Five of us went on the Patagonia Trip sponsored by the Sonoran Audubon Society on 23-25 August. The 5 were Eleanor Campbell (leader), Jeanne Kirsch, Tom Lazzelle, George and Maria Wall.

We went to several places during this trip and we saw some of the same birds at many places. For the purpose of this report, the bird species will only be shown in the first spot seen and not all of us saw every bird.

The first stop we made was at Gardner Canyon Road. It was hot and during the middle of the day and we didn’t see very many birds. We saw the Turkey Vulture, Mourning Dove, Violet-green Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Lesser Goldfinch and Botteri’s sparrow.

We then went to the Empire Cienega Conservation Area on Empire Ranch Rd. We followed the road to the creek. This was such a nice place to bird that we stopped here on Sunday morning on the way home. The birds listed are from both stops. We saw a Black Vulture, American Kestrel, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Greater Roadrunner, Northern Flicker, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, Common Raven, Barn Swallow, Northern Parula, Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Song Sparrow, Black-throated Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Summer Tanager, and Western Meadowlark. The Northern Parula was a real treat and we had a very close up and long look at him.

Saturday morning around the Sonoita Inn where we stayed, several birds were seen including the good old Rock Dove, Northern Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher and Canyon Towhee. We then went to the Patagonia Preserve where we saw a Gray Hawk, White-winged Dove, Acorn Woodpecker, Gila Woodpecker, Western Wood-Pewee, Say’s Phoebe, Vermilion Flycatcher, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Cassin’s Kingbird, Thick-billed Kingbird, Plumbeous Vireo, Phainopepla, White-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick’s Wren, Bridled Titmouse, Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Western Tanager and Blue Grosbeak.

We then stopped at Paton’s, a place noted for hummingbirds. There we saw an Inca Dove, Broad-billed Hummingbird, Violet-crowned Hummingbird, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Anna’s Hummingbird, Rufous Hummingbird, House Sparrow, House Finch, Abert’s Towhee, Lazuli Bunting and Great-tailed Grackles.

We then headed on down the road towards Nogales and we stopped at a roadside rest stop where we saw the Varied Bunting.

We then went to the Kino Bay Golf Course area where we saw a flock of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, a flock of White-faced Ibis’s, Black Phoebe, and a Northern Cardinal. From there we went to Patagonia Lake State Park (There was a $7 entrance fee). It was extremely crowed with boaters and swimmers; so we didn’t see a lot. We saw a Red-tailed Hawk on the way in, Pied-billed Grebe and an American Coot. That was the end of our birding for Saturday.

On Sunday morning, we went again to the Empire Cienega Conservation area. We then decided to stop at the Sweetwater water reclaimation area in Tucson. There we saw a Ruddy Duck, Wood Duck, Mallard, Common Moorhen, Common Snipe, unknown species of Sandpiper, Killdeer, Warbling Vireo and Red-winged Blackbirds. The presence of the Wood Duck that we got a close and long look at was a rare treat.

It was a great trip. Eleanor did a good job of scouting the trip and laying out all our stops.