Mt Ord & Sunflower Again

On Sunday May 18th, I had the honor to show a gentleman from Sweden some birding spots in Maricopa County in Arizona.  Olle Pers, was spending a week in the Phoenix area and had a day to go birding.  He had contacted me through Birdingpal.org, http://www.birdingpal.org/ and we agreed upon visiting the Sunflower and Mt Ord areas.  May in Arizona usually has very pleasant nights, but days can get hot quite quick when the sun comes out in the morning.  For those reasons we selected the Sunflower and Mt Ord areas simply because these areas are a bit further from the city and most generally a bit cooler, especially Mt Ord.  Plus both locations offer a much different variety of birds than what is found in and around the Phoenix metropolis.  

We began at Sunflower in the early morning as we knew that the cooler temps on Mt Ord would be a big relief later in the day.  While we had a great variety of birds at Sunflower, oddly, I did not acquire much for photos in this spot, except for a Turkey Vulture sunning itself in the early morning hour.

Turkey Vulture

After a short visit to the Sunflower area, we then headed to Mt Ord.  This place is becoming one of my most favorite places to visit in Maricopa County.  It's higher elevation, (7128') presents a completely different habitat than what is found the in rest of Maricopa County.  It is a very interesting transition traveling the road to the top.  The road is rough and rocky and a high clearance vehicle is highly recommended.  At the turnoff from Highway 87, one starts out in high desert scrub which is perfect breeding habitat for Black-chinned Sparrows, Gray Vireos, Scott's Orioles, Rufous-crowned Sparrows, and many other species.  

Black-chinned Sparrow

About 2 miles up, the road come to the point of where the Ponderosa pine trees have covered the slopes.  There is a small place to pull over and park and on the south side of this spot is a vertical sign that indicates 1688, which is the the start of the 1688 Trail that I have come to love to hike and is totally within the boundary of Maricopa County.  It is about 2½ miles to the saddle area where one can start to explore the south side of the mountain.  This 2½ miles runs along the west side of Mt Ord and it covers a lot of wide open scrub oak habitat with occasional meanderings into the tall pines.  It is quite a convergence zone and creates a habitat that is suitable for a variety of birds.  We found Gray Vireos and Black-chinned sparrows at this elevation as well. We also had Spotted Towhees, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Western Tanagers, and Hooded Orioles. 

 Hooded Oriole - female

 Spotted Towhee

Western Tanager

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Not only we were searching for birds, but reptiles were of interest to Olle as well, and we successfully found several.  One of the coolest was the Greater Short-horned Lizard.  Olle found an adult in the lower elevations and near the top of Mt Ord, we found a baby one that was much smaller.  Other lizards included the Desert Grasslands Whiptail and a Plateau Lizard.

 Greater Short-horned Lizard - adult

 Greater Short-horned Lizard - juvenile

 Desert Grasslands Whiptail

Plateau Lizard

Even the butterflies caught our attention and one of the most beautiful is the Arizona Sister, which is always and welcome sighting.  Also had a Silver-spotted Skipper which was one that I was not familiar with, but with a bit of luck, I will remember this species the next time I run across one.

 Arizona Sister Butterfly - with an unknown beetle in the background

Silver-spotted Skipper

Olle has an extensive amount of birding in his background and I believe he mentioned that it has covered 5 continents and covering a few decades.  He has also done some extensive birding in the United States and Canada.  Some of the birds we found on this trip he has seen in Central America and elsewhere, but seeing them in the United States on some of their breeding grounds always carries a plus factor.  If I recall correctly, I think we were able to add about 13 new life birds to his list, which is remarkable considering his extensive birding history.  Mt Ord is such a quiet place to escape to when one wants to get out of the urban areas in and around Phoenix.  I thoroughly going to this area and most of the time, I have the 1688 trail to myself and the peace and solitude is part of my reward.   

Slate Creek Divide

On May 17th, birding buddy from Tucson, Chris Rohrer, and I decided we needed someplace new to explore that was within a decent distance.  We had not been birding together for some time and we were due for an 'epic' excursion.  I suggested Slate Creek Divide in the northeast part of Maricopa County.  I had only been there once before about 3 years prior and the road leading there was definitely not suited for a low suspension auto.  Thanks to Tommy DeBerdeleben, I would never have visited this place as I would not have know it even existed or what to find or how to get there.  So once again, I was ready to explore and Chris was equally ready to check it out.  Exploring new and under birded spots can be very rewarding.  This place is not for the meek, especially if one decides to do some bushwhacking as it is very remote (no cell phone coverage) and some areas are steep, rocky and treacherous with the possibility of rattlesnakes.  What Chris and I discovered is that we need to plan a new trip back to this spot and be a bit better prepared for proper exploration.

The road is narrow and with numerous turns and switchbacks, but all along the way we found birds including a Black-headed Grosbeak and a Gray Vireo, which just happened to be a new life bird for Chris.  This has been the year of the Gray Vireo for me as I have now seen them in 5 different locations this year.  The silver lining to this is the fact that I now have a better understanding of their habitat and especially what to listen for when they are singing.

Black-headed Grosbeak

Gray Vireo

We also had the most expected warbler in this area, the Black-throated Gray Warbler; this would be prime breeding habitat and territory for them.  Bullock's Orioles and Olive-sided Flycatchers were also seen.  All of these birds almost had this remote area to themselves as we did not encounter anyone else until we started our trek back down where we met 4 different ATV's that were looking for a mine.  Had no idea where to tell them to look, so they continued on and we continued our slow exit.

Black-throated Gray Warbler

Bullock's Oriole

Olive-sided Flycatcher

At one point we found a Zone-tailed Hawk riding the thermals and screaming at us, so it is probable they had a nest somewhere nearby.

Zone-tailed Hawk

Other critters we found include an Arizona Sister Butterfly and a couple of Desert Grasslands Whiptail Lizards where one was feasting on a nice plump insect.

Arizona Sister Butterfly

Desert Grasslands Whiptail

Desert Grasslands Whiptail - with prey

What was abundantly clear was that it was definitely wildflower season in these higher elevations as we found several species of  wildflowers.

What a trip this was with incredible views and scenery and some great birds and wildlife as well.  This place is definitely on my must visit list again.

Navajo County NAMBC 2014

Saturday morning arrived and we were up and on the road early as we had a lot of ground to cover.  This year, we were assigned some different areas; Twin Springs near Heber, Zeniff agricultural area, and then several spots in the Pintop/Lakeside area.  This is the second year for me taking part in the Navajo County NAMBC (North American Migratory Bird Count).  This is a day where the main focus is to count every bird one sees or hears at your designated spots within the county.  So photography and photos were secondary on this day.  Since we were birding in places at over 7000' elevation and there was a stiff wind out of the southwest, in spots it was quite chilly.  The winds also kept many birds low and hiding and made the counting a bit more difficult. 

At Twin Springs, a small spot off Highway 260 and FR122, we found a couple of Olive Warblers. Before this year I had only seen 3 Olive Warblers, but now this year I have seen 4 of them.  This is a bird that is not found on a regular basis in the United States outside of the states of Arizona and New Mexico.  Always a treat to find and see and I call it the warbler with a Zorro mask.

Olive Warbler

Olive Warbler

In the Zeniff area, the only photo that I able to get was one of a Horned Lark.  They were quite plentiful in the area along with both Eastern and Western Meadowlarks, a Bullock Oriole and several others.

Horned Lark

From there we headed east and south to the Pinetop/Lakeside community where we have several spots to visit.  The first was Jacques Marsh, which was a new spot for me.  Rather tricky finding the way into this area but quite the spot for birds associated with water.  On this day, the wind made the birding a little more difficult as the wind gusts were quite strong, up to 35 mph.  It is quite an extensive area with several ponds of water and lots of marshy areas.  I discovered a small flock of Canada Goose that included a leusictic one (a genetic mutation that occurs resulting in partial absence of melanin).  It occurs with some regularity in birds, but unfortunately many of the bird born with this fail to live to adulthood.  An odd colored one in a flock is an easier target for predators to focus on.  

Canada Geese - one leucistic

Canada Geese - one leucistic

We also had several Cinnamon Teal in this area and they are pretty darned close to being one of the best looking ducks around.  I have always found them a bit skittish and not always easy to capture in photos but at least one of them cooperated to some degree for me.

Cinnamon Teal

And Yellow-headed Blackbirds were in abundant numbers at this location.

Yellow-headed Blackbird

At Woodland Lake Park, we expected to see Lewis's Woodpeckers and were not disappointed. This is one of the most reliable spots to find this oddly colored woodpecker with its pinkish belly and its red facial patch.

 Lewis's Woodpecker

Lewis's Woodpecker

A Northern Rough-winged Swallow took some time out for a rest from the normal incessant flying like most swallows.  

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

At Billy Creek Trailhead we had several smaller birds including a Acorn Woodpecker and a Mountain Chickadee.  This is a spot that will need more attention in next year's count.

 Acorn Woodpecker

Mountain Chickadee

Also near the trail head and the residential area, an Abert's Squirrel attempted to hide from us by blending in with the branch of a tree.  Those ear tufts are quite an eye catching look.

Abert's Squirrel

We had a totally enjoyable day of birding and counting, even with the strong winds, so it was back to Heber for the night and a glass of wine for the evening.  The next day we were to head home, so we got up early to go to breakfast at one of the best little cafes around and found out they were not yet open, so with about 10 to 15 minutes to kill, we headed to the Navajo County Park in Overgaard and it was lucky that we did as we got to witness a fairly large flock of Pinyon Jays moving through.  Must have been 40 to 50 of them and I was finally able to get a photo of one of them to add to my photo gallery.

Pinyon Jay

Anytime one ends a birding trip with a Pinyon Jay is ending with a great bird!

   

Preparing for NAMBC

In 2013, I took part in the Navajo County North American Migratory Bird Count and was assigned some designated areas in and around the Heber/Overgaard area in Navajo County which I covered by myself.  This year I got lucky and had a couple of birding friends ask to join me which is great to have when taking part in one of these exercises.  This year Barb Meding and Wayne Manske asked to come along, for which I was thankful to have the assistance.  We departed early on Friday to get in some extra birding before the big day which was Saturday.  We stopped at several places along the way including the Tonto Fish Hatchery Road, which is a beautiful drive and at one spot a House Wren was very vocal and allowed us some up close views.

House Wren

Next stop was Willow Springs Lake, which is a bit new for me as I now know how to access the main part of the lake.  At one of the parking areas we found some male 'Audobon's' Yellow-rumped Warblers.  This species is one that is so common in the winter in and around the Phoenix area and is the first warbler that I learned the single note chip call since they are so common.  But there is a big difference in what we see in winter in the Phoenix area compared to what we see on their breeding grounds.  We found males in full breeding plumage and what a stunning bird they are.  

 'Audubon's' Yellow-rumped Warbler - showing its yellow rump

'Audubon's' Yellow-rumped Warbler

From there we ventured on to Black Canyon Lake, which is a spot I always visit every time I take a trip up to the Heber Area.  The parking lot has a population of Golden-mantled Squirrels that thrive on human handouts.  I have started carrying peanuts in the shell with me and it is always fun to watch them approach hoping for a hand out and of course I obliged.  It scampered down a tunnel, but shortly returned to feed on one that it had extracted from the shell and pose for me.  Guess this was my reward.

Golden-mantled Squirrel

Of course there were birds to be seen as well.  Brewer's Blackbirds are almost a given at this location as well as American Robins and 'Red-shafted' Northern Flickers.  And on this day the water bird specialty was an Eared Grebe.

 Brewer's Blackbird

 American Robin

'Red-shafted Northern Flicker

 Eared Grebe - Now you see it

Eared Grebe - Now you don't

Other interesting creatures were a Common Buckeye Butterfly and across the lake was a small herd of horses including a mare and her foal.

 Common Buckeye

Mare and foal

We had a great time birding on our way to Heber and that night we met up with 4 more volunteers, including the leader for some fine dining in Heber on Friday night the day before the big day of counting.  Great way to start the weekend!