White Mountains: The Final Field Trip

Sunday morning arrived and we had signed up to join the field trip to Wenima Wildlife area and also Becker Lake.  Kurt Radamaker along with his wife Cindy took the lead on this field trip and we started out at Wenima hoping to find a nice rarity or two but we had no luck on rarities but had lots of great birds.  My best photo from Wenima turned out to be a Common Buckeye butterfly.  (Yes, I am guilty of photographing butterflies and slowly, but surely, I am starting to learn the common names of some of them.)  In this post, you will see that birds are my number 1 target, but I also have a passion for all types of wildlife including butterflies, insects, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals.  For those that have read many of my previous posts, you probably already know that, but for those that might be new to my blog site, you will see a sprinkling of other creatures in my posts from time to time and this one has a good blend of several creatures.

Becker Lake proved to be a bit better for some bird photography.  We no sooner parked our vehicles in the parking lot and was scanning the area and we were blessed by a couple of Yellow-headed Blackbirds that came in to feed very close to the parking lot.  They seemed unperturbed by us and allowed us great looks and some nice photos as well. Stunning birds with their bright yellow on black bodies and when they fly they show off a nice white wing patch as well.  

Along the shore of the lake near the boat ramp, we happened upon a Woodhouse's Toad, which I believe is a new species of toad for me as I do not recall seeing one in the past.  

As we made our way along the dike on the northeast side of the lake, we had a couple Virginia Rails come to check us out.  This is a fairly secretive rail and most times I hear them in the marshes without seeing them.  They are one of the most elusive and secretive rails, so when they do show themselves, you know you are in for a real treat.

This photo is a sighting of what I would consider normal and then they would disappear just as quickly as you saw it.

But this one mush have been unfazed by us as it put on quite a show with the photos below.

We also discovered a new lizard for most of us including our leader.  We found a couple of very young Lesser Earless Lizards.  This one was only about 2½ inches in length, including the tail.

And a Praying Mantis is always a cool insect to see.

The tree that normally holds a pair of Bald Eagles proved to be just the place that 3 Great Blue Herons decided to stop in for a rest.

I had not been in the White Mountains for almost a year, so it was great to return to some old stomping grounds.  Maybe next summer I can spend a bit more time in this remarkable place and explore some more spots as it is truly a magical spot in the state of Arizona.

Tres Rios Wetlands - 1 Dec 2012

I noticed that I have fallen behind on updates, but in some instances I felt I was reporting on the same birds that I see quite frequently and that get to be a bore for some people reading this blog.  However many birders just like birds period and it does not matter if they are frequent or common birds or if they are rare birds.  Even in my adventures, I am discovering a lot about behavior and habits on even the most common birds and some of it is very entertaining. 

 

On Saturday, I ventured out to Tres Rios once again and this time with Bernie Howe who had not been there, but had just received his permit for access to this place and was anxious to check it out.  So off we went, arriving about 7:00 am and immediately we were amazed at all the birds around us everywhere; in the sky, in the trees, on the water and in the reeds growing in the water.  The prize of the day was a leucistic Cormorant that we happened to discover swimming in the small pond just before the spillway area.  I looked out into the water and saw a white bird that looked very unusual.  It was swimming with an upturned bill like a cormorant, but the cormorants in Arizona are not white.  We basically have 2 species of cormorants in Arizona, the Neotropic and the Double Crested and they can be very difficult to identify even as adults.  This was a Leucistic Cormorant and there is a lot of speculation on which species it is, seems everyone has a different opinion (even the experts).  And it really does not matter which it is, but one thing just about everyone can agree on, is that it is one unique and beautiful bird, especially since most cormorants are basically black in coloration.

 

 Leucistic Cormorant

 

Leucistic Cormorant

 

Leucistic Cormorant

 

Was also able to add a new bird to my life list; a Virginia Rail.  I knew this bird existed in this location as I had heard it several times in the past, but it is a secretive and elusive bird that likes to hide in the tall reeds.  It flew in about the same time that a Sora approached from the other direction and it was hard to determine where I should be pointing my camera.  So I attempted to get photos of each.  The Sora is not a new bird for me, but they are also secretive and elusive.

 

 Virginia Rail

 

Sora

 



Other birds that we found were a Spotted Sandpiper, Black-crowned Night Heron, Belted Kingfisher, and a Great Egret that was doing a balancing act on a high wire.

 

 Spotted Sandpiper

 

 Black-crowned Night Heron

 

 Belted Kingfisher

 

Great Egret

 

Some of the smaller birds included 2 phoebes; Black Phoebe and Say's Phoebe, an Orange-crowned Warbler, and the noisy little Marsh Wrens always playing Hide-n-Seek in the reeds.  The Song Sparrows were also quite numerous every step of the way. 



 Black Phoebe

 

 Say's Phoebe

 

 Orange-crowned Warbler

 

Marsh Wren

 

Song Sparrow





 

As we were observing and shooting photos of the cormorant we had a fly-over by a couple of American White Pelicans and later when processing the photos we noticed one of them is carrying a wing tag.  So we are currently trying to find out where this pelican was tagged and where its travels may have taken it.

 

American White Pelicans