New Directions

Since finishing my 'Maricopa Big Year' in December, I have thought long and hard about the direction I was heading to continue my birding adventures.  I have definitely decided, no more big years for me.  It feels too much like a job and since I am now retired, a job is not what I want to begin again.  I want to enjoy the birds and revel in the beauty and behavior and learn more about them.  Along with that process, I have also started to admire and extend my interest into many more aspects of nature.  So expect to see a more diverse listing of other critters on this blog in the future.    One thing I have come to realize is the fact that many birding adventures are not the most physical and are lacking in exercise.  Granted, there are some chases that do require some good physical exertion such as a couple of trips to Slate Creek Divide last year.  But many hunts are more vehicle driving and then leisurely walking to easy spots.  

The past few weeks, I have been pushing myself to get some good physical exercise and much of it has been done on some hiking trails in South Mountain Park.  First and foremost, it is for the health aspect for me, but secondly, it will allow me to take trips out of state to chase some birds that cannot be found in Arizona.  Currently have a couple of upcoming trips on my slate.  Local birding has been fun and I would like to share some of the fun I have had enjoying local birds in the past few weeks.  Also know that long winded posts most times go unread, so I try to keep them short and add lots of photos.  After all, its the photos that most people enjoy seeing.  

A trip to Lost Dutchman State Park got me a nice Bendire's Thrasher and a Northern Mockingbird. 

 Bendire's Thrasher

 Northern Mockingbird feeding on Mistletoe berries

A visit to the Gilbert Water Ranch is always a great way to capture some great photos and is never a disappointment.

 Black-crowned Night Heron

Cinnamon Teal showing some of its colorful wings

 A very cooperative Green Heron

 Least Bittern

An elegant Northern Pintail drake

A handsome drake Redhead taken during the Greater Phoenix Waterbird Count.

Redhead

A trip out west to the White Tank Mountains Regional Park, was quite enjoyable.  Had never visited the place before and was taken in by its beauty and nature.  Besides having a lot of Canyon Towhees in the park, I came across something I never expected in a desert canyon; a snail!  I have always associated snails to be found in wet damp areas or water, but this one was found on a trail at an elevation of 2200' and no running water or pools of water anywhere close by.  Temperature was around 50° F.  It had rained about week prior to my visit and some areas of the trail were damp.  I was so intrigued that I posted this find on iNaturalist.org and also tried to do a little research on my own.  I discovered that there are an estimated 200 species of land snails in Arizona and most of them are fairly unknown and researched due to their limited ranges and hiding until enough rain or moisture brings them out from under rocks.  This one does not have a common name, but its scientific name is eremarionta rowelli.  Probably only found in the White Tank Mountains west of Phoenix.  

 eremarionta rowelli

Canyon Towhee

From the White Tank Mountains, I headed south to some ag fields near Buckeye where a Trumpeter Swan had been reported.  This was definitely not a common bird for Maricopa County, so it was nice to find it and add it to my county list.  

 Trumpter Swan

Cattle Egret

And a stop at the White-tailed Kite location not far from the ag fields and I was able to find the pari in one tree.

White-tailed Kites

One last stop that day took me to the Glendale Recharge Ponds to see if the Long-tailed Duck was still there.  It was and this time I was there by myself and it really let its personality shine for me.

 Long-tailed Duck

There were a few other stops during this time as well.  I also visited Pima Canyon Wash several times in the past few weeks and have had some really great experiences with some of the local birds.  Have enough to do a separate blog post to cover those instances.  So you can look forward to another post in the near future.  

Following up on a Mini-Oasis

After finding and describing a seep that created a mini-oasis in Pima Canyon Wash, I followed up on this spot on another visit a week later to see if there were any changes worth noting.  This spot is about 2½ miles from the parking area so I headed up there early on the morning of November 16th.  This time, I made this my destination and found myself a spot to sit and observe.  In the time span of only about 15 minutes, I counted 6 different species that came in to visit this area and its small pools of water:  Canyon Towhee, Black-throated Sparrow, 'Oregon' Dark-eyed Junco, Chipping Sparrow, Rock Wren, and House Finch.  Who knows what all I might have seen had I stayed there for several hours. This obviously shows how big of an impact this small mini-oasis can have on the various avian life and I am sure countless other wildlife and insects.

 Black-throated Sparrow

 Canyon Towhee

 Canyon Towhee

'Oregon' Dark-eyed Junco - was a bit shy and did not want to show its face!

As I was sitting on a rock observing this area, I happened to glance up in the sky and found a pair of Peregrine Falcons flying near the north ridge line of the canyon.  Yes, they were a bit high, but just being able to capture one photo for identity purposes was cool as this just added another species to my patch total for this spot.  

Peregrine Falcon

As I made my way back to the parking area after another successful trip to Pima Canyon, I encountered a stunningly beautiful male Costa's Hummingbird, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet that almost showed me its full ruby crown, and a pair of very obliging Loggerhead Shrikes.  

 Costa's Hummingbird

 Costa's Hummingbird

 Costa's Hummingbird

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

 Loggerhead Shrike - Number 1

Loggerhead Shrike - Number 2

Seems I find a new surprise just about every visit and I will be back for more.

  

Finding a Mini-Oasis in the Desert

One of the beauties of using eBird to report all bird sightings and expeditions is one of their applications called an eBird Patch. This is a spot that you chose on your own where you might frequently do a lot of birding.  I have 3 of them, but the one that I have the most fun with is Pima Canyon Wash in South Mountain Park in Phoenix, Arizona.  It is not a frequently birder by very many people, but since it is fairly easy access from where I live and I definitely need exercise, I use this spot to incorporate birding and exercise.  Of the 108 species seen in this spot, I have seen 93 of them.  I have contributed 85 checklists to eBird for this location and the 2nd place person has contributed only 12.  So I feel like my contributions have been a big plus for avian statistics.  In the process of exploring this area, I have been checking out some of the trails and washes that the hikers and bikers tend to ignore.  The reason?  More birds!!!!

One of these washes contains a couple of seeps where water from an underground aquifer seeps to the surface.  One of them is known by the parks and recreation department as it has been fenced off for many years as a wildlife site.  The second one that I have found is a bit unique and this past weekend I visited this spot once again and found a lush tall grassy area and small pools of water in the wash.  Without any rainfall in over a month, this is extraordinary to find pools of water in a desert habitat.  And of course this small oasis is a big attraction to some birds and other wildlife.  Here are some photos of this spot that I took this last weekend, and it was outstanding to see the lush green grass in all the dry desert habitat around it.  The pools provide drinking and bathing for the birds.This past weekend, this spot was being used by a flock of Chipping Sparrows, but in the past I have also had a Lincoln's Sparrow and a House Wren.  Who knows what else may be found there at other times.

Pools of water in the wash from the seep.

More pools of water from the seep

This view is from upstream looking downstream with the thick mass of branches that had washed down during the monsoon rains.

Lush vegetation behind the branches.

Looking from downstream to upstream and the lush green vegetation.

Another view of the lush vegetation.

This is definitely a spot that needs to be checked out more frequently in the future.

And while we are on Pima Canyon Wash again, I might add a few photos of birds that I have recently seen in the area, starting with a Curve-billed Thrasher and a female Ladderback Woodpecker that were photographed on this trip.

Curve-billed Thrasher

Ladderback Woodpecker

The next photos were all taken on my hike on October 26th, 2014.  Most of these birds are fairly common and are birds that I detect on almost every trip to this area.

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

Canyon Towhee

Loggerhead Shrike

Verdin

The next two birds are not quite as common as the previous 4.  Ruby-crowned Kinglets are by no means a rare bird, but they are only a migrant and a winter visitor to this location and even this location is a bit more of a drier spot with fewer deciduous trees, and not many would spend a great deal of time here.  The Cooper's Hawk is seen frequently, but not always.  Usually they prefer trees with a bit more foliage for hiding.  This one is a juvenile, so maybe it is still exploring because it sure wasn't hidden too well from me.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Cooper's Hawk

Many points to be made about birding the same areas fairly frequently.  Birds are very mobile and have very unique habits and behaviors which result in seeing something different quite frequently.  This spot will continue to be an often visited place for me, after all, there are more birds to be found here in the future!  

  

  

Rancho El Aribabi, Sonora, Mexico - Part 2

Saturday morning I awoke before the sun had even risen and what woke me was the multitude of bird songs all around us outside the ranch house.  Of course I was excited and headed outside and heard the Buff-collared Nightjars calling their last calls before they went to rest for the day.  Those nocturnal birds are hard to get visuals, but once you learn their calls, you know they are out there.  We had already been told by Jim Rorabaugh that the hillside to the west of the ranch house would have Five-striped Sparrows singing in the morning, he was absolutely correct.  This is a bird that is very hard to find in the United States as it is only found in a couple of very remote canyons of southern Arizona, so it was one of my target birds on this little trip.  We found several singing all over the hillside and they were being especially cooperative and allowing several photo opportunities.  It is another one of those handsome sparrows.  So, Saturday started out fantastic as I got my first new life bird of the weekend!  (But things were going to get even better fairly quickly.)

 Five-striped Sparrow

Five-striped Sparrow

As we were standing there looking up a small draw at the Five-striped Sparrows, I heard a rattle call and saw a bird fly in and onto some dead branches just below some Saguaro Cactus.  That call immediately made me think of a kingfisher and low and behold, a Green Kingfisher had landed on those dead branches.  I was almost afraid to call out the ID on it because it really did not belong here; should have found this bird down in the stream bead and the trees and heavy shade.  This was a female and it sat there for several minutes allowing all of us to get some good looks and of course some photos.  This bird does show up occasionally in Arizona, but it is far from being common and not easy to find when it is present.  Another new life bird for me and one that I had secretly hoped to find, but thought it was going to be harder to find.

Green Kingfisher

What a way to start the day!  Also during all of this our resident pair of Barn Swallows took a rest in this area as well.  It is not often one gets photos of them on vegetation as they love to perch on power lines and fences.  This pair has a nest on the patio portion of the ranch house, so they were our constant companions along with a couple of Canyon Towhees that kept the patio free and clear of a lot of insects.  Even a Black Phoebe flew in to snack on a few flying insects once in a while.

 Barn Swallow

 Canyon Towhee

Black Phoebe

Other birds that were seen constantly in and around the ranch house were red and blue, such as the Blue Grosbeak and the Summer Tanagers and Northern Cardinals.  Yes, these birds can be seen in Arizona, but here they were constantly all around us.

Blue Grosbeak

 Summer Tanager

Summer Tanager- Male and Female

 Northern Cardinal

Northern Cardinal

During my wanderings on Saturday, I finally got around to photographing some of the many flycatchers located at this place.  Dusky-capped Flycatchers were abundant as were Brown-crested and Ash-throated Flycatchers.  We also had kingbirds, Cassin's Western, and Thick-billed Kingbirds.  I was really pleased to see the Thick-billed Kingbirds as it was a bird that I had only seen fleetingly in early June, but this time I was able to capture photos of this huge billed kingbird.  No doubt where it got its name.

 Thick-billed Kingbird

Thick-billed Kingbird

 Dusky-capped Flycatcher

Western Kingbird

Of course we also had both species of vultures.  The Black Vulture is one that is usually a bit harder to find and capture in a photo, so I took advantage of this one perched on an electrical pole.  Another bird that was seen in abundant numbers was the Common Ground Dove.  They are found in Arizona as well, especially in the south and occasionally they do stray as far north as the Phoenix area as I have seen them at a couple of places in the urban areas.  

 Black Vulture

Common Ground Dove

 A person never knew what to expect flying in the canopy of trees and even though we had heard them a few times, finally a Yellow-billed Cuckoo flew from right to left and actually landed on a branch for good viewing.  This is another one of those secretive birds that one hears a lot and gets an occasional glimpse.  Still not the best photos that I would like of this elusive bird, but much better than any I have captured before.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Anytime anyone wanted to take a break, we could sit around on the patio and watch the hummingbirds.  For the most part only 2 species were making regular visits; the Broad-billed Hummingbird and the Violet-crowned Hummingbird.  (A third species made an appearance on Sunday, but that will be on my next post.)

 Broad-billed Humingbird

 Violet-crowned Hummingbird

Violet-crowned Hummingbird

Must have been lunch time to find all of us together in the daylight.

This was the full crew, minus myself in this photo

Finding out how long this post turned into, I have decided to stop and continue on the 3rd and final post which will include a photo of the only snake we found.