So we were back again in Arizona. We checked out the Santa Cruz flats. This is a big area of agricultural land that has a good amount of turf lawns. This is one of the favourite wintering locations for Mountain Plover. Despite a good search we didn't see any on this occasion although we had big numbers of Buff-bellied Pipits along with Shore (Horned) Lark, Prairie Falcon, Yellow-headed Blackbirds and Bendire's Thrasher,
Further along the road we made a quick stop at the small lake at Amado Sewerage Plant which had a Pacific Diver on it for a while. As you can guess the species isn't exactly common inland. It wasn't to hard to pick up especially with a few local birders already being on it. It spent most of its time asleep. It also showed a lot of while all along the flanks.
We ended up at Tubac at the end of the day where the target was the long staying and very rare Sinaloa Wren. This Mexican species is extremely rare in the US and this one had been holding territory here for nearly a year and had even built a nest. We spent a few hours here looking for it. Eventually just two of our group happened to see it very briefly. Even though the rest of us missed it there were a few other good birds about the place such as Broad-billed Hummingbird, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Bewick's Wrens, White-winged Dove, Bridled Titmouse and Pyrrhuloxia. We would have another try for the Sinaloa in two days time though.
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| Yellow-headed Blackbirds |
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| Yellow-headed Blackbirds |
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| Black-tailed Gnatcatcher |
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| Prairie Falcon |
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| Shorelark |
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| Pacific Diver |
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| Pacific Diver |
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| Pacific Diver |
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| Pacific Diver |
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| Broad-billed Hummingbird, showing its broad bill. |
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| Broad-billed Hummingbird |
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| Broad-billed Hummingbird |
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| Bridled Titmouse |
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| Bewick's Wren |
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| Bewick's Wren |
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| Bewick's Wren |
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| Bewick's Wren |
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| Green-tailed Towhee |
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| Green-tailed Towhee |
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| Rufous-winged Sparrow |
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