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Monday, February 22, 2010
Birding the Salt River Along the Bush Highway
Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus)
If you live in the East Valley, head North on Power Road for a great quick escape from town. Power Road becomes Bush Highway and follows the Salt River. There are two riparian areas with wheelchair access - Granite Reef, and Coon Bluff. Both are good areas for seeing warblers, migrating waterfowl, and shore birds. The mesquite bosque is loaded with mistletoe - so its a great spot to see Phainopepla. On my recent visit (Feb. 18, 2010) I saw my first Vermilion Flycatcher! It was great fun watching him repeatedly swoop down to catch a bug, then return to his perch. Other birds seen included Pied-billed Grebes, a Common Moorhen, Verdin, Gila Woodpeckers, Northern Cardinal, and Cormorants (seen flying by. It was mid-day when I was at both sights. I'm sure if I had been there at more optimal birding times - early morning or late afternoon - the list of birds seen would be longer. WARNING - Unless you have completely taken leave of your senses, you do NOT want to bird here during summer months - the area is extremely busy with tons of people tubing the Salt River. Of course, you may see a bird of a completely different sort - the DrunkAndNakedAsAJay Bird (Homo sapiens).
You will need to buy a Tonto Day Pass, check for a vendor here...
Double-Click photo below to see ENLARGED version of slide show.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
And You Thought YOUR Feet Were Ugly...
AMERICAN COOT (Fulica americana)
On a cold day in January I got up close and personal with the coots at Fountain Lake, in Fountain Hills. They were walking all over the place, and I got a good look at their green, lobed, prehistoric looking, UNwebbed feet. Because their feet are not webbed, Coots are NOT DUCKS.
The lake at Fountain Hills is very accessible, with wide sidewalks meandering around the lake, and through a peculiar frisbee golf course. The birds found here vary with the seasons, you never know who might migrate through. On this day we saw lots of American Coots, a few Canada Geese, Red-winged Blackbirds galore, lots of American Wigeons, with a few Mallards and Ruddy Ducks mixed in. Up in the landscaped areas away from the shoreline were Gila Woodpeckers, Verdin, Cactus Wren, and Annas Hummingbirds. We dined at the wheelchair-friendly Euro Pizza Cafe, with great views of the lake, and an excellent menu. If you're an early morning birder, Euro Pizza Cafe is even open for breakfast, and has a lovely outdoor dining patio so you can bird while you eat. So bring your appetite AND your binoculars!
Friday, February 12, 2010
Great Backyard Bird Count is Feb. 12th - 15th!
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Birding II Field Trip to Gilbert Water Ranch
GREEN HERON (Butorides virescens)
Its Super Bowl Sunday and, appropriately so, we are at the Super Bowl of birding spots in Arizona - Gilbert Water Ranch (a.k.a. Gilbert Riparian Preserve). I'm taking More Birding with Cynthia Donald offered by Desert Botanical Gardens. Cynthia runs a great class and wonderful field trips!
I'll write more soon, I'm beat! Here's a slide show of our field trip. As you'll see, I coudn't get enough of the Green Heron spotted at the very end of the field trip, within a few feet of the sidewalk! Double-click on the image below to see an enlarged version.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
New Tour at Wings Over Willcox a Success!
Thanks to the efforts of Darlene Smyth, the new accessible tour at W.O.W. was a success. Darlene reports - "It was a small group, but the people seemed to really enjoy the experience. I did not have any birders using a wheelchair although the vehicle we used was accessible and had a lift. WOW wants to keep offering this type of trip and hopefully, word will get out, and birders with physical limitations will participate in the WOW Festival in the future. We had great looks at birds ranging from Sandhill Cranes, to Ferruginous Hawks, to Bendire's Thrashers, to Sage Thrashers, and many, many more. We even had scope looks at most of these birds!"
So mark your calendars for next year's Wings Over Willcox birding festival and be sure to sign up for the "Easy Birding Sampler" tour. Registration starts on Sept. 1, 2010 for the January 2011 W.O.W. festival.
Smyth is currently the field trip coordinator for Tucson Audubon, and has birded extensively over North America, as well as in several countries in Central and South America. Her wonderful website - Comfortable Birding For All - lists accessible birding locations all around the globe!
So mark your calendars for next year's Wings Over Willcox birding festival and be sure to sign up for the "Easy Birding Sampler" tour. Registration starts on Sept. 1, 2010 for the January 2011 W.O.W. festival.
Smyth is currently the field trip coordinator for Tucson Audubon, and has birded extensively over North America, as well as in several countries in Central and South America. Her wonderful website - Comfortable Birding For All - lists accessible birding locations all around the globe!
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