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March 18-20, 2005
By Ann McDermott
 Ruddy Ground Dove Photo by Henry Detwiler |
The predicted rains never
materialized except in the form of sprinkles over the windshields of
the cars used to explore the surreal landscapes of the Salton Sea and
the wetlands around Yuma. Instead, we were inundated by butterflies
migrating through the region, mostly Painted Ladies.
Henry Detwiler, of Southwest Birders, led our group, which consisted of members of Maricopa Audubon, Sonoran Audubon and Birders’ Anonymous, through his birding domain, telling a little history, a bit of geology and plenty about birds to be seen in each location. Chuck Kangas organized the trip, making arrangements for travel, accommodations and Henry’s skills, a daunting challenge, but one for which all travelers were grateful. Field trip participants were: Chuck and Loretta Richards, Chuck Kangas, Ian Jeffrey, Donna Smith, Jane McNeill, Barb Meding, Mary Jo and Bill Draxler, Daniela Yellan, Darnell Kirksey, Ann McDermott, Vera Markham, Anne Durning, Linda Long and Karen Stucke.
We visited locations such as the Somerton sewage plant, Betty’s Kitchen, farm fields around Yuma and Holtville, mud pots steaming just off-road in California, Obsidian Butte by the Salton Sea, the campsite of folks unfortunate enough to park in sapsucker terrain, the Wister Waterfowl Management Area, the Imperial Wildlife Area, Imperial Dam, Laguna Dam. Finney Lake, Mittry Lake and a golf course--pretty much the usual birding spots except for there being only one sewage plant.
These birding hotspots yielded a grand total of 119 species which included:
Henry Detwiler, of Southwest Birders, led our group, which consisted of members of Maricopa Audubon, Sonoran Audubon and Birders’ Anonymous, through his birding domain, telling a little history, a bit of geology and plenty about birds to be seen in each location. Chuck Kangas organized the trip, making arrangements for travel, accommodations and Henry’s skills, a daunting challenge, but one for which all travelers were grateful. Field trip participants were: Chuck and Loretta Richards, Chuck Kangas, Ian Jeffrey, Donna Smith, Jane McNeill, Barb Meding, Mary Jo and Bill Draxler, Daniela Yellan, Darnell Kirksey, Ann McDermott, Vera Markham, Anne Durning, Linda Long and Karen Stucke.
We visited locations such as the Somerton sewage plant, Betty’s Kitchen, farm fields around Yuma and Holtville, mud pots steaming just off-road in California, Obsidian Butte by the Salton Sea, the campsite of folks unfortunate enough to park in sapsucker terrain, the Wister Waterfowl Management Area, the Imperial Wildlife Area, Imperial Dam, Laguna Dam. Finney Lake, Mittry Lake and a golf course--pretty much the usual birding spots except for there being only one sewage plant.
These birding hotspots yielded a grand total of 119 species which included:
| Millions of Eared Grebes (OK, hundreds) Many, many fewer Pied-billed Grebes Clarks Grebes Western Grebes No Albatrosses American White Pelicans Bunches of Double-crested Cormorants A couple Black-crowned Night Herons More Cattle Egrets than you’d believe Green Heron (Flying over cars) Great Egrets About as many Great Blue Herons as you’d expect Common Merganser Ruddy Ducks in impressive, but not ridiculous numbers Turkey Vultures No Black Vultures White-faced Ibis No Swans Snow Geese Mallards Gadwalls Green-winged Teal American Wigeons Northern Pintail Northern Shovelers in ridiculous numbers except for the golf course Blue-winged Teal Way more Cinnamon Teal Canvasback Redhead Ring-necked Duck Lesser Scaup Common Goldeneye, a male in breeding plumage along with a female Bufflehead Ospreys Northern Harriers No Eagles Cooper’s Hawk Red Tailed Hawk American Kestrel Ring-necked Pheasant Sora (heard) Gambel’s Quail Common Moorhen American Coots (Way more common than moorhen) No Cranes Black-bellied Plovers (One or two headed toward breeding plumage) Ever present Killdeer American Avocet in lovely breeding plumage Black (&white)-necked Stilts Willets Galore Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Least Sandpipers A few Western Sandpipers Whimbrel Long-billed Curlew Surfbird (very rare--big surprise to Henry) Red Knot (Also a surprise to Henry) Long-billed Dowitcher Ring-billed Gull |
California
Gull Herring Gull Gull-billed Tern (From the observation tower) Caspian Tern Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Eurasian Collared-Dove Inca Dove Common Ground-Dove Ruddy Ground-Dove Greater Roadrunner Unfortunately, no owls except Burrowing Owl White-throated Swift Anna’s Hummingbird Rufous Hummingbird Belted Kingfisher Red-shafted Flicker Gila Woodpecker Ladderback Woodpecker Red-naped Sapsucker Red-breasted Sapsucker Black Phoebe Say’s Phoebe Ash-throated Flycatcher Vermilion Flycatcher (On the golf course) Western Kingbird Thick-billed Kingbird Loggerhead Shrike No Vireos, Bell‘s had not arrived yet Common Raven Horned Lark Tree Swallow Bank Swallow Cliff Swallow Barn Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Verdin Cactus Wren Marsh Wren Ruby-crowned Kinglet Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Black-tailed Gnatcatcher Northern Mockingbird European Starling Phainopepla Lucy’s Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Gray Warbler Wilson’s Warbler Common Yellowthroat Abert’s Towhee White-crowned Sparrow Song Sparrow Western Meadowlarks Red-winged Blackbirds many times over Yellow-headed Blackbird Great-tailed Grackle Brewer's Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbirds Bullock’s Oriole House Finch Lawrence’s Goldfinch Lesser Goldfinch And Finally, House Sparrow |
So far as I know, everyone made it home safely, even those who stopped off in Dateland for date shakes. The exception was the Richards, who left Yuma for San Diego instead of coming right home. They just had to be different.
Most
respectfully submitted, this 23rd day of March, 2005 by field trip
compiler, Ann McDermott.
Salton Sea Waterfowl including Caspian Tern, Ring-billed Gull and California Gull
Tern
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