The last of three days birding with Ken Burden from Washington state. Ken was an absolute pleasure to spend time with. At 85 years young, he’s as bright as a button and he outsmarted me constantly (which I guess isn’t difficult). His amazing stories kept me entertained throughout. Thanks Ken 
We began at Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson and quickly found the continuing CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER, which was hanging out with a TOWNSEND’S WARBLER in the cottonwoods directly west of Hidden Pond. Also there, a yellowy SUMMER TANAGER by Hidden Pond, with another or the same heard calling to the south of the complex, plus all the usual delights Sweetwater has to offer.
 Chestnut-sided Warbler  Chestnut-sided Warbler  Chestnut-sided Warbler  Chestnut-sided Warbler We spent a while searching for the Short-tailed Hawk in its east Tucson wintering area (Seneca/Ridgeway) without success. We had a brief look for it on Tuesday afternoon and came up empty then as well. Has anyone looked for or seen this bird lately? A stunning male BROAD-BILLED HUMMINGBIRD was some consolation.
After missing it yesterday, we headed south for another go at the BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER along the Santa Cruz at Carmen. We found it quite easily, by the blue plastic jug balanced on a railroad tie, along with a lot more bird action than yesterday afternoon. This included BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, CASSIN’S VIREO and GRAY FLYCATCHER. A RUFOUS-WINGED SPARROW was singing in the mesquites to the west.
We checked a few ponds without finding anything much. A lowland AMERICAN ROBIN was feeding at a small pyracantha bush by the golf club on Plaza de la Cotonia, Desert Hills Estates in Green Valley. There was still a BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK at Amado Pond.
For the fifth year in a row, a GRAY HAWK has chosen the Arivaca Road exit on I-19 at Amado as it’s wintering area. It’s probably the only one in the U.S.A. at the moment, but it certainly didn’t make itself difficult to find today. It’s a shame more birds don’t take this approach when it comes to revealing their whereabouts…
 Gray Hawk, this way... On my way home from Tucson to Patagonia, a PRAIRIE FLACON flew over I-19 just south of Valencia in South Tucson and there were still a couple of TURKEY VULTURES along River Rd south of Rio Rico.
A great few days of fall birding in SE Arizona with a charming and extremely interesting companion.
Birding with Ken Burden from Washington state, we were searching for Arizona rarities. We saw a lot of species but fared less well on the rarity front.
We began in Patagonia where we found five woodpecker species but failed to find the recent Williamson’s Sapsucker by the bandstand. A MERLIN flew over and perched briefly behind the Stage Stop Inn. Paton’s still had at least four BROAD-BILLED HUMMINGBIRDS (two adult males, immature male, adult female).
A couple of BLACK VULTURES were near Nogales. Moving on to Pena Blanca Lake, we found the southern end to be much quieter than recent visits. Highlights were an ARIZONA WOODPECKER, a gorgeous male LAWRENCE’S GOLDFINCH and a minimum of 12 LEAST GREBES. I was particularly pleased with some of the photos.
 Least Grebe  Least Grebe  Least Grebe  Least Grebe  Least Grebes We spent a while birding the wash along Peck Canyon Rd in Rio Rico. After about 40 minutes we eventually saw the SCARLET TANAGER (a state bird – thanks Joshua!) in the wash to the south of the road, a little west of Geronimo Court. It was silent and almost motionless in a large mesquite for about ten seconds, then dropped out of sight and we didn’t see it again. A few RUFOUS-WINGED SPARROWS were the only other birds of note and the area was generally quiet.
 Rufous-winged Sparrow At Amado Pond we found three male and one female WOOD DUCKS and one adult BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK.
The Anza Trail south of Clark Crossing Rd in Carmen was almost bird free when we were there, with the best bird being a GRAY FLYCATCHER.
We ended on 85 species which was a good total, but we missed a few targets. We’ll try again tomorrow…
I spent half a day birding with Mario Ugoletti from Washington D.C. We didn’t start until late morning.
We began at Paton’s in Patagonia where we found at least six LAWRENCE’S GOLDFINCH, COMMON GROUND-DOVE, AMERICAN ROBIN, BROAD-BILLED HUMMINGBIRD and BLACK VULTURE overhead. As always, lots of good birds and well worth a visit, despite being a ‘quiet’ time at Paton’s.
Arriving at the San Rafael Valley around lunchtime, activity was predictably slow but we managed to find quite a few sparrows including a GRASSHOPPER SPARROW, as well as a couple of flocks of CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPUR and a PRAIRIE FALCON. The usual HORNED LARKS and VESPER and SAVANNAH SPARROWS were showing nicely, while a juvenile NORTHERN HARRIER gave us a close fly past and an opportunity for a decent photo.
 Juvenile Northern Harrier  Savannah Sparrow  Savannah Sparrow  Savannah Sparrow  Horned Lark  Horned Lark  Horned Lark We spent a while birding along Harshaw Road in the Patagonia Mountains, with the highlights being EASTERN BLUEBIRD and RUFOUS-WINGED and BLACK-CHINNED SPARROWS.
A very pleasant afternoon with some great birds, and a total of 50 species in limited habitats was pretty good.
Roger Tess and Pat Francis joined me for November’s Fun Birding Workshop, the Rarity Chase. There were a few contenders in the days leading up, but we settled for heading north and going to see a GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL discovered by Tommy DeBardeleben at Glendale Recharge Basins in western Phoenix.
As we arrived, a dashing adult PEREGRINE FALCON was terrorizing Mourning Doves along 107th. We paid homage to the GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL. Great find Tommy! My second new gull in Arizona this week. It was good to see some familiar faces among the small crowd of gull admirers.
 Glaucous-winged Gull Also at this excellent site, lots of shorebirds including a large flock of LEAST SANDPIPERS which were accompanied by two WESTERN SANDPIPERS, as well as high numbers of GREATER YELLOWLEGS, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, BLACK-NECKED STILTS and a couple of AMERICAN AVOCETS. There were at least eight RING-BILLED GULLS, plenty of GREAT BLUE HERONS and GREAT and SNOWY EGRETS and a good range of ducks.
Heading back south, we toured the Santa Cruz Flats, south of Eloy, with varying success. It was nice to find my first MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS of the winter, three groups totaling 25 birds at various points along Pretzer Rd. A calling but unseen CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPUR flew over Evergreen Sod Farm on Pretzer.
We gave Mountain Plover a pretty good go but didn’t find any. The only shorebirds were a few Killdeer. Sparrows were in short supply except in isolated pockets. Raptors were generally thin on the ground but we did quite well for species. A MERLIN was at Evergreen Sod and NORTHERN HARRIER and AMERICAN KESTREL reached double figures. We only saw a handful of RED-TAILS but we eventually found a FERRUGINOUS HAWK further east along Pretzer, just west of Picacho Highway, with another or the same further south on Picacho.
In some ways, birding the Santa Cruz Flats is easier this winter as there are vast swathes of cotton fields which can safely be ignored, leaving patches of good habitat to concentrate on. There are always birds around the sod farms, a ripening sorghum crop at Curry and Pretzer is attracting big numbers of birds, while the irrigated fields along Pretzer west of Picacho Highway are still productive, although drier than my last two visits.
Looking for Bendire’s Thrasher, we unearthed a surprise CRISSAL THRASHER along Curry, south of Pretzer, and several CURVE-BILLED before finding our BENDIRE’S at Baumgartner and Cripple Creek Rd. Also along Baumgartner to the east of Wheeler Rd, three CRESTED CARACARA and a PRAIRIE FALCON for a five-falcon day.
 November 7th, 2011  Tags: phoenix, rarities News of a rare bird here in Arizona always gets my attention, but sometimes it leaves me with a dilemma. This was one such occasion.
The rare bird in question was a Black-legged Kittiwake, a type of gull. But unlike most gulls, which are perfectly happy inland (although not in a desert), this one is a genuine seabird and has no business being inland at all. It was about the 16th record for Arizona so the sort of rarity that the Arizona birder should go and see, because you don’t know when the next one will turn up.
That’s all well and good, and it’s exciting when the rare bird in question is an exotic species you’ve never seen before. But, whilst extremely rare in Arizona, Black-legged Kittiwake is a fairly common bird around Britain’s coastline. I spent my 29 years there living inland, but I’ve seen many thousands of kittiwakes in places like the Shetland Isles. So the dilemma… do I drive almost three hours north to Casa Grande, where the kittiwake was hanging out by a manicured pond next to a mall, to see a species I’ve seen many times before, just not in Arizona?
Well, after hearing day after day that the bird was still there, and seeing the frame-filling photos other birders were getting, I cracked, jumped in the car and got on the freeway. You knew that was going to happen, right?
It was a slightly anti-climactic experience, not only because it’s a bird I’m familiar with, but because I could see it resting with a few puddle ducks on the grassy shore before I even parked the car. To be fair, it was probably the closest I’ve ever been to a kittiwake and it was a lovely bird. But after about twenty minutes, having photographed it from every conceivable angle (in tricky light, as always) I’d had my fill and headed back south.
 Black-legged Kittiwake  Black-legged Kittiwake  Black-legged Kittiwake  Black-legged Kittiwake  Black-legged Kittiwake There was some controversy as to whether the bird was sick or not, whether it was feeding properly, what it was eating and ultimately, whether it should be caught and taken in for rehab. When I arrived the kittiwake was resting on the shore. It allowed me to approach within about ten feet and didn’t seem to mind my presence at all. At times its head was bowed with half-closed eyes, giving a distinctly sick impression.
Then a couple arrived at the pond with a toddler, looking as if they were about to throw bread to the expectant ducks. On seeing them, the kittiwake immediately woke up and flew straight over, plopping down in the water right in front of them. These folks didn’t actually have any bread so all the birds eventually drifted away. What others had witnessed was the kittiwake following the bread-feeders and seemingly pecking at bread on the surface, which is not a good food for a seabird. On closer examination, it turned out that the smart gull had discovered that small fish were attracted to the surface by the bread, and it was feeding on those.
So was it sick? Well, in my opinion, by definition a seabird that turns up in a desert has something wrong with it. Beyond that, who knows? It departed a couple of days later and hasn’t been seen since.
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