Went downtown to the 6:30 am mass at the cathedral yesterday morning which provides a good starting point for some early morning birding in some interesting places. It's dark when we get to mass, then you can see the sun slowly rising by the light in the stain glass windows. By the time mass was over, the sun was just peaking it's face over the horizon.
My first stop was an abandoned gravel pit just north of the San Xavier mission. Here's what the mission looked like in the early morning sun.
Interesting birds included Crested Caracara, Merlin and Snow Goose. No good photo ops, though. I did meet a number of really nice birders. Usually I avoid socializing out in the field, so it was good to get out of my bubble for a change.
My second stop was a scruffy park just south of there that catches some nice rarities. A lovely 91 year old English woman quickly got me on a Sage Thrasher. A funny thing about this bird, in 2013, when I was having a Big Year I drove four times up a treacherous, rocky dirt road to try to find it. Finally, on the last day of the year, I got quick glimpses of two of them. The next February, a Sage Thrasher showed up at a park just a few blocks from my house. It came very close to being a backyard bird!
This bird yesterday was very kind to me, just like the English lady.
The other species of note were three Mountain Bluebirds. I wonder if they're the same bunch from last year? Here's a pic. Muted colors, but still a beautiful bird.
Year count is now at 106. Just ahead of where I was at this time last year.
