tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57607362791396595582024-02-07T10:45:26.395-08:00The Verdin NewsThe Birding Year in the Tucson Metro AreaAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-10384577807248187432017-09-22T21:51:00.000-07:002017-09-26T10:58:16.329-07:00The Riparian Underworld<div class="MsoNormal">
I parked at the Camino del Cerro bridge, over the Santa Cruz
River in Tucson, at about 7:15 a.m. I didn’t have much time but I wanted to
connect with the river. It’s a funny underworld sitting below usual Tucson birding and
daily life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Walking off the bridge at Camino del Cerro onto The Loop
Trail, I wondered what I would find along the Santa Cruz River. I could hear
almost nothing in the river because of the cars rushing by. Three lesser
goldfinches had perched on a snag for a moment, and I heard one Abert’s towhee
tooting a call. Some rock pigeons flew by. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I descended under the bridge on the paved bicycle and
pedestrian trail, where it reached only feet from the river’s sandy bottom. I
leaned down and passed between the bars of the dull red-painted railing, and dropped
the last 4 feet down the steep embankment. I was in the shade of the
bridge on the sand, with the river’s weak flow about 10 yards away.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Whenever I get down to the river I feel like I’ve gone below
the city’s surface. It’s like being injected into a major artery, below the
skin. The bright morning sun and the sounds of the street are dulled and the
sound of slowly passing fluid becomes dominant.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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There were no owls perched in the bridge supports, something
I had wondered about. Still no barn owl on my year list. <o:p></o:p></div>
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But there was abundant evidence of recently departed cliff
swallows on the sides of the bridge’s understructure. Mud nests were plastered
to the upper part while upward pointing cones of bird poop lined the ledge
below the nests. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Down here I heard a few more birds, but less than I would
have heard a couple of weeks ago while fall migration was more vigorous. A
warbler chipped softly. I chased it but couldn’t get more than a fleeting
shadow of it among willow leaves. Then a zippy little call made me think of
lazuli bunting. I began to rethink the earlier chip and the grayish shadow I
had seen, but the shadow flew across the river and out of sight. <o:p></o:p></div>
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All in all, on this morning there was more evidence of people
than birds. The metal girders creaked above me as people passed over on their
way to work. There was trash, quite a bit of trash. Some of it was fresh, left
by people passing by or homeless sleeping under the bridge. On this morning
there was somebody camped under the east end of the bridge on a high ledge,
near where the bridge meets the east bank of the river. There was a makeshift
curtain at one end made of a white sheet, letting people know that spot was
taken. I could just see him, or her, wrapped in something and sleeping near a
backpack.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Below the sleeping perch were plastic bottles, food wrappers, shoes,
and assorted bits of clothing. It looked like evidence of far more than just
one person on one night. Like a lot of people, homeless don't "take only pictures, leave only footprints."<o:p></o:p></div>
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Other trash had come from upstream, like a green plastic
chair I found wedged into the trunks of a willow. Perhaps it had been cast
into the river by some frustrated soul. Or maybe it was brought down to the
river somewhere upstream by other homeless people, hiding their temporary camps
in the tamarisks. It could also have washed out of a yard in one of
the heavy downpours in July, floating along a street, down a storm drain and
into a momentarily frothing river. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A shushing house wren call caught my attention. It
momentarily appeared in the leaves of a tamarisk before going back out of
sight. A mourning dove passed over low and fast, as they often do.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Other people, besides the homeless, had spent time under the
bridge as well. The gray concrete pillars holding up the bridge had been decorated according to somebody’s—multiple people’s—ideas of color and identity.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As I emerged again to street level, a dot on a tall
transmission line tower turned out to be a peregrine falcon. I was back in the
bleak and dry historic floodplain, full of predatory activity, human and
aerial. The falcon was rubbing his bill on the tower, or perhaps on its own
feet, rubbing off the remains of an early bird special.<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-28979818735567087182015-11-30T09:31:00.001-08:002015-11-30T09:31:49.780-08:00New Yard Bird: Ruby-crowned KingletBird nerds rejoice at a variety of things. They might be dorky bird-counting milestones or they may be things that have larger consequences. <br />
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Yesterday I celebrated "yard bird" number 35. This milestone may qualify on both counts. I had not seen a ruby-crowned kinglet in my yard in the 6 1/2 years we have lived here, so it was fun to see it. Birders on their local "patches" keep track of such things. It's just a birder thing.<br />
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But where did I see it? It was on a blue palo verde (<i>Parkinsonia florida</i>) and a desert hackberry (<i>Celtis pallida</i>) that I planted about 1 1/2 years ago. This native tree and large shrub, respectively, have grown a bit since I planted them.<br />
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Apparently they have matured to the point where they provide places for native insects to live. Many of our native birds eat insects. I have seen verdins hopping around in these plants several times. Verdins eat insects almost exclusively. The time that verdins now spend foraging in these plants suggests they are finding something to eat.<br />
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Ruby-crowned kinglets, which spend the winter in our region, also eat insects. The one in my yard spent enough time in these plants to suggest that the native plants I planted were supplying it, too, with food.<br />
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The kinglet also spent enough time there for me to get some photos. Enjoy.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKs6lCrscwIPGfECS2vyduycwpBSkotEQ_Oq6K0_Xy2yPW7gZ4Lv2uNnDcJhssAxq62wvvqeo8H5z6r3rBtSsRO5ZEdW_hgyzkRKCTp4AQ6IBF6HBEOEFbpLz4JDtSierO37X_WIUGZEs/s1600/Ruby-crowned+Kinglet+2%252C+Pima+St%252C+crop+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKs6lCrscwIPGfECS2vyduycwpBSkotEQ_Oq6K0_Xy2yPW7gZ4Lv2uNnDcJhssAxq62wvvqeo8H5z6r3rBtSsRO5ZEdW_hgyzkRKCTp4AQ6IBF6HBEOEFbpLz4JDtSierO37X_WIUGZEs/s640/Ruby-crowned+Kinglet+2%252C+Pima+St%252C+crop+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruby-crowned kinglet. Note gray-green color overall with yellow highlights on the wings, white wingbar, a dark bar behind the white wingbar, and, just slightly visible, a little white just in front and behind the eye. This bird is only about 4 1/4 inches long. The plant is a desert hackberry.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSTrfDScVEVq7BKyBr7qRWm96kJwy9cjQqk1LgLIB3vVzj-enl9UyUTLBsXJp9-JH3x6dU_peFqHKFHx9yoANWUdGfZV9c9uunKVKNGCGAtI5XHy4-6ogt1oORGryL7VqnWOHg_KRRAs0/s1600/Ruby-crowned+Kinglet%252C+Pima+St%252C+crop+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSTrfDScVEVq7BKyBr7qRWm96kJwy9cjQqk1LgLIB3vVzj-enl9UyUTLBsXJp9-JH3x6dU_peFqHKFHx9yoANWUdGfZV9c9uunKVKNGCGAtI5XHy4-6ogt1oORGryL7VqnWOHg_KRRAs0/s640/Ruby-crowned+Kinglet%252C+Pima+St%252C+crop+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This photo of the kinglet is blurry but it shows the white in front and behind the eye.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhswlxFjvoEo4AfoeQDi6dpTBj-pqILAenSfexo_cJ6SkK4G5LXsDWv4VSSMKKZ9F4IJ-dsHgIyGF5VgeigYwm5l_HCVQ8g1TvKx7MTbsWRBJfcAlDSnWcn3P5nCaDr2Sa7YurWi9Sqx2k/s1600/Verdin+1%252C+Pima+St%252C+crop+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhswlxFjvoEo4AfoeQDi6dpTBj-pqILAenSfexo_cJ6SkK4G5LXsDWv4VSSMKKZ9F4IJ-dsHgIyGF5VgeigYwm5l_HCVQ8g1TvKx7MTbsWRBJfcAlDSnWcn3P5nCaDr2Sa7YurWi9Sqx2k/s640/Verdin+1%252C+Pima+St%252C+crop+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is a verdin for comparison. It is only slightly longer, at 4 1/2 inches on average. It too is in the desert hackberry. Verdins are common visitors to our yard. </td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-27222334888864323742014-08-03T20:11:00.001-07:002014-08-03T20:11:28.600-07:00Back to Flog the BlogI've taken a couple months off from the blog. I traveled to Colorado and then briefly to California, and handled some family responsibilities. The trips boosted the overall total number birds seen over the year a bit (see numbers to the right).<br />
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But now I'm ready to get back to exploring Tucson metro birds. So it's back to work--and good timing too. This morning I saw a western kingbird from my back yard. First time I've seen it in the neighborhood, let along from the yard. That's a "twofer"--yard list and neighborhood list!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM72CSmg_Ms3v3qDbp7I4JkKVbioWS6oHSdt-6pPG8g15QnacHiAnHhkDHMnssCxgsd1t3agxV-FS03yUEgDANqILxoRsYBqUhE5yQggOd0iK2-jiNq047h-mLwjb6yhpM0yfmi24ZZu8/s1600/Western+kingbird+from+back+yard,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM72CSmg_Ms3v3qDbp7I4JkKVbioWS6oHSdt-6pPG8g15QnacHiAnHhkDHMnssCxgsd1t3agxV-FS03yUEgDANqILxoRsYBqUhE5yQggOd0iK2-jiNq047h-mLwjb6yhpM0yfmi24ZZu8/s1600/Western+kingbird+from+back+yard,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Western kingbird on the wire over the alley this morning. (Watch those wires folks!)</td></tr>
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There are some rarities being seen about the area, including a tricolor heron at Reid Park. But as usual I'm more interested in more common stuff. Though that's not to say I won't go off looking for the heron!<br />
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Next time a post about how the lesser goldfinches seem to be enjoying my back yard, in spite of the fact I don't have a feeder for them.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-82290617725239408262014-06-11T14:57:00.000-07:002014-06-11T14:57:30.240-07:00At My "Whits" EndI haven't been able to meet the challenge of writing at least one blog post per week, so I am a few weeks behind in the news. Around the beginning of May I started to hear brown-crested flycatchers in my Tucson neighborhood (Palo Verde neighborhood). You typically hear their "whit" calls plus other "gurgles" (as I, idiosyncratically, call them).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJy_5RL-5UyxFpt9dTN7lOo217HmPMSYyMg1rsgzGM0tga1P6Qw8CUMHm2FLUm654edtLSNt3tIIIG7mZ6c081ijpUXT0jQwbJAjZc5KI8bl38yFAK8P-3faGWNPrxyPo0RODEXVRO-FA/s1600/Brown-crested+Flycatcher%252C+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood+01%252C+crop%252C+ppt+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJy_5RL-5UyxFpt9dTN7lOo217HmPMSYyMg1rsgzGM0tga1P6Qw8CUMHm2FLUm654edtLSNt3tIIIG7mZ6c081ijpUXT0jQwbJAjZc5KI8bl38yFAK8P-3faGWNPrxyPo0RODEXVRO-FA/s1600/Brown-crested+Flycatcher%252C+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood+01%252C+crop%252C+ppt+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Brown-crested flycatcher in the Palo Verde Neighborhood, Tucson, AZ</i></b></td></tr>
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I set out one morning with a camera and the dogs in tow to see if I could get a photo. This is the best I could do--it's as much a photo of mesquite as it is flycatcher. I'll keep trying, but at least you can see the darker, brownish crest, the gray throat and breast, the yellow belly and the warm, orangish-brown color in the wings. Here is <a href="http://birds.audubon.org/birds/brown-crested-flycatcher" target="_blank">more information about brown-crested flycatchers</a>.<br />
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What's in your neighborhood? Just go out and look!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-14876218090698851752014-06-02T22:06:00.000-07:002014-06-02T22:06:17.302-07:00The Yard Birds<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Bqexk_WeLTFsphOTESA4ylHtqGB2LXOeEdgwek6ZG1ZRNY9qkN5rYML3E7-a2iD_1HCdX6a6pntQswRYyebt8lGkKnOX9y4F1eS5-YP70VpgKab0lmAZXaJfcDM5OeUACsdZvsnIV-0/s1600/Greet-tailed+Towhee,+Pima+house+yard+bird+01,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Bqexk_WeLTFsphOTESA4ylHtqGB2LXOeEdgwek6ZG1ZRNY9qkN5rYML3E7-a2iD_1HCdX6a6pntQswRYyebt8lGkKnOX9y4F1eS5-YP70VpgKab0lmAZXaJfcDM5OeUACsdZvsnIV-0/s1600/Greet-tailed+Towhee,+Pima+house+yard+bird+01,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>Once you are paying attention to birds, you recognize when something new shows up. According to my records on ebird.org, before Saturday May 10 I had seen 30 bird species in, or from, my yard.<br />
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Again, I'm not out to set records. I don't have time to sit around the yard every morning and observe every bird that comes by. This is the effort of a reasonably good birder that pays attention some of the time--an effort I think many people can identify with.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieisJcitrYRG1z0VE8WplLeaaPuOyNJ4xkW9Mn28wh_AcwAVqKOZ6j44SInUj7rzUPQk05AuqvC3TP1mjcuOaWqkNiW1q2SzMFZ_ZPu6zScnVfRzJgNuSGDuFf0zN7EPJMZHE4GfPtbxA/s1600/Greet-tailed+Towhee,+Pima+house+yard+bird+02,+crop,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieisJcitrYRG1z0VE8WplLeaaPuOyNJ4xkW9Mn28wh_AcwAVqKOZ6j44SInUj7rzUPQk05AuqvC3TP1mjcuOaWqkNiW1q2SzMFZ_ZPu6zScnVfRzJgNuSGDuFf0zN7EPJMZHE4GfPtbxA/s1600/Greet-tailed+Towhee,+Pima+house+yard+bird+02,+crop,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Green-tailed towhee</i></b></td></tr>
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Well, I had been trying to get some yard work done, little by little, in the cool of the morning. I was in the back yard when I heard what I thought I might have heard the buzzing call of a lazuli bunting. That definitely would have been a new yard bird. Plenty of them come through town in spring migration but never had I seen one from my yard.<br />
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I went inside to get a camera just in case. But after a few minutes it was clear there was no lazuli bunting. Maybe it was just one of those house sparrow sounds I had heard, or maybe it was "the bunting that got away." But as I walked back toward the house a bird flew into the yard that was shaped like a towhee--kind of like a sparrow but larger, lanky, and with a long tail. As it foraged on the ground for treats, including below the bird feeders, I saw the reddish cap, the gray underside, white throat and the greenish hue, especially on the tail.<br />
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<a href="http://birds.audubon.org/birds/green-tailed-towhee" target="_blank">Green-tailed towhee </a>is an attractive bird that is found around the Tucson basin in the winter--though usually tangles of native trees and shrubs and usually not back yards. By some time in may they leave for nesting sites in the mountains or much farther north. It was nice to host one in the yard, if only for a few minutes.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-20002636801378379202014-05-26T14:27:00.001-07:002014-05-26T14:27:14.860-07:00Recent Sightings<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEighgu5-DX9gzLnIdkFOBaCahFJbgelaCogbmku9OT8N1uaQumaoH96VuOO3yoc6XEx8qdvBy74nL9HUG2Mk0Am29ZNgdSt8Gx6qRYmtxW7kCxagRXrYTOXO9cDezXDFHbWWaYpukKk6pw/s1600/First+page.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEighgu5-DX9gzLnIdkFOBaCahFJbgelaCogbmku9OT8N1uaQumaoH96VuOO3yoc6XEx8qdvBy74nL9HUG2Mk0Am29ZNgdSt8Gx6qRYmtxW7kCxagRXrYTOXO9cDezXDFHbWWaYpukKk6pw/s1600/First+page.jpg" height="320" width="246" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Wilson's warbler on the cover of the April-</i><br /><i>June 2014 </i>Vermilion Flycatcher <i>magazine</i></b></td></tr>
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In April <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wilsons_Warbler/id" target="_blank">Wilson's warbler's </a>stop in our yards and our natural areas. All they want is some bugs. Our native trees and plants, especially flowering mesquites, provide all they need.<br />
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Dr. Charles van Riper has studied Wilson's warbler migration. He found that once having found a bountiful area the warblers may stay in that area--maybe in the very same tree--for two or three days eating insects before moving on. You can find more on this in the <a href="http://www.tucsonaudubon.org/vfly.html" target="_blank">April-June 2014 issue of Tucson Audubon's </a><i><a href="http://www.tucsonaudubon.org/vfly.html" target="_blank">Vermilion Flycatcher</a> </i>magazine.<br />
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Watch your blooming mesquites in April and early May!<br />
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My back yard has a large mesquite and in late April it was in bloom. But I had never seen a Wilson's warbler there. On Sunday April 27 I slept in. It was the day after my birdathon (see previous blog entry) and I had been awake for about 22 hours on Saturday. But by 10:30 a.m. I was up and sitting in the back yard, reading the paper and eating breakfast.<br />
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Well, when you have been watching and counting birds for around 19 hours the day before, you can't just turn it off. I made mental notes of the birds I was seeing and hearing in the back yard. Then I brought out the laptop and began entering a checklist what I was seeing into <a href="http://www.ebird.org/" target="_blank">eBird</a>. By 11:30 a.m. I had seen 14 species--pretty good for having just sat there for an hour. One of the last birds to show up was a Wilson's warbler. True to form, it was foraging for insects among the mesquite flowers.<br />
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What's in your neighborhood?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-83918188293773534202014-05-15T21:24:00.000-07:002014-05-15T21:24:10.296-07:00It's the Most Wonderful Time of the YearThe Christmas song is wrong. The most wonderful time of the year is spring!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq3yD76TWLgoSFdDujiUD7NxnT0OHjxryz0K2EclgRvFn_GkyNMPaRldEbdkE_PvtBMTzGL2M41cU7dhKtkgDJPIHXA5c3ZA3rIVeWKNvS_UJQukXh48Iaig63XQ5fmLYTMEAKbNIZFJw/s1600/Kendall+and+Brian+%5BJanine+McCabe%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq3yD76TWLgoSFdDujiUD7NxnT0OHjxryz0K2EclgRvFn_GkyNMPaRldEbdkE_PvtBMTzGL2M41cU7dhKtkgDJPIHXA5c3ZA3rIVeWKNvS_UJQukXh48Iaig63XQ5fmLYTMEAKbNIZFJw/s1600/Kendall+and+Brian+%5BJanine+McCabe%5D.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Janine McCabe took this photo of Brian </i><i>Nicholas and me</i><i><br />near Gordon Hirabayashi Camp during our Birdathon</i></td></tr>
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In southeast Arizona migration is wonderfully drawn out, with some migrants appearing very early in the year. Many of the other early migrants are in place looking for nesting opportunities by mid March. More continue to arrive in April, some arriving to nest and others just passing through. By the end of April we've reached one of the two points of the year with the most avian diversity.<br />
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I've neglected my blog posts. Work and birding take up a lot of time this time of year.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5tTBtAjkznpeKX-ZoVRJcdkG0Mb9Fuos3X927aKBa7NCN67y_8vwyFcVyN9bK1Ie-rWiN3NQ4aFoxz905WS1h_RjsAqwUJkI9c4iG9MSVndjO_sa4QVpYEoI9YG3zxSf1tdnHvbMagfE/s1600/Pine+Siskin,+Summerhaven,+Birdathon+2014,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5tTBtAjkznpeKX-ZoVRJcdkG0Mb9Fuos3X927aKBa7NCN67y_8vwyFcVyN9bK1Ie-rWiN3NQ4aFoxz905WS1h_RjsAqwUJkI9c4iG9MSVndjO_sa4QVpYEoI9YG3zxSf1tdnHvbMagfE/s1600/Pine+Siskin,+Summerhaven,+Birdathon+2014,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pine siskin in Sumerhaven</i></td></tr>
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On April 26 my Team did our Birdathon fundraiser for Tucson Audubon Society. In this fundraiser, sponsors pledge per bird species and teams try to see as many species as possible within 24 hours. The end of April is a nice time for it, not only because of the available bird diversity, but because the weather is usually very nice. In comparison to August, the other height of bird diversity, birds are more vocal in spring--singing to define their territory and attract a mate. This makes them easier to find.<br />
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We decided to limit the area where we could go birding to Tucson and its immediate vicinity. This would make it an opportunity to show people Tucson's avian riches. It would also mean that we <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxt62YmYt0uksmRl4x_phFg-kIUChtnSubrS8hDIAz2Hf6ANRwQlpBhkhg3-GkP0Hs51XsUsMOODH3n65fZUssrfWIkzIqIjajFkzS2lWUrMsetOLpw6Q2ZekquZEq6yJWXBHO0EmkRCY/s1600/Black-crowned+Night-Heron,+Reid+Park+Pond,+Birdathon+2014,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxt62YmYt0uksmRl4x_phFg-kIUChtnSubrS8hDIAz2Hf6ANRwQlpBhkhg3-GkP0Hs51XsUsMOODH3n65fZUssrfWIkzIqIjajFkzS2lWUrMsetOLpw6Q2ZekquZEq6yJWXBHO0EmkRCY/s1600/Black-crowned+Night-Heron,+Reid+Park+Pond,+Birdathon+2014,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Black-crowned night-heron at Reid Park</i></td></tr>
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would be driving less and birding more--more species per gallon of gas! We decided we would stay within a 20-mile radius of Reid Park. This still gave us a lot of latitude--the top of Mt. Lemmon, the east, south and west sides of Tucson, Catalina State Park were all inside the circle.<br />
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We met at 1 a.m. to look, or rather listen, for owls in northeast Tucson. We moved up the Mt. Lemmon highway to find higher elevation owls and other night birds like Mexican Whip-Poor-Wills. It got windy and it was hard to hear anything but dawn came and we birded for hours in the <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZlkvDPouQxXs-UQP7w8Tz-CJNcZXtGr56uBwydKDObLENqzLa_p6axl4i6r1Y-Rk7iww2kiCxCyM6Vcgzg8kJ7I6RekbYSWXG0R9_Yh8T3NQta_PVrdKJXz3soF7wGE09eCgNw3APMcs/s1600/Neotropical+Cormorants,+Reid+Park+Pond,+Birdathon+2014,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZlkvDPouQxXs-UQP7w8Tz-CJNcZXtGr56uBwydKDObLENqzLa_p6axl4i6r1Y-Rk7iww2kiCxCyM6Vcgzg8kJ7I6RekbYSWXG0R9_Yh8T3NQta_PVrdKJXz3soF7wGE09eCgNw3APMcs/s1600/Neotropical+Cormorants,+Reid+Park+Pond,+Birdathon+2014,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Neotropic cormorants at Reid Park</i></td></tr>
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mountains seeing many, though not all, of the species that can be seen up there.<br />
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We came down the mountain and visited an area along Tanque Verde Wash, getting lucky and finding the gray hawk that has been in that area. Other stops were Reid Park, University of Arizona Farm, Sweetwater Wetlands and Crossroads Park in Marana.<br />
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When all was said and done we had seen 134 species. We feel we've set the baseline for the number of species that can be seen in 24 hours in <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDp3fecs7SE-jhXAS0lt173byjQqnuu3vAsfz683aOJ2FoPegKPO77S62MWrX8c7LUmVEbG4_RPHYffUzy4u32bA2k_8Yf2nX6J4u9Nh74EUZ6u_EOhlHK57nOzKqzcjT1PSAMiITpMMs/s1600/Common+Yellowthroat,+Sweetwater+Wetlands,+Birdathon+2014,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDp3fecs7SE-jhXAS0lt173byjQqnuu3vAsfz683aOJ2FoPegKPO77S62MWrX8c7LUmVEbG4_RPHYffUzy4u32bA2k_8Yf2nX6J4u9Nh74EUZ6u_EOhlHK57nOzKqzcjT1PSAMiITpMMs/s1600/Common+Yellowthroat,+Sweetwater+Wetlands,+Birdathon+2014,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Common yellowthroat at Sweetwater Wetlands</i></td></tr>
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this area. We hope others will take us up on a big day competition in this circle.<br />
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What a glorious town! There are so many kinds of birds just a short drive away. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.<br />
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More species--some of the late migrants--show up in our region in May. I'll be watching for those in the days to come.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgymLGdfkwr95tjCDH2ZjlWjU4-3FUIBWo_1WVr-rYzo7QUq6OvLNug5aPKhMQwX91Yd9rY1SjO9pRDgPRL32TmOnmywSwyTihJ05eG4rRJTU-GXNhzLpYiFf1r5gyjAioH5xCXp6Nm_lM/s1600/White-winged+Doves,+Crossroads+Park,+Birdathon+2014,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgymLGdfkwr95tjCDH2ZjlWjU4-3FUIBWo_1WVr-rYzo7QUq6OvLNug5aPKhMQwX91Yd9rY1SjO9pRDgPRL32TmOnmywSwyTihJ05eG4rRJTU-GXNhzLpYiFf1r5gyjAioH5xCXp6Nm_lM/s1600/White-winged+Doves,+Crossroads+Park,+Birdathon+2014,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="425" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>White-winged doves at sundown, Crossroads Park</i></td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-71466049056469325142014-04-13T20:22:00.000-07:002014-04-13T20:26:56.088-07:00What's in Your Neighborhood? The Garden District Tries to Answer that QuestionThe Garden District, the next neighborhood east of mine, got wind of my effort to promote urban birds and birding. They asked me to do a bird walk. I agreed and Meg and Kris, from the neighborhood association, arranged for me to lead a walk yesterday (Saturday) morning at 7 a.m.<br />
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Let me know if this is something you would like to do in your neighborhood!<br />
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I went over about 6:45 a.m. and met about 10 residents. Our hostess, Lisa, set out a great spread of coffee cake, orange juice and strawberries. Lisa's partner Michael, a biologist, was quite knowledgeable about neighborhood birds--I could tell right away he'd be an asset as we walked around the neighborhood.<br />
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A big thank you to the Kris Yarter of the Garden District for supplying the next two photos.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVOM50eDlV-FmiwO1_2euaqEs7XlL3VwYvVKukmmdo3RmqbOSaJrctJgAUNPr7GzDh32LT1v7GfnmdgqlJBEWEnoQTxIosYqCajz5rbdhrOBLZhZiFyd7NxZyJm2Cj4Ykyshtut_oqZ-U/s1600/Garden+District+bird+walk+01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVOM50eDlV-FmiwO1_2euaqEs7XlL3VwYvVKukmmdo3RmqbOSaJrctJgAUNPr7GzDh32LT1v7GfnmdgqlJBEWEnoQTxIosYqCajz5rbdhrOBLZhZiFyd7NxZyJm2Cj4Ykyshtut_oqZ-U/s1600/Garden+District+bird+walk+01.jpg" height="336" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Gathering at Lisa's house before the walk (Kris Yarter)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYNASM214n2u2qth2xvBghxrIuO6L3oG3PNQTrbnJWoL7eAYniuLhSEnQI9Z7DfEM2ial1Pnhy5E1pENo2uu7V1Z_6O5TmcfKytEjTC0Y4jwth2yKk3D3q137UqNdUJsR7101kwXVL2fE/s1600/Garden+District+bird+walk+02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYNASM214n2u2qth2xvBghxrIuO6L3oG3PNQTrbnJWoL7eAYniuLhSEnQI9Z7DfEM2ial1Pnhy5E1pENo2uu7V1Z_6O5TmcfKytEjTC0Y4jwth2yKk3D3q137UqNdUJsR7101kwXVL2fE/s1600/Garden+District+bird+walk+02.jpg" height="260" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The group stops to watch white-winged doves and Gila woodpeckers (</i><i>Kris Yarter</i><i>)</i></td></tr>
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We set out through the neighborhood seeing plenty of house finches, house sparrows, mourning doves, white-winged doves and lesser goldfinches. When we arrived at a large, corner lot with a lot of native vegetation, the first thing we spotted was not a bird but a swarm of bees that had spent the night in a blue palo verde along the street. We gave it a wide berth and learned later that it had moved on later in the day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ4RR3Et240AAj40G8DBgpOZZTPfWyB9ie-IMTMZUOMhCiybXxC966YzlWGfxbck2gEzjkRSlpsl3YBAdQQjGlijtIH7nfm6p_v-Z1pJ8KC1FldSQlB2L6vKYSmO59uW5siLHBxwgECeQ/s1600/Honey+bee+swarm,+Garden+District,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ4RR3Et240AAj40G8DBgpOZZTPfWyB9ie-IMTMZUOMhCiybXxC966YzlWGfxbck2gEzjkRSlpsl3YBAdQQjGlijtIH7nfm6p_v-Z1pJ8KC1FldSQlB2L6vKYSmO59uW5siLHBxwgECeQ/s1600/Honey+bee+swarm,+Garden+District,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Honey bee swarm in a palo verde</i></td></tr>
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Other finds were made here including an early-blooming saguaro that was attracting birds and bees.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8OsKxFH1q1ZWkBKhBf3OtRPBs8W6BzKT-nKVDBOS_6dll1A0o-QoAaKNndTeM2tGe5g5pY8oVNjEIVXOAmVjvmhlNaiBcfA8NzgGapZl3diuXESeauIW4iy_L99sPFqMGqqIg0S_ojR0/s1600/Curve-billed+thrasher+in+saguaro%252C+Garden+District%252C+crop%252C+ppt+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8OsKxFH1q1ZWkBKhBf3OtRPBs8W6BzKT-nKVDBOS_6dll1A0o-QoAaKNndTeM2tGe5g5pY8oVNjEIVXOAmVjvmhlNaiBcfA8NzgGapZl3diuXESeauIW4iy_L99sPFqMGqqIg0S_ojR0/s1600/Curve-billed+thrasher+in+saguaro%252C+Garden+District%252C+crop%252C+ppt+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Curve-billed thrasher among saguaro flowers, and a bee</i></td></tr>
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Saguaros provide food and nesting opportunities to birds. It's not always the woodpecker holes that provide a place to nest. This rotten section of a saguaro arm made the perfect nesting spot for this dove.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht3FwHOIaenjyPS6CwUTcx6ircigVLsvcjcv7iY1hwKtyKBdzhOqF2Q9jCsoLPMg-aNODT-UIhCZwkWdbQ459LKZsTlsgzkJMpQm9aMd8EAvY5BqruV-fRSnQJq30gndEPSPTJbPjLBJA/s1600/Dove+on+saguaro+nest%252C+Garden+District%252C+crop%252C+ppt+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht3FwHOIaenjyPS6CwUTcx6ircigVLsvcjcv7iY1hwKtyKBdzhOqF2Q9jCsoLPMg-aNODT-UIhCZwkWdbQ459LKZsTlsgzkJMpQm9aMd8EAvY5BqruV-fRSnQJq30gndEPSPTJbPjLBJA/s1600/Dove+on+saguaro+nest%252C+Garden+District%252C+crop%252C+ppt+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Dove on a nest in a saguaro arm</i></td></tr>
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I've also heard of Lucy's warblers nesting in tiny rot-holes and of course some large raptors like Harris's hawks and caracaras have been known to build their nests in saguaros.<br />
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Later we saw vermilion flycatchers in two different places. Both times we saw evidence of family life. I knew about one at the elementary school yard and on this occasion we found both the adult male (pictured below--an earlier photo of the same male) and an immature individual, apparently a fledged young-of-the-year. Also, in a back yard along an alley we found a male feeding a female that was sitting on a nest!<br />
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Here's a photo of the male vermilion flycatcher at the school yard I took a while back.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJMJ2tZGZ5b0L0a0MSRXSKbstIMCnvRhilOn4NrhWrjUFYP3mNWOASowQ5ngq2_WaK3jeuO_HRiNNMoyMrWmzogQe8LTBrqrA7hvKvQRO6DKcjktJf_rJQ-mmz8c-O01x1JL_4KDqkfQw/s1600/Vermilion+Flycatcher,+Garden+District,+crop,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJMJ2tZGZ5b0L0a0MSRXSKbstIMCnvRhilOn4NrhWrjUFYP3mNWOASowQ5ngq2_WaK3jeuO_HRiNNMoyMrWmzogQe8LTBrqrA7hvKvQRO6DKcjktJf_rJQ-mmz8c-O01x1JL_4KDqkfQw/s1600/Vermilion+Flycatcher,+Garden+District,+crop,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="303" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Vermilion flycatcher on the elementary school fence, Garden District</i></td></tr>
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In the same alley from which we saw the flycatcher nest we heard incessant singing of a Lucy's warbler. It turned out there was a pair of them acting as if on a nesting territory. I want to go back and track down whether there is a nest in that area. I thought it was rare for them to nest in residential areas, so I want to follow up. In the same alley--let's call it the "magic alley" since we saw so much there--we saw an Abert's towhee fly up to a fence, sit for a minute, and then disappear out of sight.<br />
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Back at Lisa's house after the walk, an Abert's towhee showed up at her seed feeder. Michael said that although they've come in the past, it had been some weeks since the last sighting. Today Lisa emailed that they are still coming to the feeder, and that she was attributing that to my influence! Perhaps I can take credit for heightening their vigilance in observing the feeder. In any case it was a successful morning of meeting new neighborhood birders and enjoying nature in a residential setting.<br />
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Here is the complete list of species seen during the walk:<br />
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Cooper's Hawk (<i>Accipiter cooperii</i>)<br />
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) (<i>Columba livia</i> (Domestic type))<br />
White-winged Dove (<i>Zenaida asiatica</i>)<br />
Mourning Dove (<i>Zenaida macroura</i>)<br />
Black-chinned Hummingbird (<i>Archilochus alexandri</i>)<br />
Anna's Hummingbird (<i>Calypte anna</i>)<br />
Gila Woodpecker (<i>Melanerpes uropygialis</i>)<br />
Empidonax sp. (<i>Empidonax </i>sp.)--probably a migrating cordilleran or pacific-slope flycatcher<br />
Vermilion Flycatcher (<i>Pyrocephalus rubinus</i>)<br />
Verdin (<i>Auriparus flaviceps</i>)<br />
Cactus Wren (<i>Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus</i>)<br />
Curve-billed Thrasher (<i>Toxostoma curvirostre</i>)<br />
Northern Mockingbird (<i>Mimus polyglottos</i>)<br />
European Starling (<i>Sturnus vulgaris</i>)<br />
Lucy's Warbler (<i>Oreothlypis luciae</i>)<br />
Abert's Towhee (<i>Melozone aberti</i>)<br />
Great-tailed Grackle (<i>Quiscalus mexicanus</i>)<br />
House Finch (<i>Haemorhous mexicanus</i>)<br />
Lesser Goldfinch (<i>Spinus psaltria</i>)<br />
House Sparrow (<i>Passer domesticus</i>)<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-36903732642192219392014-04-12T13:59:00.003-07:002014-04-12T13:59:33.989-07:00Just Passing Through, May Stick Around a Couple DaysCertain birds just pass through Tucson in spring migration. While spring migrants are expected in a general sense, they're always a pleasant surprise in the moment you see them. Many only stay a day or two. The latest issue of Tucson Audubon's <a href="http://www.tucsonaudubon.org/vfly.html" target="_blank"><i>Vermilion Flycatcher</i> </a><a href="http://www.tucsonaudubon.org/vfly.html" target="_blank">(Vol. 59, No. 2)</a> is about Wilson's warblers' migratory stopovers and what we can do to help them fatten up for their continued journey.<br />
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One of the most dramatic neighborhood migratory surprises came last Monday morning as I attempted to back out of the driveway. It was much bigger than a Wilson's warbler. Through the back window of the car I saw a hawk rise up out of the neighborhood to the south. The General Impression of Size and Shape, or "GISS" (yes, that's a term birders use) was of something larger than a Cooper's hawk but not as broad-winged as a red-tailed hawk.<br />
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I put the car in neutral and got out. The wings were a little pointy and swept forward; there was a brown hood; the leading edges of the wings were white. It was a Swainson's hawk! It circled once and headed northwest. This was my first sighting of this species in the neighborhood and I realized I had the camera in the car. So I got back in the car and took off after it!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHZYttkDHPF9rBoAX6ZWUjYYpIkyM2TabgQ3kxHRBYF1zXy-ymZ050oi3hpLZeOmF5cQJAEXxJWNGeuAHTCFd7vzLkcHMG5E2QQongIAwv6mY6_gw6qgMOZ5Dj4IrTfkT7PZxUjJZz-Eo/s1600/Swainson's+Hawk,+Palo+Verde+neighborhood,+crop,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHZYttkDHPF9rBoAX6ZWUjYYpIkyM2TabgQ3kxHRBYF1zXy-ymZ050oi3hpLZeOmF5cQJAEXxJWNGeuAHTCFd7vzLkcHMG5E2QQongIAwv6mY6_gw6qgMOZ5Dj4IrTfkT7PZxUjJZz-Eo/s1600/Swainson's+Hawk,+Palo+Verde+neighborhood,+crop,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="396" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Swainson's hawk, April 7, 2014, Palo Verde Neighorhood</i></td></tr>
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I chased it west into the next neighborhood, driving by a coworker's house on the way. Part of me wanted to let her know this bird was in her neighborhood, but I knew if I stopped to knock on the door or call I would loose track of it.<br />
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Finally after another three blocks it stopped and circled on a thermal, trying to gain altitude. I got out with the camera and got a pretty decent photo. After appreciating the experience for a little while longer, I headed off to work.<br />
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In other raptor news, young Cooper's hawks have been out of the nest and flying around for at least a couple weeks now. Here's one from about a week ago. Notice the little hummingbird to the right that was hovering around up there too! I like to think it was saying "Bet you can't catch me!"<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiK0peShfsJgwSnuz0LON70vXvJRVlaioNCyM8uojgRPWZyBtIvuNxkTlXe7wOJvpdGkrjcxzCpMfZ9x7n3tdw38w_-PZxFwui5SgW11CAEZhLAPaH8t4CmOzruiJcABzLHO6SmipRZm0/s1600/Cooper's+Hawk,+Juv,+crop,+ppt,+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiK0peShfsJgwSnuz0LON70vXvJRVlaioNCyM8uojgRPWZyBtIvuNxkTlXe7wOJvpdGkrjcxzCpMfZ9x7n3tdw38w_-PZxFwui5SgW11CAEZhLAPaH8t4CmOzruiJcABzLHO6SmipRZm0/s1600/Cooper's+Hawk,+Juv,+crop,+ppt,+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Immature Cooper's hawk, early April 2014</i></td></tr>
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In my last blog I mentioned a Cassin's vireo that showed up in an acacia a half-block from the house while I was walking the dogs. On Wednesday morning, as I was leaving home to visit's the <a href="http://www.tucsonaudubon.org/paton" target="_blank">Patons' house</a> in <a href="http://townofpatagonia.com/" target="_blank">Patagonia</a>, Arizona, I heard another vireo nearby. I saw it fly into the big mesquite in my back yard and, behold, it was a plumbeous vireo. This vireo is closely related to the Cassin's, once having been considered the same species (solitary vireo). Plumbeous, as the name suggests, is grayer while Cassin's is washed with yellow-green. See more about <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Plumbeous_Vireo/id" target="_blank">plumbeous vireo</a> at <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/" target="_blank">AllAboutBirds.org</a>.<br />
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Later at the <a href="http://www.tucsonaudubon.org/paton" target="_blank">Paton house</a> in <a href="http://townofpatagonia.com/" target="_blank">Patagonia</a> I enjoyed views of a long list of birds including my "first of year" gray hawk, canyon towhee, western tanager, black-headed grosbeak, brown-headed cowbird and lazuli bunting. Hmm, somebody ought to start a urban birder blog for Patagonia!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-13594727861379889662014-04-05T22:43:00.000-07:002014-04-05T22:43:13.875-07:00What's Birds are Missing from Your Neighborhood?Cassin's vireo was a surprise visitor to the neighborhood last week. I had not seen it in the neighborhood this year, or ever for that matter. I didn't get a photo of it because, again, I didn't take the camera. It was just a short walk around the block with the dogs! Cassin's vireos are migrating through our area on their way from Mexico to the Pacific Northwest and southwest Canada.You can learn more about Cassin's vireo <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Cassins_Vireo/id" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZYGma5PZkYC82sakDjL6XQFutRnEpg026_HFBs7v8N-TYw_iSWr8FcyIqgtuz2J2esPlNCcv9307T91AyJSgiFQqSX-CGP0qSkFq_ypxmDBGOcIeg3pajM0RUa58FuatOYYW3HBvhldw/s1600/Mockingbird,+crop,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZYGma5PZkYC82sakDjL6XQFutRnEpg026_HFBs7v8N-TYw_iSWr8FcyIqgtuz2J2esPlNCcv9307T91AyJSgiFQqSX-CGP0qSkFq_ypxmDBGOcIeg3pajM0RUa58FuatOYYW3HBvhldw/s1600/Mockingbird,+crop,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="218" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Northern mockingbird on a wire, Palo Verde Neighborhood</i></td></tr>
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A friend wrote that when she saw her neighborhood mockingbird on a telephone pole she thought of me. It had appeared at just the time of day it always does. I hope that means she thinks of me as reliable. Maybe it's just that birds remind people of me. It's nice to have those reliable old friends in the neighborhood, as well as the surprise species.<br />
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That reminded me of when I lived in central Mexico and a visiting ornithologist commented that the habitat there should be good for mockingbirds. But there were few to be found. He speculated that mockingbirds hatchlings were easy to capture and sell in the cage-bird trade. In fact, I saw many mockingbirds in cages. They are good singers and they livened up courtyards all around the city.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaDTbIZoSSU7QF1RkAYWDYgm3bgHuIhptmNkP9L2Yyx4NjDb1EyRZk9x6jlqe8KIVIb-BoZqq9Yg_DDyYGZN0EfHC-TsRwL-Bm7EF6f0DCZr7flkmtaBo2WsB1IJZyM4Br8DEKmqWsuYY/s1600/Cactus+Wren,+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood,+crop,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaDTbIZoSSU7QF1RkAYWDYgm3bgHuIhptmNkP9L2Yyx4NjDb1EyRZk9x6jlqe8KIVIb-BoZqq9Yg_DDyYGZN0EfHC-TsRwL-Bm7EF6f0DCZr7flkmtaBo2WsB1IJZyM4Br8DEKmqWsuYY/s1600/Cactus+Wren,+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood,+crop,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="223" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Cactus wren in a cholla, Palo Verde Neighborhood</i></td></tr>
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Thinking of that made me wonder what birds aren't here that should be. I have noticed that cactus wrens are not as common as I expected. Just today I found a cactus wren for only the second time. They are curious and unafraid, experimental and canny. You'd think these would be great traits for adapting to urban areas, and that they'd be common. When I worked at the VA Medical Center in an old, two-story wooden building, sometimes birds wandered in to the screened porch area--or were scared in by passing cars. Mourning doves and Gila woodpeckers came in pretty often and had a devil of a time finding their way out. Cactus wrens came in on purpose, though holes in the screens or the broken door. They foraged for food or nesting materials, and then went out the way they got it--which they apparently remembered. I never had to rescue them. Why are these adaptable birds almost absent from my neighborhood?<br />
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Rachael McCaffrey, in her doctoral studies at the University of Arizona, found that if her urban study plots had cholla cacti, she would more frequently find cactus wrens. They like to nest in the cacti. The presence of a place to nest seemed all that was really necessary. Chollas are not a very common landscaping choice around here, so maybe that explains it. However, there are some places that have them. Interestingly, where they do occur many of them have thrasher nests. Few have cactus wrens. I wonder what's going on. They are known to compete with thrashers for nesting space.<br />
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Maybe it's less of a surprise to find a Cassin's vireo than I thought.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-70206753688456241162014-03-23T20:18:00.000-07:002014-03-23T20:18:37.461-07:00Early or Late, Urban or Rural... Take the Camera!It's Sunday. This morning I was awake with no plans to get out of bed. It was early, but I didn't have to be anywhere for a while. Unfortunately my alarm makes a distinct click at the set time, even if the alarm is turned off. I heard the click. That always sends a pulse of adrenalin through me, as if I were one of Pavlov's dogs. I stayed in bed for a while on principle and then got up. The click meant it was 5:30 a.m., the time I got up the day before.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu-qqpbMbbfDT27ZpOxU3hmaExp_Dog2aRBd7GmhOTRhbt5JNxWTQJAp5MWBq1CYleaHnwd5I6XnKgabLkMSncGNKQfTciP9v966VW37VrB12jm7UWwM45mrs4kFiwmJKLIZkU7FsFflM/s1600/IMG_4178,+ppt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu-qqpbMbbfDT27ZpOxU3hmaExp_Dog2aRBd7GmhOTRhbt5JNxWTQJAp5MWBq1CYleaHnwd5I6XnKgabLkMSncGNKQfTciP9v966VW37VrB12jm7UWwM45mrs4kFiwmJKLIZkU7FsFflM/s1600/IMG_4178,+ppt.jpg" height="400" width="323" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>There was no photo of the roadrunner in this story, but this <br />one was seen on 3/21/2014 at Atturbury Wash. I also saw <br />my first black-chinned hummingbird of the year that morning.</i></td></tr>
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On Saturday mornings I usually either work or I go birding--at least a little. But Sunday mornings are almost always kept free. It's a half-day when neither my wife nor I work or leave the house alone. But this morning I had to open up the Audubon library for a class given by the Sonoran Permaculture Guild, and see that it got off to a good start.<br />
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I decided to get there 15 minutes early and walk around the small, one block-square park that's just north of the office. It would be a brief stop at a postage stamp-sized park, just to say I had done some urban birding that day. And it would be pretty late in the morning; almost three hours after sunrise. I didn't take the camera, since there would be only house finches, grackles, pigeons and starlings.<br />
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From a half-block away I could see pigeons and starlings. But one of the fist birds I saw as I stepped into the park was a northern flicker (red-shafted variety). It was on the ground along the edge of the park, using its bill to flick up the dirt along the edge of the sidewalk; looking for insects like a thrasher. It was very close to me.<br />
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Then I saw a greater roadrunner on the sidewalk across the street. It was facing away from the sun with the feathers on its back parted to let sunlight warm its skin. Now I really wished I had the camera. You don't see a lot of roadrunners in midtown.<br />
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Continuing around the park I saw a hummingbird fly over and a male vermilion flycatcher in a tree (there really is one in every park!). Two Eurasian collared-doves chased each other around the park. A northern mockingbird sang and then a cardinal sang. Or was it just a northern mockingbird?<br />
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To top it off a coyote trotted along the sidewalk across the street. Surprisingly it wasn't chasing the roadrunner!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-80169587555320603662014-03-13T22:10:00.000-07:002014-03-14T14:24:56.740-07:00Early Spring Brings Early Spring BirdsIn conservation change is usually bad. Habitats change, climates change, bird populations change. Usually they go down.<br />
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In birding, change is good. Like when the seasons change. New birds show up.<br />
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It's mid March and the Sonoran Desert winter is giving way to Sonoran Desert spring. Gardeners know there is generally no frost after March 15. With this change come the early spring birds. A good two months before the big rush of migrants through the Midwest and East, we start our migrant excitement.<br />
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This morning I heard and saw my first Lucy's warbler of the season. It was right in my own neighborhood. No photos--it moved fast and was out of sight before I could squeeze the trigger.<br />
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Sonoran Desert spring is a pleasant season bird-wise. Wintering birds linger, many stay all the way into May. You see them side by side with the incoming nesters and the migrants that are just passing through. Many are signing their hearts out. It is a noisy time.<br />
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I visited the Rillito Weed Patch last Monday and there were northern rough-winged swallows feeding. Flying in no particular direction, this way and that, a little higher a little lower, they were catching bugs on the wing. Underneath them on the ground were wintering vesper sparrows and a couple of rufous-winged sparrows.<br />
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The Rillito Weed Patch demonstrates another difference between conservation and birding, and another instance of "change is good." If you drive north on North Columbus Blvd it dead ends at the Rillito (the "Little River"--now a large dry wash). Walking north from the end of the road you look to the left and see a weedy area, full of invasive species. This is the "Weed Patch." To your right is an area that is beautifully restored with diverse native plants, sinuous re-engineered drainages and lots of habitat for native bird species. Birders have no name for that area. Nothin'. On the eBird map it's just a blank. (Pima County calls it the Rillito River Ecosystem Restoration Area.)<br />
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The restoration area has lots of birds but they are the typical Sonoran Desert species, black-tailed gnatcatchers, verdins, curve-billed thrashers. In contrast, some rare species have shown up at the Weed Patch, constituting a change from the ordinary. Dickcissel, sage thrasher, gray vireo, indigo bunting, Cassin's sparrow, yellow-breasted chat and others have appeared. The normal background desert birds are wonderful--they deserve to be counted too!<br />
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If birders ever got into landscaping on a large scale who knows what might happen! Weeds, weeds everywhere!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiu4VFZhekfZGEiXcJkW67tUr9L7QJtZD1D3MQwIIygpfS2A_VKWXXAYcuTyJxJTfYyoecgFhKf-13h_w2MnwDAX5p-k2sy88_CGtNjkz4vY8Mh5pObLz8MqdoSdj6TnGyIizR9OnV8Fc/s1600/Rillito+Weed+Patch+from+eBird.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiu4VFZhekfZGEiXcJkW67tUr9L7QJtZD1D3MQwIIygpfS2A_VKWXXAYcuTyJxJTfYyoecgFhKf-13h_w2MnwDAX5p-k2sy88_CGtNjkz4vY8Mh5pObLz8MqdoSdj6TnGyIizR9OnV8Fc/s1600/Rillito+Weed+Patch+from+eBird.jpg" height="374" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>Rillito Weed Patch and Rillito River Ecosystem Restoration Area</i></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-40090408578018822892014-03-08T19:43:00.001-08:002014-03-08T19:43:17.967-08:00Unpredictable Results, Good Finds<div style="text-align: left;">
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There was an article in the paper this morning about scientists planning unmanned missions to Europa, a moon of Jupiter. Some suspect that oceans exist under a thick layer of ice, and a recent study suggests that layer might be about 7 kilometers thick. There could be life in those oceans. There are real unknowns up there that a mission could answer.<br /><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbXD-2-rZUY3Iui1idcHxO4UJaxrMIGvc4O9OvE0-OP3hUeqmxPGw_ws25lbVp_ZRC1vfCzjSaI84kSo-BE9ero58uwL7s-IIZzP6UFm3bjVMHk8x01lQmK_Wyzhj6h_kGyb_OhgiqiDQ/s1600/Vermilion+Flycatcher,+Garden+District,+crop,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbXD-2-rZUY3Iui1idcHxO4UJaxrMIGvc4O9OvE0-OP3hUeqmxPGw_ws25lbVp_ZRC1vfCzjSaI84kSo-BE9ero58uwL7s-IIZzP6UFm3bjVMHk8x01lQmK_Wyzhj6h_kGyb_OhgiqiDQ/s1600/Vermilion+Flycatcher,+Garden+District,+crop,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="243" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Vermilion flycatcher at Wright Elementary in the Garden District</i></td></tr>
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That's how I feel every time I go birding. I have an idea what I might find, but it's impossible to be sure and there might be surprises. Nobody can know.<br />
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I suppose this is behind a lot of hobbies. What's the next unusual stamp a stamp collector will find? What's the next rare coin? What novel chess move will your opponent make? Will you find a nugget while panning for gold? What heirloom garden plant will you try next?<br />
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This morning I took a brief spin through the Garden District Neighborhood, where I will speak to the neighborhood association on March 18. Not any surprises but 14 species was not bad for a residential area with just homes and a schoolyard.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpVowGzBJ977yjnmizgAMgdrmN7rHjdfEWJ6JtRXnffPkUx9ifiRvLk3AzQsxj0pz1DNhIrq_BqxL0h7qHHc_Z7uf-dJD2VScdCBmAVWCSrwAPTiQp9p_dpDsKhXKViGVSp0-yQxOMyIc/s1600/Variant+American+Wigeon,+Ft+Lowell+Park,+02,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpVowGzBJ977yjnmizgAMgdrmN7rHjdfEWJ6JtRXnffPkUx9ifiRvLk3AzQsxj0pz1DNhIrq_BqxL0h7qHHc_Z7uf-dJD2VScdCBmAVWCSrwAPTiQp9p_dpDsKhXKViGVSp0-yQxOMyIc/s1600/Variant+American+Wigeon,+Ft+Lowell+Park,+02,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="237" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Variant American wigeon at Ft. Lowell Park</i></td></tr>
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It was interesting to see both vermilion flycatcher and Say's phoebe at the school, the same as at the schoolyard in my neighborhood. I have come to expect a vermilion flycatcher at such places but I am a little more surprised at the regularity of Say's phoebe. I guess I need to visit other schoolyards and test whether vermilion flycatcher is really more reliably found than Say's phoebe.<br />
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Then I headed to Fort Lowell Park. This proved to be a visit with 25 well-known bird friends and Sheila, overseer of the Friends of Fort Lowell Park. She was setting up for a gathering of volunteers. They were to do some maintenance at the pond where they have worked with the parks department to fence an area by the pond for ducks and other birds, and plant native plants.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf49SLWgfJgEebdVs_NflevGdgPv0aqTPm1fMyl9QbFBzdM24MpFv8RGnoMRsXrR1HFzdxPypnAVzgKa1Ih-iU15ayPrRMwtezHGqhG-sI13SvSsH1lY9Rw-oWA-A7lgaxysOmyAG0qZY/s1600/Ring-necked+Duck,+Ft+Lowell+Park+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf49SLWgfJgEebdVs_NflevGdgPv0aqTPm1fMyl9QbFBzdM24MpFv8RGnoMRsXrR1HFzdxPypnAVzgKa1Ih-iU15ayPrRMwtezHGqhG-sI13SvSsH1lY9Rw-oWA-A7lgaxysOmyAG0qZY/s1600/Ring-necked+Duck,+Ft+Lowell+Park+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Ring-necked duck at Ft. Lowell Park</i></td></tr>
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Sheila pointed out the unusual American wigeon that's been there all winter--one of about 40 wigeons on the pond. A while back when I passed on Sheila's report of this bird to Mark Stevenson (the real king of Tucson urban birding!). He said he'd seen this "all-creamy-white-except-for-the-green-swirl" bird. A normal variant, he said. American wigeons usually have gray on the side of the head below the "green swirl," with bright white only on the forehead and the top of the head.<br />
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There was an impressive male ring-necked duck as well. There were no big hints of spring--I'd hoped to pick up one of the early migrants that birders are starting to report via the <a href="http://birding.aba.org/search.php" target="_blank">birding listserv</a> (choose "Arizona and New Mexico" and hit go), but no luck there. Still it was pleasing to find a red-tailed hawk building a nest in the same tree as last year, and two Cooper's hawks cruising around together looking like fighter jets looking for a dogfight.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_oh2juSerXvZ5qmSiJFXn88whUcCZ-o1-SJy9VBx8c2kWI0qO_wdsE3K1qGGBqxzd5WXnHynwYbcamfQf19Rm3080At3qqaGv7F7cR27haTZueACHddm886acuhJTldczBw7lNzUuKnE/s1600/Inca+Dove,+Tanque+Verde+Loop+Road,+01,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_oh2juSerXvZ5qmSiJFXn88whUcCZ-o1-SJy9VBx8c2kWI0qO_wdsE3K1qGGBqxzd5WXnHynwYbcamfQf19Rm3080At3qqaGv7F7cR27haTZueACHddm886acuhJTldczBw7lNzUuKnE/s1600/Inca+Dove,+Tanque+Verde+Loop+Road,+01,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Inca dove along Tanque Verde Loop Road</i></td></tr>
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I went on to Tanque Verde Loop Road, where it crosses the Tanque Verde Wash. I don't get why they call it "loop," since it just goes in a straight line, but this is a great birding spot. A bit dangerous walking on the shoulder of the road with cars whizzing by. But who would have predicted I would see two male and two female vermilion flycatchers chasing after each other almost continuously through the trees, or 16 common ravens soaring in big circles joined by a red-tailed hawk (which, for once, they didn't chase off).<br />
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Who would have predicted I would find that this is still one of the last strongholds in Tucson of the Inca dove. Once common around town it has almost disappeared, but I heard one behind a thick hedge and then another one came out and perched nicely for me.<br />
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Perhaps the only best harbinger of spring the whole day wasn't a bird, but a <br />
<a name='more'></a>spiny lizard poking its head out of a hole under a rock. Early March and it's plenty warm for lizards. Perhaps under global warming it will be lizards that inherit the Earth.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2oMtHvzEvdgVqm3MjxuC9e9X0zGz2cSUxEm5OeuCCu16sjrX0PBPHxn2SBCxn0MuPIvtBZGOw1juYo0FLVMucCoCB5HHYCBYz5YV8syydBIhONye560n9pvRjkIWGJWEGRHXEUW__Mng/s1600/Spiny+lizard+at+Ft+Lowell+Park+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2oMtHvzEvdgVqm3MjxuC9e9X0zGz2cSUxEm5OeuCCu16sjrX0PBPHxn2SBCxn0MuPIvtBZGOw1juYo0FLVMucCoCB5HHYCBYz5YV8syydBIhONye560n9pvRjkIWGJWEGRHXEUW__Mng/s1600/Spiny+lizard+at+Ft+Lowell+Park+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Spiny lizard, Ft. Lowell Park</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-75356126999535893262014-02-26T19:52:00.001-08:002014-02-26T19:52:34.051-08:00I Found the Neighborhood FlickerVivian, an old friend that lives a few blocks away, told me there is a northern flicker in the neighborhood. Every time I talked to her it had just been there, but I never saw it.<br />
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Tall dead trees, or dead tops of trees (snags), are a boon to birds and birders. Apparently birds like to get up high and have a look around. When there are up there they are easy to see. I finally found the flicker in a eucalyptus snag on the east side of the neighborhood, two blocks from Vivian's house. I shouldn't have doubted.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSAQiy7xxSm_V9n8S8Wu3WTSyQdt4_LyiZfMGsET71EjBrItTXHkQ7Ip8dGjhPEVWvUjsDErhRdZTE-74zzQJrO6tBioy8BTSBfEzlgOWTvjRKISQpjY-iWZWHMycTOGFI7QXP6DN4FeQ/s1600/Northern+Flicker+in+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D,+crop,+ppt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSAQiy7xxSm_V9n8S8Wu3WTSyQdt4_LyiZfMGsET71EjBrItTXHkQ7Ip8dGjhPEVWvUjsDErhRdZTE-74zzQJrO6tBioy8BTSBfEzlgOWTvjRKISQpjY-iWZWHMycTOGFI7QXP6DN4FeQ/s1600/Northern+Flicker+in+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D,+crop,+ppt.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Northern (red-shafted) flicker</i></td></tr>
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I didn't get a great photo since it was far away. Northern flickers come in two types, ones with a reddish color in the shafts of the feathers (red-shafted) and ones with yellow in the shafts (yellow-shafted). Yellow-shafted northern flickers are very rare here; we have the red-shafted northern flicker. They can be found around town in the winter but head back north and up to the mountains to nest in the spring.<br />
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We also have gilded flickers, a whole different species mostly found in upland deserts where it makes holes in saguaros. It is superficially similar to the yellow-shafted northern flicker.<br />
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The merlin in my last post was on a different eucalyptus snag, but in the same part of the neighborhood.<br />
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There are still some wintering birds I expect to see in the neighborhood but haven't yet. Foremost among them is ruby-crowned kinglet. It's usually not hard to find in large trees in the winter. I thought there would be enough trees in the neighborhood that I would come across one.<br />
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As a consolation, there are a few wintering yellow-rumped warblers around. I found this one in a mesquite tree on Seneca near Catalina High School.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNBN_RzWq4tiWuJld-yT6I3wZb89Hd5Lb1jJuMrc8K3vaXUxlefMztGNhJE05_7c1c95eNzdoWPcgIg_YHrRaT9f4o_m9dM2XiCapxB-SW01q_3oDb9l3jeQ8MJ3TdPpl9sOBkBNzcK28/s1600/Yellow-rumped+warbler+in+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood%252C+crop%252C+ppt+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNBN_RzWq4tiWuJld-yT6I3wZb89Hd5Lb1jJuMrc8K3vaXUxlefMztGNhJE05_7c1c95eNzdoWPcgIg_YHrRaT9f4o_m9dM2XiCapxB-SW01q_3oDb9l3jeQ8MJ3TdPpl9sOBkBNzcK28/s1600/Yellow-rumped+warbler+in+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood%252C+crop%252C+ppt+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" height="299" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Yellow-rumped warbler</i></td></tr>
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Let me know what birds you see around your, or our, neighborhood. Maybe it's one I haven't documented yet.<br />
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Meanwhile, "yay" for snags and mesquite trees!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-37736377572878468942014-02-22T14:51:00.000-08:002014-02-22T14:51:33.492-08:00A New Species Today in My Patch: Why Ever Leave?The number of birds seen in my "patch" ticked upwards this morning. I was driving around the east side of the neighborhood looking for some alleged northern flickers (which I still haven't found) when I saw a small raptor high in a eucalyptus snag. This was on North Dodge next to Catalina High School. I assumed it was one of the local American kestrels but I figured I should check anyway. Instead of a kestrel, it was a merlin.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2t18ixaQ-5n-EVH1uE9hOvsd1hAtk-uOQTvbNiy2g9hrThYDYVtf1kqMi5BH_4nKXkW6NuA_ho5ung-hzvdSj0uwPloOFayEt7RuE50MdpSq7wV9EqQ7MrEiD8vVwmeSF5USZ8TClsfU/s1600/Merlin,+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood,+crop,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2t18ixaQ-5n-EVH1uE9hOvsd1hAtk-uOQTvbNiy2g9hrThYDYVtf1kqMi5BH_4nKXkW6NuA_ho5ung-hzvdSj0uwPloOFayEt7RuE50MdpSq7wV9EqQ7MrEiD8vVwmeSF5USZ8TClsfU/s1600/Merlin,+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood,+crop,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Merlin in the "hood"</i></td></tr>
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Merlins are a kind of falcon, like kestrels, but a little bit bigger and less colorfully marked. They are grayish to brownish, heavily streaked on the underside and have only a slight vertical facial marking of the sort most falcons have. Merlins are seen around Tucson September through April, leaving to breed farther north. But even in the cool months they are rare.<br />
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That makes 31 species in the neighborhood since January 1. As I have noted, I keep track of bird sightings at eBird (<a href="http://www.ebird.org/">www.ebird.org</a>). EBird allows you to define one or more of your birding locations as your official "patch." I have defined my patch as consisting of both my neighborhood and my yard, which of course is in my neighborhood. I recommending using eBird to keep track of your sightings, whether you go birding a lot or just keep track of birds in your back yard.<br />
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I also continue to be amazed this morning about the number of well-wishers I meet. While I was photographing the merlin at the side of the road I heard a car pull up next to me. I tend to expect some level of hostility, or at least skepticism, from people that see me on a residential street with binoculars and a camera. But instead I heard the common birder phrase: "What da ya' got?" I said I had a merlin. He said, "Yeah, it looks a little bigger than a kestrel."<br />
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It turned out to be Greg, who works for WINGS Birding Tours (<a href="http://www.wingsbirds.com/">www.wingsbirds.com</a>). We knew many people in common and spoke for quite a while until standing in the middle of the road became problematic. I gave him my card and I'm sure we'll meet again.<br />
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Later I drove over into the next neighborhood to the east, The Garden District. They have asked me to speak to the neighborhood association on March 18 and do a bird walk on April 5. I wanted to see what birds I could find over there. Stopping by the side of the street I pointed the camera up at a Eurasian collared-dove on a wire. A voice from a neighboring yard said, "Can I help you?" There was an initial level of suspicion!<br />
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I introduced myself and it turned out she was Melanie, a consultant trained in ecology. She had heard of me! She was also very interested in raising awareness of birds and ecology in the urban area and wanted to help by looking for useful project and grants. We had many common acquaintances. Two great connections made in one morning, only because I was out pointing the camera and binoculars at things. That's a good sign.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-88568712410314293242014-02-19T21:16:00.000-08:002014-02-19T21:16:18.750-08:00New Birds in the Neighborhood PatchThere are three new species to report in the Palo Verde Neighborhood for 2014! On Sunday I went on a bike ride, exploring some streets that I hadn't seen before. I had despaired of finding a <b>cactus wren</b> in the neighborhood, even though there seems to be plenty of little patches of cholla cactus for them to build their nests in. These patches seem all to be full of curve-billed thrashers.<br />
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However, on Sunday I located a pair of cactus wrens on North Chrysler Drive. Funny thing was that there was not a patch of vegetation there of the sort I associate with cactus wrens. I'm betting there's one nearby though. I didn't get a photo of them because I was shy about pointing the camera at a house whose owner I didn't know. But more about cactus wrens can be found <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/cactus_wren/id" target="_blank">here </a>at AllAboutBirds.org.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7lbhbIj3jLb0PluIxqPWY85cX4OrsgauGffWw76I1kJFhm37k4ofD9iR1rSSI-_a1qzg4Bu2FOyP9VDDKLykA6bEVKulGCDlIno8tjRnokHUFKy3naztK-wTZ1-sovjvmCr57JNlXel0/s1600/House+Sparrow+in+saguaro+hole,+ppt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7lbhbIj3jLb0PluIxqPWY85cX4OrsgauGffWw76I1kJFhm37k4ofD9iR1rSSI-_a1qzg4Bu2FOyP9VDDKLykA6bEVKulGCDlIno8tjRnokHUFKy3naztK-wTZ1-sovjvmCr57JNlXel0/s1600/House+Sparrow+in+saguaro+hole,+ppt.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Male house sparrow in front of a hole in a saguaro</i></td></tr>
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On North Dodge Blvd., south of Seneca, I pulled into the parking lot north of the high school--near the pool--to look in some patches of vegetation. There was a saguaro there growing next to a tree. For a while I watched the <b>house sparrows</b> enter the holes in the saguaro--one female had nesting material in her bill at one point. In our urban areas often non-native house sparrows and starlings dominate the saguaro holes that might otherwise be used by native species.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJK6um-dCfi3Gfsn2bcAIJp3sWsp68S6g80BM00wT-UqtMw6Ubu1LkpdUAAkvd2OEuskpu1dFqYQpei1UxjZfZ0JkUof4rZYvnzKRFaog2Bs6R62LwVBGqldYZC0Pl2I2LCKBeYsWYShA/s1600/White-crowned+sparrow%252C+ppt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJK6um-dCfi3Gfsn2bcAIJp3sWsp68S6g80BM00wT-UqtMw6Ubu1LkpdUAAkvd2OEuskpu1dFqYQpei1UxjZfZ0JkUof4rZYvnzKRFaog2Bs6R62LwVBGqldYZC0Pl2I2LCKBeYsWYShA/s1600/White-crowned+sparrow%252C+ppt.jpg" height="224" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>White-crowned sparrow</i></td></tr>
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There aren't a lot of <b>white-crowned sparrows</b> in our neighborhood this winter but there are a few, and I found one feeding on the ground near the same saguaro. I had to photograph it through the chainlink fence since there didn't seem to be any way to enter the area from the parking lot.<br />
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Then I heard a whistle. I immediately knew it wasn't something I'd seen before in the neighborhood. It was a <b>Say's phoebe</b>. This is a phoebe found from Alaska to Mexico but restricted to western states in the U.S. It was too far in to get a good photo through the fence, but again go <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Says_Phoebe/id" target="_blank">here for a photo </a>and more information.<br />
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Say's phoebe likes open spaces--much like the vermilion flycatcher that's also found around the athletic fields north of the high school. Schoolyards and parks with lots of open grass and trees or fences to perch on seem to work well for both of these species, with both also tolerating somewhat drier areas as long as there are bugs to eat. These two species are closely related flycatchers.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRqQv_IX2d4OHrU7iobNyyYnh_zFOmC1ovwyNhTrTNm_j-x_pFgngVreEUmP-on4dA-WjdJPu0ZJSPI4z94JSvsAQx1QtmP9KfsaZeiDZAhcrKjbpaO2AEWGy1dvQogd1FXmax-_dXO0s/s1600/Black+phoebe+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRqQv_IX2d4OHrU7iobNyyYnh_zFOmC1ovwyNhTrTNm_j-x_pFgngVreEUmP-on4dA-WjdJPu0ZJSPI4z94JSvsAQx1QtmP9KfsaZeiDZAhcrKjbpaO2AEWGy1dvQogd1FXmax-_dXO0s/s1600/Black+phoebe+2.jpg" height="301" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Black phoebe on a wire over a neighbor's yard, visible from my yard</i></td></tr>
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A third flycatcher closely related to vermilion flycatcher and Say's phoebe is the <b>black phoebe</b>. It is not usually found in schoolyards and parks in Tucson because--of the three--black phoebe likes the wettest environments. It's usually found around streams and ponds where there is actually surface water, and the kinds of bugs that are associated with wet areas.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEagQu87WmEnJN-iO8VSdNfkOXOBly2PE1RkwMc1pvnOqDUW30F1Qh1uUX0oEWjuUFav8yq_sLXrI85QTfZJvjEMVEfd8CyYYP0XU5vMnHxS0fGzY4M36ZWpDYKYMSJd9WU3MaOutInTA/s1600/Black+phoebe+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEagQu87WmEnJN-iO8VSdNfkOXOBly2PE1RkwMc1pvnOqDUW30F1Qh1uUX0oEWjuUFav8yq_sLXrI85QTfZJvjEMVEfd8CyYYP0XU5vMnHxS0fGzY4M36ZWpDYKYMSJd9WU3MaOutInTA/s1600/Black+phoebe+1.jpg" height="291" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Black phoebe, poorly lit but clearly showing the upside-down <br />V where the black breast and white belly meet</i></td></tr>
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Imagine my surprise then when, sitting in my back yard last this afternoon, I heard and then saw a black phoebe. It was over the wall of the yard hunting and perching on wires and branches in the back yards of two neighbors. How did it find its way here? I'll be watching for it to see if it sticks around or moves on in search of happier hunting grounds.<br />
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List of 30 bird species in the neighborhood so far in 2014:</div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;">Gambel's Quail</span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">Cooper's Hawk</span><br /><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 12pt;">Red-tailed Hawk</span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">Rock Pigeon</span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">Eurasian Collared-Dove </span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">White-winged Dove </span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">Mourning Dove </span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">Great Horned Owl</span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">Anna's Hummingbird </span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">Broad-billed Hummingbird</span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">Gila Woodpecker</span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">American Kestrel</span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">Black Phoebe</span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">Say's Phoebe</span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">Vermilion Flycatcher</span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">Common Raven</span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">Verdin</span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">Cactus Wren</span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">Curve-billed Thrasher</span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">Northern Mockingbird </span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">European Starling </span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">Yellow-rumped Warbler</span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">Abert's Towhee </span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">White-crowned Sparrow</span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">Northern Cardinal </span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">Pyrrhuloxia </span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">Great-tailed Grackle</span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">House Finch </span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">Lesser Goldfinch</span><br /><span style="color: windowtext;">House Sparrow</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-7721675302095308752014-02-17T18:12:00.003-08:002014-02-17T18:12:55.775-08:00Near-urban Birding in the Santa Catalina MountainsWe should delight in the pockets of wildness in our urban areas.<br />
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But once in a while you have to escape. Brian Nicholas and I recently birded an <i>urban-adjacent </i>resource--the Santa Catalina Mountains. They are much bigger than a "pocket," but most parts of these mountains are within a 20-mile radius of central Tucson--an informal limit I've put on birding defined as <i>in or near Tucson</i>. Brian and I, and Janine McCabe, form a Tucson Audubon Birdathon team that may use that "limit" to designate the area in which we will do our Birdathon fundraiser in April. Stand by to support OUR TEAM!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8EmpnNDxvtP0wzp27BTH9XFdgW4P5MT3EP2kV9pKqPN_KCIFdvxtvzIl2EFd-a1vQD66chAYY23PKySqAAR7O-4MiUOHXXJkIz6x9hEOY-p5PoeYyoEjIHtomjH75wk5TpSxQhLnchd8/s1600/Loggerhead+shrike%252C+Mt+Lemmon+Highway%252C+crop%252C+ppt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8EmpnNDxvtP0wzp27BTH9XFdgW4P5MT3EP2kV9pKqPN_KCIFdvxtvzIl2EFd-a1vQD66chAYY23PKySqAAR7O-4MiUOHXXJkIz6x9hEOY-p5PoeYyoEjIHtomjH75wk5TpSxQhLnchd8/s1600/Loggerhead+shrike%252C+Mt+Lemmon+Highway%252C+crop%252C+ppt.jpg" height="247" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Loggerhead shrike</i></td></tr>
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From Brian's neighborhood on the east side of Tucson we drove five miles up the gently-rising alluvial fan. We passed through diverse, high desert vegetation dominated by mesquites and saguaros till we reached the base of the mountains, and then continued up through more rugged cactus-filled low mountain slopes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHSwLjVdZPu8gP_1JDOat_XIwdcDWliF1wa8msXjFq974G7cpZrc3Ct2qYiYbkrTW79siFIt8k-1ERxl18ULr8MyQ4rMZULxW_bwrHYtCZbxBSBfqTGQsgmrC8iGCgX4a161bj9XpRamg/s1600/Bridled+Titmouse%252C+Molino+Basin%252C+crop%252C+ppt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHSwLjVdZPu8gP_1JDOat_XIwdcDWliF1wa8msXjFq974G7cpZrc3Ct2qYiYbkrTW79siFIt8k-1ERxl18ULr8MyQ4rMZULxW_bwrHYtCZbxBSBfqTGQsgmrC8iGCgX4a161bj9XpRamg/s1600/Bridled+Titmouse%252C+Molino+Basin%252C+crop%252C+ppt.jpg" height="282" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Bridled titmouse</i></td></tr>
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At Molino Basin you are arriving in a high grassland environment with a smattering of oaks. You don't necessarily think of the side of a mountain as loggerhead shrike habitat, but if there are open grasslands with perches from which to hunt, I guess the topography doesn't matter so much.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAETTqb64aYTUKVGiccNm0a2Q5YCkF6z_vN1HSgfFyuEh1lQdB2OMowZRDY_jfgh_g_uFEvm6vRV4QU4w_7rqnOU_Z-5rHM29H5w_4xzK9R6x-MqsPJs3oR31nFExZGkAFFfcToB2vM6Y/s1600/Black-chinned+sparrow%252C+Molino+Basin%252C+crop%252C+ppt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAETTqb64aYTUKVGiccNm0a2Q5YCkF6z_vN1HSgfFyuEh1lQdB2OMowZRDY_jfgh_g_uFEvm6vRV4QU4w_7rqnOU_Z-5rHM29H5w_4xzK9R6x-MqsPJs3oR31nFExZGkAFFfcToB2vM6Y/s1600/Black-chinned+sparrow%252C+Molino+Basin%252C+crop%252C+ppt.jpg" height="291" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Black-chinned sparrow</i></td></tr>
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The Arizona Trail east from the Molino Basin parking lot takes you into the oaks. I hadn't gone been in there much in the winter so I didn't know what to expect. But scrub jays were a pleasant find, and I realized that I hadn't seen a bridled titmouse for quite some time. Three wrens (rock, canyon and Bewick's) were around, with the canyon wren always winning for best singer with its downward cascading whistles.<br />
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Brian sussed out what he thought was a black-chinned sparrow. There are not a lot of these around the Tucson area and the grasslands around Molino Basin are one of the possible places to find them.<br />
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We stalked it for quite a while trying to get a good look at it--and a good photo. The photo to the right was the best I could do.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiATaLpKdKEQbCDXtiEWWUbTZJ4PUa1Oy9-rc2HpMMBXI2RB50vB3zME3erKgymgxPrC75_rmSWssvRB1AtfrihWi9_9kEZqZlOdwNBkbzmg-Ut-D2rT_pqkRxdy_LmlH9WHqbC1q383Fc/s1600/Pipevine+swallowtail%252C+Molino+Basin%252C+crop%252C+ppt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiATaLpKdKEQbCDXtiEWWUbTZJ4PUa1Oy9-rc2HpMMBXI2RB50vB3zME3erKgymgxPrC75_rmSWssvRB1AtfrihWi9_9kEZqZlOdwNBkbzmg-Ut-D2rT_pqkRxdy_LmlH9WHqbC1q383Fc/s1600/Pipevine+swallowtail%252C+Molino+Basin%252C+crop%252C+ppt.jpg" height="270" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pipevine swallowtail</i></td></tr>
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There were a remarkable number of pipevine swallowtails, and some other butterflies, flitting around. We chased one of them as well for a while, trying to get a photo. What a brilliant thing to see on a winter day.<br />
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Of course it hasn't been a typical winter. We've had weeks upon weeks of temperatures significantly above normal. It makes me wonder if seeing that many of any butterfly is normal for February. One can't help think that the weather has had something to do with it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBZTGS4z9vSr5xAudReZ9CrGFeClYY-tAvuri9QMBJ7iaaF3wffS5Mq_Q6nXSprzyY-fY39eHJBKI4-TO8UfKjzymFsz6gI-F4G9O-8YDKmoRYS3Y5b9llIS_-0rurbFlIe43kpgbuiPI/s1600/Yellow-eyed+Junco%252C+Mt+Lemmon+Highway%252C+Bear+Canyon%252C+crop%252C+ppt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBZTGS4z9vSr5xAudReZ9CrGFeClYY-tAvuri9QMBJ7iaaF3wffS5Mq_Q6nXSprzyY-fY39eHJBKI4-TO8UfKjzymFsz6gI-F4G9O-8YDKmoRYS3Y5b9llIS_-0rurbFlIe43kpgbuiPI/s1600/Yellow-eyed+Junco%252C+Mt+Lemmon+Highway%252C+Bear+Canyon%252C+crop%252C+ppt.jpg" height="292" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Yellow-eyed junco</i></td></tr>
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In fact Brian was in shorts! (See the last photo below.) There are certainly some winters when a trip that eventually takes you to nearly 9,000 feet elevation would force even Brian into long pants. But this wasn't one of those days and this isn't one of those winters.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs9oi4SqCMmlzbfTkVNqIMS8tazBtDLpLV5IvBFMAIrW7RxlzkP92zpOKT8Wq8VOrkDaB1fj_OCGQIihD-MeWTN48AKr2M9lm60oIFSXeB64kkjSZSAQ8JPx4yqUztaFMSys1RoK_acTI/s1600/Red-breasted+Nuthatch%252C+Ski+Valley%252C+Mt+Lemmon%252C+crop%252C+ppt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs9oi4SqCMmlzbfTkVNqIMS8tazBtDLpLV5IvBFMAIrW7RxlzkP92zpOKT8Wq8VOrkDaB1fj_OCGQIihD-MeWTN48AKr2M9lm60oIFSXeB64kkjSZSAQ8JPx4yqUztaFMSys1RoK_acTI/s1600/Red-breasted+Nuthatch%252C+Ski+Valley%252C+Mt+Lemmon%252C+crop%252C+ppt.jpg" height="278" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Red-breasted nuthatch</i></td></tr>
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At Bear Canyon, straight out of the car, there was a yellow-eyed junco on the ground. Brian noticed that it had been banded with metal and colored plastic leg bands. This one had two green bands on its left leg and a silver metal band over a red band on its right leg. Bird banders use combinations of bands like this so that people with binoculars, like us, can see a combination of bands that distinctly identifies an individual.<br />
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Further on at the ski area near Summerhaven we watched some more birds on the ground. I don't think I had ever seen a red-breasted nuthatch on the ground, so I got a photo of that! There was also a mountain chickadee foraging nearby.<br />
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It's wonderful to have resources like the Santa Catalina Mountains so close to Tucson. Within a 20-mile radius of Tucson one wonders at the avian diversity that can be seen.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf_7xAd2ZJijeaL28q5ewVU6Fw3MQljHBp4NHPfVDWaOl7m-Lq8zgIZBflYYZhnAyAKr0aEkxxc-8D6hv3T0pr1UTa9VN2u1pQZnC9q4qvIb5REOr0cEeuP9C2Gcggfm-HZkOSIa0kJXc/s1600/Brian+Nicholas,+Mt+Bigelow,+ppt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf_7xAd2ZJijeaL28q5ewVU6Fw3MQljHBp4NHPfVDWaOl7m-Lq8zgIZBflYYZhnAyAKr0aEkxxc-8D6hv3T0pr1UTa9VN2u1pQZnC9q4qvIb5REOr0cEeuP9C2Gcggfm-HZkOSIa0kJXc/s1600/Brian+Nicholas,+Mt+Bigelow,+ppt.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Brian Nicholas, shorts, snow!</i></td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-790081714012257442014-02-08T13:28:00.001-08:002014-02-08T13:33:36.290-08:00Neighbors, Exercise, Fresh Air and BirdsI promise I will go back to posting about the <i>entire </i>Tucson metro area soon, but just one more about my neighborhood. It's been so fun and rewarding to discover that people here in the Palo Verde Neighborhood care about birds. This morning we did a neighborhood bird walk. Eight neighbors and a colleague from Tucson Audubon walked around for over 2 1/2 hours watching birds and getting to know each other.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEUM91X2ZXmgjAdpR-Su9sydbzgo49jB22zVR_OT-pWPmRYaENOLJ-2Hx7sel4X-ibImbPU4aETJP5AF3l2Ji-ks5FlG8y0PjdmSINr2EEmhZD6JBycZY187C5Sft9opxGY7q4S-DBVPQ/s1600/20140208+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood+Bird+Walk,+ppt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEUM91X2ZXmgjAdpR-Su9sydbzgo49jB22zVR_OT-pWPmRYaENOLJ-2Hx7sel4X-ibImbPU4aETJP5AF3l2Ji-ks5FlG8y0PjdmSINr2EEmhZD6JBycZY187C5Sft9opxGY7q4S-DBVPQ/s1600/20140208+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood+Bird+Walk,+ppt.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Neighborhood birders this morning</i></td></tr>
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We were helped by having with us Ronni, neighborhood association president, and Vivian, long-time neighborhood birder. Ronni knows just about everything there is to know about the neighborhood and Vivian has seen about 80 different species in the neighborhood over the years.<br />
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I didn't take photos of birds this morning since I was carrying binoculars and a scope, and talking a lot. But I did get one of the group!<br />
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Our neighborhood is not a birding hotspot. There is no stream, lake, wash or natural open space. So why bird here? Because it is our neighborhood, our "patch," and there are birds all around us. Here's the key message: Since there is no natural habitat, all the birds are surviving on our residential landscaping. If you like seeing birds--as these eight people clearly did--then what can we do as a neighborhood to make the landscape support even more species?<br />
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We met at eight a.m. and right away we saw Gila woodpeckers, a great-tailed grackle, a European starling and an American kestrel. Moving northwest through the neighborhood we found curve-billed thrashers and then a pyrrhuloxia in a clump of mesquite and cholla where I had seen one before.<br />
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We found we were close to Rich's house, a member of the neighborhood association board of directors that had come along on the walk. He invited us in to his back yard to see what was at the feeders. We hoped for the Abert's towhees that he said sometimes visit the yard but they were nowhere to be found. However, there were lesser goldfinches, wintering white-crowned sparrows and a brilliant male broad-billed hummingbird.<br />
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On Rich's street we saw two unusual wintering white-winged doves and a singing male northern cardinal in all his bright red splendor and song. A block later we walked down what I call the "quail cul-de-sac" and saw four quail, another white-crowned sparrow and several other species like house finch and northern mockingbird that we saw in many places along the way.<br />
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The male American kestrel seemed to follow us around, appearing again and again along the way.<br />
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We got to the Catalina High School athletic fields and found the male vermilion flycatcher in pretty short order. Then it was off to Vivian's street where we watched birds at the feeders, include some more broad-billed hummingbirds, and saw some great front yards with native vegetation.<br />
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Here are the species we saw this morning:<br />
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">1.</span><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Gambel's
Quail (Callipepla gambelii) </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">2.</span><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Cooper's
Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">3.</span><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Rock
Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) (Columba livia (Domestic type)) </span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">4.</span><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">White-winged
Dove (Zenaida asiatica) </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">5.</span><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Mourning
Dove (Zenaida macroura) </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">6.</span><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Anna's
Hummingbird (Calypte anna) </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">7.</span><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Broad-billed
Hummingbird (Cynanthus latirostris) </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">8.</span><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Gila
Woodpecker (Melanerpes uropygialis) </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">9.</span><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">American
Kestrel (Falco sparverius) </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">10.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Vermilion
Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus) </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">11.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Common
Raven (Corvus corax) </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">12.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Verdin
(Auriparus flaviceps) </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">13.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Curve-billed
Thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre) </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">14.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Northern
Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">15.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">European
Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">16.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">White-crowned
Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">17.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Northern
Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">18.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Pyrrhuloxia
(Cardinalis sinuatus) </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">19.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Great-tailed
Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) </span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">20.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">House
Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) </span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">21.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Lesser
Goldfinch (Spinus psaltria) </span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">22.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">House
Sparrow (Passer domesticus)</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><!--[if !supportLists]--><o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-44902973714174883792014-02-03T21:07:00.000-08:002014-02-03T21:07:11.601-08:00My Neighborhood is Down With It!Several people in my neighborhood reacted positively to my last two blog posts. In fact, there has been enough interest that I've scheduled a birding walk for this Saturday at 8 a.m.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkRyYZcUbgV5JgoD-yaem_Zsm-4yXJ0obLbq9pKXY3mJla959S6u70C0kgmnS_hFyHYPVJvo93O5HQl4LSOzVghUzyGO3NZMYZyGqv12fJEy9MSynQzFSfJT8baZ2HigtJ21vBQL4Od20/s1600/Pyrrhuloxia%252C+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood%252C+crop%252C+ppt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkRyYZcUbgV5JgoD-yaem_Zsm-4yXJ0obLbq9pKXY3mJla959S6u70C0kgmnS_hFyHYPVJvo93O5HQl4LSOzVghUzyGO3NZMYZyGqv12fJEy9MSynQzFSfJT8baZ2HigtJ21vBQL4Od20/s1600/Pyrrhuloxia%252C+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood%252C+crop%252C+ppt.jpg" height="222" width="320" /></a>Still, I don't know how many people will come. This will be the first time I have led a bird walk in an otherwise unremarkable urban neighborhood. A neighborhood containing no natural open space or birding hotspot. What will happen? Will we see enough birds to keep people interested?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQt9b0aDsyRWazHJJbvxVqIMmQq3icre4BNY9OECLht5MheBkGnsg3tVxKRrfnvh4oU56ajekillyUK01QGCMZED25kUZlZ6HqmA8C6N_bQWmgzu-l4bWv8CDyt8t_Ydl5u9DxDFmY33M/s1600/Pyrrhuloxia+silhouette,+crop,+closeup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQt9b0aDsyRWazHJJbvxVqIMmQq3icre4BNY9OECLht5MheBkGnsg3tVxKRrfnvh4oU56ajekillyUK01QGCMZED25kUZlZ6HqmA8C6N_bQWmgzu-l4bWv8CDyt8t_Ydl5u9DxDFmY33M/s1600/Pyrrhuloxia+silhouette,+crop,+closeup.jpg" height="232" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pyrrhuloxia (above) and silhouette (below) showing<br />the curved bill rather than the cardinal's pointed bill</i></td></tr>
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I was buoyed over the weekend by finding some new species in the neighborhood for 2014. On Saturday afternoon a friend and I were walking on a nearby residential street and we saw a pyrrhuloxia (the desert relative of the northern cardinal). It was in one of the places I often see new species--a yard with dense native trees and shrubs. It is grayer overall than the cardinal and has a yellow, curved bill (rather than the red, pointed bill).<br />
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There was also a wintering white-crowned sparrow there, which I hadn't seen in the neighborhood in 2014.<br />
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On Sunday I saw two pyrrhuloxias in another location--a very small patch of chollas (cacti) and creosotes. I managed to get some photos.<br />
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There was also a great-tailed grackle in an alley a block from my house. I had just been discussing with Keith, the friend walking with me on Saturday, how grackles often congregate in some of the most urban locations--like parking lots and commercial buildings. I realized that I don't see them very often in the nighborhood. What does a Home Depot parking lot have that our neighborhood doesn't? I got a photo as the grackle flew by.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidsDhR9OQE-Iue-z7ngxbVP-ZQnErSJwXUspn-Y6bk7uTehbsvWjyFC7z7wrARVtbHvXAEafqK-zfaGBcSkeA-blrmCL51ryHpJ6ICTDrzyZF7Ye57X6ckxUbUCx1xICqMXXjYGEC8k4U/s1600/Great-tailed+grackle%252C+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood%252C+crop%252C+ppt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidsDhR9OQE-Iue-z7ngxbVP-ZQnErSJwXUspn-Y6bk7uTehbsvWjyFC7z7wrARVtbHvXAEafqK-zfaGBcSkeA-blrmCL51ryHpJ6ICTDrzyZF7Ye57X6ckxUbUCx1xICqMXXjYGEC8k4U/s1600/Great-tailed+grackle%252C+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood%252C+crop%252C+ppt.jpg" height="281" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A photo as the great-tailed grackle flew by</i></td></tr>
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On this Saturday's birding walk we will walk to the house of an experienced birder named Vivian MacKinnon. For years she has kept a list of birds seen in the neighborhood. She says others have kept lists too. It will be exciting to know what's been seen over the years--not just this year.<br />
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Also she says northern flickers (red-shafted variety) have been seen recently in the neighborhood.<br />
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Here are the 25 species seen in my neighborhood so far in 2014:<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Gambel's Quail (<i>Callipepla gambelii</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cooper's Hawk (<i>Accipiter cooperii</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Red-tailed Hawk (<i>Buteo jamaicensis</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rock Pigeon (<i>Columba livia</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Eurasian Collared-Dove (<i>Streptopelia decaocto</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
White-winged Dove (<i>Zenaida asiatica</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mourning Dove (<i>Zenaida macroura</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Great Horned Owl (<i>Bubo virginianus</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Anna's Hummingbird (<i>Calypte anna</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Gila Woodpecker (<i>Melanerpes uropygialis</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
American Kestrel (<i>Falco sparverius</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Vermilion Flycatcher (<i>Pyrocephalus rubinus</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Verdin (<i>Auriparus flaviceps</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Curve-billed Thrasher (<i>Toxostoma curvirostre</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Northern Mockingbird (<i>Mimus polyglottos</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
European Starling (<i>Sturnus vulgaris</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yellow-rumped Warbler (<i>Setophaga coronata</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abert's Towhee (<i>Melozone aberti</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
White-crowned Sparrow (<i>Zonotrichia leucophrys</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Northern Cardinal (<i>Cardinalis cardinalis</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pyrrhuloxia (<i>Cardinalis sinuatus</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Great-tailed Grackle (<i>Quiscalus mexicanus</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
House Finch (<i>Haemorhous mexicanus</i>)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lesser Goldfinch (<i>Spinus psaltria</i>)</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
House Sparrow (<i>Passer domesticus</i>)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-50790511414355256882014-01-31T19:53:00.000-08:002014-01-31T19:53:22.678-08:00Don't Have Wilderness? Get a Patch!Research by <a href="http://www.charlesvanriper.com/" target="_blank">Charles Van Riper</a> suggests that migrating birds make a series of decisions when they stop to rest and refuel. In the end they find a patch of vegetation that suits their needs. Sometimes they stay in a very small area for a day or more. This means we can provide a stopover area for some migratory species with a patch of vegetation as small as our back yard or neighborhood lot.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjFeY3OJV39o_sKB4TP6zZKvnQTSSJfOUy7KnQQ-Pdsab1F9SQJDH7wWzRksk6vU-5krEasrB4RvqWBC1uATi9aXTpGyIZMo8Jo-RR-YhNA7TWpEqmKwRCSquZZdpPsou-KUGZkDI3twM/s1600/Curve-billed+thrasher,+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjFeY3OJV39o_sKB4TP6zZKvnQTSSJfOUy7KnQQ-Pdsab1F9SQJDH7wWzRksk6vU-5krEasrB4RvqWBC1uATi9aXTpGyIZMo8Jo-RR-YhNA7TWpEqmKwRCSquZZdpPsou-KUGZkDI3twM/s1600/Curve-billed+thrasher,+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A curve-billed thrasher in a good thrasher patch <br />in my Tucson neighborhood</i> </td></tr>
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This explains why, every spring, I see or hear birds in my neighborhood that don't winter or nest here: Lucy's warbler, Wilson's warbler, plumbeous vireo, etc. There are a few patches of vegetation, at least, that serve their needs during brief stopovers.<br />
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Some birds probably need a bigger patch, or a different kind of patch. One of my favorite things to do in late April or so is to find a mulberry tree with a lot of fruit in it. I haven't found one yet in my neighborhood, but maybe it's out there. The fruit attracts migrating orioles, grosbeaks and tanagers--and sometimes a flock of wintering cedar waxwings that haven't quite left yet. It can be very colorful!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZGmtyVFORursDeRtYSMpkfc0hI2vbuER7cA5Y_T9wrrfrpWbkmP8cq0VT-DlxCnoQ_32hJkaIf69Lq2vtta7XhR6hf1CyEoCLmwuG_jxY7hzFVqDWfIfPGj6BJ_jyj669wUyOFQ079s/s1600/Gila+woodpecker,+Mason+Center,+crop,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZGmtyVFORursDeRtYSMpkfc0hI2vbuER7cA5Y_T9wrrfrpWbkmP8cq0VT-DlxCnoQ_32hJkaIf69Lq2vtta7XhR6hf1CyEoCLmwuG_jxY7hzFVqDWfIfPGj6BJ_jyj669wUyOFQ079s/s1600/Gila+woodpecker,+Mason+Center,+crop,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="320" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Gila woodpecker at a feeder at <br /><a href="http://www.tucsonaudubon.org/work/mason.html" target="_blank">Tucson Audubon's Mason Center</a></i></td></tr>
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No spring migrants yet around here. Resident and wintering birds are making a living on our patches--like the curve-billed thrasher above. Thorny trees and cacti make a great patch for them.<br />
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Putting out a bird feeder essentially makes a "patch." That's why we put feeders out, to create a place a bird can visit where we can see them. The Gila woodpecker at left started spending a lot more time in the bush outside my office after I put up a feeder.<br />
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Feeder patches offer only one thing--food. A bird also needs cover (places to hide from predators or the sun), places to nest and sometimes water (though some birds get the moisture they need from what they eat). That's why landscaping designed for birds--providing not only food but cover and nesting opportunities--can really increase the number and diversity of birds we see in the urban area. Native vegetation works better than feeders!<br />
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As spring comes this year I'll be looking around my neighborhood for patches that meet the stopover needs of migratory birds. I'll be thinking about how to make them better, to serve more varieties of migrating birds. At the same time I'll be looking at which of our regions nesting birds build their nests here. And I'll be thinking about what other species might nest here if we had more and better patches.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-19934705119777011132014-01-27T18:57:00.004-08:002014-01-27T18:57:55.369-08:00Documenting Birds in my NeighborhodPart of my year of urban birding is to document what can be seen in my neighborhood. The Palo Verde Neighborhood is a square mile in what we call "midtown" Tucson. There is nothing special about it in terms of natural resources--no open spaces except a few vacant lots and sports fields at the high school. There's certainly no "natural open space" with real native habitat.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwytGzO6zmm3IQFIIxwYYWZWAOTeTXbR83UoaYaRvWdL__H38FYzYsEQYlJ6uc_3fdY793WItJhdNUhrhv9sx9Wig2JuHgotnOx7Tsc_ISMmsDXQY1PF5xyxgQr3XodEl0N4UMAogqfcE/s1600/Buddha+at+dog+park.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwytGzO6zmm3IQFIIxwYYWZWAOTeTXbR83UoaYaRvWdL__H38FYzYsEQYlJ6uc_3fdY793WItJhdNUhrhv9sx9Wig2JuHgotnOx7Tsc_ISMmsDXQY1PF5xyxgQr3XodEl0N4UMAogqfcE/s1600/Buddha+at+dog+park.JPG" height="149" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Booboo, my neighborhood birding buddy<br />(in a younger day before he needed <br />to lose a pound or two!)</i></td></tr>
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People think of neighborhoods such as this as consisting of homes, pavement and ornamental plantings. But it is bird habitat too. Several species spend at least part of the year here. The question is, "How good is this habitat and what birds can be found?"<br />
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So after walking the dogs this afternoon with my wife Mary Beth I went back out with Booboo, the younger dog. He's gotten a little pudgy lately and needs the additional exercise. (Audrey the older dog was tuckered out.) I took a camera in case I found any birds to document.<br />
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I headed northeast and cut through a paved stormwater conduit that connects between two residential streets. For me it was just a shortcut to a street where I often see quail. But as soon as I entered I saw a curve-billed thrasher, and then a second. One perched very obligingly on a cactus (<i>Opuntia ficus-indica</i>) for this photo. What a great neighborhood bird!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6UZBhiDm6_xHsfgZG_qR7FfjW47KS-1nXusXGmyJxA2x6uhp0aBGxuHXgKLuuyZ7kR32SnSageYmCTwDpjrRWaAHm0-OuutURMuC01veyTpb0t7G06okkaAa00AzM2UtyoZ3-a14fIpE/s1600/Curve-billed+Thrasher%252C+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood%252C+crop%252C+ppt+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6UZBhiDm6_xHsfgZG_qR7FfjW47KS-1nXusXGmyJxA2x6uhp0aBGxuHXgKLuuyZ7kR32SnSageYmCTwDpjrRWaAHm0-OuutURMuC01veyTpb0t7G06okkaAa00AzM2UtyoZ3-a14fIpE/s1600/Curve-billed+Thrasher%252C+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood%252C+crop%252C+ppt+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" height="481" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Curve-billed Thrasher</i></td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Tucson neighborhoods are pretty good at hosting this species. Thrashers are not picky eaters, with a diet of insects, seeds and fruits. They find food by probing around in leaf litter or soil with their curved bill. Here and there in Tucson residential areas they find spiny cacti like chollas or other dense, spiny brush in which to build their nests. If you have such vegetation you have a chance to see their large nests and pretty blue eggs.</span></div>
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Perhaps I had found a neighborhood bird hotspot because several other species appeared in short order. A pair of Abert's towhees next moved through the vegetation along the sides of the shortcut. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIEPzt-Yj1l9j3Wgw466bjffAztXQmjdfD9_7oONjc-uc1i7alzAuA69ILntxhrEIeKTSLkvUJIYGJH6R6VRnxyUZxxGvCt70yyR5mX4dMaE6NjIUYRHWIJRWW5r2gQmUxN1nkno9WHQ/s1600/Abert%2527s+Towhee%252C+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood%252C+crop%252C+ppt+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIEPzt-Yj1l9j3Wgw466bjffAztXQmjdfD9_7oONjc-uc1i7alzAuA69ILntxhrEIeKTSLkvUJIYGJH6R6VRnxyUZxxGvCt70yyR5mX4dMaE6NjIUYRHWIJRWW5r2gQmUxN1nkno9WHQ/s1600/Abert%2527s+Towhee%252C+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood%252C+crop%252C+ppt+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" height="470" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Abert's towhee</i></td></tr>
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There aren't a lot of these in the neighborhood and I'm very interested in where they nest. They are considered a more specialized species keeping mostly to streams and larger washes (riparian areas) and sometimes dense upland brush. There is no such habitat here and it is only fairly recently that we have realized they are sometimes found in neighborhoods such as this. If we can figure out how this species is making it in our neighborhood, we can perhaps do a better job of supporting an urban population of this declining species. </div>
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The wintering white-winged dove appeared again, on a wire running through the alley that bisects the drainage area. Only a few of these stay around in winter. I include a nearby mourning dove, common in winter, for comparison.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Zx08VYrB9UId9zBekvHzxbi-1TY6QuD8LjvX6R6jny-dJQOOkA5J5yP0nLWcv3rfpVmYGf-9bYOYiwUueN60XXcfhvKCUflC6c3fCd9IyUXpunHpah7HEhLStH34Stf0EJOELehrjJA/s1600/White-winged+Dove%252C+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood%252C+crop%252C+ppt+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Zx08VYrB9UId9zBekvHzxbi-1TY6QuD8LjvX6R6jny-dJQOOkA5J5yP0nLWcv3rfpVmYGf-9bYOYiwUueN60XXcfhvKCUflC6c3fCd9IyUXpunHpah7HEhLStH34Stf0EJOELehrjJA/s1600/White-winged+Dove%252C+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood%252C+crop%252C+ppt+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" height="232" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>White-winged dove</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYwyyvCGL90V2UT-nXoAcS3ViRKRmDT-L8jrYDpn_ohmHx0W4VUosCNu6naZW8ev3vOwOplOcb6NJsdIGq4Pr-U1KjN6BwBYc1NNBZKMkQU_i1CB7wJ1piWMuEiH6zVwQmVLt5zL4nb4s/s1600/Mourning+Dove%252C+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood%252C+crop%252C+ppt+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYwyyvCGL90V2UT-nXoAcS3ViRKRmDT-L8jrYDpn_ohmHx0W4VUosCNu6naZW8ev3vOwOplOcb6NJsdIGq4Pr-U1KjN6BwBYc1NNBZKMkQU_i1CB7wJ1piWMuEiH6zVwQmVLt5zL4nb4s/s1600/Mourning+Dove%252C+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood%252C+crop%252C+ppt+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" height="227" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Mourning dove</i></td></tr>
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Heading out of the drainage way I made my way to where I hoped to see quail. They appeared right no schedule. I got a few photos and this one, of a male, was the best. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilIVAG-NT8YnY6BCA2m1NjnNRe4X8kv_7TQXdYRE9FcDnw6PUbAnZ68ZaPkQk_-bmRpQfqD1eI4dii4-DpZoCk5-GOkvDKzAzADQbHhGgjDpu_65CAX2qiy60c9AjbSrEyq47jlzNXqMk/s1600/Gambel%2527s+Quail%252C+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood%252C+crop%252C+ppt+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilIVAG-NT8YnY6BCA2m1NjnNRe4X8kv_7TQXdYRE9FcDnw6PUbAnZ68ZaPkQk_-bmRpQfqD1eI4dii4-DpZoCk5-GOkvDKzAzADQbHhGgjDpu_65CAX2qiy60c9AjbSrEyq47jlzNXqMk/s1600/Gambel%2527s+Quail%252C+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood%252C+crop%252C+ppt+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" height="436" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Gambel's quail</i></td></tr>
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Gambel's quail is found here and there in midtown neighborhoods, but is not particularly common. A graduate student at the University of Arizona figured out that quail would likely be reestablished in midtown if just 10-15% of the ground surface was landscaped with native Sonoran Desert vegetation. That's attainable. There's one small patch of suitable landscaping on the street I visited and it is certainly working there. </div>
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Similar vegetation, including native trees and large shrubs, provides niches for northern cardinal as well. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9z-JeTLeqBriZVVe08XRH2395zPWuZRtFEvFJ1TsoylHBvp_BJqu8VsYm73e-EtZ7T12sP2j3lonHvW3gYHSadWmQ51hOt0vekqQVmtJPrIi4XBahMz0eR-8dFYxYa30R-v5fQTDti5s/s1600/Northern+Cardinal,+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood,+crop,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9z-JeTLeqBriZVVe08XRH2395zPWuZRtFEvFJ1TsoylHBvp_BJqu8VsYm73e-EtZ7T12sP2j3lonHvW3gYHSadWmQ51hOt0vekqQVmtJPrIi4XBahMz0eR-8dFYxYa30R-v5fQTDti5s/s1600/Northern+Cardinal,+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood,+crop,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="435" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Northern cardinal</i></td></tr>
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I saw several other species as well, including red-tailed hawk, lesser goldfinch, northern mockingbird, house finch and verdin. If we think about what birds we have now, any why, we might go on to think about we can support other species that have declined in our area. </div>
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Here's a list of the 22 species I've seen in the neighborhood so far in 2014. </div>
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Gambel's Quail (<i>Callipepla gambelii</i>)</div>
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Cooper's Hawk (<i>Accipiter cooperii</i>)</div>
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Red-tailed Hawk (<i>Buteo jamaicensis</i>)</div>
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Rock pigeon (<i>Columba livia</i>)</div>
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Eurasian Collared-Dove (<i>Streptopelia decaocto</i>)</div>
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White-winged Dove (<i>Zenaida asiatica</i>)</div>
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Mourning Dove (<i>Zenaida macroura</i>)</div>
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Great Horned Owl (<i>Bubo virginianus</i>)</div>
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Anna's Hummingbird (<i>Calypte anna</i>)</div>
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Gila Woodpecker (<i>Melanerpes uropygialis</i>)</div>
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American Kestrel (<i>Falco sparverius</i>)</div>
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Vermilion Flycatcher (<i>Pyrocephalus rubinus</i>)</div>
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Verdin (<i>Auriparus flaviceps</i>)</div>
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Curve-billed Thrasher (<i>Toxostoma curvirostre</i>)</div>
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Northern Mockingbird (<i>Mimus polyglottos</i>)</div>
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European Starling (<i>Sturnus vulgaris</i>)</div>
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Yellow-rumped Warbler (<i>Setophaga coronata</i>)</div>
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Abert's Towhee (<i>Melozone aberti</i>)</div>
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Northern Cardinal (<i>Cardinalis cardinalis</i>)</div>
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House Finch (<i>Haemorhous mexicanus</i>)</div>
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Lesser Goldfinch (<i>Spinus psaltria</i>)</div>
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House Sparrow (<i>Passer domesticus</i>)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-28297274911230379712014-01-25T15:48:00.003-08:002014-01-25T15:48:55.236-08:00Flickers, Nest Boxes and What's Singing Today!The big news for The Verdin News today is that I heard a verdin singing this morning. The weather is spring-like here, and has been for weeks, so a spring song seems appropriate.<br />
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To be truthful, I've heard verdins sing a couple of other times this winter. They seem to play their song occasionally even in regular winter weather. But with our daily high temperatures reaching the high 60s to 70s F for at least the last three weeks, it just seemed right to hear the verdin. The song is a couple or a few notes, sometimes all on the same pitch and sometimes with the first note higher and the rest about a major third lower. Listen to the <a href="http://www.naturesongs.com/tyrrcert.html#verd" target="_blank">sounds a verdin makes</a> (the one I heard is described here as the "spring mating song").<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifmLzVC4rRAr9cjBfqJMnLfKQBrpyBsr4fLVhPdl7COZOwWG7tiCX-00l0pjiN1w9nIltwLeBjEpVMavjnGQdxoITaoFfM0ERe3P_Och158oLsxaOp2x17TG3GUHx_K4W-qa5txGm8lWE/s1600/Gilded+Flicker,+female,+Mason+Center,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifmLzVC4rRAr9cjBfqJMnLfKQBrpyBsr4fLVhPdl7COZOwWG7tiCX-00l0pjiN1w9nIltwLeBjEpVMavjnGQdxoITaoFfM0ERe3P_Och158oLsxaOp2x17TG3GUHx_K4W-qa5txGm8lWE/s1600/Gilded+Flicker,+female,+Mason+Center,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="224" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Gilded flicker, female</i></td></tr>
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I was at <a href="http://www.tucsonaudubon.org/work/mason.html" target="_blank">Tucson Audubon's Mason Center</a> this morning with a group of volunteers helping us to make experimental nest boxes. I was able to get some photos of a pair of gilded flickers that came in to the snag behind the office where we have a feeder.<br />
<br />
The flicker visit seemed appropriate since they make nest holes and, well, we were making nest holes too. Gilded flickers are one of the two species (along with Gila woodpeckers) that make holes in our tall, columnar saguaro cacti. Many other birds end up nesting in the cavities they excavate.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDxC4rzFSqUBTWi0JTVq3ZdjGr0dWFYsNkwfQWstJFam81munHFA76P_zaKfAYQn4OpEAZz41Q6h1Q-x8TKH_rpPXn-bJO_O_Q9IRjh46tjj5xWL83kp8odeGSYbXgFpYHQeZhfqxULww/s1600/Gilded+Flicker,+male,+Mason+Center,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDxC4rzFSqUBTWi0JTVq3ZdjGr0dWFYsNkwfQWstJFam81munHFA76P_zaKfAYQn4OpEAZz41Q6h1Q-x8TKH_rpPXn-bJO_O_Q9IRjh46tjj5xWL83kp8odeGSYbXgFpYHQeZhfqxULww/s1600/Gilded+Flicker,+male,+Mason+Center,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Gilded flicker, male</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But gilded flickers retreat from even fairly low-density development. Plus, there aren't as many saguaros in developed areas, so nest holes are at premium in the city. Add to this the fact that we formerly had some lowland forest associated with streams that have disappeared due to ground water pumping, cutting firewood or erosion. Those trees also often had holes made by Gila woodpeckers or ladder-backed woodpeckers.<br />
<br />
Some species have hole-nesting birds have dwindled, perhaps simply for a lack of holes. We're trying to see if increasing the number of holes helps. If we figure out how to be successful, maybe we can start a successful public campaign like those for bluebird boxes in the eastern and mid-western United States.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXqKgwJI5vi7Qlh_ORALrg5YFGTFp6yGfLU1XN0sBizp8JB2PJXi3ZGHY2IbvrVJjv5cJMm797BsEvbJbOsCPpFMper9mwA_2zkA7b_g4vOWNmynXIyBQBjfOM1LNOcdRB12VHKjlmBPo/s1600/Keith+and+Bill+assembling+a+kestrel+box,+web+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXqKgwJI5vi7Qlh_ORALrg5YFGTFp6yGfLU1XN0sBizp8JB2PJXi3ZGHY2IbvrVJjv5cJMm797BsEvbJbOsCPpFMper9mwA_2zkA7b_g4vOWNmynXIyBQBjfOM1LNOcdRB12VHKjlmBPo/s1600/Keith+and+Bill+assembling+a+kestrel+box,+web+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Keith and Bill make an American kestrel box</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Our <a href="http://www.tucsonaudubon.org/what-we-do/urban/nestbox.html" target="_blank">experimental nest box pilot program</a> will put out approximately 60 boxes and gourds to see what will nest in them. The conventional wisdom around here has been that nest boxes don't work--they get too hot. But we have heard anecdotal stories of success with boxes. We want to see if we can come up with the right nest box design and the right placement of the box so that they can be successful for some hole-nesting species. This spring we have two box sizes, one for American kestrels (that might also be used for western screech-owls) and one for ash-throated flycatchers (which also may be used by brown-crested flycatchers).<br />
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We've also heard about successes with gourds as nest sites for Lucy's warbler, one of only two hold-nesting North American wood warblers.<br />
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This is all part of <a href="http://www.tucsonaudubon.org/what-we-do/urban.html" target="_blank">Tucson Audubon's Urban Program</a>, raising awareness of birds in the urban area, reducing threats to bird and improving habitat.<br />
<br />
It's been a challenge to get these boxes made. But we have many volunteers eager to host the boxes and monitor them to see if some of our native birds use them. It will be exciting this spring to see what happens!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-9153401202645756992014-01-25T07:23:00.003-08:002014-01-25T07:23:57.231-08:00What I've Seen So FarWinter in Tucson is kind of magical for birders. Birds show up that would not have a chance at surviving year-round, or reproducing, here. But many parks and other nooks and crannies of habitat have enough resources for them in winter. It's warm enough that there is some insect life through the winter, and pockets of habitat have seeds and fruits left over from summer and fall.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisfkWB6bFDI2Ak32ivrcVi1YfvXoa7MLLtmtcS870uynxlvfIv3jSkfQClGr2HJ8OJVIws8C9-zPzgAue7RyRi2uNfnmPzQAJINkhridL3K6HLrE7cr9-GZrR1o-Du5B2xPe-d-s5bxmM/s1600/Himmel+Park+Harris's+Sparrow+spot,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisfkWB6bFDI2Ak32ivrcVi1YfvXoa7MLLtmtcS870uynxlvfIv3jSkfQClGr2HJ8OJVIws8C9-zPzgAue7RyRi2uNfnmPzQAJINkhridL3K6HLrE7cr9-GZrR1o-Du5B2xPe-d-s5bxmM/s1600/Himmel+Park+Harris's+Sparrow+spot,+ppt+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The part of Himmel Park hosting the Harris's sparrow</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
At the beginning I said I wasn't necessarily out to chase rarities during this year of birding in Tucson. I would write about what an average birder could see in a year in Tucson. But I <i>have </i>seen some unusual birds.<br />
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For example, I wrote about some Cassin's kingbirds in another post. And on the very first day of the year I went to Himmel Park to look for a Harris's sparrow. It was first seen December 29 by Scott Olmstead--his photos of it can be seen with his <a href="http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S16112666#sthash.TGvNK8Yu.dpuf" target="_blank">eBird checklist</a>. I found it in relatively short order. Harris's sparrow is a casual transient and winter visitor here.<br />
<br />
Scott found this bird, he later told me, because he wanted to be out birding a lot. But his job didn't allow him to go on a lot of long trips. He was finding that he was seeing marvelous diversity of birds in locales within the urban area. He said Rio Vista Natural Resource Park was one of them. Indeed, according to eBird 25 species have been seen there so far in 2014--in just three weeks. Many of these species at Rio Vista were seen by Scott. They include a peregrine falcon and a somewhat rare winter broad-billed hummingbird. Some broad-billed hummingbird spend the winter in the vicinity of hummingbird feeders. <br />
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It was on a morning Scott had decided to try another spot--the relatively habitat-poor Himmel Park--that he found the Harris's sparrow. It would feed on the ground, sometimes with a white-crowned sparrow and sometimes with house sparrows, and then retreat into an oleander hedge (seen in the photo above).<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5cesDt1qXIJdKBXEx68GNX6-zR75f4pIdju89A64FPDJDbb1ikzW4sn4_TPPLqHh-31YTW9hK21VNhLN65rQb_kMztRYmaO_rTH435PvxDxz-euyUKoosPHVPGqDok74bM8pEH_kbJMM/s1600/Broad-billed+hummingbird,+TAS+nature+shop,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5cesDt1qXIJdKBXEx68GNX6-zR75f4pIdju89A64FPDJDbb1ikzW4sn4_TPPLqHh-31YTW9hK21VNhLN65rQb_kMztRYmaO_rTH435PvxDxz-euyUKoosPHVPGqDok74bM8pEH_kbJMM/s1600/Broad-billed+hummingbird,+TAS+nature+shop,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="224" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Broad-billed hummingbird, Tucson Audubon front yard<br />January 24, 2014</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I too saw a broad-billed hummingbird this winter. It has been hanging out in the front yard of the Tucson Audubon Society Offices and Nature Shop. There are feeders!<br />
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I have also seen a Lewis's woodpecker that was found in December in Reid Park. The are rare here in winter. And I have seen the black-and-white warbler that was found at Sweetwater Wetlands.<br />
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So far I have seen 70 species of birds in the greater Tucson area, and 21 species in my neighborhood.<br />
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By the way, you can see the Tucson locations I write about by going to eBird.org, clicking on "Explore Data" and using the "Hotspot Explorer." Put the name of the birding location in the box and hit enter! I will try always to use the name of the location that is used in eBird. <br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">1</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Gadwall - Anas strepera<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">2</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> American Wigeon - Anas
americana<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">3</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">4</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Cinnamon Teal - Anas cyanoptera<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">5</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Northern Shoveler - Anas
clypeata<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">6</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Northern Pintail - Anas acuta<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">7</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Green-winged Teal - Anas crecca<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">8</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Canvasback - Aythya valisineria<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">9</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Ring-necked Duck - Aythya
collaris<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">10</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Common Merganser - Mergus
merganser<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">11</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Ruddy Duck - Oxyura jamaicensis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">12</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Gambel's Quail - Callipepla
gambelii<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">13</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Pied-billed Grebe - Podilymbus
podiceps<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">14</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Neotropic Cormorant -
Phalacrocorax brasilianus<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">15</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Great Egret - Ardea alba<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">16</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Black-crowned Night-Heron -
Nycticorax nycticorax<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">17</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Northern Harrier - Circus
cyaneus<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">18</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Cooper's Hawk - Accipiter
cooperii<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">19</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo
jamaicensis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">20</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> American Coot - Fulica
americana<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">21</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Black-necked Stilt - Himantopus
mexicanus<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">22</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis
macularius<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">23</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Rock Pigeon - Columba livia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">24</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Eurasian Collared-Dove -
Streptopelia decaocto<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">25</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> White-winged Dove - Zenaida
asiatica<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">26</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Mourning Dove - Zenaida
macroura<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">27</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Greater Roadrunner - Geococcyx
californianus<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">28</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Great Horned Owl - Bubo
virginianus<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">29</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Anna's Hummingbird - Calypte
anna<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">30</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Costa's Hummingbird - Calypte
costae<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">31</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Broad-billed Hummingbird -
Cynanthus latirostris<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">32</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Belted Kingfisher - Megaceryle
alcyon<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">33</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Lewis's Woodpecker - Melanerpes
lewis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">34</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Gila Woodpecker - Melanerpes
uropygialis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">35</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Ladder-backed Woodpecker -
Picoides scalaris<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">36</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Northern Flicker - Colaptes
auratus<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">37</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> American Kestrel - Falco
sparverius<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">38</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Prairie Falcon - Falco
mexicanus<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">39</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Black Phoebe - Sayornis
nigricans<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">40</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Say's Phoebe - Sayornis saya<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">41</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Vermilion Flycatcher -
Pyrocephalus rubinus<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">42</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Cassin's Kingbird - Tyrannus
vociferans<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">43</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Plumbeous Vireo - Vireo
plumbeus<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">44</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Common Raven - Corvus corax<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">45</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Verdin - Auriparus flaviceps<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">46</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Rock Wren - Salpinctes
obsoletus<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">47</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Marsh Wren - Cistothorus
palustris<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">48</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Cactus Wren - Campylorhynchus
brunneicapillus<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">49</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Black-tailed Gnatcatcher -
Polioptila melanura<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">50</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Regulus
calendula<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">51</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Western Bluebird - Sialia
mexicana<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">52</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Curve-billed Thrasher -
Toxostoma curvirostre<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">53</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Northern Mockingbird - Mimus
polyglottos<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">54</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> European Starling - Sturnus
vulgaris<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">55</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Phainopepla - Phainopepla
nitens<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">56</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Black-and-white Warbler -
Mniotilta varia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">57</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Orange-crowned Warbler -
Oreothlypis celata<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">58</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Yellow-rumped Warbler -
Setophaga coronata<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">59</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Wilson's Warbler - Cardellina
pusilla<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">60</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Abert's Towhee - Melozone
aberti<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">61</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Chipping Sparrow - Spizella
passerina<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">62</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Lincoln's Sparrow - Melospiza
lincolnii<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">63</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Harris's Sparrow - Zonotrichia
querula<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">64</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> White-crowned Sparrow -
Zonotrichia leucophrys<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">65</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis
cardinalis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">66</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Western Meadowlark - Sturnella
neglecta<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">67</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Great-tailed Grackle -
Quiscalus mexicanus<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">68</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> House Finch - Haemorhous
mexicanus<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">69</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Lesser Goldfinch - Spinus
psaltria<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<b style="line-height: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">70</span></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 12pt;"> House Sparrow - Passer
domesticus</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-32470210632487219892014-01-20T11:51:00.001-08:002014-01-20T11:51:06.025-08:00Palo Verde Neighborhood--New 2014 Birds TodayMy mission to document neighborhood birds got a nice jolt this morning when I saw two species I had not seen yet this year. I reveal them below.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqeswE_aPN_f9wWYpD6Ju4qdmIsrcUbTry-GRFU1DWIX0F1pdA9kBga0nhFxfD4rvgusoCub74OpFCyi0hJ8iW5M5aegBoFsORQppDU_m2zK0FaFYAsgq4g-5hEgv3b2UieGo0x6fwu0M/s1600/Vermilion+Flycatcher,+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood,+Catalina+HS,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqeswE_aPN_f9wWYpD6Ju4qdmIsrcUbTry-GRFU1DWIX0F1pdA9kBga0nhFxfD4rvgusoCub74OpFCyi0hJ8iW5M5aegBoFsORQppDU_m2zK0FaFYAsgq4g-5hEgv3b2UieGo0x6fwu0M/s1600/Vermilion+Flycatcher,+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood,+Catalina+HS,+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="233" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Vermilion flycatcher, Catalina High School</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I had taken to the streets first by bicycle and then walking the dogs. While walking the dogs my camera and binoculars again drew attention. I man named Pete, also walking two small dogs, asked what I was seeing. I described some of the morning's finds. He seemed to accept that I was okay. Not one person has yet failed to believe my story that I'm documenting birds in the neighborhood (and <i>not </i>casing the area for homes that I could burglarize!). Again, the cuteness and friendliness of the dogs was working in my favor. And it probably helped that I could name some birds that I had seen.<br />
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Before all that I started with a ride over to the high school athletic field where, not unpredictably, I found the male vermilion flycatcher that I saw yesterday and reported in my last post. In the morning sun its red crown and underside was brilliant. Really they are almost always brilliant; probably the brightest natural color in our part of the world.<br />
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I also saw white-winged dove again today. I don't know if this was the same individual I saw before several blocks away or another. I know there is at least one in the neighborhood this winter. A Cooper's hawk perched alertly above one of the properties where I see a lot of birds--one of the two places in the neighborhood I regularly see quail. Eventually I'll get a photo of one of the quail. The hawk didn't try to catch anything while I was around.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil38_uD0995gg2h-picP07muXhI0iUino75xD5f-El0hreKoJQry344BOtXhOl4PEfIRfHRni-01OQndT9RvJzqa0Gc7qKM65VdvxtaVVBUEuThPhFaloI-thQ2argYZmlyOZvwTdK6-w/s1600/Ameican+Kestrel%252C+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood%252C+crop+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil38_uD0995gg2h-picP07muXhI0iUino75xD5f-El0hreKoJQry344BOtXhOl4PEfIRfHRni-01OQndT9RvJzqa0Gc7qKM65VdvxtaVVBUEuThPhFaloI-thQ2argYZmlyOZvwTdK6-w/s1600/Ameican+Kestrel%252C+Palo+Verde+Neighborhood%252C+crop+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>American kestrel</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Along the way I also saw the second American kestrel of the year in the Palo Verde Neighborhood. This bodes well for the experimental <a href="http://tucsonaudubon.org/what-we-do/birding/nestbox.html" target="_blank">nest box program</a> Tucson Audubon is running this spring. We will get boxes out for kestrels and some other birds to see if they will nest in them. The conventional wisdom is that boxes get too hot here for successful nesting. However, we have heard about enough successes with boxes that we are bucking the trend and giving it a try. If we can determine how to make them work here (choosing the right box design, putting them in the shade, insulating them) we can start a nest box promotion program that might interest many new Tucsonans in conservation and the Audubon movement.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZYhjGfYyAVRf3mLNX4gaOGcDFZv-91trzYSTVlvFteOEouFs4Ekrv3M6bR8yA1CYzO2uDAot-AZCqBHa-F3HYjVPrrGkfRYAHE-HIC_IitTvTyhASt_kUNnRd5inpn3H31KHeO3bBFg/s1600/Abert%2527s+Towhee+Pima+St+back+yard%252C+crop+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZYhjGfYyAVRf3mLNX4gaOGcDFZv-91trzYSTVlvFteOEouFs4Ekrv3M6bR8yA1CYzO2uDAot-AZCqBHa-F3HYjVPrrGkfRYAHE-HIC_IitTvTyhASt_kUNnRd5inpn3H31KHeO3bBFg/s1600/Abert%2527s+Towhee+Pima+St+back+yard%252C+crop+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" height="234" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Abert's towhee</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Somewhat ironically, it was not until I got back home that I saw today's two new birds for the neighborhood. I had sat down in the back yard to enter sightings in <a href="http://www.ebird.org/" target="_blank">eBird</a> when two birds landed on the wall of the back yard--both Abert's towhees. This is is known as a bird of riparian forests and thickets. It is not found in great numbers in our region but it is found very reliably along remaining streams and along healthy washes. It does, however, turn up in Tucson neighborhoods--perhaps especially the older ones with more mature vegetation. I'd like to find out what it is they need to survive and reproduce in our neighborhood. Perhaps we can replicate that in other neighborhoods.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJdAx1ih1xm05mWPXffkZDjx6ydRsi0n5icPd9VDE4ow-zMF-TcT5AvZwZTK18ec7lRMJIKfC_7lOm0F1puLTSh9lShXIxnKwQoO3K8oxmcCm-mQM4EbuRXAcWlzVpMRAsbBx2Tko-gQ/s1600/Eurasian+Collared+Dove%252C+Pima+back+yard%252C+crop+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJdAx1ih1xm05mWPXffkZDjx6ydRsi0n5icPd9VDE4ow-zMF-TcT5AvZwZTK18ec7lRMJIKfC_7lOm0F1puLTSh9lShXIxnKwQoO3K8oxmcCm-mQM4EbuRXAcWlzVpMRAsbBx2Tko-gQ/s1600/Eurasian+Collared+Dove%252C+Pima+back+yard%252C+crop+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" height="221" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Eurasian collared-dove</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The last new bird of the day alerted me to its presence with low, whistled too-TOOOO-to, too-TOOOO-to. Up on the telephone pole in the alley was a Eurasian collared-dove. Relatively new to Tucson, this species has been moving across the country from Florida where it first appeared in 1982. Read about its rapid colonization of North America <a href="http://projectfeederwatch.wordpress.com/2011/01/17/eurasian-collared-doves-conquering-america/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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That's all the neighborhood bird news for today!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239777832403602844noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760736279139659558.post-53765696387602639432014-01-19T21:11:00.000-08:002014-01-19T21:11:33.761-08:00Tucson birds are really cool! I've added a couple species to the neighborhood list since the last post: Gambel's quail and vermilion flycatcher. There are a couple of homes in the neighborhood that have quail-friendly landscapes (plenty of cover--places on the ground to hide and nest under vegetation). When I eventually do a birding field trip around they neighborhood, they will be places I'll stop!<br />
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Gambel's quail is a charismatic bird. Our city would be blessed to have more of them. A study at the University of Arizona found that only 10-15% of the ground surface needs to have the right kind of native shrub cover in order to support quail.<br />
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The vermilion flycatcher was at the athletic fields at Catalina High School. In Tucson almost every grassy park or school ground has at least one pair of these brilliant birds. I'll try to get a photo of our local one, along with the quail!.<br />
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Unfortunately not everybody in Tucson knows how cool the birds are. That's why I was really happy to assist Tucson Audubon field trip leader Brian Nicholas on Saturday on a trip for beginners. He had the brilliant idea of doing an afternoon field trip, figuring that some people may be nature enthusiasts--and perhaps nascent birders--even though they don't want to get up early in the morning.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2NTW56WhlYOLw9dftWHqvjp-X6Mvhm8Lspc4aayMX7MdxQNCCLqZimowjEYt-BrWtiQliseXzj71MAG3hvU_WlnVdNChtf8olKMGNJFyp5mAWEHc_3PuSG1iRWnRkK-frtbStl2u_1tc/s1600/Red-tailed+Hawk+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2NTW56WhlYOLw9dftWHqvjp-X6Mvhm8Lspc4aayMX7MdxQNCCLqZimowjEYt-BrWtiQliseXzj71MAG3hvU_WlnVdNChtf8olKMGNJFyp5mAWEHc_3PuSG1iRWnRkK-frtbStl2u_1tc/s1600/Red-tailed+Hawk+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="225" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Red-tailed hawk</i></td></tr>
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Brian was right. Twenty-four people signed up for the trip, so many that he asked me to help out as a co-leader. There were children and young adults as well, which we don't get a lot of on our morning trips. This excursion was on Tucson's east side, more or less along Tanque Verde Wash. This is a broad, dry sandy wash that only holds water occasionally. However, groundwater--although being depleted--is still high enough to support some dense riparian vegetation along the sides of the wash.<br />
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At the place where Tanque Verde Loop Road crosses the was we birded along the road and up the wash a short distance. Beginners got stunning views of a red-tailed hawk. Northern cardinal, northern (red-shafted) flicker, phainopepla, Abert's towhee and many other resident and wintering species showed off for us. Somewhat rare were several wintering white-winged doves, a few western bluebirds and a plumbeous vireo. The vireo nests in our local mountains but most go much farther south for the winter. Occasionally one is seen in the local lowlands in the winter.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh-GolvXQMMnw2Pyc4AFiR8TSAirROHn5eLOCXdDoOCq4rqp-FC9gkvflJ0Kq45aJHjP2TQdtqH7XJgOsEu0yq6cUsfPeInfjV4RI3VKIiqL5_mQ-jnlQ1jfegVBWjCbn4Uq3podA6p2Q/s1600/Sapsucker+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh-GolvXQMMnw2Pyc4AFiR8TSAirROHn5eLOCXdDoOCq4rqp-FC9gkvflJ0Kq45aJHjP2TQdtqH7XJgOsEu0yq6cUsfPeInfjV4RI3VKIiqL5_mQ-jnlQ1jfegVBWjCbn4Uq3podA6p2Q/s1600/Sapsucker+crop+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="249" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Yellow-bellied sapsucker</i></td></tr>
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We continued into the gated community where Brian lives, The Lakes at Castle Rock. There we visited two ponds, a smaller pond he calls the "Cattail Pond" and a larger on at the community's recreation center. At the Cattail Pond participants got pretty close views of two great horned owls in a eucalyptus tree. The very next eucalyptus tree had thousands of sapsucker holes in it, and one sapsucker. It turned out to be a yellow-bellied sapsucker, much rarer here than the usual red-naped sapsuckers we get in the winter.<br />
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At the larger lake beginners got a good luck at many ducks, northern shovelers, ruddy ducks, northern shovelers and a gadwall. A couple of pied-billed grebes were in the lake and a great egret patrolled the edges. A Say's phoebe also showed off nearby on the top of the recreation building.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRuJxX29ECcNe6TaX9dKurXGHLsW5vGLY3C3l1-dl1AzNX3BxgcVz4k0HHoPPNqaBS33gMBb0zpZTq33zBMqzE82ycswcNtJrOBNbK6pndnyx3uRLxVKQk-N7sArdvPV6Qtn2j9NtGJGs/s1600/Say's+Phoebe,+Lakes+at+Castle+Rock+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRuJxX29ECcNe6TaX9dKurXGHLsW5vGLY3C3l1-dl1AzNX3BxgcVz4k0HHoPPNqaBS33gMBb0zpZTq33zBMqzE82ycswcNtJrOBNbK6pndnyx3uRLxVKQk-N7sArdvPV6Qtn2j9NtGJGs/s1600/Say's+Phoebe,+Lakes+at+Castle+Rock+%5BKendall+Kroesen%5D.jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Say's phoebe</i></td></tr>
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After a loop through a brushy field Brian doubled back to the pond hoping that a flock of common mergansers that were there the night before would have come back. We had to settle for one that flew over several times but was not prepared to land. But it was nice ending to an encouraging day. Some enthusiastic beginners got a taste of wild birds.<br />
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As the sun disappeared the temperature dropped and people were ready to leave. I took one last photo of Brian and the group. You can tell Brian was having fun.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY4eFvrnUaM5l29eHzakv-cyzvDMAgblrV2y-7VRcZg37v8J7Ea_gf5Msffz6cV0x3AwqgYH15eFekq07e5OqFyaAXRHvJ-EL1x7z6WFLQbvvYvetDu3RegT2vKFutoz1taEs5rlAPQ9I/s1600/Brian+Nicholas+leading+field+trip+at+Castle+Rock%252C+crop%252C+sm+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY4eFvrnUaM5l29eHzakv-cyzvDMAgblrV2y-7VRcZg37v8J7Ea_gf5Msffz6cV0x3AwqgYH15eFekq07e5OqFyaAXRHvJ-EL1x7z6WFLQbvvYvetDu3RegT2vKFutoz1taEs5rlAPQ9I/s1600/Brian+Nicholas+leading+field+trip+at+Castle+Rock%252C+crop%252C+sm+%255BKendall+Kroesen%255D.jpg" height="467" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Brian Nicholas, right center</i></td></tr>
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