Thursday, January 6, 2011

A Ghost Bird Exorcised

I began the day by heading to the junction of Ridgeway and Seneca in Tucson in search of what I had considered to be a mythical bird. I had looked without success for the Short-tailed Hawk at this location in 2009 and 2010. This time the bird was perched just where it was supposed to be! A myth no more, this legendary bird became my second lifer (and third state bird) of 2011. I then headed to Paton’s in Patagonia where I added some of the area’s common yard birds to my list. Across the street I ran into John and Bill Vanderpoel who had located two Rufous-backed Robins. John is doing a Big Year and was excited to get this Mexican species on his list, but for me this was simply a tick for the year just as Lesser Goldfinch had been a few moments earlier! I then headed to Patagonia Lake State Park and then to Kino Springs golf course but dipped on the birds I’d hoped for. I returned to Tucson via Nogales having added 14 species to my year’s list and ending the day at 101.

No comments:

Post a Comment