Date: 9/18/25 11:45 am From: henry detwiler (via aznmbirds Mailing List) <aznmbirds...> Subject: [AZNMbirds] SWAZ: Yuma County
Greetings Birders,
On the morning of 16 Sep, I got a late start, but headed up to Mittry Lake to see how many rarities I could shake out of the trees. It turned out, not so many. But I was happy with the numbers and varieties of rails, hearing several each of VIRGINIA'S and RIDGWAY'S RAILS, and a SORA and a growling BLACK RAIL. I also did well with the waders, seeing or hearing all the regulars by the end of the morning, including BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON and LEAST BITTERN. At the Hidden Shores Golf Course the small herd of desert bighorn sheep was munching contentedly on the golf course. Unfortunately, migrants were scarce, so I moved on to the Dome Valley. Since our last big gully washer over a week ago there's been a wonderful flooded section of ditch along County 6th Street. Every day brings different shorebirds, and I've seen lots of SOLITARY and BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, RED-NECKED PHALAROPE, and plenty of GREATER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS. I'm hoping for a turnstone or a spoonbill to show there. Still being under the weather, I quit birding by lunchtime, but not before seeing 74 species.
On 17 Sep I got up much earlier, in time to greet our AMERICAN BARN OWL before he went to bed. At Spot Road Farm I sorted through dozens of WESTERN and WILLOW FLYCATCHERS and turned up one HAMMOND'S. The warblers were almost non-existant, and aside from some WILSON'S and YELLOWS, I saw only a single MACGILLIVRAY'S. A pair of BANK SWALLOWS were nice, and I had my first WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW of the season. The best bird, however, was my first PAINTED BUNTING for the year; I even got a decent photo of it flying. After the farm, I made my way back slowly to Yuma, stopping at Growler Pond, the Solar Pond and the 6th street shorebird spot. Nothing unusual, but I pushed my total species count up to 90 before giving in to the heat & humidity.
The Painted Bunting brings my AZ Big Year total up to 380--just 20 more to go! eBird reports with a few photos among them:https://url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/35aHC2GljPc87Jln1unf5t5r8sJ?<domain...>
Good Birding!Henry D. <Detwilerhenry_detwiler...>, AZ
Finding Birds in Southwest Arizonahttps://url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/PxChC3Ymkgf2ZJALqhqh3tQCzcZ?<domain...> Birds at the Salton Sea and in Imperial County, https://url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/YMR7C4WnljTlrQ0LgfBiZt4_UOu?<domain...>
