Date: 12/3/25 5:54 pm From: henry detwiler (via aznmbirds Mailing List) <aznmbirds...> Subject: [AZNMbirds] Yuma County & Phoenix Area
Greetings Birders,
On 22 Nov I drove to the south of Phoenix (Base and Meridian Wildlife Area) and found my 400th bird of the year--a Yellow-throated Vireo! Thanks to Ronnie and Pierre, who were there photographing it, they put me on the bird right away.
On 29 Nov I made a trip up to Gilbert (Higley and Ocotillo Rds. Ponds) for a flock of Fulvous Whisting-Ducks. I found them--#401! These birds were pretty easy, too, and the flock has grown to 16 ducks as of today (3 Dec).
So you might think I'm doing really well on these bird chases, but I've also driven all over southeast Arizona (multiple times) for Surf Scoter and Orchard Oriole--in vain.
Yesterday (2 Dec), I did a Big Day of birding, starting at Betty's Kitchen. My first good sighting was a flock of 14 American White Pelicans. A short while later I was able to watch an immature Yellow-bellied Sapsucker drilling and feeding at its rows of "wells." It was also interesting to watch two American Coots fighting--they each laid back on their tail end, and then kicked and grabbed at each other with their webbed feet. A bit farther north along the Gila Gravity Canal I was pleased to see a Hammond's Flycatcher, and a little farther north I watched and video-taped a Bell's Sparrow. At Martinez Lake I was happy to see two Caspian Terns and a Brown Pelican. From there it was over to the Solar Pond, where I found the continuing Dunlin, two California Gulls, two Common Goldeneyes, a beautiful female Merlin, and four Sagebrush Sparrows. As the sun approached the horizon I found a flock of 12 Lawrence's Goldfinches feeding in a weedy wash. My total for the day was 94 species. eBird reports with some photos among them:https://url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/BhTLCKAlPNfM31027tMfMF5hyEF?<domain...> Base and Meridian Wildlife Areahttps://url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/a_AhCLAmQOfwE35RBSqh6Fy-BIB?<domain...> Higley and Ocotillo Roadshttps://url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/U5f2CM7nRPIkEJGqBCJi7F80lpi?<domain...> Betty's Kitchenhttps://url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/H1PWCN7oVgIPv610kFRs4FyNi77?<domain...> Mittry Lakehttps://url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/KYl0COJpWjfZqOop1fPtEFG3pNe?<domain...> Solar Pond
Good Birding!Henry D. <Detwilerhenry_detwiler...>, AZ
Finding Birds in Southwest Arizonahttps://url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/Ck6ACP6q0kCNy6qKzcruWFxB5FX?<domain...> Birds at the Salton Sea and in Imperial County, https://url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/zBQLCQArYlflzRmkvh9CYFGofBS?<domain...>
