Sycamore Canyon: Maricopa

Friday, April 30, 2010

End of Month eBird Stats

The "Birding from Dawn to Dusk posts will have to take a break as I am over in Maricopa for a few days staying with a friend. In my spare time I am watching birds and while I have access to a computer I do not have a way to upload photos. Once again a picture-less post. However, since this is the last day of the month I decided to update all my eBird stats. So many things have changed since the end of Big January. I have now been across 8 states and numerous counties. Migration is in full swing and species are returning to Sycamore Canyon and all of Arizona. So, here are my latest statistics as of April 30, 2010

LIfe List: 378

Year List: 208

Month List: 121

Total checklists: 1936

Year checklists: 413

Month checklists: 74

AZ Life List: 249

AZ Year: 169

AZ Counties

Pima Life: 225

Pima Year: 141

Pima Month: 99

Santa Cruz Life: 158

Santa Cruz Year: 106

Santa Cruz Month: 34

Cochise Life: 110

Cochise year: 77

Cochise Month: 39

Pinal Life: 91

Pinal year: 29

Pinal Month: 29

Maricopoa Life: 53

Maricopa Year: 23

Gila Life: 15

Graham Life: 8

Yavapai Life: 3

Coconino Life: 3

Utah Life List: 147

West Virginia Life List 106

Connecticut Life: 91

Maine Life List: 85

Florida Life List: 65

New Mexico Life List: 59

New Mexico Year List: 50

Oklahoma Life List: 53

Oklahoma Year List 49

Alabama Life List: 47

Ohio Life List: 44

Washington Life List: 38

Colorado Life List: 34

New York Life List: 30

Kentucky Life List: 29

Wyoming Life List 20

Tennessee Life List: 20

Arkansas Life List: 19

Massachusetts Life List: 18

Mississippi Life List: 12

Idaho: 10

Texas: 9

New Hampshire : 8

North Dakota: 6

Rhode Island 2

New Brunswick, Canada: 2

South Dakota: 1

These are my stats so far. Where the Life List and Year List data are the same I have entered only one statistic. New States with new bird counts this year are in italics. Have fun birding. All of this data is not only fun for me to see but it helps eBird track birding populations. For people who have been counting birds along the gulf coast their data will help to prove the impact this huge oil spill will have on birding populations. These are bird list that will help the birds, so get out there and count when you can and please help preserve habitat for the birds!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

My World: Maricopa

Burrowing owl in Maricopa, AZ 9-29-09

Maricopa is a small town in the west desert of Arizona. Despite its name, it is not in Maricopa county, but rather, it is in Pinal county. Though it has been in existence for quite a long time, it has only recently started growing with the housing boom of the early 2000's. since then it has grown to a town of over 32,000. However, like everywhere else in Arizona, that housing boom has now subsided and the building has stopped. Yet, as this town has grown, so have the town parks and man-made lakes, giving rise to new birding habitat as well as the loss of other habitats.

Desert Wind Middle School

I found myself here last week to do a bird presentation for a friend of mine who teaches 7th grade science in the Desert Wind Middle School.

I set up the class with some of my paintings, a few issues of Bird Watcher's Digest and a PowerPoint presentation with photos from my blog and my bird watching adventures. Each class was different but in all classes there were students who were interested and engaged. I did 3 presentations a day for two days.

Mrs. Parker, the science teacher.

Inbetween classes I went out birdwatching. I found these Neotropic Cormorants in a park at Rancho Mirage

And this one roosting in a tree at Pacana Park!

This Great Egret was there as well.

While this yellow-rumped warbler clung to Bird of paradise flowers in Rancho Mirage.

One of Mrs. Parker's Students told us where to find some burrowing owls. It ends up that these owls were relocated form habit lost to development. There were six man-made clusters of burrows with owls in each cluster. I took Ashley Parker out bird watching with me and we counted 18 different owls in this location!

I like the owls so much that I couldn't resist showing you more photos. So, Here is a Gallery of burrowing owls for you viewing pleasure.