A Little Bit of AZ & UT

When Tuesday arrived, we headed north and west from Jacob Lake, AZ with a lot of ground to cover in one day.  I had found a spot on eBird that had a fairly substantial bird list, but a place that would be quite easy to drive right by.  Pipe Spring National Monument is a fairly small area where a natural spring exists and provides and small but continual flow of water.  It did not go unnoticed by the natives that lived here in years past and was also discovered and used by some of the first settlers once they discovered this source of water in the high desert.  Of course the water supply provided a great trap for migrants. I highly recommend anyone traveling by this spot on Highway 389 to stop in and check it out for birds.  I am sure that different times of the year will result in totally different species.  

Some of the highlights that I found on this day included a first year juvenile Cedar Waxwing.  Their breeding range is much further north and most generally we only see these birds in winter in their adult plumage.  Was interesting to see one with streaks on its breast and sides.  But that profile is definitely a Cedar Waxwing.  

Cedar Waxwing - Juvenile

Other birds that I was able to photograph included a posing and cute little Wilson's Warbler, some Western Tanagers, and some Brewer's Sparrows.

Wilson's Warbler

Western Tanager

Brewer's Sparrow

From there we headed to Zion National Park in Utah.  Great place for scenery, but the birding there did not appeal to me especially due to the large crowds and not having enough time to really explore the place to find some welcoming spots.  

Zion National Park

The next stop is a lesser known spot; Cedar Breaks National Monument.  Obviously it is on a much smaller scale than a national park, but the scenery here was outstanding.  Birding was not so great here either so we did not linger, but I was able to photograph a 'Gray-headed' Dark-eyed Junco and a couple of new butterflies.

Dark-eyed Junco

Hoary Comma Butterfly

Milbert's Tortoiseshell Butterfly

Next stop, Bryce Canyon National Park and this turned out to be my favorite stop.  Awesome scenery and some awesome birds including the Clark's Nutcracker.  This time this bird just flew into the pines at one of the viewing points where I stopped and put on quite a show for me.  Was quite fun to watch their antics and feeding on seeds from pine cones.  They can be quite the acrobats.

 Clark's Nutcracker

 Yep, still more of the Clark's Nutcracker

Common Ravens were evident everywhere and at one stop, there was a pair that had no fear of humans and I suspect they were used to many handouts by visitors as they waited for their next meal.  In the close-up photo, notice the bristles on the upper beak and how far down it extends on the beak.

 Common Raven

Common Raven, note the bristles on the upper mandible

Bryce Canyon National Park was also a fabulous place to find some really cool mammals.  Of course Elk are always awesome to see and this is probably the closest I have been able to get to them for decent photos.

Elk

But the most exciting was the small heard of Pronghorn that we found along the highway and they crossed the highway right in front of us while we sat in the car and watched.  The herd consisted mostly of females with a couple of young and one adult male that crossed the highway last after the rest of the herd went first.  Usually an animal that bolts at the sight of a human, but this herd might not spook so easily since they are on National Park land and hunting is not allowed.

 Pronghorn - Female

Pronghorn - Juvenile

 Pronghorn - Male

The second day was a full day and we covered a lot of ground, but it was definitely a day to remember.  More to come on future posts.  

  

Birding in Prescott, Arizona

On Sunday 2 February 2014, I teamed up with Jason Morgan and headed north to the areas of Prescott and Prescott Valley to do some birding.  Jason along with a couple others were getting some very nice photos of the Common Goldeneye.  This duck is quite spectacular in appearance and while I have seen them many times in the past, the birds were always at quite a distance and my photos always left a little to be desired.  My goal was to try and get a better photo than I had in the past, so our first stop was Yavapai Lake and I was not disappointed.  Amongst the 100 or so Ring-necked Ducks were at least 6 male Common Goldeneyes and a single male Canvasback, which was a bonus to me.  Had to search a different spot, Fain Park to find the females.

 

 Common Goldeye - Male

 

Common Goldeye - Female

 

Canvasback - Male

 

While we did not linger too long in Fain Park, we did find some other cool waterfowl including a female Lesser Scaup and some Common Mergansers of which the females were the only ones that I could approach close enough for photos. 

 

 Lesser Scaup - Female

 

Common Merganser - Female

 

During our brief visit we were witness to one of Mother Nature's events in the survival of birds, a raptor capturing another bird for its daily existence.  In this case, it was a Cooper's Hawk that captured a Western Scrub-Jay.  Typically, jays are notorious for finding the location of a raptor and then sounding the alarm to other birds by sending out alarm calls to let others know of the raptor's location.  In this case the Cooper's Hawk got the jump on them and once the victim had been captured, the rest of the Western Scrub-Jays really did a lot of scolding to no avail.  Yes, is a bit disturbing to see this, but this happens daily in nature and we could only revel in what we had just witnessed.

 

Cooper's Hawk with prey, a Western Scrub-Jay

 

Our next destination was going to be Watson Lake and this is where we had agreed to meet up with another Facebook birder, Cynthia White.  She knows the Prescott area well and we were very happy to meet her and actually get the chance to do some birding with her.  Watson Lake was covered with waterfowl and it was mindboggling to try to count the various ducks.  A couple of highlights were actually raptors that were putting on a show for us.  The first was a juvenile Bald Eagle that was being harassed by a couple of Common Ravens.  But this eagle really seemed unperturbed by all the commotion and continued to ride the thermals and in fact at one time they were flying almost side-by-side.  For those that are reading this and are a bit confused by the coloration of the Bald Eagle, this is a juvenile.  It takes about 4 years for a Bald Eagle to obtain its complete white head and tail and dark brown body, which is the vision most people think of when they hear Bald Eagle.  A good example in showing that identifying birds can be a bit confusing, especially to new birders and to non-birders. 

 

 Bald Eagle - Juvenile

 

Bald Eagle and Common Raven - (note the size difference)

 

We also had a Northern Harrier put on quite a show for us as it was flying over the reeds in the lake hunting for prey.  A one point it landed on a tree snag and gave us really good close up views of this winter visitor to Arizona.  This bird has an 'owl-like' appearance to it, but usually is hard to see as these birds rarely pose close for photos and for viewing.

 

Northern Harrier

 

Once we finished our walk around Watson Lake, we then discussed our other options and I had heard that a Tundra Swan had been reported a few days ago at Willow Lake and we agreed that since we were in the neighborhood, we should at least stop by to take a look.  Thanks to Cynthia for knowing how to get there quickly and finding easy access parking.  We got out of our vehicles and I noticed a white mound that kind of looked like a white rock or maybe a white piece of trash out in the lake.  We all looked a little close and decided it might be the swan with its head tucked under the wing taking a nap.  We quickly made out way to the lake edge and the closer we got, I knew we had found our target bird, the Tundra Swan.  I had really never seen a swan in the wild before, but I knew they were big and when we got to looking at this one and noticing the company it was keeping; Northern Shovelers, Green-winged Teal, and American Coots, then I realized how huge these birds really are.  This one never took flight for us, but it think it would be an amazing sight to see these birds take to the air.

 

 Tundra Swan

 

Tundra Swan

 

In our (or was it my?) obsession to get closer to the swan to try for photos, I observed another unusual bird flying towards us; a White-tailed Kite!  I have seen this bird before a few times in Maricopa County and was rather surprised to see one in this location.  We made a note of where it might have went and once we finished our business with the swan, we headed in the direction of where we thought it might be and once we got around the large cottonwood tree, we found it perched in another shorter tree.  We took a couple of distant photos and as we tried to approach it to get closer it took flight again and it put on a 'kiting' show for us where it would hover in flight without moving forward.  This was especially rewarding as I found out that this bird was a life bird for both Jason and Cynthia!  While my photos leave a lot to be desired, they are at least good enough for an ID if needed.  Cynthia managed a very nice in-flight photo when we first discovered this bird.

 

White-tailed Kite

 

This turned out to be a great day for all three of us with Jason getting 3 life birds and Cynthia and myself 1 each.  This is definitely a spot that I need to visit more often and I encourage others to do so as well.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 4 of California Birding

Tuesday arrived and the planed birding trips had come to an end.  But Jim and Vince were staying a few extra days and Chuck Hoppe was flying into the San Jose Airport that day and we were going to spend some time with my cousin.  So,  the 3 of us headed out to find some more birds before heading to the airport and our main target bird was the Yellow-billed Magpie.  This bird is endemic to California and cannot be found in any other state except California.  But one has to travel to some interior areas of the state as they would not normally be found along the coast.  Growing up in southwestern Nebraska, the Black-billed Magpie is a fairly common bird; and they have a fairly large range covering much of the western United States and as far north as Alaska.  So the Yellow-billed was our focus bird.  I had been given directions by one of our guides that we had on Sunday and was told they could be found near Ed Levin Park near Milpitas, CA.  So we set the GPS and took off.  We followed Al's directions and sure enough we found a pair of them almost exactly where he directed us.  They can be very vocal and would be hard to miss with their size and bold black and white markings.  Yes, another life bird for all of us!

  

 Yellow-billed Magpie

Yellow-billed Magpie

We had achieved our goal already and had some time to spare, so we drove back to Ed Levin Park to kill some time there and at this stop, I finally got a photo of the Oak Titmouse.  Although I had seen them on Sunday, this was my first photo of one.  

Oak Titmouse

We stopped once along the road to admire 2 more Golden Eagles (this brought my total of Golden Eagles up to 6 on this trip!), and I had the opportunity to snap a photo of a Common Raven from the car window.

Common Raven

Couple of items that caught my interest in the park were the ground squirrels that were very prevalent in the park and in the fields and pastures near the roads all around the area.  Have done a little research and I think the species is the California Ground Squirrel, but I could be wrong and if someone reading this can give me a better ID, I will be more than happy to make a correction.  Jim also discovered a nice large Tarantula which was not a creature he wanted anything to do with.  He went running one way and I couldn't get to the spider fast enough to get some photos!  Lovely creature that I estimated to be about 4" to 5" across.

 California Ground Squirrel, (I think)

California Ground Squirrel, (I think)

Tarantula

So much for the birding on this day as our attention then turned to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium.  for those of you still following along, expect to see some mammals, some fish and yes, some more birds!  First things first, Sea Otters!  That in my opinion is the biggest reason to come to Monterrey Bay.  They do have a couple of these enigmatic mammals in the Aquarium itself where they can be viewed up close and personal and putting on a show for the spectators.  But to me, it is more satisfying to actually see some out in the open water of Monterrey Bay and capture photos of them in their wild state.  Such marvelous creatures and so unique.

 Sea Otter

Sea Otter

Of course the Aquarium itself is full of various underwater life all in huge and sometime very small aquariums.  I did attempt a few photos of some of the fish, but found it difficult to focus with my large zoom lens, so remember these photos were being shot through a thick aquarium glass without a flash.  I have no clue what species we have in these photos, but I think they are simply beautiful.

Also within the confines of the aquarium itself is an area where they have rescued and rehabilitated injured birds and one can see them up close.  Here are a couple of photos of a couple of birds, that were in this open area that were almost too close for photos, but this is closer than I have ever gotten to either one; a Ruddy Turnstone and a Snowy Plover.

 Ruddy Turnstone in Captivity

Snowy Plover in Captivity

Once we left the Aquarium we made a side stop to the docks and jetties of Monterrey Bay.  Really came to see the California Sea Lions up close and in the process I was able to discover a couple of birds up close.  Brandt's Cormorant was one that I had seen at several places around Half Moon Bay, but was not able to get very close for photos, but this time it was different.  They were going to roost on the pilings all around the seal lions.  And by peering down and over the edge, I also discovered a Surfbird on the rocks.  Another bird that I had seen from a distance earlier in the trip, but was never able to get photos.  

 Brandt's Cormorant

Surfbird

And of course the California Sea Lions were what we came down to look at.  Got one up close and personal, but also got a view of the jetty with just about every rock covered by one of these magnificent mammals.

 California Sea Lions

The Monterrey Bay Aquarium is a must see for anyone that is near this area.  Their displays of all types of marine life including many species of jellyfish and anemones and corals are outstanding.  The huge 2 story aquarium of fish and kelp is awesome and readily shows how fish move with the water currents.  If I lived in that area, I would not hesitate in purchasing a year pass.