• Bruce Glick: Gone Birding

March is on its way, as are birds

• Bruce Glick: Gone Birding
• February 23, 2022
• 731

As February gives way to March, more birds will head our way. The urge to head north for the nesting season grows stronger as the daylight increases. Near the equator, the hours of light stay about the same. When we lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the sun came up around 6 a.m. and set at 6 p.m., year round. For folks living in the far north, the length of days goes from one extreme to another, with the hours of daylight increasing rapidly as spring comes and decreasing in the fall and winter.

In 1971 Helen and I drove a VW camper van to the North Cape of Norway, and the sun never set for about a week.

Here in Southern Arizona, everyone would like to see more rain to soak into the very dry ground. In the Sonoran Desert, rainfall is rare. A week ago it did rain briefly while it snowed in the nearby mountains. On the morning after it snowed, I decided to do some birding in nearby Florida Canyon. Although my feet and legs got wet from hiking in the snow, it was fun to be in the mountains after a fresh snowfall.

I was the only person on the trail that morning, and it was very quiet and peaceful. A black-throated gray warbler and several yellow-rumped warblers were working the tops of the small oak trees. A hermit thrush and a canyon towhee were visible on the ground along the small stream. Cardinals and a very similar pyrrhuloxia also were present in the scrubby habitat. Overhead, a few ravens and turkey vultures tested the morning air currents. I’m still hoping to see a golden eagle or a peregrine falcon in these mountains.

On a different day, we drove to Patagonia Lake State Park, located near the Mexican border. The birding trail was open again, after being closed for most of January. There were lots of ruby-crowned kinglets, verdins, Gila and ladder-backed woodpeckers, and several gray flycatchers. The best bird of the day was a plumbeous vireo, one of the western relatives of the blue-headed vireo we see in the east. On the lake were eared grebes, ruddy ducks, shovelers, coots, common mergansers, and both double-crested and neotropic cormorants. We also saw our first greater and lesser scaup and one common gallinule. While eating a picnic lunch, we were visited by a flock of great-tailed grackles. Later, an osprey flew over the lake.

Another day trip took us north 20 miles to the Tucson area, where we spent several hours at Saguaro National Park. A new bird for the winter was a curious rock wren at one of the viewpoints along the park road. We also encountered cactus wrens, thrashers, and both black-throated and rufous-winged sparrows. From there we drove to Agua Caliente Park.

This was our first visit to the park, which features several small lakes and huge palm trees. The park used to be a famous tourist attraction because of the hot springs, which are no longer active. Several black-tailed gnatcatchers got our attention while hiking around the lake, and a great egret worked the lake edges. Ring-necked ducks were joined by a few mallards. Vermilion flycatchers and a cooperative orange-crowned warbler were welcome additions to the list for the day.

As I talk to other birders in the Tucson area, it’s clear everyone has noticed there are not nearly as many birds as in recent winters. I hope all of us will see more birds as spring migration begins. Enjoy the early glimpses of spring that are bound to come soon.

Good birding.

Bruce Glick can be emailed at bglick2@gmail.com.