You Win Some & You Lose Some

This hobby of birding is not always what it seems.  Once a person gets addicted to birding and listing, then every week and every day, one is always thinking what should I chase on my next day off?  Currently for me, that is pretty much weekends only, but if everything falls into place, next year at this time I will be able to head out any day I feel like it.  So it was, when the fourth weekend in January rolled around.  I wanted to add some of the rarer birds being reported to my Arizona list and my Maricopa County list for the new year.  So I headed for Lake Pleasant to see if I could locate some of the rarer birds being seen at that location.  What I did not plan on, was the wind.  It was brisk, and cold coming in off the water of the lake.  White caps in the water were not conducive to finding birds as they were most likely hiding in some sheltered coves on the opposite side.  Next time I decide to go to this place, I am going to check on the weather first. 

 

Since I was that far north, I figured I might as well hit a couple of other spots on the way home where I might have better luck.  Next closest spot to Lake Pleasant was Dos Lagos Park in Glendale to locate the continuing Eurasian Wigeon.  This is the second year in a row that this bird has wintered in this park and one of the easiest birds to add to one's list for the year at this location.  But from where I live it is quite a drive just for this one species, so being in the neighborhood gave it more credence.

 

 Eurasian Wigeon

 

Eurasian Wigeon

 

Next stop on the list?  Tempe Town Lake to add the Brown Pelican to my list.  This spot has been a consistent place for a small population of these birds to reside.  Most generally it consists of juveniles, but this time I found one in adult plumage.  Even though it was not easy to get close enough for killer photos, it was fun to watch it glide in from the west with a flock of cormorants and see the noticeable size difference between these two species.  Here is the Brown Pelican with its entourage of cormorants. 

 

Brown Pelican & Cormorants

 

Final destination for the day was the Gilbert Water Ranch.  Arriving late in the morning, took a little excitement out of the hunt as this place is so popular with joggers, dog-walkers, human strollers, and of course families with kids!  Oh yes, there is also always a plethora of photographers taking photos of some of the great birds that are there and are usually easier to photograph here than at most locations.  On this day, one could say that I must have joined ranks with the photographers because I started photographing ducks.  A drake Green-winged Teal and a drake Northern Pintail are always nice; the teal with its blaze green on the head and the pintail showing off its elegance and it is quite easy to see how it got the name pintail. 

 

 Green-winged Teal

 

Northern Pintail

 

Then I visited the fishing pond that has quite a flotilla of Ring-necked Ducks.  Most non-birders do not understand why they are called ring-necked instead of ring-billed ducks.  And to be quite honest it would seem that ring-billed is more apropos with that ring around the bill.  However, they do have a ring around the neck which is most generally not visible, but on this day, the drakes were stretching their necks and the rufous/cinnamon colored ring around the neck was visible.  Always nice to get photos of this duck with the visible rings.

 

 Ring-necked Ducks

 

 Ring-necked Ducks

 

Ring-necked Ducks

 

And as an added bonus, I wanted to add a photo of a Yellow-rumped Warbler just to let everyone know that I was checking out other birds, not just ducks.  This the Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warbler subspecies, and this photo leaves no doubt on how it got its name with that bright yellow patch on its rump.

 

Yellow-rumped Warbler

 

Although my original goal was a bust in the beginning, it ended up still being a good day of birding.

 

And if one is interested in mammals, this location has an abundant population of Cotton Rats.  They were great food for the Coyotes when they were there and are still a draw for several raptors that tend to visit this location.

 

  Cotton Rat

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 



A 'Wedgie"???

Had a day of birding that was wedged between 2 CBC's, and could not think of a better name than a 'Wedgie'.  On my previous posts I covered the CBC in Carefree on January 2nd and also the CBC in Payson on January 4th, and that day in the middle, January 3rd, just happened to be another day of birding on my own.  I started the day out early at the Gilbert Riparian Water Preserve and finished the day in Payson, Arizona. 

 

I had not been to the Gilbert 'Water Ranch' for sometime and I got there early and as the sun rose in the southeast, it enhanced the photography opportunities much more than I could have hoped for.  This is a magical place for photographers and the birds.  I arrived just a few minutes before the 200+ Canada Geese took flight and they took off in small flocks, some before the sun arrived, and some after the sunlight washed everything in a warm gold tone.  Obviously, my photo came later instead of earlier!

 

Canada Goose

 

A stop at Pond 5 was where I ran into another Facebook birder friend, Pam Barnhart and some birds that really did not care that we were standing on the side of the pond and they practically attempted to get as close as possible to us, almost like 'Pick me, Pick me!' for our photos, specifically, American Avocet, Black-crowned Night Heron, Great-tailed Grackle, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, and of course the elegant Northern Pintail.  In fact a Great Egret was so close, that my zoom lens could only focus on its head!

 

 

 American Avocet

 

 Black-crowned Night Heron

 

 Great Egret - close up

 

 Great-tailed Grackle

 

Green-winged Teal

 

 Mallard

 

Northern Pintail

 

Other birds that presented themselves well, were Anna's Hummingbird, Red-winged Blackbird, and the European Starling, which is a much despised bird by many people since it is not a native species to the United States.  But one does have to admit that their iridescent plumage does have a bit of a wow factor to it.

 

 Anna's Hummingbird

 

 European Starling

 

Red-winged Blackbird

 

After returning home and packing the car I headed for Payson so I could be there early on Saturday morning for the CBC.  On the road up, I decided to make a stop at Sunflower a favorite birding spot in the summer.  This place was practically overrun by American Robins.  Growing up in Nebraska, these birds were always a good omen every spring as the winter started to fade.  In Arizona, they are a winter resident except in the northern and higher elevations where they also breed in the summer.

 

American Robin

 

Another winter resident that we see lot in the lower elevations is the Dark-eyed Junco.  Technically, this species is made up of several sub-species and they can and do hybridize from time to time.  The various sub-species can be a bit tricky for those that are interested in identifying them, and I have seen at least 5 of the sub-species in Arizona, but after this visit to Sunflower, I can add a 6th sub-species to the list.  My first reaction at seeing this bird, was to quickly ID it as an 'Oregon' Dark-eyed Junco, but when I started looking at my photos at home, I quickly decided it was not quite right for an 'Oregon'.  A few posts on some Facebook ID pages and the general consensus came back that this was a 'Cassiar' Dark-eyed-Junco.  From what I have read, it is a hybridized bird of the Oregon and the Slate-colored sub-species and it breeds primarily in Alberta, British Columbia and as far north as Alaska, so finding one in Arizona is a bit unusual.

 

'Cassiar' Dark-eyed Junco

 

To finish out my day of birding, I stopped in Payson at their ponds and actually had a good time with some birds there as well.  Birds included a quizzical female Brewer's Blackbird, a Song Sparrow, a vocal female Redhead, and just before leaving an adult Bald Eagle high on the ridge above surveying the entire scene below.

 

 Brewer's Blackbird - female

 

 Song Sparrow

 

 Redhead - Female

 

Redhead - Female

 

Bald Eagle

 

An overall great day of birding with a lot of different habitats and different birds in each place.  This was a day that will not soon be forgotten.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Veteran's Oasis Park - 20 Jan 2013

This is a location that I probably don't visit often enough.  It is a relatively new park with ponds of recycled water in Chandler, AZ and this last visit proved to me that it keeps getting better with age.  Ponds had more water in them than my past few visits and of course that attracts a lot of waterfowl in the winter time as many species spend their winters in this area and head north in the spring for their breeding grounds.  The water birds also bring many predatory birds and other predators as well.  This place has the highest concentration of Jack Rabbits that I have seen in AZ.  Along with the rabbits, this is usually almost always a great place to see the Greater Roadrunner.  And just like the old cartoons, the battle with the Coyote and the Roadrunner continues to this day.  We still don't have a clear winner as I found the Coyote first and the Roadrunner next.

 Greater Roadrunner

Greater Roadrunner

'Wylie' Coyote

Speaking of predatory birds, the Northern Harriers were in constant flight until one decided to land at the edge of one of the ponds.  I approached very cautiously and slowly stepped around some bushes to find it resting on the ground.  

 Northern Harrier

 Northern Harrier

The last predator is not quite as fierce looking, but is a favorite of many people and this place is almost always one of the most assured places to find the Burrowing Owl.  They have easily taken to the man-made nesting area that has been installed at this location.  Most people walking on the trails do not even see them as they sit so quite and still.  People think they are just rocks on the ground.

Burrowing Owl

Lots of waterfowl all over the ponds and my best photos were of a pair of Blue-winged Teal sliding silently through the water.  This species is a bit more uncommon than the Green-winged Teal in AZ in the winter.  The Green-winged Teal are quite abundant.  And I learned long ago, not to pass up a photo of an elegant Northern Pintail.  They may not be decked out in bright colors, but they look so elegant and refined.

 Blue-winged Teal

 Green-winged Teal

Northern Pintail

While I was concentrating on the Blue-winged Teal, a lone Least Sandpiper scampered right in front of me along the shore line giving me just enough time to get 2 photos and I was quite surprised the photos showed some pretty decent detail on this little shore bird.  

 Least Sandpiper

Least Sandpiper

One species of bird in AZ for the winter is so abundant right now, you see them just about everywhere, is the 'Audubon's' Yellow-rumped Warbler.  And of course this place was no different.  One of the great aspects of this location is that many of the trees are still small and in this case photographing warblers is a bit easier than in dense foliage of older and denser trees.  Also just had to include a photo of one of those Jack Rabbits that I mentioned early in this post.  My what big ears they have!

 'Audubon's' Yellow-rumped Warbler

Desert Jackrabbit

With such a diverse variety of bird and animal life at this park, I think I need to return a bit more often.

Gilbert Riparian Water Preserve - 31 Oct 2012

After returning from Lake Havasu, we were getting several reports of a couple rare birds being sighted at the Gilbert Riparian Water Preserve; at least the 2 bird species are considered rare for Arizona.  And since this birding hot spot is only about 6 miles from my home, I had to venture out to see what I could find.  Sunday I struck out on both birds, but being tired and hot, I suppose that can be expected.  So I ventured out again on Wednesday and also met one of my birding friends, Ellen,  and she helped me locate one of the birds, a Chestnut-sided Warbler.  This bird is a rare but casual migrant to Arizona and the bird has been hanging around for about a week now and it appears to be a first winter female.  A male in breeding plumage would be ideal, but when it comes to a new life bird, one can't be too picky.  First glimpses of the bird was in dense foliage on the back side of a mesquite tree and was good enough for an ID, but no photos.  So we moved on down the path to the end and returned to find it flying across our path into another mesquite, but this time she became very cooperative and actually exposed herself on some branches and allowed nice photos.  I guess patience can be a virtue at times and the photos below were worth the wait.

 

 Chestnut-sided Warbler

 

 Chestnut-sided Warbler

 

Chestnut-sided Warbler

 

Of course this place is very well known for its water birds and even though the Black-necked Stilt is a fairly common wading bird, they are also one of the most photogenic birds and then when one captures a 3 photo segment of one it makes the photos a bit more interesting as if I captured a little bit of history that no one else captured.  First the probing in the water, then the plunge, and finally the results of its tiny morsel.

 

 Black-necked Stilt

 

Black-necked Stilt

 

Black-necked Stilt

 

Another unique find was a couple of Dunlin.  While they are not considered rare, they are far less common than some of the other waders and they are usually considered a nice find and they can be tough to pick out in large flocks of other wading birds.  Of course the Long-billed Dowitchers are always quite common at this location and the lighting was just right to allow a couple of photos.  Along with that we also located at least 6 Wilson's Snipe, but they blended in with the mud so well they probably escaped the eye of most casual observers.

 

 Dunlin

 

 Long-billed Dowitcher

 

Wilson's Snipe-Look close, there are 2 in this photo.

 

As with any trip to this place, a Green Heron can almost always be found and this was no exception.  This one was lying in wait for some minnows to swim by and become part of its meal that day.

 

Green Heron

 

Since this is fall with winter approaching, the waterfowl is plentiful on the ponds right now and one of the most elegant looking birds is the Northern Pintail.  If you can call a duck elegant, this one has to near the top to fitting the description.  Also had to snap a photo of a Green-winged Teal since it made itself available.  Sometimes the teals are a bit skittish and really try to keep their distance.

 

 Northern Pintail

 

 Northern Pintail

 

Green-winged Teal