Palo Prado Road September 10, 2021
Since the Roseate Spoonbills flew off last week things have been a bit slow. There have been Dickcissels at Aguirre Lake plus lots of boring peeps. On Wednesday past a pair of Long-tailed Jaegers were found at Theodore Roosevelt Lake . These birds were likely blown in by the recent hurricane/tropical storm in the Sea of Cortez. No way was I going to chase these guys; 3+ hours each way plus a minimum $100 share for a boat ride in 105F heat. So today as I was looking for birds of opportunity at Clark Crossing just south of Tubac a newsflash came in on GroupMe……. Eastern Kingbird on wires at Palo Parado Road. This is about 10 minutes away from where I was, so I cut short my patrol and hurried down to Rio Rico. The bird was cooperative, but the light was difficult. But I got some sub-par shots. Later, it vanished. Of course only three of us, besides the original finder – a Steven Farr – saw the bird before a boatload of birders arrived. The kingbird eventually reappeared. Eastern Kingbird is a pretty good bird, a “B” list bird. Only one other has been reported, I think, in the last two years locally.
At Clark Crossing I found (90% certainty) a greenie Painted Bunting. It would not allow a photograph, so I did not post it to Ebird. Fifteen Warbling Vireos plus 6 warbler species. Tomorrow I’m off to Paton’s Center for Mosquitos, Squirrels, and Chiggers to hopefully find the male Painted Bunting that’s been seen recently.
These bats are amazing. Not only do they fly circles around my patio taking turns at the nectar feeder, when they’re done with that they polish off the grape jelly, banana, and glean every bit of flesh from orange halves.