Winter's Respite

The month of January 2020, was month of highs and lows. There were two low points in the month and it was the low points that dictated my return to Nebraska and my home stomping grounds and where I grew up.  The number one low point was that my only sister lost her battle with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer that she had been battling for about the last nine years.  So sad to lose her, but she is no longer suffering from this terrible infliction.  During this period, I also attended the funeral of an aunt who had a great life that ended at the age of 96 years.  She was the last of my mother and father's generation.  

The weather in Nebraska in January can be a mixed bag, and during that time, that fact was true.  Had days that began with single digit temperatures that only warmed up into the 20's during the day, but also had some days that got as high as the upper 40's during the day with sunshine.  Some days were windy which exacerbated the cold, but also had some days with no wind and very pleasant.  Staying indoors all day, every day, is not usually my norm.  I had to get out when I could to revel in some nature, (plus, I had to get away from all the food that was being delivered to the house!)  I could have easily put on 20 lbs!  My sister would have encouraged me to get out and see some birds and those were the high points of the trip to Nebraska.  

Birding in Nebraska in January is not something that I have done since getting into the birding hobby, and I was able to add 10 new species to my Nebraska list during that time.  On my 2nd day there, I discovered a Marsh Wren in some dried cattails in a park near McCook.  This species is not normally a rare bird in the state by any means, but in the month of January, it is considered pretty rare and most have migrated to southern and warmer climes.  In researching eBird, I could find only 6 other reports for a Marsh Wren in the state of Nebraska for the month of January, and none of those reports were from Red Willow County, which is where I discovered this one. I first detected it by its chit-chit-chit notes and with a little pishing it popped up for a distant photo and eventually came in a bit closer for better photos.  This species can be quite shy and hard to photograph.  

 Marsh Wren

Another bird that showed up rare on my eBird report on the second to last day was Greater White-fronted Goose.  Not super rare by any means, as reporting 1 would not have been a problem, but anything over that number was rare according to the filters set for Red Willow County.  I had 24 of them.  In my one photo, I am able to count 23, could not fit in the 24th bird since it was bit further away from the main flock. Easy to count count them by counting the number of orange legs and then dividing by two.  HaHa! 

Greater White-fronted Geese - they can be identified by the orange legs and feet.

On that same outing a Trumpeter Swan flew in with two Canada Geese.  The geese landed in the pond, but the swan apparently was not impressed.  It flew around for a couple circles and then headed west.  Nevertheless, it was a new county bird for me. 

 Trumpeter Swan

Other new birds to my Nebraska list included a Northern Shrike and Harris's Sparrow.  The Harris's Sparrow kind of caught me off guard, but as soon as I saw it, I thought to myself, 'Of course, this a likely winter species in Nebraska'.  The Northern Shrike had crossed my mind as being a potential bird to find in winter, but was not sure of my chances.  Thankfully, I missed my turnoff to a lake and went about a mile north before I discovered my error and there was my Northern Shrike.  

 Harris's Sparrow

Northern Shrike

Three species of woodpeckers were nice which included both Downy and Hairy, which can be a bit confusing to novice birders.  And a Red-bellied is always a nice addition. 

 Downy Woodpecker

 Hairy Woodpecker

 Red-bellied Woodpecker

Two species of nuthatch were accommodating for photos: White-breasted and Red-breasted.  I was rather pleased with the photos of the Red-breasted.  Will have keep that one in contention for next year's calendar.  

 Red-breasted Nuthatch

 White-breasted Nuthatch

Many other winter birds were fun to observe and photograph in the cold.  Many of these are fairly common and also fairly well known.  However, when a common bird presents itself in a nice setting with the right light, I usually have no hesitation in lifting the camera for photos, as you will see in some of the following pictures.  

 American Robin - Immature

 American Robin - Adult

 Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing - Note the red on the wing feathers that look like red wax. Hence the name waxwing.   

 Blue Jay

 Northern Cardinal - Female

Northern Cardinal - Male

 'Slate-colored' Dark-eyed Junco

Bald Eagle - Juvenile, probably transitioning into 2nd year.

 American Tree Sparrow

 Black-capped Chichadee

 Cedar Waxwing

More Cedar Waxwings - This is one of my favorite birds.

My departure from Nebraska, took me back through the northeastern part of Colorado where I made a couple of stops for more birding before flying out of the Denver airport.  I added 9 new birds to my Colorado list including this Song Sparrow, which is a different subspecies than what we normally see in Arizona. 

Song Sparrow

While the trip was not a trip filled with joy, I know my sister would have been happy for me in finding and enjoying the birds that I did find during my brief forays into nature.  It is a visit and a trip that I will never forget.  All of these photos are for you Kathy.  I know you would have enjoyed them. 

For those readers that have followed this blog post to the end, I am including some photos of the old house where I spent the first 18 years of my life.  The house is now vacant but still standing.  My bedroom was in the northwest corner and when winter hit, that room was the coldest in the house. No indoor plumbing until I was about 8 or 9 and we relied on an old outhouse.  The house had stucco walls, which probably has kept it standing all these years.  Many old wooden houses that are now vacant have collapsed and fallen into disrepair.  All the rest of the original buildings on the farm are now gone, except for a couple of old steel grain bins.  From what I understand the house is occasionally used as a lodge for hunters these days.

 Hayes County, Nebraska

      

Black Canyon City, Arizona

Probably not considered much of a birding spot in the past and just a community to pass through on I-17 between Phoenix and Flagstaff (except for the pies!), but that is probably going to change in the near future due to an AZFO Field Expedition to the riparian area in this area, this past weekend.  I had the pleasure of taking part of this field expedition which was to focus on the reports of a breeding population of Broad-billed Hummingbirds.  There have been reports of a fairly stable population of these birds at this location for 5 years or longer.  The focus of the expedition was to try and document if this is a breeding population with substantial numbers.  Some of the residents have had this bird come to their feeders year-round and if this is a true breeding population then, this will be the northern most known breeding range for this species.

So early on Saturday morning, I met up with Nick Vendehei in Mesa, then we travelled to northern Phoenix where we picked up Jason Morgan and continued on our way to Black Canyon City where we met the rest of the team of about 12 individuals.  One of the local residents then led us to the riparian area on the west side of town and showed us where the access point was located.  It did not take long for us to be amazed at this riparian area of cottonwoods and willows with the Agua Fria River with running water and pools of water.  We divided up into teams, with one team heading north and our team heading south.  Since there really are no well marked trails, much of our progress was a bit of bushwhacking through the brush and trees.  Our finally tally came up to about 50 species of birds in just the southern section only, including Broad-billed Hummingbirds.  We observed and recorded males in the riparian area, but no females, but we also surmised that it is possible that females might be nesting at this time of year.

 Broad-billed Hummingbird - Male

Broad-billed Hummingbird - Male

 

More photos of these stunning hummers will follow later in the post.  We also had Anna's Hummingbirds and discovered a nest with a single pinkish colored egg.  They usually lay two, so I am sure she is now incubating her eggs in her nest.  One of the photos has one of our party off to the left of the photo which helps to put the size of the nest into perspective.

 

Anna's Hummingbird Nest

Anna's Hummingbird Nest - Close up

 

We also had other birds that were also fun to see and observe such as a Phainopepla that had his territory staked out.  But if he thought he was going to blend in with the catkins on the tree, he was obviously very mistaken. 

 

 Phainopepla - Male

Phainopepla - Male

 

This area was flourishing with Northern Cardinals, and at least one of them gave me a short photo opportunity.  We had this birding singing constantly from the beginning to the end of the hike.

 

Northern Cardinal - Male

 

A Red-tailed Hawk also was found along the dry west side desert slopes,  peering down into the lush river valley. 

 

Red-tailed Hawk

 

After both groups met up, we then ventured to the back yard of one of the residents where he has a few bird feeders set up.  And boy did he have the hummers visiting along with a few others as well.  Four species of hummingbirds; Anna's, Black-chinned, Costa's, and our target species the Broad-billed Hummingbird.  With 12 people in the back yard, the birds were a bit more cautious so I had to settle on some photos of them visiting the feeders.  Always like to get photos in a more natural setting, but sometimes this will do.  Several Broad-billed males were seen and at least twice we also had females show up at the feeders which makes for a bit better of a confirmation that this species is breeding in this area.  Since we did not find any active nests, we don't have proof positive, but you can bet that the general consensus is they are breeders in this area. 

 

 Broad-billed Hummingbird - Female on the right
Black-chinned Hummingbird - Female blurred on the left

Broad-billed Hummingbird - Female, note red underside of bill

 Broad-billed Hummingbird - Male

 Broad-billed Hummingbird - Male, What a stunning bird!!!

Broad-billed Hummingbird - Male

 

 Black-chinned Hummingbird - Female

Black-chinned Hummingbird - Female

 

A male Hooded Oriole also came in to probably get a sip of sugar water, but I think it might have been a bit intimidated by the number of people as it did not stay long after it noticed the crowds near the feeders.

 

 Hooded Oriole - Male

Hooded Oriole - Male

 

One last place we visited before we headed back to the city was some high desert terrain.  Compared to the huge numbers of birds we had in the lush riparian area, this was sparse as far as numbers of birds.  But we did discover a nest of a Curve-billed Thrasher which contained 3 lovely blue speckled eggs.  We snapped a couple of photos and then got out of the area to leave it alone.

 

Curve-billed Thrasher Nest

 

Definitely a spot that needs more exploration and several of us already know we will be returning to check it out.  Not the easiest place to find access to, but now that I know, I will return sometime and hope to show a few others how to gain access to the lush riparian riverbed.