February 16, 2023
This dipper was spotted first last December between the Whitehouse Picnic area and Proctor Road. Many of the locals went looking for it along Madera Creek. The creek is running quite well, and continues strongly down the canyon past Proctor Road – a long stretch of creek which requires a lot of effort scrambling and bushwhacking. We gave up looking for it after several days. On February 11th it was seen again at the Madera Picnic area. Tim Burkhardt and I searched downstream from the picnic grounds and Tim quickly located it. It has been seen daily since, but by only a few birders. The weather has been frightful – unusually cold, windy, snowy and muddy.
This has been a good year for Pine Warblers. One at Patagonia Lake found on the CBC is still around. The bird here was found while staking out the Couch’s Kingbird site. Another was found slightly north . Another, No. 4, still is being seen at East Palms Cemetery in Tucson.
