CBC's - (Christmas Bird Counts)

Every year from mid December to early January, the National Audubon Society hosts their annual Christmas Bird Counts.  Most take place within the United States however there are many more that are being held in various spots throughout the world and the list is growing.  These counts are a well defined circle with a 15 mile diameter and each circle is divided up into smaller sections where teams of birders join forces and attempt to document as many species in their section and the number of birds of each species.  This data is then complied by the circle coordinator and the final reports are submitted to Audubon.  (Its more complicated than that, but this is the short version.) 

Annually, I attempt to participate in these counts as time allows.  This year, due to my work schedule, I was only able to take part in 2 of them and they were 2 days apart.  The first one took place on January 2 and is know as the Carefree CBC north of Scottsdale, Arizona.  I have been part of this one the past 3 years now and I have been a part of a small group that surveys one of the remote areas know as the Quein Saba area.  Our team leader is Grant Loomis and the other members consisted of Tyler Loomis, Lisa Fitzner, and myself.  When taking part in one of these CBC's photography definitely becomes secondary as the main focus is finding and counting birds.  However, it is nice to have a camera available in case a rarity is spotted and needs to be documented.  We did not find any rarities in our section this year, but we did find a few birds of interest which included our annual Gray Flycatcher, Black-chinned and Rufous-crowned Sparrows and a pair of American Pipits that looked completely out of place when they landed in the campsite where we were eating lunch.  Definitely not their normal habitat, but that is what is cool about birds; they can drop in at an unusual location any time.  We had an abundance of Bushtits this year and these busy little birds are one of the most amusing to watch.  They are like little monkeys foraging through the trees; upside down, sideways and every other direction possible as they hang from leaves and twigs.  And they travel in small flocks from tree to tree all the while chipping away.  My photos indicate males as they have dark eyes.  Females have light yellow eyes.

 Bushtit - Male

Bushtit - Male

There is also a wonderful Crested Saguaro in this area that I look forward to seeing every year.  It is a mutation of the normal Saguaro Cactus, but are pretty rare and hard to find.  (Update on this cactus, it is called a Cristate Saguaro!  Thanks to FB friends for the correction!)

 Cristate Saguaro Cactus

Cristate Saguaro Cactus - same cactus, different angle

Then on January 4th, I took part in the Payson, Arizona CBC and was assigned to assist Brian Ison in another remote area of this circle known as the Control Road.  Payson is a little over an hour north and east of the Mesa and Phoenix.  It is just below the Mogollon Rim at an elevation of just little over 5000'.  The Control road is further north of Payson and even a bit higher in altitude and situated just below the Rim which is about 7000' in elevation.  This is a totally different habitat than what is found in and around the Phoenix area; lots of conifers and much different birds and of course with the higher elevation the temperatures were a bit colder at the start, but when the sun came out, it warmed up very nicely.  Once again photography was not the focus, but later in the morning at least one of my photos helped with an identification confirmation that we needed later.  We hiked a little over a mile up one of the trails off of Control Road.  Most of my photos came from this hike.  We had a lot of birds at various places including Stellar's Jays, Hairy Woodpeckers, and in one spot a Golden-crowned Kinglet.  This is a bird that I had only seen once before, so getting to see one again was a real treat. We also had a few Bridled Titmouse and lots of Bushtits.

 Hairy Woodpecker

 Steller's Jay

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Bridled Titmouse (photobombed by a Bushtit in the background)

Near the end of this trail just before we turned around to head back, Brian noticed some eagles soaring in the sky above the Mogollon Rim.  They were quite a distance away, but the first one we saw was an adult Bald Eagle and shortly after that we saw a couple more eagles and we quickly identified them as Golden Eagles.  Finally we had what appeared to be 5 Golden Eagles soaring around above the Rim.  I took photos and did not expect much due to the distance, but at least one of the photos does show 3 eagles in the view with one of them being a juvenile Golden Eagle, based on the white patches on the underside of the wings.

Golden Eagle - juvenile is in lower left corner, white wing patches

This was also the day of the Dark-eyed Junco.  This bird is a single species, but has numerous sub-species with different looks and in the winter, they are quite common but can be confusing to identify the various sub-species.  On this day we actually saw 4 of the sub-species and below is a lesson in Dark-eyed Juncos and 3 of the sub-species.

 Dark-eyed Junco - Gray-headed

 Dark-eyed Junco - Pink Sided

Dark-eyed Junco - Red-backed

Pink sided is fairly easy to identify, but the Gray-headed and the Red-backed look very similar.  But note the color of the upper mandible on the Red-backed.  It is very dark, almost black whereas the Gray-headed has an over all pinkish color to it. 

My next blog post will have another Dark-eyed Junco and some more information on this incredibly diverse species and the many sub-species that makes up this bird.

 

  

Bringing in the New Year

Bringing in the New Year for me is a day to go birding to see what I can find to start off the year on the right foot.  This year, birding friend Jason Morgan and I headed off to some spots along the Lower Salt River near Mesa.  Finding and photographing Bald Eagles was kind of our objective, but we also knew that it is never a sure thing.  We did manage to see one adult fly over at the Granite Reef area early in the morning and later on a return stop, we also saw a fly by of an immature Bald Eagle as well.  Guess photos on this day were not going to happen.  Our first stop though at Granite Reef was rather special in the fact that we found 2 Mountain Chickadees in the pre-dawn darkness.  We actually heard them before we saw them.  This is the same place that I discovered 2 of these charmers back in October.  Were they the same 2 or a different 2?  Guess we will never know, but this is a bird that is not usually found in such low elevations, but apparently this must be a bit of a minor irruption year for this species as a few more have been found in other low elevations in Arizona.  At our next stop which was Phon D Sutton, with very little protection from the cold north wind, we did not linger, but continued up to Coon Bluff which is always a favorite for birding.  Finally the sun had rose up over the eastern low mountains allowing for some better chances for photos and the temps started improving.  On the road to the campground we had to pull over to check out the birds and a small flock of Western Bluebirds were forging on some berries and really gave us some great looks and some of the males were stunningly colorful. 

 

 Western Bluebird

 

Western Bluebird

 

Finally making our way to the campground we were greeted by a pair of Ladder-backed Woodpeckers.  This is a fairly common bird at this location and can often be heard by the 'peek' call which will assist in leading a person to locating them.

 

 Ladder-backed Woodpecker - Female

 

Ladder-backed Woodpecker - Male

 

And a male Vermilion Flycatcher made a brief appearance for us. 

 

Vermilion Flycatcher

 

Across the river we observed a Green Heron flying along the shore line and it landed then took off scampering along the water's edge, which we assumed it was chasing a fish in the water just out of reach.  This bird can get quite excited and when it does it will raise its crest and that is just what it was doing.  Considering the distance from us, I made an attempt at a few photos and now I have an idea of what a green Mohawk might look like if someone chose to get one from their local barber.

 

Green Heron

 

A couple of other birds that were not in short supply were the Ruddy Ducks and the Yellow-rumped Warblers.  We get both of these species in the winter time when they are at their least colorful time of the year.  But still worthy of photos all the same.

 

 Ruddy Duck

 

(Audubon's) Yellow-rumped Warbler

 

Finally we had to call is quits due to some previous commitments and we returned to our meeting place and Jason headed for home while I had one more stop to make in Scottsdale.  An odd trio of birds had been found in some Cottonwood trees by an urban lake that is full of bikers, walkers, and runners to name a few.  Reported a few days earlier by another excellent birder, Magill Weber, and re-confirmed by a couple more people I just had to make an effort to see if I could locate this Odd Trio.  The trio consisted of a Brown Creeper (fairly common in Arizona), a Northern Parula, and an American Redstart.  The later 2 species are very uncommon in the winter as migrants. I concentrated on the Cottonwood trees and it was not long that another couple of birders told me that they found the Brown Creeper, so I joined them at that tree and within 2 minutes I was able to locate the other 2 flitting around in the very same tree.  If one moves to a new tree, it appears the other two follow.  Guess there is safety in numbers for them.  While they did not present great photo opportunities, I managed to get identifiable photos and since the American Redstart was a new life bird for me, that is the one I was concentrating on most of all.  

 

 American Redstart

 

American Redstart

 

 Brown Creeper

 

Northern Parula

 

A new life bird on the first day of a new year?  Could not have asked for a better start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

A Rare Bird Leads to Yuma

On December 24th a rare bird alert and a text from expert birding friend, Tommy D. proved to be a crazy chains of events.  That day a very rare bird for Maricopa County was first seen and reported by an out of state birder of a female Long-tailed Duck at the Glendale Recharge Ponds.  So with a short notice I took off to search for this rarity.  This is a bird that breeds in northern Canada on tundra ponds and most generally spends its winters along the northern Pacific and Atlantic coasts.  After I arrived and found the bird, then a couple of other birders arrived with scopes (which gave me excellent views, by the way).  This place is not the best place for photos as the ponds are quite large and the birds are most generally quite a distance away.  But I was able to get photos good enough for ID purposes.  This was exciting as it was a bird I thought I might never see; almost like a Christmas gift to myself.  (Several birders arrived on Christmas morning and this bird was no longer there, so heading out there that same day was well worth the trip.)

 

Long-tailed Duck - Female

 



 Long-tailed Duck - Female

 

As I was visiting with the other birders, one of them mentioned that he would like to go to Yuma to look for the juvenile White Ibis that has been found down there.  After a few more comments a hasty agreement was reached to head to Yuma on Saturday the 28th and the plans were finalized with a few emails.  At a godforsaken hour of 3:00 am on Saturday we met and 5 of us headed to Yuma.  Joining me was Mark Ochs, (who I have been birding with several times), Steve Hosmer, Moe Bertrand, and Louis Hoeniger.  Needless to say the vehicle was full, but one of our goals was to see if we could locate some of the rails in that area in the dark of the night before sunrise.  In the dark at Mittry Lake, we were able to hear Sora, Virginia Rail, Clapper Rail, and a few Great Horned Owls.  Unfortunately we dipped on the Black Rail, which was our main focus.  Once the sun lightened up the skies a bit we then headed to the Yuma East Wetlands which was the location of the White Ibis.  As we were walking the dikes an American Pipit and a Spotted Sandpiper, were being very cooperative with us.

 

American Pipit



Spotted Sandpiper

 

It did not take long and Mark spied an Ibis flying over the cattails far out in the distance.  All of us quickly got on the bird and knew it was our target bird with a bright orange/red bill and the white belly.  But about as quickly as we saw it dropped down into the cattails and disappeared from view.  Louis was quick to get a couple of photos to confirm the ID of this bird, but the rest of us just got to enjoy the brief sighting.  We at least found our target bird for the day which just peaks my interest a bit more and wanting to get photos. 

 

In returning to the Phoenix metro area, we made a brief stop at a place called Quigley Wildlife Area just north of the small town of Tacna, AZ. While it is not a birding hotspot compared to some other locations, it turned out to be quite a enjoyable destination.  From the road we spied a small flock of Cattle Egrets, which is always an interesting find.  This species is one that does not always hang around areas with lots of water and they have a tendency to wander a lot, so finding them can be a hit or miss.

 

Cattle Egrets

 

Other birds that we found at this location included a Green Heron, a 'kiting' American Kestrel, a Red-tailed Hawk, and a Loggerhead Shrike.  We also had a Prairie Falcon and a Great Horned Owl that both flushed before we saw them.

 

 American Kestrel

 

 American Kestrel

 

 Green Heron

 

 Green Heron

 

 Loggerhead Shrike

 

Red-tailed Hawk

 

It was a day of overcast skies which made photography a bit more of a challenge, but when considering the birds we had the fortune of seeing, it was all worth the time and effort.  Now that I have a better feel for birding in Yuma County, it is definitely worth more trips in the future.  Kind of funny how 1 rare bird leads to a second rare bird!

 

 

   

 

Santa Cruz Flats

About midway between the cities of Phoenix and Tucson lies an agricultural area in the flat open desert.  The Santa Cruz River that originates in extreme southern Arizona flows south for a ways into Mexico and then turns northward and flows back into Arizona and eventually makes its ways to this flat expanse of desert.  This river is dry in most places, but water does flow when there is adequate rainfall, but by the time it reaches the 'Santa Cruz Flats', it quickly dries up.  This area is well known for the abundance of birdlife and most of this can be contributed to the agricultural development in this area.  If not for this development, this would be a very dry desert area and not very hospital to most avian life.  In the winter, many specialty migrants show up to spend their winters here. 

 

About a week ago another birding friend, Jason Morgan contacted me to see if I would like to travel to this area to look for some specialty birds.  I was more than happy to take him down there.  For a person to travel there on their own for the first time, it can be a bit daunting as the network of roads can be a bit confusing and knowing where to look for certain birds does take a bit of getting to know the place.  Even after several trips to this area, I still find more roads to explore.  One of the first birds we discovered was a nice Ferruginous Hawk in the early morning light.  This one seemed unbothered with us and let us take photos from the vehicle, in fact we were almost too close.  This bird was a great start for the day.

 

Ferruginous Hawk

 

We also had a Prairie Falcon in the early morning, but it definitely did not want its photo taken, but the second one we found later in the morning was a little more accommodating.  But even then, it did not allow us to get too close.  Prairie Falcons seem to be one of the most wary of all the raptors.

 

Prairie Falcon

 

By far, the most numerous of all the raptors we found was the Red-tailed Hawk.  Here is just a sampling of a few of them.

 

 Red-tailed Hawk

 

 Red-tailed Hawk

 

 Red-tailed Hawk

 

Red-tailed Hawk

 

Our target bird for Jason, was the Crested Caracara.  This is an area that they can be found with regularity and after driving to the places where I normally found them in the past and coming up empty, I was starting to think I had failed to find them.  I had known that it was common for them to hang out with Common Ravens and had advised Jason of that fact.  Finally we came to an intersection and got out of the vehicle to scan the fields and sure enough, Jason was quick to spot some far off in the distance.  Most of the farm land in this area is posted and this presents a bit of a problem in getting close to these awesome birds.  We traveled around to the far side that got us a bit closer and was able to at least get better views, but even then they were probably still ¼ mile away.  Photos were not meant to be this time, so I made a feeble attempt to at least try,

 

Crested Caracara

 

We then worked our way up to the sod farms where wintertime can bring Mountain Plovers to the state of Arizona.  These are birds that most people would think love to be near water and most plovers are found near water.  Quite contrary, the Mountain Plover likes to nest on short grass prairies, especially near Prairie Dog towns.  They breed on the high plains of North America from southern Alberta and Saskatchewan south to northern New Mexico and Texas.  They are not a common bird and their numbers are being monitored due to loss of habitat on their breeding grounds.  It is a bird that many birders love to find as they can be difficult to locate.  Jason and I were fortunate to find 6 of these, but they were even further away from us than the Caracara.  Once again, I still took some photos just for documentation purposes.

 

 3 Mountain Plovers

 

Mountain Plover

 

As we were leaving the field where the Mountain Plovers were located, Jason and his sharp eyes noticed a Burrowing Owl along the side of the road on his side of the vehicle.  We parked right there in the road and watched and photographed this character for some time.  It was probably the most cooperative of all the birds we saw on this day.  By the looks of the pellets outside his 'burrow', it appears to be finding plenty to feed on in this area.

 

 Burrowing Owl

 

Burrowing Owl

 

Our last stop was at Arizona City Lake just to check out the waterfowl that might be there.  Here we found some Eared Grebe and it was nice to compare them to the Horned Grebe that I had seen recently in Chandler.  Very good comparison which helps to make future identifications much easier. 

 

Eared Grebe

 

Another great day of birding and sometimes the fun is in the hunt for those special birds that you know are there and then when you find them, it is quite gratifying.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boyce Thompson Arboretum - Another Rarity

After such a great day on Saturday and chasing some rarities, I figured that my odds of anything special on Sunday were just about nil.  But there had been a few reports of a Varied Thrush at one of my most favorite spots, Boyce Thompson Arboretum which is only about 45 minutes from my house.  So it was not hard for me to decide to check it out, because of my love for this place.  I arrived about 15 minutes early before they had opened the gates, so I parked my vehicle on the opposite side of the highway near the gate and of course got out of the car and started enjoying the birds that were found just along the road.  The star of the road side was a male Pyrrhuloxia that paid a visit to me.  Often nicknamed the 'Desert Cardinal', it is a bird that I do not see as often as I would like.  What a great way to start my Sunday adventure!

 

Pyrrhuloxia

 

While wandering around and looking for the Varied Thrush, I realized that this location had become a hotbed for another species of thrush, the Hermit Thrush.  They were everywhere and even though they are not the most colorful of birds, they are always a delight to see.  Not as flighty as the warblers, but can be sitting on a branch watching you and you could look right past them.  They do blend in with their surroundings quite well but they are so stately sitting on a perch. 

 

 Hermit Thrush

 

 Hermit Thrush

 

Hermit Thrush

 

Of course there were other birds to entertain me while searching for my target bird.  There were many Spotted Towhees, but they did not want to show themselves so I settled for some photos of a female Northern Cardinal and a Curve-billed Thrasher.

 

 Curve-billed Thrasher

 

Northern Cardinal-Female

 

With the help of some others, we knew the vicinity where the Varied Thrush was hanging out and with the help of Bernie Howe, I finally camped out where he had seen it earlier and we waited.  Patience and silence really paid off as it came into view foraging in the fallen leaves from the colorful deciduous trees in the area.  The colors of this bird blended in so well with the leaves.  Success on this find as well.  This is a bird that breeds in the far northwest of the United States and extending all the way to Alaska.  But in the winter some of these birds can wander far and wide, and this one definitely wandered quite a distance.

 

 Varied Thrush

 

 Varied Thrush

 

Varied Thrush

 

I figured my day was now complete and I could start making my way back to the visitor center, but along the way, I met a couple of other birders and they mentioned that they had seen a male Williamson's Sapsucker earlier in the picnic area. Well that peaked my interest as well as that is not a common bird to be found.  So Bernie and I headed to the picnic area to try to find it and a couple of other birders from Idaho arrived just before us and had already found it in one of the pines in the picnic area.  Last spring a female had made BTA its home for a couple of weeks and it drew many birders in to take a look.  This time it was a male and was about 35 feet up in the tree. 

 

 Williamson's Sapsucker

 

Williamson's Sapsucker

 

Another successful trip to Boyce Thompson Arboretum.  I love this place and will go back often.  Its a membership that is a worthy investment.