More of Sonora - Chapter 1

Recently I had the opportunity to make another trek to Rancho El Aribabi in Sonora, Mexico, and once again, this trip took place at a different time of the year than my previous trips.  It is always interesting to see what changes take place at different times of the year.  This was my third trip; the first one took place in July, and second one took place in November, and now this one was taking place in May.  This time we had a fairly large group of birders join us and it was nice to see all the enthusiasm.

First order of business when we arrived was for me to set up my tent, but before hitting the trails, I wanted to see if the Five-striped Sparrows were still as prevalent as they had been before.  Did not take long to find one singing and showing how handsome these sparrows can be.

 Five-striped Sparrow

It is always a joy to find Varied Buntings as they are so unique with their summer finest attire and this location in summer is a great place to find them and view them.  

 Varied Bunting

Some of the other birds that were found on that first day, include Dusky-capped Flycatchers, Black-chinned Hummingbird, and Common-ground Dove (which I erroneously identified as Ruddy-ground Doves at first). 

 Dusky-capped Flycatcher

 Black-chinned Hummingbird - Female

Common-ground Dove

As usual, I very rarely focus solely on birds, but also on other flora and fauna that intrigue my interest, and this trip was no exception.  Flowering thistles provide quite a feast for bees and other nectar loving insects.  These insects in turn, then provide a food source to arachnids and other creatures higher up in the food chain.

 Thistle with a crab spider waiting for an unsuspecting insect.

Slowly, I am becoming a bit more knowledgeable on butterflies as well and when I see some that actually sit still long enough to allow photos, then I attempt to capture a photo to ID later on.

I believe this is a female Marine Blue.

Probably one of the coolest encounters on this first day was a couple of White-nosed Coati that came running in and across my path while I was exploring the river area.  I have seen these awesome mammals several times in the past, but this time, their presence allowed for much better photos than I have ever had. 

 White-nosed Coati

Here are a couple of photos of the habitat in and around this area.

And of course the veranda at the hacienda was most generally the most popular spot to relax and enjoy.

The rest of the trip will be covered in Chapter 2 of this trip.  

     

Pinal Mountains: Warbler Wonderland

Finally tired of the summer heat in the desert around the Phoenix area and wanted to go birding.  Had a couple of options: head to Glendale Recharge Ponds to see a couple of rarities or head to the Pinals and look for migrants.  Glendale, with no trees and no shade and temps hovering around 110° F, or the Pinals with lots of trees and shade and temps hovering around 72° F near the top?  As much as I wanted to add a couple birds to my Maricopa list (but not life birds), the cooler temps of the Pinals won this battle.  The Pinal Mountains is a fairly small mountain range south of Globe, AZ and at the highest point, Pinal Peak has an elevation of 7848 feet, so they are not huge by any standards, but they are much cooler than the surrounding desert and are considered to be part of the Arizona Sky Islands.  

August tends to be a great time to visit as many migrants, including warblers, pass through here to fuel up on their trek south into Mexico and points beyond. In some cases, it brings juvenile birds of some species that can be difficult to identify at times, but very often it also brings in some strikingly stunning adults as well, still dressed in their breeding plumage.  I found at least 6 species of warblers on this day and probably could have found more had I spent more time.  Maybe a trip involving an overnight camp out, might be something to plan for the future.  I know of a special place where there is most generally a small spring of water that rises above the ground and trickles down a short distance before disappearing back into the sandy stream bed.  That bit of water is a mecca for many of these birds to drop in for a drink and a quick bath.  My list of warblers for this awesome 6 hours included:  Nashville, Wilson's, Orange-crowned, Hermit, Black-throated Gray, and one of Arizona's favorites, the Painted Redstart.  

 Hermit Warbler

 Nashville Warbler

 Nashville Warbler

 Orange-crowned Warbler

 Orange-crowned Warbler

Painted Redstart

Wilson's Warbler

Of course, warblers were not the only migrants to be found, but they are some of the most interesting and since most warblers are prone to be fast movers gleaning insects from plants, they are almost always a challenge to photograph.  Not to be outdone by the warblers the family of hummingbirds was right up there with 6 species as well.  Getting 6 species of hummingbirds in one area this close to the Phoenix metro area is rather special.  Of course, there are many spots in southeastern Arizona that can double those numbers, but coming up with 6, is still pretty special this far north;  Anna's, Black-chinned, Broad-tailed, Rufous, Calliope, and Magnificent were the 6 species.  Part of the success for this, is the fact that one cabin owner at the tops of Pinal Peak has 5 hummingbird feeders out and many of these birds are fueling up and taking advantage of this on their southbound migration route.

Black-chinned Hummingbird

 Broad-tailed Hummingbird - Female

Broad-tailed Hummingbird - Male

 Magnificent Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

Migrating Western Tanagers were thick and covered a large area of the mountains.  This photo is definitely not the brilliantly colored male that most people go gaga over, but I have to admit, that this happens to be one of the most stunning female Western Tanagers that I have seen in a long time.

Western Tanager

Yellow-eyed Juncos must have had a banner year for breeding as they were quite numerous at almost all elevations.  The Pinals are the northern most point in this bird's range.  Will they eventually expand further north?  Who knows, but one was located in Coconino County near Flagstaff a year ago.  

 Yellow-eyed Junco

Yellow-eyed Junco

And how can one ignore a bathing Mountain Chickadee or a foraging Brown Creeper, two of my favorite mountain dwelling birds?

 Mountain Chickadee

Moluntain Chickadee

 Brown Creeper

Brown Creeper - Note that thin bill which is designed for probing into cracks and crevices in the bark of trees for insects, grubs, and insect eggs.

One more item to mention, was that I found my first bear track.  I did not know it was there, but a vehicle coming down from the mountain stopped and pointed it out to me in the mud on the side of the road. It was right above me and my warbler spot where I was watching warblers.  Next time, I need to place an object next to it, to give an indication of its size.  This track was about 7 or 8 inches in length.  Maybe someday I will finally see an actual bear at a distance! 

I definitely do not regret giving up the 2 rarities at Glendale for this turned out to be a great outing!  

Black Canyon City, Arizona

Probably not considered much of a birding spot in the past and just a community to pass through on I-17 between Phoenix and Flagstaff (except for the pies!), but that is probably going to change in the near future due to an AZFO Field Expedition to the riparian area in this area, this past weekend.  I had the pleasure of taking part of this field expedition which was to focus on the reports of a breeding population of Broad-billed Hummingbirds.  There have been reports of a fairly stable population of these birds at this location for 5 years or longer.  The focus of the expedition was to try and document if this is a breeding population with substantial numbers.  Some of the residents have had this bird come to their feeders year-round and if this is a true breeding population then, this will be the northern most known breeding range for this species.

So early on Saturday morning, I met up with Nick Vendehei in Mesa, then we travelled to northern Phoenix where we picked up Jason Morgan and continued on our way to Black Canyon City where we met the rest of the team of about 12 individuals.  One of the local residents then led us to the riparian area on the west side of town and showed us where the access point was located.  It did not take long for us to be amazed at this riparian area of cottonwoods and willows with the Agua Fria River with running water and pools of water.  We divided up into teams, with one team heading north and our team heading south.  Since there really are no well marked trails, much of our progress was a bit of bushwhacking through the brush and trees.  Our finally tally came up to about 50 species of birds in just the southern section only, including Broad-billed Hummingbirds.  We observed and recorded males in the riparian area, but no females, but we also surmised that it is possible that females might be nesting at this time of year.

 Broad-billed Hummingbird - Male

Broad-billed Hummingbird - Male

 

More photos of these stunning hummers will follow later in the post.  We also had Anna's Hummingbirds and discovered a nest with a single pinkish colored egg.  They usually lay two, so I am sure she is now incubating her eggs in her nest.  One of the photos has one of our party off to the left of the photo which helps to put the size of the nest into perspective.

 

Anna's Hummingbird Nest

Anna's Hummingbird Nest - Close up

 

We also had other birds that were also fun to see and observe such as a Phainopepla that had his territory staked out.  But if he thought he was going to blend in with the catkins on the tree, he was obviously very mistaken. 

 

 Phainopepla - Male

Phainopepla - Male

 

This area was flourishing with Northern Cardinals, and at least one of them gave me a short photo opportunity.  We had this birding singing constantly from the beginning to the end of the hike.

 

Northern Cardinal - Male

 

A Red-tailed Hawk also was found along the dry west side desert slopes,  peering down into the lush river valley. 

 

Red-tailed Hawk

 

After both groups met up, we then ventured to the back yard of one of the residents where he has a few bird feeders set up.  And boy did he have the hummers visiting along with a few others as well.  Four species of hummingbirds; Anna's, Black-chinned, Costa's, and our target species the Broad-billed Hummingbird.  With 12 people in the back yard, the birds were a bit more cautious so I had to settle on some photos of them visiting the feeders.  Always like to get photos in a more natural setting, but sometimes this will do.  Several Broad-billed males were seen and at least twice we also had females show up at the feeders which makes for a bit better of a confirmation that this species is breeding in this area.  Since we did not find any active nests, we don't have proof positive, but you can bet that the general consensus is they are breeders in this area. 

 

 Broad-billed Hummingbird - Female on the right
Black-chinned Hummingbird - Female blurred on the left

Broad-billed Hummingbird - Female, note red underside of bill

 Broad-billed Hummingbird - Male

 Broad-billed Hummingbird - Male, What a stunning bird!!!

Broad-billed Hummingbird - Male

 

 Black-chinned Hummingbird - Female

Black-chinned Hummingbird - Female

 

A male Hooded Oriole also came in to probably get a sip of sugar water, but I think it might have been a bit intimidated by the number of people as it did not stay long after it noticed the crowds near the feeders.

 

 Hooded Oriole - Male

Hooded Oriole - Male

 

One last place we visited before we headed back to the city was some high desert terrain.  Compared to the huge numbers of birds we had in the lush riparian area, this was sparse as far as numbers of birds.  But we did discover a nest of a Curve-billed Thrasher which contained 3 lovely blue speckled eggs.  We snapped a couple of photos and then got out of the area to leave it alone.

 

Curve-billed Thrasher Nest

 

Definitely a spot that needs more exploration and several of us already know we will be returning to check it out.  Not the easiest place to find access to, but now that I know, I will return sometime and hope to show a few others how to gain access to the lush riparian riverbed.