Quigley Pond, Baker Tanks, Tacna Area

Gila Valley, Territorial Prison
Nov 26, 2000
1000-1530, Sunny, 65-75

Checked a number of areas today: Quigley Pond, Butterfield Park in Welton, surrounding agricultural areas, Baker Tanks, and the Territorial Prison Park
64 species total

My first stop was Butterfield Park in Welton, which adjoins the Golf Course, and has a small lake that sometimes attracts ducks. Today only a few Coots and a Canada Goose found it appealing.

Just east of Welton is the McElhaney Cattle Company, with extensive feedlots, fields, and open spaces. Flocks of Mountain Bluebirds, several Western Bluebirds at a small ranch, sparrows, a Prairie Falcon, and an adult male Vermillion Flycatcher were good finds there. The Gila River flows close-by, but didn't produce anything exciting.

Gila River & Antelope Hill

The Quigley Pond Game Management Area was my next target. Unfortunately there were a couple of hunters on Quigley Pond itself (an oxbow of the Gila River), and the only ducks I could identify were circling the area far away from the pond. However, another Prairie Falcon, White-throated Swifts, and a Sharp-shinned Hawk were nice additions to the day's list.
Baker Tanks	Not too far away I added several Sage Sparrows and both gnatcatchers. South of Antelope, Baker Tanks was a delightful scenic detour, with standing water in the natural riverbed "tanks." But there weren't too many desert birds out and about at 3:00PM, though.

The final stop of the day was the marsh and park at the Yuma Territorial Prison. The ponds held several more duck species and a Merlin. In the park were also eight more Western Bluebirds and a pair of Sharpys; one of them provided me with a fine photo opportunity as it perched on a utility light.	Sharp-shinned Hawk, Yuma
Sharp-shinned Hawk, Yuma


#	Species Name
1	Pied-Billed Grebe
2	Double-Crested Cormorant
3	Great Blue Heron
4	Great Egret
5	Snowy Egret
6	Canada Goose
7	Green-Winged Teal
8	Mallard
9	Northern Pintail
10	Northern Shoveler
11	Ruddy Duck
12	American Coot
13	Common Gallinule
14	Black-Necked Stilt
15	Killdeer
16	Long-Billed Dowitcher
17	Spotted Sandpiper
18	Least Sandpiper
19	Ring-Billed Gull
20	Turkey Vulture
21	Northern Harrier
22	Red-Tailed Hawk
23	Sharp-Shinned Hawk
24	American Kestrel
25	Merlin
26	Praire Falcon
27	Common Ground Dove
28	Mourning Dove
29	Rock Dove
30	Greater Roadrunner
31	White-Throated Swift
32	Costa's Hummingbird
33	Anna's Hummingbird
34	Belted Kingfisher
35	Gila Woodpecker
36	Ladder-Backed Woodpecker
37	Northern Flicker
38	Black Phoebe
39	Vermillion Flycatcher
40	Horned Lark
41	Common Raven
42	Verdin
43	Marsh Wren
44	Mountain Bluebird
45	Black-Tailed Gnatcatcher
46	Ruby-Crowned Kinglet
47	Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher
48	Western Bluebird
49	Loggerhead Shrike
50	Northern Mockingbird
51	Phainopepla
52	European Starling
53	Yellow-Rumped Warbler
54	Great-Tailed Grackle
55	Red-Winged Blackbird
56	Western Meadowlark
57	House Sparrow
58	House Finch
59	Abert's Towhee
60	Dark-Eyed Junco
61	Sage Sparrow
62	Savannah Sparrow
63	Song Sparrow
64	White-Crowned Sparrow