Birding for many people, is a numbers game. Keeping track of the birds that one can tick off in a county, a state, or the ABA Area, various countries, and finally life birds, is what many of us do while we are observing birds. The game is sort of like a scavenger hunt with moving targets. Some birders can recite how many species they have in every county, every state, ABA, and life birds. For me, I do good remembering my life list number. I can easily look up my county, state, and life list numbers, but I don't focus on memorizing them as those numbers are constantly changing.
Since my trip to Ecuador last July, my birding has been relatively curtailed to Arizona. Yes, I have been making plans for some future trips, but in the meantime, I have been exploring Arizona a bit more and learning more about the birds of Arizona and their distribution. In the process I have picked up one new life bird, which was last August in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeast Arizona. Alas, no photos, but I was quite stoked and pleased to see my first Black Swift. I have also added 8 new species of birds to my Arizona list, of which one of them was the Black Swift. Adding birds to my Arizona list gets harder every year. Most are rarities, and require a chase of one kind or another. And some of these new Arizona birds are birds that I have seen in other US states and 3 of them were birds that I have seen outside of the United States. New Arizona birds that I have added include Fulvous Whistling Duck (Texas), Ringed Kingfisher (Costa Rica), Short-eared Owl (Washington), Black Rosy-Finch (New Mexico), Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (Oregon), White-throated Thrush (Mexico and Costa Rica), and Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl (Mexico). {The places in parenthesis, are the locations where I have seen them before seeing them in the United States or Arizona.}
Since my trip to Ecuador last July, my birding has been relatively curtailed to Arizona. Yes, I have been making plans for some future trips, but in the meantime, I have been exploring Arizona a bit more and learning more about the birds of Arizona and their distribution. In the process I have picked up one new life bird, which was last August in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeast Arizona. Alas, no photos, but I was quite stoked and pleased to see my first Black Swift. I have also added 8 new species of birds to my Arizona list, of which one of them was the Black Swift. Adding birds to my Arizona list gets harder every year. Most are rarities, and require a chase of one kind or another. And some of these new Arizona birds are birds that I have seen in other US states and 3 of them were birds that I have seen outside of the United States. New Arizona birds that I have added include Fulvous Whistling Duck (Texas), Ringed Kingfisher (Costa Rica), Short-eared Owl (Washington), Black Rosy-Finch (New Mexico), Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (Oregon), White-throated Thrush (Mexico and Costa Rica), and Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl (Mexico). {The places in parenthesis, are the locations where I have seen them before seeing them in the United States or Arizona.}
The only species that I was able to photograph in Arizona during my recent chases, are displayed below and even some of these photos are less than stellar. Lots of reasons for the mediocre photos and for some, why photos are absent. I could probably write a whole blog post on why photography can be so fickle. But for me, the nature of birding does not always allow for great photos. It is more about observing the bird and enjoying the moment. Sometimes we get lucky and sometimes we fail.
Black Rosy-Finch
Black Rosy-Finch
Black Rosy-Finch
White-throated Thrush
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl
Obviously, when chasing some of the rarities, other birds are seen as well. When one is birding in a location that is not your normal spot, you also take time to enjoy the new habitat and what might be waiting in the trees, grasses, or water. For instance, the White-throated Thrush was being seen in Madera Canyon, and when I get to Madera Canyon, I never fail to stop at the Santa Rita Lodge to enjoy their birds. For the second year in a row, a male Elegant Trogon has taken up its winter residence in the lower areas of the canyon. I never get tired of this bird. At one time this was called the Coppery-tailed Trogon and the second photo definitely puts credence to that name.
Elegant Trogon
Elegant Trogon
That trip also took in some of Patagonia and Santa Cruz Flats as well. Always great to visit southeastern Arizona.
Acorn Woodpecker - Female
Broad-billed Hummingbird - Male
'Red' Fox Sparrow
Western Meadowlark
White-nosed Coati - Santa Rita Lodge
When the trip for the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl took place, I was lucky enough to be accompanied by birding friends, Tommy DeBardeleben, Josh Wallestad, and Caleb Strand. And true to form, we explored more areas, including another trip to Madera Canyon. Once again that male Elegant Trogon was just irresistible.
Elegant Trogon
Whiskered Screech-Owl - Can you see it? (See next photo)
Now this is great camouflage!
Whiskered Screech-Owl - Cropped close of preceding photo.
2019 will a bit different for birding. I am currently not planning any international trips for this year, but do have some trips within the United States in the plans. I hope to increase my numbers of life birds and also ABA birds in the process.
