Nineteen of us made the trek to the New River Reserve that is just off of I-17. They were Diana Barnum, Eleanor Campbell, Ernie Garcia, Darlene Gatto, Ed Jeter, Gale Kulina, Tom Lazzelle, Carol Maroney, Barb Meding, Warren and Anita Ramp, Chuck Richard, Chuck and Loretta Richards, Donna Smith, Annie Teff, George Wall (Leader) and Joe and Diana Zerella. It was nice to see some new faces on a field trip.

What a beautiful morning for a nice easy walk down a dirt road. There was a light breeze, just enough to make it pleasant without disturbing the birds. I think everyone was amazed to see all the palm trees in amongst cottonwoods and mesquite in this out-of-the-way spot. The only glitch was that we didn’t see enough birds, but everyone still enjoyed themselves.

The 23 birds seen or heard were Great Blue Heron (flew overhead), Turkey Vulture, immature Red-tailed Hawk (this was baffled several of us for awhile), Gambel’s Quail, Mourning Dove, Gila Woodpecker, Western Wood-Pewee, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Violet-green Swallow, Phainopepla, Cactus Wren (H), Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Verdin, Common Raven, White-crowned Sparrow, probable Abert’s Towhee (didn’t see his head), Northern Cardinal, Bell’s Vireo (H), Lesser Goldfinch, House Sparrow and Great-tailed Grackle.