- Click on the photos to view larger versions and watch as a slideshow
- Hover over the photos to see the species name or site description
An excellent day of winter birding around Patagonia and Sonoita, with 79 species.
Patagonia Lake:
A pair of BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHERS was in the thick mesquite and hackberry bosque leading to Nutting’s Wash. We saw a few more continuing rarities in the first quarter mile of the Birding Trail: a WINTER WREN, a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW, and an EASTERN PHOEBE.
[1]
[2]
[3]
Also at the lake, MEXICAN MALLARD, BUFFLEHEAD, COMMON MERGANSER, PIED-BILLED GREBE, NEOTROPIC CORMORANT, GREAT EGRET, WILSON’S SNIPE, GRAY and DUSKY FLYCATCHERS, HUTTON’S VIREO, CANYON, HOUSE, MARSH and BEWICK’S WRENS for a five-wren morning, BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, and RUFOUS-WINGED SPARROW.
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
Probably the most unusual sighting, however, was this COCKRUM’S GRAY SHREW which we found running along in a bit of a daze, then climbing the trunk of a cottonwood tree! I didn’t realize that seeing a live shrew was such a rare event, and while this species is known from Arizona, there are no previous records in iNaturalist. Wow!
[8]
A quick stop at Mayas Ct. on the way out of the park produced both BOTTERI’S and CASSIN’S SPARROWS with relative ease.
Tucson Audubon’s Paton Center for Hummingbirds, Patagonia:
Still fabulous, despite the current construction work. We were entertained by close views of WHITE-WINGED and INCA DOVES, ANNA’S HUMMINGBIRD, GREEN-TAILED and ABERT’S TOWHEES, LARK and LINCOLN’S SPARROWS, and much more.
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
Las Cienegas:
A drive through the grasslands in the afternoon added GREATER ROADRUNNER, HORNED LARK, WESTERN BLUEBIRD, CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPUR, and both WESTERN and ‘LILIAN’S’ EASTERN MEADOWLARKS.
S. River Rd, Nogales:
A GREAT HORNED OWL on wires by the road at dusk ended the day in style.
[13]