Corvid 2020 > COVID-19!

Corvid 2020 is the name of our Birdathon Team. Allow us to explain. 2020 is clearly going to go down as the year of COVID-19. As we all know, the virus is making people very sick and taking too many lives. It is wreaking havoc on our health, wellness, social systems, educational systems, financial systems — nearly every aspect of our lives is in some state of turmoil. Our wonderful nonprofits large and small are in trouble just like so many local businesses and institutions. This is our way of doing our part to help one nonprofit that is near and dear to our hearts — Tucson Audubon Society.

But what is a Corvid, you ask? Corvid is the name of the corvidae family of birds that includes ravens, jays and crows, and they just may be the smartest birds in the world. (Read more about how smart they are here:  https://www.ranker.com/list/smart-bird-corvids-facts/chase-christy) Corvids take care of their own, they’re bold and brash, and a raven on the wing almost-always looks like it’s having a great time.

Corvids are clearly superior to COVIDs in every way, so we want to do our part to make sure that Corvids get the attention they so clearly deserve during this year of the pandemic.

We are Kimberlyn Drew, Andy Moore, and Phoebe Drew Moore. We are Corvid 2020!

Please join us in supporting the Corvids by making a contribution of any size — either through a one-time donation right now or with a per-species pledge to our Birdathon -- to Tucson Audubon Society. Thank you.

Corvid 2020’s Birdathon Details: 

We plan to do a Traditional Birdathon. This is our first time doing this, so bear with us as we are learning as we go. Andy, who did a Pima County Big Year last year, is carefully planning our 24 hour dash to find as many bird species as we can from midnight to midnight sometime between now and the end of Birdathon, 5/7. Two of us are old, and all of us need our beauty sleep, so this time will involve some breaks. It will involve multiple locations, likely at different elevations, and we will do our best to maintain physical distancing (while using masks and hand sanitizer as necessary) from others we encounter to keep everyone safe. We will be visiting places we have birded and/or hiked before, in most cases places with which we are VERY familiar, to minimize any risk to ourselves or need for any type of assistance. We will keep you posted on our plans, and most-importantly will be sure to tell you about our excursions and the birds we saw and heard along the way. If you choose to make a per-species pledge, then figure we could easily find anywhere from 75-100+ different species, depending on luck and stamina.

Here it is... Corvid 2020 Birdathon Results!

Summary: Andy, Kimberlyn & Phoebe did a 24-hour Birdathon, Saturday 4/25 from midnight to midnight. We found a total of 131 species of birds, most by seeing them but quite a few by hearing them, across several locations — Madera, Florida, and Box Canyons in the Santa Ritas, Canoa Ranch, Sam Lena Park, Sweetwater Wetlands, various locations on Mt. Lemmon, and our own backyard. Andy, our eBird expert, submitted 25 checklists to eBird, one for each location where a bird/s was found. 

Here’s the Story…

We spent Friday night at the lovely Santa Rita Lodge in Madera Canyon, to position ourselves in a very-birdy place. We started our day at 5:00 in the morning, walking the road and enjoying all the bird songs and calls. Highlights include 3 Elegant Trogons bark-bark-barking (one of which we got to lay our eyes on), Elf Owl, Whiskered Screech Owl, and various flycatchers. The feeders of course were also productive — the Broad-billed and Rivoli’s Hummingbirds were busy and the Wild Turkeys were doing silly turkey things like strutting about, gobbling loudly and perching precariously on top of the feeders. A harder-to-find Arizona Woodpecker made an appearance. 

About 7:00 we drove over to neighboring Florida Canyon to see what we could find there, with a stop on the way at “the corral” for desert birds. The canyon was lovely of course, with flowing water and blooming Parry’s Penstemons and Golden Columbine. The first big bird treat was watching a Golden Eagle soaring high above us. There were also plenty of Tanagers, Scott’s Orioles, Hammond’s and Dusky Flycatchers, along with a Northern Beardless Tyrannulet. Unfortunately Florida proved to be quieter than usual, so we didn’t spend as much time there as we had estimated.

Since we cut our time at Florida short, we had time to drive over to Box Canyon, where we found Rock Wren, Black-chinned Sparrow, Costa’s Hummingbird and Yellow Warbler. The highlight was when a small flock of White-throated Swifts flew close-enough overhead to clearly appreciate their elegant black-and-white markings.

Then it was back to Madera to collect the kid, check out, double-check the feeders for anything new and hightail it out of there to Canoa Ranch. This was Kimberlyn and Phoebe’s first visit to Canoa Ranch. We enjoyed the walk around the pond, where we found Redheads and an American Avocet, and were excited to see the beginnings of a wetlands area that they have created to the North. The grounds around the buildings were closed, but we enjoyed watching a Vermillion Flycatcher doing its thing by the grass and spotted a Bronzed Cowbird on a wire. This is where we also picked up a Say’s Phoebe, though Phoebe’s favorite Phoebe is the Black Phoebe, which somehow eluded us entirely.

Phoebe practiced highway driving to get us to Sam Lena Park, with a quick-but-fruitless look at the dirt embankment in front of the Chuze Fitness for burrowing owls on the way. Andy got out the scope to scan the big retention basin, which produced both aquatic birds and shorebirds — a group of Neotropic Cormorants, Black-necked Stilts, Least and Spotted Sandpipers, and one Western Sandpiper. Then as we exited, we stopped and found the pair of Chihuahuan Ravens on one of the big light fixtures at the ball field. 

Phoebe got more freeway-driving practice taking us North from there to Sweetwater Wetlands in the heat of the 99-degree day. Unfortunately due to the volume of school-at-home homework, Kimberlyn had to take Phoebe home so she could get back at it, while Andy worked over the wetlands for every species he could find. He did a great job, as he racked up 39 species on that checklist, though of course not all of them were new for the day. His highlights for the stop included Marsh Wren, Mexican Duck, Common Yellowthroat, and hearing a Sora in the reeds. 

From there Kimberlyn and Andy “flew” (not really, just using a birdy verb) across town and up the Catalina Highway to Mt. Lemmon. Fortunately by that time of day, there were more cars going down the than going up, though there were still a lot of people up there enjoying the cool air and natural beauty, so we chose our stops carefully. We started at less-popular Incinerator Ridge, which didn’t disappoint, and found a beautiful migrating Hermit Warbler in full breeding plumage. Then we found the Nuthatches and Mountain Chickadee at Mt. Bigelow Road, and may have heard a (hard-to-find) Northern Goshawk, which we didn’t count since we weren’t sure. Since we still had daylight to kill, and apparently energy, we drove up to check the feeders at Mt. Lemmon Realty in Summerhaven, which produced Pine Siskin and Hairy Woodpecker, then on to Marshall Gulch for Hermit Thrush in the lovely low twilight on the trail. Next we set off to Bear Wallow, where we heard a Northern Saw-whet Owl over the din of noisy campers. We checked General Hitchcock for the Flammulated Owl we’ve found in the past without success, but enjoyed finding another Elf Owl. 

We drove into our driveway at almost 10:00pm, and were rewarded with both Great Horned and Western Screech Owls calling in welcome, then with a beer on the deck we listened to the last bird of the day, Lesser Nighthawk.

Feel free to check out Andy’s eBird checklists from the day for all the gory details and exactly which birds we saw and where.

Thanks again, all, for your support of Corvid 2020!

Pledges

• Kimberlyn Drew: $1/species and $2 for every owl seen or heard
• Nancy Moore: $0.50/species
• Don Cox: $0.25/species with a minimum $20 donation!
• Richard Carlson: $1/species
• David Dunford: $0.50/species
• Marcia Grand: $10/species

..DONATE (PAY NOW)..          ..PLEDGE (PAY LATER)..

Birds have a unique, special, and different meaning to each of us. So, too, is each of our connection with Tucson Audubon Society personal and distinct. During Birdathon, we combine the love of bird watching during spring migration with support for bird conservation.

Birdathoners are birders and social fundraisers, joining together to make a difference for the birds and habitats of Southeast Arizona. Birdathoners continue a tradition that has held strong for over 30 years! 

Each Birdathoner's personal network of supporters is what helps makes Birdathon possible. 

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• Make checks payable to: Tucson Audubon Society
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  Tucson Audubon Society
  300 E University Blvd #120
  Tucson, AZ 85705

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