[wisb] AZ trip Rpt
- From: "Seegert, Greg" <gseegert@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2013 23:53:51 -0500
Wisbirders
Last Mon I flew to Phoenix to attend a conference. My session on Tues didn't
start until 1000 so I went to Scottsdale early and got a E wigeon.
Wednesday---After my last session ended, I headed to the LeConte's thrasher
spot at the end of Baseline Rd W of Phoenix. Although the numbers of birds was
fairly low, diversity wasn't too bad.....LeConte's and Bendaire's thrashers,
sage and Brewer's sparrows, verdin, black-tailed gnatcatcher, and Abert's
towhee. Next spot was Santa Cruz Flats. I looked hard but couldn't find any
Mt plovers. Only birds of note were ferruginous hawk and road runner. Next
was Ina Rd on the N side of Tucson. Here I saw my target....Lawrence's
goldfinch. Last stop was Sweetwater Wetlands. Only bird of interest was
Harris's hawk.
Th----On my way to Madera CYN, I made a quick stop to look for rufous-winged
sparrows, but dipped. In Madera, I dipped on red-breasted sapsucker but saw
one red-naped SS. Other decent birds here were hepatic tanager and bridled
titmouse. Heading south on I 19, I stopped first at the Tubac Golf Course.
The Lewis's woodpecker that I saw there in December was still in the same tree
I saw him in 2 months ago. Next stop was Santa Gertudis Lane. Not much here
but I did have a green-tailed towhee. A quick stop at Rio Rica Rd yielded
nothing of note. Last stop was Patagonia SP. Here I had neotropical
cormorant, eared grebe, gray flycatcher, ladder-backed woodpecker, and W
screech owl, but I dipped on my main target...ruddy ground dove.
Fri----San Rafael Valley was very slow with nothing of note. I stopped at the
grassland area just E of Sonoita and found a flock of chestnut collared
longspurs. At Whitewater Draw in the Sulfur Valley, I finally got ruddy ground
dove. It was huddled on a branch next to an Inca dove, probably some sort of
perverted inter-species sex thing but not being one to judge I said nothing, or
as we used to say, "different strokes for different folks". Other spp of note
were merlin, Ross's goose, and many pyrrhuloxias. I stopped at an abandoned
building where I sometimes find barn owls. No barn owls but there was a pr of
G horned owls who likely have chased the barns owls off...or ate them. Heading
up the Sulfur Valley, I saw one flock of lark buntings. Lake Cochise by Wilcox
didn't produce anything of note.
Sat----I made a brief stop at Santa Cruz Flats but again dipped on Mt plovers.
I looked for Mt plovers in the Parkers Valley on the W side of AZ but dipped
there also. At the Parker Dam, I had a rock wren. At Havasu Springs, I had a
loon trifecta...Pacific, common, and red-throated. Also both horned and eared
grebes. The horned grebe and RT loon were new AZ spp....numbers 349 and 350.
At the Bill Williams NWR HQ, I had Clarks, W. , and pied billed grebes, making
it a 5 grebe day. Other birds of interest were barrow's goldeneye, snowy egret
and a good variety of common waterfowl.
Sun----I arrived at the Nutting's flycatcher location on the refuge at 0730.
There was already another birder there. He said he had spent all of the
previous day there without finding it. We birded together for 1.5 hrs without
finding it. Once we thought we heard it but weren't sure. The only bird of
note here was a crissal thrasher...and many phainopeplas. On my way back to
Phoenix, I stopped briefly at the Bill Williams HQ but found nothing new. Also
tried the plover spot in the Parker valley but dipped yet again.
Ended the trip with 124 spp including 2 new AZ birds. A decent but not great
trip. In any case, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Greg Seegert
Deerfield, Il and Beaver Dam, WI
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