Carolyn Modeen led eight other birders at Thunderbird Park. They were Cathy Huffman, Marcia Johnson, Ian Jeffrey, Gerry Horton, Don Bowman, Richard and Loretta Richards and Fran Baughman. Hopefully every got to go who wanted to since there was a change in time made a couple of weeks ago.

We are happy to report that this is a bountiful year of cactus wrens--their staccato songs over the desert are like the good old days. It was also joyful to see the annual return of the mergansers.

Here is a list of the 39 birds we saw: Mallard, American Wigeon, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, Common Merganser, Hooded Mergansers, Canada Goose, American Coot, Pied-billed Grebe, Double- Crested Cormorant, Ruddy Shellduck, Gambel's Quail, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Green Heron, Black- crowned Night-Heron, Mourning Dove, Rock Pigeon, Gila Woodpecker, Red-shafted Northern Flicker, Costa's Hummingbird, Say's Phoebe, Black Phoebe, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Northern Mockingbird, Loggerhead Shrike, European Starlings, Great-tailed Grackle, White-crowned Sparrow, Black-throated Sparrow, Brewer's Sparrow, House Finch, Abert's Towhee, Green-tailed Towhee, Verdin, and Greater Roadrunner.