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Tucson Audubon Society
Tucson Audubon Afield: June/July 2007
Recent Field Trips and Sightings in
Southeast Arizona
by Liz Payne See also Tucson Audubon Afield home page
(This article first appeared in the September 2007 Vermilion Flycatcher, the newsletter of the Tucson Audubon Society. To receive the Vermilion Flycatcher in the mail, become a Friend of Tucson Audubon.)
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Water! What a difference a week makes. From ‘non-soon’ to monsoon, we’re now underway: high winds, high temps, crashing thunder, micro-bursts, flooded washes. So it’s not always a dry heat. Do the snowbirds know what they miss? The Sonoran Desert is one of North America’s wettest, and our Sky Island Theater amazes with spectacular skies, thrilling lightning and… water!
Fortunately perhaps, this dual season doesn’t disclose its secrets to the casual spectator. Once hot, dry June surrenders to July’s monsoon, red-spotted toads trill so loudly that sleep is tricky. Warm, damp mornings are perfumed with spicy creosote. Abundant rains create a second spring and southeast Arizona’s avian activity shifts into high gear. Read vibrant, visible breeding
birds and youngsters. Demanding fledglings and busy parents. More promise of Mexican migrants, August’s hummingbird peak; Fall migration begins.
The mercury bested the century mark early on, and several outings were complete by 8:30a.m. Triple digits are not for everyone and casual birders rightly retreat while others seek relief at higher elevations. Extra early departees, fortified with frozen water bottles and serious sun block reap ample rewards. Regardless, Tucson Audubon continues high-quality Field trips to diverse and significant locales.
Fortunate birders enjoyed an amazing species selection. Particularly notable: Plain-capped Starthroat and Blue-throated Hummer at Agua Caliente.Wood Duck, Tropical Kingbirds at SweetwaterWetlands; Ramsey Canyon Inn’s ‘pure’ Berylline Hummingbird; Carr Canyon’s Northern Parula and Short-tailed Hawks; Cienega Creek Preserve’s Yellow-green Vireo, American Redstart and Thick-billed Kingbird.Madera Kubo’s Flamecolored Tanager male connected with a female Western Tanager. Proctor Road’s Black-capped Gnatcatchers fledged young. A Long-eared Owl with young at Cascabel.Wayward Pine Siskin at 6th and University in Tucson. Kentucky, Hooded, Chestnut-sided and ProthonotaryWarblers; young and adult White-faced Ibises near Dudleyville. Western Grebe, adult Ruddy Turnstone, Franklin’s Gull and Lesser Scaup at Willcox.
RickWright’s pre-dawn trek to the Peña Blanca area on June 1 produced all three Myiarchus flycatchers, Gray, Zone- and Redtailed
Hawks, and plenty of busy breeding activity. The group reveled in Hutton’s Vireo singing with a mouthful of fluff, a female Vermilion Flycatcher nesting even as her newest fledglings remained in the same tree. Juv-ey Black Phoebes begged fruitfully. Later observed at Rio Rico: a flock of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks totaling about 100, and 32 Black Vultures.
June 2, twelve people joined Homer Hansen at West Turkey Creek. Mexican Chickadees greeted them at the lower campground; Bushtits constructed a pendulous nest; and Brown Creepers crept. Returning, some stopped byWillcox’s Cochise Lake, adding Cinnamon and Blue-winged Teal, Clark’s Grebe, Black-crowned Night Heron and a Willet. Family groups provided the greatest thrill. 4 reddish-orange, purple-headed American Coot chicks, or a family of 5 Loggerhead Shrikes posing together are hard to beat!
Vivian MacKinnon’s Mt. Lemmon group of 27(!), detouring to Agua Caliente for the Plain-capped Starthroat, were gladly rewarded with fantastic hoverings, flycatching and perching. The day continued up the mountain with Grace’sWarblers, Arizona Woodpecker and many others. Some saw the Painted Redstart, some the Warbling Vireo, but the Starthroat stole the show!
John Higgins (a.k.a. “The Pie Man”) led two Beginning Hummingbirds trips which logged 8 and 10 species. June 16, the Patons’ feeders thrilled 10 birders, aged 6 to 76, with a Violetcrowned Hummingbird, and then an unexpected Blue Grosbeak spectacle: one feeder, 10 males, all at once! Beatty’s added big Magnificents and Blue-throats, plus close looks at a striking male Lucifer at Ash Canyon. Not really ‘just for beginners,’ ID tips and natural history info is always shared. John’s July 28th trip treated 11 birders to cool monsoon rains and lovely Violet-crowned, White-eared and Lucifers.
Popular (and cooler?) trips to Madera, Sabino, Scotia, Sabino and Carr Canyons were guided by Brian McKnight, Clait Braun,
Larry Liese, and Liz Payne respectively; fantastic days all.Madera highlights: a late male Lawrence’s Goldfinch in key plumage, a
roosting Spotted Owl and an obliging Zone-tailed Hawk. Clait’s Sabino list totaled 34 species with ‘bird of the day’ nod to Browncrested Flycatcher. Larry’s Scotia group experienced Elegant Trogon calling (and views!), Buff-breasted Flycatcher on nest,
Wild Turkey hen and 6 chicks, Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, Swainson’s Hawks, an antelope jackrabbit, and pronghorn antelopes. Liz’s Sabino trip had 35 species including several lifers for 2 new Tucson residents. A male Indigo Bunting, female Summer Tanager, fledged Cooper’s Hawks and more, plus large desert spiny lizard and a splendid regal horned toad. Two bobcat kittens lounged along a horizontal branch.
Dave Dunford and five intrepid birders explored Carr Canyon, immediately encountering Scaled Quail. A Zone-tailed Hawk circled low, and Painted Redstarts appeared early. Buff-breasted Flycatchers, a Greater Pewee, Brown Creeper (a lifer for at least one birder). Abundant AcornWoodpeckers, noisy Stellar’s Jays, Western Tanagers, and distant Northern Pygmy-Owl heard by some. 60+ species; one flat tire fix; another great day out!
An extremely hot day at Las Cienegas for Darlene Smyth’s July 3 field trip. Great birding concluded with Ray Harm’s hospitality while admiring his art. 40 birders in 10 cars joined Moez Ali for a Mt. Lemmon extravaganza! Beat the heat they did—Molino Basin,
Rose Canyon Lake and Ski Valley did not disappoint, with a respectable 82 species. Cynthia Taylor, Lainie Epstein, Barb Bickel,
and Doug Jenness also led well-attended trips.
Buenos Aires NWR has had a tremendous monsoon. Grebe Pond and Aguirre Lake are both full for the first time in years, and this
water is expected to carry on into winter. Already the birds are pleased. The end of July has brought Sandhill Cranes, BlackbelliedWhistling-Ducks, Avocets, Solitary Sandpipers and others.
Fall is on the way, and recent sightings of Black-headed Grosbeak and Warbling Vireo verify migration. September is perfect to try
ponds for shorebirds, and prime to score the odd migrant or rarity. Prior years have recorded Philadelphia Vireo, Blackpoll
Warbler, and Aztec Thrush. I hope you’ll join us on a Tucson Audubon field trip. It’s yet another marvelous season to be afield.
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This page was updated on 01/30/07