Taking Advantage of a Cool Down

As mentioned many times in previous posts, the Arizona summers in and around the city of Phoenix can be quite brutal with the excessive heat.  When one gets up before the sun rises and the outside temperature is 94° F in the dark, then you know the daytime temperature will be very uncomfortable.  That's when it is time to head to higher elevations in the summer to go birding.  But every once in a while there is a slight break in the weather especially during monsoon season and the first weekend of August was one of those times.  Our day time highs did not quite reach the 100° range and the overnight lows were in the low 80's.  With this break, I decided it was time to get out early in the morning to see what I could find in an hour or two before the sun made it miserable.

Saturday, I decided to visit one of my regular spots, Pima Canyon Wash in South Mountain Park.  I arrived while it was still dark, and I began my hike in the dark, and was listening to the Common Poorwills calling higher up on the slopes of the canyon. I could vaguely see some movement in the sky as the sky started letting go of the pitch black darkness and I figure those were the Common Poorwills remaining activity before going to roost for the day.  All of a sudden I detected another bird movement, very close and right  across the path in front of me and it was very silent, reminiscent of an owl as they are very silent flyers. Sure enough I was able to pick out and count 3 Western Screech Owls with my flashlight.  Obviously as dark as it was, I was not going to get any photos, but it was great to find them and then I made a mental note of the tree they had flown into as I wanted to check it on my return hike.  Sure enough, on the return, I approached the tree with caution and one of them was perched on a branch in the tree.  The colors blended in quite well with the tree limbs and most people would walk right by and not notice this bird sitting there.  Approaching slowly and cautiously, I was trying to get some photos as this is one bird that has been difficult to photograph mostly due to their nocturnal habits.  First photos of it consisted of squinting eyes, then they opened a bit as I got closer and once it's eyes were open and I got a couple of photos, I quickly retreated to leave it rest in peace for the day.  I have always known these owls were in this location as I had heard them many times in the past.  Looking forward to a return visit to see if this particular tree is a common roost for them.

Western Screech Owl

Western Screech Owl

Western Screech Owl

What an elated feeling and glad I made the decision to get in a short hike that morning.  Then as I approached the parking lot I stopped in the wash as I had heard a different call from a nearby tree and just about that time, a Black-headed Grosbeak flew from the distant tree into the tree I was standing under and gave me a chance at a couple of photos.  I suspect that this bird is a first fall male with that bright yellow chest and belly stripe.

Black-headed Grosbeak

Black-headed Grosbeak

Sunday, I decided to check out Glendale Recharge Ponds in the western part of Phoenix.  Some nice shore birds were being seen and I wanted to check it out.  (Have to make a mental note to try and find a reasonable priced spotting scope to use in places like this.  Those ponds are fairly large and a scope will greatly assist the viewing of the birds on the opposite shores.)  There were lots of shore birds on the two ponds that held water, including 37 Wilson's Phalaropes.  These birds are a lot of fun to watch as they forage.  They swim in circles in a spinning motion like a top to stir up larvae, crustaceans, and insects to feed on.  They were so busy spinning in circles that I was able to at least approach them close enough to get a photo or two.  

Wilson's Phalarope

Wilson's Phalarope

Long-billed Dowitchers were quite numerous as well and some were still sporting the remnants of their summer breeding plumage as was a Neotropic Cormorant.

Long-billed Dowitcher

Neotropic Cormorant

After about an hour of scanning the ponds, and the sun staring to make its mark, I decided to calls it quits for this day except for the fact that I made one last stop at the southwest corner of this area.  There is a concrete bridge here that is at the dead end road and one can park and go exploring.  Glad I stopped for a few minutes as I was treated to a couple of very nice birds; Lazuli Buntings and a Sora.  Lazuli Bunting males are downright stunning in breeding plumage and usually we see them in and around Phoenix only in migration in the spring and in the fall.  Springtime sightings are a hit or miss on the breeding plumage, but early fall can be a great time to see them so colorful.

 Lazuli Bunting

 Lazuli Bunting

As I was observing these colorful birds from the bridge, I also caught glimpse of a Sora that flew into the area.  Always a great bird to see as they can be a bit secretive most of the time.  But of all the rails, this species is not as shy as the rest.

Sora

As an added bonus, a first year male Red-winged Blackbird also paid a visit.  Not a bird that I usually spend a lot of time observing, but that bright red patch on the wing really stood out, giving an indication of how handsome it would be next spring.

Red-winged Blackbird - first year male

So two short excursions turned into some nice birds when I was least expecting to find much in the heat of the summer.  Just shows that even with the heat, many birds are doing well.

   

  

Texas: The Final Day

Wednesday April 30th was my last day for birding in Texas and I still had a couple of target birds I wanted to find, I did a little extra driving and headed east from Winnie to the small town of Anahuac.  Someone had suggested that Swallow-tailed Kites had frequented the area from time to time.  Well not this time, so I once again struck out on this bird and came home without this bird added to my list.  But while I was there and driving the streets, I did happen to find a pair of Purple Martins on a nest box built for them.  Not a bird that I see that often and although I prefer photos without man-made objects in them, I was happy to find them and add them to my Texas list.

Pair of Purple Martins with a neighboring House Sparrow

The rest of the day was spent by revisiting some of the places I had already been and first on the list was Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge.  It is one of those places that deserve a second visit and I have no regrets on the return visit as this time other birds showed themselves well and another critter was seen multiple times as well.  Fulvous and Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and Mottled Ducks are common in this location and I was able to find all 3 species with the Fulvous Whistling Duck and the Mottled Duck being a couple of life birds for me.  

 Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

 Fulvous Whistling Duck

Fulvous Whistling Duck

To many the Mottled Duck probably looks a lot like a female Mallard.  However, 2 key identification marks are the black spot at the gape of the bill and the absence of white feathers in the tail.

Mottled Duck

This day just happened to be the day of the Least Bittern.  I visually saw 4 of these elusive and secretive birds on this day and captured photos of 3 of them.

 Least Bittern - female

 Least Bittern - male

Least Bittern - female

An American Bittern was seen in the grass which is a bit uncharacteristic of this elusive bird.  Not sure if it thought it was invisible or not, but then once I got out of the car to snap photos it did not stick around very long and took flight in the opposite direction.

American Bittern

One of the biggest reasons to return to this place was because a rare bird had been reported here.  The Ruff is a Eurasian species that has a habit of showing up in the United States from time to time and this time one of them chose Texas and since I was in the neighborhood, I kind of thought it might be best to try and add it to my life bird list.  Surprisingly, when I arrived at the location that others had seen it, no one else was there and I was wondering if I would be able to pick it out.  Definitely was not a problem as it stood out from the rest of the 'peeps' in the shallow water.  Also had a couple of Stilt Sandpipers and a gorgeous female Wilson's Phalarope in the same pond.

 Ruff

 Ruff

 Stilt Sandpiper

Wilson's Phalarope - female

So many birds were present, some of them even common to Arizona.  Here are a few more photos of wading/water birds.

Green Heron

 Great Egret - note the bright green facial pattern, breeding plumage

Purple Galinule

On the way out, the Dickcissels were singing on both sides of the road and one male was quite content to let me capture a couple of photos even while a couple of Northern Bobwhite were calling nearby.

Dickcissel

And of course another photo of my non-nemesis bird, the Common Nighthawk.  Just had to have my daily dose of this bird, but I am definitely not complaining!

Common Nighthawk

And just to prove that birds were not my only interest, I happened upon one of the area's most notable reptiles, the Alligator.  I actually found 3 of them on this day in this location and 3 more in another location later that afternoon.  I liked this pose the best.  

Alligator

Once again I will have to complete one more blog post after this one to finish out my trip.  I ventured back to High Island to finish my final day and got some photos of one of my key target birds.

    

The Quest for a Rarity

Arizona is known for being a state where many birds whose range is normally in Mexico might show up from time to time.  When one of those birds native to Central America and Mexico do happen to cross the border and show up in one of the southwestern states and is discovered, the new social media outlets can really enhance the chances of finding the bird yourself.  Such is the case with the most recent finding in Arizona. 

The Slate-throated Redstart, which has a range from Mexico south into South America showed up in Arizona for the second time this year.  Most years, this species is not seen anywhere in the United States, so it was a rare treat for this bird to show up in the Chiricahua Mountains of extreme southeastern Arizona in May of this year and then to have a second one show up in the Huachuca Mountains near Sierra Vista was too almost too much of a good thing.  A good friend and greater birder and photographer, Muriel Neddermeyer contacted me and wanted to know if I might be interested in trying to locate this bird on Saturday July 27th.  We left from the suburbs of Phoenix at 4:00 am and arrived at our destination a little before 7:00 am at Huachuca Canyon and the gate was still locked and closed.  Shortly after we arrived a police officer also arrived and unlocked the gate for us and we were the 2nd vehicle to get access followed by another vehicle.  We hiked up the trail to the first 'dam' area and we started checking out all the Painted Redstarts when 2 birds flew into a bush near us and at almost the same time, Muriel and myself noticed that our target birds was one of those 2 birds.  So we were quite pleased that we first found it on our own without the assistance of others.  Photos of this bird were a real challenge as it is typical of most warblers, very active and not sitting still and of course we were dealing with heavy shade.  But we both came away with an awesome bird to add to our lists and some identifiable photos.  This bird is a juvenile, not an adult. Since then they have closed the canyon due to some bear sightings, so we got there in time.

 Slate-throated Redstart

Slate-throated Redstart

On our hike back down the canyon we were hearing the callings of multiple Elegant Trogons which is another awesome bird to find in Arizona and we caught glimpses of a couple and at one point one brightly colored male flew in from the north and landed on a tree right out in front of me, and is my best viewing to date of this awesome bird.  Always a pleasure to observe.

Elegant Trogon

One of the most common birds that day along the trail that day was the Western Wood Pewee as they were calling everywhere.  Love seeing these birds during the summer in Arizona.

Western Wood Pewee

Other creatures along the trail were a damselfly, most likely a Violet Dancer, and a Yarrow's Spiny Lizard.  The Yarrow's Spiny Lizard is the only spiny lizard with a complete black collar around its neck.

 Violet Dancer Damselfly

Yarrow's Spiny Lizard

From there we ventured to the San Pedro House along the San Pedro River.  The river was flowing with more water in it than I have ever seen.  The water was very muddy which was evidence of recent monsoon rains in the area.  Common Ground Doves were very 'common'; more than I have seen in one location in Arizona.  Guess I captured more photos of other critters at this location than I did of birds, including a very fat and well fed Western Diamondback Rattlesnake.  Seems it had found a good food source by lying in wait beneath one of the bird feeders.  The personnel decided to stop using that bird feeder due to the fact that it was a bit scary adding birdseed and they were hoping for it to move away and give the birds a chance to feed.

 Leaf Beatle

 Common Ground Dove

 Sonoran Whiptail Lizard

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

From here we headed to Cochise Lake near Willcox.  Usually a great place for shore birds and we were not disappointed this time.  Many regular shore birds were found, but also mixed in were a few of the uncommon migrants that had started showing up.  It is always a treat to photograph some of the more uncommon species such as Baird's Sandpiper and Stilt Sandpiper.

 Baird's Sandpiper

Stilt Sandpiper, among some Wilson's Phalaropes

Another great day of birding with a couple of new life birds for myself and Muriel was able to add a couple to her list as well.

Phalaropes!!!

What a unique and interesting bird and also very entertaining as well.  There are 3 species of Phalaropes found in North America and of these 3 species the Wilson's Phalarope is the most commonly seen.  What is interesting about these birds is the fact that their sexual roles are reversed; the females tend to be larger than males and are the more colorful of the species and once they lay the eggs, it is the male's responsibility to do the rest including incubation, hatching and care for the chicks.  Unlike sandpipers, Phalaropes have partially lobed feet which allows them to actually swim.  Their feeding behavior reminds a person of a spinning top.  They spin in circles stirring up food all the while snatching morsels while spinning.  They prey on very small insects, crustaceans, larvae, and small shrimps along with some marsh seeds.  They will also eat some flying insects as well.  When I was a Glendale Recharge Ponds on Saturday, the Wilson's Phalaropes were very abundant and unfortunately in Arizona we almost always only see them in their winter plumage, but what their winter plumage lacks in color, they most certainly make up for in the entertainment department.  We also had a few Red-necked Phalaropes on the ponds, but they were further out in the water, while the Wilson's did not seem to mind us standing close by and watching them feed. 

 

Below is a series of photos of some of the Wilson's in their feeding frenzy.  Obviously not as good as a video would have been, but the photos gives one an idea of their unique feeding style. 

 

Really need to learn how to use the video function on my camera so in the future I can get a video clip of these fascinating birds.