Winter Lingerers

No luck with the recent Worm-eating or Black-and-white Warblers at Tubac, but a beautiful Christmas morning walk produced some birds all the same.

Greater Pewee is a very scarce winterer in southeast Arizona, but this one was in a nice flock of Bridled Titmice, Hutton’s Vireos, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, White-breasted Nuthatches, Audubon’s and Orange-crowned Warblers, and Chipping Sparrows. The flock was oddly silent until a juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk flashed past, at which point the alarm went up, and the pewee joined in with its funny pee-pee calls. Everybody survived, and it was soon back to foraging.

And the Amado Gray Hawk continues to perch blithely right at exit 48 of I-19. This is thought to be possibly the same individual that spent December in the area 3 years ago; maybe this time it will last the whole winter.

Pretty nice Christmas presents!