Strictly a travel day, complicated by the tail end of the storm that dropped a foot of snow on Newark on Tuesday. Consequently some planes were canceled (pre-8am), some were delayed, and my flight was packed and 20 minutes late. Still got there, but I've had more fun on a plane before. I stayed overnight in the EZ 8 Airporter Motel, near the airport as its name suggests, which was basic and a little noisy but perfectly fine as a transit stop and cheap (<$40). If booking via e.g. Kayak.com make sure you correct the reservation to get a non-smoking room - there's no way to specify preference when booking (that's unusual for online reservations in my experience).
Leaving Phoenix a little before 4am I drove to Bill Williams River NWR via Parker in about 3 hours. I made a quick experiment to see if there was enough light to see the roosting Brown Booby at Lake Havasu City but no dice. However I was able to see the Blue-footed Booby on Heron Island near the Bill Williams River NWR headquarters in the twilight at 0720 before heading up Planet Ranch Road to the site at mile marker 2. This is, I think, the third winter that the otherwise exceptionally rare Nutting's Flycatcher was being seen at this spot - in fact there was some indication of breeding further up-river the past summer. The target Nutting's Flycatcher vocalized from 0740-0815 before finally being seen (USA #702), thereafter giving good looks for at least a half hour before it crossed the road and headed back into the heavier scrub. Last year I missed this bird, which appears to become very elusive in February. Also present: Canyon Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Orange-crowned Warbler, White-crowned Sparrow, Phainopepla, several Black-tailed Gnatcatchers at various spots along the road. Heard but did not see Ladder-backed and Gila Woodpeckers. I also missed the Golden-crowned Sparrow. Down at Bill Williams River delta: Canvasback, Pied-billed Grebe, Clark's Grebe, Snowy Egret, Common Gallinule (Moorhen), American Coot. Out at the adjacent spit at the NWR HQ, many Common Goldeneye and 5 male Barrow's Goldeneye, Greater Scaup, more Clark's and a few Western-ish Grebes, Blue-footed Booby in the same place, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, American Coot, and then down at the hydro structure: Ring-necked Duck. It became obvious why it's called Heron Island as three Great Blue Herons were roosting near the Booby. No Scoters (recently reported) or Loons (both Common and Pacific here in 2013).
I made a return trip to Lake Havasu City and at Rotary Park had nothing of interest - American Coot, Ring-necked Duck, Ring-billed Gull, and after driving over the London Bridge the boat launch at Site 6 was really no better (coots and more common ducks) but my first Northern Harrier was hunting nearby. Still, the main goal was the Nutting's Flycatcher and getting a Blue-footed Boby (which was USA 698) in AZ was pretty special.
Having got all that I needed from the area I Drove down through Parker. Given the paucity of reports from the agricultural valley bordering the Colorado River south of Parker I opted to avoid that detour and aimed for some afternoon birding west of Phoenix. I sought to avoid the worst of the snowbird RV traffic and took AZ-72 and the route via Wickenburg back toward I-10. I saw little en route except Common Raven and Red-tailed Hawk in the agricultural areas around Wickenburg. Common Raven is unambiguous this far west - no Chihuahuans. House Sparrow, Say's Phoebe, (Audubon's) Yellow-rumped Warbler were at the I-10 rest stop 30 miles or so west of Buckeye - I remember seeing House Sparrows here last year, in what is really desert scrub and outside what I consider to be normal habitat range for them. Still parking lots and House Sparrows do seem to be a match.
I hopped off I-10 shortly after that to head down Salome Highway, and things started to get more interesting along Salome including Loggerhead Shrike and more hawks. The Palo Verde nuclear power installation was prominent as usual - venting cooling water into the desert sky. Got to question the wisdom of having a water-hungry installation in an arid area.
Down in the agricultural valley around Palo Verde: Northern Harrier, American Kestrel, a huge blackbird flock along Old Hwy 80 that had Brown-headed Cowbird, Brewer's/Red-winged/Yellow-headed Blackbirds and the inevitable Eurasian Collared and Mourning Doves. Up Bruner Rd to Lower River Road thre was no Burrowing Owl in last year's spot, but Killdeer Say's Phoebe and Vermilion Flycatcher at that intersection (which is just west of the ponds). Here I also saw a probable Sharp-shinned Hawk but like many of the Accipiters in the first few days was somewhat ambiguous. The pond at the curve on Lower River Road had Northern Shoveler, Black-necked Stilt, Least Sandpiper and Great Egret. Vesper Sparrows were across the road at a cattle corral. A Ferruginous Hawk was hunting low along the field where that road meets Old Hwy 80, at which point I think it's called Route 309. The Ferruginous showed the characteristic shallow-V set of the wings, and was low to the ground making me think that it was a Northern Harrier before I checked it.
At the Thrasher spot it was quiet, with an initial Cactus Wren followed by nothing, no sparrows. Eventually I found two Abert's Towhees and nearby two Le Conte's Thrashers (including one singing), then a few Sagebrush Sparrows, a Sage Thrasher. I did not see any White-crowned Sparrows or Bendire's Thrashers. And the only other birds were Loggerhead Shrike and American Kestrel. Along Arlington Canal Rd: Great Egrets, Say's and Black Phoebe, possible Harris's Hawk (that looked confusingly huge), Black Vultures headed to roost, blackbird and dove flocks, Belted Kingfisher, Western Meadowlark, more Red-tailed Hawks including one with a white tail that was almost Krider's-like. Along the extension of Old Hwy 80 - the dead-end section, a field held a flock of Long-billed Curlews with some Greater Yellowlegs and a pair of Burrowing Owls on the banks, with several (Neotropic?) Cormorants headed west along the river. Notably no White-faced Ibis in this area, despite flocks of them last year.
Sagebrush Sparrow
I then cut south to I-8 and east to Tucson where I stayed overnight in a Travelodge close to the south side of the city. This Travelodge was cheaper and right next door to the Motel 6, yet I'd rate it better than the Motel 6 in terms of room quality. While certainly not luxurious, I ended staying there a second time on the trip.
A pre-dawn commute down to Tubac got me to the Sinaloa Wren spot not long after sunrise. There's basically no signage for the De Anza trail just west of the bridge at Tubac, but if you know it's there there's a some well-established informal parking spots at the trail side. Or you can park down at the park and cut across to the trail. During the 15-minute walk down the De Anza Trail I had White-winged Dove, Gila Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Bridled Titmouse, Song and Lincoln's Sparrows. In one of the fields along the trail was a dark Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk. Western Red-tailed Hawks are well-known to be a bewildering mix of plumages, and on this trip I had both dark and light phase Harlan's (one with a nearly all-white tail), birds with Eastern coloration and some incredibly warm buff inidividuals. At the power pole site well-described for the wren things were relatively quiet in the dull cool overcast of the morning.
Eventually, after spending 3 hours there, I accumulated a decent list: Say's Phoebe, Black Phoebe, Dusky Flycatcher, Hutton's Vireo, Hermit Thrush, Spotted Towhee, White-breasted Nuthatch, Chipping Sparrow, Lesser Goldfinch. A birding group came along, but they were not excessively noisy and didn't play tapes, which was a relief. Eventually I gave up on the Sinaloa Wren around 11am and on the walk back to the car had another Hutton's Vireo and two Abert's Towhee. Tellingly nobody had this bird during the period I was in AZ - regular sightings had ceased, although there have been one or two reports subsequently (writing this on Feb 14th).
Going north towards Montosa Cyn a brief stop at Amado Water Treatment Plant yielded American Coot, Northern Shoveler, Ring-necked Duck, three Redheads, Mallards including some that looked Mexican-ish.
On the lower slopes approaching Montosa Canyon, Brewer's Sparrows and Black-throated Sparrows in a roadside mixed flock were a nice find, but birding in Montosa Canyon itself was slow going, even though I hiked along the road and up the drainages itself: Hermit Thrushes, Bewick's Wren, Northern Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Spotted Towhee, Bridled Titmouse, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hepatic Tanager, Canyon Wren. No sight or sound of any Gnatcatchers. This time around I'd done a LOT of prior research on the range of vocalization of this species, so I knew it as well or better than any other western species I was going to encounter. Figures that they were a no-show. By this point I'd put a fair number of hours chasing Black-capped Gnatcatchers in AZ with multiple visits to Montosa Cyn and Florida Cyn. It was verging on the nemesis status of my Floridian experience with Mangrove Cuckoo.
Back down on the valley floor in Sahuarita at North Santa Cruz Park: American Kestrel, a large Raven flock (assumed that some of these were Chihuahuan, perhaps most of them), White-crowned Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, my main target here: Lawrence's Goldfinch flock and a fly-by Northern Harrier plus Accipiter sp. It's mainly a sports-oriented park adjacent to a large pecan grove with some weedy edges that attract sparrows.
Despite generally murky conditions and fading light I made a trek up to Florida Cyn and hiked up above the water tank and dam. I was fortunate enough that two Rufous-capped Warblers passed right by me at one of the stream crossings. This habitat is very reminiscent of the time I first saw Rufous-capped in Sycamore Cyn (off the rough Ruby Road). Also present were, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Black-chinned Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, Hermit Thrushes, Bewick's Wren, Pyrrhuloxia, White-crowned Sparrow, Cactus Wren, Townsend's Solitaire, a distant Acorn Woodpecker, and a vocal Painted Redstart at the Research Center. The area at and below the parking lot was silent.
Madera Canyon was comatose near dusk, with only Acorn Woodpeckers showing from their holes - already at roost. I did see the usual mid-canyon flock of Wild Turkeys at Madera Kubo, but NOTHING was visiting the Santa Rita Lodge feeders. This time around there was no snow in the canyon and very little at the tops of the mountains (unlike Feb 2014 when I experienced a snow storm here) - the stream was running slowly and patchily in the canyon.
I spent the next two nights at the America's Best Value Inn in Sierra Vista, where I scored a decent rate by staying two nights. Certainly a cut above the Travelodge and Motel 6 in Sierra Vista, it nevertheless is far from busy on the weekend nights I stayed there. I do hope they're making enough $$ to survive. I've stayed here before, and if I go back to Sierra Vista I will likely stay there again.
A pre-dawn drive to Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area via Bisbee - which is a remarkable town that looks like it was chiselled into the hillside, albeit flanked on the southern edge by an enormous pit mine. Got to explore Bisbee more one day. At Whitewater the Sandhill Cranes were already heading out for the morning. In the far grassy fields, there were three Greater White-fronted Geese that hovered on the edge of identifiability in the spotting scope. In the ponds it was Mainly Northern Shoveler - comfortably the most abundant duck on the trip - but also Green-winged Teal, American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Gadwall, American Coot. Also a single Belted Kingfisher. A couple of hawks were limited to Red-tailed Hawk and Northern Harrier with just a few Raven sp. A good showing of flycatchers included male and female Vermilion, Black and Say's Phoebes. A few Norther Sparrows were perhaps a little less numerous than 2013, but White-crowned Sparrows put in a good showing with a few Vesper, Savannah, Brewer's, Green-tailed Towhee and Pyrrhuloxia. Since I was there mostly to look for doves it was predictable that I found Eurasian-collared and Morning Doves initially, and it took two turns around the pond to finally find the pair of Ruddy Ground-Doves feeding in the middle of the path and giving extended looks. They weren't all that skittish as long as you gave them a little space. Shorebirds were in low numbers: 10 Long-billed Dowitchers, 25 Least Sandpipers, 1 Greater Yellowlegs and a few Killdeer. From previous and subsequent reports these appear to be the same individuals being found in this area.
The dirt roads north of Whitewater Draw held singing Bendire's Thrasher, with Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel and Loggerhead Shrikes on the wires. More sparrows zipped around but since I'd seen the species they represented I declined to spend a lot of time sorting them out. Instead I cut north towards Kansas Settlement, which is somewhat south-east of Willcox and somewhere I'd not visited before. I tracked down 4-5 Ferruginous Hawks based on previous reports in the vicinity of Kimzee and Chambers just to the east of Kansas Settlement Road. I also had several Red-tailed Hawks (including 10 on an active irrigation structure), American Kestrels, a lot of Raven sp. Since the area is irrigated agricultural I imagine the hawks keep the rodent numbers down. The hawks were the main attraction but I also had two Greater Roadrunners and two Sage Thrashers along Kimzee (at Kimzee/CLee in particular). House Sparrows were also present in the biggest numbers of the trip so far.
Ferruginous Hawk
By now it was early afternoon, and I made two passes through the Willcox Twin Lakes ponds before and after lunch: the inevitable Northern Shovelers, American Wigeon, Ruddy Duck, a few Long-billed Curlews (absent the second time), uncooperative but distinctive Chestnut-collared Longspur flock (20-30), but somehow missed Horned Lark, and the Sandhill Crane roost was accumulating during my second visit. I don't remember this being close to the ponds in previous visits.
I had a small amount of latitude so I decided to circumnavigate the Chiricahua Mountains before heading back to Whitewater Draw. For speed I took the longer fast route via I-10 into NM and down toward Rodeo. AZ drivers have little lane discipline but they don't speed very much outside the urban centers, so I was only doing 80mph in the 75mph speed limit zone. The road in NM had a reputation of being a speed trap (I saw at least one cop car) so I was even more conservative there. On the road in NM I had Northern Harrier, American Kestrel, likely Red-tailed Hawk and Raven sp. I took the short-cut to Portal and while Portal itself was quiet on drive-by I snagged Mexican Jay and White-breasted Nuthatch in Cave Creek before the South Cave Creek fork, and had Loggerhead Shrike along the wires. The biggest surprise was an adult Bald Eagle flying southbound down the west side of the valley/eastern side of the Chiricahuas at 3:32 pm viewed from Portal Rd just south of Foothills Rd. There's nearly zero water and very little Bald Eagle prey in that valley so I assume it was headed toward Sulphur Springs Valley where they are at least periodically reported. Heaven only knows were it was coming from....but then again there's been rails at Willow Tank and they come from somewhere too. There's only one other report of Bald Eagle from this valley in eBird. I don't do a lot of eBird reporting - it takes too much time, especially on trips - but I did add this sighting.
Down State Line Road I found one Virginia Rail and Song Sparrow at Willow Tank (AZ), then headed to the south end of Rodeo (NM) where it didn't take all that long to find the two Ruddy Ground-Doves that had been hanging out there. Curve-billed Thrasher, Cactus Wren and Ladder-backed Woodpecker were also good finds. Unfortunately I failed to get some nearby birders on the doves before they flew a block or two further north. I did find the Thrasher and Wren while looking for the doves, but that was of more interest to me than the other birders.
It was 4:15pm so I was only able to preserve a small amount of light before sunset back at Whitewater Draw after I'd made the 60 mile trek back there via Douglas. (The part of Douglas that I headed through did not look very affluent, making me happy to be staying in Sierra Vista instead). Sandhill Cranes were gathering for their evening roost but there really wasn't much else happening there. I returned to Sierra Vista after being in the wrong lane put me in a busy downtown Bisbee. Popular place on a Saturday night.
For another attempt at Sinaloa Wren and the Gnatcatcher I drove from Sierra Vista to Tubac via Patagonia where it was 32 degrees at 7am. Last year it snowed on me at Sonoita, so cold temperatures seem to reach this area in winter. Google took me down a side road that connected to Ruby Rd so I avoided chugging through Nogales. With initial cold temperatures but also sun, the early going was quite active and very different in feel to the previous Friday: Abert's Towhee and multiple Bewick's Wrens, (Audubon's) Yellow-rumped Warblers, Orange-crowned Warbler, Lesser Goldfinch, Spotted Towhee, Hermit Thrush, Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Nevertheless no Sinaloa Wren despite a bird of the right size and structure messing around in the nest (a birder said other birds were robbing that nest on Thursday). It gave only fleeting views, did not perch up and disappeared back into the scrub. It might have been the Sinaloa but it might have been a couple of other bird species too. Gila and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, White-breasted Nuthatch, Bridled Titmouse, and Verdin were seen along the path. On way back to car two Gray Flycatchers in separate locations (yellow lower mandible, tail flicking down) and a Black Phoebe. The mix had certainly changed between the two days, both in terms of activity and species mix. Although now not reported for over a week, it's not difficult to imagine a non-vocal Sinaloa Wren remaining nearby, since there's a lot of dense habitat along the power line cut near the stream, most of it inaccessible to birders.
Montosa Cyn actually had Black-capped Gnatcatcher right at the culvert at 11am when I parked there but plumaged-based ID issues are significant so I was still unconvinced as they moved up-canyon and I lost them - complicated by the fact that I was looking at the non-vocalizing individual. I finally found them again as they headed down-canyon at 12:15pm (initially giving a tic contact call that I've not heard in any recordings) and they eventually reappeared at the culvert at 12:35pm before heading up the hill again. Photos confirmed the ID (tail feather length) but the call itself was unambiguous - the lower pitched polyphonic mewing call being different to the other Gnatcatchers. Also present were Hutton's Vireo, Canyon, Bewick's and House Wrens, Hermit Thrush, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Generally quiet but excellent looks at the Gnatcatchers after about 90 minutes of effort and very educational about the ID difficulties associated with them.
After extended looks at the Black-capped Gnatcatchers I'm pretty sure that the individual I saw twice at Florida Canyon last Feb was a Black-capped as well. I'm just not capable of making the assessment of tail graduation (it's comparing white-on-white feather lengths) on a fast-moving bird. Since Blue-gray change vocalization across the country I couldn't discard Blue-gray as an option at the time (note: I've seen NO Blue-grays in two AZ winter trips) and better familiarity with the calls would have probably nailed it down the first time.
Amado Water Treatment Plant didn't have a Heerman's Gull reported the previous day, and basically the same species as the previous visit on Friday, minus the Redheads. I made the decision to loop back south to Patagonia, skipping the expensive ($15) state park since not much had been reported there (modulo Trogon) and headed to Paton's yard where I had Red-naped Sapsucker, Lazuli Bunting, Anna's Hummingbird, White-winged Dove, White-crowned Sparrow, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Gila and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, (Audubon's) Yellow-rumped Warbler, White-breasted Nuthatch, at least until a Sharp-shinned Hawk spooked things and I decided to leave. The American Bird Conservancy appear to have acquired, or nearly completed acquiring, this property so it will remain open to birders for years to come. The total number of life birds for visiting birders seen in the Paton's yard must be staggering - it's a little like the (now defunct) feeders at Salineno TX.
Time was getting on and Patagonia Preserve closed at 4pm so I did a quick visit there. Unlike last year no feeders at the entrance and very few sparrows (Siskins were a reason for the visit and totally absent). It was very quiet at 3:15pm, I learned that the Western Screech-Owl had been killed by another owl, but one small flock of birds contained Chipping and White-crowned Sparrows, House Finch and a Gray Flycatcher. Really could have skipped this, based on the paucity of birds there, and probably explains the lack of reports from this location. And it is a sad feeling to know that your life prior bird (the Screech-Owl) is dead.
After looping north out of Patagonia via Sonoita - where the grasslands adjacent to the rest stop were devoid of birds and the field is up for sale - I spent the end of day at at dusk at Sahuarita's North Santa Cruz Park. Lark Sparrows, many flycatching Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warblers, White-crowned Sparrow and Abert's Towhee's, a Vermilion Flycatcher and Say's Phoebe and a single very shy Common Ground-Dove. Much human activity and some ATVs were present, whereas the Lawrence's Goldfinches were certainly not.
Stayed overnight at the same Tucson Travelodge as Thursday night - again a modest hotel at a decent price.
Back again at North Santa Cruz Park in Sahuarita at twilight where apart from Bewer's Blackbird leaving the roost and some (Chihuahuan?) Ravens milling around I didn't see much. Probably the same individual Lark Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, and Ruby-crowned Kinglets were just getting started.
Early going at lower Madera Canyon was very quiet. No Pygmy-Owl. Hermit Thrush and Mexican Jay were about the only things I saw in the canyon that had yet to see any sun that morning. Sun had reached the Proctor Rd parking lot at 0845 so that was a little more active: Bridled Titmouse, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet. I did get a good, fast hike in as a warm-up for Florida Canyon, however.
Florida Cyn was active at Research Station at the exposed water: many American Robins, Acorn and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Chipping and Black-chinned Sparrows, Canyon Towhee, Pyrrhuloxia and Northern Cardinal, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Cactus and Bewick's Wren. Allegedly there was a Trogon there just before I arrived but the birders concerned appeared not to be very experienced (Trogons had been reported in this vicinity, however). Up-canyon past the dam it was considerably quieter even as the sun starting hitting the canyon itself: White-crowned Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, Cactus Wren, Orange-crowned Warbler, Canyon Tohwee, Black-chinned Sparrow, Lesser Goldfinch, Bewick's and Cactus Wrens. However eventually I did see one or perhaps two Rufous-capped Warblers working the eastern wall of the canyon, not coming down to the willows, and on the way out I sent multiple birders in search of them.
Back at a sunnier Madera Canyon I hiked from Whitehouse almost up to Amphitheater, finding it moderately quiet. Dark-eyed Juncos of both Red-backed and Oregon races were present, Hermit Thrush and Mexican Jay, Acorn Woodpecker, Bridled Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Hutton's Vireo, Lesser Goldfinch, (Audubon's) Yellow-rumped Warbler
At the Santa Rita feeders I saw pretty much everything in 5 minutes that I'd seen on that entire uphill hike: Acorn Woodpecker, Arizona Woodpecker, Chipping Sparrows, House Finch and Lesser Goldfinch, Mexican Jay, White-breasted Nuthatch, Hepatic Tanager male, but no siskins. Down from Santa Rita I found a Townsend's Warbler male in a mixed flock with Bridled Titmice. This was the end of the mountain canyons for this trip, so now it was down to Tucson and back up toward Phoenix in the last 24 hours of the trip.
A quick revisit to Sahuarita didn't net me anything - park employees were obsessively leaf-blowing and although I did catch a brief glimpse of the Lawrence's Goldfinch flock they were disinclined to perch up for photos. At Himmel Park in Tucson only Vermilion Flycatcher and no Harris's Sparrow.
At Sweetwater Wetlands: Pied-billed Grebe, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Gadwall, Ruddy Duck, Black-necked Stilt, Killdeer, Greater Roadrunner, Wilson's Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, one Sora, American Coot, Red-tailed Hawk, and a Yellow-rumped Warbler that sounded and looked rather Myrtle-like.
North-west out of Tucson to Santa Cruz flats I exited I-10 at Red Rock, a contrived development ("site of future Fire Station" was perhaps a little worrisome for the existing houses) and pretty further out from Tucson than I'd like to be. Surely hotter than Hell in an AZ summer. At the large Red Rock cattle feed lot surprisingly just a few Brewers Blackbird and this first section had limited birds, mostly Eurasian-collared Dove and Mourning Dove; with few flycatchers or roadside raptors - a few Red-tailed, very few Kestrels. I did scavenge one Western Meadowlark, Horned Lark, Say's Phoebe. At Evergreen Sod Farm at Tweedy north of Pretzer a field had a Killdeer flock and then one agitated Mountain Plover in the next field up. Tweedy is an rough little road north of Pretzer, but worth the extra caution you need to traverse it with. That's all I saw, ONE Mountain Plover, and for a species that flocks together in winter seeing an isolated one seems strange (subsequent reports indicated a larger dispersed flock with individuals tough to find). In adjacent fields, Distant shorebirds (Least Sandpipers seen overhead), some blackbirds and Great-tailed Grackles, Loggerhead Shrike, Northern Harrier. Backtracking to Pretzer west of Tweedy hundreds of American Pipits were feeding in the fields along the south side of the sod farm. South on Sunland Gin I failed to find ANY Caracaras where upwards of one hundred had been previously reported (file under: Epic Fail), and had one Great Blue Heron. At this point I ran out of light and went north to Phoenix where I stayed at the EZ 8 Airporter motel once again.
The last morning's birding saw me leave at 6am out of Phoenix towards Buckeye, at twilight at the Lower River Road ponds east of Bruner Rd with very little there at that point, although I did see a Bald Eagle en route, and even less at the Lower River Road ponds at the curve. Instead I went north to Baseline/Salome, hiking north out of the intersection to see if I could find Crissal Thrasher. Quite quiet in the cold dawn, no Crissal, but buzz-chipping Loggerhead Shrike, Abert's Towhee and the usual Mourning Doves. Back at the intersection at Bendire's was singing in a bush right there, although did not pop up. Walking north-west from the intersection, two more Bendires, Gambell's Quail, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Verdin, White-crowned Sparrow. Black-tailed Gnatcatchers were fairly vocal and gave the impression of staking out territory. Back on the usual "downstream" route, Sagebrush Sparrows but absolutely no Brewer's the entire time. I found another shy singing Bendire's, then a briefly teed-up Le Conte's Thrasher. A couple more Sagebrush and then in the face of generally quiet birding I bagged it after pointing two other birders towards the Le Conte's location.
South to the Gila River reservoir, Sandhill Cranes and Great Egrets en route - I hadn't expected to see Cranes here but the agricultural location makes perfect sense. Great Egrets and Pied-billed Grebes at the north end of the reservoir but nothing else to make me linger. Conscious of the narrowing time window prior to returning the rental car I went back to Lower River Road where the flooded field at 309/Old Hwy-80 had many blackbirds including Yellow-headed, Great Egrets, Northern Harrier. The pond at the curve on Lower River Road had a Ruddy Duck and Northern Rough-winged Swallows and absolutely nothing else. The larger ponds past Bruner had Black-necked Stilt, mostly Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Least Sandpiper, Killdeer, more Northern Rough-winged Swallows, and a couple of Horned Larks. A Prairie Falcon was seen hunting over fields nearby - by far the best bird in this section. At this point gave up and went via car wash at Buckeye to Encanto Park in Phoenix which is usefully close to the rental car return.
Encanto Park has a large central lake and park-like surroundings. Rosy-faced Lovebird was present but not especially cooperative, an entirely expected flock of Great-tailed Grackles and blackbirds, Northern Mockingbird (few of these for the trip), and then semi-tame waterfowl on the lake: many Ring-necked Duck, some American Wigeon, one Northern Shoveler, Mallard, one male Lesser Scaup and Canada Geese ironically at the adjacent golf course. One of the targets here were cormorants and obligingly both Neotropic and Double-crested Cormorants were roosting next to each other. The Ring-necked Ducks did a pretty good impersonation of lurking in the shade, although temperatures were only mild. Back at car doing a quick repack and a pre-flight clothing change the last bird for the trip was a Lewis's Woodpecker, a rather unexpected find and a pretty good bird for the last of the trip.