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

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tucson CBC

Sunday morning came very early for the 3 of us and our coverage of the Winterhaven area for the Tucson CBC.  Chris and I met Jan at a Trader Joe's in our coverage area before the sun came up and the first birds we heard were White-crowned Sparrows.  Have to remember that the goal was to count birds and find as many species as we could find in one day in this mapped out area.  We then headed to the Winterhaven residential area first as we wanted to arrive before the crowds converged on this district to admire the many decorated yards with their Christmas lights and displays.  The first bird that we actually saw right after we stepped out of the vehicle was a Great Horned Owl!  Finding this bird was a great start to the day!  

 

One of the target birds was the Bronzed Cowbird which is a summer resident in southern Arizona, but in winter they can be a bit difficult to locate as most have migrated south for the winter, but a few stay the winter in the Tucson area.  Thanks to some great scouting by Chris and Jan two days before, they knew exactly where to find them.  And we found more than 40 of them; a great bird to add to the count. Of course a few other birds got in the way of my camera along the way, including a Gila Woodpecker and a male Phainopepla.

 

Bronzed Cowbirds



Bronzed Cowbird - Male



Gila Woodpecker



Phainopepla



 

At the University of Arizona Ag farm, we had the pleasure of observing and listening to a male Costa's Humingbird as he was putting on a display for the local female.  And a Verdin got into the act of fluffing out to dry on an branch after an early morning bath. 

 

Costa's Hummingbird - Female



 Verdin

 

  We also had the fortune of locating three Cactus Wrens in a residential neighborhood that was close to a racquet club and a dry stream bed.  The stream bed was a hot spot for many raptors, including Cooper's Hawks, Red-tailed Hawks, and a very 'high-in-the-sky' Prairie Falcon.  (Horrible photo of the Prairie Falcon, but the photo does help to identify this falcon.)  The Red-tailed Hawk was for a while sitting on top of a very tall electrical pole, but then it joined a second one soaring the thermals for an elaborate display.

 Cactus Wren

Cooper's Hawk

Prairie Falcon

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawks

Red-tailed Hawks

 Red-tailed Hawks

 

Our last bird of the day was a Red-naped Sapsucker that we found in a tree in the corner of a schoolyard.  By observing the many holes in the limbs of this tree, one can tell it has been used by this bird or other like it for some time.

 

Red-naped Sapsucker

 

I want to thank Chris and Jan for making this a very enjoyable day of birding on my first ever Tucson CBC.

 

 

Boyce Thompson Arboretum, 7/21/2012.

Boyce Thompson Arboretum (BTA) just happens to be one of my most favorite places in Arizona.  I loved this place the very first time I visited it a few years back and try to get there as often as possible.  This place along Highway 60 about an hour east of downtown Phoenix is a place that you never know what you might find.  Of course, their specialty is the horticulture and plant displays that abound in this area; desert, low mountains, riparian stream bed and even a small lake.  With all that variety it also attracts many birds and a lot of unusual other life forms, the latest being Desert Bighorn Sheep, (which I was not fortunate enough to find on this last outing).  This latest trip I arrived early without too many other visitors yet at 6:00 am and as I started down the main path from the visitor's center, the first bird that made an appearance for me was a pair of Brown-crested Flycatchers.  These birds are very similar to the Ash-throated Flycatchers that tend to be a bit more common and have a larger range than the Brown-crested.  This day I saw more Brown-crested than Ash-throated and have noticed that the Brown-crested have recently fledged young in the Arboretum.  Here is one of my very first photos of the day that really set the tone.

Brown-crested Flycatcher

As I worked my way up to Ayer Lake, I was able to find a Bronzed Cowbird, some Phainopeplas and some Lark Sparrows, along with a Great Blue Heron on a rock cliff at the lake.  One of the Lark Sparrows and a male Phainopepla allowed me to get a 'twofer', 2 birds in the same photo. 

Bronzed Cowbird



Phainopepla & Lark Sparrow

Great Blue Heron

As I continued on the path up into the drier and rocky areas a Black-throated Sparrow made an appearance and bit further down the walkway a couple Canyon Wrens were being very vocal.

Black-throated Sparrow



Canyon Wren

Continuing on the main trail which led down to the stream bed, a Bell's Vireo made an appearance.

Bell's Vireo



I eventually made it to the area of the Demonstration Garden where I found a very vocal Yellow-breasted Chat, a Blue Grosbeak, and a young Broad-billed Hummingbird on one of the feeders.

Yellow-breasted Chat



Blue Grosbeak



Broad-billed Hummingbird

The most numerous bird at BTA on this day were the Lesser Goldfinches as they were everywhere including bathing and drinking in the water fountains. They adore sunflower seeds, so it is not unusual to see them on sunflower seed heads and the bright yellow of the male goldfinch really matches the sunflower quite well.

Lesser Goldfinch



Probably the highlight of the morning were the newly fledged Cooper's Hawks.  The resident pair succeeded in producing two chicks this year and you could hear them in the trees.  I first saw them in the Australian eucalyptus trees and later when I was visiting one of the bird baths watching some Lesser Goldfinches bathing a drinking, one of the adults flew in and when that happened the goldfinches disappeared and shortly afterward the 2 young hawks came in and posed for me. 

Cooper's Hawk





Cooper's Hawk



BTA is a fabulous place to visit, so if you are ever in Arizona and love nature, a visit to this place is definitely worth it.  You will not regret it.  To learn more of Boyce Thompson Arboretum please visit their website at this link

http://arboretum.ag.arizona.edu/

They have many activities throughout the year and they have something for the whole family to enjoy.



 





Mesquite Wash 2012

One of my favorite birding spots in Maricopa County in Arizona is Mesquite Wash especially during spring migration.  Fall migration can also turn up some great birds, but in the spring many of the birds that are in migration mode are all decked out in their breeding plumage.  This spot is about a 30 minute drive from the valley of the sun and the urban setting and it attracts a large variety of bird species, especially if there is water running in the stream.  Not always the best opportunity for photographs as there is extensive cover that makes photos a bit more of a challenge.  It is also a fairly popular place for ATV riding and camping and sometimes those activities can be a big distraction.

On Sunday, 13 May 2012, I ventured out to this amazing place and was not disappointed.  Got to see a lot of different birds, but was not able to capture photos of all that I saw.  One of the nicest birds I found was my 'first of the season' Blue Grosbeak, but alas, photos were not in the cards that day for this bird, but just seeing this bird really started the day off right.  Another bird that I found fairly early in my adventure was a Summer Tanager.  I have seen these birds many times, but most often they are high up in trees with fairly dense foliage or they are a bit secretive and hiding the the shadows.  This male Summer Tanager actually made his presence know by posing in a bit of sunlight for me and my camera.

Summer Tanager

Another bird that I found fairly early was the Say's Phoebe.  This is a very common bird in Arizona but they are always a joy to watch as they fly out and catch insects in the air, or flutter to the ground to gave an unsuspecting insect and then go back to the closest perch and devour it.  This time I found a family of them with at least 2 of them being newly fledged juveniles.  The young birds were not all that flighty and not yet afraid of human encroachment and the gave me some fun entertainment. 

Say's Phoebe

Say's Phoebe-wing stretching

Turkey Vultures are a very common site in the state of Arizona and this one was warming up in the sun's rays early in the morning.  Most people say they have a face that only a mother could love.

Turkey Vulture

The next find was a couple of Black-headed Grosbeaks who flew down into the stream of water to catch an early morning drink.  It was nice to capture a male and a female in the same photo frame.

Black-headed Grosbeak

Last bird in my photo collection is a Bronzed Cowbird.  While a Cowbird is usually not a birders favorite bird due to their behaviour being a parasitic bird; which means they do not build nests of their own.  They lay their eggs in other birds nests and expect the host birds to raise their young, many times at the expense of the host birds babies.

Bronzed Cowbird

Mesquite wash is a fantastic habitat for many birds and a place I truly enjoy returning to time and time again.  I always see many more birds than what I am able to catch on the camera, and this place is a lot of fun.