Arizona February 2025...post #3 Sweetwater and Catalina State Park

  A trip to Tucson for birds always includes Sweetwater.  It is a water treatment facility with a wetlands area.  This year there was plenty of water and things were more open then usual.  They had burned off the tall grasses making it easier to see at this time.

This was exciting!  A Green Heron was eating a frog.  We could see it had something but I didn't know what until we got the photos on the computer.  Mike took some of these.  I was having trouble seeing over the reeds.  Not sure who took what.

What a mouthful!

He struggled with it for quite a while before he managed to swallow it!

Someone had reported an egret but misidentified it.  A Snowy Egret, I believe.

With the water areas opened up it was easier to see all of these birds.

Common Moorhen, but not common to me.

I think this is a Pintail with its head tucked in. 

I knew this was a bug eating bird but finally found out it is the female Vermillion Flycatcher.  I've never seen the female before!

Vermillion Flycatcher male.

Mallards

There was a large area with shallow water that had 100's of ducks in it.

I know I saw Mallards, Shovelers, Teal, Wigeon, Pintail, and Black ducks

American Wigeon

These last two are a Ruddy Duck.  Mike took one of these.

......

We also stopped by Catalina State Park and I picked up another new bird...the following 3 photos.

I had to check the Merlin app to identify this one.  A Rufous Winged Sparrow.  The face and throat marks were very distinctive.

In the same area I found a Ruby Crowned Kinglet that was grooming itself and willing to show off the ruby crown marking.

Ground squirrels

Just as we were driving out of the park we saw some large birds in a tree.  Meadowlarks!  What a nice surprise.  I hope they are western Meadowlarks because that would be another new bird.  They get both Eastern and Western Meadowlarks there so I don't know.  Merlin says Western so that is what I want to believe!