Tucson CBC at the Mason Center!
by Scott Olmstead
A couple of students from the Sunnyside Audubon StudentUrban Naturalists (SASUN) program joined in the Christmas Bird Count on Sunday. We slowly walked the nature tail at Tucson Audubon’s Mason Centerand carefully noted all of the bird species and individuals that we could find. House Finches and Mourning Doves were the most abundant species, and we also found a large group of 15 Gambel’s Quail, actively foraging on the ground. We were treated to the high-pitched “zing!” given by a male Costa’s Hummingbird in his display flight, and enjoyed an amazing closeup encounter with a Verdin. This American Kestrel gave us a nice long study as she surveyed the surrounding desert from on top of one of the magnificent saguaros at the Mason Center.
After we finished our count, we logged into ebird.org, a national bird sightings database, and uploaded a report of our excursion. It was abeautiful morning, brisk and sunny, and filled with good birding, yummy hot chocolate and cookies (yes, cookies!), and excellent company.
See you next time!
A couple of students from the Sunnyside Audubon StudentUrban Naturalists (SASUN) program joined in the Christmas Bird Count on Sunday. We slowly walked the nature tail at Tucson Audubon’s Mason Centerand carefully noted all of the bird species and individuals that we could find. House Finches and Mourning Doves were the most abundant species, and we also found a large group of 15 Gambel’s Quail, actively foraging on the ground. We were treated to the high-pitched “zing!” given by a male Costa’s Hummingbird in his display flight, and enjoyed an amazing closeup encounter with a Verdin. This American Kestrel gave us a nice long study as she surveyed the surrounding desert from on top of one of the magnificent saguaros at the Mason Center.
After we finished our count, we logged into ebird.org, a national bird sightings database, and uploaded a report of our excursion. It was abeautiful morning, brisk and sunny, and filled with good birding, yummy hot chocolate and cookies (yes, cookies!), and excellent company.
See you next time!
Comments
Post a Comment
Thanks, we value your opinions! Your comment will be reviewed before being published.