We had another beautiful day in Arizona for our trip to Arlington Valley. Our first stop in the valley was along one of the roads where we spotted Burrowing Owls. At the ponds on Lower River Road, there were several gulls that got our interest. It was here that we met up with birder Mel Herring who is very familiar with shore birds. She explained to us the differences between the Ring-billed and California Gulls that were on the pond. This was also a day for Egrets as they were everywhere in great numbers. Hawks were out in force - lots of Harriers and Red-tails. The bird of the day though was the Black Vulture as we had five soaring overhead. Altogether we saw 52 different species.

Birds seen or heard: Pied-billed Grebe, Eared Grebe, Neotropic Cormorant, Doublecrested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Cattle Egret, Whitefaced Ibis, Black Vulture, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Mallard, Northern Shoveler, Osprey, Northern Harrier, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Gambel's Quail, American Coot, Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, Ring-billed Gull, California Gull, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian-collared Dove, Mourning Dove, Inca Dove, Greater Roadrunner, Burrowing Owl, Gila Woodpecker, Black Phoebe, Say's Phoebe, Vermillion Flycatcher, Loggerhead Shrike, Common Raven, Horned Lark, Rock Wren, Marsh Wren(H), European Starling, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Abert's Towhee, Brewer's Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Song Sparrow(H), White-crowned Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Western Meadowlark, Brewer's Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, House Finch, House Sparrow.

Birders: Carol Sharplin, Joyce Eggert, Carol Anne Kinney, Chuck and Loretta Richards, Dan Bohlmann, Tom Lazzelle, Marilyn McMahon and Donna Smith (leader).