Species List

Stuart Healy Journal - January, 2003 If you use the contents of my journal for commercial purposes, please acknowledge the source to your clients - thanks.

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This log is in chronological order and the most recent entries are at the bottom of the page.
The last update was on Friday, January 31, 2003.

Wednesday, January 1, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day
A fairly typical weather day to begin 2003. Mostly sunny with some high, thin clouds; cold in the mountains and up to 50 degrees in town by lunchtime. With the crowds of last Sunday at Patagonia Lake still fresh in my mind, I opted for the solitude of Sawmill Canyon this morning. Of course, along with the solitude I had to accept the paucity of birds there at this time of year.

CHIHUAHUAN RAVEN is often my first bird of the year, however, even though I saw it on my street as I left town this morning, I saw 5 other species ahead of it -- HOUSE SPARROW, GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET (rare in my yard), MOURNING DOVE and ROCK DOVE. On Fry Boulevard I added RED-TAILED HAWK and MOCKINGBIRD to get my 2003 list underway.

I started driving through the lower grassland in Garden Canyon around 8:30am when very little was stirring and I had to scratch around for birds. In order I saw several LOGGERHEAD SHRIKES, SAY'S PHOEBE, a few HOUSE FINCHES, MOCKINGBIRD and PHAINOPEPLA defending "their" mistletoe, CANYON TOWHEE, VERDIN, an immature COOPER'S HAWK perched in a Mesquite catching some rays, VESPER SPARROW and EASTERN MEADOWLARK.

At the tree line were MEXICAN JAY and BRIDLED TITMOUSE, then it was a birdless drive through the shaded part of the upper canyon (packed snow and ice on the road) to Sawmill Canyon. There was plenty of snow on the ground in Sawmill and for a while the only sound was my own footsteps crunching through the snow. I was hoping to find my season first Williamson's Sapsucker in the canyon but, once again, I came up empty.

The canyon was very quiet and I didn't even reach double-digits in terms of species. Initially I found only the usual MEXICAN and STELLER'S JAYS; after a while I found 2 RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS and 2 ARIZONA WOODPECKERS along with the usual winter suspects -- N. FLICKER, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, a flock of cheerful BUSHTITS and OREGON & GRAY-HEADED JUNCOS.

Even though the fishing ponds in lower Garden Canyon have long been almost dry, I found a GREAT BLUE HERON working a pitifully small amount of water.

Back in town I decided to check Soldier Creek, a place that I bird just a few times each winter. I was hoping to pick up White-winged Dove and Lawrence's Goldfinch, instead I ended up with two much better species. In with a flock of CHIPPING SPARROWS was a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW; they are rare but regular in SE AZ in winter -- there's at least one other bird in Tucson at the moment. Shortly after seeing the sparrow I saw a hummingbird fly into a Cottonwood and knew right away it was bigger than an Anna's, the expected winter hummer in Sierra Vista. It turned out to be a VIOLET-CROWNED HUMMINGBIRD, decidedly rare in winter but becoming more common each year, no doubt due to feeders.

Other species along the (dry) creek included INCA DOVE, GILA WOODPECKER, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, LINCOLN'S SPARROW, SPOTTED TOWHEE and LESSER GOLDFINCH. 

A generally unremarkable start to 2003 save for the Clay-colored Sparrow and Violet-crowned Hummingbird.

Thursday, January 2, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day  
A wonderful "winter" day in Southeast Arizona (those on the east coast can laugh at us in June) -- a bright blue sky day that wasn't too cold early and was downright warm in the afternoon. The downside was that the early and mid morning hours were fairly windy and birding was difficult at times. 

Remembering the midday doldrums of recent visits, I gave pride of place to the Paton's yard and began birding there at 7:50am this morning.  Even though I didn't see the two birds that I was hoping to find (White-throated and Golden-crowned Sparrows), an hour here was very productive (30 species seen) and time well spent 

Doves were the order of the day and I saw MOURNING, WHITE-WINGED & INCA DOVES and COMMON & RUDDY GROUND-DOVES. I watched a LAZULI BUNTING and an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER feeding at a "seed bell". A few AMERICAN ROBINS were present (uncommon and not present at this location every winter). 

The wind made it seem pretty chilly at the edge of the Patagonia Lake when I scanned for my first-of-year stuff. I think the Common Loon may have moved on but the regulars were present including NEOTROPIC & DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS, WESTERN GREBE, COMMON MERGANSER and a number of duck species.

As I approached the creek trail, I heard BRIDLED TITMICE calling so I headed into the mesquite bosque and soon found the pair of BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHERS. I followed them around trying to get a photograph, definitely an exercise in frustration! I'm still using my Olympus C-700 for non-digiscoping work; and as I checked the results later I found that I had taken 65 shots over a period of 30 minutes as the gnatcatchers led me a merry old dance.

I then spent a very unproductive hour along the creek trail where I saw very few birds at all, let alone any of the current rarities. I'm sure the wind didn't help. Elsewhere, I digiscoped this KILLDEER -- the shot shows the kind of quality that can be achieved with the Coolpix 4500 and Swarovski ST-80 HD, even hand-holding camera to scope in high wind!

No doubt due to the wind, flycatchers were not much in evidence today and I saw only a couple of GRAY and one ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER. I spent a total of four hours at the lake and recorded only 40 species.

Despite a less than ideal arrival time of 1:00pm at Kino Springs, I was greeted by a perched up CRISSAL THRASHER near the first pond. Continuing in the Hackberry grove were many MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS and AMERICAN ROBINS, a few CEDAR WAXWINGS, and a NORTHERN CARDINAL next to a PYRRHULOXIA. At the second pond I added a beautiful male VERMILION FLYCATCHER to my infant year list along with a few regulars such as GRAY FLYCATCHER and GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE. An hour here produced 35 species.

Day list (67 species recorded):
Pied-billed, Eared & Western Grebes, Neotropic & Double-crested Cormorants, Ruddy Duck, Am. Wigeon, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, N. Shoveler, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Common Merganser, N. Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Gambel's Quail, Virginia Rail, Am. Coot, Wilson's Snipe, Killdeer, Mourning, White-winged & Inca Doves, Common & Ruddy Ground-Doves, Acorn, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Say's & Black Phoebes, Gray, Vermilion & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Common Raven, Hutton's Vireo, Loggerhead Shrike, Cedar Waxwing, Mountain Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, Am. Robin, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed & Crissal Thrashers, White-breasted Nuthatch, Marsh & Bewick's Wrens, Verdin, Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bridled Titmouse, House Sparrow, House Finch, Orange-crowned & Yellow-rumped Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Song, Lincoln's, White-crowned & Chipping Sparrows, Green-tailed & Canyon Towhees, N. Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Lazuli Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird and Great-tailed Grackle.

Friday, January 3, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day  
The excellent weather continued today; even warmer than yesterday and a little less windy in the morning. I was able to wear shorts and short sleeves when I started birding at the Monastery in St. David, after which I continued on to Willcox then headed south through the Sulphur Springs Valley. I fully intended to finish at Whitewater Draw but the day got away from me and I ran out of daylight.

Holy Trinity Monastery was pretty inactive this morning and I only managed to rustle up 25 species. Of note were the continuing EASTERN BLUEBIRDS -- I heard their chur-lee calls and tracked down about 8 birds. This time I managed to get a very poor and unpublishable photo (even by my standards), however, it is a diagnostic shot. I also think there may have been some Western Bluebirds present today but I didn't see them well enough to be certain. A little patience at the main pond paid off with a close up view of the male WOOD DUCK. 

On the main pond at Willcox I counted at least 20 COMMON MERGANSERS, all but one of which were males. Also present was a female HOODED MERGANSER in with about 20 BUFFLEHEADS. Hooded Mergansers are quite scarce in SE AZ in winter and this was only my second record at Willcox. I saw nothing else of note among 20 species, although I didn't check the golf course pond or surrounding areas.

Another good sized group of COMMON MERGANSERS were at the Kennedy Ranch Pond on Kansas Settlement Road. Interestingly, in contrast to the Willcox birds, almost all of them were females. Never common in winter, a flock of WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS were working over the fields here, evidently finding the warm afternoon to their liking.

On Bell Ranch Road I picked up PRAIRIE FALCON, BARN OWL, CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPUR and lots of LARK BUNTINGS. 

At Essary Hay I searched the fields for Mountain Plover without success, finding only an amazing number of FERRUGINOUS HAWKS (over 20 in one field alone), more CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS, the usual HORNED LARKS, both EASTERN and WESTERN MEADOWLARKS and various flavors of sparrows.

After a quick check of Mormon Road, where I failed to find the "always present" Great Horned Owl, I finished the day looking for plovers in the fields on Central Highway, just north of Davis. I was looking into the setting sun and I was very doubtful of success. Incredibly, in almost the same location as a week ago, I found a single MOUNTAIN PLOVER that has apparently been abandoned by its buddies. Like all plovers, their modus operandi is to stand upright for a moment and then dart away to feed. Trying to follow it with the scope while holding the camera to the lens and trying to stay in focus with a scope/camera power of around 40 was a challenge to say the least. Kind of keeps one busy. As they say in the old country, stick a broom up my arse and I'll sweep up. It made yesterday's gnatcatcher photo episode seem like a piece of cake. When all was said and done, I ended up with one usable shot from over 50 taken.

Day list (67 species recorded):
Eared Grebe, Ruddy Duck, Wood Duck, Am. Wigeon, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, N. Pintail, N. Shoveler, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, Hooded & Common Mergansers, N. Harrier, Red-tailed & Ferruginous Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Prairie Falcon, Am. Coot, Sandhill Crane, Least Sandpiper, Killdeer, Mountain Plover, Rock, Mourning, White-winged & Inca Doves, Common Ground-Dove, Barn Owl, White-throated Swift, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Say's Phoebe, Chihuahuan Raven, Loggerhead Shrike, Phainopepla, Eastern & Mountain Bluebirds, Hermit Thrush, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, European Starling, White-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick's Wren, Verdin, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Horned Lark, House Sparrow, Lesser Goldfinch, House Finch, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Lark Bunting, Song, White-crowned, Savannah, Brewer's & Vesper Sparrows, Abert's Towhee, N. Cardinal, Eastern & Western Meadowlarks, Yellow-headed, Red-winged & Brewer's Blackbirds and Brown-headed Cowbird.

Saturday, January 4, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day  
The weather is really getting out of control with near record high temperatures in some places of the state today. It was sure plenty warm enough in Sierra Vista for January. I don't have much to report in the way of birds today because I ventured out only to do some controlled testing of my new camera and a few accessories.

I started somewhat late down at the San Pedro House which turned out to be a disaster. I made a rookie mistake by forgetting that it was a weekend day. Everybody and his uncle seemed to be down there, cars coming and going, people coming and going, horns blasting, and the straw that broke the camel's back -- a cigar-smoking inconsiderate *&^$%. who drove me away after only an hour.

My first GREATER ROADRUNNER of 2003 greeted me at the entrance. The only birds of note were a few AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES, quite uncommon in SE AZ but a bird that I've seen on the river every year for the last 10 years.

I moved to Sierra Vista WWTP where my test subject was AMERICAN WIGEON. I recorded 23 species here during my 2 hour stay including a SHARP-SHINNED HAWK that stooped like a Peregrine, a calling SORA, fly-by AMERICAN PIPITS and a few YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS.

Sunday, January 5, 2003     Previous Day    Next Day
Out today with Chris Sloan and Kinny Cosner from Nashville, TN and Bob DeBellevue from New Orleans, LA. I've birded with Chris twice before and Kenny once. Our primary target for the day was Baird's Sparrow with secondary targets Chestnut-collared & McCown's Longspurs, Red-naped & Williamson's Sapsuckers and Arizona Woodpecker. We had a successful outing and saw all except McCown's Longspur.

On another glorious day we began in San Rafael Valley where it was mild enough to quickly discard my sweater. We started at the west end of valley hoping to see the sparrow perched up early, then followed that by unsuccessfully walking the grass in three locations. Although over the years most of my sightings have been at the west end of the valley, today's success didn't come until we moved to the east end of the valley. We again began walking the grass (in a location where I've seen the sparrow before) and after 30 minutes or so we flushed an uncharacteristically cooperative BAIRD'S SPARROW that clung to the grass mid-stem for what seemed like an eternity. We were close enough to see the fine streaking on the head and nape, even with binoculars.

CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS were less common than of late and we came across only two groups. Fortunately, one bird with an extensive black belly was kind enough to sit on a fence. We checked the HORNED LARK flocks at the southern corral for McCown's, without success.

Overall we spent about four hours in the valley and came away well satisfied. While looking for our targets we saw a total of 19 species (which, believe it not, is pretty high for this location).  SAVANNAH and VESPER SPARROWS were quite numerous and we saw at least 6 GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS. Also of note was a beautiful WHITE-TAILED KITE and a flock of WESTERN BLUEBIRDS at a stock pond.

We moved on to Sawmill Canyon where much of the snow has melted over the past few warm days, although there's still a fair amount on the ground in several places. Apart from some noisy picnickers and even noisier ATVs, the canyon was silent in the afternoon and we had to work hard for our woodpeckers. The first success was RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER and over a period of three hours we saw at least 4, perhaps as many as 6 of them. ARIZONA WOODPECKER was somewhat of  a hollow victory. After what seemed like an age of tracking, we located two of them. Emphasizing the vagaries of birding, however, was the fact that while Chris was able to get some video, Kenny (for whom Arizona Woodpecker is becoming somewhat of a nemesis) was, unfortunately, not in the right place at the right time. Such is life.

In most years I would have been extremely confident of finding Williamson's Sapsucker, but not so this year. Although I've found evidence of the bird's presence (fresh sapwell trees),  I had yet to find one this season. However, our time in the canyon ended well when we came across a pristinely plumaged male WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER. The bird was working low on a pine, drinking from sapwells and opening up some new ones. 

We saw very little else in the canyon (of course, we didn't focus on doing so); 12 species total including WESTERN BLUEBIRD, BROWN CREEPER, PINE SISKIN and YELLOW-EYED JUNCO.

We finished the day in Garden Canyon where we descended low enough to find some sunlight as the sun dipped below the Huachucas. While searching for Arizona Woodpecker again at the middle picnic area, we came across a PAINTED REDSTART. A bird has wintered in this location during at least 3 previous years.

Not a lot of birds today (36) but that really didn't matter:
Great Blue Heron, White-tailed Kite, N. Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Red-naped & Williamson's Sapsuckers, Arizona Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Say's Phoebe, Mexican Jay, Common Raven, Loggerhead Shrike, Phainopepla, Western Bluebird, N. Mockingbird, Brown Creeper, Verdin, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bridled Titmouse, Horned Lark, Pine Siskin, Painted Redstart, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Dark-eyed & Yellow-eyed Juncos, White-crowned, Baird's, Grasshopper, Chipping & Vesper Sparrows, Eastern & Western Meadowlarks and Brewer's Blackbird.

Monday, January 6, 2003      Previous Day    Next Day
Out today with Jim Morrisey from NY and Ray Morrisey from NJ. What a difference a day can make in terms of weather and birding. Yesterday was excellent on both counts, today was poor on both counts. It was cloudy, cool and very windy in the Sierra Vista area and we managed to find a few bird free zones. Fortunately, we weren't looking for specific target birds. At the end of the day I was surprised to find that we had seen 50 species. 

We began at a very quiet and desolate looking San Pedro River. In most years, the area around the San Pedro House and surrounding fields abounds with sparrows. So far this year they are staying away in droves. I was hoping to stumble into the Louisiana Waterthrush (a bird that continues to elude me on the river) and Green Kingfisher, but we didn't get a sniff of either. The Green Kingfisher population on the river crashed in1997 and my sightings have steadily declined since then. I went the whole of 2001 without seeing one here and had just one sighting in 2002 (Jan 14). However, there have been a spate of recent sightings so there's at least one bird around.

After spending some time around the San Pedro House (GREATER ROADRUNNER and the usual feeder moochers), we didn't see a single bird until we reached the big (Kingfisher) pond. A group of CANVASBACKS continue along with a few SHOVELERS and PIED-BILLED GREBE. We continued on to the small (Black Phoebe) pond then headed east to the river and north along the river. The only bird of a note was HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER. 

33 species recorded on the SPRNCA:
Pied-billed Grebe, Mallard, N. Shoveler, Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck, Great Blue Heron, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Coot, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Belted Kingfisher, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Hammond's Flycatcher, Say's Phoebe, Chihuahuan Raven, White-breasted Nuthatch, Marsh & Bewick's Wrens, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bridled Titmouse, House Sparrow, Lesser Goldfinch, House Finch, Song, White-crowned & Vesper Sparrows, Canyon & Abert's Towhees, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark and Brown-headed Cowbird.

Next stop was Sierra Vista WWTP where it was blowing a gale at the viewing platform. We recorded the following 13 species: American Wigeon, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, N. Shoveler, N. Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Coot, Say's Phoebe, Chihuahuan Raven, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Vesper Sparrow and Yellow-headed Blackbird.

We finished up in a mostly bird free Garden Canyon where I couldn't relocate yesterday's Painted Redstart. However, a pleasant surprise at the upper picnic area was a male WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER. It's ironic that after failing to find the sapsucker at all this season until yesterday, I have now seen them on two consecutive days! Also at the upper picnic area was a HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER -- I have seen them here in January for 4 (non-consecutive) years now. A small flock of WESTERN BLUEBIRDS continue in the lower grassland.

16 species recorded in Garden Canyon:
Am. Kestrel, Acorn Woodpecker, Williamson's Sapsucker, N. Flicker, Hammond's Flycatcher, Black Phoebe, Mexican Jay, Hutton's Vireo, Loggerhead Shrike, Phainopepla, Western Bluebird, N. Mockingbird, White-breasted Nuthatch, Bridled Titmouse, Lesser Goldfinch and Chipping Sparrow.

Tuesday, January 7, 2003     Previous Day    Next Day  
I was scheduled to work today but we postponed until tomorrow to give the weather a chance to improve. I took the opportunity to take the road less traveled in the Dragoon Mountains, a location that I visit once or twice each year at most. Afterwards I checked the AEP wildlife ponds (waste of time, completely dry) and then birded my way south through Sulphur Springs Valley finishing up at Whitewater Draw. Although it was another windy day, it was sunny and warmer than yesterday and the birding was fairly decent.

I headed into the mountains on Middle March Rd and starting birding in the wash near Little B Cattle Company. It was surprisingly cold here with a biting wind. The Hackberry trees here usually attract birds and MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS were abundant; NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRDS and HERMIT THRUSHES were also taking advantage of the fruit.

The habitat in the Dragoons is predominantly juniper (both Alligator and Pinyon) with lesser amounts of oak and pinyon-pine. In the lower sections, there are rocky and grassy slopes with Agave, etc., similar to French Joe Canyon. Despite the lack of high elevation, I have been surprised here before by high elevation species. Continuing on I picked up several common species such as LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKER, WESTERN SCRUB-JAY (common throughout), BEWICK'S WREN, BLACK-THROATED SPARROW and CANYON TOWHEE.

I paused at Middle March Pass (elevation ~ 6000 feet) where I noted flocks of WESTERN BLUEBIRDS and LESSER GOLDFINCHES and the first PHAINOPEPLAS and RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS that were in several places.

Next, I birded along the first 0.5 mile of the road to China Peak (FR345A) where the birding was excellent. In addition to expected species such as RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, JUNIPER TITMOUSE, MEXICAN JAY, CANYON WREN, SPOTTED TOWHEE, GRAY-HEADED JUNCO and many species already seen, I saw STELLER'S JAY, PINE SISKIN and a flock of RED CROSSBILLS.

Lower down the mountain I checked Middle March Canyon Road (FR277) where I  added RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, BRIDLED TITMOUSE, CRISSAL THRASHER and NORTHERN CARDINAL.

Just before leaving the National Forest near the community of Searlville, I paused to photograph another Crissal Thrasher that was perched up. Unfortunately, by the time that I had set up, the bird had been replaced by this CACTUS WREN, a poor substitute. My stop was worthwhile, however, because nearby was a large and noisy flock of PINYON JAYS, a bird that I had half expected to see here in this "invasion year".  A bird that I missed and fully expected to see was Black-chinned Sparrow.

I recorded the following 35 species in the Dragoons:
Red-tailed Hawk, Mourning Dove, Red-naped Sapsucker, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Western Scrub-Jay, Pinyon, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Common Raven, Loggerhead Shrike, Phainopepla, Western & Mountain Bluebirds, Hermit Thrush, N. Mockingbird, Crissal Thrasher, Cactus, Canyon & Bewick's Wrens, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bridled & Juniper Titmice, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, House Finch, Red Crossbill, Dark-eyed Junco, White-crowned, Chipping, Black-throated & Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Spotted & Canyon Towhees and Northern Cardinal.

As I traveled south through the valley, perched and roadside birds were conspicuously absent in the wind, although FERRUGINOUS HAWKS were common, as usual, near Essary Hay. 

It was blowing a gale at Whitewater Draw an I only  managed to rustle up 16 species. Surprisingly, however, under the circumstances, I was able to get a few decent digiscoped shots, perhaps the best of which was this BLACK PHOEBE that was strongly contesting territory with this first year male VERMILION FLYCATCHER.

Duck and shorebird habitat is good at the moment and the latter were well represented (for the location and time of year) by 2 GREATER YELLOWLEGS, 7 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, 25 LEAST SANDPIPERS and numerous KILLDEER. Thousands of SANDHILL CRANES were loafing at the north end of the main body of water.

32 species recorded in Sulphur Springs Valley (including Whitewater Draw):
Mallard, N. Shoveler, N. Harrier, Red-tailed & Ferruginous Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Am. Coot, Sandhill Crane, Greater Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitcher, Least Sandpiper, Killdeer, Mourning Dove, Say's & Black Phoebes, Vermilion Flycatcher, Chihuahuan Raven, Loggerhead Shrike, Mountain Bluebird, Marsh Wren, Horned Lark, House Sparrow, House Finch, Song, Lincoln's, White-crowned, Savannah, Brewer's & Vesper Sparrows, Eastern & Western Meadowlarks and Brewer's Blackbird.

Wednesday, January 8, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day
Out with Betty Slade and David Cole from Westport Point, MA for a day of target birding. From a list of 9 possibilities, I chose a route through Santa Cruz County that had a chance to produce 6 species -- Violet-crowned Hummingbird, Hammond's Flycatcher, Mountain Bluebird, Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Lawrence's Goldfinch and Rufous-winged Sparrow. I figured that we would find 5 of them and that's the way things turned out. It was a great weather day to be out birding -- spectacular storm clouds covered most of the mountain ranges and we saw several colorful rainbows. Given the storm clouds, it was a surprisingly mild and calm day and for the most part our timing was good and we managed to dodge the rain at most locations. 

I met Betty and David in Sonoita and we started in the Paton's yard at 8:00am. I was hoping that we might get lucky with Violet-crowned Hummingbird that had been seen a few times recently but that didn't happen in the short time that we allocated. I also saw one in Sierra Vista a few days ago but figured that it wouldn't be locatable again, plus it was a little out of our way.

We moved on to Patagonia Lake State Park where the gnatcatchers were a little harder to locate today. We walked the marsh trail as far as the creek then worked back through the mesquite bosque without success. I surmised that the mild conditions would allow the birds to work in more exposed locations so we headed up the "third wash" to the base of the hillside. I heard the BRIDLED TITMOUSE flock and the hanger-on HUTTON'S VIREO high up on the slopes and we braved the rather dangerous cow path and shin-dagger (shades of French Joe Canyon) to head in their direction. While scanning the flock, the male BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHER conveniently called and we turned around to watch the bird foraging low about 20 feet away. We didn't see the female although it could be heard calling not too far away.

Next stop was Kino Springs where the large flock of MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS continues. We had some good scope views as they perched in the leafless trees. Interestingly, most birds in the flock are females and this was the same with another flock that we saw later in Walker Canyon.

We arrived at Peña Blanca Lake in time to see some moderately heavy but, thankfully, short-lived rain. Surprisingly, it didn't take long to locate a very cooperative HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER. At least one winters here each year and is a little easier to find than at Patagonia Lake because of the more concentrated habitat. 

Continuing north we headed into the Santa Rita foothills near Chino canyon and arrived just ahead of the rain that was following us from the south. My experience with RUFOUS-WINGED SPARROW here is mixed -- sometimes I find it in 5 minutes and other times it can take an hour or more. Fortunately, we found one almost immediately and were on our way before the rain really bothered us. We again enjoyed great scope looks at an extremely cooperative sparrow that even showed off its rufous wing, a feature not always seen. 

Our last target of the day was LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH and we found a flock of 40-50 of them near the old Pima County maintenance yard in Green Valley. Even though the light was very poor, we had great looks at the birds.

We returned to Sonoita via the Box Canyon road where I was somewhat surprised to see a FERRUGINOUS HAWK several miles from highway 83. Although the grassland habitat here is fairly good for them, this is the first that I've seen here.

During our day of very focused birding we recorded the following 70 species:
Pied-billed Grebe, Neotropic Cormorant, Ruddy Duck, Gadwall, Mallard, Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck, Common Merganser, Black & Turkey Vultures, N. Harrier, Red-tailed & Ferruginous Hawks. Am. Kestrel, Gambel's Quail, Virginia Rail, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Mourning, White-winged & Inca Doves, Anna's Hummingbird, Red-naped Sapsucker, Acorn, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Black Phoebe, Hammond's, Gray, Dusky & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Common Raven, Hutton's Vireo, Phainopepla, Mountain Bluebird, Townsend's Solitaire, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, European Starling, White-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick's Wren, Verdin, Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bridled Titmouse, House Sparrow, Lawrence's Goldfinch, House Finch, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Song, Lincoln's, White-crowned, Chipping, Brewer's, Black-throated & Rufous-winged Sparrows, Spotted, Canyon & Abert's Towhees, N. Cardinal, Lazuli Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Western Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackle and Brewer's Blackbird.

Friday, January 10, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day  
Yesterday I didn't go out birding for the first time this year and spent the day at the computer catching up. I didn't venture out at all and couldn't even tell you what the weather was like! However, it was cold overnight and I was back in ice scraping mode this morning. By mid afternoon it was way too warm in the Paton's yard.

Out today with Steve Miller from Pismo Beach, CA for one target bird -- the gnatcatcher at Patagonia Lake State Park. I met Steve at the lake at 7:45am and by 8:05am we had walked the marsh trail as far as Nutting's Wash and located both BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHERS. However, that was just the beginning of the fun and games. The BRIDLED TITMOUSE flock and the lone HUTTON'S VIREO again led me to the gnatcatchers; today I heard the vireo before the titmice. Unlike most other times, the flock moved extremely fast this morning and we followed them over 1/4 mile in a 5 minute period before losing them. We regrouped where the trail drops to lake level and starting searching again; by this time many other folks were looking too. It took about an hour before we finally got great looks at both male and female.

Our short and focused visit produced only 30+ species including the usual NEOTROPIC CORMORANTS, WESTERN GREBE, GRAY & ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE and SWAMP SPARROW.

Steve had no other target lifers so we headed out to look for year birds. We started at Calabasas Campground west of Nogales looking for the Rufous-backed Robin. I've birded here 6 times previously; the habitat is predominantly hillsides of oak and grass and it's a good place for Montezuma Quail, although it often takes a lot of walking to find them.  I must confess to surprise when I learned that a Rufous-backed Robin had been seen at this location because there doesn't appear to be any habitat to attract them, or any fruit eaters for that matter. We didn't certainly didn't come across any today, just a PHAINOPEPLA at mistletoe. Perhaps we were in the wrong place. Birds were few and far between; 10 species in all including ARIZONA WOODPECKER, GRAY FLYCATCHER and RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW. 

We moved on a few miles to Peña Blanca Lake for a little casual birding. A very pleasant surprise here was an AMERICAN BITTERN skulking in the marsh, my first January sighting in SE AZ. Other stuff included several COMMON MOORHENS, the usual multiple RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS (is there a better place to see them in winter?) and HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER.

We traveled back east and started birding in the Paton's yard at 12:30pm. Dove activity was zero for an hour until a bunch of INCA and MOURNING DOVES showed up. Then it was another long wait until this RUDDY GROUND-DOVE dropped out of the sky at 2:40pm and began feeding on the grass quite close to us. The light wasn't good but I managed a usable digiscoped shot.

Activity was fairly good despite the time of day and very warm conditions. We recorded 30 species including ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, LAZULI BUNTING, side by side CARDINAL & PYRRHULOXIA, ABERT'S, GREEN-TAILED & CANYON TOWHEES, a very secretive WHITE-THROATED SPARROW and a lone AMERICAN GOLDFINCH. 

Day list (63 species recorded):
Pied-billed & Western Grebes, Neotropic Cormorant, Ruddy Duck, Common Merganser, Am. Bittern, Black & Turkey Vultures, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Gambel's Quail, Virginia Rail, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Mourning & Inca Doves, Ruddy Ground-Dove, Anna's Hummingbird, Red-naped Sapsucker, Acorn, Gila, Ladder-backed & Arizona Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Say's & Black Phoebes, Hammond's, Gray & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Mexican Jay, Common Raven, Hutton's Vireo, Loggerhead Shrike, Phainopepla, Townsend's Solitaire, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, White-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick's & Marsh Wrens, Verdin, Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bridled Titmouse, House Sparrow, Am. Goldfinch, House Finch, Orange-crowned & Yellow-rumped Warblers, Song, Swamp, White-crowned, White-throated, Chipping & Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Green-tailed, Canyon & Abert's Towhees, N. Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Lazuli Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird and Great-tailed Grackle.

Saturday, January 11, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day  
Not much in the way of birds to report today. Yesterday, I received a couple of items that I'd ordered to help with digiscoping -- a DigiMount adapter (I ordered a standard model specifically designed by Eagle Eye Optics UK to allow  Coolpix cameras to be mounted to a Swarovski zoom eyepiece), and the Nikon remote control for the camera. Consequently, today I went out just to do some testing.

In a week or so I'll be adding some digiscoping info to the site so I'm not going to go into much detail here. I had some problems with both components and I was somewhat disappointed and certainly very frustrated. However, it's probably me that is the loose nut behind the wheel rather than any real problems with the equipment.

To date, my digicoping with the Coolpix 4500 has been handheld which imposes some rather serious limitations. To avoid blurred shots, I have been using shutter priority mode (so I can control the shutter speed dropping below 1/125 and thus prevent the almost certain blur caused by camera movement). This produces clear shots but depending on lighting conditions, many are underexposed. Now, with the adapter, I can get a firm mount and the remote ensures zero camera shake. This allows me to use aperture priority mode because I don't have to worry about how slow the shutter speed goes to get proper exposure. 

Although I had some problems, the results were far superior to handholding. Near the San Pedro House, this somewhat unusual pose of a GREATER ROADRUNNER was difficult until I set the camera focus on infinity and used the scope for focusing. From over 60 yards away, the camera wanted to focus on the twigs. From closer range, with large viewfinder images, auto focusing was a little easier as demonstrated by this AMERICAN GOLDFINCH.

Sunday, January 12, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day  
A great day to be out -- sunny and seasonably crisp (only 55 degrees by early afternoon). When I left home I was headed to French Joe Canyon, however, at the last minute I decided to leave that for a weekday and headed into the Huachucas instead for my first visit of the year to Scheelite Canyon.

The "yellow gate" above the upper picnic area was closed so that meant an additional 1.5 miles round trip of walking. Infuriatingly, the gate was open several hours later. Although I walked, others were ignoring the gate (it wasn't locked and could be opened) and driving through anyway. 

The walk up Garden and then Scheelite was cold and generally birdless. SPOTTED OWL was easy to find today in the lower roosting area (assuming that you know the tree!), but was certainly not easy to see from the trail without close scrutiny. Although the view was a good "life view", the bird was a little obscured by vegetation and the light was way too poor for a photo. Since it hadn't taken much time and effort to find the bird (nor was it much of a challenge), I decided to continue on up canyon for some general birding and to look for a second owl. 

Scheelite doesn't have much to offer in the way of species diversity in winter and I saw very little as I plodded on -- MEXICAN JAY, HUTTON'S VIREO, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, HERMIT THRUSH, CANYON WREN, BUSHTIT, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, BRIDLED TITMOUSE, DARK & YELLOW-EYED JUNCOS and SPOTTED TOWHEE.  

However, I was more than satisfied when my reward came in the upper area, about 1 mile into the canyon. I found a second SPOTTED OWL roosting in a non-tree location where I haven't seen an owl since 1995. I keep detailed records of my Spotted Owl sightings in a separate database, down to individual roost locations. I also keep track by "roost type" -- Oak, Fir, Maple, Juniper, Pinyon Pine and Cliff (listed in decreasing order of usage). The latter is by far the least used (roughly 1.5%) and today's roost site represents about half of all my cliff sightings. 

I passed a couple on the way up and they had failed to find the bird in the lower canyon. One of them had continued up and asked me about the owls. I told him that one was down below and another was here. He was unable to find the second bird so I took pity on him and showed him where it was. Later, I showed him and his wife where the lower bird was. My good deed for the day.

Monday, January 13, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day
Out today with Dan Vickers from Lilburn, GA. Our objective for the day was for Dan to do some opportunistic photography and to see as many new birds as possible. Although birding and photography don't mix well, especially target birding, we had a successful day seeing much of what we looked for (and missing a bunch too). I chose a birdy loop through Santa Cruz County -- in order we visited Paton's Yard, Patagonia Lake State Park, Kino Springs, Palo Duro Ponds, Peña Blanca Lake, Amado Sewage Pond, Continental, Santa Rita Lodge and finally, Box Canyon. We were on the go all day and always fighting the clock.

I met Dan in Sonoita at dawn and we started birding in the Paton's Yard. It was very cold here and the 30 minutes that I had allowed turned into 45 before we managed to see all the hoped for birds. Highlights from 30 species were all 5 species of "expected" doves including COMMON and RUDDY GROUND-DOVES, LAZULI BUNTING and WHITE-THROATED SPARROW.

At only 2 hours our visit to Patagonia Lake was sacrilegiously short, although we made the most of it by finding the pair of BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHERS very quickly (on the hillside between the first and second washes). We tried to get Jon Dunn's group on the birds but they were again moving too fast. We continued on and spent a little time on the marsh trail and along the creek. Except for EASTERN PHOEBE, we failed to see any of the current rarities among 45 species recorded. CINNAMON TEAL was a highlight for Dan and we saw the usual GRAY and ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS, inexplicably missing Dusky Flycatcher.

Next stop was the first pond at Kino Springs where the vegetation is  looking very sparse now. A few MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS continue but we saw very little else. In retrospect, stopping here was a mistake. The wash that runs west on the opposite side of the road (that normally produces Black-tailed Gnatcatcher and Black-throated Sparrow) was completely devoid of birds, perhaps due to the construction of a new road that has damaged the habitat here. 

Several TURKEY and lots of BLACK VULTURES were expected fare in Nogales, but MEXICAN JAYS right in town were a first there for me. 

Palo Duro ponds held a handful of ducks and a beautiful male VERMILION FLYCATCHER.

Although Peña Blanca Lake quickly produced the usual RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS, we almost failed to find HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER (seen on the boat launch road as we were leaving!). Others from 25 species included COMMON MOORHEN and WILSON'S SNIPE.

In Amado, a quick check for the wintering Gray Hawk was unsuccessful and we soon moved on to the sewage pond. The pond was loaded with RING-NECKED DUCKS and CANVASBACKS, alas no hoped for Redhead. However, we picked up a chunk of time when we found a small flock of LAWRENCE' S GOLDFINCHES feeding in the adjacent south "field" (weeds).

During a short stop in Continental we found the LEWIS'S WOODPECKER on a pole near the Nutworks.

Our visit to Santa Rita Lodge was disappointing because we got there a little too late -- the sun disappeared almost as soon as we arrived, and with it the birds. Photography for Dan was almost impossible due to poor light. This is where we paid for all the time lost on the rest of the route! We easily saw MAGNIFICENT HUMMINGBIRD, worked a while before seeing PAINTED REDSTART, and missed Yellow-eyed Junco!

Since we didn't have to go back to Green Valley for the Goldfinch, we headed directly to Sonoita on the Box Canyon road to work on a few more species. None came easily but we added WESTERN BLUEBIRD, ROCK and CANYON WRENS and BLACK-THROATED SPARROW. I was hoping the Ferruginous Hawk that I saw here last week would be roosting on a pole as darkness approached, but that wasn't the case. 

Day list (100 species recorded):
Pied-billed & Eared Grebes, Neotropic Cormorant, Ruddy Duck, Am. Wigeon, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, N. Pintail, Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Common Merganser, Great Blue Heron, Black & Turkey Vultures, N. Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Gambel's Quail, Virginia Rail, Sora, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Wilson's Snipe, Killdeer, Rock, Mourning, White-winged & Inca Doves, Common & Ruddy Ground-Doves, Magnificent Hummingbird, Red-naped Sapsucker, Lewis's, Acorn, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Eastern, Say's & Black Phoebes, Hammond's, Gray, Vermilion & Ash-throated Flycatchers, Mexican Jay, Common Raven, Hutton's Vireo, Loggerhead Shrike, Phainopepla, Western & Mountain Bluebirds, Hermit Thrush, Am. Robin, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, European Starling, White-breasted Nuthatch, Cactus, Rock, Canyon, Marsh, Bewick's & House Wrens, Verdin, Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bridled Titmouse, House Sparrow, Am. Pipit, Lesser & Lawrence's Goldfinches, House Finch, Orange-crowned & Yellow-rumped Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Painted Redstart, Dark-eyed Junco, Song, Lincoln's, Swamp, White-crowned, White-throated, Savannah, Chipping, Brewer's, Vesper & Black-throated Sparrows, Green-tailed, Spotted, Canyon & Abert's Towhees, N. Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Lazuli Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird and Great-tailed Grackle.

Tuesday, January 14, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day  
Out today with Joyce Leary from Yarmouth Port, MA. We were originally scheduled to bird two days in February and two days in March, however, Joyce is running ahead of schedule so here we are in January. On another gorgeous "winter" day that was way too warm in the afternoon (over 70 degrees), we spent the day birding casually in Sulphur Springs Valley.

The day began crisply and well on Coffman Road where we had several excellent looks at a very cooperative BENDIRE'S THRASHER and side by side looks at GAMBEL'S and SCALED QUAIL.

Whitewater Draw was very quiet and we didn't stay very long. Among 20 species seen were CINNAMON TEAL, continuing LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, a calling SORA, SANDHILL CRANE, SAY'S PHOEBE, adult and first year male VERMILION FLYCATCHERS and a perched up and calling SWAMP SPARROW.

On Lee Road we saw a perched up CRISSAL THRASHER, 100+ MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS, AMERICAN PIPIT and several BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS that disappeared way too quickly.

On Central highway we searched in vain for Mountain Plovers seeing only 100+ KILLDEER, more MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS, HORNED LARKS, good looks at BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS and EASTERN & WESTERN MEADOWLARK.

While Joyce tried to photograph a GREAT HORNED OWL at a regular spot on Mormon Road, I tried some digiscoping on this first year female VERMILION FLYCATCHER. The bird took flight as I pressed the shutter producing an interesting shot that I could never have achieved by design.

Continuing north we saw many soaring FERRUGINOUS HAWKS and a few distant birds on the ground and perched on irrigation rigs. We ended the day with an unsuccessful search for Barn Owl. Incredibly, with all the miles that we covered, we saw only 6 LARK BUNTINGS and a handful of WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS. Both are normally abundant throughout the valley in winter.

Wednesday, January 15, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day  
Out again today with Joyce. We visited the Huachucas for Woodpeckers and Spotted Owl. Another beautiful day to enjoy as the unseasonably warm weather continues. All of the recent snow and ice in the mountains are gone and I was able to hike up Scheelite Canyon in shorts and short sleeves. The temperature in Sierra Vista at 3:00pm was 72 degrees.

Our day began extremely well in Sawmill Canyon when we found a male WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER after only 15 minutes of searching, a bird that I thought would be the toughest target. The outlook got even better after another 45 minutes when we tracked down a couple of cooperative RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS.  Ironically, we then had to work for well over an hour before finding the "easiest" bird -- ARIZONA WOODPECKER. Unfortunately, we only had very brief views before the bird flew off never to be seen again.

As is usual at this time of year, species in the canyon were few and far between. Oddly, a lone MOURNING DOVE continues and the usual MEXICAN and STELLER'S JAYS were present (the latter strangely quiet and inconspicuous). Rounding out the list were RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, BROWN CREEPER, DARK & YELLOW-EYED JUNCO and a lone PINE SISKIN.

SPOTTED OWL was ridiculously easy to find in Scheelite Canyon, roosting right over the trail in the second most conspicuous roost location that the owls use. Walking up canyon the owl was extremely obvious, looking back down canyon the bird was well concealed (much more so than the photo would lead you to believe).

We ended our day at the middle picnic in Garden Canyon and were able to relocate the continuing PAINTED REDSTART. Other species here included CEDAR WAXWING, LESSER GOLDFINCH and PYRRHULOXIA.

Not many birds today, however, we found most of our targets and enjoyed some great weather, scenery and solitude. 

Thursday, January 16, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day
Out today with Joe Guinn from Germantown, TN. Another unseasonably warm day (10 degrees above normal) -- will winter ever come? I sure hope so. The day didn't start well when we failed to hook up at the appointed time -- Joe had inadvertently told me that he was staying at Circle Z Ranch in Patagonia. Fortunately, when I found that he wasn't there I guessed the correct place was Crown C Ranch in Sonoita and we got underway about an hour late. Since the plan was only to do some general birding, it wasn't a complete disaster. 

The late start meant that we missed the morning dove show in the Paton's yard and we had to settle for a colorful LAZULI BUNTING.

We moved on to Patagonia Lake State Park where the birding was about as poor as I've seen it for some time. Even allowing for the late start, I was really surprised by the general lack of activity. We made only a token effort for the gnatcatchers but I never even heard the main BRIDLED TITMOUSE flock, just a few isolated birds scattered here and there.

We had some success along the creek trail when we stumbled into the male ELEGANT TROGON (near the fork) and enjoyed stunning, unobstructed eye-level views from 25 feet. The reason for the spectacular view was back in the car (my camera). Any day with such a sighting can't be all bad! Other regulars from only 32 species seen included EASTERN PHOEBE (Nutting's Wash) and DUSKY & ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS (no Gray!).

To further compound the problems caused by our late start, Joe only had a limited time to bird and we finished this rather short day at Kino Springs where we easily located an adult male VERMILION FLYCATCHER.

Friday, January 17, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day
I enjoyed a day without birding today, most of which I spent at the computer catching up. In mid afternoon I headed down to Sierra Vista WWTP to test equipment and try some long distance digiscoping in warm and somewhat hazy conditions.

I stayed about an hour and recorded the following species:
Am. Wigeon, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, N Pintail, N. Shoveler, N. Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Am. Coot, Say's Phoebe, European Starling, Marsh Wren, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Savannah Sparrow, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark and Brewer's Blackbird.

Saturday, January 18, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day
Out again today with Joyce Leary from Yarmouth Port, MA Yet another warm day (76 degrees when I returned to Sierra Vista in mid afternoon). I met Joyce at Patagonia Lake where she is currently staying and we spent the morning birding there. I made the stupid mistake of locking my keys in my car and wasted 30 minutes with a coat hanger and an hour waiting for AAA before I could go home.

We easily found the BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHERS with the BRIDLED TITMOUSE and HUTTON'S VIREO flock -- at 8:15am they were in the mesquite bosque a little south of Nutting's wash. The male was giving a squeaky Hutton's Vireo like call that I've only heard it give on a couple of previous occasions. The female was giving the "normal" mewing sound.

We worked the creek trail for quite some time (two passes each on both north and south sides) in an unsuccessful search for the Trogon. No one that I spoke to had seen the bird this morning.

Bird activity again seemed a little less than usual, although certainly more active than on Thursday. We recorded a total of 46 species including the usual NEOTROPIC & DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS, GREEN and BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS, COMMON MOORHEN (common here in most winters, but not this year), WILSON'S SNIPE, GREAT HORNED OWL, BELTED KINGFISHER, HAMMOND'S, DUSKY & GRAY FLYCATCHERS, EASTERN PHOEBE, AMERICAN ROBIN, AMERICAN PIPIT and SWAMP SPARROW.

Monday, January 20, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day  
This was a crappy day on so many levels I hardly know where to begin. The day started well enough and it should have been the start of a good week for me. Sadly, things didn't quite go according to plan. This morning I was scheduled out with Dean and Joan Luehrs from Sun City, AZ who I've birded with once before. Afterwards, I was headed to the Colorado River area for a short vacation until I have to work again on Friday. 

I left home at 3:30am, time enough for a leisurely breakfast in Phoenix and still drive the 240+ miles to meet Dean and Joan at "the thrasher spot" (intersection of Baseline/Salome west of Buckeye) at 7:30am. I was dismayed to see a convoy of cars here and a large group of birders just starting out as I arrived (finding Le Conte's Thrasher can be tough even when you have the place to yourself). Further dismay came when I saw that the area was staked out with "orange flags" -- I know that it's not about to become a Le Conte's Thrasher sanctuary (the property was up for sale last year and the sign is now gone).

After about 15 minutes of walking and listening, we heard a LE CONTE'S THRASHER singing in the distance and worked our way towards it pausing and scoping, getting better views with each stop. The other group did the same from another vantage. The bird eventually left (as did the other group) and was replaced by a BENDIRE'S THRASHER. Minutes later, the LE CONTE'S THRASHER popped up again and treated us to a prolonged session of song. In the end we committed the cardinal sin of walking away. Other birds in the area were few and far between -- regulars included VERDIN, BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHER and SAGE & BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS. 

The light wasn't great for photography (the first cloudy/rainy day for a while) but I don't usually let the laws of science deter me and I ended up with a fairly decent shot. Digiscoping is a new medium and rules are made to be broken! This shot was taken using an adapter and remote control so I was able to use a slow speed. I went with a "soft look" to display the shot. 

In some years, the birds don't really start full blown singing until February and can sometimes be a little difficult to find in January. Today, a second Le Conte's was singing near the bird that we saw. They have also been found by two recent clients on January 5 and 10 (at 3:pm); and a local birder on Jan 18. I have updated the "Baseline/Salome thrasher graph" with data from those visits as well as today. Another party that we met today had seen Crissal Thrasher across the street -- I see that species there more than on the "main patch" (next year it may be the only patch).

At 9:30am we left and headed towards Arlington for some casual birding. I debated whether or not to take my car, but birding in two vehicles is far from ideal and I left it parked. Fortunately, I took most of my valuable stuff with me (birding optics, camera stuff, laptop computer etc.,) because when we returned my car had been broken into. Not only had a bunch of stuff been stolen, the thieves had also gone overboard getting access -- driver and passenger side front windows were completely smashed, one rear window was partly smashed, one door had been damaged and a door lock busted. Glass was everywhere inside the vehicle.

A police officer was on the scene when we arrived making that part of the experience a little easier and quicker. Of course, my vacation was now history and I simply drove home to deal with the aftermath. Ironically, it was the first rainy day in a while, not really the day to be driving without windows! Así es la vida.

In the Arlington and Palo Verde areas we visited several ponds and enjoyed great looks of at least 4 VERMILION FLYCATCHERS and a number of other birds including COMMON MERGANSER,  GREAT and SNOWY EGRETS, RING-BILLED GULL, OSPREY, WHITE-TAILED KITE, NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, LINCOLN'S & SAVANNAH SPARROWS and ABERT'S TOWHEE.

Wednesday, January 22, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day  
Late yesterday the glass in my 3 smashed windows was replaced and today I was mobile again. It turned out that although one of the door locks is busted and won't open with a key, the power locks function so the vehicle is secure again ("secure" being a relative term as I learned on Monday). Today I got the CD player replaced and got the estimate for the body damage. The CD player died after a few hours (bad amplifier) and had to be replaced. All in all, a fun day! However, I did manage a little birding so it wasn't a complete write off.

I headed down to the San Pedro this morning only to find 3 tours vans (all with the same company, obviously a quality tour) so I immediately left and doubled back to Sierra Vista WWTP. As has been typical since the plant reopened to birders, activity was minimal. Surprisingly, even raptors were in short supply. However, this MERLIN, perched on a fencepost along the entrance road as I drove in, was definitely worth the price of admission. Otherwise it was just a few RED-TAILED HAWKS with not a single Harrier visible (normally they are common). I saw 17 species in an hour including HORNED LARK, AM. PIPIT and YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD.

To give you an idea how poor the birding is here at the moment, my 5 visits this month to date have produced a cumulative total of 34 species. During January in previous years, the highest cumulative total was 65 with several years in the 50s. Very depressing.

Between chores this afternoon, I made a short visit to Carr Canyon where the views looking across to the San Pedro Valley from ~ 8000 feet were spectacular. Although the direct sun was quite warm, it was decidedly chilly at Reef campground and I struggled to find birds. Among the usual suspects for this time of year were RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, RED & WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, BROWN CREEPER, AMERICAN ROBIN, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE and OLIVE WARBLER. 

Thursday, January 23, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day  
The weather continues much more like spring than winter and the WHITE-WINGED DOVES in my neighborhood have been singing for about a week now (not unusual for January, they normally start singing during the third week). I left my vehicle woes behind me today and did some leisurely birding at Parker Canyon Lake. My outbound route was via Coronado National Memorial and Montezuma Pass; I returned via highway 83 and Fort Huachuca west gate with a brief detour to Canelo. I generally peedled along and the round trip (including 2.5 hours at the lake) took me 8 hours. The views into Mexico and the San Rafael Valley were far more impressive than the birding, although I did find a couple of interesting birds.

All but one of the south and southwest canyons of the Huachucas were completely dry. Bear Canyon was the only exception and there was surprising amount of water here considering that none was elsewhere. Ironically, the area was completely birdless apart from a flock of CHIPPING SPARROWS, the most common bird in all locations today. 

I found the only significant mixed species flock a little less than 2 miles east of Bear Canyon in an area of oak and juniper with mistletoe and some weedy stuff. There were plenty of individuals of a dozen species, highlighted by several CASSIN'S FINCHES and a BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER. Cassin's has been fairly scarce this winter; the warbler is always scarce in winter. Among the other species contributing to the activity were a large group of EASTERN BLUEBIRDS and lesser numbers of WESTERN BLUEBIRDS, many HOUSE FINCHES and PINE SISKINS, and the typical species such as BEWICK'S WREN, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, BRIDLED TITMOUSE and RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET.

At Parker Canyon Lake, I started by scanning for the wintering Bald Eagle(s) without success and then spent all my time at the east end of the lake near the boat launch and small bay. The only birds that I could see at the dam end of the lake that were not present at the east end were WESTERN GREBE and lots of COMMON MERGANSERS. I spent most of my time digiscoping, sometimes in poor light, sometimes good. I recorded only 22 species at the lake including PIED-BILLED GREBE, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, GADWALL, BUFFLEHEAD, GREAT BLUE HERON,  BLACK PHOEBE, WESTERN BLUEBIRD, AMERICAN PIPIT and LESSER GOLDFINCH 

Considering the distance and the temperature, I was pleased with the amount of detail in the heron photos (the two shots are of different individuals). I got lots of shots of the pipit, but the bird simply would not keep still!

Driving back home along highway 83 and along Canelo Road, birds that I hadn't yet seen today were AMERICAN KESTREL, RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, BUSHTIT and NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD.

Day list (46 species recorded):
Pied-billed & Western Grebes, Ruddy Duck, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Bufflehead, Common Merganser, Great Blue Heron, N. Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Am. Coot, Killdeer, Mourning & White-winged Doves, Red-naped Sapsucker, N. Flicker, Say's & Black Phoebes, Mexican Jay, Common Raven, Eastern & Western Bluebirds, N. Mockingbird, European Starling, White-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick's Wren, Verdin, Bushtit, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bridled Titmouse, Horned Lark, Am. Pipit, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, Cassin's & House Finches, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Dark-eyed Junco, White-crowned, Chipping & Vesper Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Great-tailed Grackle and Brewer's Blackbird.

Saturday, January 25, 2003     Previous Day     Next Day
Out today with Kip Whitefield from Chicago, IL who I've birded with on one previous occasion. For the next three days we'll be working on target birds and today we got off to a good start by picking up a dozen species and missing only one of the birds that we specifically looked for. We "golf birded" a loop through Santa Cruz County where the afternoon temperature was in the low 70s.

We began in the Paton's yard shortly after dawn when the temperature was only 33 degrees. Nevertheless, it only took about 15 minutes get a scope look at our target LAZULI BUNTING. 

At Patagonia Lake we had to work a little for our birds but still managed to get in and out in only 90 minutes. I thought we had cracked it immediately when we stumbled into a BRIDLED TITMOUSE flock at the bottom of the steps. However, I soon realized it was the wrong flock when I didn't see or hear a vireo.  We continued on and after another 45 minutes or so picked up the correct flock, this time with a HUTTON'S VIREO. They moved around quite fast and at times we had to run to keep up with them. Our reward was the pair of BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHERS, on the hillside above the mesquite bosque near the third wash. Other targets at the lake were GRAY FLYCATCHER, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE and 50+ MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS, not often seen here.

Having picked up the Bluebirds we were able to skip Kino Springs and drove directly to Peña Blanca Lake where we easily found several RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS. We didn't stay long here and the only bird of note from 16 recorded was HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER.

After a quick check of Amado Sewage Pond, we headed into the foothills of the Santa Ritas and had some quick success with RUFOUS-WINGED SPARROW, BREWER'S SPARROW and BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHER.

Next stop was Continental where we burned 40 minutes looking for LEWIS'S WOODPECKER. Fortunately, a bird flew in as we were about to leave. It was still in the same spot when we drove by again 40 minutes later. Timing is everything -- aargh!

At the old Pima Co. maintenance yard it took about 30 minutes to find LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH, two of them to be precise. Despite scouring the area and across the road near the railroad tracks we had come up empty. Fortunately, amidst the noise of all the twittering HOUSE FINCHES, I heard the faintest of calls from the goldfinches and we tracked down just two birds, male and female resting in the heat of the afternoon.

We finished up with a try for the Rufous-backed Robin in Florida Canyon. However, mid afternoon was hardly the ideal time and, as might be expected, we struck out. The bird had been seen this morning at 9:00am. It would have been nice to finish with the robin, although we could hardly complain about our day.

Day list: (82 species recorded):
Pied-billed Grebe, Neotropic Cormorant, Ruddy Duck, Am. Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, N. Pintail, N. Shoveler, Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Common Merganser, Great Blue Heron, Black Vulture, N. Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Gambel's Quail, Virginia Rail, Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Rock & Mourning Doves, Costa's Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Lewis's, Acorn, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Red-naped Sapsucker, N. Flicker, Hammond's & Gray Flycatchers, Eastern, Say's & Black Phoebes, Western Scrub-Jay, Mexican Jay, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, Hutton's Vireo, Loggerhead Shrike, Phainopepla, Western & Mountain Bluebirds, Townsend's Solitaire, Hermit Thrush, Am. Robin, N. Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, European Starling, Cactus, Canyon, Marsh & Bewick's Wrens, Verdin, Black-tailed & Black-capped Gnatcatchers, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bridled Titmouse, House Sparrow, Lesser & Lawrence's Goldfinches, House Finch, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Dark-eyed Junco, Song, Lincoln's, White-crowned, Chipping, Brewer's, Vesper, Lark, Black-throated & Rufous-winged Sparrows, Spotted, Canyon & Abert's Towhees, Pyrrhuloxia, Lazuli Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark and Great-tailed Grackle.

Sunday, January 26, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day
Out again today with Kip Whitefield. Another glorious blue sky day -- 32 degrees in the Sulphur Springs Valley at 7:30am and almost 70 degrees on Fry Blvd. in Sierra Vista when we finished in mid afternoon. Even though the birding wasn't as productive today, we still managed to pick up 7 targets while missing 3. 

We started on Lee Road where we quickly found a singing CRISSAL THRASHER in a regular spot. The bird was some distance away and by the time that we drove closer the bird had dropped out of sight never to be seen again. In the same area we found a very cooperative BENDIRE'S THRASHER (ironically, not a target!).

Moving on just a short distance, we picked up a couple of SAGE THRASHERS on Central highway, a bird that is more often missed than seen on any trip to Sulphur Springs Valley.

We then spent some time unsuccessfully scanning for Mountain Plover in the fields on Central just north of Davis. LARK BUNTINGS were far more abundant there today (and elsewhere) than at any other time this season to date. Also present were FERRUGINOUS HAWK, a singing CURVE-BILLED THRASHER for a four thrasher day, HORNED LARK, EASTERN and WESTERN MEADOWLARKS and lots of MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS (common in a handful of places today). We also checked for plover in  the Essary Hay fields on Rucker Canyon Road.

Driving back south to Elfrida we stumbled into a couple of EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES as we stopped to look at a flock of YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS. On Mormon Road we added the one-eyed GREAT HORNED OWL and COMMON GROUND-DOVE.

To avoid a trip into the Mule Mountains, we headed into the Granites where many BLACK-CHINNED SPARROWS were present and easy to find (they are usually present here in winter, although not always in numbers). Among the other species present were WESTERN SCRUB-JAY, CANYON WREN, HERMIT THRUSH, and scads of BLACK-THROATED & BREWER'S SPARROWS.

As we headed back to Sierra Vista, we made a final scan for plovers in the fields on Davis, finding 6 LONG-BILLED CURLEWS instead.

We finished the day in the Huachucas where I failed to find Williamson's Sapsucker in either Sawmill or Garden Canyons. Only OLIVE WARBLER in Sawmill was of note.

Day list (60 species recorded:)
N. Harrier, Red-tailed & Ferruginous Hawks, Am. Kestrel, Sandhill Crane, Long-billed Curlew, Killdeer, Rock, & Mourning Doves, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Common Ground-Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Great Horned Owl, Acorn, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Say's Phoebe, Western Scrub-Jay,  Steller's & Mexican Jays, Chihuahuan & Common Ravens, Loggerhead Shrike, Phainopepla, Western & Mountain Bluebirds, Hermit Thrush, Am. Robin, N. Mockingbird, Sage, Bendire's, Curve-billed & Crissal Thrashers, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Cactus & Canyon Wrens, Bushtit, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Horned Lark, House Sparrow, Lesser Goldfinch, House Finch, Olive Warbler, Lark Bunting, Dark-eyed & Yellow-eyed Juncos, White-crowned, Savannah, Brewer's, Black-chinned, Vesper & Black-throated Sparrows, Canyon Towhee, Pyrrhuloxia, Eastern & Western Meadowlarks, Yellow-headed, Red-winged and Brewer's Blackbirds.

Monday, January 27, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day
Day 3 and final day with Kip Whitefield. The crazy weather continues and today we saw a swing from 35 degrees at 7:45am when we began birding at "the thrasher spot" near Buckeye to 82 degrees at Marana Pecan Grove at 1:00pm. We looked for 7 species and managed to see 4 of them.

We were on the road at 4:00am to return to the scene of last Monday's crime (literally) at the intersection of Baseline and Salome, west of Buckeye. This time I took the minimum amount of stuff that I needed and only the amount that would fit in my backpack! We started walking into the scrub about 7:50am and almost immediately heard LE CONTE'S THRASHER singing; the bird was about 1/4m mile  from the highway perched atop a mesquite  We walked beyond its location in an attempt to get a better viewing angle and managed great scope looks despite the low morning sun. Our only other target here was SAGE SPARROW -- they were quite numerous and we saw them before the thrasher. Consequently, we were underway again by 8:30am. 

We returned via old highway 80 hoping to find Prairie Falcon along the way -- no such luck. A few SANDHILL CRANES were in the fields.

We resumed birding at Western Sod Farm on Green Reservoir Road in the Avra Valley. Once again, just as yesterday in the Sulphur Springs Valley, our search for Mountain Plover was unsuccessful. However, we did pick up AMERICAN PIPIT, target #3 for the day. We then had another look for Prairie Falcon in the valley, again without success. 

We finished up at Marana Pecan Grove where we failed to find Burrowing Owl in the heat of the day, although our search was far from exhaustive as the airport beckoned Kip for his flight home. In most years, a couple of days in the field would have easily yielded multiple GREEN-TAILED TOWHEES. Today we had to work hard to find one in the northwest corner of the grove, the only place that had any significant concentration of birds 

Day list (33 species recorded):
Great Blue Heron, N. Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Gambel's Quail, Sandhill Crane, Killdeer, Mourning & Inca Doves, Greater Roadrunner, Gila Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Say's & Black Phoebes, Common Raven, Loggerhead Shrike, Phainopepla, Mountain Bluebird, Le Conte's Thrasher, European Starling, Horned Lark, Am. Pipit, House Finch, Yellow-rumped Warbler, White-crowned, Savannah, Brewer's, Vesper & Sage Sparrows, Green-tailed & Abert's Towhees, Western Meadowlark and Brewer's Blackbird.

Tuesday, January 28, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day
First of two scheduled days with Jack Wright from McLean, VA. I birded with Jack for three days back in July for Flame-colored Tanager, Five-striped Sparrow and Rufous-capped Warbler. Our only target for the this trip is the gnatcatcher at Patagonia Lake.

The temperature was close to freezing when we started out on the marsh trail at Patagonia Lake at 7:30am. I told Jack that I was leaving my camera in the car to ensure that we would get a good look at the gnatcatcher. Little did I know how much of an understatement that would turn out to be.

My strategy today was the same as all my gnatcatcher seeking visits over the past two months, i.e. I walk the marsh trail as far as the northeast corner of the lake (or as far as necessary) listening for titmice. If not found, I then head into the mesquite bosque and work my way back south. On the way back today I heard several BRIDLED TITMICE calling and we started checking the flock. After a few minutes without hearing a Hutton's Vireo I decided that this was the wrong flock and we moved on. I soon heard more distant titmice and hurried over to their location. Almost immediately I heard the call of HUTTON'S VIREO and then started listening for gnatcatchers. It took only a couple of minutes before the unmistakable call of BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHERS signaled the end of our chase.

Both male and female were in a leafless willow in the open grassy area between bosque and marsh, opposite the third wash. They stayed in the same tree for almost 20 minutes; and for 10 of those minutes the male sat perfectly still in one location, no doubt enjoying the warmth of the morning sun (as was I). The female continued to fuss around and the birds called back and forth to each other before finally moving on and rejoining the flock of titmice. I really paid the price for not taking my camera today -- I would have had some great shots of that stationary bird! C'est la vie.

The time was only 9:00am and we now have almost two full days of casual birding ahead of us. Jack had only seen RUFOUS-WINGED SPARROW and LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH once so we headed into the Santa Rita foothills and then to Green Valley where we had excellent looks at both birds.

Next, we spent an hour in Florida Canyon without seeing the Rufous-backed Robin and then headed over to the Paton's Yard where there were far too many people and constant movement to expect much in the way of birds. After 30 minutes we called it a (successful) day.

Day list (54 species recorded):
Pied-billed Grebe, Neotropic Cormorant, Ruddy Duck, Mallard, Ring-necked Duck, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Am. Coot, Rock Dove, Mourning Dove, White-winged Dove, Inca Dove, Red-naped Sapsucker, Acorn, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Gray Flycatcher, Black Phoebe, Western Scrub-Jay, Mexican Jay, Common Raven, Hutton's Vireo, Phainopepla, Western Bluebird, Mountain Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, Am. Robin, White-breasted Nuthatch, Cactus, Canyon & Bewick's Wrens, Verdin, Black-tailed & Black-capped Gnatcatchers, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bridled Titmouse, House Sparrow, Lawrence's Goldfinch, House Finch, Orange-crowned & Yellow-rumped Warblers, Lincoln's, White-crowned, Chipping, Brewer's & Rufous-winged Sparrows, Canyon Towhee, Northern Cardinal, Lazuli Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern & Western Meadowlarks and Great-tailed Grackle. 

Wednesday, January 29, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day  
Out again today with Jack Wright. After some early success yesterday with the gnatcatchers (ABA bird #736 for Jack), we spent the morning in the Sulphur Springs Valley with the intention of seeing Bendire's Thrasher, a bird that Jack had seen only once. Another blue sky day with a cold start and warm afternoon.

After some initial failure at a couple of regular spots on Coffman Road (perhaps due to the presence of a COOPER'S HAWK and MERLIN respectively), we moved on and eventually struck thrasher gold. In the same location we saw 4 GREATER ROADRUNNERS, 3 BENDIRE'S THRASHERS, 3 SAGE THRASHERS and a CURVE-BILLED THRASHER. Traffic was constantly whizzing by and prevented me from getting a photograph of the Sage Thrashers. When the traffic finally stopped for almost 10 minutes, the thrashers were nowhere to be seen!

After spending about 30 minutes with the thrashers (2 of the Bendire's were singing), we headed over to Whitewater Draw that was light on birds and heavy on people. We recorded 20 species in about one hour including REDHEAD, MERLIN, lots of SANDHILL CRANES, 7 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, 35 LEAST SANDPIPERS, VERMILION FLYCATCHER, LINCOLN'S SPARROW and EASTERN MEADOWLARK.

Thursday, January 30, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day  
I spent the morning and early afternoon in the Huachucas where I visited Sawmill and Garden Canyons. Even with all the warm days that we've had, there was some patchy ice in the shady spots on upper garden Canyon road.

Sawmill was quite active early on (albeit with just a few species) but by 10:30am nary a bird was stirring. I found a dozen regulars including RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, ARIZONA WOODPECKER and STELLER'S JAY. Oddly, a small group of MOURNING DOVES are choosing to spend the winter here. The spring like conditions encouraged the BRIDLED TITMICE to sing.

Back in Garden Canyon, small flocks of CEDAR WAXWINGS and LESSER GOLDFINCHES accounted for most of the birds at the upper picnic area. Only the sporadic tapping of ACORN WOODPECKERS broke the silence.

It was a different story at the middle picnic area where the birds took it in turns to drink and bathe at the stream crossing. I stepped back into the trees and watched from a distance seeing BRIDLED TITMOUSE, several EASTERN and a flock of WESTERN BLUEBIRDS, a very wary TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, a calling PAINTED REDSTART and lots of CHIPPING SPARROWS. 

I recorded the following:
Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Mourning Dove, Red-naped Sapsucker, Acorn & Arizona Woodpeckers, N. Flicker, Say's Phoebe, Steller's & Mexican Jays, Hutton's Vireo, Phainopepla, Cedar Waxwing, Eastern & Western Bluebirds, Townsend's Solitaire, Am. Robin, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Bewick's Wren, Bushtit, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bridled Titmouse, Lesser Goldfinch, Painted Redstart, Dark-eyed (Gray-headed & Oregon) Junco, Chipping Sparrow and Eastern Meadowlark.

Friday, January 31, 2003    Previous Day    Next Day
This morning I checked the San Pedro river and Sierra Vista WWTP to finish up the month. The unseasonably warm weather continues.

Apart from the immediate vicinity of the feeders at the San Pedro House, the highway 90 area of the San Pedro continues to be a bird free zone. My cumulative total of 43 species for the month is 20% below any previous January with the same number of visits and almost 40% below the highest January in the 10 years that I've birded here. 

I find it hard to believe that I didn't see a single White-crowned Sparrow during my two hour walk there this morning. However, I did note a significant increase in VESPER SPARROWS today and managed to stumble into one GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE. The lack of sparrows and other seed eating species (for example, Towhees and Lark Buntings) is not just a San Pedro thing. They seem scarce across the board in most places in SE AZ with only a few locations having a "normal" year. Almost all of the regular wintering sparrows can still be found on any given outing to suitable habitat, it's just that the numbers of individuals are way down this year.

25 species recorded on the San Pedro:
N. Shoveler, Great Blue Heron, Scaled & Gambel's Quail, Am. Coot, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Say's & Black Phoebes, European Starling, White-breasted Nuthatch, Marsh Wren, Lesser Goldfinch, House Finch, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Song, Chipping, Brewer's & Vesper Sparrows, Green-tailed, Canyon & Abert's Towhees and Red-winged Blackbird.

The birding at Sierra Vista WWTP wasn't much better although a stooping PEREGRINE FALCON was definitely a highlight. Surprisingly, it was my first of the year on this the last day of January. Ironically, the WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS that I didn't see on the San Pedro were abundant here in the little strip of mesquite between highway 90 and the road that runs east from the main entrance. 

20 species recorded at SVWWTP:
Am. Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, N. Pintail, N. Shoveler, N. Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, Peregrine Falcon, Am. Coot, Mourning Dove, Say's Phoebe, Marsh Wren, Verdin, Horned Lark, House Finch, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Song, White-crowned & Savannah Sparrows and Yellow-headed Blackbird.

This log is in chronological order and the most recent entries are at the bottom of the page.
The last update was on Friday, January 31, 2003.

Species List

Stuart Healy Journal - January, 2003 If you use the contents of my journal for commercial purposes, please acknowledge the source to your clients - thanks.

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