Mogollon Rim - Epilogue

Sunday morning we knew it was our day to head back the ugly heat of the valley, but we also wanted to explore the area around the Tonto Fish Hatchery.  Chris had never been there and I always enjoy stopping when I have time.  After enjoying a great breakfast at June's Cafe in Heber, we took to the road and headed for the fish hatchery which is north and east of Payson.

The road to the hatchery itself is a beautiful drive with towering pines on both sides of the road interspersed with a mixture of deciduous trees.  Cordilleran Flycatchers were calling in several places and one of them came out and posed for us in the sunlight.  That does not happen often as this species usually hangs out in the lower to mid level canopy of the trees and is quite often a challenge to photograph in shady conditions.  

 Cordilleran Flycatcher

We also noted Virginia's Warblers calling, but getting a good look at them was quite a challenge.  Finally had one fly into a nearby tree, but it did not want to show itself, so I just raised the camera and focused on where it was and got lucky enough to capture one photo as it decided to take flight.

Virginia's Warbler

Shortly thereafter a Painted Redstart also made an appearance for us as well.

 Painted Redstart

Flowers and butterflies also entertained us as did this Zela Metalmark butterfly that was very attracted to this head of orange blossoms.  What is rather cool was that it had company on the flowers.  We knew the bee was there, but did not notice the small assassin bugs until I looked at the photos.

 Zela Metalmark - With some assassin bugs

Not a great photo of this damselfly which I believe is a Canyon Rubyspot damselfly.  But it was very showy with those red spots on the wings.

 Canyon Rubyspot damselfly

A great ending to a couple of enjoyable days of birding and I know these places will be spots that I return to in the future and I think Chris will as well.

    

The Kaibab Plateau, the Final Day

Saturday night the winds had calmed down, but that also brought lower temperatures (down into the 30's) that night.  But with the proper equipment, camping in the cold is not all that bad and sleep was fairly easy on this second night.  This was going to be our last day of the expedition, but with a long 6 hour return drive looming on the horizon, many of us decided to make it a short day.  The entire group stopped near the entrance of our turn off to our camp site to check for a few birds in the area where we had seen the Downy Woodpeckers the night before.  This morning they were there to greet us again along with some Williamson's Sapsuckers and some Evening Grosbeaks, which was a new bird for me.  Although my photos left a lot to be desired, at least I got to see and hear them for the first time.  (Guess that means I will have to back again for better photos!)

Williamson's Sapsucker - Male

Williamson's Sapsucker - Male

Evening Grosbeak

The entire group decided to head into the Grand Canyon National Park on this morning and visiting the North Rim is much different than the South Rim.  Due to the remoteness of the North Rim, it only gets about one tenth the number of visitors on a yearly basis, but the road is also closed to the North Rim in the winter months due to snow.  The views from the the North Rim were just as awesome.

At the lodge at the North Rim, we found some cool birds as well, including a pair of Western Bluebirds that were feeding young.  We also had a Virginia's Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warblers, and 'Audubon's' Yellow-rumper Warblers.

  Western Bluebird - Male

Virginia's Warbler

Black-throated Gray Warbler

'Audubon's' Yellow-rumped Warbler

We also found Steller's Jays which are gorgeous birds, but we got to see a different side of them as one had stolen a newly hatched junco chick from a nest and was feeding on it.  Probably not a photo that many want to see, but it also shows nature in the raw.

Steller's Jay

Had some great mammals as well along the road.  There is a herd of bison found inside the park.  The park calls them bison, but truth be told they should probably be called 'beefalo' as they are remnants of a ranching operation from years back of a rancher that was crossing bison with cattle as an experimental ranching idea.  They animals do look quite a bit like bison, but not sure how purebred bison they really are.  

Probably the most interesting mammal that we discovered was a Porcupine along side of the road as we were leaving.  Got to see 2 of these animals when we were in New Mexico in February of this year, but both were sleeping in trees; this one was actively grazing along side of the highway.

Porcupine

Porcupine

What a way to end an exhilarating field expedition!  And I have to add a group photo of the 9 campers that journeyed to the North Rim.  Want to thank a great group of people that made this an exciting and enjoyable experience;  Eric Hough, Magill Weber, Chris Rohrer, Lauren Harter, Nathan Williams, Brian Ison, Michael Lester, and Jarrod Swackhamer. 

An Early Spring Visit to Mr Ord

On April 12th, I ventured out to visit Mt Ord for an early spring bird outing and hike.  This is a spot that I have come to love to visit as it is the highest elevation in Maricopa County and much of it lies within Maricopa County while part of it also lies in Gila County.  I discovered this place only because of a great website designed by a good friend and great birder, Tommy DeBardeleben.  His website was my primary tool for birding Maricopa County when I first became very active in birding in Arizona.  First couple of visits to this place by myself and I will admit that I was a bit timid about wandering around up there by myself, but now, I feel quite at home and very comfortable.  A great place to get away and enjoy some solitude and some great birds.  The elevation of this wonderful spot creates a whole new habitat not found elsewhere in Maricopa County.  The pine forests are a breath of fresh air.  On this trip I devoted most of my time to the 1688 trail which is totally in Maricopa County.  

Warblers were my main objective and they did not disappoint.  By far the most numerous species was the Black-throated Gray Warbler and was basically what I expected.  Par for the course, warblers are one of the trickiest group of birds to photograph as they are usually quite energetic and many species can be only found high in the trees.  With all the pine needles around this bird, I was quite surprised to actually capture a couple of view-able photos.

 Black-throated Gray Warbler

Black-throated Gray Warbler

I also had Grace's Warblers and Painted Redstarts, but they proved to be much more difficult and did not allow any photos.  A Virginia's Warbler did allow some photos but made it a bit trickier.

 Virginia's Warbler

Virginia's Warbler

It seems that I am always learning something new about birds on just about every outing, even on places I have visited frequently and this day was no exception.  The 1688 trail is rather unique in that it passes through tall Ponderosa pines, but is also on the upper reaches of the desert scrub oak, so it is kind of on the fringe of 2 different habitat zones.  Along this road I had several Black-chinned Sparrows and a few Gray Vireos.  Normally I stop at points lower on the mountain to observe these birds, but this time I was finding them in this higher elevation.  At least 2 Gray Vireos made themselves seen, not necessarily providing the best pose for photos, but just seeing them is very positive.

 Gray Vireo

Gray Vireo

A couple of other very numerous species were the Spotted Towhee and the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  Both species do breed in these habitats, so seeing them and hearing them throughout the hike was very much welcomed.  

 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Spotted Towhee

One last photo to share is my FOS (first of the season) Broad-tailed Hummingbird, which is a hummer usually found in higher elevations in Arizona.

Broad-tailed Hummingbird

This place is always a fresh new place to visit after spending so many birding excursions in and around the Phoenix desert spots as the variety of bird life is very different and such a great change.

Pinal Mountains - A Warbler Bonanza

Once again this summer I had the privilege to go birding in the Pinal Mountains south of Globe, Arizona.  This is always a great place to visit especially in the summer months as the higher elevation is so much cooler.  Plus this area can be a great spot for migrants. Joining me were our driver Ed Jeter, along with Ellen Hairston and a new birder, Steve Maurer.

Our little trip turned out to be my highest count of warbler species in one day.  We ended up with 11 species of warblers which is pretty awesome and that number included several migrants starting to return south.  Here is the list of warblers we found:  Virginia's Warbler, Grace's Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Red-faced Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Townsend's Warbler, Hermit Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and Painted Redstart.  Unfortunately, I was not able to get photos of all the species, but did get a few that I can post.  At one spot where we stopped along the road, we looked over the bank and down about 20 yards to a very small stream bed with just a bit of water running in it and discovered a small opening in the shade and among some rocks where many of these warblers were taking turns bathing.  So trying to focus my camera into a dark, shady spot and focusing through a small opening in the vegetation, was rather difficult.  I at least got some identifiable photos and and in one photo I was lucky to capture 3 different warblers all at the same time.

 Virginia's Warbler in full bath mode

Virginia's Warbler

 Orange-crowned Warbler

 Townsend's Warbler

Townsend's Warbler

 Hermit Warbler

Hermit Warbler in full bath mode

 Black-throated Gray and Wilson's Warblers

 Black-throated Gray and Grace's Warblers

Black-throated Gray and Wilson's Warblers

Black-throated Gray, Wilson's, and Grace's Warblers

OK, enough of those wonderful warblers!  We did find other birds on our visit including a couple nuthatches.  White-breasted Nuthatches are really quite common in Arizona and throughout much of the United States, but at times, getting good photos of them can be a bit difficult as they usually are found in fairly shady spots.  This day I happened to get a pretty decent photo of one flaking off a bit of bark.  The Red-breasted Nuthatch is much less common in Arizona.  They can be found but not nearly as numerous as the White-breasted species.  I came across 4 of them near the cabin with feeders near the top of Pinal Peak.

 Red-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch

The hummingbird feeders were very active with Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Black-chinned Hummingbirds, Rufous Hummingbirds and Magnificent Hummingbirds also near the top.  For once I refrained from taking a lot of photos of them and just enjoyed watching them vie for the feeders and the the nectar that was available for them.  The trip was another great adventure and full of wonderful birds!