Here are the best (not quite the right word, perhaps) photos of the Cackling Goose we observed in the Sulphur Springs Valley Sunday. [Edit: as it turns out, Harry, who probably knows more about the field identification of these blasted white-cheeks than anyone else, has identified the bird as a parvipes Canada Goose. Thanks, Harry! Other correspondents still lean towards Cackling Goose, and I'm just sitting back at this point.]

This was the scene at a distance: Canada Geese, Great-tailed Grackles, American Coots, and a smattering of ducks including Bufflehead.

The little white-cheeked Branta of interest was associated with the 4 mid-sized Canada Geese on the shore, and stood out immediately by virtue of its tiny size.

The bird immediately in front of the little one is badly foreshortened, but the others, particularly the individual in profile on the right, provides a reasonable size comparison. Note also the little guy’s slightly darker plumage, less extensively black “stocking,” and head shape: the forehead is nearly vertical, with a pronounced stop where it meets the flat crown. Will pointed out to me, too, that this individual has a somewhat reduced cheek patch.

This image is even worse than the two preceding, but it does show the “bumpy” forecrown and the bill shape: small, slender, and barely longer than it is deep.

I’d be interested to hear what the rest of you think about this bird (less interested, probably, in your comments on my failings as a photographer!).

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!