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As we were driving to visit an area of the Santa Cruz River, Lance and I had to laugh. Just two short years ago we would have never entertained the idea of driving somewhere just to see a bunch of birds. In my family birders were affectionately called “Bird Brains.” Funny how life changes.

Of course, we don’t go just for the birds, we have always loved the outdoors. The fresh air and exercise rejuvenates us plus nature usually has a few surprises for us. With our current location being quite urban and recent minor injuries slowing us down, we were happy to explore these nearby oases that support so much life.

As we mentioned before we have been visiting Sweetwater Wetlands at least once a week, usually in the late afternoon. Recently we were treated to a dizzying flight show by Cliff Swallows. Far too fast for me to photograph, we had fun just trying to follow them as they swerved and darted low over the water in their search for insects.

A special treat was a feeding Sora. I think of them as rather secretive but this one was busy searching in the mud for something to eat and didn’t seem to notice us. I think they look so funny with their short tails.

We also scored a close-up photo-op with a male Cooper’s Hawk. The small raptor was completely disinterested in us but we enjoyed watching him. Strange but true: female raptors are larger than their male partners purportedly so they can protect their eggs and offspring from the ever hungry males.

A new area for us, randomly discovered while searching the Internet, is the Ina Road Dam area. After crossing the Santa Cruz bridge on Ina Road we drove off the shoulder into the desert. Don’t worry, it isn’t pristine desert, the area was once gouged out as a gravel pit. The drive was worth it. The Santa Cruz River, which runs from south to north when it flows, always has water in it here because of the release of treated effluent from the Ina Road Treatment plant.

The water actually comes out warm which seems to please the large group of birds in the river. In a nice change from Sweetwater there were quite a few shorebirds. Our first visit was early in the morning and we had fun watching Black-necked Stilts walk in and out of the mist. There had to have been at least 100 of them. They are so strikingly colored. We know there were some Killdeer but the smaller ones have us stumped. I’m pretty sure there were some Least Sandpipers but the slightly larger ones could have been just about any shorebird. They are definitely not easy to identify.

We were pleasantly surprised by a few shy Northern Pintails and Green-winged Teals hanging out on the far side of the river. Several smallish birds hopping around on the dry riverbed caught our eyes and turned out to be our first Horned Larks. Nearby was a turtle, making its way back to the water. Never a dull moment!

A return visit in the late afternoon didn’t net us any new birds, although we did get close looks at a Cooper’s Hawk, a Red-tailed Hawk and a Harris’s Hawk. Such impressive looking birds. A snippet of a howl across the river caught our attention and sure enough, walking rather nonchalantly up the far bank were three good-sized coyotes. They were so indifferent to our presence that one of them laid down and yawned in our general direction. Oh, they clearly knew where we were—they just knew we were too far away to be a threat. Smart animals…

Our other bird spot was Reid Park. The large park and zoo complex near the center of town was named after a relative of mine, second cousin or something, who was instrumental in its establishment. We figured we’d see some ducks and we weren’t disappointed. Along with the expected Mallards we also saw Ring-necked Ducks, Canvasbacks and Redheads.

Away from the water we were delighted to come across the bright and beautiful Vermilion Flycatcher. What a stunner—not as vibrant but just as fun to watch was a Say’s Phoebe, doing loop-de-loops. A smaller bird nearby (in this case size is relative), was a talkative Magnificent Hummingbird.

Not bad birding in a city of a million people… We will be moving to a new RV park in the Tucson area this weekend and we are looking forward to finding new haunts and new birds. We’ll be sure to keep you posted.

Photos: View our photographs from birding in Tucson.