South

Darlene and I decided to visit the southernmost parts of this meteorological sauna called Arizona today; it was hot, it was humid, but it was a good day all the same.

We started at the Mesquital migrant trap, just west of Tucson, where the usual Rufous-winged Sparrows were joined by a few Cassin’s Sparrows: you can’t beat the Aimophila concert this time of year.

Hooded Orioles were playing around the palms, and two Black-headed Grosbeaks stopped briefly, while a Lazuli Bunting blew over to add to our very modest tally of trapped migrants.

On, then, to Sasabe, where the hillsides were covered with blooming mimosa and Cassin’s Sparrows filled the air with their songs and song flights. We lingered a while at the border fence, hoping to give me the one bird I need ot pass the 300 mark on my Sonora state list, but all we found were the usual wonders: Black Vultures, Blue Grosbeaks, Rufous-winged and a single singing Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Bewick’s Wrens, Yellow-breasted Chats, and Varied Buntings. A Brown-crested Flycatcher was pushing the calendar pretty hard; the fences and wires were lined with bickering Western and Cassin’s Kingbirds. This lovely little adult female Vermilion Flycatcher watched us pant our way up and down the main Sasabe wash.

The heat and humidity were pretty close to unbearable, so we decided to do some car birding at Buenos Aires NWR. The sparrow show was excellent here, too, the roads lined with hundreds of Lark Buntings. One of the day’s constants was the gentle hooting flight-calls drifting down from the flocks as they flew south (and north, and east, and west) overhead.

Lark Sparrows were nearly as common, and Botteri’s and Cassin’s Sparrows sang everywhere on the almost unrecognizably green grasslands. I can’t wait to see this area come winter, when this monsoon’s crop of seed should support excellent emberizid numbers.