As the end of the month neared I decided to do some chasing. Jason had found a Varied Thrush at Elden Spring on Saturday 25th and I tried three times for this bird over the next few days.
On my first attempt on Sunday 26th I had no thrush but saw two immature Golden Eagles soaring above the hills. I then drove out to the Kachina Wetlands to add Lesser Scaup to my year's list. The wetlands are usually bleak and frozen in January but following a month without snow the water was open and there was a good variety of ducks on the water, including two Cinnamon Teal, a rare bird above the rim in winter. I also found a Mountain Bluebird among the Eastern Bluebirds perched on the mullen.
On Thursday January 30th I headed out to Doney Park for an hour or so in the morning. After hiking up a quiet Old Caves Crater trail, I drove to Pam's old neighborhood and ran into a flock of 110 Pinyon Jays with 40 Red-winged Balckbirds mixed in. Heading out to Townsend-Winona, I saw a Ferruginous Hawk hunting, and then being harrassed by a raven on the ground. Late that day I made my second visit to a cold and grey Elden Spring and saw very little
On Friday January 31st I began the day at Picture Canyon where I had no trouble finding a Song Sparrow for my year's list. I then met up with Tom, BB, Rich and Nanette at Elden Spring where we searched for the Varied Thrush in the sleet - Flagstaff's first precipitation for 6 weeks. Sadly the group found the bird soon after I left! Worse still I had left because my wife and I had planned to go to Lake Havasu, but we aborted this plan when the snow got heavy and we could hear sirens from emergency vehicles!
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