Magnolia Warbler, Fort Lowell Park: 11/06/2009

Morgan Jackson and I biked over to Fort Lowell Park minutes after seeing the report on the listserv! Morgan was the first to relocate this MAGNOLIA WARBLER (seemingly a first-winter bird) found earlier today by Clifford Cathers and Darlene Smyth. Unfortunately, the bird was incredibly difficult to photograph! Fortunately, enough marks are visible in these photos to clinch the identification.

The bird was in "Cottonwood Lane," the double row of cottonwoods running east from Craycroft Road to the ruins of the old fort hospital. We last saw the bird around 2:00 PM.



At first glance from this angle, it already doesn't quite look like the more common Orange-crowned Warblers that one might expect to see in this location; notice the gray head and cheeks with distinct eye ring,and sharp demarcation between the yellow on the throat.



This is how the bird looked to us about 95% of the time... Fortunately, the extensive dark tips to a mostly white tail (as viewed from underneath) are essentially unique to the species. The white undertail coverts, vent, and yellow belly/flanks are visible here. If you squint, you might be able to make out a bit of the dark streaking in the lower flanks.



Finally! A photo with the entire bird. Still, not great quality due to the distance and lighting conditions. Wingbars are visible here, as is the extent of the yellow underparts. Not very visible but still present is a hint of the plain greenish back. Since the bird stayed relatively high in the cottonwoods the entire time, it was very difficult to get a good view of the back and uppertail.



Lastly, though distant and dark, a hint of a grayish neckband can be seen dividing the yellow throat from the rest of the yellow underparts. This neckband was only sometimes visible in the field.


According to the latest edition of "Finding Birds in Southeastern Arizona," there are only about a dozen records of this species from our region!

Good birding,
John Yerger
Tucson, AZ
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Senior Guide
Adventure Birding Company

Golden-crowned Sparrow, Sweetwater Wetlands: 11/05/2009

all-

Today at Sweetwater Wetlands I found a 1st-year Golden-crowned Sparrow in the river associating loosely with a flock of White-crowned Sparrows. I was able to call Andrew Core, grab my camera, and refind the bird to capture these shots. While snapping pictures I heard a rustling in the leaf litter and noticed a large (for this area anyway) 4.5 foot Western Diamondback Rattlesnake about 3 feet from my feet (also pictured below)! When I moved it stopped suddenly, but then went on its way in a few minutes hardly even remembering my presence.

Enjoy!

Jake Mohlmann

Senior Guide

Tucson, AZ

1)4.5 foot western diamondback

2)Golden-crowned Sparrow portrait

3) Golden-crowned Sparrow - notice the golden fore-crown and streaky top to the head; also grayish bill.

4) Golden-crowned Sparrow - pretty plain expression on face.

10/22/09 - White-eared Hummingbird & Rose-throated Becard

birders-

Today Gavin Bieber, Celina Blouin, Jerry Bock and I checked out the Santa Gertrudis Lane area today along the Santa Cruz River just south of Tumacacori National Historic Park. When we first arrived after day-break Jerry called back to alert us to the continuing VARIED THRUSH sitting on the fence very near the #(12) sign on the north side of the lane. Later in the morning Jerry had the RUFOUS-BACKED ROBIN in the same general area sitting on top of one of the pyracantha trees eating berries. Also here a fly-by CRESTED CARACARA added to the odd flavor of the morning.

At 8:54 a.m. Gavin called me to report he was watching a VIOLET-CROWNED HUMMINGBIRD as well as a remarkable WHITE-EARED HUMMINGBIRD which was very obliging to having its picture taken (as seen below).

After Jerry, Mark Stevenson and I successfully saw these 2 late-season birds (and perhaps the lowest WEHU record?) we met up with Molly Pollock who informed us of a HUGE flock that had gone by her including lots of sparrows and warblers. Gavin, Celina and I continued SOUTH beyond the road along the river where we eventually met up with the flock again. Good thing we did because in it Gavin spotted a female ROSE-THROATED BECARD that flew in briefly. I tried to get some pictures but, as is sometimes the case with this species, it was very high in a cottonwood tree and managed to stay almost completely obscured by foliage the entire 5 minutes I tried snapping shots. When I lost track of the bird it called quite loudly once and flew off. About 10 minutes later Jerry arrived (when we had to depart back to Tucson) but luckily the bird vocalized 2 more times before we left.

Location is a few hundred meters south of the Santa Gertrudis Lane/Santa Cruz River intersection where the river takes a slight jog east. We were stopped by the ranch owner that is in charge of the land south of the road along the river and he had the following to say:

"You guys are on my land ... which is o.k.! Just wanted to let you know there are some bulls running through this area with the cows and to watch out. You do know how to tell the difference right, haha?"

This is NOT regarding the areas beyond the NO TRESPASSING signs just west of the river along the lane. Not sure whose land that is...

an excellent day of birding was had by all!

cheers,

Jake Mohlmann

Senior Guide

Tucson, AZ

10/18/2009 - Dickcissel and Varied Thrush

All-

John and I checked Amado sewage pond this morning (exit 48 off of I-19) and spotted a large sparrow flock on the opposite side of the pond from the frontage road. Hundreds of sparrows were joined by at least 1 DICKCISSEL pictured below.

1) Dickcissel at Amado Sewage Pond.

After this we headed near the town of Carmen on the Santa Cruz River and birded north, jumped the river, then south along the Santa Cruz for a few hours with nothing too exciting to report. A "Myrtle" Yellow-rumped Warbler was probably the rarest individual seen. At least 2 Hammond's Flycatchers were seen, one of which is pictured below.

2) A nice example of a Hammond's Flycatcher. Note almost completely dark lower mandible, nice eye ring, squared off back of the head, vested appearance, and the long-winged/short-tailed look typical of this species.

Next in line we checked out Santa Gertrudis Lane. After birding the river for 30 minutes and only finding one nice flock (including Painted Redstart, Hermit Thrush, Plumbeous Vireo, a lingering White-winged Dove) I was walking back down-river and kept flushing a raptor. On the third flush its identity was clear. A young COMMON BLACK-HAWK eventually flew over the trees and out of sight. There were also a couple of birders present on our walk back to the car that pointed out the VARIED THRUSH to us. The reported rufous-backed robin eluded us, unfortunately. Below are 2 examples of how even bad pictures can successfully yield correct identification.

3) Varied Thrush - although a fuzzy picture the "unmistakable" look of this bird is evident.

4) This image points out some aspects of this fleeting bird (sometimes that's all you get!) that might help you in case you're in a similar situation. If you look closely at the photos you'll notice the arrows on the wing pointing to a white flash at the base of the primaries as well as a white patch from the base of the tail to the sub-terminal black band. These traits are all good things to look for when differentiating other young raptors that one might confuse this with in a similar habitat in SEAZ (gray hawk, zone-tailed hawk), though these traits are also evident on Great Black-Hawk (you never know!) in case you're in that fortunate situation.

cheers,

Jake Mohlmann

Senior Guide

Tucson, AZ

10/17/2009 - Santa Catalina Mts and Tucson

Had the pleasure of guiding a couple from Missouri today. Birding was slow but steady all day, and we consistently turned up at least one desirable bird at each spot. Personal highlights for me were the following, illustrated with what some might call "bad pictures of good birds..."



Red-breasted Sapsucker at Agua Caliente Park, NE Tucson: found two days prior by Liz Harrison on the Tucson Audubon birdwalk there. Having seen this bird multiple times in the Pacific Northwest, it was a little strange for me to see it hanging out on a palm tree!



Buff-breasted Flycatcher (BBFL) at Molino Basin, Catalina Highway: almost the first bird I clapped eyes on as we took our first few steps away from the vehicle was this little gem. I was stunned, having never seen this species in the Santa Catalina Mountains before. Of course, there were sightings from two different locations farther up the highway this summer: Willow Canyon and Middle Bear Canyon. Still, the bird is not expected here and certainly not at this time of year, being strictly a highly localized breeding species in southeastern Arizona. Dave Stejskal suggested to me that Molino Basin is not terribly unlike the habitat preferred by wintering BBFL in Mexico, so perhaps it will be worth keeping an eye on this area over the next few months!

In the field, I thought this bird looked so buffy it's probably a juvenile - but I only saw it for a total of about 30 seconds, mostly through the camera lens (which you can see doesn't help much). If anyone sees this bird and can take note of age, that would be helpful.


Finally, to wrap it up we saw a beautiful drake Wood Duck on the small pond at Fort Lowell Park in central Tucson:




As has been proven time and time again in this corner of the world, you never know what you'll turn up on a day of fall birding in Arizona. :-)

John Yerger
Senior Guide
Adventure Birding Company