10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 5, 2018

Just a few miles northwest of downtown Tucson, the Sweetwater Wetlands is truly a birding gem. The city of Tucson sends treated water through sediments beneath the recharged basins which then replenishes the local aquifer. The post The Little Big Year – Week 42: Tucson’s Sweetwater Wetlands. US species – 289.

Tucson 138

Tucson Arizona Blackbirds Texas 138

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2019

With the formation of last week’s hurricane, it delivered a Magnificent Frigatebird , a Wood Stork , and a Herring Gull to the Tucson area. Sunday afternoon, I arrived at the Tucson airport, and was immediately on the phone to local birder Brian Nicholas, hoping to get some word of the birds lingering presence.

Arizona 176

Arizona Tucson Seattle United States 176

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 16, 2012

I just returned from a phenomenal long weekend in Tucson, AZ where I participated in a really enjoyable event. This is Arizona This is Arizona This is Arizona! Our friends at Swarovski Optik organized a Birding Social Media Summit to discuss the many ways in which birding and socal media intersect.

Arizona 180

Arizona Tucson North America Texas 180

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2013

Much like how Everglades National Park flanks the western border of metropolitan Miami, Florida, Saguaro National Park flanks both the eastern and western outskirts of Tucson, making for easy access to residents and tourists alike who spend time in that city.

Arizona 168

Arizona Tucson Miami Shelters 168

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 28, 2012

For example, and I expect a few of you know what I am referring to… if you photograph a “goshawk” in the middle of Tucson, and the area’s leading birders and everyone else tells you it’s a Cooper’s Hawk …you should listen to them. No need to get defensive.

Tucson 228

Tucson Endangered Species Virginia illegal 228

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 27, 2019

One of the small cities south of Tucson Arizona, Amado, has a very small pond, right along highway 19, also known as the Nogales Highway. Most birders that have spent any amount of time chasing down our fine feathered friends have learned that most cities waste treatment facilities are incredible magnets for many species of birds.

Pelicans 174

Pelicans Tucson Arizona Groups 174

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

If they are passing thru Pima County, and the Tucson area, Arivaca Lake is the last stop for water before crossing the US/Mexico border. This 90 acre lake, managed by Arizona Fish and Wildlife is about a 45 mile drive from Tucson, and 9 miles from Mexico, as the Chihuahuan Raven flies.

Mexico 142

Mexico Tucson Arizona Ducks 142

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2012

You’ll find me in the area of Tucson, Arizona with a number of other people you probably know. So tell me… have you been traveling too much, too little, or just enough this summer? As you might have guessed, I’ll be birding somewhere new this weekend. Details will most definitely follow! How about you?

Tucson 159

Tucson North Carolina 2012 Arizona 159

Critter News

JANUARY 2, 2011

Grey2K is a greyhound advocacy group. Here is the link to the video showing kennel conditions. They had professional investigators there last summer.

Greyhounds 100

Greyhounds Tucson Kennels Advocacy 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 12, 2018

Things had just started to settle down a bit, now that we had parked the RV in Tucson. We left Tucson on Monday, and drove to Alpine, Texas for our first night. There better be at least 30” was that number she threw out at me, as we were driving away from Tucson. Now the pressure was on.

Texas 147

Texas Tucson San Antonio Owls 147

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2019

As many of you might know, I have been concentrating my bird efforts primarily to just one county, Pima Country which surrounds the Tucson, Arizona area. It has almost been a “Perfect Storm” scenario, with several contributing factors all coming together to start me on this birding blitz.

Arizona 130

Arizona Tucson Mississippi Nashville 130

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 18, 2021

You fly to Phoenix, or Tucson, rent a car (or ride a bike cross-country, if you are Noah Strycker), drive to the tiny towns of Patagonia and Sierra Vista, and voila! I got back into birding less than a decade ago, long after moving to Mexico in 1983. So I can hardly speak with authority on birding in the U.S.

Arizona 264

Arizona Mexico Los Angeles Houston 264

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2019

When we returned to Tucson, from the Bahamas, I was approaching a milestone number, 1300 bird species, and drove myself hard, climbing, hiking, searching, and driving all over the state of Arizona looking for those last eight birds. Jean and Gary Siesener in Tucson, Az. Deborah Kaechele in Tucson, Az. John Brush in Alamo Texas.

Costa Rica 151

Costa Rica Tucson South Africa Bahamas 151

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2019

Now that Jeanne and I have finally settled on Tucson, Arizona at least for a while, I will pick up where I left off at the end of 2018. Located approximately 40 miles south of Tucson, Arizona, you travel on Highway 19 to Green Valley, and exit at Continental Road. From there you go one mile and make a right at Whitehouse Road.

Arizona 160

Arizona Tucson Florida 2018 160

10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2019

They are located in the Santa Cruz Flats just north of Tucson, and are quite honestly, living right alongside the road. I am not sure what is going on with the mis-matched iris’s? I can’t begin to tell you how much fun I had sitting and watching the antics of this family of Burrowing Owls.

Owls 179

Owls Arizona Tucson South Africa 179

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 19, 2018

That was the best possible spot we could find from our Tucson base, and given our badly stressed budget. It just so happens, that there were some pretty decent priced flights out of Tucson, so Jeanne booked a couple of tickets, and then had to beat it back home from Texas.

Bahamas 113

Bahamas Tucson El Paso Texas 113

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 23, 2019

After an extensive year of travel in 2018, I have mainly focused on Pima County and the Tucson area for my birding. As we march ever closer to the end of 2019, I continue to marvel at the number of birds that pass thru, or reside in this relatively small area.

Arizona 128

Arizona Tucson 2018 2019 128

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 24, 2018

We are now headed to Tucson, Arizona, where we will park the 5th wheel for an extended amount of time, possibly as long as March 1st. There are a few places left to check out locally before we leave, once we are settled in Tucson. And this is the Rock Wren that was quite vocal first thing in the morning.

New Mexico 113

New Mexico Mexico Tucson Costa Rica 113

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 26, 2018

We have escaped the clutches of the Bahamas, and are finally back “home” in Tucson, Texas. The return home included a total of 5 ½ hours of flight delays, one missed flight, and we subsequently missed the entire town of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Bahamas 140

Bahamas Costa Rica Abandon Abandoning 140

10,000 Birds

MARCH 22, 2011

A widely published writer, popular speaker, and enthusiastic tour leader in North American and Europe, Rick lives in Tucson and in Vancouver, British Columbia, with his wife, Alison, and their chocolate Lab, Gellert. One Response to “Cow Birds&# Mike Mar 22nd, 2011 at 1:19 pm I love observations like these, Rick.

Cows 144

Cows Cattle 2011 Deer 144

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2018

We have been feeling a push to get the 5th wheel down to Tucson, Arizona, which will be our home for the winter, and get prepped for another trip out of the US before the end of the year. It’s not Prairie Falcon , but it is a great little Rock Wren. We got to see several Bands of Wild Turkeys around the lake.

Colorado 113

Colorado Texas Trinidad Albuquerque 113

Animal Ethics

DECEMBER 8, 2007

Tucson, like other communities in the southwest, has satanistic, witch, and other occult groups. Someone entered the premises of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum , cut the lock on the bighorn sheep exhibit, and shot the male bighorn to death. Then—and here's the grisly part—the assailant cut the sheep's head off. It has not been found.

Sheep 40

Sheep Tucson Arizona Killing 40

Animal Ethics

AUGUST 28, 2007

Jean and I overlapped by one year: August 1987 (when she arrived in Tucson) to August 1988 (when I departed for College Station, Texas). Here is a blog by one of my fellow graduate students at the University of Arizona. (I I will add it to the blogroll.) Jean teaches philosophy just down the road from me at Southern Methodist University.

Tucson 40

Tucson Arizona Texas Animal 40

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2017

I met the group in Tucson and we spend the next week birding the hell out of the Sky Islands. I eventually did get my Life Elegant Trogon during the next part of my Arizona sojourn, which was the New Jersey Audubon trip, led by Scott Barnes and Linda Mack. Highlights included a day on Mt.

Arizona 106

Arizona Lovebirds Phoenix New Jersey 106

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 31, 2018

Now that we have “settled” in Tucson, Arizona, or at least this is where the 5th Wheel is for the time being, it has been nice to be able to spread out a bit. This was the weather that greeted us when we made the 60 mile trip from Tucson, down to Patagonia, AZ and the Tucson Audubon’s Paton Center for Hummingbirds.

Tucson 113

Tucson Costa Rica Arizona Woodpeckers 113

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2018

For birding Arizona-style, memorize these three overlapping locations southeast of Tucson: Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains in the Coronado National Forest. Flame-colored Tanager. Photo by © Michael Todd. Elegant Trogon. Photo by © Michael Todd.

Arizona 169

Arizona Tucson Birds North America 169

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2011

A widely published writer, popular speaker, and enthusiastic tour leader in North American and Europe, Rick lives in Tucson and in Vancouver, British Columbia, with his wife, Alison, and their chocolate Lab, Gellert. I saw it while visiting a small botanic garden somewhere in Tucson. I had no idea I should have been embarrassed.

Tucson 140

Tucson 2011 Arizona Deer 140

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2019

12796 Tucson Avenue, Mount Lemmon, Arizona, US (32.442, -110.758) Private residence. 12796 Tucson Avenue, Mount Lemmon, Arizona, US (32.442, -110.758) Private residence. 12796 Tucson Avenue, Mount Lemmon, Arizona, US (32.442, -110.758) Private residence. Cinchona–Mirador La Cascada. 11 Aug 2019. 11 Aug 2019. 17 Aug 2019.

2019 122

2019 Arizona Ghana Tucson 122

10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2019

Gene C Reid Park, Tucson US-AZ (32.2076,-110.9233). Bajada Washington Trail, Tucson, Arizona, US (32.278, -111.199). Gene C Reid Park, Tucson US-AZ (32.2076,-110.9233). Tucson Mountain Park–Gilbert Ray CG. 8272 San Joaquin rd, Tucson, Arizona, US (32.175, -111.142). 14 Feb 2019. 14 Feb 2019. 15 Feb 2019.

2019 113

2019 Ghana Australia Woodpeckers 113

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2019

Gene C Reid Park, Tucson US-AZ (32.2076,-110.9233). Bajada Washington Trail, Tucson, Arizona, US (32.278, -111.199). Gene C Reid Park, Tucson US-AZ (32.2076,-110.9233). 8272 San Joaquin rd, Tucson, Arizona, US (32.175, -111.142). Tucson Mountain Park–Gilbert Ray CG. CR-Cinchona Eucalyptus. 10 Jan 2019.

2019 113

2019 Ghana Australia Woodpeckers 113

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2019

6900 South Jamie Avenue, Tucson, Arizona, US (32.19, -111.112). 8272 San Joaquin rd, Tucson, Arizona, US (32.175, -111.142). Tucson Mountain Park–Gilbert Ray CG. Gene C Reid Park, Tucson US-AZ (32.2076,-110.9233). Bajada Washington Trail, Tucson, Arizona, US (32.278, -111.199). Hanningfield Reservoir EWT NR.

2019 113

2019 Ghana Australia Woodpeckers 113