The Diversity of Maricopa County - Part 1

Finally, a full weekend of birding where I felt good and I had some awesome company to go birding with me.  Saturday, Muriel Neddermeyer joined me by heading out to some spots west of the Phoenix metro area.  We ended up having an incredible day of birding with some very nice birds.

 

We started out by heading to Friendship Park in Avondale; a very unlikely spot for birds, but I had read a couple of eBird reports that Lawrence's Goldfinches had been reported there recently.  Definitely want to get there early to avoid the crowds of soccer teams playing.  After getting a feel for the park, we quickly decided that the southwest corner of this park would be the mostly likely habitat.  After a few minutes we caught a glimpse of a few in a small cottonwood tree and they quickly took off. So we meandered down to the dry stream bed and found a tree full of Lesser Goldfinches, but upon closer inspection, we found some of the elusive Lawrence's Goldfinches also a bit lower in the tree and of course harder to photograph.  No matter, because finding this bird is rather special as they are definitely not as common as the other finches.

 

Lawrence's Goldfinch

 

From there we traveled a little bit further south to Baseline and Meridian a place that Muriel had not yet been to.  A great place with lot of different habitat, including running water in the river and desert scrub on the hill sides nearby.  At one time we came across a group of very active warblers and we were checking out several Yellow-rumped Warblers and Orange-crowned Warblers and we both zeroed in on a bird that was different.  Luckily Muriel had just seen one of these birds about a week before at Granite Reef and she knew immediately that it was a female American Redstart.  As soon as she said that, I immediately knew she was right.  It is not a bird that I have seen very often as they are rare to uncommon in Arizona, but it seems like about a dozen or so get reported every winter.  It is really cool to find a rare or unusual bird without chasing someone else's find. Wish I could have gotten a bit better focus on it, but at least the photos are good enough for an ID.

 

American Redstart - Female

 



American Redstart - Female

 

We also had the privilege of watching a Peregrine Falcon fly over and take a dive at some Eurasian-collared Doves, but it missed this time.  Also had a small flock of 4 American White Pelicans fly over.  This day was overcast all day and photos leave a lot to be desired when the sun is not shining as all my photos from that day are definitely not the best.

 

American White Pelican

 

From here we headed further west to the Buckeye/Arlington area where we were treated to a vary wide array of raptors.  We had 5 Ferruginous Hawks, including a rare 'dark-morph' of this species.  Lots of Red-tailed Hawks, which included a 'light-morph' "Harlan's" Red-tailed Hawk.  Also had a Prairie Falcon that was very wary of humans and did not allow any close approaches for photos.

 

American Kestrel

 



 American Kestrel

 

The next two birds are both Ferruginous Hawks.  The first one is the normal Ferruginous Hawk and by far the most common one.  The second one is the much scarcer 'dark-morph' Ferruginous Hawk.  I had not seen this color morph of this species before, so this was a real treat.  While the birds do look very different from each other, one thing they do have in common is the extended yellow gape which gives one the impressions of a yellow 'grin'.

 

Ferruginous Hawk

 



Ferruginous Hawk

 



Ferruginous Hawk - Dark morph

 



Ferruginous Hawk - Dark morph

 



 Ferruginous Hawk - Dark morph

 

The next couple of photos is  light-morph 'Harlan's' Red-tailed Hawk which is another rare color morph.  I have actually seen one of these once before in a fly over in my neighborhood in Mesa a couple of years ago.  This bird also comes in a dark-morph phase and it is a bit more common than the light-morph.

 

'Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk - light morph

 



 'Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk - light morph

 

We also had a field with over 70 Black Vultures in it; another field with over 300 Yellow-headed Blackbirds mixed in with a few Red-winged and Brewer's Blackbirds.

 

 Black Vultures

Black Vultures

 



Yellow-headed Blackbirds

 

And in one of the freshly flooded fields we found a couple of Long-billed Curlews, an extraordinary bird with a very long curved bill.

 

Long-billed Curlew

 

Before we knew it, this day was drawing to a close.  It is amazing at how time flies when one is having a great day of birding.  I want to thank Muriel for joining me on this trek, just wish the weather would not have been quite so overcast and cloudy.  Photos might have been a bit better, but just seeing these remarkable birds made the day a great day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  



Ruby, Arizona - A Gem in the Desert



About 6 weeks ago, Chris Rohrer and I were invited by Kathy Cooper to join in an all night outing with a group of tracking experts in the ghost town of Ruby, Arizona.  After a short discussion we decided to accept and this was going to be a somewhat new experience for me as we were going to spend a night camping out in tents.  I have only spent 2 nights in a tent in my life and that was when I was in Army basic training a very long time ago (early 70's to be exact)!  So with some borrowed equipment, I was packed and ready to try my luck and now I have learned a couple of do's and don'ts about any future camping that I might want to do. 

 

Ruby is considered the second best preserved ghost town in the state of Arizona.  This was a mining town that was at its peak in the 1930's but after the mining operations ceased, the town was deserted by the early 1940's.  Many of the buildings are still standing and the mine's tailings definitely left a mark on the landscape as a large sand dune and beach area.  Ruby does have quite an interesting history and was very fascinating to read.  However, Chris and I came for the birds and although we did not see anything rare and exciting, we did get some great looks at a few that sometimes like to play hard to get. The best birds for photos right in Ruby consisted of a Ladder-backed Woodpecker, a couple of soaring Red-tailed Hawks, and a Rock Wren that has taken up quarters in the open attic area of the old deserted school house.

 

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

 

 Red-tailed Hawk

 

Rock Wren

 

The topographical landmark to Ruby is Montana Peak with an elevation of 5073 feet; not huge by any standard, but its unique shape and height stands out from the surrounding summits. 

 

 Montana Peak

 

 Trailings created by the mining operation

 

 Remains of part of the old mine

 

 

Some of the most accommodating birds for us were actually seen at Pena Blanca Lake which we visited on the way to Ruby.  Here we had Northern Cardinals and Pyrrhuloxia in mixed company.  One of the Northern Cardinals appeared to be gathering nesting material and kept coming back to a spot near us and gathering some fine plant material which it whisked away and came back for more.  At least 4 Pyrrhuloxia were seen right nearby and a very handsome Pied-billed Grebe was trying to be a star in a small finger of the lake which was very close by.

 

 Northern Cardinal

 

 Northern Cardinal

 

 Pyrrhuloxia

 

Pied-billed Grebe

 

Sunday morning dawned very cold with frost on the tents and time for us to start thinking about the trip home and while we were that far out in the wilderness, we decided to take the back road home through Arivaca, AZ.  Another place I had not been to before and after our brief visit on the road back to Tucson, I definitely want to return to this great birding spot with its boardwalk area and pathways that lead to some incredible birds and other wildlife.  Birds included a handsome American Kestrel and some more Pyrrhuloxia and the nmammals included some Collared Peccary (aka Javalina) and a Coyote stealthily hunting for food in the dry grasses.

 

 American Kestrel

 

 Pyrrhuloxia

 

 Coyote in the grass

 

Collared Peccary

 

Definitely a worthwhile visit and the rewards of seeing more of what lies within the borders of the fascinating state of Arizona and its wonderful bird life.

 

 

Buckeye/Arlington with Peggy

Just recently discovered that I have fallen behind on some of my blog posting.  In the process of going through my photo files of 2013, I realized that I neglected to write a post on my trip to the Buckeye/Arlington, Arizona area with Ms Peggy Coleman.  She is the person that started and maintains the 'Birding--Arizona and the Southwest Facebook' group.  I offered to take her out west and she accepted, so on Dec 8, 2013 I met her at her house (got to see her neighborhood Lewis's Woodpecker) and away we went.  We headed straight to the 'Thrasher Spot' to see if we could find any thrashers.  And we were in luck on that day with viewings of both Bendire's Thrasher and the most sought after thrasher, Le Conte's Thrasher. 

 

 Bendire's Thrasher

 

Le Conte's Thrasher

 

From there we ventured on some of the various roads checking out the birds with a few stops for photos when the opportunities were present.  This included some raptors and a brief stop at the Arlington Ponds which produced a fly-over of Sandhill Cranes which was a bird that Peggy had wanted to see in Maricopa County. 

 

 American Kestrel

 

 Gambel's Quail

 

 Northern Harrier - Male

 

Red-tailed Hawk

 

Sandhill Cranes

 

The final stop was the Lower River Ponds and the American White Pelican numbers were awesome and a few Ring-billed Gulls were leisurely basking in the sun on the bank of one of the ponds.   

 

 American White Pelicans

 

American White Pelicans (does the one in the middle far right count as a baker's dozen?)

 

Ring-billed Gulls

 

We had an enjoyable day and had lunch in Buckeye before heading home.  One last stop at the Glendale Recharge Ponds was in order, where we observed a Great Blue Heron and a Peregrine Falcon sharing the same turf.  This place is not the best for photography so we enjoyed the birds for a while then called it a day.  Another great day of birding in the great state of Arizona.

 

 

 



A Rare Bird Leads to Yuma

On December 24th a rare bird alert and a text from expert birding friend, Tommy D. proved to be a crazy chains of events.  That day a very rare bird for Maricopa County was first seen and reported by an out of state birder of a female Long-tailed Duck at the Glendale Recharge Ponds.  So with a short notice I took off to search for this rarity.  This is a bird that breeds in northern Canada on tundra ponds and most generally spends its winters along the northern Pacific and Atlantic coasts.  After I arrived and found the bird, then a couple of other birders arrived with scopes (which gave me excellent views, by the way).  This place is not the best place for photos as the ponds are quite large and the birds are most generally quite a distance away.  But I was able to get photos good enough for ID purposes.  This was exciting as it was a bird I thought I might never see; almost like a Christmas gift to myself.  (Several birders arrived on Christmas morning and this bird was no longer there, so heading out there that same day was well worth the trip.)

 

Long-tailed Duck - Female

 



 Long-tailed Duck - Female

 

As I was visiting with the other birders, one of them mentioned that he would like to go to Yuma to look for the juvenile White Ibis that has been found down there.  After a few more comments a hasty agreement was reached to head to Yuma on Saturday the 28th and the plans were finalized with a few emails.  At a godforsaken hour of 3:00 am on Saturday we met and 5 of us headed to Yuma.  Joining me was Mark Ochs, (who I have been birding with several times), Steve Hosmer, Moe Bertrand, and Louis Hoeniger.  Needless to say the vehicle was full, but one of our goals was to see if we could locate some of the rails in that area in the dark of the night before sunrise.  In the dark at Mittry Lake, we were able to hear Sora, Virginia Rail, Clapper Rail, and a few Great Horned Owls.  Unfortunately we dipped on the Black Rail, which was our main focus.  Once the sun lightened up the skies a bit we then headed to the Yuma East Wetlands which was the location of the White Ibis.  As we were walking the dikes an American Pipit and a Spotted Sandpiper, were being very cooperative with us.

 

American Pipit



Spotted Sandpiper

 

It did not take long and Mark spied an Ibis flying over the cattails far out in the distance.  All of us quickly got on the bird and knew it was our target bird with a bright orange/red bill and the white belly.  But about as quickly as we saw it dropped down into the cattails and disappeared from view.  Louis was quick to get a couple of photos to confirm the ID of this bird, but the rest of us just got to enjoy the brief sighting.  We at least found our target bird for the day which just peaks my interest a bit more and wanting to get photos. 

 

In returning to the Phoenix metro area, we made a brief stop at a place called Quigley Wildlife Area just north of the small town of Tacna, AZ. While it is not a birding hotspot compared to some other locations, it turned out to be quite a enjoyable destination.  From the road we spied a small flock of Cattle Egrets, which is always an interesting find.  This species is one that does not always hang around areas with lots of water and they have a tendency to wander a lot, so finding them can be a hit or miss.

 

Cattle Egrets

 

Other birds that we found at this location included a Green Heron, a 'kiting' American Kestrel, a Red-tailed Hawk, and a Loggerhead Shrike.  We also had a Prairie Falcon and a Great Horned Owl that both flushed before we saw them.

 

 American Kestrel

 

 American Kestrel

 

 Green Heron

 

 Green Heron

 

 Loggerhead Shrike

 

Red-tailed Hawk

 

It was a day of overcast skies which made photography a bit more of a challenge, but when considering the birds we had the fortune of seeing, it was all worth the time and effort.  Now that I have a better feel for birding in Yuma County, it is definitely worth more trips in the future.  Kind of funny how 1 rare bird leads to a second rare bird!