October 25, 2021
There have been plenty of good birds in SEAZ recently, three Black-and-White Warblers, Gray Catbird, two Tennessee Warblers, two Northern Parulas and a Red-breasted sapsucker (very rare in SEAZ). They were all one-day-wonders. The hardest one to miss was a Red-headed Woodpecker photographed at a Tucson golf course. Yesterday a Magnolia Warbler was spotted in Phoenix, and several cool birds have been hanging out at Dateland. I’ve seen Magnolia and the Dateland birds several times, and there was no way I was going to drive to either spot unless it was for something really special. So yesterday I though I’d go out on a quick trip to the corrals in Florida Wash. It was very quiet until a feeding flock arrived – mostly Audubon’s, but one bird caught my eye… what looked at first blush like a Audubon’s pretending to be a Spotted Sandpiper. I got on it, and bingo… a Palm Warbler.
Also seen were the usually suspects. Nothing great. A Red-naped Sapsucker was nice to see. So this morning I thought I’d try again. The corrals have a large water tank that often attracts whatever birds happen to be in the vicinity. Last year about this time I photographed a Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
Fire on the mountainside above Madera Canyon 10-20-2021. We dodged a bullet. The winds were nil. So the fire burned about 5 acres and was put out quickly.