A Weekend of AZFO Activities

The first weekend in October is usually the weekend that AZFO (Arizona Field Ornithologists) holds their annual gathering.  Every year it is held in a different location which is a great way to introduce others from around the state to new spots for birding.  This year the meeting was held in the Globe/Miami area in Arizona and since the Pinal Mountains are close by, I was familiar with a bit of the area.  The meeting was being held on Saturday, but there was a couple of mini expeditions set to take place on Friday afternoon.  Chris Rohrer decided to attend so he drove up from Tucson and we met on Friday morning to make a quick trip into the Pinal Mountains as he had never been there before.  Knowing the time we had to work with, we hurried through many of the spots I would normally stop at as I wanted to get Chris to the top.  Turned out to be a very lucky plan because we found some really great birds at the top.

The first bird that caught our attention flew over our heads from the rear and quickly flew on the back side of some pine trees, but it quickly returned and it turned out to be a Lewis's Woodpecker.  Not a rare bird in Arizona by any means, but one that I had never observed in Gila County.  While the photo is not the best, it is at least diagnostic of the species.

Lewis's Woodpecker

About the same time that I was trying to get some photos of this bird on the other side of a small pond, Chris noticed a Band-tailed Pigeon in one of the oaks on the south side. Once again, not a rare bird, but a bit uncommon and not always easy to find and photograph.  My previous sightings only consist of one photograph of the bottom end of one of these birds, but high up in a pine tree snag.  This one was cooperative with us for photos, but the angle of the sunlight was not where we would have preferred.  Regardless, it was nice to get some identifiable photos of this bird.

Band-tailed Pigeon

Band-tailed Pigeon

Band-tailed Pigeon

As we were really enjoying the moment with good looks of these 2 species of birds, another small flock of smaller birds flew over and into the tops of the pines.  Once again this was another bird that was new to me for this location.  In fact, this same bird was a life bird for both Chris and I back in February of this year; Cassin's Finch.  I believe this made the 3rd sighting of this bird for us this year.

 Cassin's Finch

Cassin's Finch - There are 3 of these birds in this photo

It would have been great to have more time to explore this area, but since we had to be back into Globe by about noon, we did not have the luxury of excess time on our hands.  Even though it was a relatively quick trip up and back, we did find some remarkable birds.  

We had signed up for a mini Field Expedition in the afternoon to visit Timber Campground and Jones Water Campgrounds so we met up with the very large group that had signed up.  Both spots offered great birding but as usual, afternoon birding is not always the best time to explore.  We did get to see some really nice birds, but photography was not at its best except for a Bridled Titmouse.  Both spots are now on my list of places to visit and spend more time exploring.  

Bridled Titmouse

The meeting on Saturday was a success with lots of great presentations and information to be absorbed.  Sunday we had signed up for the Sierra Ancha Wilderness area field trip and we were introduced to some amazing wilderness with outstanding scenery.  The first stop included an inside viewing of the habitat near the Rossevelt Lake Diversion Dam.  We had a lot of birds and had a great time, unfortunately, my only photos for that day consisted of an Ash-throated Flycatcher and a Gray Flycatcher.  

 Ash-throated Flycatcher

Gray Flycatcher

When we returned to the entrance area we discovered a Great-horned Owl on the steps to the restrooms.  The owl will probably never know how lucky it was to be found by this group of humans.  There were several in the group that were familiar with rescue and rehabilitation.  It was captured and found to be very emancipated and it was then transported to Liberty Wildlife in Scottsdale, AZ and was found to have suffered a leg fracture that had already started to heal.  It was given food and an IV for re-hydration and is expected to make a full recovery.  That was good news to all.

Great-horned Owl

This was a great weekend for Arizona birding.  Got to see many birding friends and meet many more.  Definitely will be an annual event for me.  In ending this post, just want to share a couple of other photos that I got on this weekend of things other than birds.

 Brown Trout

 Flame Skimmer

 Coyote Gourd

 Hackberry Emperor

Painted Lady

Bushnell Tanks Exploration

On May 26th, I decided to visit a spot that I had only explored once before and that was about 3 years ago, Bushnell Tanks, which is located on the opposite side of Sycamore Creek from Sunflower.  I don't recall much about my first visit, so maybe it was the time of the year that I visited that did not leave me with such a wonderful experience.  But this time it was much different and now I know that I need to visit this area more often.  I spent a total of almost 3 hours exploring this spot and hiked a total of 5.6 miles in the process.  (At least that is what my GPS app recorded on my phone; see last photos in this post.)  

The Brown-crested Flycatchers have returned for the summer.  This is a species that many new birders confuse with the more common Ash-throated Flycatcher.  They are very similar in appearance and have some minor visual differences, but those can sometimes be hard to tell when in the field.  Another aspect is to note the time of the year the bird is seen.  Brown-crested are migrants that return every year late April and into May and are usually gone by the end of September.  Ash-throated can be found throughout the year in Maricopa County.  But the best way to identify the differences is by learning their songs and calls.  And at this location in the spring and summer, both species occur making it so easy to listen to the different calls and songs.  And this trip presented this once again to me. 

Brown-crested Flycatcher

Ash-throated Flycatcher

The flycatchers were well represented as I also found both Western Kingbirds and Cassin's Kingbirds.  These 2 species can also confuse many new birders, but once again, the songs will set them apart and in the case of the 2 kingbirds, there are enough visual things to look for to tell the difference, such as the white outer tail feathers of the Western Kingbird.  No other kingbird has outer white tail feathers.

Cassin's Kingbird

Western Kingbird

During the entire time on this excursion, I was constantly under the watchful eyes of a pair of Zone-tailed Hawks.  If they had a nest in the area, it was out of my views and mostly likely very well concealed in one of the many sycamore trees.

Zone-tailed hawk

Zone-tailed hawk

A pair of Warbling Vireos were apparently having a warbling match to see which one could sing the loudest; but do not think a winner was declared this time around.

Warbling Vireos

One of the the day's most colorful birds happened to be the Summer Tanager.  This is a bird that I always love to see each and every spring.  The male and its bright red mantle of feathers is such an eye-opener, but the female is no slouch either in its covering of golden-yellow feathers.  At least this time she showed off a bit better than the male by perching in the sunlight.

Summer Tanager - Male

Summer Tanager - Female

Lucy's Warblers were probably one of the most numerous species of birds in this location as they were singing everywhere.  Oftentimes this bird just appears as a dull gray bird, but they do possess a couple of patches of a brick-red coloration; one on their rump and one on the top of head.  Many times those markings are not well seen.

Lucy's Warbler

Lucy's Warbler

The bird the won the award for the least well groomed was a very vocal and loudly singing Blue Grosbeak.  He was definitely trying to call in a female, but not sure what his luck was going to be this year as he had a lot of new blue feathers still missing for the breeding season.  I do not believe I have ever seen one of these beautiful birds in such a dull coat of feathers.  But maybe by now, it has shed all those dull feathers and it sporting a nice bright blue covering of feathers.

Blue Grosbeak - molting

Blue Grosbeak - molting

Other photos of note include a honeybee on a nice white thistle flower, an Ornate Tree Lizard on a rusty pipe. a Tiger Whiptail Lizard, and a beautiful purple flower that I believe is a species of spiderwort.

Honeybee

Ornate Tree Lizard

Tiger Whiptail

After spending 3 hours with all of this beauty and wonder, you know I will be returning to this place in the future.  After all, it is a great place to get in a good hike and some great solitude with some incredible wonders of nature.  And just to show the distance, here is the final reading on my GPS app showing distance, time and elevation irregularities.  

My hiking route - distance and path I took

Hiking route with time and elevation measurements

This is definitely one of those places that needs to be explored a bit more in the future.

Additions to an eBird Patch

When I go birding, I tend to keep records of what species that I find and how many of each species that are found.  Along with this, I also record the location, how much time is being spent at this location and what distance is traveled if walking.  All of this information is extremely easy to enter on a website that is called eBird which can be found here: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/

 

Once a person sets up an account on eBird, then this site basically keeps track of all your sightings including all your lists, locations, dates and various other information.  It is also a great place to use for research when one wants to try and locate a certain target bird.  It can also be used to explore 'Hotspots' to go birding in spots throughout the world.  A couple of years ago I had one of my most frequent birding spots close to home added as a 'Hotspot'; Pima Canyon Trail, South Mountain Park in Arizona.  This will never become an infamous birding spot, but it is unique enough to be designated as a Hotspot.  Its proximity to the city of Phoenix, being a dry desert wash, and the variety of birds found there is a little impressive.  These past 2 weekends I found a couple of new species in this location that pushed the number of species located in this location to 100.  Of the 100 species that have been reported in this location, I have recorded 87 of these species on my list from this location.  There are a few other birders that have also birded here and reported a few species that I have not found; yet!

 

This post is going to focus on a few of the birds that I have recorded recently in this location.  First off, the 2 newest birds that I have discovered.  A week ago I wanted to see if any warblers might have arrived and was passing through on migration and sure enough I discovered a Lucy's Warbler.  Not a rare bird in Arizona in the summer, but usually not is this habitat, this is one of the earliest warblers to return in the spring.

 

Lucy's Warbler

 

The second bird was from this past weekend and kind of caught me off guard, but when thinking about it after the fact, I am kind of wondering why it took so long for one of these to be seen here, a Sage Thrasher.  I have seen them in several places in Maricopa County, so it was a nice surprise to finally record one in this location.  This is also most likely a migrating bird.

 

 Sage Thrasher

 

Last weekend along with the Lucy's Warbler, I found a stunning male Costa's Hummingbird that was quite accommodating by landing in the tree close by.  This is a species that many think migrate south for the winter months, but for some reason or another, I found this species in this location in just about every month of the year (currently missing July and December).  Their numbers are not as common as the numbers of Anna's Hummingbirds, but can be found with a little patience and luck.

 

Costa's Hummingbird



Costa's Hummingbird

 

Here is a photo of an Anna's Hummingbird which are much more common.

 

Anna's Hummingbird

 

A couple of very common birds seen on that day included Gambel's Quail and Northern Mockingbirds.  Both of these species were very vocal in calling out all along the trails.  I am sure much of the calling involved the mating and breeding season that has arrived in Arizona.

 

Gambel's Quail



Northern Mockingbird

 

Other fairly common birds at this location include Ash-throated Flycatcher and Cactus Wren.  The Ash-throated Flycatcher is a bird tends to migrate south from much of Arizona for the winter, but for the past couple of years I have discovered that some are spending their winters in this location.  Many times they are fairly silent and can be hard to spot unless they fly out to capture an insect in flight.  The Cactus Wren is the state bird of Arizona and is beloved by many.  It is probably the easiest wren to identify due to its larger size and bold markings. They favor Cholla Cactus for their nests and this one was busy gathering material for a new nest.

 

 Ash-throated Flycatcher

 

Cactus Wren

 

The Gilded Flicker belongs to the woodpecker family and has found the dry desert habitat is perfectly suitable for existing and raising their families.  Nests cavities are usually made in the Saguaro Cactus and abandoned nests are frequently claimed and used by many other desert dwellers.  They can frequently be seen on the ground digging into the earth with their long and sturdy bills.

 

Gilded Flicker

 

One of my favorite birds to be found in this habitat is the Black-tailed Gnatcatcher.  These are small birds with long tails and they are forever on the move searching out insects in the trees and shrubs.  In breeding season the males don a nice distinguished looking black cap.  This one was probing the nearby trees and was rewarded with a small yellow spider which he immediately flew away with and was probably taking it to feed a fledgling in a nest somewhere.

 

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

 

 The Rock Wren is a another very common bird in this location and can be heard calling from a short distance away.  They have a unique habit of bobbing up and down as they scamper over, under, and all around the rocky areas in search of those insects trying not to be seen.

 

 Rock Wren

 

This eBird Hotspot is a place that I have adopted as one of my eBird Patches.  It is a place that is easy access for me and has turned into a wonderful spot for birding.  Sometimes I see nothing but the regular birds, but I have encountered enough odd species to know that there will be more that show up in this spot and I hope that I am there when they do.  It is also a bit gratifying to know that all of my reports are in a very small way contributing to the data and study of ornithology.

 

 

 



Oak Flats & Superior, Arizona

Last Sunday, birding friend Muriel Neddermeyer and myself, carpooled to attend a meeting of the Arizona Field Ornithologists (AZFO) at Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior, Arizona, so we decided to start out the day early by driving a bit further east to Oak Flats Campground.  This place is a rather amazing place and a great spot for birding among the sometimes many campers.  Our target birds were the Gray Vireo and the Black-chinned Sparrow.  Neither bird was a life bird for us, but they are birds that can be difficult to find and then get photos.  One has to know the proper habitat to locate them and the area around this campground was perfect.  We were rather surprised how many campers were there, but we also quickly discovered the place was full of birds. 

 

Initially, we were not having much luck with our target birds, but as we roamed about the hillside surrounding the campground we found some really neat birds such as an Ash-throated Flycatcher, several Bewick's Wrens, a Hermit Thrush and a lot of Spotted Towhees.

 

Ash-throated Flycatcher

 

Bewick's Wren

 

Hermit Thrush

 

 Spotted Towhee

 

Spotted Towhee

 

As we worked our way to the east side of the camp grounds we heard a vireo in the distance and as we forged our way to the call, we knew it was a Gray Vireo, one of our target birds.  About the time we actually saw it another bird came flying in to us and landed in tree right above us and it was our other target bird, the Black-chinned Sparrow.  What a stroke of luck to get both of them at almost the exact same time.  Caused a bit of a dilemma on which one we should focus on, so we just focused on both.  Eventually the Gray Vireo also came out of the cover of the shrubs and landed on a branch for us for clear viewing.  It is not a new bird to either of us, but we had never had one display itself so well for our viewing.

 

 Gray Vireo

 

Black-chinned Sparrow

 

Knowing that we had successfully achieved our goal on our 2 target birds and also realizing that we needed to think about heading back to BTA for our meeting, we decided to start back.  We calculated that we had about 15 minutes of free time on the way back, so we made a brief stop at the small city roadside park in Superior which can have some pretty nifty birds for such a small area and on this day we were treated to wonderful views of one of the most beautiful birds in Arizona, the Vermilion Flycatcher.  The males are stunning and the females are quite attractive in their own right, but the bright red of the males can sometimes be hard to capture in a photo, but on this day it was not a problem. 

 

 Vermilion Flycatcher

 

 Vermilion Flycatcher

 

 Vermilion Flycatcher

 

Vermilion Flycatcher

 

What a way to end our day of birding with some of our favorite birds.