Friday, January 1, 2021

Atascosa Highlands CBC December 20, 2020

RESULTS - totals listed at end of post.

A total of 127 species were detected by 49 participants. All 22 areas were covered by at least 1 person this year. The total number of individual birds counted was 5,681. Participants broke up into 27 parties that spent 147.93 hours and 105.335 miles covering the circle by foot. By car 29.62 hours were spent and 94.25 miles covered. I’m not sure how many CBCs actually have boating hours, but ours does! At Arivaca Lake 3.75 miles were paddled and 4 hours tallied by canoe. The owling effort was bigger than usual this year and although 8.67 hours were spent and 33.5 miles were covered very few owls were detected. I like to point out that our foot miles and hours far surpass the time spent in vehicles.

Some new high counts were achieved and they are as follows: ( new# / old# )

  • Black-tailed Gnatcatcher  94 /  89
  • Northern Cardinal 142 / 105
  • Hooded Merganser 6 / 3
  • Great Egret 6 / 3
  • White-winged Dove 15 / 13
  • Chihuahuan Raven 122 / 44
  • Common Raven 168 / 145
  • raven sp. 51 / 4
  • Turkey Vulture - tied record 2 / 2

Honorable mentions go to Crissal Thrasher which at 42 was 1 shy of the record 43, and Cooper’s Hawk at 12 was 2 shy of the record of 14. A Common Goldeneye photographed at Papago Tanks is a species that has only been seen on 5 CBCs. Rock Pigeons are fairly scarce in the CBC circle and this year’s 4 represents only the 4th year they’ve been discovered here. A Spotted Owl heard along eastern Ruby Road in response to Western Screech Owl tape was only the 4th time this species has been recorded on the CBC. Other species worth noting are a rare wintering “Western” type Flycatcher in Bellota Canyon and 6 Black-capped Gnatcatchers, a good tally of this species for any CBC in the country.


Black-capped Gnatcatcher found by Brian Gibbons at Arivaca Lake

This Atascosa Highlands Circle only has 2 medium-sized lakes (Arivaca & Pena Blanca), but these along with several larger cattle ponds were able to produce 19 species of waterfowl, including Pied-billed Grebe and American Coot. Besides the record-breaking 6 Hooded Mergansers and rare Common Goldeneye, a  Canvasback was a good find, but not as rare as the single Blue-winged Teal only recorded 9 times in 47 years. Waterfowl hunting usually coincides with this count and this year was no exception. One of the two Lesser Scaup counted was a wounded bird unable to fly at a cattle tank in the California Gulch section. Although the total of American Wigeon was 13, we can confirm there were only 11 in the circle when the count was over as the team at Summit Tank watched as some successful hunters bagged 2 of them!

Common Goldeneye at Papago Tanks found by Jeff Ladderud


The record-breaking year for Ravens is interesting. Common Raven numbers across much of the desert southwest have been increasing, sometimes exponentially, since people have settled in this dry region providing food and ample nesting substrate with which for them to flourish. Perhaps it’s no surprise then that 'one of these years' this record might get broken. An amazing 122 Chihuahuan Ravens is also quite impressive. This species is expanding its range, especially in winter, to include areas further west than previously recorded. In fact a Chihuahuan Raven has nested at Sam Lena Park in central Tucson for the last couple years, far from what one may consider Chihuahuan Desert. These ravens are fond of dumps across their range and Peck Canyon, where this flock was seen, is not far as the Raven flies from the Rio Rico landfill.

Sparrow numbers were staggeringly low, as well as any other passerine species that does not reside here but chooses to winter or migrate through. Perhaps the worst wildfire year in the western United States forced birds out of their breeding grounds and into their south-bound migration early. This combined with some serious cold snaps, severe drought, and lack of food helped create one of the most difficult migration years ever. Large die-offs have been, and are still being, recorded of many of the bird species we have unusually low numbers for on this year’s CBC. It’s really not a question of whether or not we were able to count all the birds present within the circle this year. I’m confident they were just never there to be counted.

Have a safe and happy New Year.

Jake Mohlmann
Compiler
Atascosa Highlands CBC

Bird List:

Species                                                           Area

Totals

previous max

years seen (47)

Canada Goose

0

2

1

Wood Duck

0

2

5

Gadwall

17

63

39

American Wigeon

13

241

42

Mallard (Northern)

29

110

36

Mexican Duck

9

71

6

Blue-winged Teal

1

4

9

Cinnamon Teal

7

11

13

Northern Shoveler

20

56

31

Northern Pintail

4

97

36

Green-winged Teal

32

125

18

teal sp.

0

15

1

Canvasback

1

17

15

Redhead

0

22

24

Ring-necked Duck

25

610

42

Greater Scaup

0

1

1

Lesser Scaup

2

94

40

Bufflehead

22

57

27

Common Goldeneye

1

7

5

Hooded Merganser

6

3

5

Common Merganser

6

35

20

Ruddy Duck

73

257

45

Wild Turkey

0

1

1

Scaled Quail

0

10

6

Gambel's Quail

121

313

42

Montezuma Quail

48

271

43

Least Grebe

0

14

5

Pied-billed Grebe

27

69

46

Eared Grebe

0

15

24

Western Grebe

0

2

9

Brown Pelican

0

1

1

Neotropic Cormorant

0

4

2

Double-crested Cormorant

0

6

7

American Bittern

0

2

1

Least Bittern

0

1

1

Great Blue Heron

6

12

45

Great Egret

6

6

17

Green Heron

1

5

28

Black-crowned Night-Heron

0

1

5

White-faced Ibis/Plegadis spp.

0

0

1

Black Vulture

13

24

23

Turkey Vulture

2

2

6

Osprey

0

0

1

Bald Eagle

0

1

1

Northern Harrier

4

37

40

Sharp-shinned Hawk

7

15

40

Cooper's Hawk

12

14

40

Accipiter sp.

0

4

15

Gray Hawk

0

1

1

Red-tailed Hawk

39

98

47

Ferruginous Hawk

0

1


Rough-legged Hawk

0

1

1

Golden Eagle

15

18

43

Crested Caracara

0

3

3

American Kestrel

15

63

45

Merlin

0

5

10

Peregrine Falcon

2

4

14

Prairie Falcon

0

4

16

Virginia Rail

1

2

7

Sora

4

7

35

Common Gallinule

1

7

24

American Coot

140

927

46

Killdeer

16

79

45

Spotted Sandpiper

1

7

22

Greater Yellowlegs

0

1

2

Least Sandpiper

0

27

12

Long-billed Dowitcher

0

1

3

Wilson's Snipe

3

14

13

Ring-billed Gull

0

1

1

California Gull

0

1

1

Rock Pigeon

4

8

4

Band-tailed Pigeon

0

60

4

Eurasian Collared-Dove

5

6

7

White-winged Dove

15

13

19

Mourning Dove

82

675

46

Inca Dove

0

18

11

Common Ground-Dove

0

45

18

Greater Roadrunner

15

19

37

Barn Owl

0

1

4

Western Screech-Owl

9

25

19

Whiskered Screech-Owl

2

11

11

Great Horned Owl

9

21

35

Northern Pygmy-Owl

0

7

15

Spotted Owl

1

1

6

Long-eared Owl

0

2

3

Short-eared Owl

0

1

2

Common Poorwill

0

4

7

White-throated Swift

48

127

27

Broad-billed Hummingbird

0

1

1

Magnificent Hummingbird

0

1

1

Anna's Hummingbird

2

19

21

hummingbird sp.

0

8


Elegant Trogon

0

8

22

Belted Kingfisher

4

9

45

Green Kingfisher

0

1

2

Lewis's Woodpecker

0

28

7

Acorn Woodpecker

86

291

45

Gila Woodpecker

115

200

45

Williamson's Sapsucker

0

2

7

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

0

57

2

Red-naped Sapsucker

22

84

31

Red-breasted Sapsucker

0

1

1

sapsucker sp.

0

4

6

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

63

111

44

Hairy Woodpecker

0

1

4

Arizona Woodpecker

15

37

15

Northern Flicker

69

311

40

Gilded Flicker

0

5

16

flicker sp.

1



Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet

0

3

15

Greater Pewee

0

1

4

Hammond's Flycatcher

4

26

27

Gray Flycatcher

39

103

38

Dusky Flycatcher

1

21

24

Dusky/Hammond's Flycatcher

0

7


Pacific-slope/Cordilleran Flycatcher

1

2

6

Empidonax sp.

0

9

24

Black Phoebe

54

97

47

Eastern Phoebe

0

4

7

Say's Phoebe

34

82

47

Vermilion Flycatcher

1

10

35

Ash-throated Flycatcher

1

16

32

Nutting's Flycatcher

0

1

1

Cassin's Kingbird

0

23

10

Western Kingbird

0

1

2

Loggerhead Shrike

26

45

46

Plumbeous Vireo

0

4

10

Cassin's Vireo

0

3

7

Hutton's Vireo

13

81

40

vireo sp.

0

1


Gray Jay

0

3

1

Steller's Jay

0

7

7

Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay

0

12

9

Mexican Jay

290

1110

47

Pinyon Jay

0

419

2

Chihuahuan Raven

122

44

37

Common Raven

168

145

42

raven sp.

51

4

35

Horned Lark

0

218

29

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

0

1

1

Tree Swallow

0

1

1

Bridled Titmouse

106

574

46

Verdin

54

138

45

Bushtit

76

306

42

Red-breasted Nuthatch

0

2

4

White-breasted Nuthatch

24

86

44

Brown Creeper

0

3

9

Cactus Wren

52

57

43

Rock Wren

68

300

47

Canyon Wren

56

213

44

Bewick's Wren

90

372

47

House Wren

0

53

36

House Wren (Brown-throated)

0

1

1

Winter Wren

0

1

5

Pacific Wren

0

0

0

Marsh Wren

8

24

43

Sedge Wren

0

1

1

American Dipper

0

1

2

Golden-crowned Kinglet

0

2

8

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

134

544

47

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

8

17

34

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

94

89

36

Black-capped Gnatcatcher

6

13

11

gnatcatcher sp.

2

7

10

Eastern Bluebird

2

162

36

Western Bluebird

191

487

43

Mountain Bluebird

11

881

29

bluebird sp.

33

63

20

Townsend's Solitaire

1

79

38

Hermit Thrush

40

210

43

Rufous-backed Robin

0

1

2

American Robin

8

198

38

Northern Mockingbird

50

68

43

Sage Thrasher

0

5

8

Bendire's Thrasher

0

2

6

Curve-billed Thrasher

42

54

44

Crissal Thrasher

42

43

40

European Starling

0

100

12

American Pipit

0

18

31

Cedar Waxwing

0

198

18

Phainopepla

22

113

42

Olive Warbler

0

1

3

Blue-winged Warbler

0

1

1

Orange-crowned Warbler

0

5

28

Pine Warbler

0

1

1

Yellow-rumped Warbler (total)

39

198

44

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's)

39

198

44

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

0

5

13

Black-throated Gray Warbler

0

31

27

Black-throated Green Warbler

0

1

1

Townsend's Warbler

1

27

19

Black-and-white Warbler

0

2

5

Louisiana Waterthrush

0

1

4

Common Yellowthroat

2

9

23

Wilson's Warbler

0

1

1

Painted Redstart

11

15

38

Rufous-capped Warbler

0

2

1

Green-tailed Towhee

11

170

43

Spotted Towhee

6

126

30

Canyon Towhee

207

397

26

Abert's Towhee

6

17

15

Rufous-winged Sparrow

50

218

28

Cassin's Sparrow

1

108

26

Rufous-crowned Sparrow

91

460

44

Five-striped Sparrow

1

8

16

Chipping Sparrow

434

3931

47

Clay-colored Sparrow

0

2

6

Brewer's Sparrow

6

1019

43

Field Sparrow

0

1

1

Black-chinned Sparrow

23

55

33

Vesper Sparrow

34

922

45

Lark Sparrow

15

347

43

Black-throated Sparrow

144

175

45

Lark Bunting

0

138

6

Savannah Sparrow

9

180

31

Grasshopper Sparrow

4

64

29

Baird's Sparrow

0

1

4

Fox Sparrow

0

6

8

Song Sparrow

19

37

40

Lincoln's Sparrow

20

293

45

Swamp Sparrow

1

14

22

White-throated Sparrow

0

5

7

White-crowned Sparrow

218

1477

40

White-crowned Sparrow (Gambel's)

157

1480

40

White-crowned Sparrow (Mountain)

1

10

3

Golden-crowned Sparrow

0

1

4

Dark-eyed Junco (total)

208

1324

47

Dark-eyed Junco (unknown type)

21

550

25

Dark-eyed Junco (Gray-headed)

51

502

47

Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)

65

535

47

Dark-eyed Junco (Pink-sided)

77

193

14

Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)

0

4

17

Dark-eyed Junco (Cassiar)

0

0

1

Yellow-eyed Junco

0

4

6

Chestnut-collared Longspur

0

14

4

Hepatic Tanager

2

27

21

Summer Tanager

0

1

2

Western Tanager

0

1

2

Northern Cardinal

142

105

45

Pyrrhuloxia

19

84

47

Black-headed Grosbeak

0

1

2

Blue Grosbeak

0

2

2

Lazuli Bunting

0

2

2

Red-winged Blackbird

0

500

31

Eastern Meadowlark

3

113

37

Western Meadowlark

10

146

43

meadowlark sp.

2

225

30

Yellow-headed Blackbird

0

135

3

Brewer's Blackbird

0

4010

23

Great-tailed Grackle

0

14

14

Brown-headed Cowbird

0

901

20

Hooded Oriole

0

2

2

Scott's Oriole

0

29

9

Purple Finch

0

3

2

Cassin's Finch

0

16

5

House Finch

164

379

46

Red Crossbill

0

1

1

Pine Siskin

3

101

24

Lesser Goldfinch

17

421

39

Lawrence's Goldfinch

0

71

8

American Goldfinch

0

7

5

Evening Grosbeak

0

3

3

House Sparrow

3

20

24

total taxa

127



total individuals

5681