Wings Over Willcox 2008

Wings Over Willcox has always been one of the best birding festivals around, and this year was no exception: good company, good weather, good birding!

I was fortunate enough to squeak onto the bus Friday for Tom and Moez’s trip into the high Chiricahuas. Both our leaders did their usual exemplary job, and not even the chilly weather kept us form enjoying such fine specialties as Band-tailed Pigeon,  Mexican Chickadee, Pygmy Nuthatch, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Olive Warbler, and Cassin’s Finch. A Prairie Falcon flew over early in the day, and a lovely dark female Merlin perched on a snag just below Rustler Park was a very nice surprise. It was a red-letter mammal day, too, with a male coati and several Apache fox squirrels leaving no doubt that we had spent the day in the largest and most exotic of the Sky Islands.

Saturday found me out with a big group in the northern Sulphur Springs Valley, guided by Steve and Marcia to the raptor riches between Willcox and Bonita. We did well again, starting with a pair of Harris’s Hawks not far from the hotel, and continuing with an adult Peregrine Falcon, a Merlin, and a somewhat befuddled-looking adult Bald Eagle perched on a freshly plowed field. Our tally of five Ferruginous Hawks would have made the day a memorable one all by itself.

Saturday night’s banquet was festive and well-attended, and my keynote speech–”In Search of the Great Horned Mop”–elicited laughs in the right places and gratifyingly little snoring. The best part of the evening, though, was getting to see old friends and make new ones over dinner.

I could hardly believe it was Sunday already when I straggled out of bed yesterday morning. After an hour’s lecture, I climbed aboard the yellow bus with the rest of Homer’s sparrow trip for a day in the southern Sulphur Springs. Sparrow watching was pretty grim all day, with a little flock of Chestnut-colored Longspurs the fast-moving highlight; but you can’t help having good birds when you’re in that part of the state. Whitewater Draw sheltered Greater White-fronted, Snow, and Ross’s Goose among the large flock of Sandhill Cranes, while a female-plumaged Hooded Merganser was on the southmost pond in the company of a brace of Long-billed Dowitchers. Barn Owls continue to be amazingly abundant in the big willow grove, with a single scope view revealing 8 or more at once. Raptors along the road included two more Merlins, one of them a lovely blue Richardson’s male, and scattered Ferruginous Hawks.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the entire weekend came at the end of our sparrow day, when we paused at the effluent pond at the big dairy farm north of Elfrida. The ducks on the water included a few Bufflehead and Redhead, and on the bank were five white-cheeked Brant. Four of them were mid-sized Canada Geese, a notable species in southeast Arizona, and one a tiny little stubby-billed bird that we identified as a Richardson’s Cackling Goose. Photos to follow.

Thanks to all who organized this fine festival, who shared their considerable expertise in seminars and field trips, and especially to those who made the weekend such a great one for me by attending!