THE Fall Birding Hotspot in Southeast Arizona

It all started at the end of September when a Cape May Warbler showed up at Peña Blanca Lake, west of Nogales, AZ.  There are only 11 previous records of this species in Arizona.  Thus, it has its own blog post.

Then the Patagonia "Roadside Rest Effect" took place.  This occurs when birders chase a particular rare bird and end up finding more rare birds.  This refers to the Roadside Rest Area in Patagonia, AZ where the first U.S. record of Black-capped Gnatcatcher was discovered in 1971.  When hordes of birders were searching for it, they also found the first U.S. record of Yellow Grosbeak.

So, what other rare birds have been found at Peña Blanca Lake this fall?  How about Bobolink, Palm Warbler, American Redstart, Dickcissel, Ruddy Ground-Dove, Townsend's Solitaire, Blackburnian Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, Golden-crowned Sparrow, and most recently a Rufous-backed Robin!  Twelve rare birds in all, not including the continuing Least Grebes, WOW!!!
*UPDATE 11/04/11: Add White-throated Sparrow and Long-tailed Duck (see post) to the list.
*UPDATE 11/10/11: Add Eastern Phoebe and Wood Duck, 17 rare birds this fall!
*UPDATE 11/18/11: Add Elegant Trogon, up to 18 now.

Thumb Rock Cove

I decided to go back when the Golden-winged Warbler was found.  Unfortunately, it was a 2-day wonder and I was a day late.  Drat!  The day after I was there, a Blue-winged Warbler was discovered.  But it turned out to be a 1-day wonder.

While searching for the warbler, I had some great photo ops:

Townsend's Solitaire

I found 15 Least Grebes!  I photographed them for about an hour.  What a treat to watch!

feeding young

calling

 Other cool birds:

White-crowned Sparrow

Red-naped Sapsucker

Cooper's Hawk

Lincoln's Sparrow

Black Phoebe

 Some other cool stuff I spotted while birding:

        

What will turn up next?

*Note: My blog is not showing older posts on this page.  Please see the "Blog Archive" on the right for more posts.

Cape May Warbler!

My original plan for today was to take my girls to the insect festival at the university.  But a Cape May Warbler showed up at Peña Blanca Lake on Thursday and changed all that.  We made the hour drive and arrived at 9:20 a.m.  We found the bird immediately in the same spot where it was seen yesterday.  Incredible!

 

  

I wish all lifers were this accommodating!  This is a very rare bird in Arizona with only 11 previous records.  It breeds in the boreal forest of Canada and the northern U.S. and can be found in the eastern states during migration.  What a gorgeous bird!  Even my girls were able to get good looks at it.

There were many other warblers around including Townsend's, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Nashville, and Orange-crowned.  There was even a Palm Warbler, a very good bird for the state.  But the show belonged to the Cape May.

Nashville Warbler

Orange-crowned Warbler

Two families of Least Grebes have been seen recently totaling 11 individuals.  I got this poor shot of one:

 

A Great Blue Heron cruised by a couple times.

What a great way to start the weekend!