Snow Birding in Arizona

The weekend before Christmas, I teamed up with Chris Rohrer, Babs Buck, and Magill Weber to chase an Arizona rarity up above the Mogollon Rim in Navajo County of Arizona.  A Carolina Wren had been making an appearance at a feeder in Overgaard, AZ.  This was only the 4th confirmed sighting of this species in Arizona, so it is a pretty special bird.  We knew it was going to be cold in the higher elevations and we planned accordingly.  There was plenty of snow on the ground as the winter weather so far in Arizona has been a little on the wet side, especially in the high country where quite a bit of snow has already fallen and the ski resorts are in full operation.

We arrived at the location and spotted the yard and feeder and managed to get a short, quick look at it briefly and then it took flight and did not return during our stay. During the time we were waiting and hoping for its return, we took advantage of the many other birds around in this snowy winter wonderland.  Steller's Jays were raiding the feeders while a flock of over 100 Pinyon Jays were moving though the trees behind us just beyond a fence that blocked any closer access to them.  

 Steller's Jay

 Pinyon Jays

 Pinyon Jay

Of course Dark-eyed Juncos were just about everywhere.  This is a bird that consists of several sub-species with variable coloration and markings.  On this day, we were quit fortunate to see at least 5 of the sub-species; Oregon, Gray-headed, Pink-sided, Red-backed, and Slate-colored.  We did not see them all in the same place, but at various locations and it is fun to note the differences in them.  Below are photos of the Red-backed and the Slate-colored.

 'Red-backed' Dark-eyed Junco

 'Slate-colored' Dark-eyed Junco

On the return trip we decided to visit the Tonto Creek Fish Hatchery which is always a great place to visit and this trip did not disappoint us in any way because one of the very first birds we spotted when we pulled into the parking area was an American Dipper!  This is quite a unique bird and it has found a niche in the wonderful world of nature.  They feed on aquatic invertebrates by walking and swimming under water in cold mountain streams.  They are most entertaining and it was hard not spend the entire rest of the day with them.  They have to be one of my top ten most favorite birds.  

 American Dipper

While we were enjoying the American Dippers and the show they were putting on for us, we had a pair of majestic adult Bald Eagles acting as sentinels watching over us in the tree above our heads.  

Bald Eagles

As we were leaving this area and about a ½ mile down the road, we found another Bald Eagle.  This one was a third year immature.  Bald Eagles take 4 years to reach their full adult plumage, so it is always exciting to see a youngster such as this one surviving in the wild.  

 Bald Eagle - Immature

Another fascinating bird is the Brown Creeper and one of them paid us a visit as well.  This bird, with its curved needle-like bill, will usually fly to the base of a tree and work its way upward in the spiral, probing for insects and larva in and under the bark of a tree.  Then it will fly to the base of a neighboring tree and do the same thing.  Always tough to photograph as they do not sit still and their brown coloration sometimes blends in with the bark of a tree to make it hard to zoom in with a good focus.

 Brown Creeper

One other bird that we encountered at this magical place was a Pacific Wren.  They do not like to come out and show themselves very much, so photos were not too great.  However, this bird was quite a milestone for Chris as it was his 700th life bird, which is a big milestone and it is a great bird to claim for number 700.  A big congratulations to Chris on his achievement!

 Pacific Wren

The 700 Club!

One last stop on the way home was Green Valley Park in Payson.  We added several waterfowl species to our daily tally, including a couple of Great Scaup.  They can be difficult to ID when Lesser Scaup are so much more common in Arizona.  But there was no doubt on these females that we saw, with the smoothly rounded head and the bill with a wide black nail at its tip.  

Greater Scaup

A couple of male Hooded Mergansers were also present and I was able to capture an adequate photo of one of them with its prized catch.

Hooded Merganser

It was a one day trip that was filled with a lot of special birds with great company along for the ride!

Another Visit to Apache County

Recently I have fallen a bit behind in my blog posts, so decided it is time to catch up on some great birding that I have been able to enjoy the past couple of weeks.  

Birding friend, Tommy DeBardeleben and I, headed back to Apache County the last couple of days in September.  A bit of information about Apache County; with a total area of 11,218 square miles, it is the 3rd largest county in the state of Arizona and the 6th largest county in the United States. In total size, this county is larger than 8 states in the United States, which helps to put its size into perspective.  It covers a vary large land area and consequently, the diversity is also quite impressive.  We knew we only had 2 days to get some birding done, so we planned our strategy hoping to get some unique birds.

In July we had made an attempt to find the Black-billed Magpie at a small Native American community on the Navajo Nation Reservation, Teec Nos Pos, in the far northeastern part of the state near the Four Corners National Monument.  At the time we were joined by Magill Weber and Chris Rohrer in that endeavor and we had seriously underestimated the distance to this far corner and we came away from that trip empty.  This time, we planned our strategy a bit different.  We wanted to try to arrive at this spot early in the morning as corvids have a tendency to be early risers and usually quite vocal.  We left the Phoenix area in the late afternoon on a Sunday and arrived in Chambers, AZ where we spent the first night.  This left us still about 2½ hours away from Teec Nos Pos and we hit the road about 4:30 am the next morning for our destination.  We did have a couple of really cool sightings in the dark from the road, a Common Poorwill was lit up by the headlights and a little bit further up the road, we had a Red Fox cross the road in front of us.  The Red Fox is not very common in Arizona and can only be found in the northeastern part of the state.  It was really awesome to see this beautiful canine with its white-tipped tail.  

We arrived at the dry wash area for Teec Nos Pos around 7:00 am, and since Tommy was driving at the time, immediately I spied a magpie in a tree on the south side of the highway. As we pulled into the pull off, it flew northward and over Highway 160 where it was joined by at least 3 more magpies.  We had come here thinking we would be lucky to find one as the last few reports had been of people seeing or only hearing one of these birds and already we had 4 of them and they were easy to follow with their loud and raucous calling.  We then hiked down the wash area to the south where we topped a ridge on the west side and once again found 4 more.  Obviously we were hearing them before we saw these next four.  Of course we were elated to see this many in a short time.  A bit later we traveled into the town itself and found at least 3 more, with one of them posing on a tree by the road for us.  What an awesome count of a really cool bird.  This is the only reliable spot in Arizona where this species can be found so it is a highly sought after bird for those wanting to add a new species on their Arizona bird list.

Town namesake in rocks on ridge above town.

 Black-billed Magpie

Black-billed Magpie

Black-billed Magpie

Black-billed Magpie

Black-billed Magpie

Finally, a sense of fulfillment and we thoroughly cherished the moment.  On the road back south we had decided to visit a couple of the lakes and ponds along the way, with a quick stop at Canyon de Chelly National Monument.  This place is breathtakingly beautiful and appears to be a spot for some awesome birding, but with time constraints on our visit (remember how big Apache County is?) we had to move on.  

Canyon de Chelly ruins

Canyon de Chelly ruins

One stop that proved to be beneficial, was Ganado, AZ.  A quick stop at the Water Treatment Ponds and we got to witness a Common Raven harassing an Osprey.  I think the raven won that one as we did not see a return of the Osprey once the raven chased it away.

Common Raven harassing an Osprey

Common Raven harassing an Osprey

Common Raven harassing an Osprey

Also at Ganado, we stopped at Ganado Lake, a place that we visited in July and it has earned high marks in our book as a great birding spot.  The lake had thousands of American Coots on it far out in the lake, but it also had its share of other waterfowl, including several Eared Grebes.  Many of them were a bit far out for photos, but at least one of them ventured close enough to shore to at least get a photo of it and its bright red/orange eye.  While Tommy was meticulously checking out all the waterfowl through his scope (binoculars cannot see out on the water as well as a scope), I started to try concentrating on anything close by and turned around to find a Sage Thrasher running in spurts down the embankment between the plants.  This was another bird we had hoped to find on this trip, so it was a very pleasant discovery for both of us.  

Eared Grebe

Sage Thrasher

Sage Thrasher

We spent the next night in Springerville, AZ and early the next morning we headed to Sipe Wildlife Area.  This has quickly become one of my favorite spots in the White Mountains and Apache County.  When we arrived in the parking area, we quickly discovered more Red-naped Sapsuckers than I have ever seen before.  The trees were full of them and they were vying for the best feeding spots. Among them was a single Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that Tommy keenly spied, but I failed to locate it which would have been an awesome bird to see in Apache County.  

Red-naped Sapsucker

Even an American Goldfinch paid us a visit and with Tommy's excellent skills of bird songs, it was quite easily found.  This bird is well known throughout the United States, but in Arizona it is a bit uncommon as it is usually only a winter visitor.

American Goldfinch

Once we hit the trails and paths, a few birds allowed for some photos along the way such as Mountain Bluebirds and Lincoln Sparrows.

Lincoln Sparrow

Mountain Bluebird

Just like the first visit, the numbers of Pinyon Jays were high and we had several flocks fly over at various different times.  One flock held 74 birds, followed very shortly with another small flock of 12 and a bit later another flock of over 20 birds.  

Pinyon Jays

Pinyon Jay

Pinyon Jay

Pinyon Jay

Knowing how great Lyman Lake was on past visits, we knew that a visit was in order on this trip as well and once again it did not disappoint.  Tommy was quick to notice some terns out on the lake and after extensive scoping views of the 6 terns, Tommy was able to identify them as 4 Forster's Terns and 2 Common Terns.  What a nice couple of species to add to our Apache County list.  Once again, this shows the importance of a scope when birding on large bodies of water, and also to have someone knowledgeable about species of terns and their winter plumage variations.

 Common Tern

 Common Tern

Common Tern

 Forster's Terns

Forster's Terns and a Common Tern

As the day slowly started to come to an end and knowing we had about a 4 hour drive back to the Phoenix vicinity, we headed out and made one last stop at some ponds near the small town of McNary.  This is another spot with potential for further exploration.  While there, one of the resident American Crows flew in for a closer look.  Can't pass up a photography shot when it presents itself so close and inquisitively.

 American Crow

American Crow

Another great birding trip with some outstanding results.  Have to thank Tommy for the suggestion and organizing of this trip that netted both of us some great birds to add to our Apache County list and I even added a couple of new birds to my Arizona state list as well.