Utah - The Final Post

Torrey, Utah is just west of the entrance to Capital Reef National Park, a park that does not draw the number of visitors as the others, but it is equally as beautiful and worth the visit.  With fewer visitors, it does tend to cater to birding enthusiasts such as I.  When I was planning this trip to Utah to visit relatives, I did a lot of research on eBird to see what species have been reported in much of the area that I was visiting to see if there were any possibilities of any new species to be found.  And I found only 1 species and that was the Chukar, an introduced game bird in the western United States that has become established in many areas.  The sightings had all come from Capital Reef National Park, with the last report dating back to May of 2014.  I was confident that the birds were there somewhere, but did not have high expectations in finding any.  Must have been my lucky day as I stopped in one of the shops in the park and was visiting with 2 ladies that worked there and while I was visiting, one of the local Park Rangers came in with some freshly picked peaches for them to sell and overheard me asking about Chukar sightings.  He quickly mentioned that he had seen a fairly sizable flock just the day before in one of the fenced off, enclosed and locked orchards and he asked me if I wanted he would take me there!  What an incredibly nice man to offer to take me to where he had seen Chukars.  We drove about a mile down the road and came to the enclosed orchard and then unlocked the gate and we took off looking for this bird.  We walked and scoured the rocky hillsides and grassy areas for quite a distance and I was beginning to think our timing was off as we were coming to the end of the orchard.  And suddenly, there they were, 8 of them running in the grass.  Might not have been the best photos, but just being able to add them to my life list was really sweet.  We watched them for awhile and then quickly retreated to leave them alone and cause any undo stress to them..

 Chukar

 Chukar

Chukar

With my one and only target bird finally conquered, I considered my vacation a rounding success for birding.  

Capital Reef National Park

One other bird that I was able to capture a photo, was a Plumbeous Vireo in Capital Reef National Park.

Plumbeous Vireo

In the afternoon, we all took a drive to Bicknell Bottoms, where I added several other birds to my Utah list.  I was surprised to hear and then see about 10 Sandhill Cranes, and if I had been paying more attention looking out my window, maybe I could have gotten a better photo than I did.

Sandhill Cranes

A few bird photos from the yard included a regular Western Scrub Jay and a Pine Siskin.  

 Western Scrub Jay

Pine Siskin

Finally Friday rolled around and it was time to depart and head back to Arizona.  For the trip back we headed east on Highway 24 through some very desolate areas where the pit stops and human habitation were few and far between.  While traveling down Highway 95 in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, where cars were few and far apart (averaged meeting only 1 vehicle every 6 miles), we came around a bend and found some Bighorn Sheep.  The adult ewe was grazing on grass along the highway while 2 younger lambs were keeping a safe distance in the rocky cliffs on the side of the highway.  To find this on last day was pretty awesome!  Not always easy to see these mammals up close and personal.

Definitely an outstanding vacation and it makes we want to return.  There is some really awesome wild and remotes areas to be found in Utah and northern Arizona.  Will add this to my lists of places to return to.  

Kaibab Plateau, Arizona

Starting on Labor Day, Chuck Hoppe and I took a 5 day vacation to visit my cousin in Utah and we began the first day with an early start and arrived in the Kaibab Plateau area near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  Jacob Lake and the North Rim and the highway between the 2 areas provided the content for this first post.  

Jacob Lake had an abundant amount of Red Crossbills and provided some of my best photo opportunities for this bird I have ever had.  As their name suggests, they have a crossed bill tip, which they use to extract seeds from various pine cones.  They are erratic wanderers and often are found in various places as they wander about searching for their favorite food sources.  The adult males are red, but younger males have varying amounts of red mixed with yellows, golds and even olive green.  This was quite evident in the photos along with their unique crossed bill tips.

 Red Crossbill

Red Crosbill in front and Western Bluebird in the back

Other birds that were seen in and around Jacob Lake included the Pygmy Nuthatch, Western Bluebird, American Robin, and Pine Siskin.

 Pygmy Nuthatch

Western Bluebird in the wind

 American Robin

Pine Siskin

A visit to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon produced a very inquisitive and cooperative Warbling Vireo.  For a few minutes it was playing hard to get, but not leaving the tree it was foraging in.  With patience, it finally came to the front and allowed several nice photos.

 Warbling Vireo

Also had a Willow Flycatcher making a brief appearance.  Since it did not want to show itself well, the identification took a bit longer as some of those flycatchers can be a difficult bird to get a correct identification, especially if it is one of the several Empidonix flycatchers

Willow Flycatcher

As we headed back to Jacob Lake for the first night, the local herd of Bison were seen from the road, which created a fitting ending for day one of this 5 day trip.

Bison

Exit From the White Mountains

Sunday was the day to return to the Phoenix metropolis, but before we were to depart, we took out time to enjoy a breakfast at the Rendezvous Restaurant.  If one elects to dine at one of the tables outside, they can be positioned next to a hummingbird feeder.  Of course we opted for one such table and we were constantly entertained with at least 3 species of hummers coming in to the feeders; Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Calliope Hummingbirds, and the tyrants of the feeders, Rufous Hummingbirds.  I was most interested in the Calliope Hummingbirds, which are the smallest birds to be found in the United States at only 3¼ inches in length.  I have only seen this species a couple of times in the past and never got any decent photos of a male.  Seeing the males with their striped gorgets in the sunlight was really quite spectacular and special.  Once again, I had to resort to a photo with a feeder in it, but that is better than none at all.  Arizona is an awesome place to visit if one is interested in seeing a variety of hummingbirds!  One can see more species in Arizona than in any other state in the U.S.

 Calliope Hummingbird

Calliope Hummingbird

Although there were several Rufous Hummingbirds at these feeders, we also had one at our campsite that very aggressively defended the feeder that we hung from one of our trees.  

Rufous Hummingbird

And to add another bonus at breakfast, a Cordilleran Flycatcher was close by on the north side of the restaurant.  This is probably the closest I have been able observe one of these Empidonax flycatchers.  

Cordilleran Flycatcher

After breakfast, we headed back to the church camp area once again and it was very active this early in the morning.  We had visits from Mountain Chickadees, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Pine Siskin, and a Say's Phoebe that landed on a twig so close to me that I thought it would be too close to even focus on it for a photo.

 Mountain Chickadee

 Olive-sided Flycatcher

 Pine Siskin

Say's Phoebe

One more short trip to the Butler Trail head before heading out and we were blessed with more Cordilleran Flycatchers.  Once you get to know these birds, they quickly become very likable and always fun to see and observe.  They are part of a family of birds that can be tricky to identify, but the more one sees and hears the different species, then they become somewhat easier to identify.  

 Cordilleran Flycatcher

Cordilleran Flycatcher

Traveling west on Highway 260 we stopped off a small lake to see if we could find anything unusual.  Not much in the way of birds, but when we parked the car, we noticed some ground squirrels and we did happen to have a few peanuts with us.  They knew immediately what we had once we tossed a few their way.  They quickly ran out and grabbed a peanut and then ran under the shelter of a rock to start the feast.  A chipmunk also showed up and we made sure it got to take a peanut back to its burrow as well.  This is a good way to see the differences between ground squirrels and chipmunks.  Chipmunks have facial stripes, whereas ground squirrels do not.  Here is the Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel and the Cliff Chipmunk to compare.

 Cliff Chipmunk

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel

And so our trip to the White Mountains came to an end, but none of us were disappointed in the whole trip.  Tommy stayed behind for another week with his family and had much more excitement during that time.  Such a great place that I think it deserves a visit every summer.

  

Conquering a Nemesis Bird

This past weekend, I traveled south to the Tucson area and teamed up with fellow blogger/birder Chris Rohrer to do some birding in southeast Arizona.  Chris spent a lot of time and research on hot spots to hit with only about a day and a half to work with.  He did his homework very well as I came home with 8 new life birds as we explored the proper places and habitat to find some wonderful birds.  We spent most of the day on Saturday racking up the bird species, but I am once again going to post our Sunday adventure first as it turned out to be quite awesome.  

The Elegant Trogon is a bird that neither of us had the fortune of viewing before.  Both of us, and I think Chris more than I, has spent time trying to locate this bird.  It is a much sought after bird for birders who want to add it to their United States list.  It is a colorful tropical bird who's range reaches the extreme southern part of Arizona where breeding does occur in the U.S.  It is not an easy bird to find as it usually is found in higher elevations during breeding season which requires some hiking into higher elevations.  Some of these birds do winter in Arizona at lower elevations, but most migrate south into Mexico.  

The Carrie Nation Trail in Madera Canyon is well known for its nesting trogons and the nest is usually monitored and most serious birders know where and how to find it.  That was our game plan as we hit the trail early and started uphill to the nesting sight.  We had probably only traveled about ½ mile, far short of the nesting site, when Chris heard one calling somewhere near to us on the opposite side of the canyon.  So we decided to stop a bit off to the side of the trail and listen for it to see if we could pinpoint where it might be.  As we waited, it seemed to very slowly get closer to us as we waited quietly and patiently.  Then I spotted it by its bright red belly flying in and landing on a tree not far from us.  What a moment of inspiration for both of us as we relished the viewing, its calling and allowing us to capture some photos.  There was also a great bit of satisfaction for both us knowing that had actually found one without the assistance of others or staking out its nest cavity. As we were enjoying it another birder by the name of Nancy was coming down the trail after spending a long time near the nesting site without finding one, so she also had the privilege of joining in on the viewing.  Finally both Chris and I were able to add this bird to our life lists and the rest of the morning was like walking on clouds!  So without further ado, hear are my photos of the Elegant Trogon.

 Elegant Trogon

Elegant Trogon

The trogon was our main objective, but in the process of hiking up the trail to the trogon, I also added another new life bird to my list, the Swainson's Thrush. Very similar to the Hermit Thrush of which I have seen many, but enough subtle differences to be able to ID them with good looks in the field and also by its song.  

 Swainson's Thrush

Swainson's Thrush

From there we headed back down the canyon and made a stop at the Santa Rita Lodge, which is a great place to stay if anyone wants to plan a trip to Madera Canyon and spend a night or two.  They have a great set up of feeders out front with wonderful relaxed viewing in the shade.  While there I managed to capture a few photos of some beautiful birds.  There were lots of Black-headed Grosbeaks and they were easy to view and there was a lone Blue Grosbeak that wanted to feed in a feeder in the deep shade behind one of the cabins.  For one brief moment it flew up to a fence in the sun and I managed to get 1 photo.  Also captured photos of a Mexican Jay and a Pine Siskin.

 Black-headed Grosbeak

 Blue Grosbeak

 Mexican Jay

Pine Siskin

From there we headed even lower in elevation to the Proctor Trail.  On this trail we found many birds and the photos I have below are just a small sampling.  They include a Canyon Towhee, a Bell's Vireo, and a Varied Bunting that did not want to show off its beautiful colors in the sunlight.  

 Bell's Vireo

 Canyon Towhee

Varied Bunting

So much for the bird photos, but other photos of interest include a Clark's Spiny Lizard showing off its blue belly and throat, an Ornate Tree Lizard, a Gray Squirrel, and a Carpenter Bee on a white flower.

Clark's Spiny Lizard

Ornate Tree Lizard

 Gray Squirrel

Carpenter Bee

What a grand and wonderful ½ day of birding with Chris!