The last week has just been fabulous for birding. It seems like everyday something new shows up. Being in Arizona makes it seem even more exciting because there are lots of birders who will travel to see birds. Take a Herring Gull for example, in South Dakota a pretty easy bird at the right time of year, here in the Sonoran Desert, a rarity. Today I had two of them, along with a Brown Pelican, two or maybe three Heermann’s Gulls, a couple of dozen Bonaparte’s Gulls, and a California Gull along with a bunch of Ring-billed Gulls. As the Arizona birders say, any gull is a good gull in Pima County. The reason for all this bird movement is the weather, of course. A strong front came through last night and today was very windy, with SSW winds blowing up to 35 mph, straight up from the Sea of Cortez.
I was just about to leave this morning when I took one last look and was amazed to see this Brown Pelican coming in for a landing. Brian Nicholas texted me yesterday to let me know someone had seen one flying along I-8 at Gila Bend, he thought it might come this way. Is this the same bird? Who knows. One of the Heermann’s Gulls that was here today, in late afternoon light. For awhile all the celebrities were together, Brown Pelican, 2 Heermann’s Gulls, and a Herring Gull, the gull on the right is a Ring-billed Gull. One of the Herring Gulls. I’ve never seen this species in Arizona before, today I saw two. Some of the birders who came today. Yesterday afternoon I got more photos of the Varied Thrush, this time with the 500 f4 and a 1.4 TC, for 700mm focal length. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and gloomy so I didn’t have very good light. Still, I think this is the best photo of Varied Thrush I have so far. I took more photos of Black-throated Gray Warblers today, getting some really nice ones. Pretty hard to beat a warbler photo like this!
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