Overland Park, KS: Day two I decided to do a little hiking in the east side of Saguaro National Forest. Packing lots of water and snacks I headed out on what would be a 12 mile roundtrip hike up a mountain. Now I don't know what I was thinking since I haven't climbed a mountain in over a year and a half. Maybe it was my crazy brain or maybe i needed to prove to myself I still had it. The hike started out in a mesquite grove and was very rewarding. Two large dark colored hawks shot into the air and I immediately noticed a white rump patch. Harris's Hawks are one of my personal favorites no matter how many times I see them they are still so majestic. Then a bird started calling and my brain triggered a bird call that should not be in Southeast Arizona. "
Drink your teeeeee," what my brain triggered, as it would in any eastern US birder, was Eastern Towhee but this was not the case. It actually was a new lifebird for me, Rufous-winged Sparrow, and I have included a photo of it below. Many of the creek beds that are normally dry had water flowing from a wet winter and everything was amazingly green and lush. I was reawarded at the top of my accent with a Greater Roadrunner perched on the top of a desert shrub. Down I trekked with my feet only barking a little bit and started to head back to the hotel to meet Marci and her friend for dinner after there interviews. On the way back I tagged one more lifebird at a horse ranch. It was one that I had been thinking about and this was just the habitat I had been looking for. Two Bronzed Cowbirds with bright red eyes were working the ranch over for whatevere they could find. There is one more day left to blog about Tucson and that is the Sonoran Outdoor Desert Muesum so stay tuned for more!
Pictured above: Black-throated Sparrow
Rufous-winged Sparrow
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
Rock Wren
The spring desert bloom is going to be spectacular this year
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