From a small town to a big city...
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A Birding Blog
By Jared Conaway
From a small town to a big city...
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Hi all! These past 3 days have been packed full of life birds, and fun! I went on a week excursion up north from Flagstaff, to Payson, to Heber, and back to Glendale. The 3 day adventure resulted in 12 LIFERS, 12! Because so much was seen and photographed, and the days were long, the outing will be divided into 2 or 3 posts. This post's events were on the 4th. STELLER'S JAYS, AMERICAN CROWS, Ravens, and Turkey Vultures were pretty much the only birds seen on the drive from Flagstaff to Payson. However, it was nice to see the tallest mountains in Arizona, the San Francisco Peaks, closer than before. I even got killer shots of them. Pretty much the only snow in Arizona right now... After the ultimate feast at Red Lobster in Flag, we were on our way to Payson! Once we booked ourselves a nice inn, we searched up ebird hotspots within town. Green Valley Park was close, and had good birds sighted recently. The typical waterfowl were abundant, as usual, in the 2 large fishing ponds. The "typicals" were Mallards, Wigeon, Coots, Canada Geese, and ring-necked Ducks. What really caught my attention was a WESTERN BLUEBIRD perched completely still on a low Ponderosa branch, posing for the camera. Remember how I was disappointed about not obtaining a photograph of one during the CBC at HRP? I couldn't believe the photos I got of that STUNNING male after frantically yanking the camera out of the pack! Unbelievable, what a gorgeous bird. And he wasn't alone. Out of about 15 Bluebirds in the park, which as far as I could tell were all males, he was the only one that sat still for a killer photograph, and wasn't hyper. Around the end of the park birding outing, I found a Flycatcher perched in one of the leafless deciduous trees. I snapped a photo of it. I'm pretty sure I didn't know a couple days ago that it was an Empid, just that it was a small flycatcher. It's an EMPID!! A HUGE deal for someone who's tried and tried and TRIED to get a photo of one for a long time! My FIRST EMPID PHOTOGRAPH!! OH MY GOSH! Better yet, this ball of fluffy Empidonax cuteness is a WESTERN FLYCATCHER! (!!!!!)If this is a Cordilleran Flycatcher this could be my 2nd to last, regularly occurring Empid for Arizona! Almost to another milestone! As you may know, this guy and the Pacific-slope are very similar to one another, comprising of a duo sub-genus within the Empidonax genus. However, Cordilleran has richer, darker, brown-olive back and underside color. Although this difference is very subtle, it's there. Sibley describes Pacific-slope as "drabber than Cordilleran." Visually, extremely hard, but bare in mind slightly darker back of the Cordill. Interestingly, neither species has been found at Green Valley, but it has to be either, and really could be either or. Alrighty, first lifer of the trip! The 6th's outing plan was looking a little more "birdy," considering we were going to Mt. Ord! So I watched a few episodes of Tanked at the hotel, then slept. Stay tuned, for part 2! A Lifer-filled Spring Break! Day 2, part 1; Mt. Ord!Mt. Ord, one of the very best hotspots in Maricopa, actually has a Gila side, and a Maricopa side. Because we lacked all-wheel drive, we drove only to the green horse corral on the lower chapparal section of the huge mountain. As soon as i stepped out of the truck, the distinctive bouncing-ball song of BLACK-CHINNED SPARROWS filled the landscape. Then these birds showed up. CHIPPING SPARROWS! They were very abundant a little past the corral, and put on quite the show. It was great that this particular one decided to give up his skittish ways and pose for me! Chipping sparrows are pretty plain, but I like their nice little rufous caps they wear on their head. I was really excited to see these guys, because they were lifers, and are handsome little sparrows. Meanwhile, the Black-chinned Sparrows continued their bouncing-ball songs up-slope and down-slope, still remaining elusive. WOODHOUSE'S SCRUB-JAYS were located by their nasal, raspy contact calls, then by a flash of blue flying from one agave stalk to another, or over the drainages. They're really beautiful birds, if only they could sit still, allow for a portrait, and some enjoyment. No photos for them. "Oh my gosh, there's a Kingbird down on that dead tree! He's a CASSIN'S KINGBIRD, he's got a white tail tip!" The king never left his perch, and 2 of them flew past it. Kingbirds are some of my favorite flycatchers, they look cool, and I love the bright yellow on them. Now this kind of photo is never going to be displayed in a field guide, because it's terrible. But its quality is very important. This is a far more common situation you'll have with wild birds, especially flycatchers. Displaying this photo in a guide is a far more accurate depiction of a real life encounter in the field with one of these birds. I'm satisfied with my identification of Cassin's for these reasons;
White-crowned Sparrows and Scrub-Jays were the most abundant birds on the way up. SPOTTED TOWHEES were really cool sparrows we saw, some singing, others avoiding sight. And this is my first photo I got of a Spotted Towhee, the only one who exposed himself in the open. He's perched in a ROSE-FRUITED JUNIPER. He's got very extensive white on his back and wings for a Spotted towhee. I got to say, it was really hot being exposed to the sun going up that mountain slope. I couldn't wait to get to the shady pines. I was relieved when we finally made to the first stand of ponderosas, even more so when I saw 2 birders sitting on a bench. Naturally, I walked over to them to talk about the birds being seen. They told me about Painted Redstarts and BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS singing, both of which sang away discretely as we talked. Even a few VIRGINIA'S WARBLERS chimed in! I had a brief look at a small gray bird flitting high up in a tree canopy, presumbly one of the Virginias'. As the older lady gave me directions to Verrado where a few Lewis's Woodpeckers were being seen, a photographed this adorable WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH carrying nest material, and he didn't look to sure where to put it. The younger one said, "The Painted Redstart is a bird you REALLY want to see, they are beautiful!" "Yeah I'm coming Jared! My name was called, right? Not late or anything?" "Hold on, I'm hungry. Momma bird always said; 'Foraging before play.' She was right! Uh, the birder anyways, not the Redstart's mom. I'd only seen this stunning bird in pictures, what a phenomenal experience to see them out in the field! It's not too often I find myself photographing warblers. That's one of my goals for this year. My first breeding-plumaged male AUDUBON'S WARBLER drank from a water feature (I think it's called a seep?), looking beautiful as ever! I'm used to seeing breeding Myrtle Warblers singing on black spruces in the backwoods of Alaska. At last! A DECENT ACORN WOODPECKER photo! He was right next to the Redstart. After some waiting the 2 women's goal STELLER'S JAYS showed up! A new county bird for me! For some reason, Steller's Jays flag at 1 bird up on Ord and Slate Creek Divide, despite being very abundant. We saw 3 or 4 of them. 2 of the Jays made a dolphin-like clicking by clacking their upper and lower mandibles each. Never heard that sound come from a Steller's Jay! Presumably a mated pair playing with each other, after all, jays are very playful, so making funny noises is probably just part of that. Steller's Jays remain one of my favorite common birds to see. After some talking (including about Caleb and Tommy) the birders moved on to find some more warblers, and Cassin's Finches, and Evening grosbeaks. As we were heading back down, I saw a sparrow singing in a Juniper. "Dad, it's a RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW!" And that he was, a long overdue, gorgeous, large sparrow for my Life List! And in the tree next door, was this beautiful songster, our first look at a BLACK-CHINNED SPARROW! (!!!!!) This is him lifting his head high and letting out his loud, bubbly, bouncing-ball song. The Black-chinned is basically what you get if you breed the Slate-colored Junco and Chipping Sparrow together. And look at that long tail. And at the very end of the heat, a GRAY VIREO flew away from me at the corral/parking area! A GRAY VIREO!!! My last lifer up on Mt. Ord! I'm excited to visit Ord again! I'm Jared Conaway, and stay tuned for part 2 of day 2, of my epic birding week!
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December 2019
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