August 27, 2020
We are enjoying multiple Roseate Spoonbills in Arizona. This began last week with two in the Yuma area, then on Monday, we had a single bird show up at Canoa Ranch. Then two in Tucson on 8-26-2020 at ugly, trashy, Lakeside Park, and two more the same day at a lovely spot, Papago Tanks. The polar opposite of Lakeside park! The tanks are actually one large pond divided into two sections by a dike. The shoreline is perfect for wading birds, and there is good area for roosting. This is the kind of place that I see as an ideal birding spot. I did not pay too much attention to the other birds when I visited, but there was enough to keep one busy for several hours.
Papago Tanks is off of Ruby Road in Santa Cruz County. The best way to get there is to go through Arivaca to Ruby Road. Where Ruby Road crosses from Pima into Santa Cruz County the pavement stops, and it is a graded unpaved road from there on. About a mile from the county line, going south, I found a scissor-tailed fly, but I could not get a pic and my view was brief. Continuing south on Ruby Road you will eventually pass California Gulch and Warsaw Canyon. Just past these turnoffs you will see a road that takes off to the north, with a “Don’t Litter” sign near the beginning. The tanks are about 2 miles up this road. It is narrow and rocky. A high-clearance vehicle, 4×4 or AWD is recommended. A FWD vehicle with good clearance is marginal for this road. A light pickup with RWD only is not-so-good. Papago Tanks is an Ebird hotspot, and a map is online.
There is a popular opinion locally, that the unusual birds showing up like the three Upland Sandpipers and the five Spoonbills have been sent here by the hurricanes along the Baja coast and the big one that just hit Texas. That might explain my Scissor-tailed fly also. In addition, a White Ibis was seen in Yuma yesterday.