The Tucson CBC 2012

The Verdin

I always bird with my camera.  Not having the camera on our Christmas Bird Count would have been a bad idea.  I am a strong believer in photo ID.  And it would come in hand with an accipiter found.  Turned out it was just a battered Cooper's Hawk.  However our day would turn up some amazing species!

It had rained non stop for almost 2 days. However our morning cleared up and made for a wonderful day birding.  There were 4 of us walking the Tucson area.

We found some great birds including the Black Throated Gray Warbler and Male Summer Tanager.  It's amazing that the Summer Tanager has remained in Tucson for the winter.  The Tucson team counted a total of 6!  That's an incredible amount of Summer Tanagers for our area at this time.

Some of the regulars like the Cactus Wren put on a good show.  We found 9 of them hopping around a house.

It was cold so the birds were very very hungry.

As you can see, everyone is a little "puffed" out and huddled together.

This Curve billed Thrasher makes me laugh.  They have such a grouchy face.

And if looks could kill......

Tucson again reigns as the nation's number one Vermilion Flycatcher capital.  On this day, over 177 of them would be counted in our city.  That's a record breaker for the US.

A truly special find is the Peregrine Falcon.  This is a first time wild sighting for me and I was thrilled!

Rock Pigeons were numerous.

And so were the Broad Bill Hummingbirds.  All wonderful and lovely sightings.  Overall the Tucson CBC had one of its highest turnouts and counts of bird species within the city.  It was a lot of work but also quite fun.

A Mere Mortal

Broad bill Hummingbird(male)

Hello everyone!  Well we have been "in training" working on the Tucson Christmas Bird Count.  Kathie and I both have been busy and exhausted from the holidays.  But we're also trying to allow for some birding time as well.  Two weeks ago, we'd go to a local Tucson park and see just how many birds we could pull out of the bushes. 

Hutton's Vireo

It's amazing the levels of birding.  Kathie can ID and document quickly.  I get the photo for ID verification.  Both of our eyes are working all at once. 

Sharp-shinned Hawk

We began our training class with Rich Hoyer.  I then realized that I have a ways more to go:)  Kathie and I don't like to disturb the peace.  We see them as we see them and rarely ever call out to them.  But part of this Christmas Bird Count is getting accurate numbers of bird species found in a specific area.  And that requires me to get out of my comfort zone a little.  We can employ bird calls from devices etc to call the birds out.  And it does work.  We pished and pished and PISSSSHED!  Rich even had an owl call down.  Don't ask me how but he could replicate the sound.  Incredible. 

European Starlings

On this day, we both learned a lot.  Kathie asked lots of questions about the process.  I listened and watched the various interactions of the group training.  The best part of our team is that we each bring something to the table in terms of skill.  And it makes a great combo for power birding.

When I first began my EBIRD and Listing exercises, I had a lot of questions.  Today, they are small ones and so much fun to do.  After our field observations, both of us will go over our counts at lunch or breakfast to make sure we didn't miss a bird on the list.  But watching people incredibly skilled in birding makes it look easy! And it's not:)  Part of the fun is finding the bird yourself, but I have to admit, there are times when it's nice to have someone leading a group pointing things out.  Not often...just sometimes:)  It's what I call "lazy birding".  We were specifically looking for 4 or 5 birds on the list.  I had NO idea that they could be found there and yet....they were present.  And in plain sight!  Hutton's Vireo's, Warblers, and even a Broad bill Hummingbird!!!  Who knew?!  Rich did.

American Pipits

Rich also spoke a lot about native plants that attract birds.  I found his discussion extremely helpful.  Trees that don't attract birds are what I call "junk" trees.  The African Sumac is one of them!  Sure it provides shade but little else.  Placing native plants into your garden is not only water friendly.....but wildlife friendly!  El Presidio is very active today thanks to some research and proper planning.

Our big count begins today.  I hope we can find them all:)  The above pic was taken with my IPHONE.  This is what we call an "arroyo"(ah-roy-oh) or dry creek bed.  Thank you Rich for the fun morning.  Can't wait for today's count and potluck!