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.

   

  

Exit From the White Mountains

Sunday was the day to return to the Phoenix metropolis, but before we were to depart, we took out time to enjoy a breakfast at the Rendezvous Restaurant.  If one elects to dine at one of the tables outside, they can be positioned next to a hummingbird feeder.  Of course we opted for one such table and we were constantly entertained with at least 3 species of hummers coming in to the feeders; Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Calliope Hummingbirds, and the tyrants of the feeders, Rufous Hummingbirds.  I was most interested in the Calliope Hummingbirds, which are the smallest birds to be found in the United States at only 3¼ inches in length.  I have only seen this species a couple of times in the past and never got any decent photos of a male.  Seeing the males with their striped gorgets in the sunlight was really quite spectacular and special.  Once again, I had to resort to a photo with a feeder in it, but that is better than none at all.  Arizona is an awesome place to visit if one is interested in seeing a variety of hummingbirds!  One can see more species in Arizona than in any other state in the U.S.

 Calliope Hummingbird

Calliope Hummingbird

Although there were several Rufous Hummingbirds at these feeders, we also had one at our campsite that very aggressively defended the feeder that we hung from one of our trees.  

Rufous Hummingbird

And to add another bonus at breakfast, a Cordilleran Flycatcher was close by on the north side of the restaurant.  This is probably the closest I have been able observe one of these Empidonax flycatchers.  

Cordilleran Flycatcher

After breakfast, we headed back to the church camp area once again and it was very active this early in the morning.  We had visits from Mountain Chickadees, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Pine Siskin, and a Say's Phoebe that landed on a twig so close to me that I thought it would be too close to even focus on it for a photo.

 Mountain Chickadee

 Olive-sided Flycatcher

 Pine Siskin

Say's Phoebe

One more short trip to the Butler Trail head before heading out and we were blessed with more Cordilleran Flycatchers.  Once you get to know these birds, they quickly become very likable and always fun to see and observe.  They are part of a family of birds that can be tricky to identify, but the more one sees and hears the different species, then they become somewhat easier to identify.  

 Cordilleran Flycatcher

Cordilleran Flycatcher

Traveling west on Highway 260 we stopped off a small lake to see if we could find anything unusual.  Not much in the way of birds, but when we parked the car, we noticed some ground squirrels and we did happen to have a few peanuts with us.  They knew immediately what we had once we tossed a few their way.  They quickly ran out and grabbed a peanut and then ran under the shelter of a rock to start the feast.  A chipmunk also showed up and we made sure it got to take a peanut back to its burrow as well.  This is a good way to see the differences between ground squirrels and chipmunks.  Chipmunks have facial stripes, whereas ground squirrels do not.  Here is the Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel and the Cliff Chipmunk to compare.

 Cliff Chipmunk

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel

And so our trip to the White Mountains came to an end, but none of us were disappointed in the whole trip.  Tommy stayed behind for another week with his family and had much more excitement during that time.  Such a great place that I think it deserves a visit every summer.

  

Beyond the White Mountains

On Saturday, the four of us had decided to make a trek to the far northeastern corner of the state of Arizona to make an attempt to add the Black-billed Magpie to our Arizona bird list.  It was not a life bird for any of us, but a little community by the name of Teec Nos Pos is the only spot in Arizona where this bird can be found.  Its range extends to the north and east of this spot in western United States.  Well, after a very 'loonnnggg' drive we struck out and were a bit disappointed, but as we started heading south and back to the Greer area, we took advantage of some various lakes and ponds to be found in this dry high elevation desert environment.  One of those stops was Ganado Lake and we were quite pleasantly surprised with this place.  Definitely a worthwhile place to stop off for some bird viewing if one is passing through this desolate area.  Lots of waterfowl, but most of it quite a distance from shore for photos.  However, I could not resist trying to get a photo of a pair of Eared Grebes and their family of 3 young ones.  One of the young was even riding on the back of one of the adults while the other two were being fed by the other adult after short dives.

Eared Grebe and babies

Along the southwestern shore, we found several wading birds and by observing from the vehicle we were able to get a bit closer to some of them and better photos.  Birds can be a bit more relaxed if one remains in a vehicle; but when you open the door, the go on high alert and fly away quickly if they feel the least bit threatened.  One of these birds was a Greater Yellowlegs still retaining most of its breeding plumage.  It is a fairly common bird in the winter in the lower elevations of Arizona, but in the winter plumage it is mostly gray and white, without any chest and belly speckling.

Greater Yellowlegs

For me, the shore bird that I enjoyed the most was a couple of Solitary Sandpipers.  Not a new bird for me by any means, but one that I do not see often enough, let alone get some decent photos.  It was great to see them up close and observe the key field marks on these birds.

 Solitary Sandpiper

 Solitary Sandpiper

Solitary Sandpiper

Another bird that was still sporting its more colorful breeding plumage was a couple of Spotted Sandpipers.  When seeing them in their breeding plumage, one can definitely understand where they got their name.

Spotted Sandpiper

Of course we had several of the very common Killdeer along the shores as well, but as common as they are, I still love capturing photos especially when I can capture the red of their eyes.

Killdeer

Also along the west side of the lake we found a Prairie Dog town.  They were quick to retreat to their burrows as we approached, but at least one of them lingered long enough above ground for a couple of photos.  This is a fairly good sized rodent and I do recall that we had a small town in the pasture of our farm in Hayes County, Nebraska many years ago.  (No, I am not saying how many years!)

 Prairie dog

Prairie dog

We arrived back at camp with light rain showers.  Yes, it was a long day with a lot of miles, but we had a lot of fun and some of the extra curricular activities in the car while travelling should prove to be quite humorous for some upcoming videos with Tommy's directing.  

  

   

Beyond the Dipper

As Friday continued, our next stop was the Sunrise Ski Resort, which is absent of all snow at this time of year, but the ski lift was in use for those that wanted to get to the top without hiking.  We opted to stay down closer to the beginning of the lifts as we had seen some reports in the past month of Pine Grosbeaks near this area.  We hiked uphill on the west side of lifts and then towards the area south of the lodge.  Their call was quick to be heard and singled out of the several other birds that were singing.  We knew they were there, but getting a good view of them proved to be a bit more of a challenge.  Finally one male did fly to the top of a nearby tree for us to get a good look.  Unfortunately, my photography skills decided to take a nap as I found myself having a bit of difficulty of finding the bird in the viewfinder and my lens.  Feel a bit like an idiot as I was focusing on pine cones on the branches just above the bird.  So my photos leave a lot to be desired. Guess I will have a make another trip back there for hopefully some better photos.  That definitely will not be a problem, as this place is an awesome place to visit.

Pine Grosbeak

To finish out the day we headed into the community of Greer to do some birding on the trails around the town.  While exploring the church campgrounds on the southern end of Greer, a Rufous Hummingbird paid no attention to me and landed on a small limb just a few feet from me.  Guess it must have felt sorry for me and my failed attempt of photos of the Pine Grosbeak!

Rufous Hummingbird

After leaving this campground sight, we were treated to an odd behavior by some Violet-green Swallows.  This species was fairly common in this region and we were seeing them at just about every stop we made, but in this case they were landing on the dirt road in front of us and then leaning over on one side.  I don't believe any of us had seen that behavior before on this species.  We have come to the conclusion that they were possibly sun bathing.  They were not trying to roll or fluff their feathers which would be a sign of maybe a dust bath.  They would just roll over on their sides and lay there.  Looked a bit like they were injured, but was definitely not the case as they quickly took flight if we approached them.

Violet-green Swallows

We took a hike along the Butler Trail and so glad we did.  We discovered 3 recently fledged Northern Pygmy-Owls.  This owl is diurnal and will sometimes forage in daylight.  They are a fairly small owl at just under 7 inches and many times they show very little fear of humans.  We watched as one of them flew from a perch in the trees to the ground and then returned with its prey and actually landed in a tree very close to us.  It casually watched us as it slowly took it time to devour its catch; most likely an insect of some kind although we were not able to see it.  As adults, these owls can be quite aggressive as they will take on prey almost the same size as them.  When a young owl allows this kind of close-up study and picture taking, all one can do is enjoy the moment and create as less stress as possible for them.  (Kind of made up for my poor Pine Grosbeak photos!)

 Northern Pygmy-Owl

Northern Pygmy-Owl

 Northern Pygmy-Owl

Northern Pygmy-Owl

Found a few butterflies to add to the color scheme.  Finally purchased a butterfly field guide, so hope to be able to identify some of the butterflies I do happen to stumble on.  

 Small Wood-Nymph - best ID to my knowledge

 Northwestern Fritillary - best ID to my knowledge

Painted Lady

Of course, what would a log post be without a photo of a couple of our team.

Day number 2 was very different as we put in a lot of miles for naught, but on the way back we stopped off at a spot that was quite entertaining.  This will all be covered in the next post.

  

  

The End of Dipping on the Dipper

This past weekend, I had the honor and pleasure of heading to the White Mountains of Arizona with a couple of excellent birders and friends, Magill Weber and Chris Rohrer and once we arrived, we met up with another excellent birder and friend, Tommy DeBardeleben.  Magill, Chris, and myself were camping out near Greer, AZ and Tommy was already in Greer with his family on vacation. Once we got our campsite, Tommy came to visit so we could plan our strategy for our birding on Friday.  As dusk settled in, we heard the familiar call of a Common Nighthawk near the campground, which was really a nice start as I was now officially able to add this species to my Arizona bird list.  About 15 minutes later, something totally unexpected happened; we were visited by an owl right in our campsite. It was getting very dark and we could see it fly from tree to tree and we finally got a flashlight and our binoculars on it for a good look.  It was a Long-eared Owl and a new life bird for me!  This was not on our list of target birds for this weekend and although they are not rare, they can be a bit difficult to get a visual sighting on one.  Chris was quick with his camera and got a nice and very diagnostic photo of this bird.  What a great omen to our weekend of birding and it is amazing that it visited our campsite instead of one of the many others.  It must have known that we would appreciate it more than anyone else in that campground.

Long-eared Owl - photo courtesy of Chris Rohrer

Early the next morning the 4 of us headed to the Mt Baldy area to look for a few of our target birds.  There were 2 species on my target list that I have been wanting to find for some time; the American Dipper and the Gray Jay.  We parked at the trail head which is right on the Little Colorado River and Tommy suggested we check the river before heading upstream on the trail.  We were early enough to beat the crowds of fly fishing people.  It did not take long for Tommy to pick one out in the stream.  There are 5 Dipper species throughout the world and only one of these species is found in North America.  What a cool bird, as is wades and even swims underwater in cold mountain streams as it forages for food.  A favorite bird by many birders and rightfully so.  (My second lifer of the trip already!)

American Dipper

American Dipper

We then headed out on the trail in this beautiful area of mountains and pines.  Along the way we had several Lincoln Sparrows including one recently fledged bird that perched in a small pine and created a perfect frame of pine boughs around it.

Lincoln Sparrow

Further down the trail, we finally came upon another great bird and one that was on my target list, the Gray Jay.  This bird has a very large range in the far northern reaches of North America with scattered remnants in spots of the Rocky Mountains.  In Arizona, they can only be found in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona, a small population which is cut off from the others.  My third lifer on this trip and we were only on the first full day of birding.  

 Gray Jay

Gray Jay

As we returned on the trail, we also got looks of one of the Gray Jay's cousins, the Clark's Nutcracker.  Not a new bird for me, but one that I have never been able to obtain photos.  This just added to the excitement of the day and already made this trip worthwhile.  

Clark's Nutcracker

When we returned to the the trail head parking area we had the opportunity to see some Red Crossbills up close.  Most generally these birds are high in the pines where they extract seeds from pine cones with their unique crossed bills.  Luckily the pine they chose to visit had its base down by the stream bed and we were on a bridge above it which brought the top of the tree to an eye level for us.

 Red Crossbill

Red Crossbill

Also along the river Tommy and Chris discovered a House Wren nest with babies being heard and the parents were actively seeking insects and bringing back to feed the young.  I had a opportunity to capture a photo of one of the adults as it returned with an insect.

House Wren

The day was far from being over with much more ground to cover and some equally other great birds to be found.  More to come on day 1 of birding in the White Mountains near Greer, Arizona.