21 May 2014 Wednesday: With a last minute cancellation, I found
myself with a free day. With little time
to plan, I chose to visit a few of the ponds near Green Valley. A quick visit to the Amado WTP produced two
Snowy Egrets and a male Ring-necked Duck that will probably be spending the
summer. Otherwise, I rested and began catching up on paperwork.
22 May 2014 Thursday: Today
I guided Bruce & Kris to Huachuca and Miller Canyons. The Sinaloa Wren was not to be heard or seen
this morning. Two Pacific-slope
Flycatchers seem to me to be late. To be
expected, Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers were visible & vocal at both ends of
Huachuca Canyon Road. A pair of
Curve-billed Thrasher appeared to be building a nest a near the Camp Gila Picnic
Area. Above the 1.7 mile picnic area we were blessed with wonderful looks at a
male Elegant Trogon. In Miller Canyon
above the Beatty’s Guest Ranch, the female Northern Goshawk continues
incubating or brooding, the female Spotted Owl was perched just outside the
cavity, the Northern Pygmy-Owls were not to be seen. At the Beatty’s feeders, the male White-eared
Hummingbird continues to dazzle.
After I finished guiding, I
headed over to Lake Cochise with hopes of seeing several rarities found
yesterday and see earlier this morning. I
first saw the American Golden-Plover. I took some distant yet identifiable
photographs of this rare species for southeast Arizona and very good year bird.
On the east edge of the lake I found
three Ring-billed Gulls and one ratty California Gull. And then I see the Black Tern hunting over the lake
nearby. On my pass around the lake, I
found the Snowy Plover foraging
& hiding beyond clumps of grass. I
was fortunate to see it and had no time to even attempt to get a photo. I looked for the Snowy Plover from other
vantage points without seeing it again.
Back on the east side of the lake, amongst the four larger gulls was the
basic plumaged Bonapart’s Gull,
probably a second year bird that won’t get full alternate plumage this
summer. I check out the golf course pond
prior to leaving. The sun is low in the
sky and makes viewing this pond and the nearby golf course difficult. However, I found a Willow Flycatcher in the willows (go figure) at the northeast
corner of the pond. This little
excursion netted five year birds! And I
saw several other species of personal interest like Scaled Quail, Green-winged
Teal (rare this time of year), a flock of White-faced Ibis, and twenty-two
Spotted Sandpipers.
23 May 2014 Friday: I was
out again with Bruce & Kris in the Huachuca Mountains. We first climbed up Carr Canyon Road to the
Reef Townsite and Ramsey Vista Campgrounds.
At Reef Townsite among the numerous Buff-breasted Flycatchers were pair
of Greater Pewees that appear territorial.
We also scored with the warblers, good views of singing male Virginia’s,
Grace’s, and Olive. At Ramsey Vista, we
found three Band-tailed Pigeons perched up fairly close (rather than flying
by), an Olive-sided Flycatcher, a male “Azure” Eastern Bluebird, and more
Buff-breasted Flycatchers. During the
drive down Carr Canyon Road, we encountered a pair of Bushtits in the scrubby
oaks at one of the hairpin turns overlooking Hereford.
We then spent an hour at Ash
Canyon B&B hoping that a Lucifer Hummingbird would show up, no such
luck. While there I learned of an
Elegant Tern that was found at Patagonia Lake State Park. We already had plans to go to Patagonia. We
traveled to Patagonia where we spent a half-hour at the Paton’s feeders scoring
at least one Violet-crowned Hummingbird.
By the time we got to Patagonia Lake, it was hot. The tern had been reported flying from the west
end to the east end of the lake. We
concentrated out search from the visitor center eastward and came up
empty.
After dropping Bruce & Kris
off back in Patagonia, I headed back to the lake. This time I obtained a permit for the nature
area. From here, I am able to scan the
west end of the lake, section of the lake not visible from any of the park’s
picnic areas. There it was! An Elegant Tern flying high over the lake
plunge diving. I watched &
photographed for several minutes before it disappeared to the east. I re-found the bird thirty minutes later in a
cove across from the swim beach area (I was at the visitor center).
24 May 2014 Saturday: Today
I participated in the Santa Rita Mountain Trogon Survey. My assigned territory was the upper end of
the Carrie Nation Trail in the Hopkins Fork of Madera Canyon. This is about a ½ trail-mile above where
Louise & I surveyed last year and near the location where I found two
recently fledged trogons last summer. The
first part of the count was stationary (06:00-09:00) and I positioned myself
along the trail a settled in for the long wait.
As it turns out, I positioned myself within a hundred feet of a trogon
nest. When I arrived on the scene a
male trogon was calling as if on territory and would occasionally fly down
canyon to deal with another male intruding.
Eventually he settled down and called consistently from one group of
tree (not in the stream bed) and at least trice called with his head in body-out
of the cavity. Either he likes the acoustics
of the hollow tree or the female was hard of hearing. Between episodes of watching trogon behavior,
a female White-eared Hummingbird
visited me. Though brief, it was a
wonderful visit. Wonder if she is also
was nesting nearby. During my hike down
the Carrie Nation Trail, I ran into a couple of birders (also trogon surveyor)
that told me about a Mexican Whip-poor-will on the trail below the second
stream crossing. Sure enough, not on the
trail exactly but close was a Mexican Whip-poor-will sitting on a rock in plain
view across the stream bed.. What a wonderful punctuation for a wonderful
morning.
25 May 2014 Sunday: Today
another trogon survey, this one in the Patagonia Mountains. For the second year I was fortunately
assigned Corral Canyon. Last year was my
first visit to this shallow canton and I found at least one breeding pair of
trogons and a second year male. This day
I found one breeding pair at their nest thanks to the female flying across the
road and landing in the cavity. The mated male was off barking at another male,
apparently an intruder on his territory.
Another mile & half up the this canyon was a second male calling
& foraging in the oaks on the side of the canyon. This male’s calls sounded as if he was bonded
to a female and therefore implies a second breeding pair nesting in this canyon
of marginal habitat (at least to this human’s perspective). Besides the trogons this is a wonderful place
to spend a morning birding. I had a
Thick-billed Kingbird at 2.6 miles above the main road and a pair of “Azure”
Eastern Bluebirds.
After completing the survey and
in route to home, I stopped at Montosa Canyon to look for a male Hooded Warbler
reported from the day before. No luck
with the warbler on this rather warm early afternoon.
26 May 2014 Monday: Absolutely nothing in the field having to do
with birds.
27 May 2014 Tuesday: Another
day with no guiding. I could even claim
I was unguided. I tried check on the
nightjars early in the morning on my way to Las Cienegas. Then checked out the Amado Pond and Torres
Blancas Golf Course. The only excitement
was two Greater Scaup at the pond on the Torres Blancas Golf Course. These
birds are rare at any season in southeast Arizona and were will documented.
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