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Tucson Audubon Society
Tucson Audubon Afield: October 2005
Recent Field Trips and Sightings in
Southeast Arizona
by Rick Wright (see Tucson Audubon Afield home page)
This article first appeared in the December 2005 – January 2006 Vermilion Flycatcher, newsletter of the Tucson Audubon Society. To receive the Vermilion Flycatcher in the mail, become a Friend of Tucson Audubon.
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The recent popular literature about birding makes us all seem obsessive, fanatical, and fiercely competitive. That picture isn’t entirely true. I, for example, am not the least bit competitive: I just like to win.
Winning in the birding game, like in other games, sometimes requires a creative construction of the rules. For example, the 50 species recorded at Catalina State Park on the International Big Sit October 9, while impressive, pales next to the totals reported for some of the 170 circles worldwide; but the 25 birders who "sat" a 12-hour day to raise funds for education and conservation can be proud of having submitted the longest list for any circle in the world with no ducks on it, and the only list in the world to include both Rufous-winged Sparrow and Eastern Phoebe. Impressed? Donations in honor of the doughty counters can still be made directly to Tucson Audubon.
All the Big Sitters remarked on the scarcity of migrants that day, an impression shared by the participants on Kendall Kroesen’s trip to the upper Santa Cruz the day before. But the birding rules favor quality over quantity, and the Common Black-Hawk seen moving south would have made every birder’s day even without the Gray Hawks, Lazuli Bunting, and Warbling Vireos found nearby.
Raptors were also a high point on the trip to the Sulphur Springs Valley led by Keith Kamper October 11. Among the Northern Harriers at Whitewater Draw was one foolish bird that presumed to attack a perched Golden Eagle: the larger bird took flight and "gained altitude quickly; the harrier climbed and performed a spectacular dive against its adversary, which made several impressive evasive maneuvers, demonstrating that while large, it was very agile. A second Golden Eagle joined the combatants in the air, followed soon after by a confused ibis!" Hard to imagine any sight to rival that one, but a "Krider’s" Red-tailed Hawk later that day at Willcox was new to many of the participants, while a Crissal Thrasher found at Lake Cochise was the first of that species most had seen there.
Considerably smaller than the Sulphur Springs eagles, but no less combative, no fewer than five species of hummingbirds were the highlight of the October 18 trip to Madera Canyon, led by Bev Postmus; the expected Blue-throated, Magnificent, Black-chinned, and Anna’s were joined at the feeders of the Santa Rita Lodge by a Costa’s Hummingbird, scarce at that elevation and in that habitat. Earlier in the trip, the Green Valley sewage ponds played host to 9 species of duck and five shorebirds, an irresistible temptation to the Prairie Falcon that gave good views to all 18 participants.
Another Prairie Falcon was found on Dave Dunford’s October 22 trip to Arivaca. At the cienega, the 14 birders from the US and Finland observed nine sparrow species, both flickers, and a female Blue Grosbeak in spectacular weather; a drake Wood Duck was a nice find on the Amado Sewage Pond, where it was still present three days later at the beginning of the Patagonia Lake trip led by Clait Braun. The 70 species observed included 8 raptors and both vultures; numerous sparrows gave outstanding views as they fed on abundant dried seeds. At the lake, 20 birders enjoyed multiple visible Soras and four Neotropic Cormorants, while the highlight of the day’s warbler list was a scarce Northern Parula. Even rarer, a Tennessee Warbler found by Barbara Bickel and Rick Taylor lingered at Sweetwater Wetlands through the end of the month.
Ruddy Ground-Doves seem poised to make a great showing this winter, and Darlene Smyth’s October 29 Tucson Audubon trip to agricultural areas in Pinal County enjoyed a male and a female at the Red Rock feedlot. Thirty-one Red-tailed Hawks were seen in the course of the day, along with numerous American Kestrels. The same areas produced as many as three White-tailed Kites, Ferruginous Hawk, and Merlin in the days before and after the trip; sadly, the Heermann’s Gull found by Doug Jenness at Arizona City October 28 had moved on.
A Halloween field trip to Catalina State Park, led by Alison Beringer, turned up such desert specialties as Rufous-winged Sparrow and Curve-billed Thrasher; "the" Red-naped Sapsucker, back at its traditional picnic area sapwells, was a highlight for all seven participants, including a visiting birder from Belgium. A Gray Catbird found by Philip Kline October 17 was one of two reported in southeast Arizona this month. The biggest news from Catalina State Park, though, was the Buff-breasted Flycatcher discovered by Rich Hoyer October 27, a startling place and season for this high-mountain specialty breeder.
So how can you win at the birding game? Just get out there and play.
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This page was updated on 05/09/06