Boyce Thompson Arboretum

Finally, the heat has arrived in the Phoenix metro area with temps finally reaching the low triple digits.  Birding takes on a new persona when this time of year rolls around, usually resulting in trips to higher elevations.  I decided to take on a simple trip this past Saturday with a visit to Boyce Thompson Arboretum.  I had not been there for some time and I did not want to travel far.  I have a major trip planned in July of this year and in preparation for that trip, I am sticking close to home on the weekends for the time being. 

 

When I visit BTA, I usually like to get there a bit early to check out the Picketpost trailhead about a mile west of the BTA entrance.  When I first started visiting the trailhead location, I usually was blessed to see Pyrrhuloxia, but after the nearby fire a few years ago, I have not been able to find them again at this location.  Once again, I dipped on this species, but then I only spent about 45 minutes there and did not cover much area.  I think a longer visit and covering more habitat might result in better chances in the future.  Even though I only spent about 45 minutes there, I really enjoyed the stay.  Included with the 15 species I found was singing Lucy's Warblers and Bell's Vireos.  Even discovered a recently fledged Bell's Vireo being fed by one of its parents. 

 

 Bell's Vireo

 

Bell's Vireo - Fledgling

 

And of course there were plenty of the debonair Black-throated Sparrows singing and serenading me with their songs.

 

 Black-throated Sparrow

 

 

For a very brief moment an odd-plumaged Summer Tanager paid a very short visit.  Not necessarily odd except for the time of the year.  Normally, I would expect to see a male in this first year plumage very early in the spring.  It flew in and gave me a good enough look but by the time I lifted the camera it was looking the other way and promptly departed the scene.

 

Summer Tanager

 

From here I headed to Boyce Thompson Arboretum.  This place is really a special place and anyone living in the east valley of the Phoenix metro area should visit this place several times a year.  For me it is only about a 45 minute drive and the road is excellent.  A pair of Bronzed Cowbirds greeted me at the entrance; not a bird that I get to photograph very often.

 

Bronzed Cowbird 

 

This is one place that a person can always find Yellow-breasted Chats in the summer.  Not always easy to see and photograph, but there is no way a person can miss their very vocal calls. 

 

 Yellow-breasted Chat

 

 

Probably one of the most pleasant surprises was the Scott's Oriole.  I do not recall seeing one at this location in the past, but that is very irrelevant as these are some stunning birds and being able to get photos of one is also a nice thing to have happen. 

 

 Scott's Oriole

 

 

A couple regulars were very obliging for photos.  While the Gambel's Quail is a very common bird in many habitats, most generally they are quite skittish and usually take off at the sight of a human, this male held its ground and posed quite nicely for me. 

 

 Gambel's Quail

 

 

The local Black Phoebe was kind enough to pose as well.  The odd thing about this one was that it was not hanging around Ayers Lake, but instead was gleaning insects on the edge of the eucalyptus grove.

 

 Black Phoebe

 

 

Other photos of interest but not necessarily avian related are included below.  I am glad I made the decision to visit this spot once again.  Might not have had any rarities on this visit, but this location definitely has had its share of rarities in the past and you never know when another one will stop by to visit.  This place is a great place to visit for the combination of birds, reptiles, butterflies, and the huge collection and variety of plants.

 

 An Agave flower stalk

 

 Picketpost Mountain

 

 Another angle of Picketpost Mountain

 

 Pomegranate blossom

 

  Queen Butterfly

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lake Havasu, AZ - 26/27 Oct 2012

This past weekend, I had the privilege of attending the annual AZFO (Arizona Field Ornithologists) meeting, which was held in Lake Havasu, AZ this year.  This was the first annual event by AZFO that I have attended and I found it to be very worthwhile and informative.  Besides attending an all day meeting on Saturday, we also had the opportunity to do some birding as well.  The original plans called for a pontoon ride out into the lake itself to observe much of the waterfowl to be found on the vast lake.  Unfortunately, Mother Nature altered those plans with a very windy day that prevented most boats of any kind to even go out on the water.  So we settled by doing a bit of birding along the shores and some of the points looking out over the lake.  But even on land the winds did create a few difficulties with the viewing of birds (And photography was even tougher!).

 

Having to bird waterfowl from the shoreline, the photo opportunities were greatly reduced, so we will have to settle for less than what I had hoped for.  We found 3 species of gulls on the lake and thankfully all 3 were spending most of their time near the shoreline.  We found a single 1st year Herring Gull and even though its plumage is far from looking like an adult, the brown and white markings on this bird is quite beautiful. 

 

Herring Gull

 

Gulls tend to be one of the most difficult families of birds to identify, mainly due to the fact that it can take 2, 3 or even 4 years for most of these gulls to attain their adult plumage. Then to confuse matters even more, many of the gull species hybridize with each other, making many of the field marks even more difficult.  The photos below show the differences in a first winter and second winter Ring-billed gull.  The second winter bird has also captured a mollusk of some kind and was not about to give it up to any of the other gulls.  The mollusk eventually became a snack for the gull.

 

Ring-billed Gull - 1st winter

Ring-billed Gull - 2nd Winter



 

A few more waterfowl that I was able to capture were the Pied-billed Grebe and the Eared Grebe.  Pied-billed Grebes are quite common, but they are one of the most endearing.  The Eared Grebe was displaying a behavior that I had not seen before.  It was chasing insects that were flying near the water surface and snatching them in mid-air.  I had never thought they would feed on insects, but guess they are opportunistic when they get the chance.

 

 Pied-billed Grebe

 



Eared Grebe

Enough of the water birds, now lets move on to some of the smaller birds.  During the short time we had early on Saturday morning, we had a Black Phoebe, a flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers and a Song Sparrow that presented themselves well before the camera.  The Black Phoebe was a bit of a challenge trying to focus between the grass blades and in fact, one of the grass blades is a blur in front of the bird.  The Yellow-rumped Warblers actually allowed us some good looks, and the Song Sparrow was in some pretty deep shade, so I had to bump up the ISO for the photo.

 Black Phoebe

 Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warbler

 Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warbler

  Song Sparrow

One more bird photo and this is one of a female Great-tailed Grackle.  Not a bird most people enjoy photographing and while I have got a few photos of males of this species, this is actually the first photo I have taken of one of the females.  When they pose and the lighting is just right, it is hard to ignore and a photo or two is sometimes worth the effort.

Great-tailed Grackle - female

Going to end this post with a couple of shots of insects.  One is a very colorful Rambur's Forktail Damselfly and the other is a Common Buckeye Butterfly.  My lens is definitely not the best lens for photographing these last 2 as I have to stand back about 12 to 15 feet to zoom in on them.  A macro lens would be much better, but changing lens in the field is a bit of a challenge.

 Rambur's Forktail Damselfly

 Common Buckeye Butterfly



Butcher Jones Beach & Saguaro Lake

Saturday October 26th and where should I go?  Since my last trip to the lower Salt River Area was shortened, I decided to go out and start at the far end at Butcher Jones Beach Recreation Area of Saguaro Lake.  A Tonto Forest permit is required to go to all the places along the Salt River and this is no exception.  Passes can be purchased in Mesa before heading out to any of these locations. 

 

I arrived early as usual when the birds are beginning to wake from the night. It was chilly being near the water and as usual, I began my trek by taking the hiking trail that follows the north and eastern shore of the lake and shortly I came across a Cactus Wren in the process of building a nest.  I doubt if this was a nest for breeding purposes at this time of the year, but perhaps more of a roosting nest to be used during the winter months.  I had witnessed the same behavior by another pair but in a different location the weekend before.  It is amazing how much nesting material they can accumulate in their beak at each trip in returning to the nest.

 

 Cactus Wren

 

Cactus Wren

 

Throughout the edges of the lake and in the cattails, the Marsh Wrens were being their typical self in announcing they had returned for the winter and were claiming their piece of turf.  Always readily heard but very elusive in being seen, this bird has always been one of my favorite winter birds in Arizona.  Finally along the trail that follows a finger of the lake that reaches up into one of the canyons a couple were being very vocal and since the cattails were in a narrow strip in the lake, and the trail was right along the edge where it abruptly had steep sides that were filled with mesquite, these birds were foraging not only in the reeds, but the mesquites as well and were a bit easier to see. 

 

Marsh Wren

 

Marsh Wren

 

Across this finger of the lake a female Belted Kingfisher found a tree that it preferred over the one that I flushed it from on my side of the water.  This species is notoriously skittish and definitely like to keep their distance from humans.  Once in a while they will allow a closer approach, but not often.  Even at a distance, I still enjoy shooting a couple of photos just to document my sighting of them.  This is another bird that visits us in winter and is admired by almost all birders.

 

Belted Kingfisher - Female

 

On the trail when returning to the beach area a few White-crowned Sparrows were found foraging on or near the ground.  There are about 5 subspecies of this bird and only recently have I tried to start learning the differences in the 2 subspecies most often seen in Arizona, oriantha and gambelli.  This bird in the photo is gambelli which has an orangish/yellow bill and a whitish/light gray supraloral. 

 

White-crowned Sparrow (gambelli)

 

Once I returned to the beach area and was preparing to move on to another spot, a very vocal pair of Black Phoebes decided to be very cooperative with me.  This is a bird seen all year in Arizona just about anywhere near some kind of water.  By now the sun had risen and was really highlighting their dynamic pattern.

 

 Black Phoebe

 

Black Phoebe

 

After leaving Butcher Jones Beach, I decided to stop by the marina area to see what I might find.  It was quickly filling up with people so I did not stay long.  But I did manage to find a trio of Pied-billed Grebes, which are common but so likable and with the sun behind me while I was trying to capture a photo or two, one of them decided it was time for a stretch and I got a nice sequence of photos of it during that short time frame.

 

 Pied-billed Grebe

 

 

And finally, one more photo of one of these cuties that swam right up near to where I was standing which created a nice reflection off the blue sky.

 

Pied-billed Grebe

 

Definitely a great morning with some great common birds and watching and observing them in their natural habitats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lower Salt River - Sunday

On Sunday, I decided to check out a couple of spots along the lower Salt River outside of Mesa.  Had not been there for a while and with the government shut down, most of the sites along the Salt River had been closed for about a week and a half.  I had a limited time for birding that day due to other commitments so I planned my arrival to coincide with sunrise.  Arrived at the Granite Reef Recreation Site about 6:30 am and immediately started seeing several Yellow-rumped Warblers and was hearing their single note calls that are so common here in the winter.  They are very numerous and seen just about everywhere until next spring.  Within a few minutes I detected a different call that told me that there was something different among all those warblers and I could see something very small flitting about high up in the mesquites, but with all the leaves and twigs and it still being dark I was having trouble getting a good view of it.  Then I saw a brief glimpse of it and saw that it had a black throat.  It was about that same time that I heard someone calling my name and I looked down in the parking lot to find that Muriel Neddermeyer had decided to visit the same place that morning.  I quickly got her up to the same tree to help locate this bird again and it was about that time the bird just called out its name (chick-a-dee-dee-dee) to us, which confirmed the identity that I was thinking, a Mountain Chickadee.  What on earth was a Mountain Chickadee doing in this location?  Habitat and elevation were all wrong and it was foraging in a Mesquite Tree of all things.  They are usually found at much higher elevations and in pine forests.  But this bird kept calling and singing and we followed it from one end of the picnic ground to the other and we came to realize that there were actually 2 of them.  By now the sun had come up a bit and one of them came out and perched in the sun just long enough for both of us to get some photos of it.  This was quite an exciting find for Maricopa County in Arizona and I was really happy that Muriel arrived in time to enjoy this unusual sighting with me.

 

 Mountain Chickadee

 

Mountain Chickadee

 

After such an exciting start to the morning for both us, we then decided to head up the road to the Coon Bluff Recreation Site to what we might find there and shortly after we got out of our vehicles, a flock of Bushtits flew over our heads briefly landing in a tree and quickly moving on.  Such a short sighting we did not have an opportunity to get photos, but this is another species that I have not seen at this low of an elevation and certainly not this close to the metropolitan area.  They can be found at lower elevations and in different habitat than the chickadees, but this was the lowest I have seen them.  We had 3 species of woodpeckers at this location, Red-shafted Northern Flicker (no photos), Gila Woodpecker and Ladder-backed Woodpecker.  These last 2 species can be seen at his location on just about every visit.

 

 Gila Woodpecker - Male

 

Ladder-backed Woodpecker - Female

 

We also had a couple flycatchers in and around the area.  Both are residents here and can be seen quite regularly, the Black Phoebe and the Vermilion Flycatcher. 

 

 Black Phoebe

 

Vermilion Flycatcher - Male

 

Also discovered a couple of Green Herons and one of them flew in and perched for us.  Would have liked to have gotten a bit closer, but considering the distance we still got some decent photos.

 

Green Heron

 

A couple of non-avian critters also delighted us; a beautiful Monarch Butterfly and a Red-spotted Toad.  (If the toad is mis-identified, please feel free to email me or post it in comments and I will correct the name.)

 

 Monarch Butterfly

 

Red Spotted Toad

 

Since my day was shortened due to other commitments, I headed home from Coon Bluff.  But on the way, I decided to stop at the ponds along Power Road to look for the Redhead drake that Lindsey Story had seen earlier in the morning on their way up to look for the chickadees.  He was easy to find, but a bit of a distance away, but what a gorgeous duck to see.

 

Redhead - Male

 

This was definitely a worthwhile adventure and shows that rarities show up in some unusual places from time to time.