Each March hundreds of Raptors migrate into Southern Arizona from Mexico along the Santa Cruz River. And hundreds of birders gather at Ron Morriss Park in Tubac to watch and count. Of particular interest are three rare hawks to the United States: Common Black Hawk, Zone-Tailed Hawk, and Gray Hawk. The "official" count is important to understand whether the population of each species is stable or not.
Other raptors are seen as well: Cooper's Hawk, Red Tailed Hawk, Crested Caracara, and Turkey Vulture, (as well as lots of Ravens).
Most of the activity occurs between 8:00 am and 11:00 am. Unfortunately (for me) that is our busiest time of day and busiest time of year at the Bed and Breakfast and so I have been unable to get there in past years. But, yesterday Christine gave me the morning off and I headed down to Tubac.
Getting an early start, I was the second to arrive. At 8:35 the first Common Black Hawk arrived and gave me my best photo of the day. Ten minutes later two Zone Tailed Hawks put on a nice show.
By 10:00 am there were a hundred or so people but very little raptor activity. There was a group of 15 or so Ravens, and another group of 15 or so Turkey Vultures.
There were a couple groups of raptors far away on the east side of the Santa Cruz River but I couldn't really tell what they were.
A Cooper's Hawk circled nicely above us and a Red Tailed Hawk joined in with the Turkey Vultures, but by most accounts it was a slower day than the past couple of days. The "official" count from the day before was 59 Common Black Hawks. I haven't seen the official count for yesterday, but I only could identify 7 Black Hawks, 6 Zone Tails, and no Grays up until 11:00 when I headed off.
There were a couple groups of raptors far away on the east side of the Santa Cruz River but I couldn't really tell what they were.
A Cooper's Hawk circled nicely above us and a Red Tailed Hawk joined in with the Turkey Vultures, but by most accounts it was a slower day than the past couple of days. The "official" count from the day before was 59 Common Black Hawks. I haven't seen the official count for yesterday, but I only could identify 7 Black Hawks, 6 Zone Tails, and no Grays up until 11:00 when I headed off.
Here are a few of my photos:
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| Common Black Hawk |
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| Cooper's Hawk |
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| Red Tailed Hawk, Turkey Vulture, Raven |
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| Zone Tailed Hawk |
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