The luggage was supposed to arrive during the night...but it didn't, giving the day a negative start. John made arrangements to have the bags delivered to George West's house and left outside if no one was home. They did arrive sometime around noon and George brought them in when he got back from a junket to Mexico to get duty free supplies. On the other hand John and I went birding along Santa Gertrudis Lane south of Tumacacori. There had been a giant hedge of pyracanthus in full berry, but lately all the berries have been eaten, leaving a pretty bare offering for the birds. There were Western Bluebirds, mockingbirds, Hermit Thrushes of the western variety, and one American Robin feeding there. But no Rufous-backed Robin. We'll have to hope that the Boyce Thompson bird(s) hold up for another week. We did have a nice Crissal Thrasher (web photo) and some other ancillary pickups during our morning of birding.
At lunchtime we went back to sort out John's outdoor wear that was delivered. We also got to see George's hummingbirds, Anna and Costa. George bands hummingbirds during the summer season. In the afternoon we headed for the upper Florida Wash area where a Rufous-crowned Warbler has been seen on and off. It was raining with the temperature in the low forties. Our directions turned out not to be precise enough and we finally turned around after a significant climb without seeing much except a Canyon Towhee. A ride up into Madera Canyon found the rain turning to sleet and then to snow with an appreciable accumulation at 5400 feet. The total of new birds for the day was eleven bringing the species total to 311.
Right - the rufous-backed robins at Boyce-Thompson also used to frequent some berry trees in the vicinity of a little stone cottage on the property, but I don't know if that is what they are doing this year. I saw Hutton's vireo by that little house this year, but I am sure you'll get that elsewhere before then.
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