Nebraska: The Hunt and a Touch of Wyoming & Colorado

My third day in Nebraska was a journey to the old farm and to venture to Camp Hayes Recreational Area, which is a small man-made lake not far from the old family farm. The lake is so small that powered watercraft are not allowed.  But with the Red Willow Creek feeding it and flowing out of it, there is a lot of great habitat for birds.  

I always get a kick out of seeing recently hatched Killdeer chicks and I had to stop the car to allow this one to find better cover than on the road.  

 Killdeer Chick

 Killdeer Adult

Double-crested Cormorant

Whitetail doe and fawn

Spent a few hours in the town of Hayes Center reminiscing with my classmates and then headed out, taking the long way back to Denver, with an overnight stop in Sidney, Nebraska.  My plans were to leave Sidney early in the morning and head west to Kimball, Nebraska.  I was keen on trying to locate Mountain Plover in Nebraska.  They breed in western Nebraska in a restricted range and habitat, but are probably a bit more common on their breeding grounds just a bit south, across the border in Colorado.  The Mountain Plover is a migratory bird that spends winters further south than their breeding grounds, and some show up in Arizona in winter.  This is where I have always seen them in the past.  So I was going to attempt to locate them in Nebraska.  The drive to Kimball was shrouded in fog making visibility really tough.  It was still foggy when I arrived on the roads south of Kimball and was getting a feeling that the weather was going to jinx my effort.  Walked down one road for a ways without my camera and found a male McCown's Longspur in breeding plumage!  Being without my camera was a mistake, so headed back to the car and got my camera, but was not able to relocate the longspur.  Headed down the road a bit further and pulled over and lo and behold, there was a Mountain Plover on a side road.  I took photos from the car as I did not want to spook it.  Yay, success can be so awesome at times!  It is a mis-named bird as it does not spend any time in the Mountains.  This sighting was also cool to me as this one was in breeding plumage, compared to all those I see in Arizona in winter, non-breeding plumage.  Yes, it is a subtle difference, but still fun to see the differences.

Mountain Plover in breeding plumage in Nebraska

Mountain Plover in non-breeding plumage in Arizona for comparison.

Horned Larks were everywhere!

From there I headed into Wyoming where I have never done any birding in the past, so I stopped at an eBird Hotspot called Wyoming Hereford Ranch which is just east of Cheyenne, WY.  A great place to spot and I highly recommend this spot to anyone interested.  By then the fog had lifted and the lighting was much better.  Ended up with 34 species to start my Wyoming bird list.

 American Goldfinch

Gray Catbird

  

 Spotted Sandpiper

 Western Wood-Peewee

Western Wood-Peewee

My next couple of days was spent in Colorado staying with friends.  Birding was not the full focus of my stay, but I did manage a couple of photos during the bouts of rain and overcast skies and even some snow.

 Barn Swallow

Steller's Jay

One of the key birds that I wanted in Colorado was the White-tailed Ptarmigan.  Unfortunately, due to bad timing and the incredible amount of snow fall in Colorado the roads to the best location were still closed.  At least I have learned from this adventure and hopefully I will be better prepared for the next trip to Colorado for this bird.  The trip overall, was a success and I am happy with the results. I was able to add 19 new species to my Nebraska list, 9 species to my Colorado list, and got my first 34 species to my Wyoming list.  

     

Arizona's Last Frontier - Part 2

Our second full day in Greenlee County was Saturday, May 13, and it was the Global Big Day.  We wanted to try to get as many species of birds as possible to put Greenlee County on the map for birding, so we concentrated more on the southern section of the county and some of the riparian locations to try and accumulate the highest number of species as possible.  We started out in the town of Duncan and ended the night in the Big Lue mountains north and east of Duncan.  It was a wise decision as we ended up with 107 species for the day and we covered a variety of habitats, from riparian, to desert, to a pond and ending up in the mountains.

The town of Duncan is located along the Gila River and has a wonderful riparian area and a place designated as the 'Duncan Birding Trail'.  This was our starting point on Saturday and it did not disappoint.  We ended up with a whopping 66 species in this location alone!  Finally got my best views to date of a Mississippi Kite.

 Mississippi Kite

 Mississippi Kite

  Mississippi Kite

Rose-breasted Grosbeak - Uncommon but annual in Arizona

 Summer Tanager

 Blue Grosbeak

 Cedar Waxwings with a Summer Tanager for extra measure

Barn Swallow

 Common Black Hawk

Thistle-down Velvet Ant - one of the most painful stings of the insect world

Antlion - with a quizzical look

Olive-sided Flycatcher

We finished the day at Coal Creek Campground in the Big Lue Mountains where we were able to detect a Mexican Whip-poor-will.  Obviously this is a nocturnal bird and photos were not to be had, but I was at least able to capture its call on a video and it can be heard by clicking on this LINK.

Sunday was our day to return, but we made the most of the morning before our departure by visiting a spot in the town of Clifton and Lower Eagle Creek and finally the eastern access point to Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area.  

Anna's Hummingbird - rare in Greenlee County

 Gray Vireo - This was the first eBird report of this species in Greenlee County

For video and song of this Gray Vireo, please click on this LINK.

Now a bit of interesting information for those of you that are actually reading this post and it concerns the next 2 photos of these whiptail lizards.  These 2 species of lizards are parthenogenetic which means they are asexual and are all females.  They lay unfertilized eggs and all the offspring are actually clones of the parent.  Now isn't that an interesting tidbit of information?   Both of these species were new lifer reptiles for me as well.

Desert Grasslands Whiptail

 Sonoran Spotted Whiptail

 Sleepy Orange

Tiger Whiptail

Sonoran Gopher Snake - It was quite docile, so we enjoyed it until it finally crawled off the road and into the brush on the side.

Sonoran Gopher Snake

This trip to Greenlee County was a real eye-opener and I feel that I need to return to fully explore it some more in the future.  I do have some ideas in mind that might enable others to take a peak at what this county has to offer, but timing will be crucial to get the most species of birds.

Southeast Arizona - Catching Up

On Tuesday, July 5th, a group of 4 of us birders decided to head south and east from the Phoenix area to try for a couple of rarities that had been reported.  The team consisted of myself, Susan Fishburn, Caleb Strand, and Josh Smith.  There were a few target birds for Caleb and Josh as they would be lifers.  No new lifers for me, but I would have the chance to add the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher to my Arizona list.  After stopping at Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson to try to locate a Purple Gallinule that had been reported the day before, we found out that they were closed that morning to perform their weekly mosquito spraying.  So we continued on down the road to the Sierra Vista area to look for the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.

This was not a life bird for me as I recall one that visited our farm in southwestern Nebraska when I was a kid, and then I got to see them in Texas a few years back.  Once a person sees this bird, it definitely creates a memory for years to come and I can still picture that one from my childhood in Nebraska.  Well this one was pretty easy to find and it put on quite a show for all of us and we all got great looks at it.  It was a life bird for both Caleb and Josh.

 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

What I had not expected was the sparrows we had on the road just before the STFL.  We had Black-throated, Cassin's, and Botteri's Sparrows.  Black-throated are fairly common in and around the Phoenix area, but the Cassin's and Botteri's are not.  So to see these two species of sparrows and also being able to capture photos of them is pretty special.  

 Botteri's Sparrow

 Cassin's Sparrow

Another bird found on the road was a pair of Chihuahuan Ravens.  This is another bird I do not see too often and have never really been able to get decent photos of them.  They provided us with great views and for once some decent photos.

 Chihuahuan Raven (with a drgonfly for good measure)

By now it was staring to warm up and since we were close to the San Pedro House, we made a brief stop there where the only bird I photographed was a Barn Swallow.  But the coolest thing was a Coachwhip snake that was relaxing in one of the trees.

 Barn Swallow

 Coachwhip body

Coachwhip head

It turned out to be a great day for Caleb and Josh.  I believe Caleb garnered 3 life birds that day and Josh added 4 to his life list.  It was hot as Arizona summers usually are.  

A couple of photos to finish this post are a Cooper's Hawk at Sweetwater Wetlands and a 'Coue's' White-tailed Deer at Miller Canyon.

 Cooper's Hawk

 Coue's White-tailed Deer