New Directions

Since finishing my 'Maricopa Big Year' in December, I have thought long and hard about the direction I was heading to continue my birding adventures.  I have definitely decided, no more big years for me.  It feels too much like a job and since I am now retired, a job is not what I want to begin again.  I want to enjoy the birds and revel in the beauty and behavior and learn more about them.  Along with that process, I have also started to admire and extend my interest into many more aspects of nature.  So expect to see a more diverse listing of other critters on this blog in the future.    One thing I have come to realize is the fact that many birding adventures are not the most physical and are lacking in exercise.  Granted, there are some chases that do require some good physical exertion such as a couple of trips to Slate Creek Divide last year.  But many hunts are more vehicle driving and then leisurely walking to easy spots.  

The past few weeks, I have been pushing myself to get some good physical exercise and much of it has been done on some hiking trails in South Mountain Park.  First and foremost, it is for the health aspect for me, but secondly, it will allow me to take trips out of state to chase some birds that cannot be found in Arizona.  Currently have a couple of upcoming trips on my slate.  Local birding has been fun and I would like to share some of the fun I have had enjoying local birds in the past few weeks.  Also know that long winded posts most times go unread, so I try to keep them short and add lots of photos.  After all, its the photos that most people enjoy seeing.  

A trip to Lost Dutchman State Park got me a nice Bendire's Thrasher and a Northern Mockingbird. 

 Bendire's Thrasher

 Northern Mockingbird feeding on Mistletoe berries

A visit to the Gilbert Water Ranch is always a great way to capture some great photos and is never a disappointment.

 Black-crowned Night Heron

Cinnamon Teal showing some of its colorful wings

 A very cooperative Green Heron

 Least Bittern

An elegant Northern Pintail drake

A handsome drake Redhead taken during the Greater Phoenix Waterbird Count.

Redhead

A trip out west to the White Tank Mountains Regional Park, was quite enjoyable.  Had never visited the place before and was taken in by its beauty and nature.  Besides having a lot of Canyon Towhees in the park, I came across something I never expected in a desert canyon; a snail!  I have always associated snails to be found in wet damp areas or water, but this one was found on a trail at an elevation of 2200' and no running water or pools of water anywhere close by.  Temperature was around 50° F.  It had rained about week prior to my visit and some areas of the trail were damp.  I was so intrigued that I posted this find on iNaturalist.org and also tried to do a little research on my own.  I discovered that there are an estimated 200 species of land snails in Arizona and most of them are fairly unknown and researched due to their limited ranges and hiding until enough rain or moisture brings them out from under rocks.  This one does not have a common name, but its scientific name is eremarionta rowelli.  Probably only found in the White Tank Mountains west of Phoenix.  

 eremarionta rowelli

Canyon Towhee

From the White Tank Mountains, I headed south to some ag fields near Buckeye where a Trumpeter Swan had been reported.  This was definitely not a common bird for Maricopa County, so it was nice to find it and add it to my county list.  

 Trumpter Swan

Cattle Egret

And a stop at the White-tailed Kite location not far from the ag fields and I was able to find the pari in one tree.

White-tailed Kites

One last stop that day took me to the Glendale Recharge Ponds to see if the Long-tailed Duck was still there.  It was and this time I was there by myself and it really let its personality shine for me.

 Long-tailed Duck

There were a few other stops during this time as well.  I also visited Pima Canyon Wash several times in the past few weeks and have had some really great experiences with some of the local birds.  Have enough to do a separate blog post to cover those instances.  So you can look forward to another post in the near future.  

Birding in Prescott, Arizona

On Sunday 2 February 2014, I teamed up with Jason Morgan and headed north to the areas of Prescott and Prescott Valley to do some birding.  Jason along with a couple others were getting some very nice photos of the Common Goldeneye.  This duck is quite spectacular in appearance and while I have seen them many times in the past, the birds were always at quite a distance and my photos always left a little to be desired.  My goal was to try and get a better photo than I had in the past, so our first stop was Yavapai Lake and I was not disappointed.  Amongst the 100 or so Ring-necked Ducks were at least 6 male Common Goldeneyes and a single male Canvasback, which was a bonus to me.  Had to search a different spot, Fain Park to find the females.

 

 Common Goldeye - Male

 

Common Goldeye - Female

 

Canvasback - Male

 

While we did not linger too long in Fain Park, we did find some other cool waterfowl including a female Lesser Scaup and some Common Mergansers of which the females were the only ones that I could approach close enough for photos. 

 

 Lesser Scaup - Female

 

Common Merganser - Female

 

During our brief visit we were witness to one of Mother Nature's events in the survival of birds, a raptor capturing another bird for its daily existence.  In this case, it was a Cooper's Hawk that captured a Western Scrub-Jay.  Typically, jays are notorious for finding the location of a raptor and then sounding the alarm to other birds by sending out alarm calls to let others know of the raptor's location.  In this case the Cooper's Hawk got the jump on them and once the victim had been captured, the rest of the Western Scrub-Jays really did a lot of scolding to no avail.  Yes, is a bit disturbing to see this, but this happens daily in nature and we could only revel in what we had just witnessed.

 

Cooper's Hawk with prey, a Western Scrub-Jay

 

Our next destination was going to be Watson Lake and this is where we had agreed to meet up with another Facebook birder, Cynthia White.  She knows the Prescott area well and we were very happy to meet her and actually get the chance to do some birding with her.  Watson Lake was covered with waterfowl and it was mindboggling to try to count the various ducks.  A couple of highlights were actually raptors that were putting on a show for us.  The first was a juvenile Bald Eagle that was being harassed by a couple of Common Ravens.  But this eagle really seemed unperturbed by all the commotion and continued to ride the thermals and in fact at one time they were flying almost side-by-side.  For those that are reading this and are a bit confused by the coloration of the Bald Eagle, this is a juvenile.  It takes about 4 years for a Bald Eagle to obtain its complete white head and tail and dark brown body, which is the vision most people think of when they hear Bald Eagle.  A good example in showing that identifying birds can be a bit confusing, especially to new birders and to non-birders. 

 

 Bald Eagle - Juvenile

 

Bald Eagle and Common Raven - (note the size difference)

 

We also had a Northern Harrier put on quite a show for us as it was flying over the reeds in the lake hunting for prey.  A one point it landed on a tree snag and gave us really good close up views of this winter visitor to Arizona.  This bird has an 'owl-like' appearance to it, but usually is hard to see as these birds rarely pose close for photos and for viewing.

 

Northern Harrier

 

Once we finished our walk around Watson Lake, we then discussed our other options and I had heard that a Tundra Swan had been reported a few days ago at Willow Lake and we agreed that since we were in the neighborhood, we should at least stop by to take a look.  Thanks to Cynthia for knowing how to get there quickly and finding easy access parking.  We got out of our vehicles and I noticed a white mound that kind of looked like a white rock or maybe a white piece of trash out in the lake.  We all looked a little close and decided it might be the swan with its head tucked under the wing taking a nap.  We quickly made out way to the lake edge and the closer we got, I knew we had found our target bird, the Tundra Swan.  I had really never seen a swan in the wild before, but I knew they were big and when we got to looking at this one and noticing the company it was keeping; Northern Shovelers, Green-winged Teal, and American Coots, then I realized how huge these birds really are.  This one never took flight for us, but it think it would be an amazing sight to see these birds take to the air.

 

 Tundra Swan

 

Tundra Swan

 

In our (or was it my?) obsession to get closer to the swan to try for photos, I observed another unusual bird flying towards us; a White-tailed Kite!  I have seen this bird before a few times in Maricopa County and was rather surprised to see one in this location.  We made a note of where it might have went and once we finished our business with the swan, we headed in the direction of where we thought it might be and once we got around the large cottonwood tree, we found it perched in another shorter tree.  We took a couple of distant photos and as we tried to approach it to get closer it took flight again and it put on a 'kiting' show for us where it would hover in flight without moving forward.  This was especially rewarding as I found out that this bird was a life bird for both Jason and Cynthia!  While my photos leave a lot to be desired, they are at least good enough for an ID if needed.  Cynthia managed a very nice in-flight photo when we first discovered this bird.

 

White-tailed Kite

 

This turned out to be a great day for all three of us with Jason getting 3 life birds and Cynthia and myself 1 each.  This is definitely a spot that I need to visit more often and I encourage others to do so as well.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buckeye/Arlington, AZ - 13 January 2013

This past Sunday I had the pleasure to go birding with Marceline VandeWater and she was kind enough to offer to drive which gave me an opportunity to do some birding as a passenger.  The Phoenix area has been dealt a cold spell, with below freezing temperatures the past few nights and Sunday was no exception.  When we left our meeting place in Tempe at 7:00 am it was about 27° F.  Buckeye and Arlington on located in the west valley and by the time we arrived in the farm grounds outside of Buckeye the temperature had dropped to 21° F and by the time we found ourselves near the canals and flowing water it was 17° F.  With temps like this, we did not spend much time outside of the vehicle!  Of course when the sun made an appearance it did warm up by mid day into the upper 40's or maybe even 50°.  

We spent the entire day birding and ended up with a total of 74 species of birds which was a very respectable count. One of the first birds we spotted was a Wilson's Snipe in a canal at dawn that had a lot of steam rising from it.  That was a good omen to start the day.  We observed more in different spots along roadsides and a couple of them were downright quite cooperative with us.  But since much of our birding was done inside the car, many of the birds did not spook quite so easily and it makes the birds a bit more approachable.  Such is the case with the photos of the Snipe below.

 Wilson's Snipe

  Wilson's Snipe

Raptors were in abundance throughout the entire area with Red-tailed Hawks and American Kestrels being the most common.  However, we also found several Northern Harriers, 4 Ferruginous Hawks, a Prairie Falcon, a couple of Cooper's Hawks and a couple of Sharp-shinned Hawks.  But the icing on the cake was a pair of White-tailed Kites, a bird I have only seen one other time and it was not far from where we observed these 2.  Have to apologize for a bit of poor photography on this bird, but for me a bad photo is better than no photo of an uncommon bird such as this.  In the long horizontal photo, notice on the far right a white blob.  That was the 2nd kite off in the distance on a stick pile.

 White-tailed Kite

White-tailed Kite

A couple of photos of 2 different Red-tailed Hawks; one is a stunning adult dark (or rufous) morph and the second one is a juvenile that must have captured a morsel to eat in some mud as there is mud on both feet and even on the beak.  Have no idea if it was a failed attempt or if it was a kill and already eaten.

 Red-tailed Hawk - Dark Morph

Red-tailed Hawk - Juvenile

We were not lacking in observing many of the smaller birds as well.  Included are a couple of sparrows; a Vesper Sparrow and a Savannah Sparrow.  We also found about 4 Loggerhead Shrikes and a few Least Sandpipers in various spots along the roadside.

 Vesper Sparrow

 Vesper Sparrow -- in the middle of a hop.

 Savannah Sparrow

 Loggerhead Shrike

Least Sandpiper

As far as the cartoon delimma, I think the Roadrunner is still surviving the battle with Wile E Coyote as we found about 4 Greater Roadrunners, but only 1 Coyote.

 Greater Roadrunner

Coyote

This is always a great place to find a great variety of birds.  It is far enough away from the heart of Phoenix and provides an abundance of habitats for numerous species.  

Buckeye/Arlington, AZ - 10 Nov 2012

Way out west, (or at least on the west fringes of Phoenix!), there is a fairly large agricultural area that encompasses parts of the communities of Buckeye and Arlington.  Included are a few ponds and a wildlife area as well.  This area is a magnet to many migrating birds and also many winter resident birds.  Saturday this was my destination as I had not been there for a few months and it ended up being a very fruitful trip as I came home with another life bird, a White-tailed Kite!  This bird is not a common bird in Arizona, but there are reports of them every year in various parts of the state, especially in the south and east.  Their hunting technique is 'kiting', where they hover in the wind in one spot looking for prey down below.  When I first saw this bird it was about 100 yards away and that is exactly what it was doing in the brisk northwest wind.  As it moved further away from me, I eventually lost sight of it, but nonetheless, I kept moving in the general direction where I last saw it, and sure enough it had landed in a dead tree across a marshy area from me.  Not the most ideal conditions for photos, but good enough to identify this marvelous avian wonder.

 

 White-tailed Kite

 

White-tailed Kite

 

The kite was seen in the Arlington Wildlife area and not far from this spot I discovered a fairly large flock of Sandhill Cranes.  Being from Nebraska, this is nothing special as this species creates quite the birding experience for about 6 weeks in the early spring in central Nebraska where they stop and lay over during their migration and their numbers are in the hundreds of thousands.  But in Arizona, they are a bit smaller in numbers and many birders make special trips to find them. 

 

 Sandhill Cranes

 

Sandhill Cranes

Also in the area of the Arlington Ponds I found numerous sparrows including a Lincoln's Sparrow that gave me a very nice pose.  The most numerous species by far was the White-crowned Sparrows, especially a lot of juveniles.  The juvenile White-crowned can be easily mis-identified by new birders, but it is one that is learned quite early on.

 

 Lincoln's Sparrow

 

White-crowned Sparrow - Juvenile

 

Raptors were in seen in good numbers throughout the area with the American Kestrel being the most numerous.  There must have been 2 per mile on the power lines that lined the roads.  Also a nice find was 2 Ferruginous Hawks.  While they did not allow me to approach too close, I was able to capture a few photos of this large, magnificent raptor.  And of course with all the small ponds and irrigation canals running through the area, one is bound to find an Osprey somewhere.

 

 American Kestrel

 

Ferruginous Hawk

 

Osprey



Western Meadowlarks were everywhere along the roadsides and out in the many alfalfa fields.  Their bright yellow breasts really brightens up the morning.

 

Western Meadowlark

Definitely a place to return to more often, especially in migration season.