Southeast Arizona Bird Guide, Birding Tours SE AZ: Welcome to Fun Birding Tours in AZ with Richard Fray » urban tucson

Black-crowned Night-Heron, Cooper’s Hawk

Richard — Thu, 13 May 2010 07:54:06 +0000

Whilst on my photothon last week I encountered a couple of birds that I couldn't resist spending a few minutes photographing, even though I was supposed to be on a mission to get quantity of species, not [...]

Richard’s Photothon 2010

Richard — Tue, 11 May 2010 10:47:42 +0000

After a decent effort last year where I photographed 105 species, I took my photothon even more seriously this year and aimed for 110. I decided on a new route, spending more time in the car to reach more sites, so even though I would be in the field less I'd be exposed to more birds. And it paid off. I saw/heard a total of 127 species and somehow got photos of 114! [...]

Mt. Lemmon: May Workshop

Richard — Sun, 02 May 2010 06:25:11 +0000

We started with a ZONE-TAILED HAWK over Tucson with another over Catalina Highway. Moving up to Rose Canyon Lake, an adult COMMON BLACK HAWK was circling overhead. Nice! Next up was a male NORTHERN GOSHAWK which flashed through the pines near the entrance kiosk and perched up for prolonged views. Very [...]

AveVentura Birdathon 2010

Richard — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 07:26:39 +0000

After three hours we'd passed 50 species with highlights including a pair of AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES in a mulberry in the grounds of Roger Rd Treatment Plant with a male WESTERN TANAGER nearby, a flyover PRAIRIE FALCON and HARRIS'S HAWKS and CEDAR WAXWINGS [...]

Great Horned Owls

Richard — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 05:22:11 +0000

We were treated to memorable views of a pair of Great Horned Owls. Obviously feeding young, both birds were out before it was fully dark. One dived into the desert undergrowth with an audible thud, but came up empty. Later, one flew across the road right in front of us, carrying prey to their nest. Very [...]

Silverbell Lake, Sweetwater Wetlands

Richard — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 06:49:34 +0000

The first birds we saw were six Neotropic Cormorants which allowed close approach as they rested on a concrete boat landing. They eventually hopped into the water and did a circuit of the lake in a tight pack, diving and resurfacing simultaneously as they hunted for [...]

Ft Lowell Park, Tucson

Richard — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 06:23:19 +0000

I was showing Ed a line of sapsucker wells in a tree when a fine male Red-naped Sapsucker appeared to demonstrate. Several Western Bluebirds were in the next tree, as was a Yellow-rumped Warbler in almost full breeding plumage. We also found our second interesting nest, a Great Horned Owl hunkered down on a mess of [...]

Madera Canyon, Reid Park, Woodland Rd

Richard — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 06:22:04 +0000

The various ponds at Reid Park produced several interesting birds: an early Tree Swallow, a Belted Kingfisher, 16 Canvasbacks, Lesser Scaups on every pond and the highlight, four Hooded Mergansers, two females, an immature male and a fine adult [...]

Bay-breasted Warbler

Richard — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:10:38 +0000

I’ve been in Arizona for seven years without exactly setting the place ablaze with my rare bird finding exploits. I’ve chanced upon a few notables, but nothing to really get people racing to the scene. That finally changed on Saturday…

I was looking for a Rusty Blackbird, itself a very rare bird here, found by Mark Stevenson [...]

Magnolia Warbler

Richard — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:00:52 +0000

A quick dash for a new AZ bird paid off, for once, this afternoon. I’ve looked for migrant warblers in Fort Lowell Park on several previous occasions, always coming up empty. News of a Magnolia Warbler in the usual avenue of cottonwood trees got me out of the office and, amazingly, after a fruitless half [...]