Finney & Ramer Lake, Salton Sea Bird Trip

Cibola NWR
Dec 21, 2000
0915-1500, Sunny, 55-70

A wonderful trip up the Colorado River with Matt & Mary Muchowski, and Debra Robles. At the refuge we were joined by biologist Brenda Zaun, who showed off her beautiful refuge and found us myriad sparrows, Sandhills, and raptors.
72 species total

Canada Goose	Cibola Lake, site of 4 Bald Eagles

American Bittern

Brenda knew of a spot which had played host to an American Bittern, so we tried our luck there. It wasn't in the first location, but she soon found it lurking on a nearby bank. It was my first Arizona sighting.

In my opinion, this is the best site in the area to find sparrows. In a single winter's day you can get Song, Vesper, Chipping, White-crowned, Abert's & Spotted Towhees, Brewer's, Lincoln's, Savannah, juncos, Sage, and Vesper. I've also seen Swamp & Fox sparrows here.

Abert's Towhee

Matt, Brenda, and Mary

Sandhill Cranes	The refuge is most famous as a goose and Sandhill Crane wintering grounds. We saw numerous Snow and Canada Geese, as well as flocks of Sandhills.
Here's another look at the American Bittern, trying to remain hidden by sticking its head straight up like a reed. Note the striped belly, to better camouflage itself. Of course, these techniques work best when it's standing in a grassy marsh, a favorite haunt.
Dark-eyed Junco

#	Species Name
1	Clark's Grebe
2	Pied-Billed Grebe
3	Western Grebe
4	White Pelican
5	Double-Crested Cormorant
6	Cattle Egret
7	Snowy Egret
8	Great Blue Heron
9	American Bittern
10	Great Egret
11	Sandhill Crane
12	Gadwall
13	Ruddy Duck
14	Mallard
15	Ring-Necked Duck
16	Redhead
17	Northern Shoveler
18	Northern Pintail
19	Wood Duck
20	Lesser Scaup
21	Canvasback
22	American Wigeon
23	Snow Goose
24	Canada Goose
25	Green-Winged Teal
26	American Coot
27	Black-Necked Stilt
28	Killdeer
29	Common Snipe
30	Greater Yellowlegs
31	Least Sandpiper
32	Long-Billed Dowitcher
33	Ring-Billed Gull
34	Turkey Vulture
35	Bald Eagle
36	Northern Harrier


#	Species Name
37	Osprey
38	Red-Tailed Hawk
39	White-Tailed Kite
40	Cooper's Hawk
41	American Kestrel
42	Gambel's Quail
43	Mourning Dove
44	Rock Dove
45	Greater Roadrunner
46	Belted Kingfisher
47	Northern Flicker
48	Black Phoebe
49	Say's Phoebe
50	Tree Swallow
51	Marsh Wren
52	Ruby-Crowned Kinglet
53	Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher
54	Loggerhead Shrike
55	Northern Mockingbird
56	European Starling
57	Common Yellowthroat
58	Orange-Crowned Warbler
59	Yellow-Rumped Warbler
60	Western Meadowlark
61	Red-Winged Blackbird
62	Great-Tailed Grackle
63	House Sparrow
64	House Finch
65	Sage Sparrow
66	Vesper Sparrow
67	White-Crowned Sparrow
68	Savannah Sparrow
69	Lincoln's Sparrow
70	Dark-Eyed Junco
71	Chipping Sparrow
72	Song Sparrow