[ Salt-Verde Rivers | Carefree | Gila River | Patagonia | Puerto Penasco, MX ]
by Bob Bradley (compiler)
No Information available at this time.
[ Salt-Verde Rivers | Carefree | Gila River | Patagonia | Puerto Penasco, MX ]
by Walter Thurber (compiler)
The ninth annual Carefree Christmas Bird Count was held on Friday, December 29, 2000. Some 75 dedicated observers took to the field or kept watch at their feeders. A total of 100 species and 7,923 individual birds were found. We were right on average with respect to species but the individual total was our lowest since 1995.
New species for the count were Hooded Merganser, Barn Owl, Violet-green Swallow (20!) and Mountain Bluebird. Violet-green Swallow is a rare winter visitor that “belongs” in California, Mexico or Central America. Another exciting find was a Selasphorus hummingbird. The cumulative total now stands at 139 species.
Steller’s Jay and Cassin’s Finch were recorded for only the second time. Painted Redstart appeared at Lower Camp Creek for the sixth year in a row. This species is regular on only four other counts statewide and all are located in southeast Arizona. Four winter regulars that were missed are House Wren, Brewer’s Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow and Red-winged Blackbird.
The big surprise this year was a 28 percent drop in the number of individual birds. This happened despite a record number of participants, a big increase in the number of field teams, favorable weather conditions that were identical to last year, and an influx of northern birds. My guess is that some other counts will be down too and that the recent dry summers across much of the West are to blame. Hopefully we will see some recovery by next year.
Somehow we managed to achieve record high individual totals for 17 species that were not new to the count. Some examples include Great Horned Owl-24, Anna’s Hummingbird-112, Common Raven-128 and Townsend’s Solitaire-51. The most abundant species were Mourning Dove, Gambel’s Quail and White-crowned Sparrow.
Peach-faced Lovebird was found again this year. These exotic birds have turned up on three previous counts and are reportedly breeding in Carefree.
[ Salt-Verde Rivers | Carefree | Gila River | Patagonia | Puerto Penasco, MX ]
by Troy Corman (compiler)
The prediction was good for the 20th year Anniversary for the Gila River Christmas Count. There was a large influx of high-elevation species in the lowlands, ponds and tanks were full from plentiful fall rains, good birds were found during early scouting trips, and the weather outlook was excellent. I had high hopes of breaking the old record of 141 species. Surprises did await many of the 38 participants of this count, but one in particular will likely make this the most memorable for many years to come.
It all started out great. Owls responded readily to tape playbacks and the morning weather was wonderful (sunny with a periodic light breeze). Then sometime during the early morning, two inmates escaped from the new prison facility at the southeastern corner of the count circle. Apparently, they escaped by taking a ride inside of a garbage truck to the large dump that is just northeast of the prison and also barely within the count circle. For the rest of the day, there were sheriff, police, and border patrol helicopters and hundreds of law enforcement officers and vehicles all over the count circle, concentrating primarily in the eastern half. The helicopters, noise, and added activity kept birds down and kept some participants away from certain areas. Many folks were questioned and had their vehicles searched multiple times during the course of the afternoon by law enforcement officers.
The prison has its own sewage ponds, and I had been able to get permission to enter and scout them the day before the count. I only saw about 80 ducks of four species, but two of the species I did not find while scouting other parts of the count circle. Because of the prison break, Greg Clark’s team was unable to access those ponds. This would end up being a critical blow.
So, how did it all turn out? The two inmates were found about sunset at an old dairy farm at the northern end of the count circle. The count participants did an excellent job considering the problems that arose during the day. All 14 teams discovered at least one species that was not found by others. Count highlights included 4 Neotropic Cormorant (2nd count record) located by Anne Peyton’s team and a Wood Duck, which was a long overdue first count record, and 8 Barn Swallows (2nd count record) were found by Bill Grossi’s team. The 2 Dunlin (2nd count record) and Sprague’s Pipit (1st count record) found the previous day were relocated by the Bruce Palmer Team, the latter, a life bird for those on the team. The Witzeman’s team found 2 Ruddy Ground-Doves (3rd count record, all within the last 4 years!) and a Lewis’s Woodpecker (2nd count record) was found by Bob Bradley’s team. An amazing three teams found Bushtits, which had only been reported once before on this count when a single individual was identified in 1990. Greg Clark’s team and I found not one, but two Eastern Phoebes (1st count record) and a Brown Creeper (1st count record).
Other interesting finds included a record high of 7 Western Scrub-Jays and 71 Western Bluebirds. As was the case with many Arizona counts this year, duck, warbler, and sparrow numbers were way down. One exception was that Dark-eyed Junco numbers were unprecedented. The previous high was 326 and this year we tallied 1030! Likely due to the cool October rains and subsequent warm temperatures, hummingbirds were also much more prevalent this year with one Anna’s Hummingbird actually observed tending a nest.
Good Count Week birds included 55 Sandhill Cranes (funny how this many large and very vocal birds can disappear on count day!) and three species that would have been first count records: Northern Waterthrush, California Gull, and Herring Gull.
We ended the day with (you can probably guess) exactly 141 species and 10 count week birds. The two duck species at the prison ponds would have put us over the previous count high. Why couldn't the inmates escape the day after? I pondered the idea of counting the inmates as two Jailbirds. They were running free in the circle all day and that would put the final species total over the record! Reluctantly, I decided they would still only be considered exotics, since they would best fit the category of escaped caged birds, and therefore, not countable. I don't think I am going to win this one…
I really want to thank all team leaders and participants for their dedication, persistence, and a job very well done. I can hardly wait to see what excitement next year will bring. Arizona's only nuclear power plant is just northwest of the count circle….uh oh!
[ Salt-Verde Rivers | Carefree | Gila River | Patagonia | Puerto Penasco, MX ]
by Roy Jones (Compiler)
No Information available at this time
[ Salt-Verde Rivers | Carefree | Gila River | Patagonia | Puerto Penasco, MX ]
by Steve Ganley (compiler)
No information available at this time
[ Salt-Verde Rivers | Carefree | Gila River | Patagonia | Puerto Penasco, MX ]
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