Continental Ranch

El Rio Park

I walked a portion of the multiuse path on the west side of the Santa Cruz this morning. I parked near the future site of the Cortaro Bosque and traveled north to El Rio Park, which overlooks Rattlesnake Pond. El Rio is small but my children enjoyed the playground and swings while I divided my attention between them and the birds around - more than 30 species in 15 minutes including Lawrence's Goldfinches, Rock Wren and a Great Egret.

Rattlesnake Pond from El Rio Park

Cortaro Bosque construction

I decided to make a map of the area, since many of the online maps are a year or two old and there's a lot of construction going on.



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Ina Rd update #2

Stopped by this morning and was pleased to find 3 Pectoral Sandpipers. Also present were 179 Black-necked Stilts, 176 Least Sandpipers, 5 Long-billed Dowitchers, both Yellowlegs, 4 Western Sandpipers, a Lark Bunting and a Prairie Falcon.

On Tuesday and Wednesday a Red-necked Phalarope was present (9/25-26).

Here's a panoramic shot from the west bank - it looks like the work is nearing completion, but I have no idea when it will actually be done. The spot I like to sit is to the left, near the red pole.

(click to view larger)

The program I used to create this image is Autostitch, and it is a free download. I recommend it!

Little Blue Heron - Avra Valley

John Higgins found a Little Blue Heron at the CAP Recharge Pond in Avra Valley today. I took my son after church and was pleased to find it still there, and active. Lots of other birds around too, White-tailed Kite and many Swainson's Hawks being the best.

Not the best pictures... it's a distant view through a fence.

These two were taken by holding the camera on my cell phone up to my telescope. Can you find it?



The CAP Recharge Pond is in Avra Valley, about 15 miles west of Tucson - not too far from the Desert Museum and the still-closed Avra Valley WWTP.


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Ina Rd Update

I stopped off at the Ina Bridge this afternoon to see what was about. Turns out I was neither right nor wrong about the "No Trespassing" sign - it is still there, but has been pulled up and is laying flat in the dirt. I didn't see it until I had explored a bit of the west bank. Oh well.

Lots of good shorebird habit here right now; there were 79 Black-necked Stilts, lots of of Killdeer, a Lesser Yellowlegs, Least & Spotted Sandpipers, White-faced Ibis, many teal, 2 Wilson's Phalarope, and best of all, two STILT SANDPIPERS. I was able to view them from the top of the bank rather than the partially completed pathway down closer to the water. I didn't want to flush the birds. I think the stilt sandpipers have been there at least since Monday, when I was able to get a very distant view from a different vantage point.

Speaking of that pathway with its newly painted railing, I did some searching on the Pima County and Marana websites but couldn't find much news about the construction other than this:

Completion Date: Summer 2007
Current Status: The contractor has finished the soil treatment work
Projected Activities: handrail work and miscellaneous cleanup.

So it looks like it is almost done... hopefully before shorebird migration ends.

Here's a view from space:



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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

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Today I happened across Mark Stevenson and Molly Pollock at the Pinal/Pima County line. They had just discovered an unusual sandpiper in a flooded field near Pinal Air Park. Mark asked if I had ever seen a buff-breasted sandpiper (I have, in TN and SC, but it has been a while). A quick look through Mark's scope sent me running back to the car for The Shorebird Guide. We enjoyed great looks and were able to see the plain head and buffy breast, white wing linings, yellow legs, long wings and dove-like appearance. It had a few small spots along the side of the breast, near the wing. We considered the hybrids mentioned in the book (p 314-5) but everything pointed to it being a classic Buff-breasted Sandpiper. The narrow buff/white edges to the feathers on the back make me think it was a juvenile, but hopefully someone will get some good pix.

I watched the bird from 9-11:30am. It flushed several times, once flying south into Pima County before returning to its favorite spot - where we first saw it. This spot was in the field just east of the three flooded fields. It had a few small puddles about 75 yards south of the north edge. The bird preferred the drier land, and perched on the berms frequently. Once I saw it raise one wing and flash its white wing linings - cool!

As far as I know this is the 3rd or 4th state record. I think this is the first record this far south in Arizona, so neither Pinal nor Pima County has had a record.

The fields are south and east of the corner of Trico and Pinal Air Park (see map below). To get to the spot turn south on Trico Road from Pinal Air Park Rd (Exit 232, I-10). In 20 yards turn left (east) and follow the farm road a hundred yards or so.

I believe this is private property so please be respectful and use good judgment if you go to look for this bird.



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Santa Cruz north of Ina Rd, 3/12/07

I stopped at the Santa Cruz River on my way home today. There's a place on Ina Rd that's good if you only have a few minutes, on the east side. From here you can look north down into the riverbed. If you have more time you can explore the south side.

Here's an aerial picture for reference; red is on the north side; blue is where I park to bird the south.

There is space enough for a few cars to park:

And here's the view:


Closer inspection (a scope is handy) reveals lots of Black-necked Stilts...

Here's a partial list of what I saw today:
4 Gadwall
10 American Wigeon
10 Cinnamon Teal
40 Northern Shoveler
20 Green-winged Teal
4 Killdeer
196 Black-necked Stilt
7 American Avocet
1 Spotted Sandpiper
20 Least Sandpiper
23 Long-billed Dowitcher


Waterfowl numbers and species are down from earlier in the year; the stilts and dowitchers have been there through the winter. There's a lot of construction on the west side bank; it is part of Marana's work on the new park at Silverbell and Cortaro.