Autumn Adventures part 2

My Autumn has been busier than I expected. Even though migration season has been over, there are still some surprises showing up here in Arizona. I'm don't know enough about the state to know if this is normal or not. I've also made it a point to visit my local park, Veterans Oasis Park, at least once a week, which I have not been doing as well as I'd like.

But first off, I took a trip back down to the Santa Cruz Flats in early November. I was hoping to see some Mountain Plovers (I didn't) and some better views of Crested Caracaras (oh yeah). This area is prime sparrow habitat with a mix of fields and built up shrubs along the roads and intersections. I was able to tick a Clay-Colored Sparrow, who was hanging out with some White-Crowned Sparrows.

Clay-Colored Sparrow (lower left) and White Crowned Sparrow (upper right) - Santa Cruz Flats, Arizona

I also managed to see some Savannah, Vesper and Lincoln's Sparrows too. And I unexpectedly got some very good views of a Common Yellowthroat, which I had not expected to see in such an arid area.

Common Yellowthroat - Santa Cruz Flats, Arizona

Instead of seeing Mountain Plovers, I had to settle for my first photograph of a Merlin.

Merlin - Santa Cruz Flats, Arizona

As I mentioned above, I had hoped to see more Crested Caracaras. Their numbers increase here in the winter, which I did not know when I had spent the Summer looking for them. I was driving around some of the dirt roads when I noticed a group of Common Ravens in the distance. I knew that they and Caracaras can be found together, so I drove that way. I was greeted with a group of 17(!) Crested Caracaras in one field.

Crested Caracaras - Santa Cruz Flats, Arizona 

I'm going to be heading back down there this coming weekend to try and see some Rufous-Backed Thrushes which have been reported there. If you are curious about visiting the Santa Cruz Flats, search eBird for hotspots of the area. It's mainly driving around various agricultural fields on dirt roads and seeing what is there.

Skip forward to the middle of November and an amazing bird was reported at Veterans Oasis Park, not more than 2 miles from my house. A report came on the AZNM Listserv of a Groove-Billed Ani at the park that was seen by the poster's friend the day before, on Tuesday. As it happened, I was at the park on a bird walk on that Wednesday, but never saw anything exotic, and I was in the exact spot were the Ani was being seen. 

I was able to get back there on Thursday after dropping my son off at school. The bird was reported early that morning by a group of experts, but when I finally made it to the area it had not been seen. I spent the next 2 hours expanding the search area while counting down the time that I had to go back for my son. I was a bit north of where the bird was seen that morning, and was doing some intense pshing. Suddenly, a black bird was up in the back-side of a row of brush that circled on of the retention ponds at the park. I got a fuzzy look and heard the gull-like call of the Ani.

Groove-Billed Ani - Veterans Oasis Park, Chandler AZ

I waved over a birder visiting from New Jersey who was twitching the bird, who also got great views. And then the Ani flew up to the top of the shrubs and was in plain view. That bill shape was unmistakable.

Groove-Billed Ani - Veterans Oasis Park, Chandler AZ

We got to see the bird for less than 2 minutes when it flew off across the basin, disappeared into some brush and was never seen again (we'll come back to this).

For Thanksgiving we drove from Phoenix West to Los Angeles to spend the holiday with some of my wife's family. I'm trying to forget about the probable Black-Tailed Kite that I saw over Studio City while on a cheesy Celebrity Home Tour... The family did meet some friends at the awesome, and busy, El Dorado Nature Center in Long Beach for a walk. We really wanted to see groups of wintering Monarch butterflies, but they were all up in higher elevations due to the warm temps. But I got to tick a California Towhee on my life-list.

California Towhee - El Dorado Nature Center, Long Beach California 

Back in Arizona another rare bird was being reported north in Mesa. A birder noticed an odd sparrow at his feeders. It ended up being a Harris's Sparrow, very rare for the Western half of the USA. I became friends with him on Facebook and got his address. This was another twitch while my son was at school. I arrived while the homeowner was at work, but he was nice enough to have stacked up some concrete flagstones along the outside of his wall for us to look into. Fortunately for me, there was another local birder already there so I didn't look too odd. The Harris's Sparrow made an appearance right after I arrived and I managed some quick photos.

Harris's Sparrow - Mesa, Arizona 

Harris's Sparrow - Mesa, Arizona

I was there long enough to see it on 2 visits. What a great looking bird. I would trade all of the House Sparrows in my back garden for this guys. But once again, the bird wasn't seen again after I had seen in. This was just the second time (Groove-Billed Ani), or the third time (Blackpool Warbler) but the fourth time (Chestnut-Sided Warbler) that I was the last one to see a rare bird on a twitch in Maricopa County. I would not be surprised if I was kicked off of the listserv and everyone kept reports of rare birds away from me.

I'll end this post with some photos of Northern Harriers from today at my local park: Veterans Oasis Park, in nearby Chandler. 

Northern Harrier - Veterans Oasis Park, Chandler AZ

Northern Harrier - Veterans Oasis Park, Chandler AZ

Northern Harrier - Veterans Oasis Park, Chandler AZ

As I said, I've had a busy Autumn, mostly with kids and family stuff with some birding sprinkled in. I'm hoping to see some rare robins this weekend and I'm planning on really getting a nice Arizona list together for 2017 (not a Big Year).

If you are interested in visiting the Santa Cruz Flats or Veterans Oasis Park, please contact me with any questions, or for some company. 

Follow me on Instagram @bothering_birds 

Thanks for making it this far,

Cheers.

Autumn in Arizona

It has been a busy Autumn for me, unfortunately, I haven't been able to get out birding very often with the kids playing baseball on Saturday mornings. But I have been out here and there. And maybe 30% of my photos have been of butterflies lately, they have been great recently. But here's a bit of a highlight reel of October and half of November.

I took my kids to the Desert Botanical Garden in early October. We were looking for a Great Horned Owl that hangs out there, but we picked the day that the were hanging Christmas lights, so no owls were around. But we did get some close views of some Cactus Wrens.

Cactus Wren - Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix AZ

This Gambel's Quail was actually running up and trying to steal crumbs from us at lunch. I've never seen or heard that before. They are usually running as far away as possible from people.

Gambel's Quail - Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix AZ

After the gardens we stopped at Kiwanis Park in Tempe Arizona to show my daughter some Rosy-Faced Lovebirds. But they had a special friend with them that I was not expecting, a Budgerigar! This was an escaped pet while the Lovebirds have a healthy feral population in Phoenix, over 3000!

Rosy-Faced Lovebirds and escaped Budgerigar - Tempe, Arizona

Towards the end of October I was up early on a Sunday and made the 90 minute drive to Tucson to visit Sweetwater Wetlands again. There had been a Baltimore Oriole there each winter and I wanted a photo. Plus there were reports of many Sora, so I thought that I would try my luck with them again.

I got some nice views of an Orange-Crowned Warbler foraging in the scrub.

Orange-Crowned Warbler - Sweetwater Wetlands, Tucson AZ

I had been hearing Sora calling everywhere, but I really wanted a peek, or even better photos. I was sitting at the gazebo near the main pond and was scanning the edge of the reeds when I saw a very small bird just at the edge at the far end of the pond. It was easy to ID as a Sora, a lifer for me. It was much smaller than I expected to see, and probably why I haven't seen it until this point. It shortly disappeared and I was getting up when I saw another Sora just beside me! Wow, when it rains it pours.

Sora - Sweetwater Wetlands, Tucson AZ

I never did get to see the Baltimore Oriole that is being seen there, so I made my way home.

There is a cornfield near my house and this has turned into quite the little hotspot, especially for Northern Harriers. I almost always see one gliding over the cornrows and decided to walk over with my camera one late afternoon. It wasn't long before I saw one flying by.

Northern Harrier - Gilbert, AZ

This area is also frequented by Red-Tailed Hawks, American Kestrels, Yellow-Headed and Red-Winged Blackbirds, the occasional Osprey or Peregrine Falcon. Turkey Vultures are also always overhead, but that day I spotted a lonely Black Vulture. Not rare, but not common either.

Black Vulture - Gilbert, AZ 

Thanks for making it this far,

Cheers!

ABA Bird Number 400: Lesser Sand-Plover

     My First eBird checklist was submitted in May of 2002. It has taken me 4 years since then to finally tick my 400th ABA record. I did live in Ireland for nearly 2 years, so my global list is nearly 600, but I like round numbers, and for some reason it felt like a battle for me to get the last few ticks that I needed, as a matter of fact, most of my last few were rare birds that I twitched. I did spend a few weeks trying to see a Sora to get 400, but I still haven't seen one. Same with Common Black Hawk. But as an update for the blog, I'll go over the last few.

Number 396 was the beautiful Tricolored Heron. It showed up at the Gilbert Water Ranch in late August, and is continuing there as of today (10 October).

Tricolored Heron - Gilbert Water Ranch, Arizona

     And then a week later Hurrican Newton blew in some amazing birds to the state, including the Wedge-Rumped Storm Petrel to a small pond in nearby Mesa, number 397 for me.

Wedge-Rumped Storm-Petrel - Mesa, Arizona

     I wrote about the Storm Petrel in my previous blog post, here. The weekend after that, September 11th, I headed towards Gila Bend with a list of target birds to see. The only one that I was able to find were some adorable Red-Necked Phalaropes, number 398.

Red-Necked Phalarope - Gila Bend, AZ

     ABA number 399 for me came as a report on the AZNM Listserv, someone spotted a Blackpoll Warbler in a stand of trees next to my local ACE Hardware. The timing worked out that I was able to shoot over there after school with my kids in tow. Once I found the right tree, it was easy to spot the Warbler gleaning the leaves in a big Cottonwood.

Blackpoll Warbler - Chandler, AZ

     Just then another birder showed up and I pointed the bird out to him and then we both watched it disappear down along the bank of a large pond and out of sight. Some other birders showed up, but the bird was never seen again. It was just luck that I was there in time.

     I spent most of the rest of September looking for a Sora. I tried a few different places, but no luck. Even one spot where 4 were seen at the same time in the middle of the afternoon out in the open. But on 3 or 4 separate trips I never saw or heard any. Then my kids started a long Autumn break at the beginning of October, 2 weeks off school. So the family decided to go back to Albuquerque to see the International Balloon Fiesta and visit some old friends. On Sunday October 2nd a report of a Lesser (aka Mongollian) Sand-Plover was seen in Northern Arizona, just east of Flagstaff. This bird is rare for Attu, let alone the middle of Arizona. A first state record and the first inland record of the Asian Species in the USA. It also happened to be just off I-40, the route that we would be taking home from ABQ. I spent the next day watching the reports still coming in and crossing my fingers that it would remain for just one more day, which it did.

     Tuesday morning, October 4th, we left New Mexico after spending the morning watching the balloons launching on a beautiful fall day. We made our way West and I kept an eye on my inbox and talked my wife into making a quick detour. After leaving I-40 and driving through the Navajo Nation and town of Leupp, we left the paved road and followed a sandy track to the muddy puddles where the bird was located. We pulled up and my kids jumped out to run around. I begged them to stay away from the water and not to throw any rocks in. I also noticed a couple of other birders already there. I walked up and anticlimatically saw my 400th ABA bird, it was the only wader near the water. 

Lesser Sand-Plover - Round Ceder Lake, Leupp AZ

     It was fun to watch the bird for a bit while my kids collected some rocks and watched some "Bison" (just regular cattle). As luck would have it, another birder arrived and he turned out to be one of the co-discoverers of the Sand-Plover, Chuck LaRue. I asked Chuck what were they doing in the middle of nowhere. He simply said that they knew there was water out there and decided to see what could be there. An amazing discovery for sure. 

Round Ceder Lake - Navajo Nation, Arizona

     We left scenic Round Ceder Lake for a few days in Sedona where we rented a cabin. I didn't do much birding, but I did try my best to see a Common Black Hawk to no avail. It seems they've all gone for the winter. But we weren't back for a day when someone else found a wandering warbler on the far side of Chandler, and my 401st ABA tick: a Chestnut-Sided Warbler.

Chestnut-Sided Warbler - Chandler, AZ

    I do want to apologize for sounding like such a lister, but we move so often that I want to see what I can see in as short a time as possible. But it is really fun to twitch those rare-birds.

Cheers, 

Thanks for making it this far.

Newtonian Fall-Out: Wedge-Rumped Storm-Petrel

     Earlier this week a former hurricane named Newton made land-fall on the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. The path was forecast to carry it into Sonora and then across the border into Arizona. Birders in the Southeastern part of the state were ready to see what the storm would blow in, but nobody expected what really happened. The AZNM Listserv came alive with announcements of Storm-Petrels and Shearwaters at Patagonia Lake State Park. And then at water treatment ponds closer to Tucson and finally Petrels and other seabirds were seen flying over yards. Since I was up in Gilbert and was responsible for getting the kids to and from school, there was no way that I could make the trip down and resigned myself to watching the emails and looking at photos on Facebook.
     But that changed Thursday morning when a report of a Storm-Petrel at a suburban park's pond came over the listserv. It was so close, barely a dozen miles from me, and hundreds of miles from the other reports. I was literally walking into my son's preschool to collect him when I saw the message. The only problem was that Thursday was his gymnastics day, which was bad news. The good news was that it was closer to where the bird was located. I wracked my brain thinking of ways to get out of taking him to gymnastics to twitch the bird, but being an adult with responsibilities can suck. So I got him lunch and loaded the van with my camera and scope for after gymnastics.
     I spent the next 90 minutes pacing and waiting for him to finish up while watching my inbox like a junkie. As far as I knew the bird was dying. That the animal rehabbers were on their way to collect it. That it had flown off to try and find the ocean. I hurried my son out of class and into the van, barely getting his shoes on and took off for Mesa. We found the park near the Cubs' spring training facilities and quickly spotted an dozen-odd birders looking at the bigger pond there. My son and I hurried up and as easy as pie, saw the bird on the water.

Wedge-Rumped Storm-Petrel - Mesa, Arizona, USA

     It was very close to shore and the only bird on the water. The shape was clearly Storm-Petrel despite me only seeing them in guidebooks, none of which of mine had this bird in them. Someone there identified it as a Wedge-Rumped Storm-Petrel, named for the white patch above it's tail, seen below, and certainly a county record, if not state and ABA.

Wedge-Rumped Storm-Petrel - Mesa, Arizona, USA

     The bird seemed fine to everyone there. We watched it preen and then fly around and maybe even feed on something. It would fly off when the crowd of shore-bound birders would grow too large. But my son and I watched it for a solid 15 minutes before it was time for us to leave.

Wedge-Rumped Storm-Petrel - Mesa, Arizona, USA

Wedge-Rumped Storm-Petrel - Mesa, Arizona, USA

Wedge-Rumped Storm-Petrel - Mesa, Arizona, USA

Wedge-Rumped Storm-Petrel - Mesa, Arizona, USA

     Ah, seeing that bird in a park in front of a bench blows me away! This bird nests on the Galapagos Islands. What an amazing day. My son had fun going on our little adventure and now I want to see even more seabirds, maybe even on the ocean next time.

Cheers!

Madera Canyon - Elegant Trogon

     I've had a fairly busy Summer. Not as much birding as I'd like, but yesterday I got to get away for the day run down to Madera Canyon in Pima County, south of Tucson. I've been there 3 times before looking for Elegant Trogons to no avail. But I've always been there later in the day. But I was up at at 3am for some reason, an hour earlier than my alarm even, so I got my gear together and hit the road. I still didn't get there until after the Sun was up. 
     I noticed a few birds along the road leading to Madera Canyon, so I stopped for a few minutes to see if a Black-Chinned Sparrow would appear, or better yet, a Five-Striped Sparrow. But none of those were around, but I got to see a bunch of Cactus Wrens on the back-lit side of the road and a Black-Throated Sparrow and Ladder-Backed Woodpecker on the side with better light.

Black-Throated Sparrow and Ladder-Backed Woodpecker - Pima County, Arizona

     I continued into the canyon and drove past the various lodges until I reached the end and trailhead for the Carrie Nation Trail. I made a quick detour across the stream to check on the Pygmy Owl nest that I saw on my last trip, but it appeared empty. All this time I was surrounded by the dog-toy squeaks of Sulphur-Bellied Flycatchers. There were a half-dozen or so and a few of them seemed to be juveniles. 

Sulphur-Bellied Flycatcher - Madera Canyon, Pima County Arizona

Sulphur-Bellied Flycatcher - Madera Canyon, Pima County Arizona

      I crossed back over to the main trail and continued on my way. I knew that some Trogons were recently reported where the trail crossed the stream, a few hundred feet further up. I didn't get too far before I ran into a trio of birders coming down and I asked them if they had seen any Elegant Trogons. They said yes, and pointed over my head!

Elegant Trogon - Madera Canyon, Pima County Arizona

     Finally, after 8 or 10 different visits looking them, one was right over my head. And then I saw another one fly in next to the first. They both quickly flew back up the trail.

Elegant Trogon - Madera Canyon, Pima County Arizona

     One of the birders ended up being from Pittsburgh and out for the week with his wife, who was further up the trail. He had a canon 500mm and offered to let me put my 7d mkII body on it for a few shots. The angle wasn't the best, but wow, what a difference over my 300mm.

Elegant Trogon - Madera Canyon, Pima County Arizona

     We followed the Trogons as they continued back up the trail. It appeared like they were gleaning insects off of leaves. They would fly up to the ends of leaves, stop in mid-air, and then continue on a bit to a roost. It was amazing the looks that we were getting.

     One was certainly a male, which I got a great look at. And I also met my least-favorite branch in all of the world...

Elegant Trogon - Madera Canyon, Pima County Arizona

     Even better than a pair of Elegant Trogons are three of them. Near this male were 2 together on a branch.

     

Pair of Elegant Trogons - Madera Canyon, Pima Country Arizona

     What an experience. These are some great looking birds and with their greens and reddish-pink colors. 

Elegant Trogon - Madera Canyon, Pima Country Arizona

    I'm still on a rush after finally seeing these birds. And I have some more photos on my Flickr page. I wasn't done with Madera Canyon, the real reason that I drove down to Madera Canyon was to twitch a hummingbird. But I'll post those photos in a separate blog post.

Thanks for making it this far,

Cheers.

Tres Rios Wetlands - Glossy Ibis

     I recently had a day to go birding, so I decided to look for Yellow-Billed Cuckoos. The closest reports to me were west of Phoenix along the Salt River. I chose the Tres Rios Overbank Wetlands as I'd been there before and I knew the area a bit. This is where the City of Phoenix cleans the water that it releases back into various rivers. A permit is needed to visit, and can be obtained via email, details can be found following this link. 
     The majority of the wetlands are located behind a fence and only a bit of the larger ponds are visible from the road that you can walk along. Here you can see some ducks, cormorants and waders. One of the birds that are regulars are American White Pelicans, there was a group of a dozen or so there even in Summer.

American White Pelicans - Tres Rios Wetlands, Phoenix, Arizona

     You can see the fence in this photo. This is from a higher vantage point, most views aren't as nice. This place really needs a raised hide like the type found throughout Europe. 
     I noticed a large bird sitting in a far off tree. By the time I got a closer for a look it had flown, but I managed to see that it was an Osprey.

Osprey - Tres Rios Wetlands, Phoenix, Arizona

     It flew near another larger looking bird sitting in a different Cottonwood. The view that I got made me think that there was a pair of Osprey. And when the bird flew off holding a fish in it's talons head first, I really thought that it was another Osprey. But once it got closer I was surprised to see that it was an adult Bald Eagle carrying a sunfish or maybe a bass.

Bald Eagle - Tres Rios Wetlands, Phoenix, Arizona

     Along the fence at Tres Rios, there is the overflow area. Water pours through a weir under the fence and runs parallel to it. This feeds long, thick patches of reeds and cattails. They are filled with Red-Winged Blackbirds, Sora, Rails, Herons, Great-Tailed Grackles and Common Yellow-Throats. At the end of this stream is another weir with a large pond behind. I noticed some Coots out in some low vegetation with something else lower in the leaves. They were Green Herons stalking prey. I counted 6 for sure, but there could have been half again as many in there. 

Green Herons - Tres Rios Wetlands, Phoenix, Arizona

      Like I mentioned before, it was hot and I was feeling it. But I wanted to get to a series of smaller ponds where I thought tent worms and Yellow-Billed Cuckoos would be found. But I ended up never seeing or hearing any. I did take a short break in one of the few bits of shade where I watched a Common Gallinule leave one of the smaller ponds and enter the next one down-stream. 

   

Common Gallinule - Tres Rios Wetlands, Phoenix, Arizona

     There were so many Dragonflies everywhere. I saw some small amberwing dragonflies, which I thought were hornets at first. 

Amberwing Dragonfly - Tres Rios Wetlands, Phoenix Arizona

     And so many Blue Dashers.

Blue Dasher Dragonfly - Tres Rios Wetlands, Phoenix, Arizona

     I also got some close looks at some Black-Tailed Gnatcatchers (I initially ID'd these at BGGN due to their eye-rings and non-black tails. But the white eye-stripe is better for female BTGN - Steve), which I thought were Verdin when I first saw them. The one I saw looked a bit worn and ready for some new feathers.

Black-Tailed Gnatcatcher - Tres Rios Wetlands, Phoenix, Arizona

     At this point I was running low on water and pretty sure that I was too late to hear any Cuckoos, so I headed back to the car. I made it back to the large pond at the end of the fence and took a short break there. I was looking for the Green Herons, and hoping for a Sora or Rail, when I saw a lone Ibis foraging. I had seen a flock fly into the big lakes inside of the fence on my walk out. The common Ibis for Arizona and the west are White-Faced Ibis, which I assumed this one was. But as I was observing through my binoculars I didn't notice any pale areas on the face. And I noticed lots of green highlights on the feathers without any of the rusty colors from a WFIB. It was a Glossy Ibis! I have been looking for one in the western USA for years.

     I didn't have my scope with me, I don't carry that and my camera usually, so I took some time watching it and taking as many photos as I could. The bird was far off, but I managed some good shots.

     

Glossy Ibis - Tres Rios Wetlands, Phoenix, Arizona

Glossy Ibis - Tres Rios Wetlands, Phoenix, Arizona

    I cropped the photos a bit more to try and get a clear shot of the face. 

Glossy Ibis - Tres Rios Wetlands, Phoenix, Arizona

     I didn't see pale skin anywhere. And a White-Faced Ibis would have a red iris on the eye, no matter the age. This bird was black with no signs of red tint. I adjusted the crop and shadows in Lightroom to show the face as best I could.

Glossy Ibis - Tres Rios Wetlands, Phoenix Arizona

     Finally, after looking at so many Ibises in New Mexico and Arizona, a Glossy Ibis. This is the default Ibis in Europe and I had seen hundreds and hundreds in Portugal and chased a few in Ireland, but this was my first tick in the USA. It's not the most rare bird for Arizona, but they only show up every few years. All in all a good day despite dipping on Cuckoos.

What to know: 

The wetlands are located 20 minutes west of Phoenix. Take the 91st Ave exit from I-10 and go south towards the Salt River. The parking area is on the west (right) side of the road before a closed gate and a sign. Please do not block the gate.

Tres Rios Overbank Wetlands are a private area and a permit is required to visit, simply send an email and you should get a response in a day or 2. You can find where to get on here. The majority of the water is off-limits behind a fence, but views can be made from service roads nearby.

A list of the birds that you can expect to see can be found at the eBird hotspot page and at the wonderful Hotspot Birding. 

Thanks for making it this far, 

Cheers