Not for the first time I missed a major Arizona rarity by not getting in gear quickly enough. The bird in question was a Pacific Golden Plover, which had been recorded in the state only once before. It had been present at Willcox Lake for two days – but was nowhere to be seen on the morning I finally got out there. There were still a few interesting birds on view though, including three Lesser Yellowlegs, a 2nd-summer California Gull and a Long-billed Curlew amongst the more usual fare.

Having dipped out on the plover, I still had a couple more opportunities to add to my Arizona list, but I didn’t hold out much hope. It had been more than a week since anyone had reported the Hooded Warbler and Yellow-throated Vireo at Empire Gulch, but I thought I’d give it another go.

Empire Gulch is a great little place for wildlife. Set in the sea of grassland that is Las Cienegas, the gulch comprises several hundred yards of giant cottonwoods along flowing and standing water. I took my time, birding the area up to the point where both birds had been seen previously. Blue Grosbeak, Yellow-breasted Chat, Lucy’s Warbler and Yellow Warbler were in abundance, Gray Hawks were calling in the treetops and several Indigo Buntings were in full song. I finally arrived at the spot where both rarities had been seen, and within a few moments the stunning male Hooded Warbler appeared. I got a few record shots but the light was terrible (for June in Arizona) – it was darkly overcast and raining, and the warbler stayed deep in the brush.

I’m fairly certain I heard the Yellow-throated Vireo singing from the top of the tallest cottonwood, but I couldn’t find it. But no matter – the day had been saved to some extent and the Hooded Warbler made it onto my Arizona list as number 351.

A splendid addition to my home butterfly list today – a fine Two-tailed Swallowtail stopped by, a species more associated with mid-elevation riparian habitats than Tucson gardens.

And what’s more, it actually landed and allowed some shaky photos before it left. The usual Giant Swallowtails, which are in the garden almost daily, never seem to land – or not when I have the camera handy, at least.

This takes my somewhat pathetic garden butterfly list up to 17, but in reality I’ve probably seen twice that without being able to identify the rest.

There had only been six previous records of Elegant Tern in Arizona, so I was somewhat taken aback at the news of two at Lakeside Park here in Tucson. In an unprecedented, same-day piece of action on my part, I went along to investigate.

Lakeside Park has been a lucky site for me in the past two years. I’ve only been three or four times, but I’ve managed to see Pacific Loon, Osprey and Brown Pelican. Now, approaching the lake, I could see a tern flying over the water, and arriving at the shore another tern, perched a few yards in front of me. Easy!

Do you remember the American White Pelican exodus from early May, when I saw 17 flying over Sweetwater Wetlands during my Photothon? Well, Lakeside Park is where they all ended up, with over 100 reported there by nighfall. They all left the next day… except one, which is still there and ridiculously tame! Another species at Lakeside that has become tame is Black-crowned Night-Heron. The lake is popular with anglers, and every pair of fishermen had an attendant Night-Heron, waiting for scraps.

All this and I was only out of the house a little over an hour. Not bad…

With the Sinaloa Wren finally getting onto my list, the terns took me to a small milestone - I’ve now seen 350 species in Arizona.

I later found out a couple of interesting facts. Firstly, the Lakeside terns were not on their own – another two were discovered at Patagonia Lake, two more at Willcox and a further one at Benson, making it six previous records ever, then seven in one day! But… why? The joy of seeing the terns in Tucson was soon tempered by the news of why (presumably) they came inland, which isn’t good (as posted on the AZ/NM ListServ by Mark Stevenson):

“Apparently the world’s major Elegant Tern nesting colony on Isla Raza in the Gulf of California was abandoned by the birds in the past week following the arrival of a warm water plume in the Pacific and the Gulf.”

That’s the problem with rare birds – whilst it’s great fun to chase them around, see them and photograph them, in reality they’re the ones that have gone wrong or suffered some sort of hardship that made them leave their usual range. So effectively, we’re celebrating the tragic failures.

America’s first ever Sinaloa Wren was found at the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve last August, and since that time it has eluded me on no fewer than five occasions. To be fair, the only time I made a really concerted effort to see it was back in September 2008, and subsequently I’ve only given it half an hour here or there in passing.

News came through last week that the bird, still in the same area and holding territory, had now moved slightly and was building a nest (in a desperate attempt to attract a mate) in a more accessible area. It was still on a private part of the preserve, but sometimes now visible from the fence line alongside the main road, giving a considerably higher chance of seeing this elusive bird. I had to have another go…

I got down to Patagonia at about 6.30am and hit my first problem – even though I had very good directions courtesy of the original finder, Matt Brown, I was hoping – and indeed expecting – that someone would be there with knowledge of where the nest was. Unfortunately the only other two birders present were less clued in than I was. Never mind, it was already singing its heart out in the trees right in front of us (and what a beautiful song). But could I see it…? Of course not!

The minutes turned into hours and before long I was fearing the worst again, but at around 9am my luck changed. Whilst sitting under an elderberry bush a small bird appeared a few feet to my left, quietly foraging in the long grass. I couldn’t see it at first , but then I got a brief glimpse of a distinctive striped face pattern – yes, there it is! Over the next ten minutes I got three more brief, partial views as it searched for food low to the ground a few feet in front of me, giving its distinctive “ratchet” call as it did so. I never saw the whole bird, and didn’t see it for more than a second at a time, but the fact remains – I did see it!!

Flushed with success I tried for another new AZ bird (via a Thick-billed Kingbird at the roadside rest for my year list), ironically another species I heard but missed seeing on that day back in September 2008 – a Yellow-throated Vireo. This time I was out of luck as I couldn’t find it in the cottonwoods at Empire Ranch, Las Cienegas. But there was plenty of other stuff around to keep me occupied.

From there I decided I couldn’t pass up the chance to see an unprecedented occurrence at Willcox Twin Lakes. I’d seen a White-rumped Sanpiper in Arizona before, also at Willcox in 2003, but it’s a very rare bird and… a flock of ten? Unheard of.

When I arrived at the main pond, Lake Cochise, I immediately located the birds and started counting… 8, 9, 10, er… 11, 12… what’s going on? After a while I noticed one of them was a Western Sandpiper, itself a rarity in June, but that still left 11 White-rumps. I found out later that there had actually been 13 White-rumps earlier in the morning. There was also a Lesser Yellowlegs in breeding plumage, possibly the latest ever spring record in SE AZ. Beyond that, a few American Avocets, a Ring-billed Gull and the long-staying Neotropic Cormorant were the only notables, so I took off for home after another successful day.

OK people, I’m asking for another favor…

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