Party-Miles and Party-Hours

I know it's a pain, but keeping track of party-miles and party-hours is one way we can at least partially control for one of the factors that makes CBC data so unreliable – observer effort. If you have a watch, a GPS, and an odometer on your car, you can come up with pretty exact numbers. If all you have is a watch, you can at least estimate the miles.

For miles and hours driven by car, set your odometer to zero when you enter your area (not when you leave home). Anywhere you drive within your area counts, as you are theoretically able to spot birds and count them as you drive between birding spots. Keep a note of the time you enter your area of the CBC circle. Then write down the time every time you hop into your car and the moment you hop out of your car. At the end of the day, you can add up these times to get your party-hours by car. The odometer reading when you leave your area is the party-miles by car. Let's say you entered your area of the circle at 7:30 a.m. and departed for the countdown at 5:00. That's a total of 9.5 hours. If you add up the times you spent in the car and it comes to 1.5 hours total, then you have 1.5 hours by car.

Hours and miles on foot are a bit more difficult, because this is when groups split up into multiple parties. If you never split up, then using the example above, you logged 8 party-hours on foot. But if you split up into different groups (parties), then you have more. If you were apart for just an hour of the day, you'd have 9 party-hours. It's that simple. And a party is one to several people birding together within earshot.

As another example, say your group is 4 people. You split up, with one person hiking up one canyon, another person hiking up another, and two people hiking down yet a third. You all meet back up 2 hours later. Using the example above, the base is 8 party-hours, You have to add two more hours for each of the extra parties, so that makes a total of 12 party-hours by foot for the day.

All clear?

Keeping an Eye on the Weather

It's looking good for Sunday, January 3. The morning low will be right around freezing and the high from the upper 60's to the low 70's.

My favorite source of weather info is the NOAA Western Regional Headquarters site. This link HERE will take you to the exact center of the AZAH Circle forecast.

Tips On Finding Montezuma Quail

Last year we made no special efforts to get Montezuma Quail, but we still set an all-time national high with 268. It must have been a year of spectacular breeding success.

I think Sara and I were the only team to not actually see a live Montezuma Quail, though we did hear a covey early in the morning in Peck Canyon. But in Pine Canyon a Cooper's Hawk dropped this at our feet as it flew right by us, startled at the first humans it must have seen in weeks.

There have been reports from birders in recent weeks to indicate that the population is still pretty high, but I'd be surprised if we saw as many as last year. The monsoon was not very good in most of Southeastern Arizona and plants (and the animals that eat them) have suffered.

So I thought a couple tips on finding them might be in order. Their preferred microhabitat seems to be open oak woodland with a grassy understory, especially on the slopes within 50-100 yards of the canyon bottoms. So walking along the slope parallel with a wash, but a 25-50 yards upslope will increase your chances of flushing a group.

Better yet, when you are near such likely looking habitat, whistle for them. The whistle to use is a series of 4-8 pure, downslurred whistles, which is the female's call. Interestingly, the males will respond to this with their single downslurred, buzzy whistle better than to their own song. A recording of this female call can be heard on the Keller SE Arizona CD. It's the first sound on the cut, the first time simultaneously with a male's song, the second time on its own. I usually hear the individual notes more spaced out, rather than in a stuttered pattern as on the CD.

We may do a quick count of numbers at the countdown of this and other target species to see if we've come close to previous highs.

Finding those Cassin's Sparrows

We missed Cassin's Sparrow last year. That was something of a surprise, given that we had a large number of prepared participants thoroughly birding areas known to have Cassin's Sparrows in the winter. Even with so many years of suboptimal coverage and weather, the species was seen on just over half of all Atascosa Highlands CBC's. This circle even had 108 one year, which was the all-time national high until Ramsey Canyon got 193 in 1982.

Well, one reason we missed it was that it was just a bad year for many sparrows. We also missed Grasshopper Sparrow and had only 7 Brewer's Sparrows, after all. But there was one thing we didn't do.

In the wake of last year's CBC, I had some interesting e-mail conversations with Scott Mills, who was the compiler of this count through the late 70's, 80's, and early 90's.

Says Scott, "They respond really well to playbacks of taped songs in winter - they apparently hold territories and chip like crazy (and often come to the tape) when a song is played. The first year I tried it I got something like 45 birds with tape in an area where I had flushed only two simply by walking through the grass."

He mentions Wise Mesa and the steep upper edge of Atascosa Canyon (in area 10. Bear Valley Ranch) as being especially good areas. One winter I flushed a few in the open, scrubby mesquite slopes on the east side of Arivaca Lake. I suspect there are some in every area of the circle in the right habitats. The grassiest areas with very scattered mesquite are the best. And although I'd like to have a calm, warm, sunny day, he reminded me that in snow, many of the skulking sparrows (including Grasshopper and Baird's) are seen perched in shrubs.

So, now in addition to your GPS and digital camera, don't forget your iPod and external speaker.

Document Those Rarities

On last year's CBC, Andrew Core was able to get these simple and more-than-adequate shots of a Greater Scaup that he and Jeff Gilligan flushed from Papago Tanks, a pair of obscure ponds north of Ruby.

So, along with your binoculars, food and water, don't forget your point-and-shoot digital camera.

January 3, 2010 Area Assignments

These are not set in stone and will be updated as needed. This information is intended to be helpful in case neighboring area leaders would like to work out logistics in transportation. If you need contact information for anyone, please let me know.

1. Bear Grass Tank and Murphy Canyon
Brian McKnight
Jim Hays
Sally Johnsen

2. Jalisco and Apache Canyons
Dennis Wall
Marley Wall
Brooks Hart

3. Arivaca Lake
Paul Sheppard
Will Russell
Mark Sharon
Farrish Sharon

4. Oro Blanco Wash
Roger Tess
Eng Li Green
Paul Green

5. Warsaw and Holden Canyons
Ethan Beasley
Malcolm Chesworth
Robert Payne

6. Bartolo Canyon
Tim Helentjaris
Leah Latura

7. Ruby and Papago Tanks
Greg Greene
Andrew Core
Mary Klinkel
Fred Heath

8. California Gulch
Dick Palmer
Reid Freeman
Richard Wilt

9. Corral Nuevo
Rob Klotz
Bob Beatson
Suzy Ehret

10. Upper Sycamore and Yanks Canyons
Richard Fray
Alan Mueller
Karen Holliday
Jenise Porter

11. Middle Sycamore and Peñasco Canyons
Dave Stejskal
Parth Nagarkar
Grant Loomis
Tyler Loomis

12. Lower Sycamore and Tonto Canyons
Jherime Kellermann
Philip Kline
Nigel Crook

13. Pine Canyon to Hells Gate
Rich Hoyer
Art Schaub

14. Atascosa Lookout and Upper Ramanote Canyon
Laurens Halsey
Janine McCabe

15. Bear Valley Ranch
Denny Hodsdon
Paul Kaestle
Larry Liese

16. Rock Corral and Tinaja Canyons
John Yerger
Greg Corman
Richard Peterson

17. Peck Canyon Complex
Jake Mohlmann
Lucy Snyder
Steven Foldi
Tom Hildebrandt
Kristan Hildebrandt

18. Wise Mesa and Lower Ramanote Canyon
Matt Brown
Josh Stewart

19. Bellota Canyon
Matt Brooks
Erika Wilson

20. Peña Blanca Lake and Canyon
Ken Kertell
Pamela Elia

21. Ruby Road East
Mark Stevenson
Molly Pollock

Kathe Anderson
Lois Lorenz

22. Alamo Canyon
Rick Romea
Joe Woodley
Bob Behrstock

Where to Stay Near the Atascosa Highlands Circle

If you are coming from out of town, you may want to find lodging near the circle. If your area is in the eastern half of the circle, staying near Tubac, Rio Rico, or in Nogales would be the best bet. If your area is in the western half of the circle, staying in Amado or even Green Valley would be closer – you'd then access the circle via Arivaca Road.

Of course, there is camping possible all over in the circle. Any flat spot on USFS property is fair game unless it's marked otherwise.

Here are some suggestions for lodging in the area. Feel free to add to this in the comments section.

Rex Ranch
P.O. Box 636, Amado, Arizona 85645
http://www.rexranch.com/escape.html
(520) 398-2914
$150

Amado Territory Inn
P.O. Box 81, 3001 E. Frontage Road, Amado, AZ 85645
http://www.amado-territory-inn.com
Toll Free: (888) 398-8684
Local: (520) 398-8684
Fax: (520) 398-8186
$130

Rio Rico Esplendor Resort
1069 Camino Caralampi, Rio Rico, AZ 85648
http://www.esplendor-resort.com
reservationsaz@hhandr.com
Toll Free: 1-800-288-4746
Local: 520-281-1901
Fax: 520-377-7400
$115.00

Best Western Sonora Inn and Suites
750 West Shell Road, Nogales, AZ 85621
$93.74

Holiday Inn Express
850 West Shell Road, Nogales, AZ 85621
$85

Candlewood Suites Nogales
875 North Frank Reed Road, Nogales, AZ 85621
$81

Best Western Siesta Motel
673 North Grand Avenue, Nogales, AZ 85621
$75.00

Super 8
547 West Mariposa Road, Nogales, AZ US 85621
$69.00

Highlights To Remember From 2008

Montezuma Quail photographed by Laurens Halsey in Upper Ramanote Canyon.

On December 15, 2008, 56 participants in 21 teams found an all-time high of 139 species. It was a great day that will be hard to beat.

Of special note were the addition of eight new species to the all-time list. They were:

Greater Scaup

Hooded Merganser

Brown Pelican

Whiskered Screech-Owl (long overdue)

Short-eared Owl

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Olive Warbler

Western Tanager

Also, we broke all-time national record high counts for five species, more than any other CBC in 2008. They were Montezuma Quail, Elegant Trogon, Painted Redstart, Hepatic Tanager, and Scott's Oriole. For the numbers, see the list below. Of special note was Hepatic Tanager – the count had recorded four in three different years, and that was previous all-time national high. So our 27 was simply amazing. The Green Valley CBC was the next closest count, breaking three all-time national highs, including Painted Redstart, edging us out with 17 of them.

We hold the all-time national highs for six additional species. They are:

Mexican Jay – 1110

Bridled Titmouse – 574

Rock Wren – 300

Canyon Wren – 213

Rufous-crowned Sparrow – 460

Five-striped Sparrow – 6

In 2008 we had the annual national high count for Arizona Woodpecker, Hammond's Flycatcher, Gray Flycatcher, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Rock Wren, Canyon Wren, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, and Five-striped Sparrow.

In comparing counts made on this CBC since 1960, we broke or set new high counts for 45 species, listed below.

New high species counts set in 2008

Northern Shoveler – 28

Canvasback – 10

Greater Scaup – 1

Hooded Merganser – 3

Montezuma Quail – 268

Brown Pelican – 1

Black Vulture – 24

Northern Harrier – 37

Sharp-shinned Hawk – 11

Red-tailed Hawk – 98

American Kestrel – 29

Barn Owl – 1

Western Screech-Owl – 25

Whiskered Screech-Owl – 6

Short-eared Owl – 1

Common Poorwill – 1

Elegant Trogon – 4

Red-breasted Sapsucker – 1

Arizona Woodpecker – 37

Hammond's Flycatcher – 26

Gray Flycatcher – 59

Dusky Flycatcher – 8

Black Phoebe – 97

Eastern Phoebe – 1

Ash-throated Flycatcher – 16

Cassin's Kingbird – 19

Plumbeous Vireo – 2

Hutton's Vireo – 81

Western Scrub-Jay – 7

Common Raven – 103

Bewick's Wren – 263

House Wren – 46

Black-capped Gnatcatcher – 3

Olive Warbler – 1

Orange-crowned Warbler – 4

Black-throated Gray Warbler – 31

Townsend's Warbler – 16

Common Yellowthroat – 4

Painted Redstart – 14

Hepatic Tanager – 27

Western Tanager – 1

Abert's Towhee – 5

Rufous-winged Sparrow – 12

Scott's Oriole – 29

Lesser Goldfinch – 216

Strategies for Christmas Count Birding

Read this great article by David Fix on the BirdFellow blog HERE.

One bit of info I would tweak to fit the Atascosa Highlands CBC is which species of owls to imitate (or play tape/iPod of, if you don't whistle). Our Northern "Mountain" Pygmy-Owl toots 100 times per minute, not the 20-25 of the Pacific Northwest birds; often the notes are paired into double-toots, but not always, and still average out to 100/minute. Furthermore, screech-owl imitations are just as effective, if not more so in much of our area. Both Western and Whiskered Screech-Owls are common in the circle, and in addition to stirring up mixed flocks of Bridle Titmice, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and the occasional Hepatic Tanger pair, you may also get a daytime response from a real owl. Keep in mind that Whiskered Screech-Owls tend to be in larger, denser stands of oaks, and Western Screech-Owls are usually in more scattered, open woodland with lots of open area between the trees.

The Countdown Compilation

The Countdown Compilation is considered by many to be half the fun of a Christmas Bird Count. All participants are highly encouraged to attend, as we will all be excited to hear what great birds other teams found and to share our own finds. I have again made reservations for a large group at the Longhorn Grill in Amado, and people can start showing up any time after 5:00. Just order your dinner on your own, and we'll commence the countdown as soon as we have all groups reporting in. This should be no later than 6:30.

The countdown is simply a reading of the list of expected species to find out what birds were seen during the day. Everyone present simply calls out "yes" if they have seen the bird mentioned. After a preliminary species total, each group will then have a chance to mention their highlights and add any species not called out. Then after that, we'll have a total species count for the day.

Longhorn Grill
28851 South Nogales Highway
Amado, AZ
520-398-3955

This is the restaurant with the façade shaped like a giant cow skull. The entrance to the restaurant is around to the left, on the north side of the building. Please let me know if you are having dinner here so I can warn them how many people to expect.

Please keep in mind that it takes a while to get out of the circle. Google Maps says that from the Sycamore Canyon trailhead to Amado is 1 hour 11 minutes.

Area Boundaries Fine-tuned

I've been fine tuning the area boundaries and maps on both Google Earth and the USGS 7.5-minute maps the past few days, and now I'm ready to start putting together the information packets which everyone will be able to download off the web.

Below is an image saved from Google Earth showing the circle and areas. Clicking on the map will open a browser window with a larger image.
If you have Google Earth on your computer, I've also saved a KMZ file on my Google sites webpage, which you can download by clicking HERE. Google Earth is a program you have to install on your computer, and it's an amazing resource. You download the program to your computer from the Internet – and it's free and safe. To read more about it and see if your computer is compatible, go to earth.google.com. Once you have it and download the KML file, you can zoom into your area, tilt the angle, and move over the landscape with three-dimensional effects that make it appear that you're flying over the land. It's a fantastic way to study the topography of your area.

A Google Maps version (for which you just need a web browser, like Firefox) can be found by clicking on the map below.


This is an example of one of the maps I created using the 7.5-minute USGS quadrangles.

Next CBC: Sunday, January 3

Everyone, please mark your calendars and plan to participate on:
Sunday, January 3, 2010.

Contact Rich at birdernaturalistATme.com or Jake Mohlmann at mohlmann2ATyahoo.com to sign up

Staying In Touch and Not Getting Lost

Don't forget to bring a FRS Radio if you have one. I suggest channel 7, subchannel 11. Spare batteries are a good idea.

Also your cell phone. There is coverage, at least from hilltops, in much of the circle. My cell number is (520) 325-5310.

And a GPS is a handy tool, especially if your area includes the circle boundary.

Owling

Some of us will be out in the predawn darkness (and hopefully without too much wind) to listen and call for owls. Mysteriously, Whiskered Screech-Owl has never been recorded on this count even though it is very common in the more densely wooded areas (such as upper Sycamore and Yanks Canyons, the uppermost part of California Gulch near Ruby Road, and at Peña Blanca Lake). It's not uncommon to get a vocal response from a roosting owl during broad daylight if you use the imitation to attract mobbing flocks of passerines.

Other likely species are Great Horned and Western Screech, though Barn Owl is probably not rare, and if one were to be at Wise Mesa, even Short-eared would be possible. Maybe someone will flush a Long-eared Owl during the day, and there are Spotted Owls in the depths of Sycamore Canyon. Northern Pygmy-Owl is also in Sycamore Canyon, and in the lower drainages, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl is a distinct possibility.

If you will be camping before or after the CBC day to look for owls, let Jake or me know so we can suggest a place to go.

Avoid Double Counting Large Birds

To avoid two groups counting the same bird, it's a good idea to note the time of day if you see a flyover:

Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle
Golden Eagle
Peregrine Falcon
Prairie Falcon
Merlin

Thanks to Laurens Halsey for the suggestion.

CBC Fees Policy

Participant Fees Policy (taken from the NAS CBC website)
• There is a $5.00 fee per U.S. resident field participant per count.
• Feeder watchers and all observers 18 and under may count for free.
• One individual may choose to participate in 4 or more count circles and pay only a flat fee of $20. This discount is available only for participants registering at least 48 hours in advance online.
• If someone registers for 5 counts, pays $20 then one of the counts is cancelled we refund nothing except in the case that if they register for 4 counts and one is cancelled, we have to refund $5.
• Refunds of CBC fees will be issued ONLY if a count is cancelled. In this case, the compilers must notify Audubon of the cancellation of the count for refunds to be issued to pre-registered participants. If a participant does not show up on the day of the count the fee is considered a donation – in this case no refunds are issued. Also the compiler must indicate this no-show status on the site so that the participant’s name is suppressed from reports. Effort information and calculations are NOT affected by data entered/edited in the participant lists by the compiler.
• Persons who pre-register but do not show up on the day of the count must consider their pre-paid fee as a donation to Audubon. No refunds are issued in this case.
• All paying U.S. and Canadian participants, U.S. CBC participants 18 and under, and compilers will receive a copy of American Birds: Summary of the CBC.
• U.S. participants have the opportunity to opt-out of receiving this publication if they indicate this online or if they do not submit their address.

Tricky ID #4 - Eastern and Western Meadowlarks

The Eastern Meadowlark in Southeastern Arizona is a non-migratory, local species of the native grasslands. The form here is also known as "Lilian's Meadowlark," and may be split from Eastern soon. Western Meadowlark breeds as far south as the agricultural fields of Marana, northwest of Tucson, and flocks winter here in all weedy and grassy habitats.

Places that have breeding pairs of Eastern Meadowlarks have pairs in the same place in winter. This indicates a sedentary population and that it is unlikely to encounter large flocks any distance away from breeding areas. The only areas in this CBC circle likely to have Eastern Meadowlark are at the far western edge, on the flat, grassy ridges between Negro and Peck Canyons and Ramanote and Toruno Canyons. But there could be some wanderers, and everyone should carefully scrutinize them.

Eastern Meadowlark has the yellow of the center throat sharply delineated from the white of the malar region, with the feather tract line between the two matching the separation of colors. In Western, the yellow bleeds across the feather tract line into the malar region. This can be hard to see in winter and immature birds when the yellow is more creamy and the white of the face a buffy off-white, obscuring the differences in these colors.

Eastern has blacker head stripes and paler background color to the face, but this is comparative and takes eperience.

More of the outer tail feathers in Eastern are purely white, so when seen well in flight, it appears that only the central two tail feathers are dark. On Western, you might be able to see the brown edges on the outer feathers, but they also usually appear totally white; the central brown area of the tail is larger and appears more as a triangle, rather than just the narrow two central feathers. Keep in mind that this is very hard to see well in the field, best viewed when a bird flying away from you and then lands at close range.

Call notes are a great clue. Western actually calls out its own four-letter banding code, "weme," often in flight. It also can give a "chuck" while perched. Eastern is usually silent in flight and gives a rough, rising, fart-like "brzzzit" when perched.

Tricky ID #3 - Bendire's & Curve-billed Thrashers

I was surprised that Bendire's Thrasher was even on the cumulative list for this Christmas Bird Count. In my experience, in Southeastern Arizona there are a few places where Bendire's Thrasher occurs. They are in those locations all year, and I have never bumped into the species in any other location that does not closely match the same habitat. This indicates to me that the species is resident and does not wander in this part of the state. Populations to the north of us are apparently migratory, but it's not clear where they go. Places where I've seen them include northern Avra Valley north into the Santa Cruz Flats, the Whitewater drainage of the Sulphur Springs Valley, and the San Simon Valley east of the Chiricahuas.

The species appears to prefer very flat topography with sandy or loose soils and patches or rows of mesquite with a grassy, weedy understory. An absence of cholla cactus seems to be a unifying characteristic too, and my guess is that this keeps out Curve-billed Thrasher (which usually builds its nest in cholla). Curve-billed is a large, aggressive species that would displace Bendire's.

The best field mark is the smaller bill on Bendire's. With a good profile view (close range or through a spotting scope), the lower edge of the bill appears straight, while both the upper and lower mandible in a Curve-billed are curved. Supporting field marks are the more clearly defined spots across the breast on Bendire's (somewhat arrow-shaped with very good view), a pale base to the bill, paler eyes, and a vaguely warmer color to the lower face. Earlier in the year, immature Curve-billed Thrashers have all of these exact same field marks and are very frequently misidentified as Bendire's in urban Tucson and Phoenix.

Bendire's is usually silent, sometimes giving a slight "chuck," while Curve-billed has the very familiar upslurred double whistle.

Tricky ID #2 - Chihuahuan & Common Ravens

Everyone realizes these birds are very difficult to tell apart. The main difference is size, but individuals are variable, and size is the most difficult character to judge properly in the field. Said another way, size is the most frequently misjudged field character in birds. It's almost purely a comparative feature, and if you have nothing of known size to compare it to, you should not rely upon it.

Size can be inferred from speed of wing beats, with smaller birds flapping faster. But then speed of flight varies with conditions too – wind direction and the purpose of the bird's flight, for example.

HABITAT is a great clue. Chihuahuan Raven prefers wide open, flat country with scattered bushes and lots of grass or open ground. They are not normally found in hilly canyon country. So unless your area is in the far eastern or northern parts of the circle, you are unlikely to encounter the species.

BEHAVIOR is moderately useful. Chihuahuan Raven is more likely to be found in large winter flocks, roosting and feeding in groups that can number over 100. They are much like crows in this regard. But if it's a feeding concentration, such as at a dump (there is not one in our circle), both species can be found in the same large flock together. And sometimes groups of 20 or more Common Ravens will gather to feed in fields or frolic in the updrafts on a mountain peak.

FIELD MARKS for Chihuahuan Raven include a more rounded and less wedge-shaped tail and a shorter bill with the culmen curving down to the tip just beond the nasal bristles. Common Raven has a very wedge-shaped tail (you have to see it well from below, such as in soaring behavior) and a culmen that continues horizontally for some length beyond the end of the nasal bristles before dropping down to the tip. Common also has longer wings. If it's windy, the ruffled neck feathers of a Chihuahuan Raven will show bright white bases, but the pale gray bases of Common's neck feathers can be misjudged as being white.

VOICE is good. You can sing the call note of a Chihuanhuan Raven, as it is nasal and tonal. Common Raven's voice is extremely variable but is lower and more croak like, usually descending and not on a single tone.

CBC Circle on Google Maps

Thanks to Andrew Core, I figured out how to make a link to a Google Map with all the areas:

Click Here to see the map in your web browser.

If you want to view the circle in Google Earth (download the program for free first),

Click Here to download the most updated file.