Another Chase in Arizona

I have been very negligent in updating my blog site with anything current.  It has been well over a month since I have contributed anything to this venture.  It is not that I have not been doing anything, Au contraire!  In fact, what I have discovered that being retired, I am busier than when I was employed.  But it is a good kind of busy, because now, I can pursue the things I want to do, like birding and enjoying nature. 

On March 24, 2016 a rare bird, a Rose-throated Becard was discovered in Graham County at Cluff Ranch which is south of the small town of Pima.  This spot is about a 2½ hour drive from Mesa.  Great birding friend Muriel Nedermeyer contacted me the day after it was discovered to see if I would be interested in chasing it the next day and of course I said yes.  I had seen this bird, male and female, in Chiapas, Mexico in July of 2015, so it would not be a life bird for me, but it would definitely be a solid United States, ABA, and Arizona bird for me.  So we quickly made plans to depart early the next morning.  We arrived nice and early and met up with Jeff Coker, a local that was already there, and he had not yet seen it.  He had seen it the day before and explained to us where it was seen and what trees it was favoring.  Before too long, 2 more birders showed up looking for it as well.  The group split up a bit to watch for it in different areas.  It was about an hour and 45 minutes after we arrived that Muriel spotted it up in a tree.  She was quick to get me on it and then we both yelled out to the others that we had found the bird.  We were desperately trying to keep tabs on it as they ran to get to our area.  It went deeper into the trees and it finally flew out the backside of one of the trees and we lost it again.  

The good news was that we knew that it was still there and had not departed to places unknown.  Once again the 5 of us spread out in trying to locate it.  After about a half hour one of them came back to us at the original spot and said that he had relocated it and showed us some photos that he took of it.  He then advised us where he found it and then he left.  At least it gave us hope that it was still around.  

With the sun coming up it started getting warm and and we started shedding some layers of clothing.  In the process of this, Jeff called out that he had relocated the bird, so I took off on a run and got there in time to snap a couple of quick photos. Definitely a bird worthy of a chase! 

 Rose-throated Becard

That was the last that we saw that bird that day.  This bird stayed around for several more days and thanks to our reports, many more birders traveled to Cluff Ranch and were able to see it and add it to their lists. 

During all the time we spent looking and waiting for this wonderful bird, we were entertained by many other birds and when a Lucy's Warbler decided to get a drink and take a bath in the stream of water, I could not resist snapping a couple of photos.   

 Lucy's Warbler

Cluff Ranch is located on the north side of Mt Graham which is one of the highest peaks in the infamous 'Sky Islands' of Arizona.  At an elevation of 10,720 feet, it naturally gets snow every winter in Arizona and the road to the top is closed in winter because of the snow.  

 Mt Graham

This is a beautiful place with some incredible biodiversity and offers some great birding and so much more with nature.  Always a great place to visit.

   

Chiapas: La Sepultura Again! Reaching 600 After Hitting 500 Only 5 Days Earlier

After finding the really cool buntings earlier in the day along the road, we then got a bit of a rest before reaching our next destination that was just a few miles from the Pacific Coast.  Once again, we have to thank our fantastic guides, Francesca Albini and Matt Hale, as they had led this trip a couple times earlier and had scouted this area in advance.  Our 'hot spot' for the next stop was a small roadside pond in the grassland coastal plains.  Had I been driving on this road, it could have beeDn easily overlooked and I might have driven right by.  But our guides knew better!

Just a short 5 days before, I had talllied my 500th bird the Altamira Oriole on my first day in Tuxtla and as I got off the van at this small roadside pond, my lifelist stood at 598.  The first bird that caught my eye at this pond was the Bare-throated Tiger-Heron giving me my 599th bird.  My next bird was the Northern Jacana which was a new milestone and my 600th bird.  In all I added 8 new birds to my life list at this pond alone.  

We will start out with the Bare-throated Tiger-Heron which caught my eye immediately due to how big it was.  What a great looking bird!  We observed 2 of them for some time; sometimes posing, sometimes crouching for the hunt, and at least once acting a little silly like it was sunning itself.

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

The Northern Jacana did not want to look me in the eye, but that was OK with me as getting photo of one with its wings spread was a quite impressive sight.  They are gorgeous and a great bird for number 600.

Northern Jacana

We also had the fortune of finding 2 species of seedeaters as well; the White-collared Seedeater and the Ruddy-breasted Seedeater.  The White-collared was definitely a bit more cooperative than the Ruddy-breasted, but seeing both and observing their behavior was very enjoyable and educational.

White-collared Seedeater

Ruddy-breasted Seedeater - Male & Female

In one respect this place was no different than many of the other spots we had visited; we had to have some species of flycatchers.  And our newest flycatcher was a really cool looking one, with a funny name; the Common Tody-Flycatcher.  With its long and flat bill, yellow throat, breast and belly, and then those awesome light yellow eyes, this is a cool looking flycatcher.

 Common Tody-Flycatcher

One more bird that visited this same tree was the Rose-throated Becard.  This bird appears in almost all the US bird guides as it has been seen in extreme southern Texas and extreme southern Arizona.  I think it has been several years since the last report in Arizona, but I do know that a nest had been found in northern Sonora, Mexico only about 50 miles southeast of Nogales, Arizona.  I was always hoping that some day one would show up in AZ and if it did I was going to probably chase it.  We actually had a pair show up; a male and a female.

 Rose-throated Becard - Male

 Rose-throated Becard - Female

Rose-throated Becard - Male

One final new life bird to add to this post is the Giant Wren, another endemic where its range is found only in Chiapas along the Pacific Coast.  This is very unlike most wrens, first because of its large size and secondly, it is decked out in solid colors instead of speckled like most other wrens.  While they did not approach real close for great photos, I can say that we also discovered one of their nests at a distance, so that makes up for it.  This was another cool bird!

 Giant Wren

Giant Wren

Even with all the new birds I got to add to my list and even finally getting some photographs, I did see a few familiar faces among these new birds, such as Tropical Kingbird, Crested Caracara, and Black-bellied Whistling Ducks; all of which can be found in Arizona.

 Tropical Kingbird

 Crested Caracara

Crested Caracara

Black-bellied Whistling Duck

During this entire time we were thoroughly entertained with some Caiman that inhabited this small pond as well.

 Caiman

This day is not yet complete.  Stay tuned, there will be one more post on this fabulous day of birding and great company.