie Falcon, Montezuma Quail, Sora, Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Black & Say's Phoebes, Vermilion Flycatcher, Cassin's Kingbird, Horned Lark, Phainopepla, Marsh Wren, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Mexican Jay, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, European Starling, House Sparrow, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Hepatic Tanager, Botteri's, Chipping, Vesper, Savannah, Baird's & Grasshopper Sparrows, Blue Grosbeak, Eastern Meadowlark, Brewer's Blackbird and Great-tailed Grackle.

Monday, September 25, 2006
In terms of field work, I've slacked off in recent days. My time has been spent slaving over a hot computer. Although I use AviSys to record all my sighting data, I use my own software for data analysis. The location bar graphs and SE AZ checklists elsewhere on this site are examples of what I do with the data. However, the most important use of my data is for client trip planning and a key component of the software is an itinerary planner. I feed in a list of target species and a time frame and the software generates a basic itinerary with various types of information including a list of locations where the birds can be found as well as the percent chance of seeing them. Nothing earth shattering but it's important to me and it gets more useful the more data that I gather. When I wrote the software in the early nineties with an old clunker computer and a crappy low resolution monitor, I swept some problems under the rug that I knew would take years to bite me. Well, guess what, when 2007 rolls around.....! I decided to bite the bullet and update the software so that I won't have any problems come January 1. As is the case with many things in life, you pay now or you pay later. Now I've paid.

Now a word about tires! As is often the case (50% over the years), my  flat tire of last week couldn't be repaired. Fortunately, I long ago realized that with the number of flats that I get, tire warranties were going to be my friend. I pay about $27 per tire for lifetime flat repair, balancing, etc.; as well as free, non-prorated replacement (if it can't be fixed, a legal tread tire is unconditionally replaced regardless of tread depth). I've been lucky (if you can call it that!) in that most flats that killed a tire have happened near tire end-of-life. Consequently, I end up with a brand new tire for an outlay of $27 to buy a new warranty. I just need to get the 50% up to 100% and I'll never need to shell out pots of money for tires again. Give the warranty issue some thought next time you buy tires.

Okay, birds right? Today I made another routine visit to Sawmill Canyon where my primary goal was to look for arriving winter species. Although I found a few, I actually had more success with migrants and continuing summer species. It reminded me of a TV program back in the old country years ago -- "last of the summer wine" with Compo and Clegg. Anyone wishing to show their age, please feel free to reminisce.

I began in lower Garden Canyon where I was torn in terms of best use of my time. I wanted to get up to Sawmill and I also wanted to check on grassland species. Sawmill won and I had to skimp a little in the grassland. I heard just one each singing BOTTERI'S SPARROW, RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW and BLUE GROSBEAK. Multiple individuals of all three species were singing strongly a week ago. Other mesquite-grassland  regulars were AMERICAN KESTREL, GREATER ROADRUNNER, CASSIN'S & WESTERN KINGBIRDS, VERDIN, CANYON TOWHEE, CHIPPING SPARROW and EASTERN MEADOWLARK.

As is typical at this time of year, at first blush Sawmill Canyon seems devoid of birds. However, if you work at it (and I did, for four hours), it's possible to turn up a fair number of species (relatively speaking, of course; mountain diversity is low after the breeding season). Starting now and continuing throughout the winter, it's best to begin birding at the base of the canyon near the cabin and to check various side roads in this vicinity (these areas get the early morning sun). That's just what I did this morning.

I soon found my first of season RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, right about "on time" for this location (September, week 4). My earliest sighting date in the canyon is September 14. The bird was in a regularly used cottonwood and its light tapping got my attention. Even so, it was surprisingly difficult to see until it conveniently flew into view.

I wandered around in pine and juniper habitat for about an hour and picked up 6 ARIZONA WOODPECKERS (8 during the morning), 1 OLIVE WARBLER (3 in all), the first of several TOWNSEND'S & HERMIT WARBLERS, 6 HEPATIC TANAGERS (~10 in all, mostly females or immature birds), 1 WESTERN TANAGER and 1 BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK. I doubt that the Western Tanager and Black-Headed Grosbeak will be in the canyon on my next visit. However, I regularly find Hepatic Tanagers here into November. By the time that I started up the main canyon, I'd already recorded 15 species.

The main canyon is generally less productive starting in September and it took me a while to weed out more species. Sawmill is not known for raptors so a calling COOPER'S (large female) in flight and a male (very small) SHARP-SHINNED HAWK also in flight was a good return. Cooper's is scarce but regular throughout the year but I only see Sharpies in September and early October. A calling NORTHERN (MOUNTAIN) PYGMY-OWL led me a dance for 30 minutes. Eventually, it retreated over a ridge and I never did see the bird. While tracking the owl, I saw an immature male RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD (a scarce migrant in Sawmill).

Although still numerous, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS were much less conspicuous today. They show up starting mid August, peak in October then begin to drift off to lower elevations. They are typically all gone by the beginning of December when it gets really cold here overnight. The problem with Yellow-rumps is well known. The one that you don't check may well be a first county record of something good. On the other hand, every one that you look at takes a few seconds of your life that you won't get back. A quandary for sure. Life's a bitch and then you die.

Other warblers today in addition to those already mentioned were a couple of BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS, one singing GRACE'S WARBLER (a very crisp and smart looking individual) and a couple of singing PAINTED REDSTARTS.

My second first-of-season species was DARK-EYED JUNCO. I saw two Gray-headed separately, each with small YELLOW-EYED JUNCO flocks containing adult and immature birds (still streaky, but already with a yellow eye). Gray-headed are the first to arrive in Sawmill (my earliest date is September 21); next come Pink-sided and then Oregon. My final f-o-s of the morning was RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET (2-3 seen).

Back in Garden Canyon, I finished up with a check of the fishing ponds at noon. Very little on the water, just PIED-BILLED GREBE and a few MALLARDS.

54 species recorded (28 in Sawmill in italics): 
Pied-billed Grebe, Mallard, Turkey Vulture, Sharp-shinned, Cooper's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Northern Pygmy-Owl, Rufous Hummingbird, Acorn & Arizona Woodpeckers, Red-naped Sapsucker, N. Flicker, Say's Phoebe, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Barn Swallow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bewick's Wren, Curve-billed Thrasher, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Verdin, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, European Starling, Hutton's Vireo, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Olive, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Gray, Townsend's, Hermit & Grace's Warblers, Painted Redstart, Hepatic & Western Tanagers, Canyon Towhee, Botteri's, Rufous-crowned & Chipping Sparrows, Dark-eyed (Gray-headed) & Yellow-eyed Juncos, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks, Eastern Meadowlark and Great-tailed Grackle.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Today I made my season first visit to Sulphur Springs Valley where I focused on Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area. I'll make many trips to the valley before next spring rolls around. For the first time this month, the weather was more like the normal "June in September" that I dislike so much and the temperature was way too warm for me by 10:00am. Mind you, even if it was only 70 degrees it would still be too warm for me. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful blue sky morning and the birding was very enjoyable.

Water levels at Whitewater Draw are extremely high which is good news and bad news. Great for ducks and fair for shorebirds (although not many of either category were present today). Not so good for marsh birds and weed loving species (this type of habitat is currently underwater, though it will recover over the next few months). The south willow grove is inaccessible (except by boat). It's certainly quite a spectacle at the moment, somewhat like a "Little Salton Sea" with submerged phone poles, trees and equipment. Plenty of annoying flies too. Thankfully, not the awful smell of the sea.

As I often find at this season, many thousands of TREE SWALLOWS were present and the sight of these birds alone is worth the trip. However, because of the lack of weedy habitat and vegetation in the water at the main area, it's necessary to check the north end of the draw if you want to see them perched (there's lots of mesquites still above water here). I spent 30 minutes in this area and weeded out CLIFF, BARN and NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS as well. The only AMERICAN AVOCETS and GREEN-WINGED TEAL that I saw were also here.

The main body of water didn't have much in the way of waterfowl save for 50+ MALLARDS, 10+ CINNAMON TEAL, 4 NORTHERN PINTAILS and a few RUDDY DUCKS. So much water and not a single Shoveler! Other birds on the water included PIED-BILLED GREBE, a couple of EARED GREBES and plenty of COOTS. Apart from scads of the always annoyingly noisy KILLDEER and 20+ SPOTTED SANDPIPERS, shorebirds were hard to come by. I saw only a handful of LEAST SANDPIPERS and heard GREATER YELLOWLEGS.

The heron showing was decent with singletons of GREAT BLUE HERON and GREAT EGRET; at least 5 GREEN HERONS and a couple of juvenile BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS.

I also found a decent selection of raptors with my season first MERLIN being the pick of the bunch. According to published data, mid September is typically when Merlins arrive in SE AZ. Apart from one super early record on August 28, 2001 (also at Whitewater Draw), today's sighting extends my early date for this species (previously September 30, 2005 on the San Pedro). I was able to get a crummy documentary photo but not good enough for these pages. I managed so-so images of an OSPREY and NORTHERN HARRIER (both in flight) and a decent image of the south end of a north facing SWAINSON'S HAWK (the bird had just taken a crap letting me know what it thought of me). When I returned home, I was surprised to learn that the Osprey was a first for me at Whitewater Draw bringing my list of species seen here to 197. SHARP-SHINNED, COOPER'S and RED-TAILED HAWKS rounded out the raptors. A lone GREAT HORNED OWL was in the old (now sideless) barn.

Best birds of the morning were 6 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE and a non breeding plumaged adult SABINE'S GULL. September is when the geese normally show up and a few will usually stick around throughout the winter (always in lower numbers than "white geese"). Sabine's Gull is considered a casual fall transient in SE AZ. My gut feel is that they probably occur annually. However, since the numbers are so low, they probably go undetected much of the time. Personally, I have 9 records in 6 of the last 14 years (7 in September, 2 in October). I saw a report on the Wyoming bird list a few days ago which prompted me to be on the lookout.

Activity away from the water was pretty decent, especially if you like WESTERN KINGBIRDS! At least three BELTED KINGFISHERS seemed very much at home working the water from the willows on the berms A small flock of YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS and a few RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS couldn't have been happy with the lack of reeds. Sparrows were plentiful in pockets with BREWER'S far outnumbering VESPER and SAVANNAH. I also saw SONG and LINCOLN'S.

Not having had the forethought to bring a boat, I had to be content working the edge of the south willow grove. Birds here included COMMON GROUND-DOVE, LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKER, many VERMILION FLYCATCHERS, YELLOW WARBLER, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, a singing BLUE GROSBEAK and a chattering BULLOCK'S ORIOLE..

I also found a few more season firsts -- AMERICAN PIPIT (Sept Week 4), WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW (Sept. Week 1), CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPUR (Sept Week 4) and WESTERN MEADOWLARK (Sept Week 4). The weeks correspond to published arrival dates. The pipit and longspur sightings extended my early dates by a few days.

71 species recorded (60 seen at Whitewater Draw NOT in italics):
Pied-billed & Eared Grebes, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Greater White-fronted Goose, Green-winged & Cinnamon Teal, Mallard, N. Pintail, Ruddy Duck, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, N. Harrier, Sharp-shinned, Cooper's, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Merlin, Am. Coot, Am. Avocet, Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Spotted & Least Sandpipers, Sabine's Gull, Mourning & Inca Doves, Common Ground-Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Great Horned Owl, Belted Kingfisher, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Black & Say's Phoebes, Vermilion Flycatcher, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Tree, N. Rough-winged, Cliff & Barn Swallows, Am. Pipit, Bewick's Wren, N. Mockingbird, Bendire's & Curve-billed Thrashers, Loggerhead Shrike, Chihuahuan Raven, House Sparrow, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Brewer's, Vesper, Savannah, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Blue Grosbeak, Eastern & Western Meadowlarks, Red-winged, Yellow-headed & Brewer's Blackbirds and Bullock's Oriole.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Those of you who read my journal regularly will know that I try to track the comings and goings of Buff-Breasted Flycatcher in spring and fall. I think I've got a good handle on arrival times but fall departure is more difficult to determine -- birds that stay late are few and far between and they don't say much. Consequently, whenever I fail to find a flycatcher during the latter stages of their stay, I'm never really sure if there isn't a bird around or if I simply failed to detect one. So far this month I've had mixed success -- detected in Carr Canyon on September 3 and 10, missed September 12; detected in Sawmill Canyon on September 17, missed September 25. Now that we're in the last week of September they are really tough to find . Nevertheless, I decided to give Carr Canyon another try this morning. As the saying goes, no pain no gain (and the drive up Carr Canyon road is a real pain).

I couldn't have wished for better conditions for looking and listening -- clear and sunny, zero wind and not another soul seen or heard between Reef and Ramsey Vista during the time that I spent in these higher elevation areas. I left Highway 92 at 6:20am and drove slowly up the mountain enjoying the ever changing views as I negotiated the switchbacks. Birds were few and I had to be content with the just-changing colors below Carr Peak

I parked in the Sawmill Spring trailhead lot at Reef around 7:00am. I was immediately elated to hear the soft "pit" call of BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER then disappointed and increasingly frustrated over the next 30 minutes as I failed to lay eyes on the bird (nor did I hear it again). Even though I was confident of what I heard and I am always happy to trust my ears, I wanted to see the bird. What if I misheard? A distant YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER (of which there were plenty) sounds very similar to Buff-breasted when the higher frequencies of the call note are filtered out by distance and vegetation. Reluctantly, I had to let it go and move on.

I wandered the trails emanating from Reef  campground without seeing or hearing much. Summer birds, especially warblers, are now hard to come by in the mountains and, for the most part, only resident birds and the late migrants can be expected. The only conspicuous species were BEWICK'S WREN (many singing) and HEPATIC TANAGER (6-8 calling birds seen and/or heard). I persevered for an hour or so and eventually picked up my third SHARP-SHINNED HAWK in as many days, a couple of ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRDS, lots of RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS giving the HUTTON'S VIREOS a run for their money in terms of numbers, several BROWN CREEPERS, HERMIT THRUSH, the usual WESTERN SCRUB-JAYS and MEXICAN JAYS (missed Steller's), one singing OLIVE WARBLER, two silently foraging TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS and SPOTTED TOWHEE.

I continued on and worked the road between Reef and Ramsey Vista, stopping often to listen. About 1/4 mile from Ramsey Vista in the very open habitat below the road (consisting mostly of mazanita with a few pines and oaks), I finally heard the soft call of BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER (probably two of them). This time I was a little more determined and kept going until I finally saw this delightful little guy that was actually quite cooperative in the end. Ample reward for getting scratched to hell pursuing the little sucker!

I finished up with a check of the small Ramsey Vista campground where I saw some of the same species as at Reef including a couple more OLIVE WARBLERS (yep, a cracking orange-headed male was one of them). I added PLUMBEOUS VIREO, NASHVILLE WARBLER and YELLOW-EYED JUNCO.

Back near Reef, I picked up an OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER perched atop a snag. Carr Canyon has plenty of dead wood and is therefore a good place to see this migrant. Although they can potentially pass through into the first week of October, I haven't yet managed to see one in October and this was my latest SE AZ sighting date by three days. Having seen the two flycatcher species and Olive Warbler, the drive back down the mountain and the thought of having to go grocery shopping didn't seem too much of a chore (I hate grocery shopping).

39 species recorded:
Turkey Vulture, Sharp-shinned & Red-tailed Hawks, Anna's Hummingbird, Acorn & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Olive-sided & Buff-breasted Flycatchers, Say's Phoebe, Cassin's Kingbird, Violet-green & Barn Swallows, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Cactus & Bewick's Wrens, Curve-billed Thrasher, Hermit Thrush, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Western Scrub-Jay, Mexican Jay, Common Raven, Plumbeous Vireo, Hutton's Vireo, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Olive, Nashville, Yellow-rumped & Townsend's Warblers, Hepatic Tanager, Spotted Towhee, Yellow-eyed Junco and Blue Grosbeak.

Friday, September 29, 2006
Today I couldn't decide between San Rafael Valley and San Pedro River. I took the lazy option and visited the San Pedro which turned out to be a poor choice. Although the trails are now mostly dry, my regular walk along the river and around kingfisher pond has become very much like an obstacle course due to piles of debris created by  monsoon flooding. A great deal of habitat has been scoured away along the river and I saw very few birds. Throw in plentiful and persistent mosquitoes and you've got the makings of an unpleasant outing. I suppose I should have persevered but what's the point if it's not enjoyable.

Conditions: calm, 60-80 degrees under thin clouds during the early hours that I was birding; 95 degrees by mid afternoon.

Most of the birds that I saw were around the San Pedro House (where I spent the first hour) and in the weedy habitat between the house and the river. LESSER GOLDFINCHES, LAZULI BUNTINGS and particularly BLUE GROSBEAKS found the weedy stuff very much to their liking. In addition to the grosbeaks, WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE (see below), several VERMILION FLYCATCHERS, scads of CASSIN'S KINGBIRDS, BARN SWALLOW and SUMMER TANAGER were the only continuing summer species that I recorded.

I was surprised by the lack of winter species -- I didn't see any Brewer's or Vesper Sparrows, just a handful of GREEN-TAILED TOWHEES and LINCOLN'S & WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS. Resident ABERT'S TOWHEES were common and I noted several CURVE-BILLED and one CRISSAL THRASHER.

I didn't fare well with migrant warblers. One lousy ORANGE-CROWNED and 10+ MACGILLIVRAY'S were all that I managed.

An immature WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE was perhaps the most interesting bird. As far as I could tell, the bird had not long ago fledged. I came to this conclusion because of its appearance and poor foraging technique. Wood-Pewees are mostly all gone by the end of September. Some linger through October and I have a few records through mid month. The one source that I checked (Birder's Handbook) shows just one brood. However, I find it odd that a long distant migrant that arrives at the end of April (and normally gets down to breeding right away) would breed so late. Perhaps in the case of this individual's parents there was a second brood or breeding was delayed for some reason.

Also of note was a EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE, only my second record on the San Pedro (previously in a similar time frame, early October). The Collared-Dove was with a WHITE-WINGED DOVE (a common bird on the river, although scarce after September). At first, I thought it was just coincidence that they were together. However, over a period of an hour I saw the two doves flying around together a few times. White-winged Collared-Doves?

After leaving the river, I spent an hour at Sierra Vista Environmental Operations Park. Every picture tells a story. I saw landbirds but no ducks or shorebirds -- what's wrong with that picture? Highlights were a perched PEREGRINE FALCON (perhaps the same individual back for another winter), a GREATER ROADRUNNER perched up on a roof, many calling SORAS in the marsh, uncountable WESTERN KINGBIRDS and a plethora of YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS.

53 species recorded (37 SPRNCA, 24 SVEOP):
Great Blue Heron, Mallard, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Gambel's Quail, Sora, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Greater Roadrunner, Gila Woodpecker, Western Wood-Pewee, Black & Say's Phoebes, Vermilion Flycatcher, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Barn Swallow, Bewick's, House & Marsh Wrens, Curve-billed & Crissal Thrashers, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Chihuahuan Raven, European Starling, House Sparrow, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Orange-crowned & MacGillivray's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Summer Tanager, Green-tailed & Abert's Towhees, Chipping, Vesper, Lark, Savannah, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows, Blue Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting, Red-winged & Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Great-tailed Grackle and Brown-headed Cowbird.

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

Species List

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

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