More Maricopa Birding

The more time that I spend birding in Maricopa County in Arizona, the more I begin to appreciate the birding diversity and what can be found.  It is a large county in area and covers a very diverse number of different ecological habitats.  For those readers that are not aware, yes, I am doing a Maricopa County 'Big Year'.  Final numbers will be released in January of next year in a separate blog post.  I plan on recapping some of the highlights and point out some of the incredible birds that can occur in Maricopa County.  Included in this post are a few of the great birds that have been added in just the month of December.

 Reports of a Tundra Swan returning to a golf course in Sun City West was intriguing to a lot of birders, and after some great sleuth work by friends Chris Rohrer and Magill Weber, it has become clear that this bird is most likely a 'wild' bird and not a captive bird as it has returned several years in a row.  Not really unexpected at this time of year, because Prescott, AZ, almost annually has Tundra Swans that overwinter in their surrounding lakes.  Why this Tundra Swan returns to the same location to hang out with one of the captive and tame Mute Swans is a bit perplexing, but it apparently has found a safe winter haven at this golf course.

 Tundra Swan

Tundra Swan dwarfing an American Coot

The Mute Swan is much larger than the Tundra Swan and it is also fairly tame, looking for handouts from humans.  It also approached me fairly quickly and came closer to me than the Tundra, which seemed to be a bit more cautious.

Mute Swan

Mute Swan - Close-up showing how tame it was

This pond also had a few Hooded Mergansers, and I never pass up a chance to photograph one of these beauties.

Hooded Mergansers - male and female

From this location and while I was in the western part of the valley, I headed out to the Buckeye/Arlington area to see if I could locate a Ross's Goose that had been in the company of 2 Snow Geese at Lower River Ponds.  Turned out to be an easy find, but at the distance where they were roosting, scope views were the best I could do to confirm the ID of the ROGO.  Never saw what spooked all the birds, but whatever it was, just about everything took flight and that is when I was able to get better looks and also a couple of photos.

 Ross's Goose in the middle with 2 Snow Goose

 Ross's Goose with 3 Snow Goose

Ross's Goose on the right with 2 Snow Goose

A drive through the agricultural lands out there is always prudent to see what else might be found.  At this time of year, the raptors are some of the stars with Red-tailed Hawks being the most numerous Buteo.  Here are a couple of photos that show the stark diversity in appearance of these raptors.  They can fool many novice birders due to their extreme differences in appearance, especially in western United States.

 Red-tailed Hawk - dark morph

  'Harlan's' Red-tailed Hawk - light morph - incredibly this is the 9th year for this hawk to return to the same place for the winter in Arlington

  On the day that I was exploring out west, birding buddy, Tommy DeBardeleben, was following up on a report of a Hooded Warbler that was discovered by Troy Corman the day before.  He was able to locate this bird and he proceeded to provide very good instructions on locating it in Seven Spring Wash.  This is not a place for a lot of people to undertake without a lot of hiking experience and some surefooted hiking abilities; no marked trail in a canyon with rocks and flowing water.  The Hooded Warbler is a bird that I had only seen once before and that was in May 2014 at High Island, Texas, and it was a fleeting glimpse at that.  I was not sure what my chances were in locating this one, but surprisingly, it was the 4 species of bird that I found on this trek.  I caught a glimpse of it and followed up with a view in my binoculars to make sure it was the right bird.  It quickly disappeared around a bend in the stream, but I cautiously followed and got a another quick view and was only able to get this horrible shot of it.

Hooded Warbler - the crappy first photo

Then I lost it and could not relocate it, however, I kept moving downstream looking for a Pacific Wren that Tommy had also discovered (but I was not so fortunate).  Finally, I returned back up the stream and when I reached the spot where the Hooded Warbler was originally seen, I decided to sit and wait awhile to see if it would return.  Sure enough,  about 15 minutes later, it did return,  Still kept its distance downstream, but this time I got a little better photos.  Would have like to have gotten better, but I can live with these photos.

 Hooded Warbler

A Painted Lady kept me occupied during my wait.

Painted Lady

About 5 days later, birding phenom, Caleb Strand and Laura Ellis, had a Long-tailed Duck fly by them at Lake Pleasant.  Did not think that it was chase-able at this point, but incredibly, Louis Hoeniger, then reported one the next day at Glendale Recharge Ponds.  Strangely, the first time I had seen this duck was at the exactly the same location on December 24, 2013, and it was a one-day wonder.  Then this past June, while in Wisconsin, I had the pleasure of seeing a stunning male, but it was far away and in some fairly turbid water, making it impossible for photos.  I headed out to Glendale Recharge Ponds within 30 minutes of the notification.  Once there, it did not take long to locate it, although it spent more time submerged and foraging than above the water.  This one was even better looking than the one from 3 years before.

Long-tailed Duck

On December 14th, I took part in the Salt/Verde Rivers CBC.  At the end of the day, one of the teams reported a Northern Waterthrush at Coon Bluff along the Salt River.  Well, this bird actually turned out to be a Louisiana Waterthrush, which is rarer, but very similar in appearance.  Tommy and I quickly made plans to try for it the next day.  We arrived early and found Ryan O'Donnell already at the spot also looking for it.  With 3 of us looking and listening, we definitely had improved our odds of finding it.  Eventually, Ryan spotted it and we followed it around to several of its favorite spots, but always staying a bit secretive and hard-to-get.  We were all getting mediocre photos of it during this time, so when it finally decided to do some foraging in the sunlight, it presented us with much better photos.  Ironically, I had only seen this species once before in southeastern Arizona and it was a fleeting glimpse of it when Tommy, Mark Ochs, and I took a trip on December 14, 2013.  That encounted was also 3 years ago.  I had never photographed this species until now, so this was a redemption viewing for me.  I liked these results so much more.

 Louisiana Waterthrush

A couple other photos from this location consist of an American Pipit, perched in an unusual spot at the top of a tree, and a Spotted Sandpiper also along the same water edge as the Louisiana Waterthrush.  Incidentally, the sandpiper and the waterthrush, both dip and bob their rear ends as they forage.  Quite an interesting behavior trait to observe at the same time on 2 different species.

 American Pipit in a tree - a rather rare perch for this species

Spotted Sandpiper

What more will I be able to add to my Maricopa list this year?  Maybe nothing, but the month of December is not over and who knows what might show up in the last couple of weeks.  Only time will tell.

    

   

Mongolia and Mexico Comes to Arizona

Needless to say, it has been a very unusual year for birds in Arizona.  Earlier this year a Pine Flycatcher was discovered in southeast Arizona, which was a first for this species in Arizona, but even more astonishing is the fact that it was also a first record for the United States.  Then in September Hurricane Newton arrived by moving up the Gulf of California from the Pacific Ocean and made its way over the desert into southeastern Arizona, where it fell apart.  But in its wake, it left many pelagic (ocean) birds that did not belong in the desert.  Many of these species had never been recorded in Arizona.

Now to the Mongolia connection to this post.  In October another new discovery was made in the northern part of Arizona.  Thanks to Jason Wilder and Chuck LaRue, they discovered a new bird for Arizona at a small mud pond in Coconino County.  This pond is actually named Round Cedar Lake, but in my humble opinion, it is far from being a lake at least at this time.  Maybe in the past it was a larger body of water, but not this year.  These 2 birders discovered a Lesser Sand Plover.  This a bird that is native to Asia; where it breeds in Siberia and winters in eastern Africa, southern Asia, and southeastern Australasia.  It has bred in Alaska, but that is rare.  The few sightings of this bird generally occur on the west coast and almost never found inland.  But this one found its way to Arizona and put itself in the record books for the state.  The scientific name of this bird is (Charadrius mongolus), hence the Mongolia connection. 

Birding buddy Tommy D. and  I, hatched a plan to try for this bird.  Tommy got off work that night around 9:30 pm.  So I met him at his place when he got home and we headed north at night and arrived in Flagstaff a little after midnight.  Grabbed a few 'zzzz's', and then headed out to the spot early the next morning.  When we got there, we were greeted by several other intrepid and serious birders of Arizona so we knew we were in good company.  Many of these had driven from Tucson, which was about a 6 hour drive.

And this place really did make me think we were in Mongolia, or at least a bit reminiscent of what I think parts of Mongolia might look like.

And finally here is the prize of this search. What a charismatic little bird!  This was a life bird that was not even on my radar based on its range.  It is amazing what one can find in the state of Arizona.  It is 3rd on the list of states with the most species of birds in the United States, behind only California and Texas.  

 Yes, the Lesser Sand Plover is in this photo as well, but you have to look a little harder, in the lower left quadrant.  Has its back to us to show how easy it blends in.

What was interesting was that at one point a Peregrine Falcon flew in and landed on the far side of the pond for a drink.  During this time the Lesser Sand Plover just froze in its tracks without moving.  The Peregrine eventually took flight and our prize bird survived without being a target for a meal.

A very distant Peregrine Falcon

The Mexico connection to this post constitutes the sighting of a Groove-billed Ani in Maricopa County.  This species is not as rare in the United States as the plover, but it is relatively scare in Arizona.  Its range covers much of southern Mexico and on into Central America.  It is fairly common in the summer in southern Texas.  There have been sporadic reports of this bird in Arizona over the years, and to my recollection the last verifiable report was at Sweetwater Wetlands near Tucson in 2012.  That bird was a lifer for me back then, although I did not get great looks.  In 2015 I spent several days in Chiapas, Mexico and this bird was quite common and I got much better looks than my sighting in Arizona in 2012.

Well this bird at Veteran's Oasis Park in Chandler turned out to be quite photogenic for many.  It was nice to see that so many people were able to find it and see it, as it was a lifer for many, including Tommy.

This was my first photo and I thought it was going to play hard to get, but subsequent photos will show that was not to be the case.

 Sunning itself with its feathers on the back raised to warm its body.

And finally, a close up of the grooves in it bill which is the the reference to its name.

What a couple of really great birds to chase.  The Lesser Sand-Plover was a lifer and the Groove-billed Ani was a very good bird to add to my Maricopa County list.  Wonder what the next awesome bird will be that shows up in Arizona?

Back-door Lifers

Been quite a long time since my last post which featured the unexpected Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel, which was an incredible new bird for Arizona and Maricopa County as well, and most importantly a new lifer for me.  Living in Arizona for over 10 years and vigorously birding for the last 6 or 7 years, I have gotten to the point that there are not a lot of regular Arizona birds that I could get for lifers.  The two that remain are the Ducky Grouse and the Black Rail.  Both are secretive and both are located on opposite sides of the state from each other in totally different habitats.  Dusky Grouse I have tried everal times and have dipped on it every time, but it will probably make its view to me when I least expect it.  The Black Rail is so secretive that very few people have actually seen one in the state.  They are most often heard.  I have been told by someone that a Black Rail could be standing 3 feet in front of you and it would practically be invisible.  

What I did not plan on, were the rarer migrants that occasionally show up within the state, and lo and behold, 3 of these birds did just that and what was more amazing were that they showed up in Maricopa County, which makes it all the more special.  The first was a Blackpoll Warbler that was found by Dale Clark in Chandler one day.  As quickly as I could get away, I made a beeline to the spot and arrived to find one other birder there that had just photographed it.  I quickly looked to the tree where it was reportedly hanging out and I could not believe how easy that bird was to see with my binoculars and take note of the field marks.  Then I decided to try for photos and by the time I lifted my camera to the spot, it had disappeared and was not seen again that day and when I tried again the next morning with several other birders, it was not seen ever again.  So I was the last person to see it, but alas, I missed out on photos.  That was the first of 4 new life birds that I have added since the Storm-Petrel.

Number 2 took place on October 10th.  With a report of a Lapland Longspur in the eastern part of Scottsdale on some agricultural farm lands, I knew that I had to make an attempt to find it.  And I knew that it would be a difficult search.  So early the next morning, I headed to the location and not surprising, I ran into Tommy D also out searching for this bird, so we headed to the spot that was given to try our luck.  While searching with scopes and listening very intently for its call, several more birders joined us, so that goes to show how special this bird can be.  While scanning and looking through all the Horned Larks and American Pipits that were in great numbers, we did hear the rattle of this bird fly over at one time, but could never find it in the fields.  Finally most people departed after not seeing it except for 3 of us and we hung around on a different road for about 30 minutes longer and were discussing that we were probably going to take off as well, when I turned around and looked across the road in front of my car and lifted my binoculars, saw a longspur next to a pipit and I quickly got the other 2 birders on them.  Luckily, I was able to get some photos before it flew away with the pipit and then eventually scared away by a Merlin that had flown in.  Getting the Lapland Longspur and photos of it as well, really made my day!

 Lapland Longspur

 The blurred bird in front is an American Pipit

Horned Lark (wanted to throw this in for something a bit more common)

About 5 days later, I noticed a post on a Facebook page that Tyler Loomis had discovered a Palm Warbler at Tempe Town Lake.  That place is less than 20 minutes form my house and even though it was late afternoon, I hopped in my car and headed out.  Yes, I had to endure a little rush hour traffic, but I got there in time to see this bird in the waning light of the day.  I hastily took some mediocre photos in the last light of the day with the ISO bumped up real high.  This was life bird number 3 in this short time span.

 Palm Warbler - early evening light

Was not happy with my photos, so I decided to go back again the next morning to see if I could refind it, but I also remembered that experience with the Blackpoll Warbler where it disappeared fairly quickly.  So I did not have very high hopes.  What a surprise to find that Tommy D had the same idea as well, as I ran into him again at this spot.  Took us a few minutes, but we re-found the Palm Warbler and this time the lighting was so much better.  I really enjoyed watching the behavior of this bird and its constant tail wagging.  

Tommy looking for the Palm Warbler

 Palm Warbler the next morning in better light

The last one that I want to mention, is the Black Rail.  Last weekend, AZFO (Arizona Field Ornithologists), held their annual meeting in Yuma, Arizona.  And Yuma is the best place to get the Black Rail in Arizona.  I attended and on Friday I had the luck of joining one of the Friday afternoon field trips and during that time, our leaders showed us the best spot to 'hear' Black Rails and they also mentioned that the month of March and a bit of early April is a better time to be hearing them.  I decided that I would get up early and head out on Saturday morning and try my luck.  What I figured out, was that it was hard to find that spot in the pitch black of the early morning, but I eventually found it and parked and then stood out in the dark listening for rails.  Great Horned Owls were calling from 4 different spots and when I clapped my hands in the dark, Virginia Rails and Sora were quite vocal.  Also heard heard Least Bitterns and Ridgeway's Rails calling.  I noticed the mosquitoes were a bit bothersome, and then glanced down at my legs to find them covered with them.  I started swatting them and found that I was leaving blood splatters on my legs.  About this time another car pulled up and lo and behold it was a couple of young birding marvels, Caleb Strand and Joshua Smith, both of which I had spent a lot of time in the past doing some birding together.  We continued to stand there listening to all the other rails and finally we heard the telltale call 'Kee-kee-der' and so I lucked out and added another new life bird.   While adding life birds by sound only is a little frustrating, sometimes, that is all a person gets which tells them the bird is there.  I can also say that I definitely donated some blood for this bird!  Would I like to actually see a Black Rail?  Of course!!!!  And a photo would be awesome as well.  It may not happen in my lifetime, but one never knows with birding what might make an appearance sometime in the future!

This gave me 5 new life birds in Arizona in less than a 2 month time frame.  Slowly but surely, I am creeping to that 700 mark!