Date: 3/26/25 1:33 pm From: Steven Tracey <straceyflash...> Subject: [AZNMbirds] SEAZ: San Pedro House Birding Walk plus upcoming events
Hi Birders,
There was a big crowd of 25 birders this morning for the San Pedro House
Birding Walk. When we get crowds this large we will split into multiple
groups, in this morning's case we split into two groups. Combined, the two
groups found a very respectable 59 species, an uptick from last week as
migration picks up. Also nice was the fine weather. This morning's walk
starting temp was almost 40 degrees higher than last week's freezing
start.
As expected, the breeding birds and migrants are starting to arrive. We
had calling and briefly visible Gray Hawks for the first walk this year and
a migrating Swainson's Hawk topped off a nice hawk morning along the
river. There were Great Blue Herons along the river in several spots
including on the nests visible from the river trail. One group continued
the large wader luck with a Great Egret while the other group found the
most unusual wader when a Western Cattle Egret flew over them as they
walked the entrance road. Each group contributed their own warbler
highlight as well. One group found a Louisiana Waterthrush, a bird that
was seen early in the year but has been missing for months. While the
mountain canyons are overflowing with Painted Redstarts right now, to see
one along the river is quite a treat and the other group managed to find
one north of the bridge.
It really is starting to feel like things are picking up along the river
and we have the walks and events scheduled to take advantage of that for
the next several weeks. At the top of the list is a walk at Hereford
Bridge this Saturday March 29. While it looks like the Green Kingfisher
has departed, there will still be plenty of good birds around and you
never know if the kingfisher might show up after all. We will meet for a
7:00am start at the Hereford Bridge trailhead parking lot (the one with the
pit toilet).
We will continue to have walks every Wednesday morning at 7:00am at San
Pedro House through April. And don't forget to mark down Saturday April 12
as the date for the "Big Morning Birding Challenge" where you can choose
your favorite SPRNCA location to join a docent led team and see how many
species you can find. This, plus many more fun activities, is part of the
"Celebrate the San Pedro River" festival. Details are on the Friends of
the San Pedro River's Facebook page:
The Friends of the San Pedro River leads birding walks from the San Pedro
House located south of Highway 90 just west of the San Pedro River. The
walks last about three hours. Bring your own binoculars, a hat and water.
