Birding With Jim - Day 1

Last weekend, birding friend, Jim Austin-Cole from New Jersey, was in Arizona for a week and together we spent two days searching for new life birds for Jim in Arizona. The first day we headed to the western side of the greater Phoenix area, specifically to the Buckeye/Arlington area.  Immediately after we turned off of Highway 85 and headed west on Baseline Road, the first bird to greet us was a very nice Ferruginous Hawk.  Our first real stop was the infamous 'Thasher Spot' at Baseline and Salome Hwy.  When we arrived we found another lost soul from Rhode Island there and he was also looking for the major prize, the Le Conte's Thrasher and he joined us.

The first thrasher we located was Bendire's Thrasher and as we made our way towards one of them we heard a thrasher call in the brush to the left of us that caught my attention and it was not long before we caught a glimpse of two Le Conte's scampering on the ground from one shrub to another. As we slowly tried to get closer for photos, one of them flew up into the branches of a tree and allowed good looks and some photos. This bird has never been easy to photograph but this pose was a dream come true.

Le Conte's Thrasher

As Jim and I departed the area we spied a few sparrows near the highway and mixed in just happened to be a few Brewer's Sparrows. We left this spot with 3 new life birds for Jim;  Bendire's Thrasher, Le Conte's Thrasher and Brewer's Sparrow.

Brewer's Sparrow

 

From the Thrasher Spot, we then headed out to cover the various spots along the many roads.  At one little stop along the road a Lincoln's Sparrow gave us an over-the-shoulder look before it took off for better cover and we did find a small flock of 55 Sandhill Cranes.  Not a common bird in Maricopa County, but there is a small flock that spends their winters in the Arlington area.  And we found huge numbers of Brewer's Blackbirds.

 

 Lincoln's Sparrow

 Sandhill Cranes

Sandhill Cranes

 

Brewer's Blackbird

 

After lunch in Buckeye, we headed to Friendship Park which is the place that I discover just two weeks before as a good place for the Lawrence's Goldfinch.  Since we were later in the day, we were only able to find one, but at least we got good looks at it and added another new life bird for Jim.  The only photos I took at this location was a bad one of a Common Yellowthroat (not an easy bird to photograph) and a Neotropic Cormorant that was busy preening its feathers.

 

 Common Yellowthroat

 Neotropic Cormorant

Neotropic Cormorant

 

Our last stop was Glendale Recharge Ponds which had large numbers of ducks and shorebirds.  Ducks were not so cooperative, but some of the shorebirds were a bit more accommodating, including Greater Yellowlegs and Lesser Yellowlegs feeding side by side which really made for a great comparison of the two species.  Had lots of Least Sandpipers and one of them was in the mood for taking a bath.

 

Greater Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

 

 Least Sandpiper

Least Sandpiper

 

It was a great day of birding and I took off a day from work on Monday to take Jim to a totally different location and habitat.  That will be the focus of my next post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cabin Fever ???

Whoever heard of cabin fever in the summer?  Most generally I associate that with being cooped up in the winter in the northern climes.  In Arizona, you just need to change the season to summer and it is just about the same thing.  The heat sometimes has a tendency to keep one indoors for far too long.  Been hibernating too long in the comfort of the A/C of the house.  This last weekend I decided I needed to get out and see some of my avian friends and anything else that nature could dish up for me!

To start off the weekend, I decided to check out the Glendale Recharge Ponds in the west valley.  This is not the most hospitable place to visit in the summer as there are no trees and the sun quickly makes the place very uncomfortable for humans.  The birds don't seem to mind though and this spot can be a hot spot for rarities, especially during migration and August is usually the month that some of these rarities start showing up.  I planned my visit to arrive before the sun rose and take advantage of the cooler morning temperatures and it was a pleasant visit, before the heat started getting toasty about 9:30.  Only 2 of the 6 ponds had water in them, but the vegetation was quite lush and both spots were definitely being used by many birds.  While I was not lucky enough to find anything rare, it was still nice to observe the many birds.

This place is where I have been lucky enough to see both Great Yellowlegs and Lesser Yellowlegs together in the same spot and it is always a learning experience to observe the two species side-by-side.  This time I was even able to capture some photos of them.  The Greater yellowlegs is the most common species seen in Arizona, but Lessers do show up from time to time.  In the photo below, there are 3 Greaters and 1 Lesser (and a couple of Long-billed Dowitchers and Least Sandpipers thrown in for good measure).  The Lesser is the 2nd bird from the left with a Greater slightly in front and to the left of it.  In this photo, the size of the bill is quite obvious.  The Lesser's bill length is about the same length of the head from the base of the bill to the back of the head.  Compare the Greater with a bill that is 1½ to 2 times the length of its head.  Also note the very slight upturned bill of the Greater.  Lesser bill is very straight.  Obviously they are easy to differentiate when seen together, and more difficult when you see just one.  But with experience, one gets to know the differences along with call notes of the two species which are very different.

   

Greater & Lesser Yellowlegs

This place is usually not the best place for photos as the bird tend to see you long before you can approach them, so distances make photos much tougher.  But on this day, there was an exception, a juvenile Pied-billed Grebe that apparently has not yet learned to fear humans.  Since it is still showing some of the stripes around its head and neck, this was a year-hatch bird and has probably 'flown the coop', so to speak from where it fledged.  No adults were anywhere around.  These birds are quite adorable and are one of my favorite waterfowl.  Just cannot resist taking photos when they are so accommodating.  

 Pied-billed Grebe

  Pied-billed Grebe

  Pied-billed Grebe

 Pied-billed Grebe

The dragonflies were quite plentiful and I was able to capture a photo of a new one that I had not seen.  This is a Black Saddlebags.

Black Saddlebags

It was a brief outing, but one that I needed and even though no rarity was discovered, it was a very enjoyable visit.

GWR---11 August 2012

GWR----If you are a birder and live the Phoenix vicinity you know that GWR is the short abbreviation for Gilbert Water Ranch.  Technically the official name is Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch in Gilbert, AZ.  This is a very unique place and it consists of 7 man made ponds of recycled water and 1 pond that is a designated fishing pond.  The 7 ponds can vary with the amount of water in them from week to the next.  What is amazing about this place is that it has a huge variety of bird life and in the past it has attracted some very rare birds.  I think they have recorded about 270 species at this location over the years.  On Friday there was a report of 3 species of sandpipers seen there that are not necessarily rare, but they are also not common;  Solitary Sandpiper, Stilt Sandpiper, and Baird's Sandpiper.  So on a whim, Ellen and I decided to meet there early this morning to see if we could find any of these 3 species.  We found 2 of the 3 species along with a lot of other very common birds and also ran into another birding friend, Bernie H.  We missed out on the Baird's, but we had seem some before today at another location and I am sure we will run into them again sometime.  Pond 6 was covered with 'peeps', probably well over 100 Least Sandpipers and they are a common site at this location during the winter months.  Also had several Greater Yellowlegs and one of them walked right towards us really strutting and showing off.  Not hard to see how they got the name Yellowlegs in these photos!

 Greater Yellowlegs

Greater Yellowlegs



Another bird found in fairly large numbers and is also a winter resident were the Long-billed Dowitchers.  These are birds that have returned from their breeding grounds far north from Arizona and some are still wearing their breeding colors such as the one in the photo below.

Long-billed Dowitcher

Finally found one of our target birds, the Solitary Sandpiper.  As their name suggests, they are usually found alone, not in flocks.  When scoping the waters in the ponds it can be difficult to pick out a single different bird, but size is one of the keys in trying to locate a single different bird such as this Solitary Sandpiper.  And of course they always have to be far out in the mud flats making it more difficult to get a proper photo!

Solitary Sandpiper

The other target bird we found was even further out in the mud and water.  A Stilt Sandpiper which just happened to be a new life bird for me.  Even though the photo is not great quality, at least I do have one recorded for my records.

Stilt Sandpiper



Another very common bird found here year-round, is the Killdeer and today there were several.  They are so common that it is sometimes easy to ignore them, but when they cooperate and get in close to allow photos, you have to shoot a couple of shots so try and capture that bright orange and black eye.

 Killdeer

Killdeer

One more water bird to add to the photo list is a Green Heron, that was doing some very serious hunting for small fish along the waters edge.

Green Heron



The final photo is one of an Inca Dove.  Not a water bird by any means, but a fairly common but small dove of the American Southwest.  Note the red primary feathers on the wings, which is quite colorful and showy when they fly.  This is one of my favorite doves.

Inca Dove



Well, as you can see, not a lot of 'colorful' birds, but they are unique in their own way and are probably often overlooked by most people that are walking around these ponds.  Since this place is fairly close to my home, it is one place I visit quite frequently all year long and I will always keep my eyes open for something new or rare to show up.