On Wednesday 29th morning I spent an hour at Desert Meadows
Park before continuing on to Santa Gertrudis Lane south of Tubac. At Desert Meadows I find the continuing Blue Grosbeak and an adult male Broad-billed Hummingbird. The
Clay-colored Sparrow was not to be found.
It was another productive day along the Santa Cruz River. I headed south along the Anza Trail from Santa
Gertrudis Lane. The migrants/wintering
birds were not so much as in flocks but just about everywhere. I had a brief
but diagnostic view of a Chestnut-sided Warbler
just before being chased by a Painted
Redstart. In one tree I had three Western
Tanagers, the female Orchard Oriole,
and an adult male Bullock’s Oriole. I did not see the Orchard Oriole as well as
I had previously, but this time I heard it call in response to the Bullock’s
calls. I had seen a male Bullock’s in
the area previously.
Friday 31st morning I awoke with the feeling that this
was going to be a wonderful day. And
what a glorious day it was. My wife,
Louise, accompanied me on a search for a Worm-eating Warbler that was reported
yesterday at the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve. The weather was absolutely wonderful, a mix of
clouds & sun and cool temperatures.
We arrived at the preserve at 8:18, paid the fee, and got some
information from the host. The host is
actually the person that found the Worm-eating Warbler a few days ago and
notified some Patagonia locals to get it confirmed. She told us where she thought this bird was
hanging out and with whom it was foraging (vireos). Louise & I head to the location, heard a
solitary-type vireo singing and saw numerous warbler-like birds foraging but
light & distance prevent me from making very many identifications. Shortly afterwards Susan, the host, arrives
and gives us permission to walk the creek bed. In short order Louise & I
were searching the riparian forest from Sonoita Creek. It took me nearly four hours to find the Worm-eating Warbler. Louise had wandered back to the truck for food
and to get some reading material. At 12:38
I observed this warbler about twenty feet up in a small willow with several
other warblers. Because the Worm-eating
Warbler was so distinct, a split second look with the binocs was enough and I
reached for the camera at the same time one of the other warblers seems to
attack the Worm-eating. I took a picture
of the spot in the tree where the Worm-eating was. It took me thirty minutes to catch up with
this warbler again and it was only 40-50 feet from the original spot in the
next tree over. This time I began
blasting away with the camera. Louise
appeared and I got her on the bird. And
I continued inconveniencing as many electrons as I could (a geeky way of saying
I took more pictures). The Worm-eating
Warbler was foraging in a flock that included Audubon’s, Black-throated Gray,
& Orange-crowned Warblers and Cassin’s & Plumbeous Vireos. I managed a few decent shots; Louise confirmed it was a Worm-eating Warbler
for me (we had seen them together many years ago at High Island). She probably saw it better than I did since
viewing through the camera is typically less optimal than through binoculars. I am pumped up, seeing & photographing
number 399 for the year and getting to share it with my wonderful wife. To add to the wonderment of the day, before
seeing the warbler we saw several species of butterflies, talked to a
White-tailed Deer lying in the grass a few yards off the trail, and twice saw a
Coati running down the creek. I knew this was to be a glorious day!
Louise & I spent much of Saturday 1st up in Tucson in
activities not related to bird much at all.
I did receive email from both Mark & Andrew, and later from Bob
Rolfson, concerning a Long-eared Owl within easy striking distance.
Early this morning Sunday 2nd I took off to
Arivaca to search for the Long-eared Owl that was seen yesterday. About three quarters of a mile from my truck
and about 50 yards from yesterdays observation spot, I saw white wash in a
hackberry tree, looked a little higher in the tree and saw the face of a Long-eared Owl nervously looking back
at me. The owl appeared to be playing peak-a-boo. I started backtracking away and the owl
showed its streaked under-parts as it flushed & flew up a wash. I saw a second owl flinch near where the
first owl landed and both disappeared visually due to obstructions &
distance once they settled. Wow, number 400 for the year. I didn’t think about
dancing, I was pretty concerned about the nervousness this first owl appeared
to show. Long-eared Owls are generally
pretty skittish but this seemed extreme.
Nearby at Arivaca Cienega, a part of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife
Refuge, I found another Clay-colored
Sparrow. This was my third
Clay-colored of the year and I got a few poor photographs. This Clay-colored was flocked with Chipping
& Brewer’s Sparrows and Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrows whereas my previous
two this year were flocked with Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrows primarily. While I was picking through a large flock of
Yellow-rumped Audubon’s Warblers, searching for something different, I found a
warbler walking on the ground & fallen branches bobbing vigorously. It was
a western Palm Warbler. At that moment, I wasn’t expecting a Palm. I
was thinking about Blackburnian or Pine or Black-throated Green. Though rather
rare, the Palm Warbler is more regular than the others and should have been the
one I “expected”. This Palm was rather
dull with the only real color being the yellow under-tail coverts. My encounter with the Palm Warbler was
terminated by a Sharp-shinned Hawk swooping in; the Palm and all the
Yellow-rumps disappeared into the brush. Now the count is 401. I have met & exceeded my goal and tied the record with
almost two full months left in the year.
How far can this go?
On Monday 3rd Louise & I are back up the Carrie Nation
Trail. The Cassin’s Finches must have
moved on since we didn’t detect them. We
did find a late Hermit Warbler and
three Townsend’s Warblers.
On Tuesday 4th I was back at Clark Crossing. As I am getting out of my truck I realize I
forgot to pack my mud boots. Oh well,
I’ll adapt and perhaps the water level will have subsided. Upon reaching the Santa Cruz River drainage I
find the water level may have subsided but it was still very muddy. So rather than going south as planned I head
north along the dry Anza Trail towards the Sinaloa Wren spot. I paused at the wren spot with hearing or seeing
this often-elusive individual. I continued north to where an Eastern Phoebe had
been reported. It too was elusive for me
today. Turning back south I come across
a small mixed-species flock including some vireo doing a fuss-call. My initial reaction when I saw this bird was
‘wow that’s a sharp-looking Cassin’s Vireo’ and then a split second later I’m
taking notes & trying to photograph what I believe to be a Blue-headed Vireo. I reported this bird as a possible
Blue-headed Vireo. I wanted to write up
my notes before looking at any references.
I now believe I had a Blue-headed Vireo and have sent a report off to
the records committee.
With the Blue-headed Vireo, my
total for the year is 402. This week I have met & exceeded my goal
(400) and tied & then exceeded the previous record (401).
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