The NMFWA workshop was a success! It was busy (sessions, meetings, socials, etc.), but I managed to find a few spare hours to go birding. I only added a few extra species to my total for the trip, but one was new: Brewer's Sparrow. They are about the plainest brown bird ever, but hey, it's new to me, so it's exciting! I went out to Pagago Park Thursday morning with Michael, Rick, and Chester:
Red-tailed hawk nesting in a saguaro cactus:
Here are Mike, Rick, and Chester at the banquet (a BBQ at Rawhide, a staged Western Town):
The new National Military Fish and Wildlife Association Board of Directors:
And finally, my poster for the Legacy Project we got funded this year (more desert work!):
Red-tailed hawk nesting in a saguaro cactus: Here are Mike, Rick, and Chester at the banquet (a BBQ at Rawhide, a staged Western Town): The new National Military Fish and Wildlife Association Board of Directors: And finally, my poster for the Legacy Project we got funded this year (more desert work!):
In between field work, planning, proposal writing, and working on my presentation for next week, I found a few hours here and there to do some birding. I saw lots of the local specialties, many of which I had seen on previous trips to the area (or trips to west Texas), but there were seven new species for my list! There was a pair of Bendire's Thrashers outside the on-base lodging, an Abert's Towhee and Violet-crowned Hummingbird near the office in a Riparian area, a flock of Gambel's Quail up the hill from the office (one is pictured below), a Gila Woodpecker at one of our plots, a Painted Redstart, and a Broad-billed Hummingbird at the banding station. Whew! 
On Saturday morning, after dropping my coworker at the Tucson airport, I stopped by Saguaro National Park for a few hours. It was a gorgeous day and I managed to find two more new birds: Phainopepla (pictured below) and Gilded Flicker. 
I also saw a fox limping through the desert (poor guy/gal): 
It was interesting and sad to see the change that has occurred in the park over the past few decades: 
This morning I got up extra early and stopped by Coronado National Memorial on my way to Phoenix and the National Military Fish and Wildlife Association annual workshop. Well, it wasn't exactly on the way, but it's only 20 miles south of Fort Huachuca, so I thought it was worth checking out. The memorial is set in the foothills of the Huachuca Mountains and there are lots of oak trees, so I knew I would see some different local specialties. What I didn't expect was how spoiled I was the day before at Saguaro, where I was able to see everything for miles due to the low vegetation, effecting my patience. I only gave myself two hours to bird (due to the 3 hour drive and my need to finish my talk for Tuesday), and I had a really hard time identifying the canopy-dwellers that wouldn't come down (not a single bird cared about my "pishing"). I only saw 13 species, but two of them were new! After chasing around a Dark-eyed Junco (hoping it would join up with some other juncos, since I'm dying to see the Yellow-eyed), getting startled by an agressive Spotted Towhee that was tearing up the ground, and watching a Cooper's Hawk feast on something furry, I started to hear a familiar song... Oh yes, that's right, I saw another "cousin" of my beloved Golden-cheeked Warbler, the Black-throated Gray Warbler!!! Once I located it in my binoculars, I started hearing them all over. I must have heard at least half a dozen while walking around. To be a bird with so few colors, they are awfully fancy. The other new bird I saw threw me for a loop. I spotted it before I heard it: a Bridled Titmouse! It was gorgeous (they look like they're wearing bow-ties)!! When it started singing, I thought I was losing my birding ear though, because it sounded nothing like the titmice we have on the east coast. So, I got back in the car and popped in my brand new "Bird Songs of Southeastern Arizona and Sonora, Mexico" CD and forwarded to the Bridled Titmouse song. Sure enough, that's what I heard. The birds around here are just sooo different! Anyway, to wrap up this long blog, I've seen a total of 55 species on this trip so far, 11 of which were life birds for me! Hopefully I'll find a few spare hours to do some birding in Phoenix this week. My Life List is at 392 now... maybe I can push it over 400 before I return to Vicksburg? 
