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!

Cabin Fever ???

Whoever heard of cabin fever in the summer?  Most generally I associate that with being cooped up in the winter in the northern climes.  In Arizona, you just need to change the season to summer and it is just about the same thing.  The heat sometimes has a tendency to keep one indoors for far too long.  Been hibernating too long in the comfort of the A/C of the house.  This last weekend I decided I needed to get out and see some of my avian friends and anything else that nature could dish up for me!

To start off the weekend, I decided to check out the Glendale Recharge Ponds in the west valley.  This is not the most hospitable place to visit in the summer as there are no trees and the sun quickly makes the place very uncomfortable for humans.  The birds don't seem to mind though and this spot can be a hot spot for rarities, especially during migration and August is usually the month that some of these rarities start showing up.  I planned my visit to arrive before the sun rose and take advantage of the cooler morning temperatures and it was a pleasant visit, before the heat started getting toasty about 9:30.  Only 2 of the 6 ponds had water in them, but the vegetation was quite lush and both spots were definitely being used by many birds.  While I was not lucky enough to find anything rare, it was still nice to observe the many birds.

This place is where I have been lucky enough to see both Great Yellowlegs and Lesser Yellowlegs together in the same spot and it is always a learning experience to observe the two species side-by-side.  This time I was even able to capture some photos of them.  The Greater yellowlegs is the most common species seen in Arizona, but Lessers do show up from time to time.  In the photo below, there are 3 Greaters and 1 Lesser (and a couple of Long-billed Dowitchers and Least Sandpipers thrown in for good measure).  The Lesser is the 2nd bird from the left with a Greater slightly in front and to the left of it.  In this photo, the size of the bill is quite obvious.  The Lesser's bill length is about the same length of the head from the base of the bill to the back of the head.  Compare the Greater with a bill that is 1½ to 2 times the length of its head.  Also note the very slight upturned bill of the Greater.  Lesser bill is very straight.  Obviously they are easy to differentiate when seen together, and more difficult when you see just one.  But with experience, one gets to know the differences along with call notes of the two species which are very different.

   

Greater & Lesser Yellowlegs

This place is usually not the best place for photos as the bird tend to see you long before you can approach them, so distances make photos much tougher.  But on this day, there was an exception, a juvenile Pied-billed Grebe that apparently has not yet learned to fear humans.  Since it is still showing some of the stripes around its head and neck, this was a year-hatch bird and has probably 'flown the coop', so to speak from where it fledged.  No adults were anywhere around.  These birds are quite adorable and are one of my favorite waterfowl.  Just cannot resist taking photos when they are so accommodating.  

 Pied-billed Grebe

  Pied-billed Grebe

  Pied-billed Grebe

 Pied-billed Grebe

The dragonflies were quite plentiful and I was able to capture a photo of a new one that I had not seen.  This is a Black Saddlebags.

Black Saddlebags

It was a brief outing, but one that I needed and even though no rarity was discovered, it was a very enjoyable visit.

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.

Above the Rim - Day 2

Sunday dawned with cool temperatures and a lot of clouds.  They clouds persisted throughout the day and at times brought intermittent rains showers.  Consequently, some of the birding was slightly dampened.  But it was a great day as we saw more great birds.

The day before, our visit to Woods Canyon Lake was highlighted by the Red-faced Warblers, so on this day we paid a visit to Black Canyon Lake and was treated to a different species of warbler, Grace's Warbler.  Black Canyon Lake is a bit more secluded and consequently we had smaller crowds of humans.  Grace's Warbler is a another warbler that breeds in the southwestern parts of the United States.  Its range tends to be a bit larger than the Red-faced Warbler and it loves the pine trees as it forages for insects on the tips of branches covered with needles.

 Grace's Warbler

 Grace's Warbler

Grace's Warbler

A couple of other birds at the lake were the Steller's Jays and Brewer's Blackbirds.  The Steller's Jays were quite numerous, but on this day, they played hard to get when it came to photos.  So I just ended up with a rear end shot, but that blue color on those wings is quite vivid.  The Brewer's Blackbird is quite striking with its bright eye and glossy colored plumage.

 Steller's Jay

Brewer's Blackbird

To reach Black Canyon Lake, we took FR 86 from Heber and along this road are several historical points of interest and they also include several hot spots for birds.  At one of those spots, we found a Broad-tailed Hummingbird that posed nicely for us.  We had several males zip by us and they are easy to recognize when they do this by the trill the males make with their wings.  Another bird was the Cordilleran Flycatcher; another one of those 'difficult-to-identify' Empidonax flycatchers.  Much of the time, this family of birds are best identified by their call notes, but by knowing habitat preferences, ranges, and breeding behaviors, many can still be identified.  Cordilleran Flycatchers choose coniferous pine forests at high elevations for breeding and are quite common in Arizona in the right habitats and in breeding season.  Not an easy class of birds to learn for a novice birder, but with practice and repetitive familiarization of them, it does get easier

 Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Cordilleran Flycatcher

At another stop along the road, we happened to locate the Arizona state Amphibian, the Arizona Tree Frog.  I had not seen this species before and it was quite a treat.  Their bright green color blends in quite nicely in the bright green grass near the stream.

Arizona Tree Frog

Our day came to a close with heavier rain showers and at one point when we arrived in Payson, it was pouring and visibility was very low.  But by the time we got out of town, it had subsided quite nicely for a very enjoyable trip back to the heat of the city.   

Above the Rim - Day 1

Since my fantastic trip to Sonora, Mexico at the first of the month, and with the suppressing heat of the Arizona summer in full force, I decided to take it easy for at least one weekend in the month of July.  But the last 2 weekends have been covering a lot of miles all across the state and the extremes of Arizona weather and habitats.  On July 20th and 21st, I spent 2 days of birding with some great birding partners above the Mogollon Rim and in the cool pine forests in and around Heber, AZ.  I was joined by Barb Meding, Ellen Hairston, and Chris Rohrer and we made quite a team searching for birds and any other critters that caught our attention.

We departed Mesa early on Saturday morning and headed straight to Woods Canyon Lake, which is in Coconino County and just above the rim.  Gorgeous lake surrounded in pines and with an elevation over 7000' the temperatures were very refreshing.  And naturally this place is extremely popular with campers and many people fishing, so it was very crowded.  It also has its resident Bald Eagles which we had the honor to view across the lake.  The first bird that cooperated with us and allowed great viewing and photos was that of a female Western Tanager that did not appear to be very concerned with our presence as it was actively feeding nearby.  At bit later we also found a male that was also feeding in a tree.  The male of this species is an awesome and beautiful bird to behold.

 Western Tanager, female

  Western Tanager, female

Western Tanager, male

Virtually in the same area, we had several Golden-mantled Squirrels foraging in the rocks and when one posed nearby with the remains of a peanut shell, of course it wanted its photo taken so I obliged.  It was not until I got home and started processing the photos that I noticed the reflection of 4 humans in the eye.  Kind of puts a bit of perspective on what it is seeing as we ogle these creatures.

 Golden-mantled Squirrel

Look at those humans staring at me!!

Another small rodent was active in this area as well, a Gray-collared Chipmunk was delicately balanced on a small limb, also feasting on what appears to be a peanut.  Chipmunks can be identified by stripes on their faces, whereas squirrels do not have have facial stripes.

Gray-collared Chipmunk

As we started walking the trails around the lake, we started encountering Townsend's Solitaires, both adults and juveniles.  The juveniles have a very different look as they appear very speckled.  The adult in the photo below is in the process of swallowing a berry that it had plucked.  Note the buffy colored wing patch on both birds which helps to clearly identify this bird.

 Townsend's Solitaire, adult

Townsend's Solitaire, juvenile

Shortly thereafter a male Williamson's Sapsucker flew in and was intently probing in the trunk of a nearby pine.  This was the first time I had actually seen a male of this species, so it was quite a treat.  Got to see a female earlier in the year at Boyce Thompson Arboretum.  Unfortunately, this male did not cooperate by turning its head for photos, but just being that close to one was good enough for me.  Maybe the next time I will have a better chance at a better photo.

Williamson's Sapsucker

Also making brief appearances were a Red-breasted Nuthatch, a Brown Creeper and a Mountain Chickadee.

 Red-breasted Nuthatch

 Brown Creeper doing what they do best, probing for insects.

Mountain Chickadee

I think that everyone in our group will agree that the highlight of the day were the Red-faced Warblers.  The trees were full of them and with obvious juveniles mixed in, it was a pretty good indication that they had a very successful breeding season this year.  This is a bird that is highly sought after by many birders and is usually only reliable in the summer breeding season in Arizona and New Mexico.  They have been seen in parts of California and Texas but not on a consistent basis.  Most people agree that this is a unique and stunning bird.

 Red-faced Warbler

Red-faced Warbler

Our next stop was Twin Springs area, which was in Navajo County, luckily we had Ellen along and with her sharp eye she discovered this Greater Short-horned Lizard on the ground.  It would have been easy to step on it had she not seen it.  Always a cool find and adds to the enjoyment of a day of birding and enjoying nature.

 Greater Short-horned Lizard

Greater Short-horned Lizard

We spent the night in Heber in a quaint little motel and we discovered a bat in the yard of the motel.  We knew it was not well as this was not typical bat behavior, so we kept our distance.  I was able to capture a couple of photos of this little one, but alas when we returned from dining, it had expired.  Always sad to see a creature of nature perish, but in the natural world life is harsh.  Since I am not any kind of an expert on bats, I have yet to determine what species of bat this might be.  If anyone is reading this and can give a positive ID on it, I would appreciate it.

*************** Update on the bat *****************

Not 100% positive, but this might be a Mexican Free-tailed Bat, one of the most common in the US.

****************************************************************************

Unknown Bat

Thus our first day came to a close with the four of us enjoying a little wine in the motel courtyard in the evening.  Day two would dawn bright and early with another day of adventures.