Greetings Birders,
I've been birding non-stop this past week--and have seen some great birds!
On 14 Oct I started early at the Gilbert Water Ranch, where Damon put me on two sparkling PROTHONOTARY WARBLERS. Then I hightailed it south to the Ash Canyon Bird Sanctuary, and after half an hour of scrutinizing BLACK-CHINNED and ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRDS, the vagrant RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD came in to drink. The brilliant green back and bright white underparts immediately set this bird apart from the others. Some rough roads took me around to the western flank of the Huachuca Mts. where I made my way to Sunnyside Canyon. On my hike to, and then up the canyon, I was serenaded by MEXICAN JAYS and BRIDLED TITMICE, and among the many NORTHERN FLICKERS I picked out an ARIZONA WOODPECKER. As I drove slowly along Sunnyside Canyon Road I stopped to examine a bump in the road--it turned out to be a MONTEZUMA QUAIL! As I was photographing it, a juvenile AMERICAN GOSHAWK called from the canyon below. The next day, 15 Oct, I birded the golf course adjoining Arthur Pack Park in Tucson. Following directions from a fellow birder named Bob, I found the one-eyed CLAY-COLORED SPARROW in the brush surrounding pond #7.
A trip up to Mittry and Martinez Lakes on 17 Oct turned up several VIRGINIA and a single BLACK RAIL, and numerous SORAS. As usual, the highlight was the pond at Mesquite Point in Imperial NWR, which was teeming with hundreds of waterfowl, including 75 handsome REDHEADS.
Yesterday, 18 Oct, I headed north to Lake Havasu in search of Blue-footed Booby and rare gulls. I found the Bill Williams NWR headquarters complex closed due to the government shutdown. And no luck from Lake Havasu City, either. At Rotary Park the birds and I got to hear lots of amplified pop songs emanating from the car show. Fortunately it didn't seem to bother the two AMERICAN REDSTARTS calling from a mesquite tree. This morning I headed to Alamo Lake, where a fine selection of birds greeted me--a few of which were COOPER'S and SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS, two BROWN PELICANS, dozens of AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS, and hundreds of CLARK'S GREBES. At Brown's Crossing (where the Bill William's River continues on from Alamo Lake) there were more good birds in the willows and cottonwoods, including a brilliant RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, 2 AMERICAN ROBINS, a PLUMBEOUS VIREO, and several BEWICK'S WRENS.
The Clay-colored Sparrow brings my AZ Big Year total up to 390, so just 10 more to go! eBird reports with some photos among them:https://url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/-75KCXYBgvfOopONLU6f0uW1Oxu?<domain...> - Brown's Crossinghttps://url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/h3zpCYVDjwfA2GAZyfGhouxE-_g?<domain...> - Alamo Lakehttps://url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/Th9oCZZEkxiQ9OQRWtKiquB5ZYW?<domain...> - Ahakhav Tribal Preservehttps://url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/RSZMC1VkgOfqNvqmQfXsXuVk7YF?<domain...> - Imperial NWRhttps://url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/1MkcC2GljPc8zn8GDf9tqu5NpnW?<domain...> - Sunnyside Canyon
Good Birding!Henry D. <Detwilerhenry_detwiler...>, AZ
Finding Birds in Southwest Arizonahttps://url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/gpNKC3Ymkgf2zL2Mrivu6uQfvcc?<domain...> Birds at the Salton Sea and in Imperial County, https://url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/UW_RC4WnljTlKLlWwcjCxu4GdMP?<domain...>
