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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You know, it seems no matter what passion or hobby you partake in and occupy, there are times you feel you let yourself down, times you feel let down, and times of rejoicing after beautiful satisfaction is obtained. In away birding is my escape from this crazy world- to seek beauty in something simple. Funnily enough it's not always an escape. It used to be when I was flying solo, but now I'm connected with tons of birders via social media, and because many people have their own opinions within this community- especially this community- it's crazy all over again! Also, you guys do know I got to have that suspense for the big moment. If there is a big moment. Anyways, now would be a good time to explain why I take so long to get to the point. Now, I'm sure you guys enjoy reading my writing- I would hope so. So for one, most lifers aren't obtained right away, a lot have involved hours of driving before we've arrived at the vicinity. Then there's a bit of walking distance after that. Basically, I'm doing my best to share the suspenseful environment with you guys. I imagine I have some viewers that are beginning birders, or even not at all. This makes my blog a great place to learn that lifers aren't grabbed & bagged right away! But hey, there's those times that they appear within timing of a snap of the finger. You know though, sometimes something absolutely astonishing happens that you don't see coming... And then, sometimes... you get to be a part of it. As you all know, I've been participating on bird walks with Caleb the 2nd Saturday of every month. This one was my 4th. We had a lot more species than the last few times, totaling 69. This included 2 great rarities. The first being an EASTERN BLUEBIRD of the nominate subspecies- sialis- that gave distinctive tur-a-lur calls, different from the goldfinch-like vocals of Western Bluebird, which we saw earlier. I heard it at the same time, and saw it fly into a mesquite, but didn't recognize. Caleb let everyone know of the presence of this lifer, but at first called it a possibility. Upon careful inspection, we both confirmed it was in fact an Eastern Bluebird. Receiving lifers in urban places such as that are always really cool- they throw me off guard every time. An Eastern Bluebird can be identified by the following: orange throat bleanding into orange flanks that surround a bright white underside, blue mantle, less elongated body shape, and white behind the eye in all plumages. Blue color is in between Western and Mountain. Azure Bluebird, the Mexican/SE AZ ssp. has the same blue as Mountain. The bird we saw was an adult female. Here are some photos: 2 middle pics are mine, others are Caleb's. Note pale Malar & eye stripes. Also see how bright, clear white that underside is? Another thing worth noting is that the orange on EABL's flanks extends further down, ending behind the UTCs (undertail coverts). You know what Bluebirds remind me of: A flycatcher-thrush mix. Especially this species: compact similar to an Empidonax. EABL occurs across the eastern half the continent and locally in Montana, Colorado, and New Mexico. In the northern part of its distribution it is migratory, wintering in eastern Colorado, most of NM, and Texas. The Mexican ssp. known as Azure Bluebird is completely non-migratory, including in SE AZ. It most likely will be split from EABL soon. This small thrush is rare in Arizona, but lately we've had an irruption of them due to snow in the north. The one that we found was only the 2nd one in western Maricopa. Well, it took me 3 years to get all 3 bluebirds. Mountain still remains and always will remain my favorite. I have to say though, Azure is real close behind. We managed to stick the landing with another rare bird: altivagans Fox Sparrow. It is essentially a Pacific Slate-colored From BC to Baja. Fox Sparrows are rare in the lowlands of 'copa in winter, but common in the Mazatzals & Superstitons in brushy upland chaparral or riparian. Lowland individuals are almost never of the slate-colored group. Altivagans is an example of a rare member of that group (in terms of Arizona). Photo by Caleb: I would like to note that those toenails need serious trimming. Those look longer than normal! You know, sparrows seem to be an underrated group of birds. I see them as a good way to understand subspecies, after all, most have at least a couple. I'll give a quick rundown: So, most subspecies are put into their own category, or group. The distribution of different groups is almost always the same in NA: Pacific, Rocky Mountains/Interior west, east/taiga belt. The distribution between subspecies is similar, for pacific: 1 or more for cascades/coast ranges (temperate rain forest) and 1 or more in California mountains (dry forest). For interior west: 1 or more for Rockies, 1 or more interior mountains besides Rockies. For east: 1 or more for eastern lowland deciduous, 1 for Appalachians (sometimes), and 1 or more for taiga (sometimes 1 in east taiga and 1 for west taiga). So that's basic, watered down info on understanding how ssps work. I will do an in-depth series on that, hybrids, and types. Types are based on food source rather than distribution. Since the end of the first week of January, there has been a mega-rare, extraordinary special feature creature. They call it.... White-throated Thrush, never before seen in Arizona. I recently joined the Arizona Birding league on Facebook, which is how I found out. It is a bird that has been bound to materialize in the Grand Canyon State eventually, but man, it came fast! Well, can you imagine my excitement when I found out it would be apart of my week plan. I think you already know who was going to take me... Mark Brogie, and his wife, Ellen. Ha, didn't see that coming! Oh but don't worry, Caleb was coming too: the Mastermind Birder I guess you could call him. There it is ladies & gentlemen, the Rush to see a Thrush has begun! First, a little bit of background- got to keep that suspension going: Andrew Core posted on FB that he received a photo of that bird in Madera Canyon. Madera is a mid-elevation canyon in the Santa Ritas of southeast Arizona. That's right, finally another trip to the southeast! (Chiricahuas in March 2018) It only took- hold on a sec, let me do the math here... 10 months! Dang, almost a year! So yeah, it's been a while... The morning of January 13th my Dad dropped me off at Costco to be picked up by the Brogies. They were actually on the bird walk the previous day, they're from Nebraska. Caleb is good friends with them. Many Phainopeplas (and RTHAs) later, we arrived. Here is what it looked like: I can almost see a Harlequin Duck speeding down the stream... Yeah, so my first impression of Madera Canyon is beautiful. I know critic, but I would definitely recommend it for birders & nonbirders alike. If you like nature just a little bit you'll appreciate it. If you're a birder: It has a history of rarities, and is reliable for: Spotted Owl, Whiskered Screech-Owl, Elegant Trogon, just to name a few. With this White-throated Thrush it has become... Mad-rara canyon...The mature riparian combined with proximity to Mexico is what makes it so rich in biodiversity. Anyways: we walked around a bit before we encountered a happy family of BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHERS, my second lifer of the day, first heard. Rufous-winged Sparrow was the prior lifer, heard only near the parking lot. One of the gnatcatchers I first heard before we located them. I had the cam on the wrong setting, hence the blurriness. I know, my camera has never been on the wrong setting. Well, I got a new camera that I'm not quite familiar with yet. Caleb generously gave it to me for free, the best price of all. It's an awesome camera, nothing wrong with it, but I kept bumping it to the wrong settings a lot. So expect to see blurriness until halfway through the post. The top dude is a HUTTON'S VIREO. Or so people say. Is the reason why it looks like a Ruby-crowned Kinglet classified information? Perhaps they are spies on kinglet flocks, periodically giving info to their leader(s) Or better yet: Blue-headed Vireo males send them in to find out if the BHVI females like them. Or maybe, the bill is thicker because a camera has been transmitted into it, and the birds themselves are A.I. kinglets. You never know guys. I have plenty more conspiracy theories. Anyways, we enjoyed the vireo and his BCGN neighbors for a few minutes. Both species came in really close- it was great. Features that distinguish it from other gnatcatchers are: noticeably longer bill, more graduated tail, extensive white undertail, and yes; in the summer males have a full on black cap. It used to be more limited In Arizona, or possibly just undetected. Nonetheless, it is now a local breeder in Madera Canyon, and is more common around Patagonia Lake SP. We also saw Hammond's Flycatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, other stuff, and more other stuff. And just like that... I arrived at the stakeout. Unfortunately no steak was involved, but a WHITE-THROATED FREAKING EPIC THRUSH was! These moments went by so fast... Amazing isn't it? That's not a question. This is the first time I've participated in a first state record! I know I only got 2 photos, but I was enamored with this gorgeous phenomenon. If you live in Arizona, and you love birds, I encourage you to go chase it, it is still there as I write! And guess what: I drew it! I'll share that in a bit. Here's some history on this Turdus: They are normally found from northern Mexico down to Ecuador (northern South America) It isn't a particularly stunning bird, with some low-key colors throughout like an olive-gray back & tail, plus an ashy face & underside. These are accented by a bright yellow orbital ring circling the eye, a white throat with black braids, and a broad white collar. The bill is bicolored with dark above, yellow below. The southern group possesses a bolder appearance, yellower legs, and a completely yellow bill. It is a genetically diverse species with 13 subspecies, of which 12 make up the polytypic northern group, and 1 that makes up the monotypic southern group but just got spit (called Dagua Thrush). The one here in Madera Canyon having a grand, famous time with cameras and binoculars focused on it, and while eating delicious berries (probably thinks it's living in a Hollywood scenario at this point) is of the northern subspecies. Not just because of distribution, but because of appearance as well. It is most likely of the subspecies Turdus assimilis calliphthongus. It is a neotropical thrush prominently found in semi-tropical montane coniferous forest, riparian &Tamaulipas thornscrub, down into humid rainforests of South America. Over the years Arizona has accumulated many semitropical species found in adjacent Mexico, creating a fun atmosphere for birding there. However, it is still fun to see state records spontaneously appear in the lush coniferous forests off places like the Chiricahuas, Santa Ritas, and Huachucas. This adds to the atmosphere, creating a sort of treasure hunt mentality whenever people visit there. Successfully being apart of these state records is especially special. An example of something I couldn't take part in is Pine Flycatcher. That was in 2017. It is still exciting because if it's shown up there before: it can again. I encourage my readers to bird with the same mindset: If you miss out on something, remember that either it could show up again, or you could find your own. Acknowledging this makes birding less depressing. On the same note, you shouldn't be over-confident when you find a potential rarity. This is a topic I haven't yet covered, so I might as well now. It can be surprisingly easy to manipulate a bleached juv. Glaucous Gull into an Ivory Gull. The best thing you could possibly do is note details in the moment, not later (and photos! distant or close, anything is valuable!). I've done this a few times and as such have had invalidations of species I'm confident about. Well, I did note details in the moment for the most part, it was more that I didn't ebird them until later. So basically what I'm trying to say is: find details during the observation, not after, especially diagnostic ones. Your mind tries to manipulate a bird into something you'd rather it be, and does a pretty good job at it. Anyways, that's my lesson to you. I don't take the time to convey that information enough. however, as a birder who has learned from these mistakes, I feel it is important that I communicate this, to potentially prevent pitfalls and give you an understanding of how birding works. I know I might sound like an ebird reviewer right now, but hey- I'm friends with one, an excellent one! If you ever get emailed by Caleb via ebird, he's probably right. The Boy is powerful, he has years of field experience behind and ahead of him, so he's a really good reviewer that I would suggest respecting. You might be thinking: 'but shouldn't any ebird reviewer be experienced to be qualified for their volunteer job?' Yes, but somehow unknowledgeable reviewers make it onto the scene. Don't worry though, because Caleb's not one of them. Anyways, just thought I'd put a good word in for my bird bro. So yeah, back to the thrush: There was a lot of people, among the peak stakeout numbers: about 50 total. Not all were there at the same time, but after some left more came. To be fair it was a weekend, so lots of minds were set on seeing this beautiful fluffball. The fluffball was observed by most very well, photographed by cameras of literally every size from tiny to freaking massive. It was in a large Net-leaf Hackberry tree, foraging on the abundant hackberries. I have to say though, the atmosphere felt intense as scores of birders were eagerly- some impatiently- awaited the arrival and or re arrival of this stunning creature. I'm sure that the people with cameras bigger than their torsos received satisfying photos, but I image all got good views. After observing it for the short time I did, it flew across to stream. Then we proceeded across the bridge to get to follow it. It took a few minutes, but we relocated it below us on a log in the stream. Because there was a canopy above, it was perched in a dark area. Just as I leveled the camera, it decided at that moment it should flutter away. You know how it goes! A small uphill ascent brought us back into its presence. At this point it was Caleb and I closest to the robin, with others spectating from below. We spent a couple minutes watching it hop around in conifers and oaks as it made a vocalization reminiscent of Blue-throated Hummingbird. After a short time the bird randomly flushed, disappearing out of sight. So The Boy and I (The Boy 2.0) trotted up stream to see if he went up there. We didn't find him, so we rejoined the large group at the bridge. Here we ran into familiar birders- some of which I'd heard of, and 1 I met. Eric Hough was the one I knew, it was great to see him after a while. Faithful readers will recognize him as the HRP guy. We actually talked to Eric, Mary McSparen, and Chrissy Kondrat-Smith for a while before the crew and I headed up to Santa Rita Lodge. Before I get to that, here's some non-birds: Toumey Oak Gray/Arizona White-Oak forest. Oaks are among the most abundant flora in the Serra Madre Sky Islands ecoregion. They are very important as they provide ideal shade, food and shrouding for birds. The many crevices and cavities conceal insects, which in turn become food for insectivores like empids. Madera Canyon is full of ripe 'ripe! Mexican Blue Oak on far right, Arizona White Oak left of it. Emory Oak Chainfruit Cholla The view from the parking lot before Proctor Road. We stopped here to have classic PB & J sandwiches before driving to Santa Rita Lodge (SRL) further up the mountain. Once we arrived, the presence of hyper birds were all around us, including abundant Mexican Jays (MEJA), Acorn Woodpeckers (ACWO), and Pine Siskins (PISI) I gave the banding codes because I'm going to use them a lot more often, I suggest you study to learn them. PISI This is an ARIZONA WOODPECKER, previously a heard only, now almost a year ago in the alluring Chiricahuas. This here is an adult female. The magnificent RIVOLI'S HUMMINGBIRD (RIHU) formerly Magnificent. Adult female. I'm obligated not to hate on bird genders, but it's the truth that the male lives up to its past-tense Magnificent namesake. I'm not saying females don't. I'm just saying males do. This was a lifer for me. Next time I hit SE AZ, I'll look for a male. After the RIHU, the BLUE-THROATED MOUNTAINGEM (hummingbird, but likely Mountaingem soon- same genus as mountaingems) chased her off, and then came back to visit the feeders himself. The second time he came, he flew right in front of me , fluttering adjacent to my face for some moments. Now, this isn't a pinky-sized hummingbird- it's the largest in North America! Being 6 inches long, this hummer is kind of intimidating, with a fan for a tail. This was a lifer, my favorite next to WTTH. A male Hepatic Tanager made a delightful appearance. The HETA is a southwestern tanager related to the Western- structurally the same but with mild red plumage. auriculars are gray; dark eyeline, red-orange overall. It inhabits mountain forest in the southwest south and west of the Rockies down into subtropical montane forests plus pine savannah of Mexico & Central America (northern group). The second group is found in tropical highlands of western South America. The last group is found in east/central lowlands of South America. Additionally the southern groups are darker red. Yellow-eyed Junco, the sparrow with the most fantastic eyes! Considered a southeast AZ specialty, but it may be expanding its range north. this here is an awesome pic of 2 special woodpeckers. Essentially what we have here is a Madrean Downy WP, plus a messed up Red-headed WP. AZWO (left) Acorn Woodpecker (ACWO) BTHU tease. "Let's see your beautiful face?" "No." Can't get enough of that YEJU: Male AZWO This small woodpecker is closely related to White-headed, and was originally one species with Strickland's. It is found in the madrean sky islands ecoregion (basically Mexico's version or continuation of the Rockies) MEJA- an abundant, gregarious jay of SE AZ. MEJA is in the genus Aphelocoma with the Scrub-Jays, and as such it is curious, friendly, and makes its presence known with repetitive vocalizations. It's a fun jay but possesses a much milder blue color than the others. After much enjoyment from the Sant Rita Lodge, we went down stream to look for what is considered the holy grail of SE AZ birds: Elegant Trogon. This bird has had fame bagged up pretty much since the beginning of the SE AZ birding craze- whenever that was. But its fame is backed up by a shimmering green-blue back, black head, yellow bill & eyering, white collar, insanely brilliant crimson red underside, and oddly shaped & pattered tail. Topped off with a very approachable personality, it is extremely lovable, and even birders pressed for time or focused on mega rarities, are tempted by its lustrous beauty and make time for this bird with gem-like qualities. We were joined by Max Leiboitz at SRL, so he went with us on our noble quest. Here are some sights: Absolutely enormous Fremont Cottonwood! Silverleaf Oak But alas, we received dismaying news that a guy had ran after it to get closer. Of course we didn't give up, we searched around he lower area canyon which is where it went. Now, you may think how could such a beautifully described bird conceal itself. With its back turned to you, it is the same color as the oak trees it perches in. It also shares the ability that owls have to sit completely still. At least it can be turned into a joke: "You said it was chasable!" "Not that kind!" After a while of looking, we went back up to look for Whiskered Screech-Owl, we dipped on that too. At least it's nice to know that I'll return again most likely, fingers crossed. We discussed what we wanted to do next, and decided on going to SRL again because Mark really wanted to see the Coati, whereas I wanted to get better pics/views of BTHU. A Coati was there right when we arrived. It was in a tree, but as I photographed that one I noticed there was one right in front of me... The multiple signs that said the following- "Please do not feed the coati, he is not a pet"- made sense to all of us now, as this thing sure acted like a pet, allowing me to be a half-a-foot away at times. Then he proceeded to do this: He did this for a few minutes straight. Of course the BTHU wasn't happy about his meal disappearing before him because of a random Pokémon. Now you can see the blue throat. Here's some life history: This hummingbird is in the Chiricahua & Huachuca Mountains of SE AZ, the one at SRL is a vagrant- it's not normal for Mt. Wrightson in winter. Tommy actually found one in Greer a few years ago, probably a post-breeding dispersal. It's the largest hummingbird in the US, at 6 inches. Its vocalization is distinctive: reminiscent of White-throated Thrush. I was surprised at how loud sound was coming from such a small bird. Something that makes this hummer particularly beautiful is the iridescent wings & tails, while not very noticeable it adds an extra blue tinge, something lacking in most hummers north of Mexico. The green has a coppery tinge too, especially on the upper tail coves. Last of note is the facial stripes, it looks like war paint. Did I mention it's amazing? Afterwards we gave the thrush one last ditch effort. It resulted in a very brief last sighting: I watched its shadowy form disappear into the hackberries. Since that day, eyes have turned away from the thrush- it is probably still there, but a returning star has showed up at a certain lake here in Maricopa...
This was my first time participating in a first-state record, and hopefully not my last! Special shout-out to Caleb Strand, Mark & Ellen Brogie, and Max Leiboitz. It was nice meeting you Max and I hope we an bird in the near-future. #likecommentshareplz!
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Hi guys! I hope you're all enjoying the beginning of 2019. Man, last year absolutely flew by. It fun while it lasted; I totaled 99 lifers, my second highest number of year lifers, right behind 2017. Among them were some of the coolest birds I've ever seen. I did want to tie in the year overview with today's story, but I'm behind a few posts, so I have to complete those before I do that. Anyways, please enjoy this one! For a while, many birders have been visiting a certain spot next to the highway all the way up in northernmost Arizona for some very special birds. These gorgeous little birds are called Rosy-finches. They have not been seen in Arizona in a decade. They are here because of heavy snow in their normal distribution in essentially Rockies south of Canada (breeder/winterer). Allaboutbirds.org shows the general northernmost region of the state as part of their wintering range, which is probably true, but they go undetected in the state quite a bit. This flock of 60-79 (varies between observers) consists of mostly Black Rosy-Finches, with 2 much rarer Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches, the latter of which I've seen before. Because these were very special birds, and we needed to start the year off with fun, Tommy Debardeleben, Caleb Strand, Jeff Ritz, and I decided to come together and go chase them! You guys should be familiar with all 3, especially Caleb, as they've been featured on my blog previously. Tommy came really early in the morning (4:30) to my house to bring me to Costco where Caleb & Jeff would be. We arrived 20 minutes later, all 4 of us were ready for the rosy-finches; sporting our heavy jackets, hats, gloves, and long pants, prepared for the freezing cold & snow up there. Nothing could stop us. Anyways by the time we were south of Prescott, there was a great deal of snow on the ground in the adjacent grasslands, and it was 4 degrees fahrenheit outside! (shortly after it was 1 degree!). We really felt it at a gas station in Flagstaff. There I bought an SD card for the pet camera, since I forget mine. Tommy bought a wolf calendar- he loves the wild puppers. I totally get it though, wolves are amazing! After that we drove through beautiful snowy Ponderosa Pine forest, then we were onto the Colorado Plateau. When we arrived at the stake-out site, the views were absolutely stunning! The scenery represented one of the most beautiful places I've been in Arizona. Looking back on 2018, I sure have been to a lot of gorgeous locations! I can't help but share the landscape alongside birds. We walked around for a while anticipating our 1st lifers of 2019. The 4 of us were shivering in the glimmering snow, waiting for the true excitement to happen. After about 15 minutes, the 1st clear call note was heard, immediately followed by 60 more! The large flock zoomed down the adjacent cliff, coming our way fast, then fluttering right past our heads. The large black finches highlighted with pink landed on the rust-colored boulders to feed on sunflower seeds put out to help out these hardy little passerines. About a 3rd of the flock came extremely close, a few birds were within a couple feet of me! The brown individual is the much rarer-in-Arizona GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCH. I've seen GCRF in Alaska before- it's one of the coolest birds I've ever encountered. The 1st time I ever saw them was July 4th 2016 in Hatcher Pass in the alpine tundra. The ones there belonged to the same subspecies as the ones of today: tephrocotis. I saw the pacific ssp. while hiking Crow Pass on the Kenai Peninsula. Littoralis is different in that it is darker with silver auriculars (cheeks). There were 2 within this flock. For a few minutes they were paired up. Look at those lil' rosy-finch foot-prints! ...And wing prints. The finches took flight after about 10 minutes. Scattering back up the cliff. We decided to go in the car to warm up. "I think we should wait for them to come back," Tommy proposed. I agreed, I was ready for more. After a while they did what Tommy and us anticipated, returning full speed, seemingly threatening to crash into us. Again they were right below us. "Look behind you Jeff," said Tommy. There was one BLACK ROSY-FINCH inches away from him! "That's almost too close." This one wants to kill me. Black Rosy-Finch is one of 3 North American Leucosticte. The other 2 are Gray-crowned & Brown-capped. They are a potentially threatened, little studied species living in the highlands across the Rocky Mountains. It breeds from southern Montana to northern Colorado west to NE Utah & SW Oregon. It winters in Colorado, Nevada, Utah, northern New Mexico and sometimes northernmost Arizona. It associates with the other 2 rosy-finches at Sandia Crest in northern New Mexico, where you view them from a large window. That is part of what makes our experience special: Most birders go to Sandia Peak for their lifer Leucostictes, viewing them from the warming comfort of a facility, and getting all 3 at once. However, we were basically standing on them, also feeling the brisk, fresh cold vastness while standing in the boot-soaking snow. It reminded me of the Hoary Redpolls from a couple years ago (wow it's been 2 years already!). BLRF's nesting habitat is very inaccessible, so a nest wasn't found until 2002. According to Wikipedia they're endangered, but I doubt that considering we haven't found the entire population. Additionally a lot of their distribution is within national parks & national forests/state parks. Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch- GCRF- has a much more extensive range with a total of 7 subspecies: 3 in the pacific group, 4 in the taiga/interior group. The Pribolif Is. and Aleutian Is. ssps have the most limited distribution, and are larger than other populations. Not seen in Arizona since 2013, before then 1967. We were all glad we waited- it was so worth it. We ended up getting better pictures than the first round, which was fantastic by itself. But the second round truly completed this epic experience, and was such an excellent way to start off the year! Our next stop were the Vermillion Cliffs (They're in the first scenic pics) for another very special bird, one of the rarest in the world. The California Condor. The Navajo Bridge is a famous location to view these phenomenal, colossal vultures in Arizona/US. It didn't take long at all to see one. My camera died while I was viewing my rosy-finch pics, so Tommy let me use his. Thanks dude! And, there you have it: ladies & gents, CALIFORNIA CONDOR! The largest flying bird in the world, 55 inches long, 10 ft. wingspan, weighs up to 30 pounds, and there's only >500 of these beasts in the wild. This bird looks so prehistoric too, like what I imagine Argentavis Magnificens looking like. If you've never heard of A. Magnificens- Also know as the Teratorn Vulture- here's what it is: It had a wingspan of over 26 ft., a height of almost 7 ft., weighed about 160 pounds. This was all estimated from a humerus, which may be accurate, but it could've been slightly larger or smaller. Given the estimated weight though the wingspan would've been bigger. Think about it: It weighs 6 times as much as a condor and yet its wingspan is only doubled. It would make more sense if it were tripled. Anyways, back to CACO: There are 2 main populations: One in southern Utah & one around Grand Canyon/Colorado Plateau. There are 2 smaller ones: One local in northern Baja, & one in central California. This huge vulture became countable in 2003. Its original distribution was southern Oregon across coast ranges plus rocky mountains, down to Baja. It was almost wiped out by lead poisoning from lead bullets in carcasses it fed on. During the Ice Age (Pliocene) it foraged on huge mammals such as mammoths. This bird has represented conservation since its population successfully grew. Because of its popularity as a rare bird, many birders have it on their to-do lists. Hopefully 1 day this bird will be soaring across the Rocky Mountains once again (and the coast ranges). What an impressive vulture: the true Bald Eagle. This is one of my favorite birds, it is one of the most beautiful vultures, and it has been a long-time dream of mine to see one. You know what though: We hadn't seen one in flight. Oh and there was a second individual, a juvenile. There was a RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW foraging in a flat mossy section below the bridge on the cliff. We found an adult pair gliding over the steep cliffs as we were driving, we stopped for the one above.
It's crazy that a Golden Eagle could take this bird down! I don't think any bird is more over-powered than a Golden Eagle. They're extremely smart, strategic, and very strong. Our last main birding stop was Lee's Ferry in Glen Canyon NRA. Here we had many divers & dabblers such as: Redheads, Ring-necked Ducks, Buffleheads, Common Goldeneyes, Lesser Scaups, Gadwalls, and lots of coots, as usual. Later we went down Lake Mary Rd. to look for Rough-legged Hawks, without finding any good birds. Caleb saw a Ferruginous and then ran to the car from the frosty cold. Even the Boy couldn't handle it... Well that ends this post, which consists of a very memorable and phenomenal adventure that was such a great way to start the year. Thanks to Tommy D and Caleb for making this trip happen, and thanks Jeff for coming along as additional company and for sharing your humor. God bless, happy 2019 and I am out! #likecommentshareplz. |
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