Nov. Species Seen

Stuart Healy Journal - November, 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 Sunday, November 30, 2008

Sunday, November 2, 2008
Out today with Susan Jones from Winston-Salem, NC who I've birded with on two previous occasions, both times looking for target species. Today we didn't have an agenda. In fact it was "guide's choice" and I decided to visit San Rafael Valley. I met Susan in Sonoita at 6:15am and we started birding at the west end of the valley at 7:00am.

Conditions were close to perfect (at least for humans) with zero wind and a very mild temperature for this location in November. We spent a little while looking for Baird's and Grasshopper Sparrows at the traditional spot near "lone tree" without any success at all. We didn't look elsewhere since this was a "play day". SAVANNAH SPARROW was the only sparrow species and even they were not as prolific as usual. I was hoping for great things after my early Baird's sighting at the beginning of September. Just as well we weren't target birding. It's obvious that far more cattle are grazing here (have grazed here recently) -- there are many new cow trails and the grass is very short cropped in many places, totally unsuitable for Baird's Sparrow  (the habitat is more suitable for longspurs and Sprague's Pipit). Habitat further south beyond the stock pond is okay as is the habitat on the north side of FR 58. HORNED LARKS, CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS and EASTERN MEADOWLARKS were all common. We also saw WHITE-TAILED KITE, a couple of NORTHERN HARRIERS, the usual KESTRELS and a not-so-usual (for this location) MERLIN.

The east-west and north-south sections of FR 58 yielded more larks and longspurs plus GREATER ROADRUNNER, many VESPER SPARROWS, BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS and BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS.

The only birds of note at Bog Hole Wildlife Area (fairly quiet by late morning) were singletons of EARED GREBE (rare in the valley by my results) and COMMON GROUND-DOVE (a new valley species for me). Other species included a handful of RUDDY DUCKS and COOTS, 2 GREEN-WINGED TEAL, several calling SORAS, at least 6 MARSH WRENS (the marsh is very healthy); and a couple of LINCOLN'S SPARROWS.

Harshaw Canyon wasn't productive in the early afternoon (although we didn't look hard for anything in particular). Species seen included a very striking perched adult COOPER'S HAWK, a small flock of WESTERN BLUEBIRDS (no resident Eastern seen) and a lone CASSIN'S KINGBIRD not far from town (Patagonia).

Saturday, November 8, 2008
First of two days with Peter Burke from Peapack, NJ. Actually, "day" is too strong a word since we didn't meet up until mid afternoon. Owls were the (successful) focus of a short day. Nights and early mornings have been quite chilly recently (below freezing a couple of times in Sierra Vista) but days remain mild (high 70s today).

We entered Scheelite Canyon shortly before 3:00pm and left a little less than an hour later having had wonderful views of SPOTTED OWL in a regular location. This was my first visit in some time and I'm not sure if the bird recognized me! Not much else seen or heard in the cool and shady conditions (sunset comes early in the bottom of this steep walled canyon). As we left Scheelite, a fairly low soaring adult GOLDEN EAGLE was just icing on the cake.

We used the time before darkness poking around a few locations in Garden canyon where we found a few more target species including 2 CASSIN'S KINGBIRDS (getting late for this species); HUTTON'S VIREO (side by side with RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET for good comparison) and a stunning PAINTED REDSTART.

Other species in Garden included COOPER'S HAWK, SORA, LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKER, a small flock of WESTERN BLUEBIRDS and 3 TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS.

It was much colder in Carr Canyon as darkness fell and I'd already told Peter that the chances for success at this season were not good. For 10-15 minutes it seemed that my expectations would be met as we had a serious Simon and Garfunkel thing going on. However, without warning, the loud Morse Code like calls of a very close WHISKERED-SCREECH OWL broke the sound of silence. We tracked the bird to an oak just as a vehicle came by and stopped immediately under the bird. "Whatcha looking at?" said an occupant; "please move" said Peter when he really meant piss off. "Can we see it?" They drove on, walked back, and were able to see the very cooperative bird that sat there tooting for 10 minutes until its mate enticed it away.

Color me surprised for several reasons -- to get a bird at all at this season; to get one close to the road; and, most of all, to get one that was vocal and extremely cooperative. An excellent conclusion to our short outing.

Sunday, November 9, 2008
Out again today with Peter. We spent the day in the Patagonia area starting on finger-numbing Blue Haven Road before 7:00am; continued on to Patagonia Lake and Kino Springs; and finished up in Paton's Yard. The wind picked up as the day wore on and we finally threw in the towel around 1:00pm. The wind became even worse as we returned to Sierra Vista.

We hung out at the SINALOA WREN spot (where the creek comes close to the road on Blue Haven Road) for about an hour but only heard the bird twice, very briefly, at 7:15am. Although we didn't even come close to seeing the wren, the good news is that the first real cold snap of the season hasn't caused the bird to vacate the premises. Initially, activity in the area was minimal (gee, you think) but increased significantly when the warming rays of the morning sun finally had an affect around 7:30am. Species here (mostly in the cottonwoods where the sun hits first) included GILA & LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKERS; RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, BEWICK'S & HOUSE WRENS; PLUMBEOUS VIREO (some brief song); GREEN-TAILED & ABERT'S TOWHEES and a skulking RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW.

Even though the birding at Patagonia Lake was slow, we managed to find a number of target birds, see a few less common species and tally 53 species overall. A couple of KESTRELS, several SAY'S PHOEBES and a male NORTHERN HARRIER worked the grassland approaches. Near the park entrance gate we picked up CACTUS & ROCK WRENS, PHAINOPEPLA and RUFOUS-WINGED & BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS. We spent some time looking for Canyon Towhee without success and I joked with Peter that it might become a nemesis bird. Many a true word spoken in jest, right? Little did I know that we would get skunked at every location we visited throughout the day.

Not much on the water at the west end of the lake but 6 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS north of the spillway were certainly of note. The east end had a few more birds, notably a female RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. I see White Pelicans in SE AZ most years but it's only casual in November, never better than rare in in spring and fall migration. The merganser is generally difficult to come across away from the Colorado river and November is the best time to stumble into this species in SE AZ (I have 10 records during the month, seen roughly every other year). Ironically, I have three spring records at the lake and this was my first here in "fall".  No sign yet of the normally common wintering Common Mergansers (my records show that November week 3 is the typical arrival period).

Other stuff on the water included a few PIED-BILLED & EARED GREBES and a single WESTERN GREBE; 6+ DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS (no Neotropic which seems to be the norm in recent years for this location in the winter months); GREAT EGRET, AMERICAN WIGEON, a small flotilla of RING-NECKED DUCKS, lots of RUDDY DUCKS and a single SPOTTED SANDPIPER. Along the marsh edge, chattering MARSH WRENS and a calling SORA remained unseen; a juvenile COMMON MOORHEN briefly deigned to show itself.

Sonoita Creek trail was less productive than I had hoped. GRAY & ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS, 2 CASSIN'S VIREOS and a well seen ABERT'S TOWHEE were the best birds. We dipped on Dusky Flycatcher despite working the willow forest. ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD at the Visitor Center was the only hummer.

Having missed Cinnamon Teal, we journeyed on to Kino Springs where the wind was strong enough to ground any land birds (at least, we didn't see any!). No matter, some time spent circling the small club house pond produced a spiffy looking male CINNAMON TEAL. Other species included GREEN HERON and GADWALL.

We finished up in Marion Paton's yard for what turned out to be a grand finale. I had hoped to relocate the female Ruddy Ground-Dove that I saw here a few weeks ago in October. As things turned out, we were lucky enough to see a colorful male RUDDY-GROUND DOVE that had been seen earlier in the day. The bird was feeding out in the open as bold as brass with a small group of INCA DOVES and a juvenile COMMON GROUND-DOVE. As I mentioned in my journal for October 22, on that day I caught sight of a potential male Ruddy with the female so it's possible the bird has been around for a while.

Other species in the yard (in very windy conditions) included a male ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD looking more pink/violet than red, several sharp looking GAMBEL'S QUAIL, a handful of LESSER GOLDFINCHES and LINCOLN'S SPARROW. A couple of male Lazuli Buntings had been seen earlier in the day.

Note: my email address has changed and is now stuarthealy@cox.net

Sunday, November 16, 2008
An update in case you were wondering if I'm still in the land of the living. Today I ventured out to Sierra Vista EOP and probably felt how the groundhog feels when it emerges from its dark hiding place beneath ground. Once again I've been buried in computer work. Last month, after a year of on-and-off software conversion work culminating in an intense month, I completed the conversion of all my home-grown software (that I rely on so much) so that it would run under Windows Vista. Now I get to reap the rewards (if you can call it that). For the past couple of weeks I been working on quite a few changes to my hardware and software. In fact, I bit off way more than I could chew all at once. However, this is the time of year that I have the time for such endeavors.

I've put off upgrading from dialup to high speed internet for such a long time because I didn't want to change my email address. I bit that bullet and had to go through the process of making the ensuing changes. I didn't realize how much of my life is on-line (almost all of it as I now know)! As if that were not enough, I also changed my email software from the now obsolete Netscape to Office 2007 Outlook. Ever tried to convert 15 years worth of emails from one piece of email software to another? Well, it's not easy. I recommend Transend Migrator; not particularly user friendly but functional with only a few bugs (at least for me).

Still not done. My laptop is fairly new and has been running Vista from the start. Last week I upgraded my main desktop from XP to Vista SP1 and have been dealing with all the crap that came from that. Oh, yes, I also added a network and changed my backup software from NTI to Genie-Soft. After birding and record keeping, backups are the most important thing that I do each day. Bottom line, I've been at it 18 hours a day solid for almost a week. I'm still not done but most remaining problems are minor. Next week I get to replace a toilet. Shit happens.

Okay, to the birds. As usual, birding at Sierra Vista EOP was far from inspiring. However, it was a beautiful morning and the turnout was low. From a location standpoint, a single INCA DOVE was the rarest bird of the morning. I only have two previous records from over 930 visits, both in November -- 1 bird in 2000, 5 birds in 2003.

The most noteworthy birds were a female/immature MERLIN, a female LESSER SCAUP and 2 female BUFFLEHEADS.

AMERICAN WIGEON numbers have dropped sharply. GADWALL numbers have increased. No geese, no shorebirds. Sparrows were conspicuous for the first time this fall.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Despite continued computer work, I found time for a morning of birding today. I stayed close to home in Garden Canyon. Temperatures continue above average; very mild overnight (above freezing) with days warming quickly. I checked the Fishing Ponds, the lower mesquite-grassland, lower Garden Pond and the lower, middle and upper picnic areas.

The area around the fishing ponds is the kind of place where 80% of the species can be seen in about 15 minutes. However, I'm the kind of person who (given no constraints) will spend an inordinate amount of time weeding out the remaining 20%. That was certainly the case today and I never made it to my intended destination of Sawmill Canyon.

The Gravel Pit pond and smaller pond both have plenty of water. While this may seem good at this season, it's actually a double-edged sword and both edges are blunt. Not many waterfowl are taking advantage of the high water and the absence of weeds (that would take over the ponds if they were dry) means that habitat for finches is lacking.

I eventually rustled up 30 species with SWAMP SPARROW being the pick of the bunch. Interestingly, I've seen single birds at the ponds twice before in recent years (October, 2006 and November 2007). Given how scarce this species is in this location, it's tempting to think that the same individual is involved. However, the bird last year was a first winter bird so it definitely wasn't the bird that I saw in 2006. It's certainly possible that today's bird could be the same bird as last year. Unfortunately, I was unable to keep that possibility alive nor refute it. After hearing the bird call, I only succeeded in inadvertently flushing it and never saw it well enough to determine age.

Other species noted at the ponds included a few duck species, a very alert immature SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, several calling SORAS, a female BELTED KINGFISHER (a corollary to "is the pope catholic?" is "did the kingfisher rattle?"); an active RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, more HOUSE WRENS than I could reliably count; a handful of sparrow species and GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE.

In the grassland, I saw a couple of wintering WESTERN MEADOWLARKS (perched up and singing) but not any resident Eastern (Lilian's) Meadowlarks. FYI, the elevation of Lilian's Meadowlark to full species status may be inching closer -- you can read some blurb about a recent paper here http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1525/auk.2008.07148 but you can't read the full paper for free unless you are a subscriber. Among the other grassland species were GREATER ROADRUNNER, several PHAINOPEPLAS (each standing guard over a clump of mistletoe); a small flock of WESTERN BLUEBIRDS and singletons of LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE and CANYON TOWHEE.

The dense, mainly oak habitat located south of the middle picnic (across the stream) has some fruiting Madrone that had attracted many (15-20) HERMIT THRUSHES. I also noted at least 6 TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS (conspicuous at the upper picnic area as well). I staked out this area for quite a while hoping for something else other than thrushes to visit the fruit. Nobody else came by, at least to the fruit. A male ARIZONA WOODPECKER kept me entertained as it successfully avoided my prying lens. I noted at least three HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHERS (mostly silent) and caught this MEXICAN JAY (a.k.a. sky rat) in an exposed location for just a few seconds.

Lower Garden Pond still has plenty of water but didn't have any ducks. It was surprisingly warm here at 11:00am and I skimped on the birding. COOPER'S HAWK and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER were the only new species for the morning.

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Friday, November 21, 2008
This morning I headed west in darkness ready for an early start at Patagonia Lake. Just as I reached the Patagonia city limit, I realized that I had left a bunch of stuff at home including binocular and hat. See what happens when you get of the routine!  Although I could certainly have lived without the binocular and enjoyed the morning with scope and camera, I didn't want to be without a hat so I did an about turn. A round trip of 90 miles completely wasted -- still a significant cost even with gas prices continuing to drop (the lowest price I saw in Sierra Vista today was $2.17/gallon). After a brief stop at home to pick up the missing items I headed down to the San Pedro.

It had been quite windy in town so I was pleasantly surprised to find calm conditions when I arrived at the San Pedro House about 8:15am. However, despite the excellent conditions, I wasn't in such a good frame of mind for birding. In fact, I was really annoyed with myself. Not just because of the wasted time and money, but also the loss of the best birding hour. Fortunately, the beautiful, brisk morning and gorgeous scenery were mitigating factors. Although most of the cottonwoods along the watercourse have lost plenty of their leaves, those that remain have a nice blend of  green with yellow crowns. The distant Huachucas always look good. All in all, a very pretty sight.

The area around the feeders at the SP House had plenty of customers, particularly WHITE-WINGED DOVES, LESSER GOLDFINCHES and PYRRHULOXIAS.

WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS were absolutely abundant in the mesquite-grassland on the west side of the river and in the brushy habitat immediately adjacent to the river. Most of the birds that I looked at were juveniles. However, with so many hundreds of birds present, it simply wasn't feasible to check them all. Who knows what other interesting stuff might have been lurking amongst them. I also saw CHIPPING, BREWER'S, VESPER and LINCOLN'S SPARROWS on the walk down to the river.

As I tracked a calling DUSKY FLYCATCHER, I came across the best bird of the morning -- a HUTTON'S VIREO in with a flock of BRIDLED TITMICE near Kingfisher Pond. Although Hutton's is a very common species in the mountains throughout southeast Arizona, it's decidedly rare on the river. I had birded here for many years before seeing one for the first time in October 2005, then again in spring and winter of 2006.

Kingfisher Pond was fairly active despite the presence of a fly-by COOPER'S HAWK and a female/immature MERLIN surveying the scene from atop one of the tall cottonwoods. MARSH WRENS and COMMON YELLOWTHROATS were vocal in the sparse patches of marshy habitat. A stately GREAT BLUE HERON stood perfectly still as it looked intently into the water. LINCOLN'S and SONG SPARROWS worked the pond edge. A "buzzing" LAZULI BUNTING kept itself well hidden in the long grass as did numerous calling ABERT'S TOWHEES. I also heard a loud CRISSAL THRASHER that I couldn't track down.

As I walked back to the house, this RED-TAILED HAWK seemed determined to check me out and swooped down quite low.

Not the morning I had planned but better than being stuck at the keyboard.

Sunday, November 23, 2008
Terribly, Terribly, Dull & Boring. No, not a firm of lawyers, just an accurate description of the birding at Sierra Vista EOP this morning. The good weather continues and the birds are elsewhere. No geese, very few raptors (a one falcon day!); duck numbers well below normal, no shorebirds (although a potential Wilson's Snipe in flight had to be left identified); blackbirds and sparrows were the only conspicuous species.

The meager species list speaks for itself and, no matter how I look at it, I can't find anything particularly noteworthy to talk about.

37 species recorded at Sierra Vista EOP (7:30-10:15am; clear, calm 44-71 degrees):
Am. Wigeon, Gadwall, Green-winged & Cinnamon Teal; Mallard, N. Pintail, N. Shoveler, Ring-necked & Ruddy Ducks; 1 female Lesser Scaup, N. Harrier, 2 Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Virginia Rail, Sora, Am. Coot, Mourning & White-winged Doves; Black & 6 Say's Phoebes; Horned Lark, 6 Am. Pipits, Marsh Wren, Loggerhead Shrike, Chihuahuan Raven, House Finch, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Vesper, Savannah, Song, Lincoln's & White-crowned Sparrows; Red-winged, Yellow-headed & Brewer's Blackbirds; Western Meadowlark and Great-tailed Grackle.

Monday, November 24, 2008
Today I visited the southern end of Sulphur Springs Valley where the birding was decidedly better than yesterday. It was a beautiful late fall day, mostly clear and calm (breezy after 11:00am); mild after a chilly start (some ice on the shallow water at Whitewater Draw). This may be the end of "summer" weather (about 70 in Sierra Vista today) -- colder temperatures, rain and perhaps mountain snow are expected for Thanksgiving Day.

I started by checking the fields at the intersection of Davis Road and Central Highway. As I've mentioned in previous years, Mountain Plovers arrive later in this location compared to the Santa Cruz Flats, north of Tucson. I've only managed one November arrival since I started checking here regularly in 1993. I saw 42 birds on November 25, 1994. My next earliest arrival was December 3 in 2001.

I spent about an hour looking for plovers starting at 7:20am when it was uncomfortably cold. I worked first along Davis Road (from a little east of Coffman) then north along Davis covering the three fields that run for about 2 miles to Hopkins Road. Ironically, all the fields except the field that is normally the best field have good habitat. As I noted in the journal on October 8, the "best" field (second field north of Davis) isn't likely to be productive this winter since it was used to produce corn. As you might expect, the field was full of SANDHILL CRANES today feeding on the stubble. It's been my experience that in order to find plovers, you have to find fields favored by Killdeer and I didn't see nor hear a single Killdeer as I checked the fields. On the plus side, I saw probably 20 FERRUGINOUS HAWKS perched on poles, irrigation rigs, on the ground, or in flight. Always a treat to see this regal looking bird. I also saw a perched PRAIRIE FALCON, BENDIRE'S THRASHER and many LARK BUNTINGS.

Coffman Road wasn't as productive as usual so I proceeded to Whitewater Draw Wildlife area without lingering. I stayed for almost four hours and enjoyed excellent birding. I managed to come across 64 species within the wildlife area boundary without fudging. I also picked up a new location species (#214) -- WHITE-TAILED KITE hunting just west of the south willow grove.

In addition to the Kite, highlights for me were several SNOW GEESE, 3 ROSS'S GEESE and a single CANADA GOOSE; 2 GREAT HORNED,1 BARN & 1 LONG-EARED OWL and 25 CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS. Note: in view of the problems caused by birders and photographers at Whitewater in recent years, especially last year, I will not publicly disclose owl locations. Feel free to ask. I urge others to follow my lead, especially those that compile and publish RBA information.

Other species included 1 SNOWY EGRET, 5 REDHEADS, 3 BUFFLEHEADS, 3 LESSER SCAUP, 1 FERRUGINOUS HAWK (rare here), 2 MERLINS, scads of SANDHILL CRANES, 2 GREATER YELLOWLEGS, 20 LEAST SANDPIPERS, 20 RING-BILLED GULLS, 5 BONAPARTE'S GULLS, 5 VERMILION FLYCATCHERS (2 adult and 3 immature birds; picture is of an immature); a decent sized flock of HORNED LARKS, LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE (an interesting, fluked shot as the bird took flight); GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE, LARK BUNTING, PYRRHULOXIA, LAZULI BUNTING (getting late for this location) and the usual set of common sparrows.

An inspiring day.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008
If mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun, who goes to Sawmill Canyon in the winter months? Well, this Englishman for one, although I probably shouldn't have bothered today. It was cloudy, mild (low 50s) and just starting to rain as I left home at 7:00am. I lost the rain by the time I reached Sawmill and it was actually quite pleasant apart from gusty winds.

In contrast to my last visit to the Huachucas last Wednesday, I limited my time at Garden Canyon fishing ponds to 30 minutes. That wasn't hard to do today since very little was stirring. The only bird of note was a (presumed) continuing SWAMP SPARROW. The Gravel Pit pond held 3 RING-NECKED DUCKS and I saw SORA and BELTED KINGFISHER at the small pond.

The fresh smell created by rain on the grass was the best part of my drive through the mesquite-grassland. Birds were few and far between and mostly silent with only a flock of 20 WESTERN MEADOWLARKS breaking the silence.

Some work has been done on the road above the middle picnic area and most of the extremely bad locations along the road up to the cabin are now much improved. However, it's still far from being a good road by any stretch of the imagination. Some sections are as smooth as a baby's bum while others remain very rough. Although I highly recommend a high clearance vehicle, by driving slowly and with respect, all but the smallest of vehicles can probably make it to Sawmill.

Colors along the road are very impressive, especially the reds and oranges of the maples.

My main objective in visiting Sawmill was to look for woodpeckers, specifically Williamson's Sapsucker. I did very poorly in this regard. Fresh sap was running from a tree that is used annually, but no sign of a bird. Unfortunately, wind noise made listening for tapping a tough task.

The low cloud ceiling gave the canyon a subdued feel and activity was very low (not that it would have been high on a nice sunny day at this time of year). The upside to cloudy days is that I don't carry my camera which allows me to focus all my attention on detecting birds. Every cloud has a silver lining (just realized the pun as I wrote that!).

I've never seen more than 27 species in Sawmill Canyon on any November day; average 16, cumulative total 50. Today I managed only a dozen with a single OLIVE WARBLER being the best bird.

Sunshine threatened to break through as I returned through lower Garden Canyon. A flock of at least 20 WESTERN BLUEBIRDS and about half as many PHAINOPEPLAS were active between the middle and lower picnic areas.

Friday, November 28, 2008
Out today with the Tate family from Annapolis, MD and Sierra Vista. We've birded together on six previous occasions. Today we made a first time visit to Holy Trinity Monastery in St. David and followed that with a trip over to Whitewater Draw.

Post Thanksgiving weather was considerably better than Turkey Day. Steady, light rain began on Wednesday evening in Sierra Vista and continued intermittently throughout a very cloudy Thursday. I looked over to the Huachucas several times throughout the day but couldn't see them at all. A first time visitor to the area might well have said "what mountains?". The morning began very foggy (35 degrees in Sierra Vista at 7:00am) then turned into a partly cloudy day in the 50s. Heavy clouds returned by mid afternoon. No snow on the mountains that I could see.

We spent three hours at the monastery, strolling around enjoying the pleasant conditions and the birds. Birding could best be described as "slow and barely steady", although we eventually tallied 42 species without heading down to the river.

Two calling but very hard to see CEDAR WAXWINGS greeted us in the parking lot. I walked around the small tree before spotting a bird "hiding" behind the leaves. The second individual only became apparent when the birds flew off.

The main pond had MALLARD, AMERICAN WIGEON, GADWALL and a very noisy BELTED KINGFISHER rattling around. The Hackberry trees on the west side of the pond (and those scattered elsewhere throughout the property) have plenty of fruit. Species taking advantage included HERMIT THRUSH, CARDINAL and PYRRHULOXIA. I've never seen a Rufous-backed Robin at this location but I expect to do so one day!

It was quite chilly as we walked through the weedy mesquite-grassland on the north trail and sparrow activity was disappointing low. Species here included GAMBEL'S QUAIL, a flock of WHITE-WINGED DOVES, WHITE-CROWNED & LINCOLN'S SPARROWS and GREEN-TAILED & ABERT'S TOWHEES (the latter quite numerous). GILA WOODPECKERS were abundant throughout and we also saw a handful of LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKERS.

The south trail normally has some wet areas that attract birds but, unfortunately, none of them currently have any water at all. The large field had a small flock (10-15) WESTERN MEADOWLARKS, initially seen sitting in the trees. A calling BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER remained unseen. This is a decent bird for this location at this time of year and a new location species for me to boot (#161). Also here were 2 COMMON GROUND-DOVES, SAY'S PHOEBE, several MOCKINGBIRDS, 2 LARK SPARROWS and a few BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS

The meditation garden provided the most concentrated action. Here we found a couple of WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, HUTTON'S & PLUMBEOUS VIREOS and 2 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS. We finished up with a check of the Pecan grove where I was hoping to find a Lewis's Woodpecker (has wintered several times in recent years). YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS were abundant here.

Whitewater Draw was far less productive than my trip here on Monday (30 versus 60+ species). Hardly surprising since we didn't arrive until noon and only spent a couple of casual hours wandering the berms. Conditions were very pleasant and a few family groups were out enjoying the holiday viewing the many thousands of loafing SANDHILL CRANES.

As if a distant flock of 40-ish white geese were not difficult enough to identify, they were often obscured behind cranes making matters worse. With persistence, we managed to pick out a single ROSS'S GOOSE from the obvious SNOW GEESE.

A lone WESTERN GREBE kept pretty close to a flock of RING-DUCKS. Other ducky birds included several isolated groups of SHOVELERS and GADWALLS. Also present were AMERICAN WIGEON, REDHEAD and a female BUFFLEHEAD.

Other than numerous KILLDEER, the only shorebirds noted were a single SPOTTED SANDPIPER bobbing along the shoreline and 2 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS seen in flight. A single SNOWY EGRET continues.

Two VERMILION FLYCATCHERS provided some color. We saw the same immature male that I photographed on Monday plus a pristine adult male.

We looked for a perched MERLIN in the small trees along the west shoreline only to have a female fly past us after we stopped scanning! RED-TAILS and soaring HARRIERS were the only other raptors noted.

On Coffman Road we added 2 EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES and 2 GREATER ROADRUNNERS. The fields on Davis Road held several conspicuous FERRUGINOUS HAWKS.

An enjoyable day of casual birding without any great surprises. Back in Sierra Vista, I was pleased to see that the price of gas ($2.11 this morning) has finally broken the $2 barrier -- now at $1.99. I thought back to my driving trips last January and June when I spent a small fortune on gas.

Sunday, November 30, 2008
After last Sunday's dismal showing at Sierra Vista EOP, I almost gave the regular Sunday outing a miss today. However, I thought that the recent cold weather might bring in a few surprises so I invested the time. Besides, what else was I going to do, watch United beat City in the Manchester derby? (I did that later on DVR). Although the birding was most definitely better than last week, we certainly didn't see anything really unusual. The group tallied 46 species, I managed a few less. Conditions were excellent -- crystal clear (pristine views of the mountains), mild (40 - 55 degrees) and zero wind.

Highlight was a single ROCK WREN, presumably the same individual returning to the same small area for another year (although since I have 28 records dating back to 1995, I have to think that they weren't all the same bird!).  In terms of least common sightings, the wren was outdone by EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE (3 records) and 2 WHITE-WINGED DOVES (21 records).  Also of note were 3 LESSER GOLDFINCHES (46 records), a species that mostly occurs in the summer months at the EOP.

Nothing new in the duck department, although 3 PIED-BILLED GREBES were unusual (this permanent resident often goes unseen). GADWALL and RING-NECKED DUCK numbers continue to increase while AMERICAN WIGEON decrease. At least 2, possibly 3 female LESSER SCAUP were present. CINNAMON TEAL were hard to find today (their numbers at the EOP normally drop sharply in December and January).

I wonder just how many MARSH WRENS and SORAS winter in the extensive marshes. Although both are usually heard only, today we did lay eyes on a SORA and heard a few grunting VIRGINIA RAILS.

NORTHERN HARRIERS were always in view but RED-TAILED HAWKS were very inconspicuous today. KESTREL and PEREGRINE FALCON (great views both perched and in flight) rounded out the raptors.

Apart from many SAVANNAH and SONG SPARROWS and an unusually high 5-ish LINCOLN'S SPARROWS, sparrows were not well represented. Other landbirds included small numbers of HORNED LARKS, ditto for AMERICAN PIPITS and a few YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS (normally common here in November and December). A moderate sized flock of WESTERN MEADOWLARKS continue. YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS? Is the Pope catholic?

This log is in chronological order and the most recent entries are at the bottom of the page.
The last update was on Sunday, November 30, 2008

Nov. Species Seen

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

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