Agua Fria

The primary purpose of this field trip was to find pairs of breeding birds. The trip would be a part of the continuation of the SAS bird census of the monument. There would also be a special effort to locate breeding pairs of Yellow-billed Cuckoos. Shortly before the field trip the Arizona Game and Fish (AG&F) had a meeting outlining their Yellow-billed Cuckoo survey which they are conducting under the auspices of the Bureau of Land Management. They gave the procedures for conducting the survey and gave out cuckoo tapes, speakers and guidance positioning systems (GPS). The individuals conducting the Yellow-billed Cuckoo survey for AG&F are required to fill out a form which includes the map coordinates for each cuckoo found and a description of its call.

We had nine people who showed up for the field trip. They were Dan Bohlmann, Vera Markham, Donna Smith, Carolyn Modeen, Bob McCormick, Joy Dolhanczyk, Bea Raymond, Tom Lazzelle and Chuck Kangas.

The group was split in two, one to survey Horseshoe Ranch the other to survey the Agua Fria River south from the road below Horseshoe Ranch to Baby Canyon. The field trip was conducted in coordination with the SAS bird census and the AG&F cuckoo survey. Chuck Kangas led the group on Horseshoe ranch and also did the cuckoo survey there. Tom Lazzelle conducted the cuckoo survey in the other group which went down the Agua Fria River.

Birds seen on the field trip were: Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed hawk, Gambel’s Quail, Killdeer, Mourning Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Great Horned Owl, hummingbird species, Gila Woodpecker, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Black Phoebe, Say’s Phoebe, Vermilion Flycatcher, Bell’s Vireo, Gray Vireo, Common Raven, Verdin, Cactus Wren, Canyon Wren, Bewick’s Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Pipit, Phainopepla, Lucy’s Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Summer Tanager, Canyon Towhee, Abert’s Towhee, Northern Cardinal, Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Brown-headed Cowbird, Hooded Oriole, Bullock’s Oriole, House Finch, and Lesser Goldfinch.

Vera Markham got two great pictures; one of a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake and the other the Gila Monster printed with this article.