Date: 3/12/25 8:56 pm From: henry detwiler (via aznmbirds Mailing List) <aznmbirds...> Subject: [AZNMbirds] SWAZ: Mittry Lake
Greetings Birders,
I got another early start today, arriving at Betty's Kitchen before 5:30 a.m. Several owls, a VIRGINIA RAIL, and a LEAST BITTERN greeted me. Moving north, I added SORA and my first BLACK RAIL of the day. At the rail overlook, I head 3 RIDGWAY'S RAILS clattering away. However, the best spot for rails by far was the marsh along Imperial Dam Road (incorrectly labeled Laguna Dam Road on Google Maps). Here, I counted 10 calling BLACK RAILS, 4 RIDGWAY'S, and 3 VIRGINIA's! By the end of the morning I'd heard 15 individual Black Rails.
At the north end of the Laguna Division Conservation Area I was in for another surprise. I disturbed a roost of TURKEY VULTURES in a stand of cottonwood trees, and among the TVs were three BLACK VULTURES. These were the first I'd seen in Yuma County away from the well-established encampment of BLACK VUTURES at the Aztec Feedlot.
During the course of the morning I also saw three raccoons and my first bighorn lamb. I tallied 70 species at Mittry by 10:30, when the wind really started to pick up.
