Month: January 2019

After a restful sleep at El Rancho de la Casa de Joy, I made my first stop at Kino Springs, just north of Nogales. A report of Mountain Bluebirds drew me there along with the possibility of something unexpected. Finding nothing new, I continued up the highway to Patagonia for a visit to Tucson Audubon’s Paton’s Hummingbird Center. New for the year was Anna’s and Broad-billed Hummingbirds. Then on to Las Cienaguas in Sonoita for what is arguably the rarest bird in the region, Rough-legged Hawk. But I couldn’t find it after multiple attempts. I know it’s in there. And I saw it last month. My consolation prize was White-tailed Kite. Loggerhead Shrike and Horned Lark were all I could come up with after that, putting me at 94. Tomorrow I spend the day in the Sulphur Springs Valley where I hope to find Eurasian Wigeon, Ferruginous Hawk, Ross’s Goose, and a few other specialties of this area, pushing me over the first hundred mark.

Yesterday I made it over to verdant Green Valley to team up with an old friend from NH, Joy, who now lives here. There is nothing like tapping into local knowledge – they know places you don’t. My top targets were Lewis’s Woodpecker and Lawrence’s Goldfinch. Our first stop was Madera Highland Park – who knows where that is – and before I got out of the car, there it was – Lewis’s Woodpecker.

After a few more stops we still hadn’t found Lawrence’s Goldfinch. As any good bird guide would do, Joy contacted another local birder, Sonja, who specializes in finding Lawrence’s Goldfinch. The guide’s guide. We arranged to meet at an obscure, unknown, out-of-the-way place that to me did not look promising. Within minutes we found a pair of Lawrence’s Goldfinches, my first sighting in 18 years. Having cleared out everything in the valley, we headed for the hills. By mid-afternoon we were hiking up Florida Canyon and running into birders with tales of bird bounty “just up the trail.” Tales birders have all heard before. But these were true. In quick succession we bagged Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Black-chinned Sparrow, and Rufous-capped Warbler. Bing, bang, boom. That was easy. The last bird of the day was a Costa’s Hummingbird at Joy’s feeder. The final tally was 34 new species, likely the highest single-day total of the year, for a year list of 89.

Here’s the view out my living room window this morning. We got 4 inches last Saturday and now 3-4 more today. I went to the San Pedro House for our weekly bird walk but John and Socks were the only ones there. On my way to Ramsey Canyon I remembered they are closed Wednesdays. I’ll have to chase the Williamson’s Sapsucker there some other time. On the way home I stopped at the Korean Church but could not locate the Harris’s Hawk. The day was a bust. I only added Gambel’s Quail, Northern Mockingbird, and Verdin. The list now stands at 55.

All Big Year birders must take inspiration from the many who have gone before. In fact, you might even want to emulate them. 1998 was the year of “The Big Year” when 3 birders set forth to break the North American Big Year record of 726 set in 1987. Like many momentous occasions, that Big Year spawned a book and even a movie. Here is the opening paragraph from the book, “The Big Year”:

“Sandy Komito was ready. It was an hour before sunrise, New Year’s day, and he sat alone in an all-night Denny’s in Nogales, Arizona. He ordered ham and eggs. He stared into the black outside the window.”

The first bird he saw was a pigeon.

Flash forward 21 years to January 1, 2019:

Rob Woodward was ready. It was well before sunrise, New Year’s day, and he sat alone in an all-night Denny’s in Sierra Vista, Arizona. He ordered a Grand Slam. He stared into the black outside the window.

Luckily my first bird was not a pigeon. At midnight last night I put on my shoes and walked outside. I was greeted by the dazzling flashes and loud booms of many fireworks displays. “Gee, all this for ME?!” They shouldn’t have gone to all that bother. I went back inside and slept until 5:30 am. At 6:32, while working a crossword puzzle, I heard an unexpected (it was raining) but hoped-for sound: “HOO, hoo-hoo.” Great Horned Owl! My first bird of the year. From the living room!

After that ritual breakfast at Denny’s, I ran my weekly bird survey at the San Pedro House. Plans for the Santa Cruz Valley were cancelled by bad weather. So I plodded along the trails at San Pedro House in the snow. I scrounged up 38 species. The Fox Sparrow saves me the trouble of searching for it in San Diego in December.

I ended the day at sunset in the fields south of Sierra Vista with a staked-out Short-eared Owl – an owl to start the day and an owl to finish the first day. I returned home in a driving snow squall. And so I end Day 1 with 53 species.