One of my biggest goals for my birding in Arizona is to get 200 species in every county. Arizona has 15 different counties, and to get 200 in each one, I have to explore each county pretty well while visiting a variety of different habitats and locations per county. Reaching that number isn't difficult, but it can be time consuming. It also requires multiple trips to each county and has to be done at different times of the year. Recently, I reached 200 species in my 13th county for Arizona, and that was Yuma County.
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Prairie Falcon, Yuma 2013
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Yuma County is one that I've talked a lot of crap about over the years. "It's freaking ugly". "There's no high elevations". "It's boring". "Black-chinned Sparrow and Black Rail are the only good birds Yuma County has". Those were examples of things I said. As I write now, I still think Yuma County has a lot of ugliness and boring stretches. However, I admit that after exploring it several times in the second half of 2020 and making a few trips in 2021's early going, I've realized that it has awesome bird diversity where you can see a lot of birds in any given day. It's full of migrant traps and has excellent shorebirding. It is a place in Arizona where birders can hear or maybe even see a local Black Rail (big emphasis on see). There's a local established population of Ring-necked Pheasants, a species which I have yet to see in Arizona. Abundant raptor numbers can be found in agricultural fields near the city of Yuma. The Yuma East and West Wetlands right in city provide birders with fantastic birding. In the more remote northeast section of Yuma County are the ruggedly beautiful Kofa Mountains within the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. This is probably my favorite spot in Yuma County, and a handful of birds in the Mohave desert within the refuge are local and range restricted on a county level.
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The famous Dateland
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Highlights of my path to 200 in Yuma County:
On October 25-26th of 2013, Susan, Barb, and Babs invited me to go on a trip with them to bird Yuma County for two days. For the first day, the four of us birded on our own, and on the second day, they hired Henry Detwiler to be our guide for a day. The first day gave us highlights of Red-shouldered Hawk, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Ridgway's Rail, and Greater White-fronted Goose with Aztec Feedlot and the Yuma Wetlands being key places that we stopped at. With Henry as our guide, he took us around many places in Yuma County with the city as our base. Locations we visited included Mittry Lake, Martinez Lake, Dome Valley, and the agricultural fields south of Yuma. The best highlight was hearing several vocal Black Rails for the first time. It was an awesome day, and we also had neat highlights of Bell's and Sagebrush Sparrows, White-throated Sparrow, Common Loon, Burrowing Owl, Dunlin, and numerous Ferruginous Hawks and Mountain Plovers in the agricultural fields south of Yuma. My first trip in Yuma County resulted in 119 different species over the two day span.
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Ferruginous Hawk, Yuma 2013
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On December 24th, 2013, Magill and I successfully chased an Arizona rarity in a White Ibis at the Yuma East Wetlands. It was a pretty long search, but luckily, our target did put in a brief appearance.
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White Ibis, Yuma East Wetlands 2013
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On February 13th, 2016, Dominic and I chased a cooperative Streak-backed Oriole at Riverside Park in Yuma. It was my lifebird and was Dominic's ABA lifer.
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Streak-backed Oriole, Yuma 2016
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On May 19th, 2018, Caleb and I chased a Kentucky Warbler that had been found by Chris McCreedy earlier in the day. We dipped on the Kentucky, but did have some other solid highlights that included Baltimore Oriole, Northern Parula, Swainson's Thrush, and Pyrrhuloxia.
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Baltimore Oriole, Dateland 2018
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On October 21st, 2019, it was an incredible day in Arizona birding as a Ruff showed up at the Aztec Feedlot. It was a shorebird that I had always wanted to see in Arizona, and one that everyone else wants to see too!
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Ruff with Greater Yellowlegs and Least Sandpiper
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On July 9th, 2020, Ronnie, Caleb, and I stopped at the pond at the Coyote Wash Golf Course, the Aztec Feedlot, and Spot Road Farm while returning from the Salton Sea. We had a Canada Goose at the Golf Course, a Red-necked Phalarope and Snowy Plover at Aztec, and then a Whimbrel and Willet at Spot Road.
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Whimbrel at Spot Road Farm
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On August 5th, 2020, Caleb, Ronnie and I went to Yuma County to chase a few Roseate Spoonbills found along the Gila River. We got the Spoonbills, and I also had 15 Yuma additions to bring my list to 169. Le Conte's Thrasher at Dateland as well as Baird's Sandpiper, Marbled Godwit, and Black-bellied Plover at Aztec Feedlot were other fun additions.
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Roseate Spoonbills, Gila River
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Le Conte's Thrasher, Dateland
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Black-bellied Plover, Aztec
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Marbled Godwit, Aztec
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On September 25th, the fine migrant trap of Dateland and sludge ponds of Aztec brought my Yuma list from 169 to 180 on a trip with Caleb. After Caleb found many rarities at Dateland earlier in the month, we didn't find anything too crazy. But an assortment of migrants were highlighted by Vaux's Swift and Lawence's Goldfinch. Aztec held Pectoral and Stilt Sandpipers, as well as a Semipalmated Plover.
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Stilt Sandpiper, Aztec
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On November 19th, a trip with Caleb and Mark was a good one and we birded Dateland, Aztec Feedlot, and Spot Road Farm before hitting up Maricopa County birding spots. Two Rufous-backed Robins highlighted Dateland, a Bonaparte's Gull highlighted Aztec, and McCown's and Chestnut-collared Longspurs were at Spot Road.
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Rufous-backed Robin, Dateland
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McCown's Longspur, Spot Road Farm
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On January 14th, 2021, I visited Spot Road Farm and Dateland. At Spot Road I got both Western and Mountain Bluebirds for the county, two species that are only present during some winters. At Dateland I found a Barn Owl. The owl became the 191st bird for my Yuma list.
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Mountain Bluebirds, Spot Road Farm
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A fun Yuma trek I took January 29th, 2021, was a trip where I realized I could reach the 200 mark. I decided to bird a few spots en route to the city of Yuma, bird around several awesome spots in the city itself, and then spend the second half of the day in the wonderful Kofa Mountains. Along the Gila River was a Cedar Waxwing and Redheads, two county lifers, and at the Cocopah RV Resort were four lifers in Violet-green Swallow, Canvasback, Snow Goose, and a surprise with Caspian Tern. The Yuma East Wetlands, an awesome birding spot, provided me with my 198th bird in a few flyover Pine Siskins.
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Caspian Tern, Cocopah Resort
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I saved the Kofa Mountains for my attempt at 200. These mountains, which are in midst of the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, host a cast of desert and foothills birds that aren't found elsewhere in Yuma County. Besides that, these mountains are very scenic and beautiful. The scenes were worth the trip alone!
A Golden Eagle flew overhead to give me 199. More importantly, Golden Eagles are pretty darn rare in Yuma County, and I was glad to get one. After enjoying the scenic Palm Canyon, which has a stand of native palm trees to Arizona, I went out into the nearby desert, where I got my 200th bird in a Cactus Wren. Not long after, my 201st became a Gilded Flicker. These two birds can only be found in this area in all of the county, and they provided the final margin for the day. The Kofas are a place I plan on returning soon for sure. There are many birds to get there, including Black-chinned Sparrows and Elf Owls.
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Palms of Palm Canyon
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Golden Eagle over Palm Canyon
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Cactus Wren near Palm Canyon, my 200th
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Yuma County has become my 13th county in Arizona where I have gotten 200 species or more in. Only Mohave and La Paz counties remain. As I've said before, to get 200 in a county means you have to explore each county pretty thouroughly, where it isn't hard, but requires quite a few trips to visit a good selection of habitats, as well as visiting in multiple seasons. It also boosts knowledge very well on Arizona birding, and knowing things about each county makes future trip planning smooth. In my future trips to Yuma County, I want to explore more of the Kofas, to explore more migrant traps at key times of year, and I'd love to get my state Ring-necked Pheasant, and see a Black Rail for the first time. I'll also add that I like Yuma County now. Wouldn't say I love it, but I like it.
