Arizona, Day 2

Black Phoebe, Sweetwater Wetlands

Most of Day 2 in Arizona was spent at my conference. As I left in the morning to go to the conference, I did pick up ABA#419, Lesser Goldfinch, in a willow tree outside the hotel. After the conference was over for the day, I headed up to the Sweetwater Wetlands, where I had a number of very good birds, starting with Harris's Hawk flying up onto a telephone pole as I was driving towards the wetlands.

I spent about 2 and a half hours exploring the wetland, which was teeming with birds. Ducks included Mallards, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Ruddy Duck and my target duck, Cinnamon Teal. Passerines included Barn and Tree Swallow, Yellow-headed and Red-winged Blackbirds, Black Phoebe, Abert's Towhee, Song Sparrow, Common Yellowthroat, Orange-crowned Warbler, Rufous-winged Sparrow, Cassin's Kingbird, GIla Woodpecker, and Marsh Wren. Other birds I observed included Killdeer, American Kestral, American Coot, Common Moorhen, Pied-billed Grebe, Black-crowned Night Heron, Sora, Starling, and, just after dusk fell, Lesser Nighthawk - ending my day by occupying #425 on my ABA list. Satisfied, I left the wetlands and drove back to my hotel.

Arizona, Day 1

9-25-08

I began my first day in Arizona with two life birds over breakfast at the Riverpark Inn in Tucson: Anna's Hummingbird and Gila Woodpecker, which got me to ABA #400 before I had two sips of coffee. The day was sunny and clear, and I was headed to the northeast of Tucson, with the morning planned for Sabino Canyon and the afternoon at Mt. Lemmon.

I spent 3 hours hiking around Sabino Canyon, which wasn't as birdy as I had hoped, but it was birdy enough. I started out with Cooper's Hawk, House Finches and Mourning Doves, and then started hitting the desert birds. I had great looks at Cactus Wren, Gambel's Quail and Cassin's Kingbird.

Cactus Wren

In a riparian corridor, I picked up Green-tailed Towhee, Verdin, more Anna's Hummingbirds, a Costa's Hummingbird, and another couple of Cooper's Hawks. I followed a gnatcatcher's scolding hoping for Black-tailed, but had Blue-gray instead. Further hiking gave me more birds, such as Common Raven, Turkey Vulture, Northern Cardinal, Gila Woodpecker and Northern Mockingbird, and I added Black-throated Sparrow, Gilded Flicker and Greater Roadrunner to my life list.

Black-throated Sparrow

Mt. Lemmon

At 11:30, I felt I had probably seen all the birds I would at Sabino Canyon and headed up to Mt. Lemmon, stopping frequently to bird. I spent a little over 6 hours at Mt. Lemmon, birding up the mountain. Mt. Lemmon was fairly productive, especially in a rocky dry creek bed at a campground, where I had Canyon Wren, Bewick's Wren and House Wren; Summer Tanager; Brewer's Sparrow; Painted Redstart; Western Wood-Pewee, Canyon Towhee, and Nashville Warbler.

Summer Tanager

A little further up at a picnic area I came across the only Yellow-eyed Junco I would see, along with Mexican Jay, Acorn Woodpecker, Spotted Towheeeand Red-naped Sapsucker. Finally, I made it up to the top and had a very late lunch/very early dinner at the Iron Door restaurant. I was the only customer at that time and had excellent service, enjoying German food and beer while watching the Broad-billed and Rufous/Allen's Hummingbirds feed next to me. Then, I headed to the very top, picking up Hermit Thrush, "Red-shafted" Northern Flicker, Pygmy Nuthatch, Mountain Chickadee, Yellow-rumped ("Audubon's") Warbler, Stellar's Jay, and Hermit Warbler. Light was beginning to fail and I could see rain clouds rolling in, so I headed back down the mountain, stopping to enjoy the scenery and feeling pretty good - having added 20 ABA birds in one day!

Detailed AZ posts coming, I swear

I've been pretty busy with work and life since getting back from AZ. But I promise, I'll have a summary of each day up here soon, with pictures!

In the meanwhile, I just saw my 458th ABA area bird this last weekend - Franklin's Gull, at East Fork Lake State Park. The gull also happens to be my 299th state bird!

Brief Arizona results

I've re-written this post after finally entering in my eBird data. I actually had 131 total species, 59 ABA species and 52 life birds (7 birds I had seen in Mexico - if I had Vermillion Flycatcher, I would have added all the birds I saw in Mexico to my ABA list). So here's the GRAND TOTAL copied and modified from eBird (ABA species in bold):

1. Mallard
2. Cinnamon Teal
3. Northern Shoveler
4. Green-winged Teal
5. Ring-necked Duck
6. Ruddy Duck
7. Wild Turkey
8. Gambel's Quail
9. Pied-billed Grebe
10. Great Egret
11. Black-crowned Night Heron
12. White-faced Ibis
13. Black Vulture
14. Turkey Vulture
15. Northern Harrier
16. Sharp-shinned Hawk
17. Cooper's Hawk
18. Northern Goshawk
19. Harris's Hawk
20. Gray Hawk
21. Red-tailed Hawk
22. American Kestrel
23. Sora
24. Common Moorhen
25. American Coot
26. Killdeer
27. Greater Yellowlegs
28. White-winged Dove
29. Mourning Dove
30. Inca Dove
31. Common Ground-Dove
32. Greater Roadrunner
33. Great Horned Owl
34. Lesser Nighthawk
35. White-throated Swift
36. Broad-billed Hummingbird
37. White-eared Hummingbird
38. Violet-crowned Hummingbird
39. Blue-throated Hummingbird
40. Magnificent Hummingbird
41. Lucifer Hummingbird
42. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
43. Black-chinned Hummingbird
44. Anna's Hummingbird
45. Costa's Hummingbird
46. Broad-tailed Hummingbird
47. Rufous Hummingbird
48. Belted Kingfisher
49. Acorn Woodpecker
50. Gila Woodpecker
51. Red-naped Sapsucker
52. Ladder-backed Woodpecker
53. Arizona Woodpecker
54. Northern Flicker
55. Gilder Flicker
56. Western Wood-Pewee
57. Willow Flycatcher
58. Hammond's Flycatcher
59. Gray Flycatcher
60. Black Phoebe
61. Say's Phoebe
62. Dusky-capped Flycatcher
63. Cassin's Kingbird
64. Western Kingbird
65. Loggerhead Shrike
66. Bell's Vireo
67. Plumbeous Vireo
68. Hutton's Vireo
69. Stellar's Jay
70. Mexican Jay
71. Common Raven
72. Tree Swallow
73. Barn Swallow
74. Mountain Chickadee
75. Bridled Titmouse
76. Verdin
77. White-breasted Nuthatch
78. Pygmy Nuthatch
79. Brown Creeper
80. Cactus Wren
81. Rock Wren
82. Canyon Wren
83. Bewick's Wren
84. House Wren
85. Marsh Wren
86. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
87. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
88. Hermit Thrush
89. Northern Mockingbird
90. Curve-billed Thrasher
91. European Starling
92. Phainopepla
93. Orange-crowned Warbler
94. Nashville Warbler
95. Virginia's Warbler
96. Lucy's Warbler
97. Yellow-rumped Warbler
98. Black-throated Gray Warbler
99. Townsend's Warbler
100. Hermit Warbler
101. Common Yellowthroat
102. Wilson's Warbler
103. Painted Warbler
104. Summer Tanager
105. Western Tanager
106. Green-tailed Towhee
107. Spotted Towhee
108. Canyon Towhee
109. Abert's Towhee
110. Rufous-winged Sparrow
111. Cassin's Sparrow
112. Chipping Sparrow
113. Brewer's Sparrow
114. Vesper Sparrow
115. Lark Sparrow
116. Black-throated Sparrow
117. Song Sparrow
118. Yellow-eyed Junco
119. Northern Cardinal
120. Black-headed Grosbeak
121. Blue Grosbeak
122. Lazuli Bunting
123. Varied Bunting
124. Red-winged Blackbird
125. Yellow-headed Blackbird
126. Brewer's Blackbird
127. Great-tailed Grackle
128. Bullock's Oriole
129. House Finch
130. Lesser Goldfinch
131. House Sparrow
     

Breif update from Arizona

27 ABA birds so far! Including Cactus Wren and Black Phoebe, which I had seen in San Miguel de Allende when I was on vacation there. A big update when I come back, plus photos. oh, and ABA bird #400? Gila Woodpecker. Had that and Anna's Hummingbird with breakfast yesterday morning...

Targets for Arizona

According to my friend Joe, who is kindly hosting me for two days and birding with me next week, these are the most likely birds I will be adding to my ABA/life list in Arizona:

1. Cinnamon Teal
2. Gambel's Quail
3. Harris's Hawk
4. Gray Hawk
5. Inca Dove
6. Lesser Nighthawk
7. Broad-billed Hummingbird
8. Magnificent Hummingbird
9. Black-chinned Hummingbird
10. Anna's Hummingbird
11. Costa's Hummingbird
12. Acorn Woodpecker
13. Gila Woodpecker
14. Ladder-backed Woodpecker
15. Arizona Woodpecker
16. Gilded Flicker
17. Black Phoebe
18. Say's Phoebe
19. Cassin's Kingbird
20. Hutton's Vireo
21. Plumbeous Vireo
22. Cassin's Vireo
23. Mexican Jay
24. Bridled Titmouse
25. Verdin
26. Cactus Wren
27. Bewick's Wren
28. Curve-billed Thrasher
29. Black-throated Gray Warbler
30. Grace's Warbler
31. Lucy's Warbler
32. Townsend's Warbler
33. MacGillivray's Warbler
34. Painted Redstart
35. Hepatic Tanager
36. Green-tailed Towhee
37. Abert's Towhee
38. Rufous-winged Sparrow
39. Black-throated Sparrow
40. Yellow-eyed Junco
41. Pyrrhuloxia
42. Black-headed Grosbeak
43. Lazuli Bunting
    
44. Varied Bunting
45. Lesser Goldfinch

45 seems like a nice number to add to my list - that would put me at 443 ABA area birds. Four of the birds on the likely target list I have seen in Mexico, so they wouldn't be life birds (Black Phoebe, Curve-billed Thrasher, Cactus Wren, and Lucy's Warbler). Still, I'd end up with 470 life birds if I see these 45 birds!

Filling in some gaps in the year list

I went out after a morning rain shower on Saturday to Blendon Woods Metro Park. I thought about sleeping in but it was just nagging at my brain that morning to do some birding, so off I went.

Good thing I did, it was one of the best days for warblers I've had at the park. I spent about 2 hours birding and had 11 species of warblers for my effort, plus I finally saw the mother turkey and her youngsters that are living around the blinds near the pond. I added Blackpoll and Bay-breasted Warbler to my Ohio year list, which was good - I' m missing Cape May Warbler and Northern Waterthrush from the common warblers that pass through Ohio. I also looked for Mourning Warbler as it had been reported from one of the trails, but no luck. I'm hoping we luck into some great warblers and shorebirds on the Avids trip this saturday. I think I have a decent shot at 250 for a state list this year - not bad considering I barely birded at all in Ohio during the month of May, which is typically my best month for adding to a year list.

I also leave in a little over two weeks for Tucson, AZ. I'm really eager to get there and do some birding - I figured I could add 21 life birds just by hanging out in my friend's yard alone...