More Sewage Ponds!

‘Tis the season for sewage ponds in the northern hemisphere, and as I look back at the last few days’ notes, I’ve been to more than my share this past week, and in two countries at that! Today it was Willcox’s turn, followed by a quick stop at Benson; both are potential sites for the next Aimophila Adventures Shorebird Workshop, scheduled for September 22-23.

I have loved the Willcox sewage pond (aka Lake Cochise) since the first time I saw it. With the heavy rains we’ve been having here in southeast Arizona, water levels are high and vegetation rank, making it hard to see what birds are present, but Scott and I made the best of it on our brief visit this morning. More than 100 American Avocets dominated the scene, swimming out in the deeper water and looking to these larid-starved eyes awfully like gulls. Wilson’s Phalaropes were even more abundant, and they were joined, at last, by 10 or so Red-necked Phalaropes, a bird that has been unusually scarce this fall so far; all the Red-necks were adults, so we should have a second wave of juveniles to look forward to in the coming weeks. Always uncommon in Arizona, two juvenile Stilt Sandpipers were my first of that age class in the state this year. Juvenile Western Sandpipers lined the shore, mixed in with Least Sandpipers, adults and juveniles both, and 3 Marbled Godwits flew over to make the scene completely western.

I committed the fatal error of remarking on how pleasant the weather at Willcox: whereupon Scott reminded me that it was just 6:30 in the morning and that Benson, our next stop, was at a significantly lower elevation. And in fact we broiled, the temperature at 9:00 already at 90 F and the humidity noticeably rising. Again, Wilson’s Phalaropes were abundant, despite (or because of?) the water’s suspect hue, and the mudflats on the second pond hosted a respectable 200 waders of 5 species. Maybe the Workshop will end up at Benson–but much earlier in the morning than our visit today!