Red Rock State Park

We had a beautiful day for this trip with a blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds, a perfect backdrop for the red and white cliffs and green trees of Red Rock State Park. Oak Creek flows through the 286 acres of the park creating a green oasis for bird life. They have five miles of trails winding through the park but fortunately I remembered that this is not a hiking club but a birding group. We avoided climbing to the mountain tops to take in the phenomenal views even though one is appropriately called "The Eagles Nest".

We first took the Kisva Trail which crosses Oak Creek twice (by bridge) and goes through an area with lots of cottonwoods and sycamores as well as open meadows. Usually this lush area with backwater ponds is alive with birds of all types, but we were amazed at hearing and seeing nothing. Finally Andrea spotted a Black Hawk sitting in a nearby tree which we encountered about six times after that as it would fly ahead and wait for us to catch up. We also identified about 56 species of mosquitoes which descended on us each time we would stop - therefore we kept moving.

We finally started to hear some birds that we could identify but could not see because of the thick vegetation in the area. We could hear a Summer Tanager, Gila Woodpecker, Red -shafted Flicker, House Finches and Lesser Goldfinches. We then connected with the Smoke Trail that runs right beside Oak Creek and usually has trees filled with all types of Warblers - not this time! I got the feeling that all the migrating birds from the forests of the northlands were saying "Were not leaving because the weather is so nice" We then took the Bunkhouse Trail to Kingfisher Bridge and even he had the nerve to not show up. We did see the most birds around the bridge area. They were a family of Mallards, Black and Say's Phoebe, a flock of Bushtits, Bewick's Wren, Western Scrub Jay, Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, Townsend's Solitaire and a possible Song Sparrow who gave us a quick look. Then walking back to the Visitor's Center we encountered a family of Northern Cardinals (Mom, Pop and Junior) and a Canyon Towhee hanging out in the same bush. We found some covered picnic tables across from the Visitors Center and had an American Kestrel show up for lunch.

Oh yes, the first bird of the day was a sensational Mourning Dove. That makes a grand total of 19 species for a place that has 171 species on its bird list. Oh well!! That's the way it goes sometimes. Participants were Vera Markham, Eleanor Conant, George Wall, Andrea Nesbitt and Chuck and Loretta Richards.