Shorebirds, Dead and Alive

The lovely House Sparrow in my latest ‘post’ fooled no one, I’m glad to say, neither the astute readers of this b-log nor the enthusiastic participants in this morning’s museum session. It was a great meeting, full of excellent questions and good spirits, and I left resolved to find some living waders for the field trip scheduled for tomorrow morning.

Easier said than done on a windy day in southeast Arizona! At the Green Valley ponds, the gale blew so strong that we had a hard time holding our binoculars steady, and scopes: useless. But there were a few birds around, including the long-staying Ross’s Goose (if it lingers another week or so, it will no longer be early!). The edges of the big pond had numbers of Killdeer and Least Sandpipers, and 7 Wilson’s Phalaropes were dabbing and spinning among the ducks. Views were close, if trembly, so I think we’ll definitely hit that site tomorrow morning.

The Avra Valley sewage ponds were less exciting. The water was stacked up high on the eastern shore of each of the pools, and even the few muddy edges remaining sheltered only a few Killdeer and Least Sandpipers. Quite a contrast to last year at this time, when those ponds were providing some of the finest shorebirding I’ve ever seen in the inland west (well, it’s been a long time since I’ve been to Bear River or Crescent Lake!). The only truly notable birds there were a couple of Black-crowned Night-Herons and a drake Wood Duck (with a white hen Aix by herself in another pond).

Kennedy Lake, in southwest Tucson, is underrated as a shorebird spot; a small rocky backwater often produces a good selection of waders in the early morning, but it was empty this afternoon. A lone American Avocet was feeding on the south shore, though, undisturbed by the fishermen, dogs, and noisy schoolchildren. So the itinerary is set: Kennedy, then Green Valley, then we’ll just see. I don’t expect a big list tomorrow, but if this wind lets up, we should have some good close views that will let us test the principles we came up with in the museum this morning.