Return to Willcox

Elizabeth, Beth, and I had a great time driving around the Willcox sewage ponds this afternoon, getting one of us a lifebird, one of us a state bird, and one of us (me) an Arizona year bird.

The adult Ruddy Turnstone continues, vigorously turning mud (and yes, the occasional small stone) as it waddled around the legs of the American Avocets and Long-billed Curlews. Today this bird was much more mobile than when Darlene and I saw it on Tuesday; we got to watch it both at ‘the point’ and, at point-blank range, on the east shore of the lake. Naturally, I’d left my camera in Tucson, so the views were superlative.

The dozen shorebird species we found also included ca. 15 Stilt Sandpipers, twice that many Baird’s Sandpipers, and bunches and bunches of Western Sandpipers; all of these were adults, of course. An adult Lesser Yellowlegs was my first of this slightly uncommonish species in Arizona for this calendar year.

It took us quite a while to find an avocet chick, but we did; it’s possible that the others were hiding in the grass, possible too that they have fallen prey to a bobcat or coyote since Tuesday. Two quite young Killdeer chicks were a nice sight, too.

No terns today, and Tuesday’s Franklin’s Gull had moved on as well, leaving us with just His Scruffiness. This badly, badly worn bird is apparently a Ring-billed Gull, meaning that I misidentified it the other day–ack. Here’s another photo of the bird from Tuesday.

I don’t feel  t o o  bad for muffing this one.