Belated Score

(photo:Robert Royse)
On January 10 I had a slow day up Madera Canyon in Arizona looking or Crescent-chested Warbler--which would have been a new ABA bird for me. But I was denied! However, while I was up spending a quiet morning in the canyon, I did see a nice "Red-backed" Dark-eyed Junco. I just found out this morning that this is a very rare bird in the area. According to Rich Hoyer, "there are about 6 records of Crescent-chested Warbler in the past 10 years, compared to about 4 or 5 for Red-backed Junco." So, at one level, its even more rare than the bird I missed. A nice consolation prize. And BTW, this is one of the sharper of the various types of Dark-eyed Junco. Just look at this beauty. I think it should be considered its own separate species, don't you!?!