On Friday morning, 21 Jan 2005, 11 of us – Bill & Mary Jo Draxler, Dick Fogle, Jerry & Kathy Hobbs, Ian Jeffrey, Chuck Kangas (leader & planner), Vera Markham, Jane McNeill, Donna Smith & George Wall - left the Sun Bowl parking lot and headed for Sierra Vista. After arriving, we ate a lunch in the local park while Great-tailed Grackles, Rock Pigeons and House Finches flitted about.

After lunch, our first trip was to the Sierra Vista Treatment ponds where a nice observatory awaited us. Here we saw the American Wigeon, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Mallard (including the Mexican), Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Ring-necked Duck, Northern Harrier, American Coot, Black Phoebe, Say’s Phoebe, Song Sparrow, Brewer’s Sparrow, Cassin’s Finch, Yellow-headed Blackbird & Red-winged Blackbird.

Our next stop was the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area just outside of Sierra Vista. After shopping at the San Pedro House, we started birding. Here we saw the Great Blue Heron, American Wigeon, Mallard, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, American Coot, Mourning Dove, Great Horned Owl, Gila Woodpecker, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, unidentified Empidonax, Northern Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Crissal Thrasher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bridled Titmouse, Chihuahuan Raven, European Starling, Brewer’s Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, Abert’s Towhee, Lesser Goldfinch, Eastern Meadowlark, House Finch, House Sparrow and Red-winged Blackbird. Our birding was cut short here as a storm was approaching; so it was time to check into the Best Western Hotel in Sierra Vista.

Saturday morning after breakfast provided by the hotel, we headed to White Water Draw where we met our guide for the day Arne Moorhouse at 8am. It had rained the night before and so we all had to walk through a lot of mud in order to walk around the lake area. In fact, the mud was so thick on our shoes, it felt like we were walking on stilts. However, this didn’t stop us from birding. Here we saw Ruddy Duck, American Wigeon, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Cinnamon Teal, Lesser Scaup, Northern Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Sandhill Crane, American Coot, Killdeer, Least Sandpiper, Mourning Dove, Great Horned Owl, Black Phoebe, Say’s Phoebe, Vermilion Flycatcher, Loggerhead Shrike, Phainopepla, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Brewer’s Sparrow, Pyrrhuloxia, Common Yellowthroat, House Finch and Western Meadowlark.

After getting as much mud off our shoes as we could, we drove through the Sulphur Springs Valley stopping at various spots along the way towards Wilcox. In the valley we saw Northern Harrier, Cooper’s Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, American Kestrel, Killdeer, Mountain Plover, Rock Dove, Eurasian Collared Dove, Mourning Dove, Inca Dove, American Pipit, Loggerhead Shrike, Bendire’s Thrasher, Curve-billed Thrasher, Verdin, Chihuahuan Raven, Lark Bunting, White-crowned Sparrow, Brewer’s Sparrow, Black-throated Sparrow, Green-tailed Towhee, Lesser Goldfinch, House Finch and House Sparrow.

We reached the Wilcox ponds in the afternoon and here we saw Pied-billed Grebe, Ruddy Duck, Greater White-fronted Goose, Snow Goose, Canada Goose, American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Common Merganser, Northern Harrier, Common Moorhen, American Coot, Killdeer, and Wilson’s Snipe. We then meandered back to Sierra Vista on many dirt roads looking for anything new, but to no avail. Arne Moorhouse was determined to find us s Prairie Falcon and an eagle and was disappointed not to find any. We arrived back in Sierra Vista at 7pm just in time for dinner.

Our first stop on Sunday morning was at Ash Canyon Bed and Breakfast where Mary Jo Ballator had numerous bird feeders and chairs set up for visiting birders. We spent over an hour here and we saw Mourning Dove, Magnificent Hummingbird, Acorn Woodpecker, Gila Woodpecker, Arizona Woodpecker, Cactus Wren, Bewick’s Wren, Curve-billed Thrasher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Gray-breasted Jay (Mexican), White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon), Chipping Sparrow, Canyon Towhee, Northern Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch and House Finch.

We then went over to the home of Joe Woodley and Jo Ann Loza off of Miller Canyon Road. Joe and Jo Ann belonged to the Sonoran Audubon Society before moving to SE Arizona. Here we were able to watch Scaled Quail troop into their backyard along with a lone Gambel’s Quail. The lone Gambel’s quail had been adopted by the Scaled Quail covey. The speculation is that a Gambel’s Quail female dropped an egg in a Scaled Quail nest. What a treat.

Our last stop for the trip was to Beatty's Miller Canyon Guest Ranch and Orchard . Here we saw the Anna’s Hummingbird, Red-naped Sapsucker, Western Bluebird, Dark-eyed Junco, Yellow-eyed Junco, Chipping Sparrow and a Gray Flycatcher.

Here are all 91 species seen in order: Pied-billed Grebe, Great Blue Heron, Ruddy Duck, Greater Whitefronted Goose, Snow Goose, Canada Goose, American Wigeon, Gadwall, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Common Merganser, Northern Harrier, Cooper’s Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, American Kestrel, Scaled Quail, Gambel’s Quail, Sandhill Crane, Common Moorhen, American Coot, Killdeer, Mountain Plover, Wilson’s Snipe, Least Sandpiper, Rock Dove, Eurasian Collared Dove, Mourning Dove, Inca Dove, Great Horned Owl, Magnificent Hummingbird, Anna’s Hummingbird, Acorn Woodpecker, Gila Woodpecker, Red-naped Sapsucker, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Arizona Woodpecker, Gray Flycatcher, Black Phoebe, Say’s Phoebe, Vermilion Flycatcher, American Pipit, Loggerhead Shrike, Phainopepla, Cactus Wren, Bewick’s Wren, Northern Mockingbird, Bendire’s Thrasher, Curve-billed Thrasher, Crissal Thrasher, Western Bluebird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Verdin, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Grey-breasted Jay (Mexican Jay), Chihuahuan Raven, European Starling, Lark Bunting, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon), Yellow-eyed Junco, Savannah Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Brewer’s Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Black-throated Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, Canyon Towhee, Abert’s Towhee, Green-tailed Towhee, Northern Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch, Cassin’s Finch, House Finch, House Sparrow, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Western Meadowlark and Great-tailed Grackle.