2009 Tour Narrative
In Brief: Our 2009 tour was characterized by beautiful weather, the usual incredible variety of habitats, and some 250 species of birds in just eight days. Several Mexican strays were recorded, including stunning views of Short-tailed Hawk, Ruddy Ground-Dove, Blue Mockingbird, Rufous-capped Warbler (heard only), and Black-capped Gnatcatcher. San Diego and the Salton Sea were also rarity-rich, with Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Tropical Kingbird, Cave Swallow, Bendire’s Thrasher, “Mangrove” Yellow Warbler, Hepatic Tanager, Hermit Warbler, and great looks at Sprague’s Pipit. The tour’s more regular specialties performed well, too, including Black-vented Shearwater, Pacific Loon, the “rocky” shorebirds, Mountain Plover, Yellow-footed and Thayer’s Gulls, Allen’s Hummingbird, Arizona and Nuttall’s Woodpeckers, Gray Flycatcher, Oak Titmouse, Le Conte’s and Crissal Thrashers, California Gnatcatcher and other localized sage-scrub species, Tricolored Blackbird, Rufous-winged Sparrow, and Burrowing, Barn, and Western and Whiskered Screech-Owls, as well as thousands of Snow and Ross’s Geese and more than 10,000 Sandhill Cranes.
In Detail: It’s hard to beat a mid-winter week in coastal southern California and the Southwest. This year’s tour enjoyed incredibly varied habitats, some 250 species of birds, and some fine rarities from Mexico and elsewhere. Late January and early February saw cold and snow to the north and east, with rain to the northwest. But in the Southwest, we were treated to beautiful weather—in fact, probably the warmest “Deserts in Winter” tour ever—and fine birding as we traversed varied habitats from San Diego to southeastern Arizona.
We birded from the open ocean at La Jolla with its Black-vented Shearwaters, Brandt’s Cormorants, pelicans, gulls, terns, and shorebird specialties, to the sage scrub bordering San Elijo Lagoon with the endangered California Gnatcatcher, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Wrentit, California Thrasher, and California Towhee; from the large tidal bays and mudflats of the San Diego region with their Eurasian Wigeon, many “Black” Brant, Pacific Loon, Black Skimmers, Clark’s Grebes, and Surf Scoters, to parks and open spaces with Tricolored Blackbirds, a stakeout “Mangrove” Yellow Warbler, Tropical Kingbird, Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, White-tailed Kite, Allen’s Hummingbird, Hammond’s Flycatcher, a male Hermit Warbler, and Hepatic, Summer, and Western Tanagers; and to the Laguna Mountains and the woodlands of pine, oak, and cedar with their Band-tailed Pigeons, Acorn Woodpeckers, Steller’s Jays, Oak Titmice, and Mountain Chickadees. But then it was then downhill—both in elevation and scenically (!)—as we birded the Salton Sea, an area that made up for its lack of good looks with such fine birds as several Yellow-footed Gulls, a flock of Mountain Plovers, great looks at Sprague’s Pipit, many thousands of Ross’s and Snow Geese, those cute Burrowing Owls, flocks of White-faced Ibis, rare Tundra Swans, a rare Bendire’s Thrasher, Thayer’s Gull, a fine early-morning performance from a Western Screech-Owl, and a very much out-of-range Cave Swallow.
Then into western Arizona, and walks through creosote and saltbush desert for thrashers and sparrows: a pair of cooperative Le Conte’s Thrashers at our second attempt, near Buckeye, as well as two Sage Thrashers and multiple Sage Sparrows. Several Neotropic Cormorants, and then several Ruddy Ground-Doves at a sad-looking feedlot. And all this before we even reached the freeways and ever-expanding housing of metropolitan Phoenix.
Then south through Tucson, where we looked for a number of stakeouts, including a stunning adult Short-tailed Hawk right over our heads, plus Broad-billed Hummingbird and Bronzed Cowbirds. We pushed on south to the fine Sonoran desert vegetation of residential Green Valley for super porch-side looks at Gilded Flickers, more hummingbirds, and Rufous-winged Sparrows. The next morning, as some in the group trekked up Florida Canyon in search of Rufous-capped Warblers, others visited feeders in Madera Canyon, which produced Magnificent Hummingbird, Painted Redstart, Bridled Titmice, Mexican Jays, and an Arizona Woodpecker. Then it was through Nogales (Black Vultures and Dairy Queen!), a brief check of Patagonia Lake State Park, highlighted by a Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet and several Gray Flycatchers, and on to Patagonia and Sonoita Creek, where we enjoyed active feeders with Lazuli Buntings to greet us.
The discovery of a Blue Mockingbird east of Douglas resulted in a slight schedule change so that we could easily see this exceptionally rare visitor from south of the border. The picturesque Slaughter Ranch also produced another Ruddy Ground-Dove and some wandering Eastern Bluebirds. We then rejoined the tour’s regular schedule in the Sulphur Spring Valley and Whitewater Draw, where more than 10,000 Sandhill Cranes, beautiful Ferruginous Hawks, Lark Buntings, and two Barn Owls were some of the highlights.
After some brief birding (Green-tailed Towhee) and nature-shop shopping at the San Pedro House, we finished the day in Carr Canyon, where just after dark the resident Whiskered Screech-Owl performed very well. Our final day saw us retracing our steps back to Tucson, visiting some new locales along the way. A fine showing by many feeder birds (including Arizona Woodpecker, Hepatic Tanager, and Painted Redstart) at Madera Canyon also included some bold (i.e., begging) Wild Turkeys. But the rarest species of the day was the pair of Black-capped Gnatcatchers in nearby Montosa Canyon.
In all, some 250 species were found on the tour, in just eight days of birding. Honorable mention also goes to the good Mexican food, good pizza, and good seafood in—of all places—Phoenix!
- Paul Lehman
Updated: February 2009