Day 5—Patagonia Roadside Rest, Las Cienegas, Lincoln Park

Monday, April 23, 2018

This was the morning we were supposed to meet Susan Wethington at her house at 6:00 to observe hummingbird monitoring, but Susan never responded to my requests for her address. She had emailed that she was working in the mountains and not expected home until Sunday afternoon, but I never heard from her so she must have been out of cell phone contact. We did not want to waste the day, so instead of going to Susan's, we went to the Patagonia Roadside Rest area where Deb thought she saw a Bushtit. I am doubtful of her fleeting sighting. Bushtits travel in flocks and there were no others in the Roadside Rest area. I am guessing that perhaps she saw a juvenile Verdin, which is the same size, and, except for bill color, similar in appearance. However, in this area we also saw a female Broad-billed Hummingbird, a Hooded Oriole, Black-headed Grosbeak, and several unidentified flycatchers.

Hooded Oriole

Bushtit left; juvenile Verdin right

We were standing with our binoculars raised trying to find the Bushtit when a car pulled up at high speed, and a young Texan leapt from the car and sprinted toward us saying "What d' ya got? What d' ya got?" Well, we did not have our binocs on the Thick-billed Kingbird, the species he was searching for, so he took a quick look around and then departed at speed to chase down a Thick-billed Kingbird. Some birders are driven to add to their life lists, to take a photograph, or to increase the number of species they've seen. I just like seeing the birds and the adventure of the hunt.

We gassed up in Sonoita where I grabbed a chicken salad-and-cranberry sandwich, a hard-boiled egg for Deb, and a decaf coffee. Then we headed for the south entrance of Las Ciénegas (syey-nuh-guh),National Conservation area. This conservation area is located in the transitional zone between the Sonoran Desert and the Chihuahuan Desert. We found the area very different from the mesquite, creosote bush, willows and paloverde we had been birding in. The rolling grass-covered hills reminded me of Oklahoma's Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, and the tall cottonwoods lining Ciénega Creek, with its perennial flow, reminded me of the cottonwoods that used to line our lane before Oklahoma's drought.

We drove through this area on a dirt road. The area is under public ownership and is managed in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the working Empire and Cienega ranches, along with portions of the adjacent Rose Tree and Vera Earl ranches, thus it is open range and one may encounter cattle anywhere, including the road. Shortly after we entered we saw five pronghorns on a hill in the distance. We drove slowly on dirt roads and saw many Western Kingbirds, a Kestrel, Black-throated Sparrows, Lark Sparrows, and Barn Swallows. We came to a place that the rancher had turned into a pond, a large cistern recycling water into a small wetlands. Except along the river and at this artificial wetlands, it was dry and grassy everywhere. At this man-made wetlands Deb took a photo of a Vermilion flycatcher and a small, what we believe to be Spiny Lizard

The beautiful grassy hills of Le Cienegas

Top clockwise: Thick-billed Kingbird, Black-throated Sparrow, Vermilion flycatcher, Kestrel in flight, and Lark Sparrow

The artificial wetlands; notice the water coming in from the pipe at right

We exited the area on I-19 and scooted up to Tucson where we went to Lincoln Park. My phone AI took us to a dead end in a development and not the park entrance but I figured things out and got us to the entrance. By this time the temp was 102F, and I could no longer be out in it. We started to walk a short trail but I was too hot so told Deb I'd wait in the shade in the car. Deb took a couple of photos and birded out in an open field for a bit, but then she, too, was too hot so we returned to our Airbnb. The park also was home to the Atturbury Bird and Animal Sanctuary, so we wanted to return when it was cooler, but never did get the chance.

Back at the Airbnb, it was early so I showered and we did two loads of wash, which Deb monitored and folded. Dinner: a couple of gluten-free English muffins and cheese for Deb and the second chicken potpie for me.

Deb has the ability to fall instantly asleep, so after dinner as I was tapping away at this, I looked up to find her sound asleep. She can walk into a room after a day of birding and be asleep less than 10 minutes later. Now I, on the other hand have been having trouble sleeping because if I go to sleep at 6:00 or 7:00 like Deb does, I am wide awake six or seven hours later, so I talked a bit with our Airbnb hosts and continued to tap out this, trying to stay awake at least until 9:00 pm.