July Species Seen

Stuart Healy Journal - July, 2007 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, July 31, 2007

Sunday, July 1, 2007
First of two days with Tom and Judy Taylor from Fredericksburg, TX and their 12 years old grandson, Trevor, from Atlanta, GA. We spent the morning in Carr Canyon in the Huachucas. Weather note: We had some cooling and refreshing rain last Thursday evening in Sierra Vista but the monsoon is not expected to start until the end of this week. Before that happens, some near record temperatures are expected (I saw a forecast of 114 for Tucson on July 4). Today was over 100 in Sierra Vista.

Apart from not walking the Comfort Spring trail, I repeated the route that was productive for me last Thursday. We began by birding slowly through the mesquite-grassland; then worked the road between the first and second stream crossings before heading up the mountain to Reef. Results were similar to my last trip but there were a couple of notable additions and a few misses. Interestingly, I didn't see a single hummer species a couple of days ago, today we came across 5 species.

We saw lots of GAMBEL'S QUAIL in the lower canyon but only heard SCALED QUAIL. After some initial difficulty, we saw ASH-THROATED and BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHERS and easily saw a pair of SULPHUR-BELLIED FLYCATCHERS. Other regulars included COOPER'S HAWK, GREATER ROADRUNNER, CASSIN'S & WESTERN KINGBIRDS, lots of PHAINOPEPLAS, CACTUS WREN, a singing CANYON TOWHEE perched on a wire, a couple of well seen RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS and BLUE GROSBEAK.

The drive up to Reef produced very little except for a few fast flying WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS. We stopped at the overlook (just before reaching Reef Campground) to try for a better view. In addition to seeing the swifts, VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS, ROCK WREN and the panoramic view of Sierra Vista below, we also had a spectacular view of an adult light morph SHORT-TAILED HAWK gliding overhead at close range. Short-tailed Hawks were first seen in Arizona in the Chiricahuas in 1985 and in the Huachucas in 1988. Since then they have become "regular" and the first evidence of breeding came in 2001. However, this is not a bird that you could expect to see on any given day, even in the right season and habitat. Have I ever mentioned that timing is everything?

More good timing came our way as we got started in Reef Campground. Three soaring birds turned out to one TURKEY VULTURE and two ZONE-TAILED HAWKS. The campground soon yielded ARIZONA WOODPECKER, BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER (quite vocal throughout today), BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, GRACE'S WARBLER and YELLOW-EYED JUNCO. By the way, the campground was nowhere near as crowded as I had expected.

Although we were not primarily looking for specific birds today, Tom was hoping to see Greater Pewee, Red-faced Warbler and an adult male Olive Warbler not seen on his one previous trip to SE AZ. We had to work a little for RED-FACED WARBLER on the trails after initially failing to see one in a regular territory where I saw a bird just a couple of days ago. The reason soon became clear though when we came across a couple of family groups with recent fledglings. Sadly, we also saw two young BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS being fed by a Red-faced.

Balancing things out, one of those cracking, orange-headed adult male OLIVE WARBLERS was singing and foraging in the second place that we looked and we had excellent views. Olive Warbler is such a misnomer for this bird. In the same area we also had great looks at GREATER PEWEE (not singing much today), a very colorful WESTERN TANAGER and a rather drab EASTERN BLUEBIRD.

Other species seen included ACORN and HAIRY WOODPECKERS, a female MAGNIFICENT HUMMINGBIRD visiting a nest, DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER, VIRGINIA'S and BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS, several PAINTED REDSTARTS and a silently foraging male HEPATIC TANAGER. I didn't see or hear Band-tailed Pigeons today.

I'll be a lot happier when the monsoon season brings some cooling rain. Nevertheless, not a bad morning to get July under way.

Monday, July 2, 2007
Out again with Tom, Judy and Trevor. Today we visited Patagonia Lake State Park, Kino Springs, Patagonia Roadside Rest area and Marion Paton's yard. We left Sierra Vista at 4:30am to beat the heat and after a successful morning we returned at noon when the temperature had just reached 100 degrees.

We started at Patagonia Lake and soon enjoyed wonderful, close up views of BOTTERI'S SPARROW at the first attempt (at one point in the same small mesquite with RUFOUS-CROWNED and BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS). Next, we turned our attention to RUFOUS-WINGED SPARROW and it didn't take long to find a singing bird. However, despite some very close looks, we had great difficulty in seeing the rufous on the wing, not an uncommon occurrence. Among the other species seen during our initial early morning session along the entrance road were ROADRUNNER, many PHAINOPEPLAS (common at all locations that we visited today), MEXICAN JAY (scarce at the lake), BLUE GROSBEAK and VARIED BUNTING (several birds singing and easily seen).

At the lake proper, we first checked the open water from the day use area west of the Marina. Here we found GREEN HERON, BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK, BLACK & TURKEY VULTURES sitting side by side, the first LUCY'S WARBLERS & BELL'S VIREOS of the day (both common throughout), several BULLOCK'S ORIOLES and a number of other common species including lots of GREAT-TAILED GRACKLES feeding young.

We then spent a little time casual birding on the trail at the east end of the lake. Our only focused efforts were on NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET and it took about 15 minutes to find a silently foraging individual in the mesquite bosque. Excellent looks were the reward for wandering around amidst the cow pies (surprisingly few bugs though).

A few fly-by TREE SWALLOWS over the water were on the early side. I only have 3 records for the first week of July and today's sighting ties my earliest "fall" record set in 1998 at Sierra Visa EOP. A lone SPOTTED SANDPIPER was probably a returning bird but you can never be absolutely sure which direction members of the sandpiper family are headed!

Other species seen on a short walk to the vantage point at the east end of the lake included a couple of immature DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS and 8+ NEOTROPIC CORMORANTS, GREAT EGRET, a lone male BLUE-WINGED TEAL, COOPER'S HAWK, the usual plentiful VERMILION FLYCATCHERS, all three myiarchus species, scads of LUCY'S WARBLERS (foraging low in seep willows and on the ground), numerous calling YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS and quite a few SUMMER TANAGERS. We recorded 68 species at the lake.

An hour at Kino Springs was very productive. TROPICAL KINGBIRD was the first bird that we saw near the club house pond. Two very white looking immature GRAY HAWKS in the nest were another quick treat (later we saw a perched adult). We then spent a bit of time checking Flickers and eventually weeded out a GILDED FLICKER from the plentiful NORTHERN FLICKERS. Other species from a total of 35 recorded included COMMON GROUND-DOVE (many calling), CLIFF & NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS and LARK SPARROW.

At the Roadside Rest area, we eventually completed a four kingbird species day, although THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD proved a tough nut to crack. The bird was mostly silent and we eventually found it perched very high in a well concealed location. Persistence was the key to success.

Marion Paton's yard was quite active despite the increasing temperature. At one point we saw 5 male and 2 female BLUE GROSBEAKS feeding on the ground in a shady corner of the yard where ABERT'S TOWHEE also put in an appearance. An earlier visitor had seen a Rufous Hummingbird but we only saw VIOLET-CROWNED along with the regular BROAD-BILLED and BLACK-CHINNED.

88 species recorded:
Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested & Neotropic Cormorants; Great Blue & Green Herons; Great Egret, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Ruddy Duck, Black & Turkey Vultures; Cooper's, Gray & Red-tailed Hawks; Am. Kestrel, Gambel's Quail, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Rock Pigeon, Mourning, White-winged & Inca Doves; Common Ground-Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Broad-billed, Violet-crowned & Black-chinned Hummingbirds; Acorn, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers; N. & Gilded Flickers; N. Beardless-Tyrannulet, Western Wood-Pewee, Black & Say's Phoebes; Vermilion, Dusky-capped, Ash-throated & Brown-crested Flycatchers; Tropical, Cassin's, Thick-billed & Western Kingbirds; Tree, N. Rough-winged, Cliff & Barn Swallows; Phainopepla, Cactus & Bewick's Wrens; N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, 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 Warblers; Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat, Summer Tanager, Canyon & Abert's Towhees; Botteri's, Rufous-crowned, Rufous-winged, Lark, Black-throated & Song Sparrows; N. Cardinal, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks; Varied Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, Bronzed & Brown-headed Cowbirds; and Bullock's Oriole.

Wednesday, July 4, 2007
This morning I visited Whitewater Draw hoping to find a few early migrants. I was somewhat successful in that endeavor and found a couple of unexpected birds to boot (adding two species to my Whitewater Draw list that now stands at 206 species). Somewhat surprisingly, I encountered several areas with very cool temperatures as I drove east along Davis Road early this morning and it was very pleasant when I started birding at sunrise ~5:30am (4 LESSER NIGHTHAWKS were along the Davis Road). By 8:30am, the temperature had risen enough for me to call it quits. Today was forecast to be the warmest day of the year so far.   

The drive down Coffman Road yielded 3 SWAINSON'S HAWKS, a couple of groups of GAMBEL'S and SCALED QUAIL, GREATER ROADRUNNER, ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, BENDIRE'S & CURVE-BILLED THRASHERS, more MOCKINGBIRDS than you could shake a stick at (even if you wanted to shake a stick at them), at least 6 LOGGERHEAD SHRIKES, LARK SPARROW and BULLOCK'S ORIOLE.

As always, I checked the barn near the parking lot when I first arrived. Quite often there's a roosting Great Horned Owl but today I saw a BARN OWL. I thought about trying for a photo but decided to leave it until later when I was leaving. As you'll discover, this was a mistake.

Water levels are very low and consequently, waterfowl are in very short supply. Imagine my surprise when I saw this COMMON MERGANSER in a pitifully shallow pool of water. Common Merganser is a winter visitor to SE AZ and is reliably present from November through March, sometimes from mid October through mid April. Apart from a (presumed) injured bird that lingered at Patagonia Lake through early June in 2006, I do not have any summer records prior to today.

Generally, Whitewater Draw is not a good place to find this species -- deep water is not the norm and they are never plentiful here. However, a single bird was present throughout the winter and was still present on May 27 when I was last here. I'm assuming that this is the same bird and is therefore likely injured otherwise it would surely have left this location. Earlier in the year when water was plentiful, I had seen the bird only at a distance and figured it was a female. With a better view today close to shore, I believe it is a non-breeding plumaged male (if it is indeed the same individual).

KILLDEER and AMERICAN AVOCETS were the only conspicuous species around the "ponds" (quotes used to emphasize the low water level.) and the latter was very vocal and in attack mode so probably still nesting. I also noted 2 GREAT BLUE HERONS and 5 WHITE-FACED IBIS. Of note to me as a record keeper was a brilliant, adult male YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD -- an early returning bird or one that never left? Your guess is as good as mine.

The south willow grove was the most productive area and I spent most of my time birding there. New location species number one for the day was an occasionally vocal BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER. This is a species that I never expected to see here since there are barely enough large trees with suitable nest cavities. Anyway, it was here! The image lacks depth of field (large bird at an angle) but is intrinsically good despite poor light.

New location bird number two was a singing male INDIGO BUNTING. The bird led me a merry old dance and I only managed a documentary quality image from a distance. Away from the White Mountains, I've always thought that Indigo Buntings are far less common in SE AZ than the "uncommon" status they have been assigned. I may just be a dope when it comes to stumbling into this species, but today's sighting was only my 19th record seen in 6 months and 11 years of the 15 years that I've birded in SE AZ regularly -- and I get into the field often. Perhaps I'm looking for love in all the wrong places. Initially, I found the bird near the central pond (new last year in the grove and with plenty of weeds now and still some water). I finally managed a photo of the bunting in the weeds of the dry pond west of the grove where a perched SCALED QUAIL in such greenery struck me as amusing.

Other birds included BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON, several EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES and WHITE-WINGED DOVES apparently getting along just fine, 2 BARN OWLS, VERMILION FLYCATCHER, CLIFF SWALLOW, LUCY'S & YELLOW WARBLERS, ABERT'S TOWHEE (now seems established and probably nesting here), BLUE GROSBEAK, 3 early returning LAZULI BUNTINGS (my earliest fall return date) and plentiful BULLOCK'S ORIOLES.

I returned to my vehicle to try for a Barn Owl shot. I broke down the lens, fitted the tripod collar, mounted it on my tripod and installed the remote control since I knew the light would be low. The procedure took about 5 minutes. During this time, a guy with an Alsatian dog was coming closer. As I walked towards the barn, so did he and so did the dog. You can guess what happened. The dog ran in and took a piss -- the owl pissed off -- and I was left pissed. More English language trickery. Color me crestfallen.. Every morning Murphy must make a point of saying to his minions "now where's Healy going today, figure it out and make sure he gets screwed one way or another".

57 species recorded:
Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, White-faced Ibis, Mallard, Common Merganser, Turkey Vulture, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks; Am. Kestrel, Scaled & Gambel's Quail; Am. Avocet, Killdeer, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning & White-winged Doves; Greater Roadrunner, Barn Owl, Lesser Nighthawk, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Black & Say's Phoebes; Vermilion, Ash-throated & Brown-crested Flycatchers; Western Kingbird, Cliff & Barn Swallows; Cactus Wren, N. Mockingbird, Bendire's & Curve-billed Thrashers; Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Chihuahuan Raven, House Sparrow, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Lucy's & Yellow Warblers; Common Yellowthroat, Canyon & Abert's Towhees; Lark & Song Sparrows; Pyrrhuloxia, Blue Grosbeak, Lazuli & Indigo Buntings; Red-winged & Yellow-headed Blackbirds; Eastern Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird and Bullock's Oriole.

Friday, July 6, 2007
Out today with Chuck Stirrat and Randy Beaton from the Baltimore area of MD. We visited Patagonia Lake State Park, Las Cienegas and Scheelite Canyon. We put in a fairly long day (leaving Sierra Vista at 4:30am) and had to work for all of our successes.

Some intense, short lived rain fell in Sierra Vista and elsewhere last evening (one might even say monsoon like) and I was hoping that it would have inspired Cassin's Sparrows to awaken from their dormant state. Unfortunately, despite visiting several regular territories at Patagonia Lake, Las Cienegas and in Garden Canyon, I didn't hear a single bird singing (our only miss of the day).

Cassin's Sparrow notwithstanding, birding at Patagonia Lake was productive and we turned up 60+ species while focusing on three targets over 4 hours. RUFOUS-WINGED SPARROW was the only "easy" bird of the day and we had great looks at a bird foraging on the ground, rufous wing and all. NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET was a real pill to find today and a single "eek" call while searching in Nutting's Wash was the only evidence of the presence of the bird. However, that was more than enough to cause us to persevere and we eventually had very good, close range looks at a well warn adult. A successful conclusion after searching for more than an hour.

I can top that said the gnatcatcher. It's been almost two months since I looked for BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHER (which was difficult then) and it sure wasn't easy today. We probably wandered the washes for 90 minutes before we had a brief encounter with a adult male sporting a full black cap. Based on its secretive behavior, one brief call and the fact that it was headed somewhere with a purpose, I think the bird may be nesting again. Anyway, mission accomplished. We also picked up a number of secondary targets (state birds) so our efforts went well rewarded.

MEXICAN JAYS continue in the oaks along the entrance road near Highway 82 and we also heard MONTEZUMA QUAIL in the same location -- we heard the quail again near the head of  Nutting's Wash. SCOTT'S ORIOLE completed a trifecta of uncommon species for this location. Otherwise it was fairly standard fare (just your boring old VERMILION FLYCATCHERS, VARIED BUNTINGS and the like) and most of the species seen were similar to my visit on July 2. Then as today, I was surprised not to hear Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

As I mentioned earlier, a stop at Las Cienegas didn't produce Cassin's Sparrow. Sparrows seen were several LARK SPARROWS, a singing BOTTERI'S SPARROW and a perched up GRASSHOPPER SPARROW. A handsome, silver adult male NORTHERN HARRIER (near the corral about 1 mile from highway 82) was a pleasant surprise. Apart from the two birds at Willcox on June 25 (which were probably birds that stayed around), this was my earliest "fall" sighting.

Since it was a warm and humid day, I knew full well what was in store for us when we started up Scheelite Canyon in the early afternoon. Murphy being Murphy, I predicted that the owls would not be in the lower roosting area and that we would have to do the "Scheelite Slog". Sure enough, after going through all the necessary searching down below, we eventually found a pair of SPOTTED OWLS about 1 mile into the canyon. We had excellent looks as the birds did a little mutual preening. It's interesting to see how roosting preferences change with weather, season and specific individuals. The tree being used today was much preferred in the early 90s but, until today, I hadn't seen an owl using the tree since May, 1998. The birds probably wouldn't have been found by the average Joe (or Tom, Dick, or Harry) today.

Other species included a WHIP-POOR-WILL seen in flight for about 20 seconds, WHITE-EARED HUMMINGBIRD (my 4th record in the canyon, 3 in July), a calling ELEGANT TROGON, at least 5 ARIZONA WOODPECKERS, CORDILLERAN & SULPHUR-BELLIED (near entrance) FLYCATCHERS, numerous CANYON WRENS, PAINTED REDSTART, HEPATIC TANAGER, SPOTTED TOWHEE and RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW.

Saturday and Sunday, July 7-8, 2007
Out for a couple of days of target birding with Phil Ball from England, currently working on the east coast. Phil is a world birder and has no need to worry about arbitrary boundaries such as the ABA area. Consequently, our target list was somewhat different from what I normally have to deal with (i.e. lacking some of the more difficult to find species and including some easier to find species not normally sought). As a result, we visited a few locations where I don't go on a routine basis. Phil flew into Tucson late Friday and I picked him up at the airport early Saturday, returning there late Sunday. Over the two days I put in 34 hours of driving and birding so this report is brief and includes only the highs and lows.

Saturday: Patagonia Lake - Paton's - Scheelite Canyon - Ash-Canyon B&B
Sunday: Carr Canyon - French Joe Canyon - Rincon Mountains - Catalina Mountains

Targets located:
Gambel's Quail, Western Screech-Owl, Whiskered Screech-Owl (heard only), Spotted Owl, Common Poorwill (heard only), Whip-poor-will, Violet-crowned, Lucifer, Broad-tailed & Rufous Hummingbirds, Arizona Woodpecker, N. Beardless-Tyrannulet, Buff-breasted Flycatcher, Phainopepla, Rock Wren, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Mountain Chickadee, Bridled Titmouse, Bell's, Plumbeous & Hutton's Vireos, Pine Siskin (in flight only), Virginia's, Lucy's, Black-throated Gray & Grace's Warblers, Abert's Towhee, Botteri's, Rufous-winged & Black-chinned Sparrows and Scott's Oriole

Targets sought and missed:
Crissal Thrasher, Juniper Titmouse and Gray Vireo

LUCIFER HUMMINGBIRD
Ash Canyon B&B -- seen at 7:30pm Saturday night as the rain began and almost too dark to see.

WESTERN SCREECH-OWL
WHISKERED SCREECH-OWL
A Sunday morning owling session in Carr Canyon after being rained out Saturday night. Western seen briefly after burning too much darkness. Whiskered finally tracked down only to fly off and not return as daylight came. The downside to morning owling.

SPOTTED OWL
Add Stuart to average Joe, Tom Dick and Harry. Missed in Scheelite Canyon after I was super confident following Friday's success. Seen well in French Joe Canyon.

WHIP-POOR-WILL
Flushed several times along the upper trail in French Joe Canyon; seen quite well.

NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET
Difficult to locate at Patagonia Lake; seen well.

ROCK WREN
Much less vocal than in recent weeks and hard to locate. I failed in several reliable locations in Carr Canyon. French Joe Canyon has them in abundance but even there we found only two birds.

GRACE'S WARBLER
Quiet and difficult to locate (none detected at Reef in Carr Canyon); eventually seen well elsewhere in the canyon.

BLACK-CHINNED SPARROW
Two quietly foraging birds in French Joe Canyon (detected by soft "ticking"). None heard singing.

Miscellaneous notes:
After mentioning recently about the lack of YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOOS,  I heard 4 in two locations and saw 3 of them-- 2 at Patagonia Lake and 2 in the Paton's yard.

Years ago, I abandoned the Rincon Mountains as a reliable source for Gray Vireo. Due to lack of time (not able to visit my "guaranteed" spot), I decided to give the Rincons a try ( I saw a recent report of birds seen there as well as back in April). We spent several hours on Sunday without success (mind you, it was mid afternoon and 100 degrees).

French Joe Canyon is very dry -- no water at the lower trough nor at the upper spring.

Friday, July 13, 2007
After being grounded for a week, I finally managed to make a brief foray into the field today. I toyed with the idea of visiting Willcox but the thought of spending several hours of driving time and over $20 in gas didn't seem very appealing. I decided to visit Sierra Vista EOP instead. Not that this was significantly more appealing, just 25 times less overhead in travel time and cost.

First, a couple of business items. A power outage combined with some flat batteries wiped out all the messages on my answering machine. If you left a message in recent days and I haven't returned your call, please contact me again. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Next March, I'm scheduled with back to back clients in southern California during the period March 9-20 and my travel expenses to and from Sierra Vista are already covered. If you are interested in birding in California starting in the vicinity of March 21, please contact me as soon as possible. Once I accept business in Arizona, the opportunity will be gone. You can get an idea of how such trips go by clicking on "Trip by Place" (in the main index at top left of this frame page) and then "California"; then select previous trip dates.

Weather note: Although the monsoon season has technically begun (officially on July 8 based on dew point temperature over several days), we haven't had much rain yet. It's rained heavily for short periods but it's still a little inconsistent.

This morning began cloudy and relatively cool and the two hours that I spent at the EOP were quite pleasant (72-84 degrees from 6:00-8:00am). The birding was generally on the slow side but I did see a few birds for which I could manipulate numbers and facts to make them into highlights. But that's just me.

PEREGRINE FALCON was of note. Their average arrival date at the ponds is early September. Today's sighting was close to my previous early records of July 9 and 10 in different years.

A lone SORA was my earliest fall EOP record (previously July 21).

Thousands of swallows were present working over the various marshy ponds. Most were BARN SWALLOWS with moderate numbers of CLIFF SWALLOWS mixed in with them. I also noted about 10 TREE SWALLOWS (my earliest SVEOP date is July 2) and 3 BANK SWALLOWS (ties my early date at the EOP).

Less common species seen were GREAT BLUE HERON, BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD, a few LUCY'S WARBLERS and a spiffy male BULLOCK'S ORIOLE.

Monday, July 16, 2007

We started at the lake shortly after sunrise looking for sparrows and it didn't take long to get good looks at BOTTERI'S and RUFOUS-WINGED SPARROWS. Other species noted before entering the park proper included BLUE GROSBEAK carrying nesting material and several VARIED BUNTINGS perched up and singing (the rain is doing its thing).

Apart from a brief detour to locate a sporadically singing NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET, we concentrated on finding a Gnatcatcher. Although Tyrannulet was slightly more vocal today than on recent visits, we still had difficultly getting a good view. However, as is often the case, persistence paid off.

Persistence certainly paid off big time with the gnatcatcher. Around 8:30am, after perhaps 1.5 hours of searching, we located male and female BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHERS foraging closely together and then heading off to the same location. At this point I thought we had a nest location but it turned out they were feeding two recently fledged and rather immobile juveniles sitting in a mesquite. The adults came very close to us and we had great views. On my last visit I commented that I thought the birds were nesting again. We stayed with the family for perhaps 15 minutes and did not see more than two immature birds. Nevertheless, another successful nesting attempt confirmed. I wasn't carrying my camera but Joe may have obtained a few shots. The bird was ABA #758 for Joe.

We didn't hang around and left with the intention of looking for Cassin's Sparrow followed by Spotted Owl in Scheelite Canyon. A brief check of the grassland near the south entrance to Las Cienegas was unsuccessful. There wasn't much action as the morning rapidly warmed -- among the species noted were ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, BOTTERI'S and GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS and EASTERN MEADOWLARK.

Next we checked the first couple of miles of Upper Elgin Road where we located a singing CASSIN'S SPARROW. Although we managed decent binocular views of a bird perched in the open on a Yucca, the little stinker simply would not perch up again after I set up the scope. Half a loaf is better than none. Also of note here was a LARK SPARROW feeding young in a nest located in the (dead) base of a Yucca.

By now it was quite warm and the morning had got away from us. Spotted Owl was postponed to a later date. We headed down to Sierra Vista EOP to pick up YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD (several birds seen flying around the marsh) then finished up cruising around for SWAINSON'S HAWK (we found an immature sitting in the shade of a pole on highway 92).

Business notes: Following my post a few days ago, I now have three back to back clients scheduled in California next year during the period March 9 through 25, 2008. Until I accept clients in Arizona, I'll consider extending my time in southern California even further. A fairly focused trip for many of the SoCal specialties requires about 5 days but I'll consider any number of days from one upwards. March 26 would be the earliest start date. If interested, please contact me as soon as possible. See the journal for July 13 for info on links to previous CA trips.

I've now filled the arbitrary maximum number of dates that I set for my White Mountains trip from July 27-August 30. However, since money is always good, I'll consider additional clients for some of the remaining available dates.

60 species recorded:
Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested & Neotropic Cormorants; Great Blue Heron, Mallard, Turkey Vulture, Gray, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks; Rock Pigeon, Mourning & White-winged Doves; Common Ground-Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Broad-billed Hummingbird, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers; N. Beardless-Tyrannulet, Black & Say's Phoebes; Vermilion, Ash-throated & Brown-crested Flycatchers; Cassin's & Western Kingbirds; Cliff & Barn Swallows; Phainopepla, Bewick's Wren, N. Mockingbird, Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Bridled Titmouse, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Chihuahuan Raven, Bell's Vireo, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Lucy's Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat, Summer Tanager, Canyon Towhee, Botteri's, Cassin's, Rufous-crowned, Rufous-winged, Lark, Black-throated, Grasshopper & Song Sparrows; N. Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Blue Grosbeak, Varied Bunting, Red-winged & Yellow-headed Blackbirds; Eastern Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackle and Brown-headed Cowbird.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Out again today with Joe and Jeff. We left town early (3:30am) for an owling session in lower Carr Canyon then spent the remainder of the morning in the upper Canyon.

Nightbird activity was generally disappointing and spontaneous calling from all species was minimal, which is not unusual at this time of year. We heard the chattering of ELF OWLS and managed decent looks at WHISKERED SCREECH-OWL. I was unable to raise a Western Screech Owl. The distant calls of WHIP-POOR-WILL and COMMON POORWILL were heard as daylight approached. Apart from a NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD calling at 3:45am, the first day birds to fire up were WHITE-WINGED DOVE, ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER and HEPATIC TANAGER.

We began high elevation birding at the overlook near Reef. Conditions were excellent just after sunrise -- relatively cool and very calm. The calm lasted all morning but I can't say the same for the cool. In addition to enjoying the view of Sierra Vista far below, we had several brief views of a couple of elusive VIRGINIA'S WARBLERS (one singing); decent looks at WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS as they zoomed swiftly past; and a not-so-good look at VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW.

Spontaneous song was at a premium from the vast majority of species and we had to work for most of our birds. We worked the trails and habitat around Reef and about a mile of the road to Ramsey Vista for several hours. In so doing, we eventually turned up a fair number of the usual suspects including MAGNIFICENT HUMMINGBIRD, GREATER PEWEE, BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER, STELLER'S JAY, OLIVE WARBLER (great looks at an adult male), GRACE'S WARBLER, PAINTED REDSTART, SPOTTED TOWHEE (abundant and one of the few constantly singing species) and YELLOW-EYED JUNCO (common).

Highlight of my morning (I'm easy to please ) was a RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH which represented the least common species at Reef (not present every year at this "low" elevation location). HUTTON'S VIREO feeding a BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD in Reef Campground was perhaps the lowlight of the morning.

We finished up by walking the trail to Comfort Spring where we managed to pick up a few missing species. RED-FACED WARBLER was high on the list of desirable species and, much to our delight, we had great looks at a closely foraging bird. We dipped on Cordilleran Flycatcher and the only encounter of the morning with ARIZONA WOODPECKER was a brief heard only event. Silver linings to these clouds came in the form of several BAND-TAILED PIGEONS (love their call), wonderful views of a tooting NORTHERN (MOUNTAIN) PYGMY-OWL, BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD (adult and immature males), WESTERN SCRUB-JAY and WESTERN TANAGER.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Third and last day with Joe and Jeff. Today we visited the Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area in Sulphur Springs Valley, St. David, and Garden Canyon & Ash Canyon Bed and Breakfast in the Huachucas. Apart from the first hour, it was another warm morning.

The drive east along Charleston Road from Sierra Vista to Tombstone yielded GREAT HORNED OWL and several LESSER NIGHTHAWKS with suicidal tendencies.

Our initial birding along Coffman Road in Sulphur Springs Valley was really productive shortly after sunrise. Over the years, I've seen 97 species along this rather nondescript and scruffy looking 2.5 miles stretch of road that runs south between Davis Road and the entrance to Whitewater Draw. This is a good location for SCALED QUAIL and GREATER ROADRUNNER and both species were very common today along with always-in-view WESTERN KINGBIRDS and NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRDS.

Among the other species present were SWAINSON'S HAWK, AMERICAN KESTREL, GAMBEL'S QUAIL (not as plentiful as their Scaled cousins), the ever increasing EURASIAN COLLARED DOVE, a female COMMON GROUND-DOVE, several LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKERS, a squabbling group of ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS, CASSIN'S KINGBIRD (very much in the minority compared to Western in this flatland location), TREE, CLIFF & BARN SWALLOWS, CACTUS WREN,  CURVE-BILLED and BENDIRE'S THRASHERS, plentiful LOGGERHEAD SHRIKES, a singing CASSIN'S SPARROW, numerous spiffy looking BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS -- the poor man's Five-striped Sparrow (or is it the other way around?),  BLUE GROSBEAK, a few EASTERN MEADOWLARKS and BULLOCKS ORIOLE. 30 species in all.

Other species from only 30+ seen at Whitewater Draw included 10+ GREAT BLUE HERONS, several EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES, 3+ BARN OWLS, multiple VERMILION FLYCATCHERS in several stages of plumage, PYRRHULOXIA; and a few BLUE GROSBEAKS & BULLOCK'S ORIOLES. 

Our next destination was St. David where I expected to have to work for a while in the heat to locate a kite. However, in a splendid example of a "Murphy gets screwed moment", I spotted a low soaring MISSISSIPPI KITE on Highway 80 as we approached the Monastery. After pulling off to the side of the road, we soon enjoyed great views of two birds doing their thing.

We journeyed west to the Huachucas where we stuck it to Murphy once again by locating a pair of SPOTTED OWLS without having to slog up Scheelite Canyon (in a location where they have been present on and off since January). For good measure, we also enjoyed great looks at a male ELEGANT TROGON.

Murphy struck back during our ill advised midday visit to Ash Canyon B&B. Activity was minimal and we didn't see a hoped for Arizona Woodpecker or Lucifer Hummingbird. In fact, we saw very little at all. Hardly surprising really since it was bloody hot. I hope Joe and Jeff decide to return later in the day.

Despite the lackluster finale, the day as a whole was an excellent end (5 targets located) to three productive days.

70 species recorded:
Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Mississippi Kite, Cooper's, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks; Am. Kestrel, Scaled & Gambel's Quail; Am. Avocet, Killdeer, Solitary Sandpiper, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning & White-winged Doves; Common Ground-Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Barn, Great Horned & Spotted Owls; Lesser Nighthawk, Broad-billed, Black-chinned & Anna's Hummingbirds; Elegant Trogon, Acorn & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers; Western Wood-Pewee, Black Phoebe, Vermilion, Dusky-capped, Ash-throated, Brown-crested & Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers; Cassin's & Western Kingbirds; Tree, Cliff & Barn Swallows; Cactus Wren, N. Mockingbird, Bendire's & Curve-billed Thrashers; Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Loggerhead Shrike, Mexican Jay, Chihuahuan Raven, House Sparrow, Plumbeous, Hutton's & Warbling Vireos; House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Yellow & Black-throated Gray Warblers; Common Yellowthroat, Spotted Towhee, Cassin's, Lark & Black-throated Sparrows; Pyrrhuloxia, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks; Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird and Bullock's Oriole.

Thursday, July 19, 2007
Out today with Peter and Marie MacParland from Burlington, Ontario, who I've birded with on one previous occasion in January this year. Our only target for the day was Olive Warbler, a bird that had eluded Peter on all of his previous visits to Arizona.

We headed to Carr Canyon where I proceeded immediately to my all time best location for Olive Warbler. Although fairly common, this species can be quite difficult to detect  when not singing (due to its typical habit of foraging high in the needle zone of pine and fir trees) and I wanted to give myself the best chance of success. There's not much margin for error when you are only looking for one bird. How I withstand such intense pressure day after day is a mystery.

I wandered around for a while listening without success until I finally heard the whistled "phew" call of our prey. It took a little while to locate the bird because it was sitting still, not creeping around playing peek-a-boo in the needles. In very atypical fashion, we had a prolonged (5+ minutes) view of an adult male OLIVE WARBLER sitting in the same location while preening.

After this early success, we spent the  remainder of the morning casual birding between Ramsey Vista and Reef. Apart from WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, SPOTTED TOWHEE and YELLOW-EYED JUNCO, most birds were very quiet today (even compared to just a couple of days ago on Tuesday) and we struggled to locate some of the common species. Vocalizations from GREATER PEWEE and BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER were minimal and we had to expend more time and effort to see the latter than we did for Olive Warbler! Even in victory Murphy mocks me.

Warbler vocalizations were almost non-existent and it was only by persistence and having no particular agenda that we eventually ticked off VIRGINIA'S (good looks at multiple juvenile birds that had not yet learned the art of elusiveness), GRACE'S & BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS and several juvenile PAINTED REDSTARTS ("Blackstarts"). The redstarts seemed to be practicing how to sing as they foraged. It was close enough for government work. Red-faced Warbler went undetected.

In Reef campground, just as on Tuesday, I watched a BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD constantly bullying a HUTTON'S VIREO that simply couldn't feed the cowbird quickly enough.

Sunday, July 22, 2007
First of two days with Jerry Uhlman from Richmond, VA and Jack Wykoff from Dowling, MI; both of whom I've birded with on one previous occasion in 2000. When this trip was scheduled back in January, today was allocated to go after Rufous-capped Warbler. However, since there haven't been any reports so far this season, Plan B formed when a Crescent-chested Warbler surfaced in the Chiricahuas last week. Plan C went into effect this morning after a string of days without a sighting with lots of people looking for the bird. I can't say that I was devastated. Apart from my ears and knowledge of the area, I don't bring any added value to the party when chasing stakeout rarities that haven't been around long enough to establish a pattern of behavior. Anybody can follow hot line directions and wander around unsuccessfully like a lost soul.

We decided to try for Flame-colored Tanager (a lifer for both Jerry and Jack) and Black-capped Gnatcatcher. We left Sierra Vista at 4:00am and the drive over to Madera in darkness on Box Canyon road produced a GREAT HORNED OWL in flight and a COMMON POORWILL sitting in the road. BOTTERI'S, RUFOUS-CROWNED, RUFOUS-WINGED (vocal everywhere today) and BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS were all singing. No Cassin's heard.

At the Madera Kubo site, the male FLAME-COLORED TANAGER (a.k.a. "Flameboy") vocalized strongly from 5:45-6:15am. It took a few minutes to get the first view but then we enjoyed decent looks for a while. The bird mostly stayed high although we did see it a few times at eye level. Other birds in the area included MONTEZUMA QUAIL (calling from the hillside near the Amphitheater parking lot), ACORN & ARIZONA WOODPECKERS, SULPHUR-BELLIED FLYCATCHER, WARBLING VIREO, PAINTED REDSTART and SCOTT'S ORIOLE.

Since we were in the area, we briefly looked for Black-capped Gnatcatcher at Proctor Road but didn't stay long. A pair of VARIED BUNTINGS worked on the ground amidst the burnt mesquite.

A few days of monsoon rains have made the mighty Santa Cruz into a river again and it's flowing strongly in the section along south river road in Nogales. Apparently, it was to the liking of a GREEN HERON perched on a power line as bold as brass.

Perhaps we should have given Proctor Road a better chance to produce a gnatcatcher because 3 hours at Patagonia Lake State Park certainly didn't pay dividends. After finding a couple of recently fledged Black-capped Gnatcatchers being fed by adults last Monday, I fully expected to stumble into them today via their begging calls if nothing else. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. I sure hope they survived the heavy rain in Patagonia on Thursday. The lake level has risen dramatically and areas of baked dry mud less than a week ago now have swimming COOTS. The temperature wasn't particularly high this morning but the extremely high humidity made for very uncomfortable conditions.

We focused in the washes and hillsides but still managed to see and/or hear about 50 species including a calling LEAST BITTERN, GRAY HAWK in flight; COMMON GROUND-DOVE, decent looks at a perched up and calling YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO; a briefly calling NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET, many flitting LUCY'S WARBLERS and calling YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS, umpteen SUMMER TANAGERS including plenty of immatures, BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS in full voice and a couple of singing VARIED BUNTINGS.

Monday, July 23, 2007
Out again today with Jerry and Jack. Our primary target was Buff-collared Nightjar at the old Oro Blanco mine site near California Gulch. We left town in mid afternoon so we could spend a little time in the gulch looking for Five-striped Sparrow. Both Jerry and Jack saw the sparrow with me in 2000 and Jack has seen it again since then. I guess we're all gluttons for punishment. Some serious rain accompanied us from Sierra Vista to Patagonia and our chances for birding didn't look very good. Although conditions  improved, it might have been better had they forced us to turn around. Today's report is a tale of woe.

Water levels at several stream crossings along the first section of California Gulch road are now the typical mini-lakes that the monsoon rains quickly create. After passing through the worst of them (home and dry so to speak), a flat tire soon put paid to our optimism. We jacked up the vehicle and removed the lug nuts only to find that the wheel was "welded" to the shaft and we couldn't remove it. We reversed our hard work and tried to drive slowly back to the Ruby Road but the tire soon came off the rim. We resigned ourselves to walking out for help and had started to do just that when a couple of birders arrived. They were worried about crossing the "lakes" but came to our rescue first. I'm not sure if it was driving on the rim or some judicious banging with a rock but we were able to get the wheel off and fit the spare. Relief!

Sane folks would perhaps have turned tail and headed home at this point . We continued on -- a dangerous thing to do without a spare tire. It was way too late to look for the sparrow so we settled in to wait for the vampire slayer (Buffy - get it?). Conditions were very poor and I did not expect success. Full moon is only a few days away and for a short while it looked as though the partial moon directly overhead us would break through. Unfortunately, low clouds (and humidity) increased and by 9:00pm we headed home not having heard a peep out of the nightjar.

The three hour drive to Sierra Vista was (thankfully) uneventful and punctuated only by excellent views of a couple of COMMON POORWILLS sitting in the road; and a GREAT HORNED OWL flushed from its perch at the side of the road.

Not a good outing (gee, you think).

Wednesday, July 25, 2007
First of four days with Bob Wei and Dave Kaplan from NJ. We'll be birding for a couple days in SE AZ and a couple of days in the White Mountains. Bob and Dave have birded in SE AZ before so our targets are a composite mix of missing species. Today was spent entirely day in the Huachucas, first in Carr Canyon where it was cloudy, relatively cool and eventually wet; then in Garden and Sawmill Canyons where it was dry and a little warmer. Generally though, it was a pleasant day as the monsoon rains start to have a positive impact (although I didn't feel the impact was very positive in California Gulch a couple of nights ago). For the most part it was also a successful day and we only missed one bird for which we made a serious effort (Northern Pygmy-Owl). A short report today doesn't do justice to our efforts (gotta get some packing done!). If it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would ever get done.

Few birds were singing in Carr Canyon this morning and birding was quite difficult. Rain hampered us even further. We chipped away steadily for our successes which were BAND-TAILED PIGEON, GREATER PEWEE , BUFF-BREASTED & SULPHUR-BELLIED FLYCATCHERS, OLIVE WARBLER (singing!) and GRACE'S WARBLER.

Post breeding dispersal SULPHUR-BELLIED FLYCATCHERS were of note on the Comfort Spring Trail -- very much out of breeding habitat. MONTEZUMA QUAIL called tantalizingly across the canyon but we couldn't see them.  Other species in the canyon included GREATER ROADRUNNER (lower canyon and at Comfort Spring), 4+ EASTERN BLUEBIRDS, VIRGINIA'S & BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS and several PAINTED REDSTARTS. 65 species in all.

Garden Canyon yielded SPOTTED OWL and BOTTERI'S, CASSIN'S & RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS  but we couldn't track down a briefly heard trogon. SUMMER TANAGER at the upper picnic area was of note -- I have very few records here for this predominantly riparian species.

We continued on to Sawmill where we managed to find and get decent looks at two calling male ELEGANT TROGONS in mid afternoon. During the trogon chase, we had a nice Murphy gets screwed moment when we stumbled into 2 RED-FACED WARBLERS that we had earlier failed to find in Carr Canyon despite plenty of effort. Also present in Sawmill were ARIZONA WOODPECKER, BUFF-BREASTED, DUSKY-CAPPED & SULPHUR-BELLIED FLYCATCHERS, GRACE'S WARBLER and HEPATIC TANAGER.

80 species recorded:
Turkey Vulture, Cooper's, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks; Scaled, Gambel's & Montezuma Quail; Rock & Band-tailed Pigeons; Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning & White-winged Doves; Greater Roadrunner, Spotted Owl, White-throated Swift, Magnificent, Black-chinned & Anna's Hummingbirds; Elegant Trogon, Acorn & Arizona Woodpeckers; N. Flicker, Greater Pewee, Western Wood-Pewee, Buff-breasted, Dusky-capped, Ash-throated, Brown-crested & Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers; Cassin's & Western Kingbirds; Cliff & Barn Swallows; Phainopepla, Cactus, Canyon, Bewick's & House Wrens; N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Eastern Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, Am. Robin, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Verdin, 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; Painted Redstart, Hepatic, Summer & Western Tanagers; Spotted & Canyon Towhees; Botteri's, Cassin's, Rufous-crowned & Black-throated Sparrows; Yellow-eyed Junco, Pyrrhuloxia, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks; Lazuli Bunting, Great-tailed Grackle and Brown-headed Cowbird.

Thursday, July 26, 2007
Day 2 with Bob and Dave. Today we visited Patagonia Lake, Kino Springs, Paton's Yard and Las Cienegas in search of a number of target birds. Another short "highlights only" report today.

We hit all three targets at a very soggy Patagonia Lake State Park early this morning -- a male BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHER, the family of BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHERS (I saw only 2 juveniles and an adult female) and several VARIED BUNTINGS perched up and singing. We recorded 50 species at the lake on a brief visit. YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO, NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET and BOTTERI'S, CASSIN'S RUFOUS-CROWNED, RUFOUS-WINGED & BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS were all singing. MONTEZUMA QUAIL were heard calling from south of Nutting's wash.

TROPICAL KINGBIRDS were very vocal and easy to locate at Kino Springs. We dipped on Gilded Flicker. GRAY HAWKS were vocal and visible at the nest site. Migrant LAZULI BUNTINGS (including a male in decent plumage) were working in the reeds at the first pond.

The stream crossing adjacent to the Paton's yard is a sea of mud and we wisely didn't cross in our vehicle (not so several other nut jobs). We even had a difficult time negotiating on foot. A couple of SNOWY EGRETS perched in a tree at the stream crossing apparently found the wet conditions to their liking (Paton's yard bird #136 for me). We didn't have to wait long for VIOLET-CROWNED HUMMINGBIRD but THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD needed a bit of hang time.

We finished up at Las Cienegas. Although GRASSHOPPER SPARROW was easy to hear, we needed a good 30 minutes to pin down a bird and get a decent scope look.

Friday, July 27, 2007
White Mountains Day 1: Day List 100
Today I traveled to the White Mountains where I'll be staying until the end of August. During this time, I'll be working with clients looking for the area specialties as well as trying to learn more about fall migration through the mountains by staying later than in previous years. There's some serious construction in the mountains this year and one of the areas that I like to visit is inaccessible. Sheep Crossing is off limits completely and the Mt. Baldy area in general cannot easily be reached by vehicle. At least I don't have to look for an excuse not to slog up the Mt. Baldy trail!

As is normal for me on travel days to the White Mountains, I stopped at Willcox ponds. I spent a productive couple of hours from 5:30-7:30am and recorded a total of 46 species. Shorebird habitat around the periphery of the main pond is quite decent and many of the species expected at this season were present, some in high numbers. The best bird by far was a RUDDY TURNSTONE which is no better than a casual transient in Arizona. The bird was first detected several days ago and I certainly didn't expect it to still be lollygagging around for me to see. I managed a documentary quality image for posterity.

Other species included a male LESSER SCAUP, female SHOVELER, SWAINSON'S HAWK, lots of SCALED QUAIL, the usual BLACK-NECKED STILTS and AMERICAN AVOCETS, a handful of LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, 1 LONG-BILLED CURLEW that flew in as I was leaving, many WESTERN & LEAST SANDPIPERS, a few BAIRD'S & STILT SANDPIPERS; and too many WILSON'S PHALAROPES for me to be interested in counting. There's also a very odd looking gull that I'm not completely sure is a RING-BILLED GULL - I have some poor photos and may try to make a case for something else when I get some time.

My next stop was at Luna Lake where the birdlife was quite different to Willcox. Shorebirds were absent (at least, I didn't detect any) and ducks were more plentiful, albeit still with limited species since fall migration for ducks isn't really underway yet. I only checked the water and didn't walk any of the trails through the pines so all landbirds noted were seen along the immediate shoreline. The water level is good and marsh habitat is present (not the case last year). I recorded 36 species from 11:00am to 12:30pm.

Highlights were a lone GREAT EGRET, several OSPREYS actively fishing (I missed Bald Eagle), the wayward SANDHILL CRANE (present now for 8 summers), several calling SORAS, scads of hummers at the Tackle shop feeders -- most were BROAD-TAILED although RUFOUS and CALLIOPE were also easy to see, a juvenile female WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER, a few PURPLE MARTINS; and VESPER SPARROWS feeding fledged young. YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS were quite plentiful.

I rounded out my birding for the day in Nutrioso. CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHERS were vocal along the creek; EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES in town have not been affected by the cold winter; Nutrioso Reservoir has very little water and perhaps as many as 100 CANADA GEESE looked a little lost.

At my Juniper Hill lodging, the feeders were littered with PINE SISKINS and LESSER GOLDFINCHES. Elsewhere on the property, I detected the chips of VIRGINIA'S WARBLERS deep in the vegetation, no more cooperative here than in SE AZ (although they are often easily seen in several White Mountain locations).

A pleasant day became wet and stormy in Nutrioso by early evening.

100 species recorded:
Pied-billed & Eared Grebes; Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Canada Goose, Gadwall, Mallard, N. Pintail, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Ring-necked & Ruddy Ducks; Lesser Scaup, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Swainson's & Red-tailed Hawks; Am. Kestrel, Scaled Quail, Sandhill Crane, Sora, Am. Coot, Black-necked Stilt, Am. Avocet, Killdeer, Long-billed Dowitcher, Long-billed Curlew, Lesser Yellowlegs, Ruddy Turnstone, Western, Least, Baird's & Stilt Sandpipers; Wilson's Phalarope, Ring-billed Gull, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning & White-winged Doves; Greater Roadrunner, Calliope, Broad-tailed & Rufous Hummingbirds; Acorn Woodpecker, Williamson's Sapsucker, N. Flicker, Western Wood-Pewee, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Black & Say's Phoebes; Cassin's & Western Kingbirds; Purple Martin, Violet-green, Bank, Cliff & Barn Swallows; House Wren, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Western Bluebird, Am. Robin, Bridled & Juniper Titmice; White-breasted Nuthatch, Verdin, Loggerhead Shrike, Steller's & Mexican Jays; Am. Crow, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens; European Starling, House Sparrow, Plumbeous & Hutton's Vireos; House Finch, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, Virginia's, Yellow & Black-throated Gray Warblers; Spotted Towhee, Cassin's, Chipping, Vesper & Black-throated Sparrows; Dark-eyed Junco, Pyrrhuloxia, Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks; Red-winged, Yellow-headed & Brewer's Blackbirds; Eastern Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird and Bullock's Oriole.

Saturday, July 28, 2007
White Mountains Day 2: Day List 75   Trip List 130 (+55)
Day 3 with Bob and Dave who picked up Western and Clark's Grebes, Common Black Hawk and Gray Vireo on their journey from SE AZ to the White Mountains yesterday. Today we worked hard on a few of the area specialties and had a mostly successful day despite getting booted off the mountain in Greer in mid afternoon by heavy rain. A very brief report today.

Targets seen were DUSKY GROUSE, AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER and MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD in the Big Lake Area; WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER, CORDILLERAN & DUSKY FLYCATCHERS and AMERICAN DIPPER in the Greer Area; and LEWIS'S WOODPECKER, JUNIPER TITMOUSE and YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD in the Springerville/Eagar area.

Targets missed were Northern Pygmy-Owl (not a sniff), RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER (seen in flight only at Three Forks) and RED CROSSBILL seen/heard in flight at several locations.

Sunday, July 29, 2007
White Mountains Day 3: Day List 73   Trip List 138 (+8)
Fourth and final day with Bob and Dave. Last night the guys returned to the scene of our daytime failure with Northern Pygmy-Owl and managed to see several birds. Consequently, our targets for the last day had dwindled to Pinyon Jay, Red-naped Sapsucker and Red Crossbill (the latter two so far seen only in flight). We eventually saw all three species and finished the trip on a high note. It was also a good day from a weather standpoint -- mostly cloudy with sun breaks and sprinkles but without any serious rain.

I decided that Sipe Wildlife Area would be our first destination. In terms of percentage success rate (sightings versus visits), Sipe is my best location for Pinyon Jay. The visitor center is also a good location for the sapsucker as fall approaches (they breed nearby and show up here post breeding).

We spent about 2.5 hours looking and listening for the jays along the WA entrance road and along Rudd Creek without any success at all. However, a little time spent near the visitor center paid dividends on RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER and we had good looks at an adult male with a recently fledged immature in tow. Back on the entrance road, we were listening to the jib-jib calls of RED CROSSBILLS and trying to pick them up in flight when they zipped by us at head height just feet away! What a shock to the system. The birds landed atop a nearby pine and we managed to get a scope view. The one bird that I looked at was a juvenile which may explain the need for driving lessons.

Among the other birds at Sipe were a "peenting" COMMON NIGHTHAWK, scads of hummers that we didn't investigate but definitely included many RUFOUS, several CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHERS, a calling CASSIN'S KINGBIRD (uncommon in the White Mountains by my results), HORNED LARK, extremely high numbers of MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS, JUNIPER TITMOUSE and numerous VIRGINIA'S WARBLERS & LAZULI BUNTINGS.

By 8:30am, Pinyon Jay was our only target but the best location hadn't produced. We checked a few other good spots including Nelson Reservoir and several Nutrioso locations before returning to Sipe with the same result -- nada! We then headed west over to South Fork where we almost immediately found a large noisy flock of 50+ PINYON JAYS just beyond the Little Colorado bridge. We watched immatures and adults banging furiously on cones. South Fork is a reliable spot for these birds but, as anyone who has spent much time looking for them on a regular basis will know only too well, they are capricious to say the least! They are where you find them and it was certainly a great relief to finally do so after about 5 hours of searching. CALLIOPE and RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS were feeding in the thistle near the bridge. Another birder had seen a Gray Catbird (non AZ folks don't laugh but this is a specialty bird at South Fork).

The reward for our efforts was a trip to Sunrise Lake where we hoped to pick up a few waterfowl. The normally shallow east end of the lake is virtually dry and held nothing at all. Heat shimmer was a problem scoping the main body of the lake and 4 Western/Clark's Grebes had to be left unidentified. We found little of note on the water save for many EARED GREBES in breeding plumage, a couple of REDHEADS, a fly-by OSPREY and a RING-BILLED GULL. The most common species were GADWALL and COOT.

The weedy edges of the grassland approaches were loaded with PINE SISKINS. Also present were a few MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS and EASTERN MEADOWLARKS. We also noted many singing VESPER and a couple of SAVANNAH SPARROWS (both species are breeders here).

73 species recorded:
Eared Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Gadwall, Mallard, Redhead, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Ring-billed Gull, Rock & Band-tailed Pigeons; Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Common Nighthawk, Calliope, Broad-tailed & Rufous Hummingbirds; Red-naped Sapsucker, Hairy Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Western Wood-Pewee, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Black & Say's Phoebes; Cassin's Kingbird, Horned Lark, Violet-green, N. Rough-winged, Cliff & Barn Swallows; Canyon Wren, Western & Mountain Bluebirds; Townsend's Solitaire, Am. Robin, Bushtit, Mountain Chickadee, Juniper Titmouse, Pygmy & White-breasted Nuthatches; Steller's & Pinyon Jays; Am. Crow, Common Raven, European Starling, House Sparrow, Plumbeous Vireo, House Finch, Red Crossbill, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, Virginia's, Yellow-rumped & Black-throated Gray Warblers; Common Yellowthroat, Western Tanager, Green-tailed & Spotted Towhees; Chipping, Vesper & Savannah Sparrows; Black-headed & Blue Grosbeaks; Lazuli Bunting, Red-winged & Brewer's Blackbirds; Eastern Meadowlark and Brown-headed Cowbird.

Monday, July 30, 2007
White Mountains Day 4: Day List 75   Trip List 148 (+10)
Although I was at South Fork yesterday, my time there was very brief (just long enough to tick Pinyon Jay) so I decided to return again today for some casual birding. I followed that with a couple of hours in the vicinity of Becker Lake in Springerville  Unlike the past couple of days, today began sunny and mostly cloud free and remained that way until early afternoon when light rain began. By the way, the last three evenings have all been stormy with spectacular lightning displays and heavy rain.

After a couple of dreary mornings, it was a treat to have some roadside activity on my "commute" today. I saw WHITE-WINGED DOVES in Eagar for the first time on this trip. Singing VESPER SPARROWS and side by side singing EASTERN & WESTERN MEADOWLARKS were along the grassland entrance road to South Fork. Then I was serenaded  by ROCK and CANYON WRENS as I dropped down through the rocky area. A small group of MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS were high on the ridgeline.

I spent most of my time in the riparian area where early morning activity was initially quite high. Unfortunately, I invested too much time trying in vain to photograph one of the two GRAY CATBIRDS present near the bridge. Can these suckers hide or what? I fared a little better with a CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD visiting thistle (although it took well over 30 minutes and 50 shots to get one decent image that I was far from satisfied with).

It was a bit of a bunting fest in the dense riparian growth along the Little Colorado river with several singing BLUE GROSBEAKS, a singing INDIGO BUNTING (both breeders at this location) and a few migrant LAZULI BUNTINGS. The flock of PINYON JAYS started to mill around at 6:40am. RED CROSSBILLS flew around noisily jib-jibbing. An immature RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER flew in and posed completely in the open on a snag at close range (as if to say "take that sucker" almost as though it knew I'd just spent two days searching). The unmistakable "took" calls of TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE led me to a couple of birds atop a snag. Not so the "pip pip pip" of an OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER that I wasn't able to track down. The chip notes of VIRGINIA'S WARBLERS indicated that far more birds were present than the couple I was able to lay eyes on. YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS were vocal but not visible. WARBLING VIREO didn't warble but did present itself for my viewing pleasure. SPOTTED TOWHEES were abundant, vocal and easy to see. PINE SISKINS challenged RUFOUS & CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRDS and Butterflies for thistle rights. BELTED KINGFISHER rattled its disapproval at my presence. Male WESTERN TANAGERS were hard to ignore despite diminishing color on their red heads.

During a brief stint in the campground (no trail work), I added CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER, STELLER'S JAY, CLARK'S NUTCRACKER and MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER. I also saw a small flock of RED CROSSBILLS in flight (perhaps the same birds that I had seen earlier). 40 species in all at South Fork.

In Springerville, I worked Airport and Becker Lake Roads (twice), Becker Lake itself and Becker Lake Wildlife Area along the Little Colorado. This entire area on the edge of the plains has great potential for migrants with its riparian growth and body of water. Consequently, I'll check it regularly during August. Best bird today was a male PHAINOPEPLA at the bridge on Airport Road. They are rare but regular in the White Mountains but it was only my second personal record.

Becker Lake Road yielded GREATER ROADRUNNER, many WESTERN KINGBIRDS, a few singing BLUE GROSBEAKS, BULLOCK'S ORIOLE and at least two CANYON TOWHEES (a species that seems to have prospered in the White Mountains in recent years).

What I'm calling a CLARK'S GREBE (very distant) was at the south end of Becker Lake (a pair were present and perhaps bred here last year). YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS did their best to remain concealed. REDHEADS and RUDDY DUCKS augmented the MALLARDS and COOTS.

A late morning stop at Nelson Reservoir was not productive but the flats at the south end hold promise for shorebird migrants. Only KILLDEER and SPOTTED SANDPIPER were present today. Five GREAT BLUE HERONS, a few CINNAMON TEAL and MALLARDS on the water. Lots of VIRGINIA'S WARBLERS in the brushy growth.

I haven't had much opportunity to view birds at Juniper Hill before today so I tried to watch periodically this afternoon when it wasn't raining. Scads of PINE SISKINS, smaller number of LESSER GOLDFINCHES & HOUSE FINCHES and a handful of spiffy BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS dominate the seed feeders each day. MOURNING DOVES and AMERICAN ROBINS stop by occasionally for spillage. BROAD-TAILED and RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS are the only hummers that I've noted. Elsewhere on the property I've seen NORTHERN FLICKER, SAY'S PHOEBE, VIRGINIA'S WARBLER, SPOTTED TOWHEE and BLUE GROSBEAK. Bluebirds seem to be AWOL at the moment.

New in the yard today (for the trip so far) have been HAIRY WOODPECKER, WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, a few BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS, a stunning adult male ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK and a female BULLOCK'S ORIOLE. The Rose-breasted Grosbeak was only my second sighting in the White Mountains (the other was also in Nutrioso on 6/11/2001).

Today was a rose letter day so to speak, my first three grosbeak species day! It was easy to check. First, find the days that I had seen Rose-breasted Grosbeak in Arizona (9) then check if I'd seen Black-headed and Blue on the same day. I could also look at my Pine Grosbeak and Evening Grosbeak records but I'd be wasting my time!

Tuesday, July 31, 2007
White Mountains Day 5: Day List 79   Trip List 153 (+5)
Today I visited Hulsey, Luna and Sierra Blanca Lakes plus a few areas around Nutrioso. A mostly gray day with only a few sun breaks and sprinkles throughout the day. More consistent rain fell by late afternoon. It may sound like a poor day but it was calm, cool and not a bad day at all to be out birding.

It was actually a little chilly at Hulsey Lake at the base of Escudilla early this morning and I donned a sweater for the first time on this trip. Great! This small fishing lake surrounded by pines is rarely hopping with birds but it is a quiet and pleasant place to enjoy if you get here before the fishermen (and I did!). I've found the lake to be reliable location for RED CROSSBILL and this was the first bird that greeted me as I stepped out of my vehicle a little after 6:00am (and they were flying around the pines for the next hour).

The lake is also a reliable location for RED-FACED WARBLER and I came across at least three of them mixed in with many YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS and a few GRACE'S WARBLERS. It was such a gray morning that I almost left my camera in the car. I've done this a couple of times in recent days and lived to regret it. Today I learned from those mistakes and was glad that I did. Another lesson I've learned is that Photoshop can fix many things but it can't fix a shot not taken. Therefore, I ran myself ragged following the Red-faced Warblers around in dark, drizzly places and pressed the shutter whenever one crossed my viewfinder. Despite a shutter speed of only 1/250s, I managed an in focus, quite usable, if somewhat dark image. What's that I always say about buying raffle tickets?

Other common species around the lake included a few GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS, HOUSE WREN (anything that lives here shouldn't have "house" in its name), MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE, scads of constantly chattering PYGMY NUTHATCHES, a singing GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE and many DARK-EYED "Red-backed" JUNCOS (mostly juveniles).

I moved on to Luna Lake and began in the pines at the east end. You wouldn't believe the complaining racket that I got from this juvenile COMMON RAVEN. The bird was in a dark place but once again I was pleased with the results despite a low shutter speed (hand held, of course). I continued my quest for warblers and it didn't take long to hear a whistled "phew" call and then track down a beautiful adult male OLIVE WARBLER (I found at least 3). I had a little more light to work with during a sun break and was happy with the results given that the bird was very high in a pine and flitting constantly. It's really difficult (no, impossible) to keep the 8lbs worth of camera and lens steady when holding it above my head. In cases such as this, decent results would not be possible without image stabilization. Image #2 shows a profile view of the same bird. By my results over the years, Luna Lake is a good location for this species.

I saw many of the same species as at Hulsey including a small flock of RED CROSSBILLS that were active for much of the time I was in the pines. GRACE'S WARBLERS were quite common. I added a BELTED KINGFISHER on a small pond, calling PURPLE MARTINS, WESTERN & MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS and a couple of singing PLUMBEOUS VIREOS.

A quick check of the Tackle Shop feeders produced CALLIOPE, BROAD-TAILED and RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS. Nearby, a couple of juvenile female WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKERS were in the same group of trees as on Friday.

No less than 40 GREAT BLUE HERONS were loafing on the lake. Also present were GREAT EGRET, SANDHILL CRANE and small numbers of CINNAMON TEAL and RING-NECKED DUCKS. Two juvenile VIRGINIA'S WARBLERS were foraging in the marsh and I even managed several photos. However, not even the lower standards of a photo first would make the images publishable!

I'd seen a couple of OSPREYS but was just about to leave eagleless when an adult BALD EAGLE obliged me by flying in at the (in)famous last minute. Lots of ducks taking flight clued me in to the eagle's arrival..

On FR 249, a stop at Divide Hill trail head produced a major surprise -- an ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER at 8700 feet! The habitat here is mostly pine and aspen with some spruce-fir, definitely not the place to be looking for this species. Birds have wings and they don't read books. OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER is regular here and I soon heard "pip pip pip" to confirm its presence. I also heard TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE and a few RED CROSSBILLS.

I continued east to Sierra Blanca Lake, mainly to check for VIRGINIA RAIL (two heard). At least 10 SORAS were calling.

I then doubled back and took FR 81 over to Nutrioso. It was raining as I crossed the divide but a stop to investigate a MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE flock produced GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, WARBLING VIREO and two RED-FACED WARBLERS.

I finished up by checking several Nutrioso area locations in search of Lewis's Woodpecker. It used to be that you couldn't swing a cat around in Nutrioso without hitting a Lewis's but they have certainly declined in this area in recent years. I think the town must have spayed Lewis's repellant. I worked for almost an hour before coming up with a single LEWIS'S WOODPECKER, taunting me atop a pole right in town. It's a good thing that I have some alternative locations. During the search I picked up EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE, CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER, PLUMBEOUS VIREO, BLUE GROSBEAK and GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE.

No sign of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak at Juniper Hill today but I did pick up a new yard species for the second day in a row -- drum roll please -- EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE (boo hiss).

This log is in chronological order and the most recent entries are at the bottom of the page.
The last update was on Tuesday, July 31, 2007

July Species Seen

Stuart Healy Journal - July, 2007 If you use the contents of my journal for commercial purposes, please acknowledge the source to your clients - thanks.

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