Birding Birthday Bash

In the early part of December, I just happened to celebrate a landmark birthday and I was fortunate to have it fall on a Saturday.  What better way to celebrate a birthday than getting out in nature to see what cool birds one can find!  One of my best birding buddies, Chris Rohrer ventured north from Tucson and joined me in our quest to find some birds in and around the eastern suburbs of Gilbert, Mesa, Scottsdale, and Tempe.  

First stop was the Gilbert Riparian Water Preserve in the search for some rare Purple Finches that had been seen there for a week or so.  We did not have any luck with that species, but the birding was was still excellent with the highlight being a White-throated Sparrow.  Of course several others were gracious enough to allow photos as well; Neotropic Cormorant and Wilson's Snipe.

 White-throated Sparrow

 Neotropic Cormorant

 Wilson's Snipe well camouflaged

Wilson's Snipe zoomed in and cropped

Our next stop was Coon Bluff on the Salt River northeast of Mesa to search for another rarity, a Reddish Egret which had not been reported for a few days, so our hopes were not very high and once again, we dipped on this bird as well. But once again, several other species made our visit very enjoyable such as Cedar Waxwing and Vermilion Flycatcher.  And a couple more passerine species graciously gave me a chance to get photos with their reflection in the water, which is not too common; Say's Phoebe and American Pipit.

 Cedar Waxwings

 Cedar Waxwing

Vermilion Flycatcher

 American Pipit

Say's Phoebe

From here we headed to Scottsdale Ranch Park to look for a Red-breasted Sapsucker which had been reported there.  It is an uncommon winter migrant in Arizona; its more common winter range is the Pacific Coast from Baja California northward to Washington state and into British Columbia in Canada.  It is always a treat to see this bird in Arizona.  We arrived and spent some time searching in the trees that it favored and was not finding it.  As we decided to maybe head to the next location on our agenda, we met a handful of other birders also looking for it, but to no avail.  I started scanning its favorite tree one last time and Bingo! there it was!  I quickly got everyone else on it and it was quite accommodating to us all.

 Red-breasted Sapsucker

One last point of interest on our list: Tempe Town Lake.  Sorry to say, but we came here to actually locate a drake Mandarin Duck that had been seen here for some time  Although, it is non-countable as an ABA bird, you have to admit it really is quite a handsome specimen.  

Mandarin Duck

A nice adult Bald Eagle is always a bonus, and it is nice to find one is such an urban setting such as Tempe Town Lake.

Adult Bald Eagle

I was a great way to spend a milestone bi(rd)thday!  

A couple of new rarities

Finally getting around to posting some photos of a couple rare birds and new life birds for me.  Both of these were seen and photographed a few weeks ago.  The first bird was discovered by a friend, Tom Lewis, during the Greater Phoenix Waterbird count that took place on January 19th.  And another friend, Muriel Neddermeyer, called me late on the same day that this bird was discovered in Maricopa County.  This bird is the Least Grebe whose range is usually far southern Texas, but there have been a few seen in extreme southern Arizona and breeding has been documented.  This sighting in Maricopa County was further north than they have been seen before, so it was an immediate hit with all the birders.  I was at the location early the next morning and there were already 5 other birders viewing it, and it became quite popular in the next week or two.  This completed my list of seeing all seven species of North American Grebes in Arizona (6 species in Maricopa County).  At just a little under 10", this is our smallest Grebe in the US.  

 Least Grebe

 Least Grebe

Least Grebe

The second bird for this post is one that I consider to be pretty awesome in the color department.  The Red-breasted Sapsucker is a bird from the Pacific northwest coast.  Their winter range extends to Southern California and every once in a while one ventures a bit further east an into Arizona.  This bird was reported in late December on the lower Salt River and has apparently found a tree to its liking as many birders have seen it and it seems to favor a certain tree.  It has tapped several holes in this tree from which the tree sap has been oozing and during one of my visits I also observed a Verdin and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet visiting these same holes to take advantage of the sap or possibly even feed on insects that might have been trapped in the sticky sap.  The photos will show the many holes.  This is one heck of a gorgeous bird and if the bright red isn't enough, then the black and white pattern on the back is just as stunning.

 Red-breasted Sapsucker

 Red-breasted Sapsucker

 Red-breasted Sapsucker

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Two totally different birds, and both were a joy to watch and observe.