Species List

Stuart Healy Journal - April, 2001 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, April 30, 2001.

Sunday, April 1, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
Out again today with Carmen and Devin. My first trip of the season into the higher elevations of the Huachucas produced three season firsts -- GREATER PEWEE,  BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER and GRACE'S WARBLER, all singing. After these initial successes we had a hard (but enjoyable) time tracking down a number of elusive OLIVE WARBLERS. We saw several females and sub-adult males before finally seeing a beautiful male, foraging in the same tree as 6-RED CROSSBILLS. Other birds included WHITE-THROATED SWIFT, BROWN CREEPER, BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, PAINTED REDSTART, SPOTTED TOWHEE and YELLOW-EYED JUNCO.

In the early afternoon we visited a very warm Paton's Yard, where for the first time in a long while the experience was not particularly enjoyable because of the number of people. 'Tis the season. The birds didn't seem to mind though and we saw most of the usual suspects including VIOLET-CROWNED HUMMINGBIRD, LEWIS'S and ACORN WOODPECKERS, NORTHERN BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET, CASSIN'S KINGBIRD, STELLER'S JAY, LAZULI BUNTING and CASSIN'S FINCH.

Tuesday, April 3, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
Out today with Deborah and Cyrus Turnbull and their 7 year old daughter, Sophie from Seattle, WA. On a pleasantly warm and windy day we visited Patagonia Lake, Kino Springs and the Paton's yard. The day produced 6 season firsts for me. 

Low activity at Patagonia Lake was probably due to our late 8:45am start and a 3 hour session produced only 45 species. A nice male SUMMER TANAGER and a WESTERN KINGBIRD were season firsts. The lake was relatively devoid of birds with only 3-NEOTROPIC CORMORANTS, a few CINNAMON TEAL and 14-RING-BILLED GULLS of note. Several N. BEARDLESS-TYRANNULETS were singing and nest building. LUCY'S WARBLERS are now at epidemic proportions. 

Kino Springs was fairly quiet around midday but we eventually managed to track down a calling GRAY HAWK. A calling DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER was my season first. A singing CASSIN'S VIREO proved very elusive in the pines near the club house. A very cooperative GREATER ROADRUNNER was perched in the same spot as my last trip -- this is a bird that is hard to target!

[Commentary: For the second year in a row there have been a couple of reports of extremely early Tropical Kingbirds at Kino. This could be a case of an erroneous report followed by some subsequent wishful thinking and it could also be a real early arrival. All I can say is that I didn't find any last year until their "normal" date and I didn't see or hear any today. Bear in mind that these birds are usually very prominent and vocal.]

As we arrived at the Paton's Yard a couple of ZONE-TAILED HAWKS soared low overhead and they were still around 2 hours later when we left. A perched male BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK rounded out my season firsts for the day. A beautiful male SCOTT'S ORIOLE made several sorties to the hummer feeders. Both COOPER'S and SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS were working the area. A fly-by MALLARD was a new Paton's yard bird for me!

Our list of 78 species for the three locations was as follows:
Pied-billed Grebe, Neotropic Cormorant, Ruddy Duck, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Cinnamon Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Turkey Vulture, Sharp-shinned, Cooper's, Gray, Zone-tailed and Red-tailed Hawks, Gambel's Quail, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Ring-billed Gull, Mourning, White-winged and Inca Doves, Greater Roadrunner, Broad-billed, Violet-crowned, Black-chinned, Anna's and Rufous Hummingbirds, Acorn, Gila and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Say's and Black Phoebes, Vermilion and Dusky-capped Flycatchers, Cassin's and Western Kingbirds, Steller's Jay, Common Raven, Bell's and Cassin's Vireos, Loggerhead Shrike, Am. Robin, Curve-billed Thrasher, European Starling, White-breasted Nuthatch, Cactus and Bewick's Wrens, Verdin, N. Rough-winged and Barn Swallows, Bridled Titmouse, House Sparrow, Am. Pipit, Lesser Goldfinch, Cassin's and House Finches, Lucy's, Yellow and Yellow-rumped Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Song, Lincoln's, White-crowned, Chipping and Black-throated Sparrows, Canyon and Abert's Towhees, Summer Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, N. Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Scott's Oriole, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark and Great-tailed Grackle.

Wednesday, April 4, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
Out today with Ken and Laura Harper from Yakima, WA. I duplicated yesterday's birding with visits to Patagonia Lake State Park, Kino Springs and the Paton's yard.. Some bad weather is due to hit the area tomorrow and the precursor of that was a steady build up of cloud throughout the day and some high winds. Another day on which I picked up 6 season firsts. Ain't spring grand!

It was quite cool when we began at Patagonia Lake this morning. A 3 hour session starting 3 hours earlier than yesterday (6:25am) produced 62 species, considerably more than yesterday's 45. It really does pay to get up early! I donned my wellies again today and we spent a considerable amount of time looking unsuccessfully for the wintering Elegant Trogon. It may have already left (today was the first report of a Trogon returning to the Santa Ritas), however, the creek is now so lush and dense it would be very easy to overlook the bird.

ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS can normally be found around the lake in winter but, surprisingly, today's bird was my season first as was a calling PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER. Other birds of note were a male RED-BREASTED MERGANSER (presumably the same bird that has been around for a week or two), a singing LEAST BITTERN, a beautiful OSPREY working over the lake and along the creek, and a migrating BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD (species #229 for me at the lake). 

Among the other species we recorded EARED and PIED-BILLED GREBES, 3-NEOTROPIC and 1-DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT, great views of VIRGINIA RAIL, COMMON MOORHEN, COMMON SNIPE, N. BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET, HAMMOND'S and DUSKY FLYCATCHERS, and many BELL'S VIREOS and LUCY'S WARBLERS.

Season firsts for me at Kino Springs were PLUMBEOUS VIREO and WILSON'S WARBLER, both at the first pond. Also at the first pond were GREEN HERON, 3 soaring and interacting GRAY HAWKS, DUSKY-CAPPED and ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS. Over at the club house pond were 14-BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCKS and more (the same?) GRAY HAWKS. 38 species in total from 10:00-11:00am.

The Paton's yard was again very productive and a 50 minute session produced 34 species including 6 species of hummers -- BROAD-BILLED, VIOLET-CROWNED, ANNA'S, BLACK-CHINNED, COSTA'S and RUFOUS. All the usual suspects were present. We didn't find ZONE-TAILED HAWK here as yesterday but a short cruise along Blue Heaven Road did the trick with 2-GRAY HAWKS thrown in for good measure.

Our list of 90 species was as follows:
Pied-billed & Eared Grebes, Neotropic & Double-crested Cormorants, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Ruddy Duck, American Wigeon, Green-winged & Cinnamon Teal, Mallard, Ring-necked Duck, Red-breasted Merganser, Great Blue & Green Herons, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Least Bittern, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Northern Harrier, Cooper's, Gray, 
Zone-tailed & Red-tailed Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Gambel's Quail, Virginia Rail, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Common Snipe, Mourning, White-winged & Inca Doves, Broad-billed, Violet-crowned, Black-chinned, Anna's, Costa's, Broad-tailed & Rufous Hummingbirds, Acorn, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, N. Beardless-Tyrannulet, Hammond's, Dusky, Pacific-slope, Vermilion, Dusky-capped & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Say's & Black Phoebes, Cassin's Kingbird, Steller's Jay, Common Raven, Bell's & Plumbeous Vireos, Am. Robin, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, European Starling, White-breasted Nuthatch, Cactus & Bewick's Wrens, Verdin, Tree, Violet-green, & N. Rough-winged Swallows, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bridled Titmouse, House Sparrow, Lesser Goldfinch, Cassin's & House Finches, Lucy's, Yellow, Yellow-rumped & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Song, Lincoln's, White-crowned, Chipping & Black-throated Sparrows, Canyon & Abert's Towhees, Black-headed Grosbeak, N. Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird and Great-tailed Grackle.

Thursday, April 5, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
Out today with Ned and Gina Bixler from Port Clinton, OH. The expected storm delayed just enough that we managed 10 hours in the field before the rain hit. However, we didn't escape its effects entirely -- it was a cool and very windy day, especially in the mountains, and bird activity was generally light.

Of note at Patagonia Lake during a very brief visit starting at 6:30am were continuing RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, OSPREY, LEAST BITTERN, DUSKY and GRAY FLYCATCHERS and a lone WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, only my second sighting here. The usual suspects were all present including many N. BEARDLESS-TYRANNULETS.

The most activity we saw all day was during another short visit to Kino Springs. Among the species at the first pond were GREEN HERON, GRAY HAWK, DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER at a nest cavity, HUTTON'S VIREO, scads of VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS, several ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS and a nice male HOODED ORIOLE. At the club house pond we tracked down a singing CASSIN'S VIREO as a group of BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCKS flew in. Also here was a GRAY FLYCATCHER.

In Patagonia we picked up TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE in town and GRAY HAWK and BLACK VULTURE near the sanctuary.

The Paton's yard had the same 6 species of hummers as yesterday, continuing LEWIS'S WOODPECKER, at least 50-CASSIN'S FINCHES and all the usual feeder moochers.

By the time we reached the Huachucas the wind had really picked up and birds were very few and far between. As we entered Scheelite Canyon, I had a pretty good idea where the owl might be roosting out of the wind. However, I resisted the temptation to deviate from my regular search pattern because I've been burned too many times when I try to think like an owl. Consequently, we spent three tough hours searching the lower roosting area in the main canyon and both forks of the upper area before finding a very well concealed SPOTTED OWL, about 1 mile into the canyon. Wouldn't you know it, the bird was in the very tree that I thought it would be using! 

We recorded very little else in the windy conditions -- calling ARIZONA WOODPECKERS, BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD, singing BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, BROWN CREEPER and PAINTED REDSTART.

By the time that I got home the rain had begun and the Huachucas were totally obscured.

Saturday, April 7, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
Today was the start of a mostly working trip to Texas. (See the trip list and log for April 15 for a trip summary). Originally I was scheduled for 5 days of general migration birding around High Island with Alan and Wendy Roedell (who I've birded with twice before) and John and Kathy Ehrenberg, all from Seattle. Ahead of this, I scheduled a few days for some personal business. However, at the last minute I was asked by Carmen Tarantino (who I've worked with twice recently) to help him with the Black-capped Vireo and Golden-cheeked Warbler in the Hill Country so my free time is now limited (I know that nobody will feel sorry for me!)

The storm of Thursday evening continued through Friday morning then gradually petered out, but not without leaving its mark. As I left home this morning at 5:30am I could see new snow on most of the mountain ranges, particularly the Huachucas and the east side of the Santa Ritas (which seemed to catch the brunt of the storm). For the first time in about two weeks I had to contend with a little ice on my windshield again. The temperature in town was around the freezing mark.

Today was pretty much just a travel day and after escaping Houston traffic I drove quickly to San Antonio where I browsed around used record stores before continuing on to Kerrville in the Hill Country. As I  left Houston, the first bird of the trip was GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE, which along with N. Mockingbird has to be the unofficial state bird of Texas. If they are common in AZ they are positively abundant throughout TX. Roadside birds along I-10 to San Antonio (in order seen) were CLIFF SWALLOW, N. HARRIER, TURKEY VULTURE, SWAINSON'S HAWK, BLACK VULTURE and SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER. 

After checking into a motel in Kerrville I birded around town for the last hour of daylight and managed a few common species. At the motel I found N. MOCKINGBIRD, a very curious WHITE-EYED VIREO that had probably never heard a birder imitating a Western Screech-Owl before let alone a real one, N. CARDINAL, LESSER GOLDFINCH, HOUSE FINCH, HOUSE SPARROW, MOURNING DOVE, CLIFF SWALLOW, CAROLINA CHICKADEE and LINCOLN'S SPARROW. Other in-town birds as dusk approached were STARLING, GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE (of course), KILLDEER, BLUE JAY and WHITE-WINGED DOVE.

My last act of the day was to find the HEB grocery store whose location my memory only had a vague recollection of. I was absolutely amazed to find low prices on every single item that I purchased, some 50-60% of what I pay in Sierra Vista.

Sunday, April 8, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
It had been two years since I was last in the Hill Country and on that occasion (March 1999) the weather was very uncooperative (i.e. wet!). Today was much better with overcast skies and a moderate wind in the morning, turning very windy after the sun broke through around noon.

In the morning I set out to do a little scouting for tomorrow and to do some general birding to reeducate my ears to the sounds of those common birds that I hear once a year if I'm lucky. It's frustrating and humbling for this ear birder not to be able to name every bird by voice immediately.

I began at Kerr Wildlife Management Area, about 28 miles west of Kerrville via highways 27, 39 and 1340. I spent 3 1/2 hours here and initially focused on seeing two target species. I was happy to find 3 or 4 singing BLACK-CAPPED VIREOS and at least 6 GOLDEN-CHEEKED WARBLERS. The wind made listening a little difficult but persistence is my middle name. The vireos were relatively easy to see, not so much the warblers which is opposite to my (somewhat limited) previous experience with these species.

Except perhaps for YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, most of the other species were common birds of the area. My list here was as follows:

Black &Turkey Vultures, Wild Turkey, Mourning Dove, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Eastern Phoebe, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Western Scrub-Jay, Common Raven, Black-capped Vireo, White-eyed Vireo, Eastern Bluebird, N. Mockingbird, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Bushtit, Barn Swallow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Lesser Goldfinch, Golden-cheeked Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Field, Lark & Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Spotted Towhee and N. Cardinal.

I retraced my route back to Kerrville stopping at several river crossings and other interesting looking places I saw many of the common species already seen and added GOLDEN-FRONTED WOODPECKER, SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER, CANYON WREN, YELLOW-THROATED VIREO, YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER and SUMMER TANAGER.

After a mid-afternoon break I looped south to Medina on highway 16 and back to Kerrville via highways 2828 and 173. Unfortunately, the wind had really picked up and I didn't see or hear much of anything. However, I did add more singing GOLDEN-CHEEKED WARBLERS and a BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER in Johnson Canyon. Despite seeing only 44 species on the day, I was well satisfied with the results of my scouting efforts for the vireo and warbler.

Monday, April 9, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
Out today with Carmen Tarantino from Buffalo, NY for the third time in a month. I was hoping that yesterday's grunt work of scouting territories would pay early dividends because the forecast was for high afternoon winds.

We began at Kerr WMA shortly after dawn under heavy, gray skies and gusty winds. After an hour of checking various locations where I had found singing birds yesterday, we had neither seen nor heard either target species. Around 8:15am I heard a distant BLACK-CAPPED VIREO singing and we eventually homed in on the bird. Incredibly, we found three singing males within 50 feet of each other and even witnessed a little interaction as one bird flew at another. We enjoyed excellent close range views as the birds foraged and sang in low shrubbery. Walking back to the vehicle we saw two more birds singing as they foraged. An excellent start to the day.

We listened again for warblers and heard none over the next 30 minutes, so we decided to head to Lost Maples State Park. I've had good success here before but today was tough going. Initially, for whatever reason (high wind being a good candidate), we had great difficulty in locating any GOLDEN-CHEEKED WARBLERS by song.  We spent about 3 hours walking around on the east trail but most of what we heard was quite distant. Success came as we headed back from the ponds to the parking lot when 2 singing birds materialized near the trail. Miraculously, one of them perched in a leafless tree right next to us and for about 10 seconds we enjoyed a good view. Given the difficulties of the morning 10 seconds seemed like such a deal. In all, we heard or glimpsed a total of 6 Golden-cheeks. We didn't see or hear much of anything else during the search (about 20 species). A notable exception was YELLOW-THROATED VIREO of which we enjoyed great views. Several of them were singing throughout the park.

We decided to take a late lunch break and then head back to Kerr WMA to improve on the warbler views. After a couple of hours work we had managed to locate only 4 singing GOLDEN-CHEEKED WARBLERS. At one point, I had a bird perched in the clear but Carmen was a few steps away and missed the bird. Arghhh! We started the search all over again and latched on to one bird that led us a merry old dance. After much tramping around the bird finally perched where we could see it and our quest came to a successful end. We definitely earned this bird!

Afterwards, we spent a little time looking (unsuccessfully) for the Yellow-breasted Chats that I saw yesterday and in the process heard 4 BLACK-CAPPED VIREOS (in different locations from this morning) for a total of 9 on the day.

Tuesday, April 10, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
Today was mostly a travel day back to Houston. First, I headed to San Antonio to do some more used record store browsing and made a quick stop at Friedrich Wilderness Park just west of town. It was quite windy with very little activity but I did find one singing GOLDEN-CHEEKED WARBLER.

In the late afternoon, I picked up Alan and Wendy Roedell and John and Kathy Ehrenberg at Houston airport and we drove north through very heavy traffic to our overnight destination of Conroe.

After checking into our motel we headed out to W.G. Jones State Forest with only about 1 hour of daylight left. Here, we chased around in decidedly frantic fashion looking for our target RED-COCKADED WOODPECKER. A couple of possibilities quickly evaporated but we were able to track down a very flighty bird that eventually cooperated nicely and gave us some great looks. It even settled down enough for us to get a 'scope on it. We mostly ignored the other heard only species, they can wait until tomorrow! 

Wednesday, April 11, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
First full day with the Roedells and Ehrenbergs. It was a reasonable day weather-wise, cloudy, not too warm and a little rain in the afternoon. However, it was a fairly tough day of forest birding with far more species heard than seen well. The mosquitoes had a good day though.

We returned to W.G. Jones State Forest to work on BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH, PINE WARBLER and other woodland species. Although we didn't have any trouble locating the warbler (they were plentiful and singing), they were very difficult to see in the treetops with a backdrop of gray sky. Nevertheless, we persevered and eventually got some decent views. Unfortunately, nuthatches were hard to come by. We found only 4 and didn't see them very well at all. Another hard to see bird was WHITE-EYED VIREO. They were absolutely abundant and singing at close range but seemingly impossible to see, which is par for the course for this species. 

Among the other birds seen (some not without considerable effort) were GREAT HORNED OWL, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, CAROLINA WREN, CAROLINA CHICKADEE, TUFTED TITMOUSE., HOODED and YELLOW-THROATED WARBLERS and SUMMER TANAGER. We also found a couple of RED-COCKADED WOODPECKERS and heard RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER.

After a late morning drive east we birded near the Big Thicket Visitor Center north of Kountze, where mosquitoes were far more active than birds. It started to rain as we began on the trail and the tree frogs fired up strongly. Most birds were those already seen but we added a couple of calling BARRED OWLS, RED-EYED VIREO and BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER to the trip list. I braved some swampy habitat to try to track down a singing NORTHERN PARULA and briefly saw a couple of PROTHONATORY WARBLERS.  

Our birding day ended on Waluta Girls Camp Road where we finally tracked down and had good views of BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH. We also caught up with a semi-cooperative WHITE-EYED VIREO as a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT called nearby. Just before leaving we spotted a perched BROAD-WINGED HAWK that we managed to get a scope on.

As I said, it was a tough birding day (only 38 species) but we did come out of it having seen several of the target woodland species.

Thursday, April 12, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
Out again with the Roedells and Ehrenbergs.  A mostly cloudy day, not too warm (especially near the coast) and a nice breeze to keep the mosquitoes at bay. We worked our way from Beaumont to Winnie and had a pretty birdy day with stops at Tyrell Park, Sabine Pass and Sabine Woods.

Tyrell Park in Beaumont is a large, wooded park with an excellent marsh area. I've birded here on several previous occasions. Activity was high when we arrived 45 minutes after sunrise. Before hitting the marsh we spent a little time tracking down a beautifully plumaged male NORTHERN PARULA that was singing constantly. A couple of RED-BELLIED WOODPECKERS tracked us down but a WHITE-EYED VIREO remained as elusive as ever. Numerous common woodland birds were singing. Highlights for this group of western birders in and around the marsh were a small group of FULVOUS WHISTLING-DUCKS, YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON, ROSEATE SPOONBILLS, RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, a perched up PILEATED WOODPECKER and a few FISH CROWS. I was a little surprised to find a couple of GREATER SCAUP here so late in the season.

We made a few stops along Sabine Lake driving down highway 87 seeing our first BOAT-TAILED GRACKLES of the trip along with NEOTROPIC CORMORANT and LEAST, COMMON and ROYAL TERNS We then birded Sabine Pass from the battleground state historical park during a lunch break. Among the species new for the day here were WHITE PELICAN, RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, AM. AVOCET, BLACK SKIMMER and CASPIAN TERN.

As we arrived at Sabine Woods sanctuary I bumped into Sandy Komito who informed us that today was the best  birding day in a week. Our first migrant birding of the trip got off to a good start with a flurry of activity, with most birds concentrated in a couple of adjacent trees. In short order we saw AM. REDSTART, BLUE-WINGED, TENNESSEE, PRAIRIE and BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLERS, ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK, INDIGO BUNTINGS and SCARLET TANAGER. Little did we know that this was to be the best "fallout" of our visit.

We spent about 4 hours here and even though the activity level slowed considerably we had an enjoyable time and found a  few more warblers and a decent variety of species. We watched a COMMON NIGHTHAWK fly in and find a roost spot on a branch. On the way over to Winnie we made a short detour along a bayou and found EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE and a singing PROTHONATORY WARBLER.

Our list for the day:
Pied-billed Grebe, Neotropic Cormorant, American White Pelican, Fulvous Whistling-Duck, Ruddy Duck, Gadwall, Mottled Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Greater Scaup, Red-breasted Merganser, Tricolored Heron, Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Green Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, White & White-faced Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Black & Turkey Vultures, N. Harrier, Red-shouldered Hawk, Sora, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Greater Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, Willet, Long-billed Dowitcher, Black-necked Stilt, Killdeer, Ring-billed, Herring & Laughing Gulls, Caspian, Royal, Common & Least Terns, Black Skimmer, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Barred Owl, Common Nighthawk, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied, Downy & Pileated Woodpeckers, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Blue Jay, Fish Crow, White-eyed Vireo, Loggerhead Shrike, Am. Robin, Gray Catbird, N. Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, European Starling, Carolina Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Purple Martin, Barn & Cliff Swallows, Carolina Chickadee, N. Parula, Tennessee, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, Prairie, Black-and-white & Prothonotary Warblers, American Redstart, Common Yellowthroat, Summer & Scarlet Tanagers, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, N. Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, Orchard Oriole, Red-winged Blackbird, Great-tailed, Boat-tailed & Common Grackles and Brown-headed Cowbird.

Friday, April 13, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
Out again with the Roedells and Ehrenbergs. Although it was Friday the 13th., it was also Good Friday and it turned out to be a pretty decent birding day.  Partly cloudy skies and a light breeze made for pleasant birding conditions. Migration continues very slow but we did have a some fast and furious action for a short period. We birded at Anahuac NWR, Boy Scout Woods at High Island and Bolivar Flats sanctuary.

Our journey to Anahuac was a little disappointing because of the lack of flooded fields along Farm Road 1985 and the consequent lack of shorebirds. I heard a BOBOLINK as we drove along but we couldn't locate it (another party saw some). A surprise awaited us at the refuge when we checked The Willows for migrants and found a TOWNSEND'S WARBLER. Not a bird I expected so far east. Of course, we reported it and many people enjoyed the bird over the next few days. Some of the birds seen on the refuge were AM. GOLDEN PLOVER, GULL-BILLED TERN, and tons of EASTERN KINGBIRDS and ORCHARD ORIOLES. 

Boy Scout Woods was extremely slow for a couple of hours in the early afternoon. Late in the day we had sudden burst of activity at Purkey's Pond that lasted about 15 minutes. During this time we saw a good number of species bathing or feeding on the ground including GRAY CATBIRD, BROWN THRASHER, BLUE-WINGED, TENNESSEE,  KENTUCKY BLACK-THROATED GREEN & HOODED WARBLERS, SUMMER TANAGER and BALTIMORE and ORCHARD ORIOLES. Elsewhere in the sanctuary we found YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO, YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER and PAINTED BUNTING.

We ended the day at Bolivar Flats where a 90 minute visit produced about 30 species. We added a few more species to our slowly growing list -- BROWN PELICAN, REDDISH EGRET, SANDERLING, RUDDY TURNSTONE, 100s of SANDWICH & FORSTER'S TERNS, good numbers of SEMIPALMATED, PIPING and WILSON'S PLOVERS and HORNED LARK.

Saturday, April 14, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
Out again with the Roedells and Ehrenbergs. A much warmer day with less wind and another day of poor migration birding. We started at Anahuac, then headed down the Bolivar Peninsula over to Galveston and finished with visits to Boy Scout Woods and Smith Oaks at High Island. 

An early morning visit to Anahuac produced a couple of  LEAST BITTERNS, otherwise, nothing new from 30+ species seen.

At Yacht Basin Road in Gilchrist we had good looks at WHITE-TAILED KITE and added a few more trip species including LONG-BILLED CURLEW, MARBLED GODWIT and WHIMBREL.

After the short ferry ride to Galveston (where we found multitudes on the beach), we birded at Corps Park near the ferry terminal. Shades of Arizona here with WHITE-WINGED DOVE and BRONZED COWBIRD. However, a singing but elusive SWAINSON'S WARBLER was the highlight here. A short visit to a less populated section of the beach yielded about 20 species including AM. OYSTERCATCHER.

We had to wait in the ferry line for some time to get back to Bolivar Peninsula. After about an hour we were back birding on Frenchtown Rd where we finally caught up with a SEASIDE SPARROW after looking for a couple of days. In the nearby fields we had a nice side by side comparison of LESSER and GREATER YELLOWLEGS.

Back on High Island, Boy Scout Woods defined the word quiet so we headed over to Smith Oaks. Here we enjoyed the heron rookery with the cacophony of sound from scads of TRICOLORED and LITTLE BLUE HERONS and ROSEATE SPOONBILLS. We also managed to track down a couple of ANHINGAS, our target bird here.

We returned to Boy Scout Woods seeing SCARLET TANAGER, BALTIMORE ORIOLE, a few "regular" species and a new for the trip YELLOW WARBLER. Slim pickings indeed.

Sunday, April 15, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
Last day with the Roedells and Ehrenbergs.  A much warmer but, thankfully, a quite breezy day. We began at Anahuac, then checked Boy Scout Woods, Smith Oaks and Bolivar Flats before a ferry trip to Galveston, then a drive north to Houston and a short visit to Jesse Jones Park.

A 2 1/2 hour visit to Anahuac produced only one new species, a couple of  SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS. The male TOWNSEND'S WARBLER continues at The Willows.

Boy Scout Woods had a little more action today and we added a few new trip species -- GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER and ORANGE-CROWNED and BLACKPOLL WARBLERS. We briefly checked Smith Oaks to look for the Black-Whiskered Vireo without success.

Bolivar Flats was absolutely teeming with many thousands of gulls, terns, plovers and egrets. Most of the species already seen were present including some RUDDY TURNSTONES in almost full breeding plumage. Species not seen previously were SNOWY PLOVER, RED KNOT, WESTERN SANDPIPER and DUNLIN. As we left, a SWAINSON'S HAWK soared over Rettilion Road.

During a short visit to  Jesse Jones Park near the airport in Houston, I braved the mosquitoes to track down ACADIAN FLYCATCHER. Also here were YELLOW-THROATED and RED-EYED VIREOS, N. PARULA and a few other common woodland species. 

Summary:
Windy conditions in the Hill Country made birding a little difficult and Golden-cheeked Warblers seemed hard to find at times (and even harder to see). However, many were present at both Kerr WMA and Lost Maples State Park. Black-capped Vireo seemed relatively easy to find and see compared to some of my past experiences. They were plentiful at Kerr WMA. I didn't look for them at Lost Maples.

This was the slowest High Island migration I have experienced. After returning home I read on Texbirds that a visit to Boy Scout Woods a few days before our arrival did not yield a single warbler species! A good fallout day might yield 30+. We never had a day with more than 8 warbler species and our total for 5 days (4 in migrant traps) was 23. The weather conditions were simply not conducive to a fallout. Almost every day was the same -- temperatures in the 80s with morning clouds and afternoon sunshine. However, the main problem was a constant wind from the south which helped migrants to cross the Gulf of Mexico without using up much energy. Consequently, they didn't need to stop by at High Island and kept on going, at least that's the consensus of opinion. A cold front is scheduled for next Tuesday which will probably improve the situation for birders, but not the birds.

The wind kept mosquitoes down in open areas (such as Bolivar Flats) but the thickest of woods still had plenty of them. The temperature/humidity combination was moderate and relatively tolerable. Our migrant experience at Sabine Woods was generally better than at Boy Scout Woods or Smith Oaks. I prefer Sabine Woods sanctuary because there are usually less birders present and the birding is just as good and often better here. Having read some of the reports from during the last couple of days of our trip, we would have been better served by going back there despite the extra driving distance.

Hotel notes:
Before meeting the Roedells and Ehrenbergs, I spent 3 nights in Kerrville at the Econolodge which was adequate, but I certainly can't recommend it. Carmen stayed at Days Inn which by all accounts wasn't much better. For the Piney Woods/Upper Coast portion of the trip we stayed one night at Comfort Inn, Conroe (quite new, excellent), one night at Best Western (Beaumont Inn), Beaumont, and three nights at Best Western, Winnie. All were better than adequate, however, the breakfast facilities at Winnie are far too small when it's full of birders who hit the place at the same time.

Airline notes:
After some miserable experiences with America West (worst), I was determined to avoid flying with them again at all costs. In fact, I paid $80 over the lowest fare to do just that when I selected a direct flight from Tucson to Houston on Continental. As I entered the aircraft a sticker proudly proclaimed Continental as 2001 airline of the year. It was quite obvious how much the flight crew were concerned with an on time departure. Frequent announcements encouraged passengers to get their act together so that we could get away on time. We did but, ironically, a couple of delayed America West flights blocked our exit to the runway. Nevertheless, I was at the car rental desk in Houston 10 minutes before the flight was scheduled to land. At this point I was happy with my choice, but the return flight blew all that. We sat on the runway for 35 minutes with inadequate ventilation and the flight was late into Tucson  To cap that, about half the baggage (mine included) couldn't be retrieved from the plane because of a stuck door. I spent an hour waiting to file a claim in a sea of unhappy people. At this rate I'll run out of airlines to choose from pretty soon.

Car rental notes:
I chose Advantage Rent-A-Car because of the combination of reasonable rental rate and unlimited mileage, which is hard to get on a minivan. After a relatively quick check in I waited 35 minutes for their shuttle, blowing all the flight savings time and then some. Meanwhile, all the other rental shuttles passed by multiple times. A classic case of, more often than not, you get what you pay for. On the plus side, the van was low mileage and performed well throughout the trip and the shuttle back to the airport was quick. On balance, a satisfactory deal.

Tuesday, April 17, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
Day 1 of 3 days with Darryl and Jackie Marshall from Laguna Hills, CA. Although it snowed again while I was in Texas, today was a very (unseasonably) hot day with a temperature in the high 90s at 5:00pm in Sierra Vista. Fortunately, we started early and were done by early afternoon.

We began at a very birdy Kino Springs. Although we didn't find anything spectacular (certainly no Tropical Kingbird),  we heard and saw a steady stream of singing regulars. It seems that the repopulation of the area by RUFOUS-WINGED SPARROWS is continuing and they were in full voice today. Also of note was a (continuing?) WESTERN SCRUB-JAY -- earlier this winter I  saw a single bird here (my first Jay species at Kino). 

Among the 60 species that we recorded were  BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCK, BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON, the usual GRAY HAWKS perched and flying, a GREATER ROADRUNNER on the golf course grass, a teed up CRISSAL THRASHER, a singing N. BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET that we were able to track down and get a very close look at, several ASH-THROATED, DUSKY-CAPPED and VERMILION FLYCATCHERS, a GRAY FLYCATCHER looking very gray in summer garb, a couple of BELL'S VIREOS (do they ever stop singing?), TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, a few WILSON'S and many singing LUCY'S WARBLERS, SUMMER TANAGER and GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE.

A stop at the Patagonia Roadside Rest area failed to produce either Thick-billed Kingbird or Brown-crested Flycatcher and we also struck out on getting a look at a very elusive singing CANYON WREN. Several ROCK WRENS were singing and WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS were very numerous. Also present was a TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE.

We birded our way into town along the back road behind the sanctuary without locating a Thick-billed Kingbird, perhaps they are not back yet. We did see our third TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE of the morning. 

An hour at the Paton's was very productive as usual with 6 hummingbird species including VIOLET-CROWNED, COSTA'S and RUFOUS, close up fly-by looks at a couple of GRAY HAWKS, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK and SUMMER TANAGER. Several winter birds are still around as well -- STELLER'S JAY, CASSIN'S FINCH and PINE SISKIN. We did not look for the Lewis's Woodpecker. A N. BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET was singing and we watched 6-CASSIN'S KINGBIRDS squabbling in the air at once.

Our list for Kino Springs, Roadside Rest and the Paton's was as follows:
Pied-billed Grebe, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Ruddy & Ring-necked Ducks, Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Black & Turkey Vultures, Gray Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Gambel's Quail, Am. Coot, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Greater Roadrunner, White-throated Swift, Broad-billed, Violet-crowned, Black-chinned, Anna's, Costa's & Rufous Hummingbirds, Acorn, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, N. Beardless-Tyrannulet, Gray, Vermilion, Dusky-capped & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Cassin's & Western Kingbirds, Steller's Jay, Western Scrub-Jay, Common Raven, Bell's Vireo, Townsend's Solitaire, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed & Crissal Thrashers, European Starling, White-breasted Nuthatch, Rock, Canyon, Bewick's Wrens, Verdin, Barn Swallow, House Sparrow, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, Cassin's & House Finches, Lucy's, Yellow, Yellow-rumped & Wilson's Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Song, White-crowned, Chipping, Brewer's, Black-throated, Rufous-winged & Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Green-tailed & Canyon Towhees, Summer Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, N. Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Red-winged Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle and Brown-headed Cowbird.

Wednesday, April 18, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
Out again today with Darryl and Jackie Marshall from Laguna Hills, CA. It was a much cooler day than yesterday and we enjoyed very pleasant conditions in the Huachucas while searching for a few target birds.

Garden Canyon is finally getting into spring/summer mode and was very productive. At least 3 ELEGANT TROGONS are back in the area and calling strongly. We found 2 males and 1 female working the areas above and below the upper picnic area. Both males were close to the road and allowed fairly close approach. 

The lower grassland was perhaps the least active location with RED-TAILED HAWK, AM. KESTREL, TURKEY VULTURE, ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, CASSIN'S KINGBIRD, LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE, N. MOCKINGBIRD, CANYON TOWHEE and HOUSE FINCH.

A couple of CASSIN'S VIREOS were singing above the middle picnic area. It took a little time but we managed to track one down and at the same time saw our fourth TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE in two days. Nearby, a first year HEPATIC TANAGER was singing and there were several more higher up the canyon.

BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER was easy to find at the upper picnic area. This will mark the third consecutive year that they have nested in this (seemingly) less than ideal location. There may be two pairs here. Among the other birds in the area were COOPER'S HAWK, ARIZONA WOODPECKER, DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER, BUSHTIT, HUTTON'S VIREO, BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, PAINTED REDSTART and SCOTT'S ORIOLE.

In Scheelite Canyon, a single SPOTTED OWL was relatively easy to find although several  parties had gone past it and checked the entire upper area (ouch, I've been there). Just before finding the owl I witnessed an incredible sight. A photographer, presumably trying to get a photo of the owl, was vigorously shaking a nearby tree. When I challenged him, he made some weak-assed excuse, collected his stuff and left. As I showed the owl to a party coming from the upper canyon, they told me that, earlier, this same guy had taken his (white) shirt off and was waving it around. I wish now that I had followed him to find out who he was. Photographers often get a bad rap and with incidents such as this it's not hard to see why.

Also in Scheelite were my first VIRGINIA'S WARBLERS of the year. We located about 4 birds that had lost none of there elusiveness from years gone by. Persistence eventually got us a look. Others from 20+ seen included WHITE-THROATED SWIFT, VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW, WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER, BLACK-THROATED GRAY & WILSON'S WARBLERS, PAINTED REDSTART and SCOTT'S ORIOLE.

In the evening, my first nightbirding expedition of the year went reasonably well despite less than ideal conditions. A new moon generally means little or no nightjar activity and we didn't hear a single bird. It was also very windy which is usually the kiss of death for owling. A check of a regularly used ELF OWL nest site immediately produced a very cute looking and cooperative bird. After some walking and listening another 30 minutes turned up the only 2 WHISKERED SCREECH-OWLS of the evening. I briefly saw one bird perched a couple of times, and we all saw them flying and heard them calling.   

Thursday, April 19, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
Last day with Darryl and Jackie Marshall from Laguna Hills, CA. A continued cool and cloudy day with an occasional light breeze made for decent birding conditions. It was an 11 warbler day, more than I saw on any day in High Island last week. Go figure!

The San Pedro river was fairly active this morning but our three hour session focusing on finding a Green Kingfisher was unsuccessful. The last report was from 4/17 near the Hwy 90 bridge so I decided to bird north first (something I rarely do) and we walked about 1 1/4 miles north before doubling back to Kingfisher pond. Despite the fact that our attention was firmly on the river, we managed over 50 species.

ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS, WILSON'S WARBLERS and GREEN-TAILED TOWHEES were very common. The area had a definite feel of summer again with calling GRAY HAWKS, noisy CASSIN'S and WESTERN KINGBIRDS, singing SUMMER TANAGERS and many chattering and singing BULLOCK'S ORIOLES. Caterpillars were literally raining down from the cottonwoods and were easy prey for any bird that wanted them. Other species included GREEN HERON, HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, BELL'S VIREO (much less common here in recent years) and LAZULI BUNTING. Sparrows were still well represented with SONG, LINCOLN'S, WHITE-CROWNED, SAVANNAH, CHIPPING and VESPER. However, the numbers of winter sparrows are greatly diminished. 

A four hour session in the mountains in search of a few targets was quite successful. Key birds found were GREATER  PEWEE, PLUMBEOUS VIREO, OLIVE, GRACE'S & (my season first) RED-FACED WARBLERS and YELLOW-EYED JUNCO. At least two Red-faced were singing away but remained very elusive.

Others from a total of 40 species seen included BAND-TAILED PIGEON, 2 different roadside ARIZONA WOODPECKERS seen from the car (sometimes I can't buy one so obviously the secret is not to "need" it), the 5th TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE in as many locations in 3 days, and BLACK-THROATED GRAY, VIRGINIA'S & TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS. 

Although my first visit of the season to Beatty's Guest Ranch and Orchard in Miller Canyon was a very brief one, it did yield 7 species of hummingbirds. Most notable were a male and female CALLIOPE at the controlled access site (CAS). Also present were male and female BROAD-BILLED at the public viewing area (PVA), a couple of BLUE-THROATED not at the feeders but calling from the trees, quite a few MAGNIFICENT at both sites, many BLACK-CHINNED at both sites, good numbers of BROAD-TAILED at both sites, and 2 RUFOUS at CAS.

Friday, April 20, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
First of two days with Spencer and Gail Radnich from Webster, NY. A cloudy start soon gave way to blue sky but gusty high winds kept the birds subdued after mid-morning. 

An early start at Kino Springs was productive with about 50 species. Regulars included a perched GRAY HAWK, singing N. BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET up close and personal, VERMILION, ASH-THROATED & DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHERS, LUCY'S WARBLER, BREWER'S, LARK and BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS, GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE and BULLOCK'S ORIOLE. We didn't even find any Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks let alone the Fulvous found a couple of days ago.

By the time we reached Patagonia Lake the wind had picked up considerably and birding here was quite mediocre. Highlights from about 35 species seen were DOUBLE-CRESTED and NEOTROPIC CORMORANTS side by side for good comparison, 2 BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCKS, COMMON SNIPE, 13-RING-BILLED and a lone BONAPARTE'S GULL, close up looks (finally) of an ever elusive BELL'S VIREO, LAZULI BUNTING and SUMMER TANAGER.

The Paton's yard had plenty of people and an hour here produced 35 species. Most interesting was an oddly posed bird "sunning" on the ground that I mistook for a Cassin's Finch but which turned out to be a PINE SISKIN. A few CASSIN'S FINCHES continue but for the first time in a while I didn't see any Steller's Jays. The usual hummers were present and a dash of color was provided by male BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS, SUMMER TANAGER, LAZULI BUNTING and HOODED ORIOLE. As we left the yard to look for Lewis's Woodpecker along the creek, a beautiful low flying ZONE-TAILED HAWK circled low over us for about a minute. We didn't find the woodpecker.

Saturday, April 21, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
Out today with Frank Fekel from Nashville, TN who I've birded with once before. We had but one target bird, Rufous-capped Warbler. Fortunately, we were in and out of French Joe Canyon before the extremely high winds began. 

We entered the canyon at 5:25am and after the always bone-jarring drive and a brisk hike, we arrived at the pools below the upper spring at 6:50am. Almost immediately I heard the rapid chipping of the RUFOUS-CAPPED WARBLER and we soon found the bird foraging low among the leaf litter. For the next 25 minutes we enjoyed some wonderful close up looks, at one point from eye level at 6 feet, as the bird went about its business. Although the bird stayed mostly on the ground, there were several times when it foraged in low bushes and higher oaks. The warbler chipped and sang for longer periods than during the winter (as has been the case in previous years) allowing its movement to be tracked.

The canyon was very active with migrant activity today, especially the lower section just above the parking area. We watched many warblers foraging high in the canopy and some bathing in small pools -- at least 10 singing BLACK-THROATED GRAYS, more than 6 VIRGINIA'S 3+ ORANGE-CROWNED, 2+ TOWNSEND'S and many WILSON'S. Flycatchers were very evident also -- HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHERS were calling throughout the canyon, I stopped counting at 6 but there were definitely many more. I also saw my season first CORDILLERAN (two, one singing) and 2 DUSKY FLYCATCHERS. Add to this 5+ singing PLUMBEOUS VIREOS, several singing SCOTT'S ORIOLES and calling HOODED ORIOLES plus plenty of other regulars and it was a very birding morning, especially considering the short visit.

We recorded the following:
Mourning & White-winged Doves, White-throated Swift, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Hammond's, Dusky, Cordilleran & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Cassin's Kingbird, Western Scrub-Jay, Mexican Jay, Hutton's & Plumbeous Vireos, N. Mockingbird, Cactus, Rock, Canyon & Bewick's Wrens, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bridled Titmouse, House Finch, Orange-crowned, Virginia's, Black-throated Gray, Townsend's, Wilson's & Rufous-capped Warblers, Brewer's, Black-chinned, Black-throated & Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Spotted & Canyon Towhees, N. Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia and Hooded & Scott's Orioles.

Sunday, April 22, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
Day 2 with Spencer and Gail Radnich from Webster, NY. Thankfully, the winds of yesterday completely subsided and it was a clear and calm day, just a little on the cool side. Late in the day on Saturday the wind near where I live was as strong as I have experienced here. The only ill-effect this morning was a below freezing temperature and I was in ice scraping mode again. Just a few days ago it was almost 100 degrees!

We spent the day in the Huachucas and it was a little nippy around the upper picnic area in Garden Canyon when we began at 6:30am. As is often the case at this time of year when they are very vocal and conspicuous, ELEGANT TROGONS were easy to find. A nice bonus without having to go to higher elevation was a calling & singing GREATER PEWEE. Other birds here were several BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHERS, PLUMBEOUS VIREO, BLACK-THROATED GRAY & TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS and HEPATIC TANAGER.

In Scheelite I had to work hard to come up with well hidden SPOTTED OWL, about 1 mile up the canyon in the middle area. Of late it has been conspicuous in the lower roosting area and easy to see by anybody, definitely not the case today! We had a nice serendipitous moment on our walk out with RED-FACED WARBLER and PAINTED REDSTART foraging together at close range. A male ELEGANT TROGON was about 1/4 mile into the canyon. Among the other species present were calling ARIZONA WOODPECKER, HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER (they are everywhere like a disease right now giving their loud pip calls), BUSHTIT, CANYON WREN, WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, a singing HERMIT THRUSH, HUTTON'S VIREO, VIRGINIA'S WARBLER, HEPATIC TANAGER and calling RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW.

A brief hummingbird watching session at Beatty's Guest Ranch and Orchard in Miller Canyon produced a very pleasant surprise. While I was busy misidentifying a female Black-chinned as a female Magnificent (yes, go figure), someone called out Gray Hawk. Realizing how improbable this would be here, I jumped to my feet to check out the bird. A smallish, wide-winged buteo with a well defined tail band turned out to be an even more improbable BROAD-WINGED HAWK. The bird soared up canyon from the public viewing area for about 45 seconds then became lost as it perched in a very distant tree. A group from Tucson Audubon were also present and Chris Benesh managed to get a scope on the bird while it was still flying. This was a state bird for me (they are extremely rare in AZ, sometimes seen in fall near the Grand Canyon). Everyday is an adventure!

Hummingbird activity was low in the early afternoon -- at the PVA we saw BROAD-BILLED, MAGNIFICENT, ANNA'S, BLACK-CHINNED, BROAD-TAILED and RUFOUS. (Lucifer was seen at 12:15pm). Seen around the orchard were STELLER'S JAY, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK YELLOW-EYED JUNCO and SCOTT'S ORIOLE

Monday, April 23, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
Out today briefly with Stuart Smith from Rome, GA who I've birded with once before. The temperature was 33 degrees when we left town this morning at 5:00am, not quite as cold as yesterday.

Almost deja vu all over again in French Joe Canyon, however, we had to work for 30 minutes to find the RUFOUS-CAPPED WARBLER instead of finding it immediately as on Saturday. We arrived in the "warbler area" at 6:50am and first heard the bird chipping at 7:20am some distance from our position. We located the bird at 7:30am near the upper spring and watched it foraging low for a couple of minutes. Although we were in and out quickly, I recorded 35 species, mostly the same as those on Saturday. 

A short mid morning visit to Ramsey Canyon soon produced WHITE-EARED and BERYLLINE HUMMINGBIRDS and a few other common species including my first WARBLING VIREO of the year. Last year I was surprised to find a Berylline in June, this year it's even earlier. Amazing.

Tuesday, April 24, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
Out again today with Stuart Smith and Nelson and Marion Dobbs, all from Rome, GA. Still a little cool in the mountains this morning but a much warmer day that ended up in the low 90s in Sierra Vista. We spent the day in the Huachucas.

ELEGANT TROGONS continue very vocal and easy to find in Garden Canyon above and below the upper picnic area. Among the other birds present this morning were a soaring GOLDEN EAGLE, ACORN & ARIZONA WOODPECKERS, BUFF-BREASTED, ASH-THROATED & DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHERS, HUTTON'S, CASSIN'S & PLUMBEOUS VIREOS, BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, RUFOUS-CROWNED & LARK SPARROWS, several HEPATIC TANAGERS and SCOTT'S ORIOLE.

A single SPOTTED OWL was very easy to find in Scheelite Canyon today, roosting next to the trail in a maple tree. The owls regularly use maples after they leaf out and today was the first time that I'd seen one in a maple this year. (Most of the time they use oaks, less often firs and occasionally alligator juniper or pinyon pine.) It was also the first time that I'd seen an owl in this particular tree, and in keeping with Smitty's tradition it will henceforth be known as the "Dobbs Maple". The canyon was a little quieter this morning with only 17 species recorded including a female ELEGANT TROGON, WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, BUSHTIT, CANYON WREN, HERMIT THRUSH, BLACK-THROATED GRAY, VIRGINIA'S and WILSON'S WARBLERS, PAINTED REDSTART, RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW and HEPATIC TANAGER.

A late morning visit to higher elevation produced COOPER'S HAWK, a couple of drumming and easy to see ARIZONA WOODPECKERS, a couple of GREATER PEWEES, many more BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHERS and OLIVE, VIRGINIA'S & GRACE'S WARBLERS.

During a brief early afternoon visit to Beatty's Guest Ranch and Orchard in Miller Canyon we saw a beautiful male LUCIFER HUMMINGBIRD.

Our evening owling session was generally unsuccessful despite ideal conditions. ELF OWLS were calling and fussing around the nest site but we didn't attempt to see them. We had difficulty in locating WESTERN SCREECH-OWL and 30 minutes of effort only produced a couple of close approaches before the bird finally lost interest. WHISKERED SCREECH-OWL wasn't much easier either. We heard several different distant birds but it took a change of location to find a bird interested enough to give us a brief look.

Thursday, April 26, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
First of two days with Dave Haenni (who I've birded with once before) and Jeff Blunt, both from St. Louis, MO. Yesterday, we had significant monsoon type cloud build up with a late afternoon thunderstorm. After a warm morning, the clouds built up again today in similar fashion but the rain didn't happen. 

Kino Springs was its usual birdy self this morning and we recorded about 50 species in a couple of hours. Highlights were 35-BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCKS, a flyover flock of about 12 WHITE-FACED IBIS, several GRAY HAWKS, GREATER ROADRUNNER, N. BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET, PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER and BULLOCK'S. ORIOLE.

A stop at Patagonia Lake produced the expected NEOTROPIC CORMORANTS but we failed to find any of the wintering empids. Other species from 40 seen included GRAY HAWK (uncommon here), BLACK VULTURE,  SORA, COMMON MOORHEN, 2-RING-BILLED GULLS many VERMILION FLYCATCHERS and GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE. 

As we were leaving, I decided to double back to check a regular and reliable spot for an early BOTTERI'S SPARROW. Glad I did because we were able to find one. If you don't buy a ticket you won't win the raffle (sometimes I'm very deep).

Next stop was the Roadside Rest to look for Thick-billed Kingbird and Brown-crested Flycatcher, neither of which we found. Many WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS soared over the cliffs and a CANYON WREN sang from the slopes. A check of the stream crossing on Salero Road had the same result.

We had better success along Blue Heaven Road where we found a silently perched THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD and a couple of BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHERS, both season firsts for me. DUSKY-CAPPED and ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS were in the area to make life difficult.

Activity in the Paton's yard was a little less than of late but we did find 6 species of hummingbirds -- BROAD-BILLED, VIOLET-CROWNED, BLACK-CHINNED, ANNA'S, COSTA and RUFOUS. Numerous CASSIN'S FINCHES continue.

Our evening owling session was a mixed bag. As we stepped out of the vehicle a GREAT HORNED OWL was perched in a sycamore almost above our heads. ELF OWLS began calling almost immediately but it took some time to track down a bird, sitting in the open, eating. Next came a fruitless search for Western Screech-Owl, we heard none despite checking a couple of territories. Our search for WHISKERED SCREECH-OWL was successful, although we had to work at it before finding a male and female calling from the same tree. We managed several looks at the female.

Friday, April 27, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
Out again today with Dave Haenni and Jeff Blunt from St. Louis, MO. On another warm and cloudy day with a few afternoon sprinkles in the mountains, we birded several canyons in search of a few target species. 

An early start put us in French Joe Canyon in time to catch LESSER NIGHTHAWK still active. We heard the RUFOUS-CAPPED WARBLER immediately on arrival at the pools below the upper spring at 6:30am. The bird fell silent and it was almost 30 minutes later before it sang again enabling us to relocate it on the north slope, opposite the pools. We had some great looks as the warbler foraged and sang and it eventually followed (or led) us down canyon almost to the "Agave cairn". I never tire of seeing this delightful bird.

The canyon was very birdy again today -- highlights from 46 species seen were HAMMOND'S, DUSKY, ASH-THROATED & CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHERS, ROCK and CANYON WRENS, HUTTON'S, PLUMBEOUS, CASSIN'S and WARBLING VIREOS, unusually good looks at a perched up VIRGINIA'S WARBLER, BLACK-THROATED, BLACK-CHINNED, RUFOUS-CROWNED and LINCOLN'S SPARROWS, several singing BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS, HEPATIC TANAGER and SCOTT'S & HOODED ORIOLES.

It was fairly late (9:30am) by the time we reached Garden Canyon but we had no trouble in finding a male ELEGANT TROGON trying to entice a female to check out a nest cavity near the middle picnic area. The usual suspects were present near the upper picnic area including COOPER'S HAWK at the nest, a pair of ARIZONA WOODPECKERS, several BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHERS and a couple of singing HEPATIC TANAGERS.

SPOTTED OWL was easy to find again in Scheelite Canyon, roosting in former regularly used Fir tree that I haven't seen an owl using since September, 1997. HERMIT THRUSH usually doesn't nest in the canyon (preferring higher/moister canyons), but one was singing again today as on my last three visits. A sight that I haven't seen too often was a BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER foraging on the trail -- the bird didn't want to get out of our way. We didn't spend long here and recorded only 15 common species during the late morning including VIRGINIA'S WARBLER and PAINTED REDSTART.

A afternoon visit to higher elevation was productive with GREATER PEWEE, more BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHERS, STELLER'S JAY, singing BROWN CREEPERS and (BROWN-THROATED) HOUSE WRENS, a beautiful male OLIVE, numerous GRACE'S, VIRGINIA'S, BLACK-THROATED GRAY, HERMIT and WILSON'S WARBLERS, PINE SISKIN and YELLOW-EYED JUNCO.

Saturday, April 28, 2000    Previous Day    Next Day
Out today with Louise and Bob Halley from Terrace Park, OH. A warm, sunny day with no relief from cloud buildup as in the past few days. Each place that we went was crowded.

Garden Canyon was loaded with people this morning, most of them concentrated around the upper picnic area. We did the smart thing and picked up our ELEGANT TROGONS near the middle picnic area before the crowds arrived.. We watched male and female at what is likely to be the selected nest cavity. Over the past few days the male has been calling trying to entice the female to check it out. The call used for this is a much softer than the territorial "barking".

At the upper picnic area we found most of the regulars including COOPER'S HAWK on the nest, a couple of ARIZONA WOODPECKERS in and out of a nest cavity,  BUFF-BREASTED & DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHERS, HUTTON'S & PLUMBEOUS VIREOS, WILSON'S & BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS, PAINTED REDSTART, HEPATIC TANAGER and BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK. A couple of species that I haven't seen here recently were YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER and LAZULI BUNTING.

The San Pedro House parking lot was as full as I'd ever seen it, mostly with horse trailers. The birding here was quite mediocre in the late morning. I wish I could figure out a way to be everywhere first thing in the morning. We recorded 30 species in a couple of hours. SUMMER TANAGERS were singing everywhere and YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS are suddenly abundant and making their raucous calls. A singing N. CARDINAL was notable since they are not common here. A lone BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER was my first on the river this season.

A visit to Beatty's Guest Ranch and Orchard in Miller Canyon in the early afternoon produced 6 species of hummers - BROAD-BILLED, MAGNIFICENT, BLUE-THROATED, ANNA'S, BLACK-CHINNED and BROAD-TAILED. 

Sunday, April 29, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
Day 1 of 2 days with Larry and Doris Abrams and Mark and Dorothy Rubin, all from Chicago, IL. We visited Kino Springs, Patagonia Lake State Park and the Paton's yard.

An early morning 3 hour session at Kino Springs produced my first WESTERN TANAGERS of the season (2 males, starting to get red heads) among a total of 55 species. Most of the usual suspects were present including a couple of BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCKS, a perched GRAY HAWK (they didn't call much today), N. BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET, ASH-THROATED, DUSKY-CAPPED and BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHERS, CRISSAL THRASHER, BELL'S VIREO, LUCY'S WARBLER, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT and BULLOCK'S ORIOLE. I still did not detect a Tropical Kingbird.

Patagonia Lake State Park was quiet but did produce something that's hard to do in Arizona -- both LEAST and AMERICAN BITTERNS together at the east end of the lake. We watched the American standing in the open doing its "head pointing skywards, you can't see me" routine as a Least sang in the marsh. Among 35 species seen were WESTERN GREBE, 6-NEOTROPIC CORMORANTS and my season first MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER.

Activity in the Paton's yard was fairly low around noon but we did see VIOLET-CROWNED and the usual hummingbirds. CASSIN'S FINCHES are still around. Each time I go I expect them to be gone. We recorded 25 species in 30 minutes including N. BEARDLESS-TYRANNULET, DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER and SUMMER TANAGER..

Monday, April 30, 2001    Previous Day    Next Day
Out again today with the Abrams' and Rubins. We visited several locations in the Huachucas.

ELEGANT TROGON was easy to find again in Garden Canyon, calling near a potential nest site. Most folks are looking for this bird at the upper picnic area, but I have yet to see one here consistently -- so far, this years territories are above and below here. Several common species led us a quite dance, particularly ARIZONA WOODPECKER, PLUMBEOUS & HUTTON'S VIREO, BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER and BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK. Among the easy to see species were ACORN WOODPECKER, BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER, BRIDLED TITMOUSE and HEPATIC TANAGER. Seen only briefly were LAZULI BUNTING and SCOTT'S ORIOLE.

At higher elevation we came across several singing RED-FACED WARBLERS and managed great looks at one of them. One is all it takes! We also found COOPER'S HAWK, GREATER ROADRUNNER (yes, they nest in pine habitat), a couple of singing GREATER PEWEES, many BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHERS, a few DUSKY-CAPPED & ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS, a couple of STELLER'S JAYS, BROWN CREEPER, AM. ROBIN, VIRGINIA'S, GRACE'S, YELLOW-RUMPED, BLACK-THROATED GRAY and TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS, SPOTTED TOWHEE, YELLOW-EYED JUNCO, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, HEPATIC TANAGER, SCOTT'S ORIOLE and PINE SISKIN.

This log is in chronological order and the most recent entries are at the bottom of the page.
The last update was on Monday, April 30, 2001.

Species List

Stuart Healy Journal - April, 2001 If you use the contents of my journal for commercial purposes, please acknowledge the source to your clients - thanks.

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