November 26th, 2011   Tags: , , , ,

Sulphur Springs Valley

Pacific-Loon-Faria-Dairy-Pond-11-1126-05We planned to stop at the pond by Faria Dairy for a few minutes but it turned into a much longer visit. This pond is attractive to wildfowl including diving ducks and grebes and often has interesting birds. That was certainly the case today. Straight away I noticed a loon and a quick look through the scope confirmed it as a PACIFIC LOON, a rare bird in SE Arizona. [...]

August 7th, 2011   Tags: , , , , ,

Fun Birding Workshop Shorebird Special

Swainsons-Hawk-Willcox-11-0807-02Lake Cochise had no gulls, no terns, relatively few shorebirds and very few ducks. With some effort we recorded ten shorebird species: KILLDEER, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, BLACK-NECKED STILT, AMERICAN AVOCET, SOLITARY SANDPIPER, WESTERN SANDPIPER, LEAST SANDPIPER, BAIRD’S SANDPIPER, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER and WILSON’S PHALAROPES. [...]

June 3rd, 2011   Tags: , ,

Willcox Gray Catbird

Max has a brilliant yard, full of birds. There were five or six WESTERN TANAGERS and an entertaining family of CURVE-BILLED THRASHERS amongst many other birds coming to the plentiful feeders. Before long, the GRAY CATBIRD duly arrived, giving nice views at the back of the yard and a couple of times briefly at close range. [...]

April 30th, 2011   Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Birds of Fray Birdathon 2011

Caspian-Tern-Willcox-11-0430-01I ended on a total of 144 species. At Willcox, six CASPIAN TERNS, 18 RING-BILLED GULLS and three FRANKLIN’S GULLS were the obvious stars. On the shorebird front, single SEMIPALMATED PLOVER and WILLET were among hundreds of peeps. PRAIRIE FALCON and SWAINSON’S HAWK were overhead. [...]

April 8th, 2011   Tags: , , , ,

Cochise Stronghold, Benson WTP

Annas-Hummingbird-Cochise-Stronghold-11-0408-02Highlights included several SCOTT’S ORIOLES, LAZULI BUNTINGS, PAINTED REDSTART, BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, HAMMOND’S FLYCATCHER, GREEN-TAILED, SPOTTED and CANYON TOWHEES, BROAD-BILLED, BROAD-TAILED, BLACK-CHINNED and ANNA’S HUMMINGBIRDS and my FOS WHITE-THROATED SWIFT. [...]