Oct. Species Seen

Stuart Healy Journal - October, 2008 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 Monday, October 27, 2008

Thursday, October 2, 2008
For me, October has a nice ring to it. Although the days usually remain warm until mid month, the mornings are definitely starting to feel cooler now. This year, there's even a threat of rain persisting in the Sierra Vista area. I visited the Huachucas again today, mainly to check on Buff-breasted Flycatcher. Before proceeding to Sawmill Canyon, I checked the fishing ponds and mesquite-grassland in lower Garden Canyon.

No Dickcissel delight at the fishing ponds this morning but a surprise juvenile NORTHERN GOSHAWK was certainly a fine treat. I'd just got started when I saw a large bird flying towards me in a labored fashion being pursued by a RED-TAILED HAWK. The goshawk was laboring because it was carrying a good sized bird (no idea what species). I was slow to react and didn't start shooting images until the bird was well past me. Although I obtained a few images, they were well below my increasingly more stringent publishing standards. It would have been a photo first too! I've nevertheless included a sequence of three poor quality shots that show some decent id points. The large, bulky size and buteo-like wings may not be as apparent in the images as in life. However, you can see the obvious pale supercillium, heavy streaking of the underparts and, perhaps most importantly, the streaks on the undertail coverts not shown by Sharp-shinned and Coopers. That's just a Brief(er) explanation (you have to be a watcher of all those goshawks in downtown Tucson to get that one).

My favorite spot to check at the fishing ponds is still waterlogged (and chigger-laden judging by my recent exploits) so I didn't hang around very long. I managed about 20 species including 4 SORAS, ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD, multiple ORANGE-CROWNED and MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLERS, GREEN-TAILED & CANYON TOWHEES, RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW and a few LINCOLN'S SPARROWS and BLUE GROSBEAKS.

Next, I spent an hour walking the back roads in the mesquite-grassland on the south/east side of Garden Canyon road. These are the roads marked with single letters, e.g. "Area W". I really tried hard to rustle up Botteri's and Cassin's Sparrows but didn't get so much as a false alarm. The best bird was a calling CRISSAL THRASHER. Even though I was quite confident that it wasn't one of the many mockingbirds in this area (due to "clean" Crissal calls not interspersed with other species imitations or mocker calls), I made an effort to track down the bird and eventually saw it perched atop a mesquite. I went years before seeing Crissal in Garden Canyon; now they seem regular.

Apart from numerous VESPER SPARROWS, I didn't find much else for my efforts except for GREATER ROADRUNNER, WESTERN KINGBIRD, PHAINOPEPLA and LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE.

I'd already burned more daylight than expected so I hadn't planned on any further stops in Garden Canyon (I needed to be in three places at once this morning). However, a calling DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER at the middle picnic area caused me to rethink. That turned out to be a good decision. In addition to tracking down the Dusky-capped (it's getting late for this species in the mountains), I also found HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, PLUMBEOUS & HUTTON'S VIREOS, 2 BLACK-THROATED GRAY and 2 TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS, PAINTED REDSTART and a few other common species.

Further up canyon (above the pictograph site), a stop to investigate roadside activity produced several LAZULI BUNTINGS and HERMIT WARBLER.

As I expected, I was unable to come up with a Buff-breasted Flycatcher in Sawmill Canyon. Of course, it's very possible that I missed a bird but I'm going to conclude they have finally bailed out for the year (sometime between September 29 and today). I also made a token effort for my FOS Williamson's Sapsucker without success. Activity was minimal and I didn't stay long since I didn't expect that more time would increase the return on my investment. Besides, software code doesn't write itself. Highlights were RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, HEPATIC TANAGER and PAINTED REDSTART.

Although I was disappointed not to find Buff-breasted Flycatcher and Botteri's & Cassin's Sparrows, negative data also has value since I'm regularly required to make decisions about what birds to target with clients at the edge of their arrival/departure times. It was certainly a good warbler day (7 species) to get October underway.

Friday, October 3, 2008
This morning I returned to the San Pedro RNCA to take another crack at sparrows. I'm pleased to say that I was able to replicate Tuesday's results by finding BOTTERI'S (2 birds) and CASSIN'S SPARROWS. In fact, it was able to find the birds more easily and faster today since I knew exactly where to look. I located both species in the same general area as earlier in the week, not far from the Del Valle road almost due west of the San Pedro House. I only have one Botteri's sighting later than today's date (October 9, 2007 at Patagonia Lake) so it was a valuable record for me. Although Cassin's is resident, they are usually devilishly difficult to find when not breeding.

In the abundant weedy habitat I also found BREWER'S, VESPER, LARK, LINCOLN'S & WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS and ABERT'S & GREEN-TAILED TOWHEES.

Despite the info I had about the trails, I decided to head over to Kingfisher Pond anyway. I walked south along the river trail (quite muddy in places) then cut across to the north end of the pond (easy enough to that point). From there I worked my way south along the eastern edge of the pond. What a disaster. It's almost impossible to circumnavigate the pond but that's exactly what I did. The trail on the east side was completely overgrown (over my head in places), the west side is not too bad. I'm not really sure how I managed to get around. Perhaps a more relevant question is WHY I went around! I guess the answer to that was the chance to look for Green Kingfisher.

The only birds I noted at the pond were PIED-BILLED GREBE, GREAT BLUE HERON, a female/immature MERLIN, a calling KILLDEER (quite scarce on this part of the San Pedro); and a few MALLARDS and SHOVELERS.

Species seen elsewhere included COMMON GROUND-DOVE, GREATER ROADRUNNER, RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, GRAY & DUSKY FLYCATCHERS (both calling); numerous ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, lingering SUMMER & migrant WESTERN TANAGERS; and plentiful BLUE GROSBEAKS and LAZULI BUNTINGS. Most individuals of the latter two species were quite drab.

The Roadrunner was near the San Pedro House and may just have been the world's most cooperative bird. I was about to leave when I saw the bird and decided to shoot a few images. I had time to setup the tripod and large lens but by the time I was ready the bird was sunning itself on a concrete wall. I preferred to publish an image that I shot hand-held because of a better pose on a wooden post.

48 species recorded:
Pied-billed Grebe, Great Blue Heron, Mallard, N. Shoveler, Merlin, Killdeer, Mourning & White-winged Doves; Common Ground-Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Anna's Hummingbird, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers; Red-naped Sapsucker, N. Flicker, Gray & Dusky Flycatchers; Black & Say's Phoebes; Cassin's & Western Kingbirds; House Wren, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Loggerhead Shrike, European Starling, House Sparrow, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Orange-crowned & Yellow-rumped Warblers; Common Yellowthroat, Summer & Western Tanagers; Green-tailed & Abert's Towhees; Botteri's, Cassin's, Brewer's, Vesper, Lark, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows; Pyrrhuloxia, Blue Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting and Great-tailed Grackle.

Sunday, October 5, 2008
Birding at Sierra Vista EOP this morning was the antithesis of last week. A few season firsts put in an appearance, duck numbers were generally higher and there was a good showing of raptors. Sparrows, however, remain fairly scarce. With the advent of October, the start time of the regular Sunday outings slips to 8:00am. However, I started birding at 7:00am and  recorded 20 species from the viewing platform before entering the interior of the ponds. WHITE-WINGED DOVE was the only species that I didn't see again. Fall like weather prevailed for much of the time in the field (mostly cloudy, cool, blustery; 62-71 degrees from 7:00-10:15am). My kind of weather.

Perhaps the highlight of the day was seeing four falcon species -- first, the usual PEREGRINE FALCON; then a location first of season PRAIRIE FALCON followed by an in flight MERLIN. We actually had to scratch around for an "easy" KESTREL! Other raptors today were numerous TURKEY VULTURES pushing south; a couple of NORTHERN HARRIERS, a COOPER'S HAWK after blackbirds in the marsh; a beautiful adult SWAINSON'S HAWK soaring overhead and several RED-TAILED HAWKS.

A lone GADWALL and 4 RING-NECKED DUCKS were both location first of season species. CINNAMON & GREEN-WINGED TEAL were both quite numerous today. AMERICAN WIGEON numbers are up but not significantly. The lone GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE continues (seen on 4 consecutive Sundays) and now seems far less skittish than when it first arrived (presumably as it gets used to the presence of people). Not a single shorebird seen, not even a Killdeer or Spotty.

In the extensive marsh habitat, VIRGINIA RAILS have either increased dramatically in number of have suddenly become vocal. SORAS and MARSH WRENS were also numerous. All heard only.

The usual hordes of YELLOW-HEADED and RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS were milling around and a few BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS were present.

A final flurry of species at the end of the walk produced what for me was the best bird of the morning -- a latish LUCY'S WARBLER. While abundant in spring and early summer, this can be a tough species to find in late summer and fall and qualifies as a "good bird" anywhere in Arizona in October. It's also a pretty scarce species at the EOP and today's bird was the first that I've seen here in fall. In terms of my personal late sightings, it falls in the middle of 7 October records the latest of which is October 12.

A bright male LAZULI BUNTING was in the same area as the warbler along with several adult and immature WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS, PYRRHULOXIA, BLUE GROSBEAK and an unidentified gnatcatcher species.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008
I spent this beautiful fall morning in Carr Canyon where I expected the weather, solitude and views to be better than the birding. However, despite the late season and windy conditions at high elevation, I managed to rustle up 54 species in about 6 hours. Interestingly, only 23 of those species were unique to the lower canyon. I would certainly have bet against the higher elevations being the most productive.

In terms of least common sightings for this location, SPOTTED OWL was perhaps the best bird. I don't often see this species in flight but that's what happened today -- being pursued by a RED-TAILED HAWK no less, albeit a little lazily and half-hearted. The location was close to Reef Campground where I saw two Spotted Owls roosting back in mid July. I surmised that perhaps the Red-tailed cruised by where the owl was roosting and spooked it. However, in my experience, Spotted Owls don't spook very easily so perhaps the owl was an inexperienced young bird. October is the month when young of the year Spotted Owls move on to find their own territory so it could have been a bird in unfamiliar surroundings. Anyway, all this is conjecture and it was a good sighting regardless of what caused it. I searched for about an hour trying to relocate the bird without success. I did come across plenty of bear scat as I searched.

Other less common species were LINCOLN'S SPARROW (second stream crossing); SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, PEREGRINE FALCON, a bright male LAZULI BUNTING (first stream crossing) and BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER (in dense Manzanita near Reef; only my second October record in the canyon).

Birds in the lower canyon (third stream crossing and below) included WHITE-THROATED SWIFT, HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER and a male WILSON'S WARBLER.

Among the species seen at low and high elevations were many ACORN WOODPECKERS, 3 BLACK-THROATED GRAY & 3 TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS and numerous HEPATIC TANAGERS (heard at all elevations; the only bird I saw was a female/immature).

Species seen at high elevation only (mostly in the vicinity of Reef) included a lone BAND-TAILED PIGEON, HAIRY WOODPECKER, RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, PLUMBEOUS VIREO, a tough-to-find OLIVE WARBLER (but I made a concerted effort); surprisingly few, very quiet and inconspicuous SPOTTED TOWHEES and a few YELLOW-EYED JUNCOS.

In addition to the expansive vistas and cool early morning temperature, I enjoyed seeing the Townsend's Warblers most of all (an underrated yet handsome bird).

Wednesday, October 8, 2008
This morning I made my season first trip to Whitewater Draw Wildlife area and I have to say it was a little disappointing. In general, the habitat is perhaps the best that it has been in years with plenty of grass and weeds and decent water levels for ducks. Shorebird habitat is somewhat lacking though. Conditions were excellent with clear sky and very little wind.

The source of my disappointment was the south willow grove. This area, with its pond and luxuriant greenery, has the potential to be the best migrant trap in the southern Sulphur Springs Valley. Unfortunately, I didn't enter the grove to check out what might be lurking there. As a result of past transgressions, numerous signs are now posted saying "Whitewater Draw Owl Roost Please Do Not Disturb". Now what the hell does this actually mean in reality? I know that the intention is to try to prevent birders from flushing the owls. But why not simply say "Do Not Enter" (not that I really want that to happen). However, as if this were not ambiguous enough, some parts of all the signs have been covered up with tape. I went to talk with area manager for clarification but couldn't find him. Since ignorance of the law is no defense, the bottom line for me was that I did not enter. I'm not sure that all birders would err on the side of caution.

Duck diversity and numbers were both quite low and only NORTHERN PINTAILS were common. GREEN WINGED and CINNAMON TEAL were fairly common and I noted 9 RING-NECKED DUCKS. Reflecting the less than ideal shorebird habitat were the only two shorebird species that I saw -- KILLDEER and SPOTTED SANDPIPER. Apart from several sparrow species and abundant LAZULI BUNTINGS (undoubtedly attracted by the lush habitat), migrant landbirds were not prolific.

Although SANDHILL CRANES sometimes arrive as early as mid September (my earliest sighting is September 17), I only recently saw the first report of the season (100 birds). Today I saw just one!

The annual October TREE SWALLOW fest is underway again and thousands of birds were working over the water and perched on wires in several places in the south valley.

WESTERN KINGBIRDS are staging for departure and at least 50 birds well outnumbered a few CASSIN'S KINGBIRDS. Many more Westerns were distributed along the valley roads that I drove.

Other species included 4 SNOWY EGRETS, 14 WHITE-FACED IBIS,  GREAT HORNED OWL, VERMILION FLYCATCHER, BELTED KINGFISHER and numerous YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS (including Myrtle form birds). 46 species at Whitewater Draw proper.

I had an amusing moment with the noisy Belted Kingfisher that was rattling around the various impoundments. I was standing on a viewing platform (where I'd seen the kingfisher perch earlier) and could hear the bird coming my way. I first saw it about 100 yards from me as it made a bee line for my location. At the last second it saw me and veered away, venting its disgust with an extra loud and prolonged rattle. This was about the closest that I've ever come to this species!

Outside of the wildlife area boundary, Coffman Road has lots of great weedy habitat and produced plenty of sparrows plus EURASIAN COLLARED DOVE, BENDIRE'S THRASHER (singing as though it were February); an immature CASSIN'S SPARROW and my first of season WESTERN MEADOWLARK. On Lee Road I saw a dozen SCALED QUAIL, CRISSAL THRASHER and perhaps as many as 50 LARK BUNTINGS. Further north on Noble Road, I added PRAIRIE FALCON and SWAINSON'S HAWK.

A check of the fields at Davis and Central confirmed what I suspected would be the case. The demand for Ethanol has taken a little bit more wintering habitat from Ferruginous Hawks and Mountain Plovers (unless they can learn to live with corn stubble). On Central Highway, one of the better fields for plovers in recent years now contains the crop du jour (corn, not yet harvested). Other fields look like they will be okay. I guess the birds will decide when they arrive.

Thursday, October 9, 2008
I didn't have much time for birding today and I only managed a couple of hours in lower Garden Canyon. There wasn't much of a morning chill and it was already warm by 8:00am, almost 90 degrees later in the day. Perhaps Norbert will usher in some cooler temperatures and a booby or two (not that I'll be chasing them).

A calling COMMON GROUND-DOVE at the Fishing Ponds was the least common species that I encountered. This was only my third record at the Fishing Ponds and fifth in Garden Canyon. Given how often I visit the canyon, it's definitely a rare bird for this location (at least in the areas that I cover). My sightings have been in May (2), July (1), October (1) and November (1). I'm not really sure what their status is but I would probably have to infer that they are a breeder somewhere in the area, at least in some years. Birds of Fort Huachuca (1981) lists them as an "uncommon permanent resident". However, as I've mentioned before, anything in this publication (strictly in terms of Fort Huachuca status) must be regarded with suspicion. It's not clear which areas have been used to compile the data and I'm not convinced that all records are within Fort Huachuca limits. For my own record keeping purposes (reflected in the bar graphs that I publish), I stick to whatever geographical limits I define (no matter how arbitrary) so that the data can be relied upon.

The number of SORAS at the ponds this year is considerably higher than "normal". The small pond has plenty of water and marshy habitat which is obviously very much to their liking. Today I detected at least 6 and it wouldn't surprise me if well into double figures were present. Although not a regular here, the current water level continues to attract a BELTED KINGFISHER. I detected 8 HOUSE WRENS in the surrounding weeds and mesquite; SAVANNAH and LINCOLN'S SPARROWS were both common.

While water birds and those species that prefer damp habitats are in hog heaven, seed-eating species are relatively scarce. In some years the Gravel Pit pond is almost dry and choked with tall weeds and grass. In this high water year, LAZULI BUNTINGS are scarce (just a couple noted today) and Lawrence's Goldfinches may not even use the area at all this year (they have been around in early October in a few recent years).

Sunday, October 12, 2008
Well, as expected, although Norbert didn't pack much of a punch, it did bring a change in the weather. Cloudy and windy conditions with sporadic rain prevailed from late Friday through most of Saturday. Clear blue sky and plenty of sunshine returned this morning but it was much cooler for the regular Sunday outing at Sierra Vista EOP. The temperature only ranged from 46 to 56 degrees between 7:30am and 11:00am. I wore a sweater all morning and for the first time in a long time I didn't need to use cooling at home today. It must be almost mid October!

Since the birding didn't seem particularly good, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the species count had crept up into the low 50s. I perhaps shouldn't be too surprised since my all time records show that I've seen more species at the EOP in October (133) and SE AZ in general (320) than in any other month. However, if I look at AZ as a whole, September has the edge. Interestingly, though, I've never broken 60 species on any day at the EOP in over 930 visits. Okay, enough already with the numbers.

Based on personal records, the least common location species seen today were SHARP-SHINNED HAWK and a fly-by BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER.

Ducks continue to increase in number while diversity remains about the same with nothing new arriving today.  In the raptor department, PRAIRIE and PEREGRINE FALCONS were both present and KESTRELS were very conspicuous; missed Merlin. Unlike last week (no shorebirds), 1 WHITE-FACED IBIS, 1 SPOTTED SANDPIPER and 2 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS were present today. Sparrows are staying away in droves; put another way -- "if you take it away, they will not come" (habitat that is).

Four species of swallows was a good return for mid October, especially CLIFF SWALLOW that is only casual at this time. OK, I lied about numbers, I'll throw a few more at you. My average last date in SE AZ over the past 16 years is September 23 with October 22 being the latest of 4 October records.

The lone GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE continues (the bird has been around for almost a month, first seen on September 14). I have 25 records from 7 of the 16 years that I've birded here, I'll call it "scarce but regular".

SORA and MARSH WREN (untold numbers of each heard) were both seen in the marsh and at least 5 VIRGINIA RAILS called as the larger than normal group walked around the various impoundments. Other marsh denizens included SONG and LINCOLN'S SPARROWS and the usual high numbers of YELLOW-HEADED and lesser numbers of RED-HEADED BLACKBIRDS. A male and 2 female LAZULI BUNTINGS were seen working in the weeds at the edge of the marsh.

A lone AMERICAN PIPIT was a location season first. At the other end of  the spectrum, WESTERN (6) and CASSIN'S (2) KINGBIRDS won't be around for too much longer.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Even though I know the time is nigh for the annual October step function drop in temperature, it nevertheless seems to come as a surprise every year. This year it happened a little earlier than normal and with a vengeance in terms of overnight lows (but warm days may not be ready to leave for a while). The last few days have seen overnight lows down near freezing in some locations and Tucson set an all time record low for the date a couple of days ago. It was in the thirties when I was out grocery shopping at 0'dark:30 this morning but the temperature rebounded nicely by mid morning.

It was a gorgeous morning down on the San Pedro where I spent a few hours looking mostly for sparrows. I had a couple of false alarms with birds that I thought were Clay-colored Sparrow and Ruddy Ground-Dove. I saw both of them in shadowy places and it wasn't until I looked at my photos that I could definitely say they were BREWER'S SPARROW (common throughout) and COMMON GROUND-DOVE (seen in three different locations). The camera sure came in handy today. I trolled unsuccessfully for Botteri's Sparrow.

I walked a loop along the river, past Kingfisher Pond and along Garden Wash. The immediate area of the San Pedro House and the north end of the pond had the most activity. Garden Wash was almost devoid of birds. I looked and listened for Green Kingfisher and Louisiana Waterthrush in their respective "normal" locations.

The birding was generally quite lackluster and a vocal WESTERN TANAGER at Kingfisher Pond was the best bird for me. Although this species sometimes overwinters, my average last sighting date in SE AZ is October 1 and I've never seen one after October 20. They are uncommon migrants on the San Pedro, slightly more common in spring than in fall. A lone male BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, also seen at the pond, is even less common on the river than the tanager. Also present at the pond were GREEN HERON, COOPER'S HAWK and BLACK PHOEBE.

On the plus side, BLUE GROSBEAKS and LAZULI BUNTINGS remain plentiful in the Johnson grass and there was a good showing of GREEN-TAILED TOWHEES and LINCOLN'S SPARROWS.

Birds in the vicinity of the San Pedro House included a group of WHITE-WINGED DOVES, ANNA'S & RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS, CASSIN'S & WESTERN KINGBIRDS, the usual scads of LESSER GOLDFINCHES (I checked many looking for Lawrence's); and a few ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS.

Sunday, October 19, 2008
After record low "low" temperatures about this time last week, daytime highs almost reached record highs by the end of the week. Unfortunately, apart from one day, I was stuck at home and wasn't able to enjoy the Indian Summer days. I was happy to escape from the keyboard and head down to Sierra Vista EOP this morning. Conditions were calm and clear and it felt much warmer than the 70-80 degree range that I recorded between 7:00am and 10:30am.

I was hoping that the American Bittern seen at the EOP on Thursday would still be around today. Alas, that wasn't the case (although there's certainly lots of dense marsh habitat where the bird could easily hide). Many thanks to Dave Hawksworth who saw and reported the bird. This would have been a location first for me. I'm stuck on 194 and have only added 3 in the last 3 years.

There were a few noticeable changes in EOP birdlife this week, but certainly nothing startling. The number of AMERICAN WIGEON (now over 50) and RING-NECKED DUCKS have increased; a few more sparrow species were seen; and I saw my EOP season first WESTERN MEADOWLARK. Westerns sometimes arrive here at the beginning of October and I've already recorded them twice elsewhere.

All four regular falcon species, including 2 MERLINS, were recorded for the second time in three visits this month. The lone GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE continues (about to enter its 6th week) but was only seen in flight today. No waders or shorebirds of any type were seen or heard.

BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER was the least common species for the second consecutive week.

Monday, October 20, 2008
First of four days with Katy Morse from Tucson and Tod Likins from Santa Cruz, CA. We don't have any target birds on the agenda and the plan is simply to enjoy whatever birds come our way. Today we stayed local with visits to the San Pedro river and Ash Canyon Bed and Breakfast. The weather continues warm and the temperature was already 75 degrees in town at 7:30am, up to 87 degrees by noon.

Birding was very slow at times on the San Pedro and birds were generally hard to come by. Highlights were a very briefly seen WILSON'S SNIPE, 2 COMMON GROUND-DOVES, a female BELTED KINGFISHER on Kingfisher Pond, 2 RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS, a female GILDED FLICKER interacting with a NORTHERN FLICKER, BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER and numerous LAZULI BUNTINGS near the San Pedro House. The Gilded Flicker, Sapsucker, Snipe and Gnatcatcher are all uncommon to rare on this part of the San Pedro RNCA.

After a slow start, there was a decent showing of sparrows. Listed in deceasing order of abundance we saw WHITE-CROWNED,  BREWER'S, VESPER, LINCOLNS, SAVANNAH and LARK SPARROWS plus ABERT'S and GREEN-TAILED TOWHEES. 43 species in all.

A very brief midday stop at Sierra Vista EOP failed to produce any hoped for falcons so we had to settle for those oh so drab YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS.

Activity at Ash Canyon B&B was understandably a little slow in the heat of the day but we eventually managed a fair number of species. In addition to a few common feeder moochers, we saw a small group of WILD TURKEYS, many ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRDS, a lone male BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD, CASSIN'S KINGBIRD and a flock of CEDAR WAXWINGS that left just after we arrived. Thanks to Mary Jo for her hospitality.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Out again today with Katy and Tod. On another far too warm day, we visited Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area; a few other Sulphur Springs Valley locations; and Pinery Canyon in the Chiricahuas. A very short report today (ten hours in the field plus two hours of Champions League soccer).

Highlights:
15 CATTLE EGRETS (Whitewater Draw), thousands of TREE SWALLOWS (Whitewater Draw), BENDIRE'S THRASHER (Coffman Road), CASSIN'S VIREO (Pinery Canyon), HEPATIC TANAGER (Pinery Canyon) and side by side EASTERN and WESTERN MEADOWLARKS (Whitewater Draw). Manchester United 3, Celtic 0 (Old Trafford).

Lowlights: No Ferruginous Hawks, no Mexican Chickadees and no Lark Buntings.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Day 3 with Katy and Tod. We visited Patagonia Lake State Park, Kino Springs and Paton's yard. More of the same lingering warm weather.

One of the first species at Patagonia Lake was a RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER on a pole along the entrance road near highway 82. A little time spent working the area near the main gate produced excellent looks at ROCK WREN, RUFOUS-CROWNED & RUFOUS-WINGED SPARROWS and a very spiffy GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE. Also present were 5 WHITE-WINGED DOVES, CACTUS & HOUSE WRENS, CURVE-BILLED THRASHER and VERDIN.

I went into "winter" birding mode by checking the west end of the lake (from the marina day use area) and the area around the visitor center before birding the trails at the east end. It's not much like winter yet and the only water birds of note were numerous EARED GREBES and a few AMERICAN WIGEON near the spillway.

Along the main birding trail we spied BLACK PHOEBE, GRAY FLYCATCHER and EASTERN PHOEBE all working the same location about 200 yards from the bottom of the steps. Eastern Phoebe is rare in SE AZ in winter but seems to be present at least every other year at the lake. This was my 39th record here (seen in 7 different years) and 52nd overall in AZ (seen in 11 different years).

We didn't walk the washes to look for gnatcatchers nor walk the creek trail. Other species noted included 3 DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS (0 Neotropic seen); 10+ RING-NECKED DUCKS, grunting VIRGINIA RAIL, calling SORA, COMMON MOORHEN,  BELTED KINGFISHER, CANYON TOWHEE, LINCOLN'S SPARROW and CARDINAL. 48 species in all.

Kino Springs yielded the hoped for BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCKS (~10 birds of different sizes) at the larger of the club house ponds. Other stuff here during a short visit in the noon hour heat included the continuing immature DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT seen gobbling down something that seemed way too big for it to manage; GREEN HERON, GADWALL, BELTED KINGFISHER, SAY'S PHOEBE (making a three phoebe species day); LAZULI BUNTING and VESPER SPARROW.

Activity in Marion Paton's Yard was very low from 1:15-2:30pm and ANNA'S was the only hummer species seen. INCA DOVES were very common and Katy pointed out a bird to me that was obviously different. After some tracking, I was able to get the scope on the bird and determine that it was a female RUDDY GROUND-DOVE. This particular individual was quite pale and since I also briefly caught sight of a darker bird, I think that a male may also be present (of course, it could have been a Common). While still rare, this species has certainly increased its presence in SE AZ over the last 15 years. Not much else worthy of mention save for LAZULI BUNTING.

Thursday, October 23, 2008
The fourth and final day with Katy and Tod was spent in the Huachuca Mountains, mostly in Carr Canyon with a brief mid afternoon visit to Garden Canyon. Yet another warm day after a few pleasantly cool early morning hours.

Slow and steady best describes the birding in Carr Canyon. We worked all the habitat zones and eventually turned up 50 species despite missing some "easy" species.

Our best finds at low elevation were 2 PLUMBEOUS VIREOS and single BLACK-THROATED GRAY & TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS. Among the other species present were COOPER'S HAWK, many WHITE-WINGED DOVES, ACORN (very common throughout), GILA & LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKERS; PHAINOPEPLA, ROCK WREN, BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER and RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW.

Multiple flocks of BUSHTITS worked the manzanita bushes on the drive up the mountain and an immature GOLDEN EAGLE was twice seen gliding over a ridge. We also had good views of a male ARIZONA WOODPECKER and a male HEPATIC TANAGER, both seen in the same dead tree within seconds of each other.

A stop just below Reef to check on lots of AMERICAN ROBIN activity produced RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER and several HERMIT THRUSHES. Fruiting Madrone had attracted the birds. In the same location we saw a sub-adult male OLIVE WARBLER almost at full "spiffiness" (turning from yellow to orange). However, we needed to track the sporadically calling and singing warbler for some time before being able to enjoy our reward.

The view from Reef overlook was not as impressive as usual due to hazy conditions. Excellent close up looks at a CANYON WREN proved to be a mitigating factor after it seemed we would not see the bird at all.

As I expected, the birding around Reef was tough going and we had to dig out one bird at a time. I was hoping for my first Williamson's Sapsucker of the season but had to settle for HAIRY WOODPECKER to complete a near grand slam of 7 regular woodpecker species. We located more of the species already seen including RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, HERMIT THRUSH, HUTTON'S VIREO, OLIVE, YELLOW-RUMPED & TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS and HEPATIC TANAGER. Newbies were BROWN CREEPER, STELLER'S JAY, WESTERN SCRUB-JAY and SPOTTED TOWHEE.

Thanks to fruiting Madrone, the journey back down the mountain produced a small flock of CEDAR WAXWINGS and 3 WESTERN BLUEBIRDS. Eastern is the regular bluebird species in Carr Canyon and I have very few records of Western during the "winter" months.

The original plan had been to visit Scheelite Canyon for Spotted Owl but time got away from us and we settled for a brief visit to Garden Canyon. Nary a bird was stirring as we drove through the grassland. We eventually rustled up a few birds at the upper picnic area and weeded out HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER and TOWNSEND'S WARBLER from a mixed flock comprised mostly of BRIDLED TITMICE with a sprinkling of HUTTON'S VIREOS and RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS.

Sunday, October 26, 2008
Birding at Sierra Vista EOP should be improving as October draws to a close but that certainly isn't the case. Perhaps the continuing warm weather is responsible. Today I recorded only 39 species and the group total was only 42 (44 if Hummingbird sp. and Falcon sp. are included).

It's difficult to find any highlights. When the least common species is a ROCK PIGEON followed closely by NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD, you know you are in trouble!

Continuing signs of the impending season were provided by 150+ AMERICAN WIGEON (they have steadily increased over the past weeks); increased numbers of RING-NECKED DUCKS, 4 location first of season LESSER SCAUP and perhaps as many as 6 NORTHERN HARRIERS. On the down side, the Greater White-fronted Goose was missed for the first time since mid September.

Other raptors included a dashing MERLIN and a distant perched Falcon species that remained just that.

Monday, October 27, 2008
Out today with Tom Lewis from Gilbert, AZ who I've birded with on one previous occasion. We visited Sulphur Springs Valley and Carr Canyon looking for a few target species as well as working on identification techniques. It was already blowing quite strongly as we headed over to the valley early this morning and our prospects didn't look good. However, as things turned out, the birding today was the antitheses of my experience yesterday and, despite the windy conditions, we did pretty well.

Before visiting Whitewater Draw, we worked Coffman & Lee Roads to good effect. BENDIRE'S THRASHER and SCALED QUAIL came easily but we had to work a while before enjoying scope views of 2 CRISSAL THRASHERS on Lee Road along with lots of feeding SANDHILL CRANES, my FOS FERRUGINOUS HAWK and 30+ CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS. Other species on Lee included a perched up GREATER ROADRUNNER, several small flocks of LARK BUNTINGS and a fair number of HORNED LARKS and WESTERN MEADOWLARKS. A couple of immature GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS on Coffman represented the least common location species.

At Whitewater Draw, TREE SWALLOWS now number in the 100s rather than 1000s. RING-NECKED DUCK was the most conspicuous duck with small numbers of common species scattered around.

It was windy walking the berms but the birds didn't seem to mind. Highlights were 30+ AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS, REDHEAD, LESSER SCAUP, my FOS BUFFLEHEAD, male NORTHERN HARRIER, SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, a fairly low soaring immature GOLDEN EAGLE, 3 GREATER YELLOWLEGS, 12 RING-BILLED GULLS, 2 GREAT HORNED OWLS and a spiffy male PYRRHULOXIA. We didn't linger looking for landbirds in the wind but still managed to record a respectable 40 species within the wildlife area boundary

The wind had died down a little by the time we started birding in Carr Canyon shortly before noon. I didn't expect much at this time of day but a couple of hours at low elevation (between the first and third stream crossings) yielded a few decent species. Highlights were great looks at ARIZONA WOODPECKER and PAINTED REDSTART. Other species included the usual common little birds plus RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, BROWN CREEPER, 3 TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS and several heard only HEPATIC TANAGERS.

80 species recorded:
Am. White Pelican, Green-winged & Cinnamon Teal; Mallard, N. Pintail, N. Shoveler, Redhead, Ring-necked & Ruddy Ducks; Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, N. Harrier, Sharp-shinned, Red-tailed & Ferruginous Hawks; Golden Eagle, Am. Kestrel, Scaled Quail, Sandhill Crane, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, Ring-billed Gull, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Great Horned Owl, Acorn, Ladder-backed & Arizona Woodpeckers; Red-naped Sapsucker, N. Flicker, Hammond's & Vermilion Flycatchers; Black & Say's Phoebes; Horned Lark, Tree & Barn Swallows; Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bewick's Wren, N. Mockingbird, Bendire's & Crissal Thrashers; Hermit Thrush, Bushtit, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Loggerhead Shrike, Mexican Jay, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens; House Sparrow, Hutton's Vireo, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Townsend's Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Painted Redstart, Hepatic Tanager, Chipping, Brewer's, Vesper, Black-throated, Savannah, Grasshopper, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows; Lark Bunting, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Pyrrhuloxia, Red-winged & Brewer's Blackbirds; Eastern & Western Meadowlarks and Great-tailed Grackle.

This log is in chronological order and the most recent entries are at the bottom of the page.
The last update was on Monday, October 27, 2008

Oct. Species Seen

Stuart Healy Journal - October, 2008 If you use the contents of my journal for commercial purposes, please acknowledge the source to your clients - thanks.

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