August 16, 2008
by George Wall

Two carloads of birders met at the Tempe Library to carpool to the Pinal Peak area above Globe. It was a great trip with some unexpected things happening. As soon as we got onto the dirt road to the peak, we started birding. Our leader, Dr. David Pearson, used his knowledge to draw out several nice species like the Rufous-crowned and Black-chinned sparrows. Further up the mountain, he called in many warblers like the Olive, Grace’s and Nashville. The highlight of the morning was a Northern Goshawk flying overhead.

By the time we had lunch at one of the many picnic grounds, we were already over 60 species and we hadn’t even got to the hummingbird feeders in the cabin area or the peak itself. We were expecting to find 10 or more species in the after lunch phase. We were rudely interrupted! Clouds suddenly moved in and lightning was flashing. We hurriedly bundled up our remainder of our lunches and jumped into our vehicles hoping the storm would dissipate as journey up the road. Suddenly hail and rain (more hail than rain) started pouring down. Soon the ground was covered with a white layer of hail. It got so bad that we had to park and try to wait it out. It didn’t stop and this forced us to turn around and head back down the mountain. The unexpected had occurred, but it wasn’t over yet.

About half way down the mountain, we were stopped by flashing lights ahead of us. Three sheriff’s cars had a pickup truck surrounded. They ended up handcuffing a person who didn’t understand English and taking him away. We watched the proceedings unfold, but the procedure kept us waiting for over a half an hour. We finally arrived back in Tempe around 3:15 p.m. Even with the side tracks, it was a great day of birding.

Here are the 69 species seen or heard: Turkey Vulture, Northern Goshawk, Zone-tailed Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Gambel’s Quail, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian ollared-Dove, Mourning Dove, White-winged Dove, Inca Dove (seen a the library), Black-chinned Hummingbird, Anna’s Hummingbird, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Rufous Hummingbird, Acorn Woodpecker (h), Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker (h), Purple Martin, Violet-green Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow Last bird seen by some at a rest stop), Phainopepla (most prevalent bird of the day), Cactus Wren (h), Bewick’s Wren, Northern Mockingbird, Curve-billed Thrasher, Crissal Thrasher, Hermit Thrush, Bushtits, Mountain Chickadee, Bridled Titmouse, Juniper Titmouse (h), Pygmy Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper (h), Verdin, Stellar’s Jay (h), Western Scrub-Jay, Common Raven, House Sparrow, Plumbeous Vireo, Hutton’s Vireo, Warbling Vireo, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Olive Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Virginia’s Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Grace’s Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Wilson’s Warbler, Red-faced Warbler, Painted Redstart, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Hepatic Tanager (h), Western Tanager, Spotted Towhee, Canyon Towhee, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Black-chinned Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Yelloweyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, Black-headed Grosbeak and Great-tailed Grackle.