Catalina State Park

Two mornings in a row at Catalina State Park: the regular Friday morning walk yesterday, then a more purposeful excursion this morning as part of the North American Migration Count. Each trip turned up over 50 species, including such great southeast Arizona specialties as Gilded Flicker, Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Crissal Thrasher, Rufous-winged Sparrow, and Abert’s Towhee. I was especially happy that Larry and Rita got to see some of these birds; figure they deserve a lifer or two after driving down from BC!

More fascinating still, though, is watching migration happen before our eyes. Townsend’s Warblers are still moving through, and this morning they actually outnumbered every other warbler species but Wilson’s and our abundant breeding Lucy’s. Two fine MacGillivray’s Warblers were also headed north, maybe no farther than northern Arizona, perhaps as far as the Yukon. The destinations of the Black-headed Grosbeaks and Western Tanagers were likely more local; their summer homes in the canyons and ponderosa pine forests of the Santa Catalinas are actually visible, just a few thousand feet above the desert landscapes of the park.

The heat rose so quickly both mornings that most raptors were probably still hunkered down by the time we left. But each outing offered a prize: a Prairie Falcon yesterday, a Peregrine today, the latter carrying something orangish in its feet. Not every Black-headed Grosbeak is going to make it up the mountainside this year.