Gila
Valley & Tacna
Feb 3,
2002
-
35-55
degrees, 8:00-12:00
narrated
by Henry Detwiler
Aaron, Sharon, and I set out to find the LeConte's Thrasher and raptors
east of Tacna and in the Gila Valley
50
species (list follows at end
of page)
Click on
thumbnail pictures for full-sized shots.
|
Aaron at the flats
|
Aaron is ten years old
and already a fine birder. He pointed out and identified
raptors, egrets, and sparrows as we drove the country roads and
canals east of Tacna. He's learned from Arnold Small and
some of the country's most renowned birders. |
So along with his mom, Sharon, we headed to the saltbush flats
five miles east of Tacna to hunt for the reclusive LeConte's
Thrasher. Our first nice bird was a Ferruginous Hawk perched on a
power line along the road. It didn't stick around long, but we got
to watch it in flight. Shortly after that I spotted a Prairie
Falcon on top of a tamarisk tree, and we had great looks at this one as
it peered down upon us. I almost had my scope on it when a train
came by and flushed it. Rats.
| As soon as we reached the area of four-winged
saltbush, we started seeing new birds. Brewer's and
White-crowned Sparrows were abundant, and a Say's Phoebe caught
our eye. Then Sharon saw a bird perched in the distance that
turned out to be our target. It was singing, too, so we got
to listen while we watched it through Aaron's Nikon scope. |
LeConte's Thrasher in
Saltbush
|
I also tried out taking photos through this very compact scope.
We walked around the area some in search of Sage Sparrows, which I knew
were lurking somewhere in the brush. It was very, very cold for
the area, hovering just above freezing. But NO wind, so it wasn't
too bad. We finally located some of the gray mouse-colored,
long-tailed Sage Sparrows. We even saw a few of them
perched. As we moved farther east we added Vesper and Savannah
Sparrows, two Roadrunners, and got another peek at the Ferruginous Hawk.
Vermilion Flycatcher |
Close to the Gila River we visited a horse farm
where two male Vermilion Flycatchers were snapping up
insects. At Quigley Pond we convinced several Soras to
respond to our recordings. Our final stop was at Antelope
Hill, where we looked not at birds, but at some of the petroglyphs
high up on the mountainside. |
|
Bird List for Feb 3, 2002
|
#
|
Species
|
| 1 |
Pied-billed
Grebe |
| 2 |
Double-crested
Cormorant |
| 3 |
Great
Egret |
| 4 |
Great
Blue Heron |
| 5 |
Snowy
Egret |
| 6 |
Common
Moorhen |
| 7 |
American
Coot |
| 8 |
Sora |
| 9 |
Killdeer |
| 10 |
Turkey
Vulture |
| 11 |
Northern
Harrier |
| 12 |
Sharp-shinned
Hawk |
| 13 |
Osprey |
| 14 |
Ferruginous
Hawk |
| 15 |
Red-tailed
Hawk |
| 16 |
Prairie
Falcon |
| 17 |
Gambel's
Quail |
| 18 |
Mourning
Dove |
| 19 |
Rock
Dove |
| 20 |
Greater
Roadrunner |
| 21 |
Northern
Flicker |
| 22 |
Vermilion
Flycatcher |
| 23 |
Say's
Phoebe |
| 24 |
Black
Phoebe |
| 25 |
Horned
Lark |
| 26 |
Common
Raven |
| 27 |
Verdin |
| 28 |
Marsh
Wren |
| 29 |
Black-tailed
Gnatcatcher |
| 30 |
Ruby-crowned
Kinglet |
| 31 |
Loggerhead
Shrike |
| 32 |
Leconte's
Thrasher |
| 33 |
European
Starling |
| 34 |
Common
Yellowthroat |
| 35 |
Orange-crowned
Warbler |
| 36 |
Yellow-rumped
Warbler |
| 37 |
Brewer's
Blackbird |
| 38 |
Western
Meadowlark |
| 39 |
Red-winged
Blackbird |
| 40 |
Great-tailed
Grackle |
| 41 |
House
Sparrow |
| 42 |
Abert's
Towhee |
| 43 |
White-crowned
Sparrow |
| 44 |
Vesper
Sparrow |
| 45 |
Song
Sparrow |
| 46 |
Savannah
Sparrow |
| 47 |
Brewer's
Sparrow |
| 48 |
Sage
Sparrow |
| 49 |
Lesser
Goldfinch |
| 50 |
House
Finch |
|
