Results from Global Big Day Oct 10, 2026

Starting just before 6am, I stepped outside my house in Hereford and saw the 1st bird of the day, a male Anna's Hummingbird cheerfully greeting me with his scratchy song. While putting out fresh seed our local Great Horned Owl gave his last call of the night before drifting off to sleep. Birds started pouring in to grab a snack as I sipped my coffee. Gambel's Quail, Cactus Wren, Curve-billed Thrasher, Pyrrhuloxia, Northern Cardinal, Chipping & White-crowned Sparrows, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch and a host of doves were quickly added. Holly and I decided on driving down Hereford Road and exploring a few side tracks. She was more interested in Desert Cottontails than birds, but her wagging tail made me smile. Birds we coming fast a furious and we quickly added; American Kestrel, Red-tailed Hawk, Gila & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Northern (Red-shafted) Flicker, Cassin's Kingbird, Verdin, Green-tailed, Canyon & Abert's Towhees, Lincoln's, Black-throated, Cassin's, Brewer's & Rufous-winged Sparrow and Blue Grosbeak.

After and nice sleep, my sister decided on joining us for the rest of the day and spotted several new additions to our fast growing list.

Next up was the lower reaches of Carr Canyon. Here we added; Wild Turkey, Cooper's Hawk, Arizona Woodpecker, Mexican Jay, Bridled Titmouse, Bewick's Wren, Phainopepla, Townsend's Warbler and Bush Tit. While leaving Carr Canyon we also spotted a colorful, 3 foot long Chiricahuan Mountain-Kingsnake crossing the dirt track. What an amazing snake!

A brief stop at Ash Canyon added a couple of birds, but most were duplicates from earlier in the morning. Rufous & Black-chinned Hummingbirds and Gray Hawk were seen and we were off to the nearby Coronado Memorial entrance road.

Chihuahuan Meadowlark, Vesper & Botteri's Sparrows and Loggerhead Shrike were the only notables from this short drive to the entrance of the park.

After stopping for gasoline in Bisbee, we continued to Whitewater Draw near McNeal. The wetlands were productive and we found some nice stuff. Our first bird here, was a shy Virginia Rail spotted by my sister and was quickly followed by a Sora preening in the deep reeds. A few Sandhill Cranes were present as well as a few duck species. Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler and Mallard were were added. Pied-billed Grebe, American Avocet, White-faced Ibis, Killdeer, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Northern Harrier, Marsh Wren, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-headed & Red-winged Blackbirds, Song & Lark Sparrows and Lark Bunting were all ticked off the list. As we were leaving, a Merlin flushed a few Least Sandpipers and we were ready to try our luck in the high elevation pine forest at Rustler Park.

While in route to Rustler Park, a juvenile Peregrine Falcon gently soared above the highway and my sister spotted our first Greater Roadrunner. The birding in the highlands was slow at first, however it picked up nicely and we were able to add some great birds. A small flock of Clark's Nutcrackers were spotted feeding high in the pines and Cassin's Finches were seemingly everywhere. Hairy & Acorn Woodpeckers, Red-naped Sapsucker, Western Bluebird, Pygmy, White-breasted & Red-breasted Nuthatches, Mexican Chickadee, Steller's Jay, Painted Redstart, Dark-eyed (Red-backed) & Yellow-eyed Juncos and Pine Siskin were all documented in this area. My sister spotted a lone Band-tailed Pigeon as we descended to the finish line of the Twin Lakes Wetlands in Willcox.

We found ourselves rushing to arrive in Willcox before the rapidly fading sun ended our outing. We had minimal viewing opportunities as we arrived about 15 minutes after sundown. However, Ruddy Duck, American Wigeon and Great Egret were barely visible in the wetlands.

All said and done, we finished with 109 species on the day and we now have a new benchmark for next year. It was lots of fun and I certainly recommend participating in this global big day birding event.