There's not much to celebrate this weekend. My Wildcats lost to USC and my D-backs lost twice! Yesterday I drove to Tubac to explore the De Anza Trail. A Prothonotary Warbler had been reported the day before. I knew it was a long shot, but I would see lots of other great stuff, right? Wrong! It was dead quiet when I arrived at 7:20 a.m. I should have stayed asleep. In two and a half hours the only warblers I saw were one Orange-crowned, one Lucy's, one Yellow, and three Common Yellowthroats. A far cry from the seven warbler species I saw
last weekend at Peña Blanca Lake in only 45 minutes. Where were all the warblers? It was like the calendar had turned and they were all gone.
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| Common Yellowthroat |
On the bright side, I saw a javelina and a green Painted Bunting. But I didn't get a photo of either. Do you see a pattern here?
There were grasshoppers everywhere! Every time I took a step, I parted a sea of them.
Also, I did get a few other decent photos, even if the birds were perched on ugly lines.
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| Anna's Hummingbird |
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| Say's Phoebe |
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| Western Kingbird |
Thinking my luck had to change I headed over to Santa Gertrudis Lane. But I gave up after a quiet 40 minutes. The only bird of note was a late Bell's Vireo. I figure I was paying my dues to the birding gods for last weekend's walk-up lifer Cape May Warbler. I guess that's why we do what we do. You never know what you're going to find next...
