Puerto Peñasco, Mexico: Third and Final Day

For our final day, Chris wanted to show me some areas south and east of Puerto Peñasco.  I had never been down that way, but the highway that lead to the town of Caborca was our route to an estuary.  It had been a while since Chris had been there, so turning off onto an incorrect road which lead to a dead end, was interesting to say the least.  However, I have no complaints because we found some birds along this road that were new to me in Mexico and added to my Mexico list; Gambel's Quail, Peregrine Falcon, and Western Meadowlark.

This estuary was totally awesome as it is remote with some incredible beaches that have not been scavenged by too many humans.  In one small arm of the estuary we had some amazing birds including a fly-over of a Reddish Egret.  It was so close, that we could see the bi-colored bill without binoculars!

 Reddish Egret

In the mud flats a Whimbrel was probing the mud and shallow water for tidbits of food.

Whimbrel

Probably one of the most exciting birds were some Red-breasted Mergansers; males and females.  It was only about a month ago that I got to see my first male of this species from a distance at Lake Mohave in Arizona.  This time we had males and females right under the bridge.

 Red-breasted Merganser-Male

 Red-breasted Merganser-Female

Red-breasted Merganser & 2 Bufflehead-All Females

At one point, I was following a male Red-breasted Merganser as it swam away from us, and we were treated to a view of a 'Creature from the Estuary Lagoon'!  We have no clue as to what this underwater creature was, but it swam towards us and then swam into deeper water and out of sight.  Possibly just a fish of some sort, but it was interesting to say the least.

 The "Creature" in the water behind the merganser.

More shorebirds that we encountered included the American Golden-Plover and another Semipalmated Plover, and this time I got a photo of this bird.

 American Golden-Plover

Semipalmated Plover

Forster's Terns were active at the mouth of the estuary where it meets the ocean.

Forster's Tern

There is a spot out in the Sea of Cortez called Bird Island.  Actually, it consist of a couple of small islands that are just rocks, but it is used as a breeding site for Blue-footed and Brown Boobys.  Rocky Point does have boats that will take people out there.  There is no access point on the island, so all viewing has to be done from the boat.  We checked into it, but the costs were too prohibitive.  So we did not get to visit the place.  On the beach by the estuary we were able to see the rocky outcrops of the islands, so the photos below were my views of Bird Island from the coast.  

 Bird Island with a bird flying in the front.

The beach covered in sea shells.

 Hermit Thrush found hiding in mesquites near a hotel.

I believe this is a Zebra-tailed Lizard.

A small sand crab found on the beach.

A very interesting succulent growing in the sand dunes above the beach.

This pretty much wrapped up our third and final day in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico.  Always a great place to get away and enjoy a bit of beach life for those who live in Arizona.

Greater Phoenix Waterbird Count

Saturday January 17th, I took part in the Greater Phoenix Waterbird Count.  This is an annual event that is initiated by Arizona Game & Fish.  It focuses on identifying and counting all birds that rely on water in their daily routine.  The city is divided up into several mapped out designated areas and teams are assigned to cover those spots.  The data collected by this massive count helps AZG&F in keeping a handle on the population trends of all these water related birds and what kind of impact it is having on the city.  When a person stops to think that most of these birds would never be seen here as this is Sonoran Desert, it is incredible.  But the hundreds of ponds and lakes that have been made by man for golf courses, housing developments and many other uses has made this a premium spot for many of these birds to spend the winter. 

 

This year I had the great fortune of being teamed up with Scott Christopher and we spent over 7 hours checking on every little pool, pond and lake in our designated area.  There are some good aspects of doing something like this, and of course there are a few that get a bit tedious, such as counting American Wigeons.  In our area, we had just a little over 1500 of these birds and yes, it tends to get a bit old looking at and counting these birds.

 

Probably the most exciting find for the two of us was a pair of Wood Ducks.  They are not considered rare but are uncommon in and around the Phoenix area.  Always fun to see these birds as they are just so stunning to see.

 

 Wood Duck

 

Luckily, we had access to Leisure World due to a person by the name of Bill Weaver that drove us around to take in all the ponds within that location.  Had we not been able to get access to this wonderful spot, we would not have had any Great Blue Herons or Great Egrets on our list for that day.  The Great Blue Herons that have nested there are now feeding some young that will be fledging in the very near future.  They almost look out of place at the top of a tall pine tree.

  We also had a couple of Black-crowned Night Herons in Leisure World as well that were still perched in the trees waiting for the sun to rise and create some heat for them.

 

Great Blue Heron

 



Black-crowned Night Heron

 

Also in the enclosed area of Leisure World, we were checking out the other birds as well, even while we were counting.  Scott found a Harris's Hawk and the Gila Woodpecker made an appearance at the home of our guide, Bill Weaver.

 

 Gila Woodpecker - Female

 

Harris's Hawk

 

OK, now back to the waterbirds.  We had the fortune to locate a few Canvasback at various places, including males and females.  At Longbow Golf Course that held two Canvasback drakes, they had their heads tucked and did not want to show us their full beauty, but they were keenly watching us even as they rested.  That red eye is a dead giveaway that they were Canvasback.  

 

 Canvasback - Female

 

Canvasback - Male

 

At another pond we had a pair of Bufflehead, and also a group of fairly large carp in the water.  Cannot recall ever posting a photo of a fish on my blog, so this might be a first.  These carp were probably at least 24" in length (and that is not a fish story!).

 

 Carp

 

Bufflehead - Female on left, Male on right

 

The most photogenic ducks for us were some Redheads at a pond in the northern areas.  They were sharing the pond with some Ring-necked Ducks and it was obvious that the locals must have been feeding these birds as they quickly swam towards us and really allowed some great close up shots.  Even one of the local American Coots got active as it got out of the water and walked around a large tuft of grass right towards me.  I was so intrigued by its lobed feet that I just had to focus on a photo of how unique it is.

 

 Redhead

 

 Redhead

 

American Coot - lobed foot

 

Many of the pods we visited were located in residential areas and it is always amazing at what some of the locals do to try and keep unwanted birds such as Canada Geese away.  Most of the methods involve decoys of one kind or another.  This one left us a bit puzzled as to whether or not it was supposed to be an alligator or a crocodile, and if it really succeeded.  Most of these birds don't frequent habitats that hold these reptiles, so not sure if they really know what one is.

 

Who knew???  Alligators or Crocodiles in Arizona????

 

We had a great day of counting birds with a few surprises along the way even though it got a little old counting some of these ducks.  Will be interesting to see what next year holds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

2015 - A New Year

It feels like I have deserted my blog site, but that is far from the truth.  Due to an unplanned and unforeseen visit by an influenza virus, I virtually have not been able to get out birding since Christmas.  This past weekend was the first time I have been able to get out and about and this was after the gift of Mother Nature dropping in and giving Arizona a taste of winter.  Truly not as serious as other parts of the country, but to Arizona standards, it was cold.  Saturday morning, I bundled up and headed for the Lake Pleasant area, just to see what I could find on my own.  While I did not come away with any photos, being able to add the Common Loon to my Maricopa County list was long overdue and I actually got to see 2 of them.

 

So Sunday morning, I headed out to a couple of spots in the east valley along the lower Salt River.  A stop at the Granite Reef Recreation Site, gave me my first thrasher for the year and surprisingly, it was not a Curve-billed Thrasher which is the most common species of thrasher in Arizona.  I was serenaded by a Crissal Thrasher singing high from the top of a salt cedar.  Not a bird to always give great views or photo ops, but maybe it is a good omen for another good year of birding.

 

Crissal Thrasher

 

From the bitter cold of Granite Reef, I then headed to Butcher Jones Beach on Saguaro Lake.  Secretly, I was hoping that the Surf Scoter might still be present, but alas, this was not the case.  That's not to say it was not on Saguaro Lake as it could have been far out into the main part of the lake.  So I spent my time observing the water birds and trying to get some photos of one of my favorite ducks, the Bufflehead which is the smallest duck in the U.S.  The males are stunning and when the light hits the iridescent feathers on the head, you get to see a rainbow of colors.  Being diving ducks, they were constantly diving and photos at times proved to be a bit of a challenge.  Just as you are ready to trip the shutter they would dive, so here is a series of photos showing the various moments.

 

 Bufflehead - Male

 

 Bufflehead - Male

 

 Bufflehead - Male

 

 Bufflehead - Male

Bufflehead - Male

 

 Bufflehead - Female

 

Bufflehead - Female

 

Had a few Eared Grebes also playing diving games.  Usually the Bufflehead and Eared Grebes do not linger close to shore and allow people to approach very close, but on this day they seemed to be a bit more accommodating to me and my camera.

 

 Eared Grebe

 

 Eared Grebe

 

Eared Grebe

 

This has recently always been a good place to find a Common Gallinule.  They are a bit more interesting than the dozens of American Coots that are located here.

 

Common Gallinule

 

As a walked part of the trail a couple of female Northern Cardinals kept me entertained on some cholla cactus.

 

Northern Cardinal

 

Of course a couple of Ring-billed Gulls were making the rounds as well.

 

Rig-billed Gull

 

Before I left the area, I did a quick walk around the picnic area to see what might show up.  A Gray Flycatcher and a Gilded Flicker were nice additions to my daily list.

 

 Gilded Flicker

 

 Gilded Flicker

 

Gray Flycatcher

 

Probably the most enjoyable experience in the picnic area was my encounter with a Greater Roadrunner.  Not a rare bird by any means, but this one was quite the character for me.  I first saw it strolling through the grass about 30 yards away,  So I snuggled up close to one of the mesquite trees and watched it and was taking some not-so-great photos since it was so far away.  As I stood perfectly still, it turned in my direction and slowly made its way toward me.  Of course it knew I was there as it could here the clicking of the camera.  It finally got to within 10 feet of me, eyeing me and it was so close, I could not fit the entire bird into my camera frame.  I talked softly to it as it checked me out and once I felt that I had intruded enough on its turf, I slowly turned around and walked slowly away.  In checking back, it was not at all alarmed and did not take off running.  As I was driving out of the lot, it stopped one more time on a mound of earth for one last photo.  It is moments like this that I feel sometimes that I have connected with nature and a memory that I will never forget.

 

 Greater Roadrunner

 

 Greater Roadrunner

 

 Greater Roadrunner

 

 Greater Roadrunner

 

Greater Roadrunner

 

Might not have been any of the rarest or uncommon birds, but just getting out and connecting with nature was very uplifting.  Definitely not a wasted day!