Monday, December 10, 2012

Back in the Saddle

I finally feel better than I have in months!  It's a good thing too because there have been some great birds around this week.  Saturday morning I went out to look for my potential lifer Pine Warbler that was found earlier this week.  When I got to Evergreen Cemetery all the birders were leaving and after an hour of searching I came up empty.  I even went back an hour later but it was dead, so Sunday morning I made sure I was the first of the living to arrive.  After a little searching, another birder and I caught a glimpse of the warbler, my 63rd lifer of 2012! (32 were in Hawaii)  It moved around in the shadows a lot and I only managed some really bad photos.


Pine Warbler, I promise
Pine Warbler is accidental in fall in Southeast Arizona and has only been recorded about 15 times in the state.  Amazingly one was found in the same cemetery two years ago.  Some other birders also detected its buddy, a Chestnut-sided Warbler, also rare.

Chestnut-sided Warbler
There was also an American Robin in the area, uncommon in town.

American Robin
I decided to check out a couple other spots in town, starting with Reid Park.

resident American Kestrel
Great Egret
Canvasback
Lesser Scaup
Gadwall
Gadwall
Snowy Egret
Snowy Egret with breakfast
Last I headed over to another cemetery I've been meaning to check out since I've never heard of anyone birding there.  I found the usual suspects, but I'll have to check back often. 

Say's Phoebe, South Lawn Cemetery 
Vermilion Flycatcher
Red-tailed Hawk
It feels wonderful to get out and bird again, even if it was a little weird walking around all those graves.  Have a great week!

6 comments:

  1. Hey Jeremy!
    Nice shots, way to come back with a lifer too! It's nice to hear from you again.

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  2. Nice. You need to come up here to Jersey some May. Warblers will blow your mind.

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  3. Glad to see you back and having fun!

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  4. Congrats on the lifer! Nothing wrong with little cemetery birding now and then.. Love seeing the Vermilion on the pinecone- kind of like the AZ version of a holiday card.

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  5. I'm glad you are feeling better Jeremy! Cemetaries seem to be great locations for finding birds, I should visit them more often.

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  6. Nice find and congrats on the lifer Jeremy! The Pine Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler and Vermillion Flycatcher would all be lifers for me ;-) I gotta get out of California sometime.

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