September is here!

I've been looking forward to September for a while. Having grown up in Tennessee, September always brings connotations of changing leaves, cooler temperatures, football, and migration. In Arizona, it's still going to top 100 today, the leaves don't change for a while (if at all), and football is something to pass the time before basketball starts. But the birds are still moving through.

One of my favorite spots to go is Sweetwater Wetlands. It's worth a trip any day of the year. A few months ago I compiled a list of some of the better bird sightings for this spot, and I was struck at how many occurred in September - twice as many as October and four times as many as August. Of course, not many birders go to Sweetwater in August - a pity, because I saw some nice birds there yesterday (Northern Waterthrush, Tropical Kingbird, Gray Flycatcher...).

Anyway, here's my list of "good" birds reported from Sweetwater in September. It's not completely arbitrary - I used the data from eBird as a guide - but it is a list of birds interesting to me. I gleaned this data from the listserv and from the logbook. I'm not making any claims to the veracity of any particular sighting (details for many are available on the listserv) - I look at it as a guide to future trips. Hey, if a Dickcissel showed up on September 8th three years ago, maybe it will again this year!

Species		Date		Notes
Greater White-fronted Goose		September 12, 1998		25 birds
Greater White-fronted Goose		September 15, 2002
Greater White-fronted Goose		September 11, 2004		37 birds
Greater White-fronted Goose		September 5, 2006		3 birds thru 9/8
Greater White-fronted Goose		September 7, 2006		64 birds
Redhead		September 16, 2000
Western Grebe		September 6, 2000
Western Grebe		September 7, 2000
American Bittern		September 16, 1999		flying upriver
American Bittern		September 4, 2003
Swainson's Hawk		September 28, 2006
Zone-tailed Hawk		September 26, 2006
Semipalmated Plover		September 4, 1998		1 bird
Semipalmated Plover		September 18, 2005
Baird's Sandpiper		September 4, 1998		17 birds
Baird's Sandpiper		September 12, 2004		4-5 birds
Baird's Sandpiper		September 19, 2004		2-3 birds
Baird's Sandpiper		September 22, 2004
Baird's Sandpiper		September 3, 2006		4-5 birds
Baird's Sandpiper		September 8, 2006
Baird's Sandpiper		September 14, 2006
Pectoral Sandpiper		September 8, 2000
Pectoral Sandpiper		September 19, 2004		2 birds
Pectoral Sandpiper		September 29, 2004
Stilt Sandpiper		September 17, 2004
Wilson's Phalarope		September 1, 2006
Red-necked Phalarope		September 16, 2000
Red-necked Phalarope		September 16, 2004		thru 9/17
Sabine's Gull		September 14, 2002		thru 9/15
Tern sp.		September 5, 2006		Forster's?
Yellow-billed Cuckoo		September 10, 2006
Vaux's Swift		September 20, 2000
Vaux's Swift		September 15, 2002
Costa's Hummingbird		September 14, 2006
Willow Flycatcher		September 13, 2006
Willow Flycatcher		September 14, 2006
Gray Flycatcher		September 3, 2006
Hutton's Vireo		September 24, 2004
possible Philadelphia Vireo		September 9, 2004
Red-eyed Vireo		September 15, 2004
Western Scrub-Jay		September 20, 2000		near entrance
Sage Thrasher		September 17, 2004
Northern Parula		September 3, 2005		thru 10/3
Blackpoll Warbler		September 23, 2001
American Redstart		September 15, 2006
Prothonotary Warbler		September 19, 2000
Northern Waterthrush		September 4, 2003		thru 9/7
Northern Waterthrush		September 8, 2005		thru 9/13
Northern Waterthrush		September 5, 2006		thru 9/7
Northern Waterthrush		September 7, 2006
possible Connecticut Warbler		September 8, 2004		good details
Hooded Warbler		September 10, 2006		female
Yellow-breasted Chat		September 6, 2006
Cassin's Sparrow		September 1, 1998		TAS Field trip
Clay-colored Sparrow		September 1, 1998		TAS Field trip
Dickcissel		September 8, 2004		photographed
Dickcissel		September 14, 2006
Bobolink		September 22, 2005