Harriers Over Havasu

Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. But 735 miles later, I’m not so sure. Lake Havasu, the largest body of water in Arizona, could have come through big-time this time of year. But it didn’t.

I haven’t had a chance to look over my lists yet, but they should show a couple of year-birds, including the rarest species to show up today: two Herring Gulls, one near-adult and one first-winter. And it was great to get to watch Western and Clark’s Grebes at close range, several of the latter at Topock Marsh accompanied by noisy half-grown young like thin-billed cygnets.

Waterfowl were shockingly scant: a single Greater White-fronted Goose at Topock and a drake Bufflehead at the Bill Williams Arm barely made up for missing common birds like, oh, Cinnamon Teal!

High winds all day put paid to any sort of passerine show. They didn’t discourage the Northern Harriers, however, which quartered and banked low over the marshes and occasionally climbed high above the mountains across the river in California.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained: the birder’s new motto!