Day 7—Sweetwater Wetlands, Sonoran Desert Museum

Wednesday,April 25, 2018

Sweetwater Wetlands and Sonoran Desert Museum

This morning we slept in a bit because we didn't have to be at Sweetwater Wetlands until 7:00. Nonetheless, we were two of the first to arrive for this Tucson Audubon weekly bird walk. While we were waiting for all to arrive, I took a couple of photos of some  mallard ducklings and Deb took a photo of a Ruddy Duck in full breeding plumage. 

Eventually a large large crowd of birders gathered, most from Tucson Audubon but others from several other states. The walk really needed two or even three leaders to break up the group size. Luke Safford, our leader, was aided by two “assistants.” There were really too many people, especially for Deb who wanted to take photos.I did not see anything new but a distant Olive-sided Flycatcher. Found myself beside a woman who owns Wander the Earth Expeditions in Africa. She gave me her card and I went to her website when I got home. By my rough calculations one could not wander Africa with her for less than $25,000+.

Below is Luke's email and bird tally for the morning:

Hey all,
     Wow, it was great to see so many of you this morning at our weekly field trip around Sweetwater Wetlands. I enjoyed talking with many of you from out of town, just off memory I know some of you were from California, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Maine, Pennsylvania, and British Columbia. It really is cool to see how we come together from all over the country, from all walks of life, and all ages, to see these beautiful birds (at an old wastewater site!).
     Big thanks to John Sartin for lugging around the scope to give us some great views of the birds and to Larry Norris for helping me keep the list.
     The highlight for me was the Lark Bunting seen around the 3/4 mark of the loop, which was my first ever for Sweetwater--inching me closer to 200 for the location! Lazuli Buntings, Western Tanager, Olive-sided Flycatcher, and Snowy Egrets were fantastic to see too.
     Glad that some of you got some lifer birds today like Verdin, Abert's Towhee, and Western Kingbird too; we've got to make sure not to overlook these "common" birds!
     Below is the entire trip list that Larry and I could remember, not counting those seen before or after the main walk.
     Hope you have a good rest of your week and I hope to see you around again soon. Remember next week (first week of May) we will start at 6am.        Take care, Luke Safford

Sweetwater Wetlands, Pima, Arizona, US
Apr 25, 2018 7:00 AM - 9:35 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
Comments: Weekly Tucson Audubon field trip
51 species (+2 other taxa)

Blue-winged Teal 2
Cinnamon Teal 5
Mallard 12
Ruddy Duck 3
Gambel's Quail 7
Neotropic Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Snowy Egret 3 All SNEG in far west pond at same time
Green Heron 1
Cooper's Hawk 3
Red-tailed Hawk 4
Sora 5
Common Gallinule 1
American Coot 7
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Eurasian Collared-Dove 2
White-winged Dove 35
Mourning Dove 8
Black-chinned Hummingbird 2
Anna's Hummingbird 4
Gila Woodpecker 3
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 2
Olive-sided Flycatcher 1
Black Phoebe 1
Western Kingbird 4
Bell's Vireo 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 5
Cliff Swallow 5
Verdin 10
European Starling 1
Phainopepla 2
Orange-crowned Warbler (Gray-headed) 1
Orange-crowned Warbler (lutescens) 3
Lucy's Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 7
Yellow Warbler 12
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2
Wilson's Warbler 2
Lark Sparrow 15
Lark Bunting 1
White-crowned Sparrow (Gambel's) 3
Song Sparrow 5
Lincoln's Sparrow 3
Abert's Towhee 7
Western Tanager 1
Black-headed Grosbeak 1
Lazuli Bunting 4
new world oriole sp. 1
Red-winged Blackbird 15
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
Great-tailed Grackle 2
House Finch 6
Lesser Goldfinch 6

Luke Safford,Volunteer, Field Trip, and SE Arizona Birding Festival Coordinator,Tucson Audubon Society

Deb and I left the group early and drove from Sweetwater to the Sonoran Desert  Museum. We spent most of the rest of the day at this wonderful place. The only part that tugged at me were the animal enclosures, which were artfully done but held otters, beaver, javelinas, coyotes, mountain sheep, a mountain lion, and a bobcat, etc. The mountain lion was pacing and would walk up to the glass window in its cage and go nose to nose with children looking in. When I was young I used to love to go to zoos and see the animals, but now I cannot bear to see them in cages pacing and circling neurotically.

Deb got pix of a Steller’s Jay and Masked Bobwhite. We both got a pix of a the large iguana that was hanging out under the rim of the mountain sheep enclosure. See below.

Large Iguana

On a brighter note, the desert Museum had a Hummingbird Aviary, Butterfly garden, and an Aviary with many birds, some, such as a Black-crowned Night Heron with a broken wing rehabbed but incapable of being released in the wild. In the aviary were a Western Tanager, Phainopepla, a group of Gambel's Quail, and others, as well as too many White-winged Doves. In order to keep these birds in check, their nests were being torn down and their eggs destroyed. White-winged Doves are pretty sexy birds, however, and I saw several mating pairs in the aviary. 

Black-crowned Night Heron with a shallow tin of water; there was a small "stream" running through the aviary, however.

White-winged dove anting--allowing ants to enter her feathers and make off
with pesty mites and other unwanted hitchhikers.

The cactus and gardens were phenomenal as all of my photos below will attest. I took a gadzillion photos but will not bore you with all of them.

Golden Barrel Cactus (Echinocactus grusonii)

Barberry Fig a species of Prickly Pear (Opuntia ficus-indica)

Fishhook Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus wislzeni)

Scarlet Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus coccineus)

Prickly Pear (Opuntia)

Strawberry Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus engelmannii)

Tulip Prickly Pear (Opuntia phaeacantha)

A species of Hedgehog Cactus (Echinopsis tubiflora)

Devil's Trumpet a species of Thornapples (Datura metel)

Saguaro National Park West was right down the road so we checked it out, but it was too late in the day, too hot to bird, and too late to pay the $15 entry fee for the short time it would remain open. (Why I did not think to show my National Park pass at these national parks, I do not know. Maybe the heat addled my brain.)

The Desert Museum is pretty close to and a straight shot from our Airbnb. We plan to visit it again. Back at the Airbnb we showered, ate, and recovered . . . me until 10:00 but Deb down for the count by 7:00.