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! Welcome to today's post! Caleb and I teamed up with Dara Vasquez and Jeff Ritz. Jeff eats crackers, particularly those of the Ritz brand. He's also really cool. We were to arrive at B&M WA, walk the 4+ miles to the far end of Tres Rios, hit Hunters Ponds for BBWD (Black-bellied Whistling-Duck) then eat food at McDonald's and enjoy that beautiful thing called AC (a blessing where I live). And Caleb thinks walking around GRPs is a good idea from 12:00-2:00 IN THE AFTERNOON, P.M. I do not object, but, um, well who cares about the heat when your looking at a freaking ....... ....! Ha! didn't see hangman coming did you! Let me just tell you, it was worth it! Unfortunately Tommy will not be joining us, he's as elusive as a Black Rail. But that is aokao (my version of ok), because hanging out with 3 awesome people was enough. So Caleb, Jeff, and I arrived at the B&M parking area. I don't know why, but cars seem to really like parking lots. What is with that? Anyways, Dara was late. It's usual, according to Mr. Ritz. Some 10 minutes later, Dara shows up in her shiny white car. So we get walking. Because that's what birders do. It was actually just a few minutes when Caleb found an awesome bird, a lifer, a Common Ground-Dove. But it flew off before I could see it. Oh well, we'll just keep looking, right? The path we were walking on was supposed to be really good for them. The views at Tres Rios are to die for! Ok, maybe not so, but the shade is, if heat stroke doesn't kill you first... FWI: Overheating is a real threat in Maricopa County, high and low elevations, BRING LOTS OF WATER when birding. Your going to want to spend a lot of time birding locations anyways, so you might as well. Riparian, being scarse and widely scattered, attracts phenomenal migrants & vagrants. Certainly not that time of year, but come Sept-Oct and April-May, birding rocks here in the Mari! Also, these are 2 different photos. And I will share some Odes, this is a Rambur's Forktail, a nice looking damsel. Oding is just like birding, except dragonflies & damselflies are what's being observed. They can also be just as interesting as birds, the colors they display are pretty spectacular. It is a bummer that our best Ode of the day I couldn't photograph (sigh). I'll mention it later, and after that you can go ahead and research it. By the way guys, B&M didn't really yield anything cool or anything from the Lifer Department. Cardinals were abundant around Tres Rios, with males singing everywhere, but only this individual put on a show. No female cardinal could resist the brilliant crimson and rich song of this male, right? Well if he's singing, then rejections have been in his past. How do I know? No cardinal gets his/her way in life very easy. Almost all birds with mates didn't obtain them by singing their first song, or succeed on their first try. No one at all could tell this is a Red-winged Blackbird. I used to like those. Do I now? Caleb said on this trip that you can't be sick of seeing a bird until you know every feather, every vocalization, and behavior. So I guess I do. I would say an adult GREAT-HORNED OWL was our first highlight, despite being an owl I'll eventually see 100 times. But hay, it's an owl, that's always a highlight. The owl flushed out of a Fremont Cottonwood. Birding with Jeff & Dara is really cool. They're both funny, and Jeff will be in an upcoming short post. I told Dara about my White Mountains adventure. For those who don't know, White Mountains is an extremely high elevation large region in eastern Arizona. It has a lot of very local species, and is better for forest birds than other parts of Arizona. There is an upcoming post about it :). Dara is a fairly young birder, 30s or something, she just got serious about birding for a year and a half. she is one of the fastest birders to reach 300 Maricopers. She is also really good at birding, which is awesome considering how new to it she is. I showed her some of my forest pix of West Baldy Trailhead, and it made her want to visit. She also said the Downy Woodpecker was cute. It is. Jeff Ritz is a cool guy. He has more than a few years of birding experience, and is pretty great at it. I like how he makes a lot of jokes and especially remarks while birding. Birding is funny when birding with Ritz. Birding is funny when birding with all the birders I've featured on my blog. You would definitely have to bird with them to see for yourself. Lucy's Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, and Black-tailed Gnatcatcher were feeding nestling Brown-headed Cowbirds. A baby cowbird is like twice the size of all 3 of those, and a fledgling about 10 times the size. And the poor soul that has been imprisoned with raising an over-sized baby have to feed these things. Yeah. A bunch of Cowbirds hanging out at the top of a bare cottonwood said, "That's my boy!" Yellow-billed Cuckoos love Gooding's Willow riparian groves during southwestern summers. In the southwest they're endangered, which is unfortunate and means playback is illegal. The Yellow-billed Cuckoo is a beautiful bird, it's one of 3 American cuckoos, the only one of 3 without black in its bill, and has a unique-looking long body & long tail. Caleb says it reminds him of Elegant Trogon with the body shape. It reminds me of Yellow-billed Magpie, because both have a yellow bill. I'm just joking, it looks like this: Northern-hawk Owl + Elegant Trogon + Prairie Falcon + Yellow-billed Magpie + Curve-billed Thrasher x Greater Roadrunner= Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Only this equation makes to sense to Jared. Unless you really think about it. A few minutes later we came across this forest. I thought it looked promising, so I scanned the canopies. I started imitating the song, and instead of cuckoos responding, a couple of BARN OWLS flushed and flew behind the river bend. After that Jeff joined me to find our target. #bestriparianphotoof2018. Maybe. Anyways, I thought I heard its "PO-wow!" calls, but it was a bit high-pitched. Jeff said it was most likely one of the domestic birds. We had mostly just heard COMMON GALLINULES, but we saw one pretty well in this body of water. I could have gotten a decent pic too. It was buddies with a GREEN HERON, which we saw and heard everywhere. Still holds up as a cool bird though (both do). You know how it is, I get photos of other stuff instead of birds. Sorry. Now, these are Common Plecostomus, my brother used to have one of these as a pet, 8 years. Remember how I was saying there was lots of introduced species, both plants and animals, at B&M. Well for one, those are at Tres Rios too, and for 2, these are one of those. Common Pleco is native to the Orinoco Basin. Speaking of fish, you guys gotta be wondering about mine. My goodness, I love him so much. Let me just tell you, it's a good thing there's glass between him and my fingers. I already got bit once, and that was back when he was only 4 1/2 inches and without teeth. Now most of his teeth are in, and as he grows they will. He's about 6 1/2 inches, and still going. I've had him for over 7 months now, and he's done so many hilarious things. For one, when he snaps his jaws, it's really loud. He does it all the time trying to bite through the glass (like I said, glass between his infamous mouth and me). For 2, I kept feeding him different foods he hadn't even eaten before, and he decided none of them tasted good. They were: orange, banana, spinach, and cabbage. Here's the thing though. When I turned my back on him, he tried to jump out of the tank. He actually wanted to get out. You see, he assumes there's more water outside of the tank. I know because when he's coming at me, he doesn't slow down when he hits the glass, it's both funny and worrying. But he's an intelligent fish, one of the smartest species. He's more likely just tough, so doesn't care about glass. 3rd, he definitely has the capacity to be bored. He usually builds little hills of pebbles, but recently, he built a mountain. I felt bad when I did my most recent water change. First, I scraped cyannobacteria by his giant mound with my algae scraper. This made him mad that I was any where near his mound. He aggressively grabbed and shook the scraper, threatening to shove it out of my hands. Except I'm 6 ft, he's 6 inches, so it was funny. But then I really felt bad when I blew up Mt. Everest with my aquarium vacuum. Can you see genuine sadness in a fish's eyes? I'm pretty sure I did when all my poor little water puppy could do was just hover there and watch... Now 4th, and yes I know this is supposed to be about birds, but these last points are short. So I renamed him a couple times, before settling on Pup, with his full name being Pupper, because an adorable fish deserves an adorable name. 5th, a little bit ago, I gave him an algae wafer. It landed in between his eyes. He saw the food being dropped in his tank, but was confused because he had no idea where it went. So he kept looking at me and around the tank. He eventually figured it out. 6th, I'm pretty sure he bites to play with me. He bites really hard when I touch the walls or my arm is in the aquarium. Lately I've succeeded in petting his head. He tries to bite me in return, except it looks like he's just trying to softly bite me, like an affectionate puppy bite. Also he can't possibly be angry all the time. Just when I appear to be messing with him or an object in his aquarium. Oftentimes he swims up to me without bumping into the wall, and doesn't bite me then. Also when someone walks down the hall, he excitedly swims up to them. I know he likes attention, and why not? After all, he's one of the smartest fish. And I do know for a fact that fish look out for one another and form friendships, I'll definitely have to share those stories sometime. Anyways, as awesome as fish are, this is a birding blog, so... Caleb spotted this bird, which took me a little bit to find. Can you see it. Check the tall marsh grasses for this species. One might think this a passerine. Is it? Sure. I. Give. You. The..... ....LEAST BITTERN! Sure it's not a lifer, but deserves a grand introduction anyways, because it's the Least Bittern. Now I knew this heron was tiny. I just didn't realize it was the size of a Red-winged Blackbird! The first pic is an excellent comparison photo. This individual was a lot closer than the previous one, and has provided my best view so far. This sighting was more epic and ideal than my first ever! I just love how compact and tiny this heron is, the world's smallest in fact! So adorable... Please don't tell the Red-winged Blackbird this, but of the 2, LEAST BITTERN is way cooler. I certainly enjoyed this bird, Dara said that she could see the excitement in my eyes. I guess Least Bitterns do that. When Least Bittern and Red-winged Blackbird compete to be the better-looking marsh bird. I know, we were just getting into birds, but Odes are amazing too. This is a female Marl Pennant. I love this dragonfly, it's called the Mexican Amberwing. I'll share some more pix of that one. As a birder, you get immersed with everything natural around you! Including the spectacular Mexican Amberwing. Sometimes BLUE GROSBEAK isn't so gorgeous. One of those times is in my first photo. This is a young male, looking good with a dark blue mask. But still, adult males... He's also in a dull tree, Mexican Palo Verde. Here's another Mexican Amberwing, and remember at the beginning I mentioned we had a most spectacular Ode of the day, well this isn't it. I mentioned that I hadn't seen a Cattle Egret in Arizona. I said my only ones were in Maui, and that I failed both times on looking for a Tricolored Heron @ my patch, and looked for the continuing Cattle Egret while there. Caleb was scanning the skies as we talked, and the conversation continued. Then Caleb was like, "Oh wow, there's a CATTLE EGRET flying across." I said, "Seriously?" With a little direction we all saw the perfectly-timed egret. The Cattle Egret is one of the smallest egrets, looking like a compacted Great Egret. Anyways, it was great to see a Cattle Egret after 5 years! While on the subject of Ardeidae, we also had double-digits of Snowy Egrets so far, 17 GREEN HERONS, visual and calling, Black-crowned Night-Herons, and a few Great Egrets & Great Blue Herons. Of course, the best of the best from the heron department is a total of 4 Least Bitterns. After the Cattle Egret we found a small mesquite to sit under, and rested for a while. We mostly talked about the White Mts, among other things. This needs to be a meme... The PEREGRINE FALCON looks away in shame when he finds out he's not the fastest bird... We saw this epic dude a few times, and he's the only Peregrine with a photo in Jared's birding history. The Peregrine is the only falcon with a cosmopolitan (worldwide) distribution. There are 19 subspecies total. Some might be evaluated to full species status, such as Barbary Falcon and the South American Peregrine. It's true, though, the Peregrine is not the fastest bird, the Golden Eagle is. The competition to be the better-looking marsh bird continues... A male Least Bittern would end the competition. The Black-crowned Night-Terror. I meant heron. My first of this species was actually ssp hoactli, the Hawaiian BCNH. That's right, my first 2 herons were this species and Cattle Egret, both in Hawaii. How about that. This Dusky Dancer was a highlight among Odes. #funfact: Dusky Dancers in habit lowland riparian, such as Tres Rios & B&M, Sooty Dancers inhabit upland riparian, such as HRP, Caleb told me this. Now it was later in the morning, heat was threatening us, as usual. Some Turkey Vultures were beginning to circle over us, waiting for us to die. But there is another vulture that has a local population in western Maricopa. Caleb found my first lifer of the day, BLACK VULTURE. But, it was way up high in the sky, above the more cooperative Turkey Vultures. Now that's sad. Well, I guess I'll have to describe the vulture. Well, it was black. I did see the unique shape, silvery wingtips, long bill, and trapezoidal tail. The Black Vulture has very wide and shorter wings, held flatter, and a very short trapezoid tail (as previously mentioned. Bird photos are kinda lacking in this post, huh? Stick around till the end, and you won't be let down!! Eventually we rested, right by a Velvet Mesquite bosque, with some willows across from us. For a while we sat and talked, until a knocking sound interrupted the conversation. "What's that," Dara asked. Caleb said, "Oh, that was a YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO." So it was only natural to call the amazing bird out into the open. The bird eventually flew up from the willows. Caleb saw it. Jeff saw it. Dara saw it. Yours truly, hardly. I turned around just as Caleb said he had the bird, so really it was the out-of-the-corner-of-my-eye scenario. Why I wasn't already turned around like everybody else? Well, I was looking with them and calling in the bird, but I turned the other way just before it flushed. Dang it. Some cuckoos aren't very nice. After the cuckoo, we found a shadier spot. After that, we split up, Jeff and I hung out underneath some cottonwoods for a few minutes. Jeff and I birded a little bit. Caleb and Dara were behind a stand of Tamarisks, so I was going to go around it to get to the other side so I could join with them. As soon as I made it there, Caleb was walking towards me. There goes my shade. So I walked in the sun with Caleb for a little bit before we found a shady spot to rest at for a while. For a few minutes, we sat in silence. Suddenly Caleb, the rare bird finder that he is, said, "I'm pretty sure that's an Indigo Bunting singing." The best part about that statement is, I heard it too! But we weren't going to finish up birding Tres Rios without finding this beautiful bird. We walked over to a stand of Mesquites and cottonwoods. The closer we got to the stand, the clearer the song became. The song echoed through the Fremont Cottonwoods once we were there. When we got close to mesquite, it flew up with a few Blue Grosbeaks. Caleb called Dara to tell her we had an Indigo Bunting over by the baby owls. Earlier we had a few fledgling Great-horned Owls calling in the spot. We had to crane our necks as it constantly moved high up in the cottonwoods. Now hears what made it annoying: We had to keep moving from cottonwood to cottonwood to see the bunting. But every step taken was a loud one, continuously encouraging the bunting to move higher up, back down, left right, east and west. Jeff, Dara, Caleb, and I had invented a new game, Musical Birders. All because of an Indigo Bunting that was disturbed by super-loud dead cottonwood leaves. Worse yet was that it stopped singing everytime it moved to a different spot. Eventually the bunting flew out of the cottonwoods and into some mesquites. We used playback combined with epic pishing to keep the bunting nearby and hopefully bring it out into the open. Finally, the bunting came to the front of the mesquites, and I relocated it. I got the worst photos ever of one of the best birds ever. This is an immature male INBU, note the white lower belly. Other than that this bird was entirely blue, but still wasn't spectacular. In the first pic you can see the diagnostic small bill that distinguishes him from the BLGR. I was fairly close to this dream-bird, so he decided to fly back into the cottonwoods. He was in there for a few minutes, but then he flew outside the grove. So we got back on the path to relocate him. We had to pish a lot to convince him to get out of the dense mesquite/tamarisk woodland. Then came what we had all, especially me, anticipated... He flew into a Mexican Palo Verde not far from us. This was my perfect opportunity to photograph my dream-bird But I had to actually see it first, because this was more importantly the perfect opportunity to see the brilliant indigo color on this bird. The reason a Mexican Palo Verde is especially ideal for photographing/viewing this bird, is the lack of leaves. This along with the fact the sun was behind us provided the best look at this individual so far. So we had a perfect bird in perfect light, and in a leafless tree. "Oh my God." It really was an INDIGO BUNTING, not that we didn't know that already, but because this bird was a spectacular deep, dark, brilliant blue! This bird truly is one of the most beautiful birds ever, and has to be in my top 5 by the end of this year! I look back and I'm even more glad I was able to see that beautiful bird in the palo, because I brought up the camera, and he flew out of there! What is it with birds being disturbed by raising cameras??? The bunting never left our company, he only entered. We heard him singing on the way back to the parking lot. Dara and I talked about hummingbirds for a little bit. Caleb and I went down to a canal and walked along that, because Caleb told me we could see a Tiger Beetle species that was thought to be extinct only last year. We never saw those, but we should next time, he says that their pretty abundant along the canal pavement. However, our best Ode of the day showed up along here. The Roseate Skimmer. Instead of scarlet red of the Flame Skimmer, the Roseate has brilliant purple, magenta, and pink coloration. And once back to our cars, we headed to McDonald's. Caleb got blueberry blast, so I joked and said, "Now Caleb, what you have here is a fountain bluebird." And then Dara was like, "Or a mountain dewbird!" Birders are funny. McDonald's is actually where our most interesting conversations of the day happened. Caleb ordered him and I 3 sausage burritos. That was a lifer food for me. I thought talking about duck hybrids was really cool. Caleb first showed us Mallard X Common Eider, which you think wouldn't even exist. But, Mallards are obsessed with mating. That's what I have to say. Except there's Ring-necked X Wood Duck, Hooded Merg X Barrow's Goldeneye, Steller's X Common Eider, Wood Duck X Mallard, and Hooded Merg X Wood Duck. You would think that between completely different shapes, colors, and especially diets that they would hold back. But here's the thing, Some of the duck hybrids, especially Hooded Merg X Wood Duck, Hooded Merg X Ring-necked, and Hooded merg X Barrow's Goldeneye (anything hybridized with Hooded Merganser is bound to be freaking awesome-looking!) are actually cooler than pure ducks. And all these hybrids mentioned are wild. An example of a domestic hybrid is Hooded Merg X Smew. Caleb said Dara & Sean should team up to bird GWR, and Caleb & Tommy would team up to bird GRPs, so that Caleb & Tommy could show them that GRPs is the better hotspot. On a side note, Dara finally decided that a sausage burrito sounded good, but as soon as she turned around to go order it, the menu switched to lunch. #whoops. On another side note, Caleb and I had 3 sausage burritos each, but then Caleb ate 2 burgers, wow. And on another side note, the post of many side notes, Caleb mentioned that on the birding memes facebook page there was a fake news report about lumping all Empids. Jeff said, "I'm all for that, we just need one species of Empid." Dara was like, "What if you just stood outside the ABA conference building holding a sign that says "lump". Jeff is like, "I totally should." Oh, my fellow blog viewers, you would have to have been there, we had plenty of interesting and funny conversations, but sadly me noggin' can be forgetful. Sometimes. Except it doesn't fail to remember 912 birds that have been recorded in North America, that are countable And then we left McDonald's, after about 2 hours of hanging out there. From there, the Glendale Recharge Ponds (Or just GRPs, why Jared?) was to be our final destination of the day. This imm. male Green Heron says hi. We saw him in the canal below the parking bridge Things are looking pretty good in the Ardeidae department today, between CAEG, GRHE, and the best of the best: LEBI. It has been over a year now since my first Green Heron, and it still holds up as a beautiful bird. But, how could I be bored of it yet if these are my only good photos anyways. This thing just looks cool, and by the way, you did good for me Mr. Butorides virescens. But enough said about Green Herons. Let's turn our attention to the Common Gallinule family in the riparian area. Except, no photo, so I guess not. But the point is, this is Caleb's first time observing this species nesting at Glendale (another name for the GRPs, since it's practically in the center of the city of Glendale). That's pretty interesting considering Caleb has been going here for a long time, and there is suitable habitat here. Baby Gallinules aren't pretty. And that's not an opinion. And then, Jeff's coolness level went way up. How cool? This cool: "Oh, I have a tern!" Those are the 5 words that got yours truly jumping up and down screaming "WHERE?! WHERE?! WHERE?! WHERE?!" Sounds like an impatient child, right? Well, I guess now we know that terns can turn me into that. No pun intended. But guys, I've been very, very patient. Story anyone? My first ever tern was an Arctic Tern flying over Nancy Lake that my Dad pointed out to me. This was summer of 2010, I was 8. So I guess I was an impatient child when I saw my first tern... Anyways, this was one of my Dad's favorite birds. This experience along with many others to come made it one of mine too. In my first technical year of birding, 2015, we watched them plunge-dive into the Kenai River to catch small fish. Let me tell you, it is extremely fun to watch. This was in Soldotna, a small town on the Kenai Peninsula. Every May, Homer has a shorebird festival. We went there the next day. While there, I got a guide to Alaska's birds. As soon as I got it, I started flipping through it to see what interesting birds Alaska had that I wasn't aware of. One that really caught my attention was the Caspian Tern. I had no idea they were annual in the Cook Inlet. But I never did see a Caspian Tern since then, despite driving around Cook Inlet often. Now, June 27th 2018, if this was a Caspian Tern, my dream of seeing one was about to come true. "It looks Caspian, the bill is large and really bright red, the tail is short too." And then Caleb showed it to me through his scope, it was flying across basin 1. It was amazing. Far away too. The SRP was doing some huge maintenance on the ponds this time around, and we could tell because trucks & tractors were everywhere. Didn't exactly look pretty. So yeah, we had to look past large vehicles to see this massive tern, so a brilliant idea occurred to me; "Let's get closer!!" "If we don't die of heat stroke," Jeff replied. So Jeff, Dara, and I left the riparian to enjoy this spectacular tern. Caleb stayed on the bike path to continue birding the riparian. This bird was flying around the ponds really fast, making a full circle around a single basin in less than 30 seconds. So getting closer took a while. But it did happen. Why ya got to be so far away CATE? I don't like this photo. When we were walking on that burm Caleb joined us, and the CATE left us to circle over the ponds. The one time a killdeer is awesome, when it's pretending to have a broken wing. Killdeers do this to lead potential threats away from the nest. Most of the time the Killdeer is a bland, generic bird, but this threat display is fun to watch, and makes for a cool photo. After this Dara made me feel bad after I told her I didn't want to count a Mountain Bluebird in the high elevation White Mts. grasslands because it was a female. She got me to count it. Spoiler alert. Then this ugly 2nd summer CALIFORNIA GULL showed up. The Caspian Tern attempts to hide in a flock of cormorants. That's like a Caleb trying to hide in a flock of Tommys. Epic Caspian Tern. Horrible background. These sets are definitely sold separately. When your a hydeous gull: Many friends leave you... Some friends stay behind... ...But then they leave you too. Most of the time, Hydroprone caspia likes to keep his distance. But not all the time... ...The CASPIAN TERN finally came over us, something we anticipated would happen during our time with 2018's best bird! This was nearly a milestone bird as #355 on my Life List, but because Dara made me feel bad, it's #356! The CASPIAN TERN looks absolutely spectacular in this photo! These 3 photos were the reason I wanted to get closer. However these photos only represent the experience I had, the actual experience was far greater! I am very excited to revisit the Caspian Tern... The Caspian Tern is the largest tern in the world, bigger than a California Gull and with a gigantic 5 ft. wingspan. Jeff even said it would be insane to see this bird side by side with Least Tern (the smallest), and yes, that would be. It has been 8 long years since my very first tern. We observed this tern for about 30 minutes, but once that time was up, it got very, very hot. It was a long, miserable walk to the parking lot, but the Caspian Tern, only my second species of tern ever, made it so worth it. "And he was so ugly, everyone died. The end." One day, this will be a beautiful California Gull. But this ugly creature has a long way to go to get to that day.
Thanks to Jeff, Dara, and Caleb for this amazing day I had! I hope you guys enjoyed this post as much as I did, well, the reading part, not the writing part... Stay tuned...
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Arizona's White Mountain range/region is both extensive, and remote. Of course, remote is a relative term. In Arizona, remote simply means a long drive away, and with small communities. Remote in Alaska means a long fly away, and with no communities. Overall, remoteness refers to somewhere isolated and especially somewhere beautiful. Some cities are beautiful. Some towns are isolated. But they aren't wild. The White Mountains are positioned in east-central Arizona, very close to New Mexico. Mt. Baldy is the highest mountain peak, at 11,420 ft. above sea level. In the lower elevations of the White Mts, the forest type is Ponderosa Pine with Alligator Junipers and Gambel/Emory Oak plus Boxelder, Rocky Mt. & Big-leaf Maples. Riparian consists of Arizona Sycamore plus the deciduous trees just mentioned. Above that is Ponderosa Pine-exclusive forest, the lowest-diversity forest bird habitat in North America. There are still the deciduous riparian species. After that comes Ponderosa, Doug-fir, and Aspen forest. Soon the elevation gets high enough for White Firs, and the riparian then transitions into Arizona Alder, Narrowleaf Cottonwood, & various cool-climate Salix willows, such as Peachleaf. And still, even higher, Blue Spruce, Common Juniper, and Southwestern White-Pine are added into the mix of tree species. Around 9,000 ft., Engelmann Spruce, Corkbark Fir, and Sub-alpine Fir are in the forest. 1,000+ ft. up, Doug-fir, Ponderosa Pine and Southwestern White Pine disappear, as well as most riparian trees. We are now at more than 10,000 ft. up, the Spruce-fir zone. This zone is primarily coniferous, because most riparian trees have been eliminated, with the ones remaining stunted, and the Aspens are shorter. Sub-alpine Fir, Cork-bark Fir, White Fir, Engelmann Spuce, Blue Spruce and Common Junipers are champions here. Even still, we haven't yet made it to 11,420 ft. Approaching 11,000 ft., it becomes to high for White Fir and Aspens, with the remaining spruces & firs are stunting in height. Above this all trees stunt, and towards the peak, Common Juniper disappears, and Engelmann Spruce dominates over Blue Spruce. Finally, at the very top, the remaining 4 conifer/tree species are very small. Combined with extremely high elevation and location of eastern Arizona, the White Mountains have some of Arizona's hardest-to-find birds here. It even has its own "Big Five" birds: Gray Jay, Pine Grosbeak, Dusky Grouse, American Three-toed Woodpecker, and American Dipper. This is the most reliable region in the state to see all 5, and is the only location for Pine Grosbeak and Gray Jay. Other excellent birds here are; Gray Catbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Mountain Bluebird, Downy Woodpecker, Red-faced Warbler, and Williamson's Sapsucker. The pure grasslands in the area have breeding Eastern Meadowlarks & Mountain Bluebird. The Little Colorado River has a breeding population of Gray Catbirds, 1 of 2 in the state (the other in Flagstaff) with this one being the larger. Additionally, all the high-elevation species I've just mentioned are more common in the White Mountains than elsewhere in Arizona such as in Flagstaff and Sedona. Take one look at the higher areas of the region, like Mt. Baldy, and this fact is understandable. The White Mts are far more beautiful than Flag and Sedona, as well as more isolated. It's the perfect summer home for Arizona's mountain species. It has been a goal of mine to visit the White Mts in 2018, particularly summer. Not only are birds everywhere that time of year, it is greener there, and of course, Phoenix is freaking hot. So, I did my research, looking at my friend Tommy D's website, which not only has a guide to birding Maricopa, he has a guide to birding the White Mts as well! I'm a hardcore birder, but my favorite habitat to bird in is high elevation coniferous forest. This provides the most beautiful birding backdrop, but low diversity comes with it. I had a conversation with Caleb last night, and he says that Tommy has the same style. He loves birding coniferous. Apparently Dara also enjoys the same habitat. Caleb on the other hand, birds mudflats, riparian, and migrant traps. He says this makes him a California birder. Why bird those habitats? Vagrants. Rare migrants. High bird diversity. Of those habitats, riparian is the best, which is especially great because it's also the most beautiful. But in terms of bird quality, mudflats do have one of my favorites. They have long & sharp wings, a forked tail, little feet, and a thin bill. Terns. Sometimes cool raptors are seen on long drives, other times, Red-tailed Hawks get hopes up only to shatter them. Luckily the former was the case this time around, though we did see some Red-tailed Hawks. In Maricopa CO, I saw a ZONE-TAILED HAWK perched on a Juniper as we were driving by. Cool. As y'all know, the Zonie is one of my favorite hawks. You also know the Harris's Hawk was once a Zonie Phony... Did you also know the Zonie is a Turkey Vulture phony? It holds its wings in a dihedral (V), and has that half black half gray wing pattern. Luckily God threw in some white tail bands and wing barring to distinguish it in flight. Additionally, people say it's very "Accipiter-like". So which is it, a vulture or a Sharp-shinned Hawk? Truthfully it's a Buteo. Huh, birders are weird... In Gila CO, I saw a COMMON BLACK-HAWK on a nest in a Ponderosa Pine snag. As you know, I've only seen 1 Common Black-Hawk prior to this, nearly 2 months ago now! It was a bit odd seeing one on a nest in a pine snag, they prefer large AZ Sycamores & Fremont Cottonwoods (I think other large riparian trees, such as massive Gambel Oaks, Velvet Ashes, and Willows). Can be identified when perched at a distance in a drive-by observation by: Take a look at the cere, the facial skin in front of the eyes. Larger on COBH, additionally brighter yellow. They have a thicker bill, and short tail can be useful. Don't use any one field mark at a time, use combination of these differences to identify. Common Black-Hawks are cool. Soon after that I saw another nesting raptor, also in a pine. It had a large blocky head, smallish bill, and was whitish below, gray above. This bird was most likely a male NORTHERN GOSHAWK, always an excellent find. It's especially great to see a nesting individual. We were driving through Navajo CO when I saw my first summering SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, pretty awesome! It was hovering and being acrobatic, looking cool in general. Often times fly-bys can be really great birds, but sadly you have a tiny amount of time to observe them, with all that short time taken up by identifying it, which means you have no time to enjoy it. And then my first lifer of the trip happened. No photo. That's just, just... "Sigh". Let me introduce you to the bird that is celebrated as Thanksgiving dinner. Well, that's just the Domestic Turkey, but lucky for me, these 4 (2 males + 2 fems) were MERRIAM'S TURKEYS! Merriam's is a ssp. that inhabits the Rocky Mts./AZ Mts./Mogollon Rim ecoregion complex. There are 2 turkey species, both of Meleagris. The other one is Ocellated Turkey. And yes, turkeys are spectacular birds. Wild Turkeys are beautiful enough, but the Ocellated Turkey is a Meleagris following the example of a Peafowl. Eventually, I'll get around to world traveling. When that happens, there should be a post about the stunning Ocellated Turkey. By the way, ocellated means "many-eyed". Unfortunately turkeys aren't viewed as gorgeous birds, and that's because of overweight domestic turkeys. They appear to be displaying when they're not. The meat underneath fluffs up the feathers. Why so plump? Because a well-fed turkey= a well fed human. Among North American birds, Turkeys are out of place in many ways. For one, they highly resemble a pheasant. But there is a reason for that. Most bizarre about the Turkey is that despite no pheasants in the Americas, they're clearly pheasants. For one, they have spurs, something male grouse lack. They have a bare face and wattle, restricted to pheasants, grouse have air-sacs and eye combs. They also fluff up they're mantle, something a lot of pheasants do (such as peacock) and grouse never do. They have spectacular, impressive iridescence, which isn't lacking in grouse (Western Capercallie for example) but is far more consistent in pheasants. Lastly, the tail is proportionally large, and the legs/feet aren't feathered. Although the Turkey seems consistent with pheasants in nearly all respects, there is something off about it: The fact that it is in North America and not similar climates. OK, here's the thing: We're all pretty certain that the continents were all connected a long time ago. I mean, this would explain why many terrestrial species and birds that aren't capable of crossing oceans are found on multiple continents, such as Willow Ptarmigan. However, not all turkeys would have flown over to America. There are many places in Europe and Asia that parallel habitat types of North America, so they could've just gone to those locations. Here's the catch though: No turkey fossilss in Asia or Europe. Either none have been found, or the Turkey is a newer bird. The only way it could be new is to adapt from a member of the same genus. Of course, if of newer origin, than it is more than likely after the great flood and Pangea. That means a few pairs or so had to cross the ocean. There are turkey fossils in America. There used to be a California Turkey, but they have the entire skeleton, so the fossil isn't an ancient one. Unlikely as it may seem, something like an Indian Peafowl could've crossed the ocean to adapt into a Wild Turkey on the east coast. They would probably make it to the other side alive because the climate would slowly change as they fly, transitioning gradually from tropical to temperate, allowing them to acclimate. Of course, we haven't discovered any fossils of our mystery pheasant, which makes sense since nobody really looks for fossils of any kind in the east. Anyways, it would've taken a very long time for this pheasant to adapt into a Wild Turkey, so this had to take place 100s or even a thousand years prior to their discovery. Tangents aside, other facts: *In the east, Turkeys live in lowland forests, primarily deciduous, as well as adjacent clearings and grasslands. In the west, they live upland and prefer coniferous such as open Pine/Oak woodland. The Wild Turkey is isolated from the Ocellated Turkey, with absolutely no range overlap. Not to mention the Wild Turkey's distribution is scattered and inconsistent. *In captivity, they are too overweight to fly, but in the wild it's something their good at. *Wild Turkeys are more bronze in the west and more green in the east. *Eventually the Wild Turkey won't be just 1 species anymore! You see, because of its scattered distribution, there are many populations that are isolated from each other with no overlap, and can be visually identified. As I previously mentioned, Merriam's Turkey is the ssp of east-central & northern Arizona. My goodness, That was a lot of info on the Wild Turkey, and I was the one who had to write that. So by now you may have forgotten that this is a post about the White Mountains. I kinda did.... BTW, Merriam's Wild Turkey is #349! Cow says "moo." Once past Heber and into the sky-grasslands of the White Mts, moo moos were everywhere. But what wasn't in sight. Mountain Bluebirds. Mountain Plovers. We did see some of those birds I just can't seem to get away from, you know, Say's Phoebes. Although I did have one of those "hmm" moments when I saw a bird that looked like a female Mountain Bluebird. I knew this was a female Mountain Bluebird, but you see the Mountain Bluebird is one of few birds that I won't make any exceptions for to include on my Life List. It can't be a drive-by lifer. It can't be a brief observation. It's got to be a brilliant male. The backdrop has to be wild, i.e no buildings in the background. Of course I've got to obtain a photo that is above decent. I would also prefer if the sky was blue. This might seem a bit over-the-top needy, but guys, all these conditions could be met in the grasslands we were driving through. And the sky was a perfect blue color. You'll see in the photos. The only condition that wasn't met: No male Mountain Bluebird. I made an exception. In the previous post Dara made me feel bad. #350 (milestone bird. I mean, excemation mark!) So guys, right now, it's the dry season, the peak. Because of this, many roads and trails are closed. The quickest way to Greer was one of those roads that was closed. We had to go the long way around. But there's nothing wrong with that when you stop at West Baldy Trail Head. The White Mountains are spectacular! I told you guys! Now let me show you something really cool. This is a cropped photo of the 2 trees on the far right. They actually belong to 2 separate conifer groups. The left one is actually a tree lifer, CORKBARK FIR. The Corkbark Fir ranges across the Rocky Mountains and interior west, and because the White Mountains are an extension of the Rockies, it is the only location where Corkbark Fir occurs in Arizona. Interestingly, both Subalpine Fir and Corkbark Fir occur side by side in the White Mts. The right tree is an ENGELMANN SPRUCE. Because of the similarity of these 2 species, confusion is common. Engelmann Spruce also has a limited range in Arizona, present only at really high elevations. When it gets too high on the mountain for other trees to be present, there is a forest type called Spruce-fir. 2 species of spruce, Engelmann & Blue, and 2 firs, Subalpine & Corkbark Fir are in this zone. Up here, Gray Jays, Pine Grosbeak, and Swainson's Thrushes dominate, among others. The cones is the only obvious difference, but combining multiple subtle differences allows an obvious ID. On a fir, cones stiffly stand up straight. On a spruce, cones hang. Also note how the fir cones are green-blue and spruce cones are brown. But during the time cones aren't on the tree, you can do this: Here you can see on the first tree, CB Fir, has bark similar to Quaking Aspen, and Engelmann Spruce has rough, flaky, and gray-brown bark, characteristic of all Picea. Note that the tallest tree has a spire-like appearance, this is because the base of the tree is already narrow, with the crown extremely narrow. This is either Corkbark or Subalpine Fir, most likely the latter because the needles are greener and bark doesn't resemble Corkbark. We'll get to birds, don't worry. This photo is the same one above, further cropped. The center tree is a definite Corkbark , note blueish foliage. However, note the thin tree right of it. That is a Subalpine Fir, note how bright green the needles are (same color as the Engelmann Spruce, left of Corkbark). Another Corkbark, Engelmann Spruce behind it. Note how the needles generally face upward on the fir and downward on the Engelmann. This is why the cones face different directions in the 2 conifers. You can also kinda see the bark on the Fir. Because of the needles facing up on the fir and down on spruce, firs have a stiffer appearance. Now you should be able to look at this forest and pick out Subalpine Fir from Engelmann Spruce, Corkbark Fir from Engelmann Spruce, and Subalpine Fir from Corkbark Fir. How about this forest? Blue Spruce & Doug-fir are added to the landscape in this one. Blue vs Engelmann Spruce isn't a challenge, Blue Spruce has distinct stiff silvery-blue needles. What a spectacular forest... American Dippers and Gray Catbirds breed in this stuff (riparian photos). And now back to birds, that is what this blog is about, right? Jared's Birding Blog. RED CROSSBILLS, (not sure which type) flew over in small flocks a few times. Many GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS & RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS were singing in the riparian habitat. American Robins were also around. The GC Kinglets & crossbills were my first for Arizona, but heard only. Special birds that are heard only drives me crazy. I hate to think about it. American Robin parenting can be tough, but the photo-shoots are worth it. The longhorn beetle on top of the pile looks alive. Right now we're in the town of Greer looking for a birding hike. Our options were cut back because it's the dry season (wet season while I'm writing this, slacker) The point is that it was very dry, a self-explanatory fire hazard here in Arizona. I thought we were in central Colorado. Thanks fire hazard for reminding me of what state I'm really in. Anyways, the American Robin helped us decide where we should start. He said, "Just follow me. On Twitter. Hahahahahahahahahahaha!!" Pining him down and yanking food out of his bill resulted in finding out about this place. #thatsnotwhathappenedatall. ARIZONA ALDERS are cool. By the way, that small plant that I said was Arizona Alder in my West Fork Canyon post wasn't an Arizona Alder. Are you guys ready for a cool bird. It was probably our best bird of the entire day. I remember hearing the faintest tapping above me, and I looked up, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, I didn't see what was doing that. And then I did! I thought, 'Oh neat, an American Three-toed Woodpecker... Oh my God AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER!' God is good when this bird shows up. And it's not even a lifer. Just one of my favorite birds now! For one, this was a really cool experience because the second thing I thought was, 'I can't believe I'm seeing this woodpecker in the same state as the Gila Woodpecker.' It really doesn't add up. Everything about the Am 3-toed WP is really neat. Its distribution consists of the northern taiga belt from southwest Alaska to Newfoundland, and the interior west & Rockies across western Montana, east & central Idaho, central Utah, western Colorado, northwest New Mexico and eastern Arizona. There are also scattered, isolated populations in central Washington & Oregon, northeast Wyoming/southwest South Dakota, southern New Mexico, and eastern Nevada. Oddly enough it doesn't have a California population, but the Black-backed Woodpecker does. There are 3 core regional variations across its distribution, with the Rockies birds most distinctive with extensive white on the back and lots of white on the face, looking similar to Hairy & Downy Woodpeckers. I think it's cool that they have a yellow crown patch instead of a standard red one. They flake bark to eat the larvae of beetles that were underneath that outer wood. This exposes the inner bark, which is lighter in color than the outer bark (see first photo). These bark beetles emerge after major fires (the burn weakens the wood allowing for the beetles to bore through), which is why the woodpeckers establish in scorched areas. The White Mountains are the state's best location for this species because of a massive fire that was started by 2 morons back in 2011. My friend Tommy explains why they're morons: "Have two wrongs ever been known to make a right? I don't think so. What happens when two morons come together and make a fire during dry seasons? They use Jolly Rancher wrappers to test whether it was dead or not. When the wrappers don't melt right away, they assume the fire is safe to leave to burn out on it's own. Never mind the fact they can pour water on the fire. But no, they decide to leave. When they get back to their campsite, they realize they have started a bit of a fire. One of their two dogs even burned in the fire's early stages. So then they go into complete retard mode and leave the fire. Yet, at this point, it is containable. They would get in trouble if they got caught. But what if they didn't get caught? By the time the fire got reported in early summer, it was too late. Dry circumstances in the forest combined with high winds is not good. Some 500,000+ acres and over a month later, the fire was contained. Sadly, this happened in the White Mountains. I hate these two idiots. The fire started south of Alpine and ventured too far north, south, west, east, and everywhere else. Greer even got hit hard by the fire, and other places have been destroyed. The Wallow Fire of 2011 is a true story, one that I'm sorry to say happened. Luckily, the White Mountains are still a beautiful place, but sadly, a lot of it is gone. One of my favorite places, Escudilla Mountain, was one of the Wallow Fire's victims." -Tommy. It really is sad to think that the White Mts is a location with a devastating history. American Three-toed Woodpeckers aside, many HOUSE WRENS sang. Here's one looking at a house for sale. "This person and his wife are looking for a home in Austin, Texas. They need at least 3,000 square feet to support their current kids and the upcoming baby. They are hoping for a large master bedroom with a walk-in closet, a large yard with enough space for the dog, 2 bathrooms and 4 bedrooms." Remember that show, House Hunters? Is it still around? I wouldn't know, because I don't have cable. But I have birds to enjoy instead. And then, another exciting woodpecker showed up, DOWNY WOODPECKER! Nobody's down when it's a Downy. American Three-toed Woodpecker and Downy Woodpecker within 10 minutes of each other, could it get much better? The excitement for both these Picoides was equivalent to that of a lifer, especially the former, because it has been awhile since I last connected with them. It was amazing to see them in Arizona too, adding to the lifer feel, even though they were expected targets for this trip. It really comes to show that no matter how long you've been birding, no matter how much you think you know in birding, you find yourself being surprised. But I haven't been birding that long. Also, it is important to note that both birds were female. My first ever woodpecker was a heard-only Downy Woodpecker. It wasn't until years latter that I saw my first one. That same spring, a pair of Am 3-toed Woodpeckers fought with a pair of Downies for a small snag near my yard. These yellow coneflowers hosted a variety of new pollinating insects for me, NOKOMIS FRITILLARY (orange butterfly), HUNT'S BUMBLEBEE (on the lowest flower), a flowerfly sp. (with the bumblebee), a green Orchid Bee sp. (with fritillary), and a Thread-waisted Wasp (Ammophila pictipennis) on the left coneflower. COMMON RINGLET with a small bee, they're buddies. When I didn't have the camera, a male AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER foraged right above me with a Downy. I really wish a had the canon then, it seems whenever birds get extremely close, I don't. That needs to change. Also, I mentioned this earlier, but Rocky Mountain Three-toes look very different from Alaskan ones, with a lot more white in the back. Anyways, that Am 3-toed Woodpecker didn't mind me being 2 ft. away, that's awesome enough without a photo. Finally I have photographed all 3 American nuthatches! PYGMY NUTHATCHES were the most common bird around. This bird was a lifer only earlier this year. The Three-toed Woodpecker left me, the Downy stayed behind. As you know, I'm bad at photographing Empids, this pic further proves that. This is a CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER, lifer #351. I saw this species 2 times after this. They (American Birding Association) are thinking of eventually lumping COFL and PASF (Pacific-slope Flycatcher) because of overlap in range, calls, and song. If you had an identical cousin, you'd be confused on which song to sing too. So you know what I'm doing, I'm keeping it on my Life List, not for an extra bird, but because Ornithologists can't come up with good reasoning to lump. Don't trust what you see on the WEBB, because I thought this was an Eastern Bluebird. Admit it, that was a good banding code joke. We explored the tiny town of Greer, but had a strikeout on Gray Catbird, though I could almost guarantee I heard its song. BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS in Greer are like Phoenix's Grackles: Very common Icterids. BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS were abundant too. NARROWLEAF COTTONWOODS. A high elevation riparian species in Arizona. We were going to Greens Peak to hit Mountain Bluebird, Williamson's Sapsucker, and Dusky Grouse, but the road to get up the mountain was closed. So we went to Carnero Lake instead. AMERICAN COMMON JUNIPER, a high elevation species that is local in Arizona, found above 9,000 ft. It's the only juniper that retains needle-like leaves (all other junipers have needles as juveniles, scale-like as adults). COLORADO BLUE SPRUCE, rarer in Arizona than Engelmann Spruce. One of my favorite birds, the OSPREY! He caught a Rainbow Trout, though I missed the plunge-dive (I have seen the epic dive before, including recently). Back when I lived in Alaska, the first time I saw an Osprey do this was at Matanuska Lake, it did it quite a few times in a row, because it was a young individual practicing. Fortunately I had excellent views of it diving, very fun. Also Ospreys are hard to find in Alaska, in fact probably only a dozen pairs live in Mat-Su valley, or less. The White Mountains consist of extensive high elevation grassland that may hold a breeding population of Mountain Plovers. If so it would be the only one in the state. Here's a cropped photo focused on the 2 trees on the bottom left of the first pic. They're SOUTHWESTERN WHITE PINES, my second-to-last conifer for Arizona. They are very local and grow alongside Ponderosa Pines above 9,000 ft. They can be identified by gray-brown, rough bark (lacks plated texture of Ponderosa Pine), smooth gray twigs, and short needles in bundles of 5, sometimes 4. The Southwestern White Pine nearly completes my conifers of Arizona, with the last one being California Juniper. Just recently I found out that species was found in the state. They are local at lower elevations than other junipers in the Havasu area in northwest Arizona near California and Nevada. So, since I've nearly reached a milestone, here's a list of all the conifers I have seen in Arizona, with photographs: SUBALPINE FIR (center tree) CORKBARK FIR WHITE FIR ARIZONA PINE APACHE PINE PONDEROSA PINE CHIHUAHUAN PINE SOUTHWESTERN WHITE PINE ROCKY MOUNTAIN BRISTLECONE PINE LIMBER PINE (both on the peak) JOHANN'S PINYON MEXICAN PINYON BORDER PINYON TWO-NEEDLED PINYON SINGLE-NEEDLED PINYON (taken through a car window while moving) COLORADO BLUE SPRUCE ENGELMANN SPRUCE COMMON DOUGLAS-FIR SMOOTH ARIZONA CYPRESS ARIZONA CYPRESS REDBERRY JUNIPER ROSE-FRUITED JUNIPER PINCHOT JUNIPER (no photo, Chiricahuas) ALLIGATOR JUNIPER ROCKY MOUNTAIN JUNIPER ONESEED JUNIPER UTAH JUNIPER AMERICAN COMMON JUNIPER So that's the list, 27 species in all, pretty cool! On the way back home, we stopped at West Baldy Trailhead again. This time we spent more time there, birding the riparian. And this is what the riparian looks like. A huge highlight happened when an AMERICAN DIPPER flew up right in front of me. I followed it and it flew up again. This was only my second one in my life, and is our continent's only aquatic passerine. I also heard another American Three-toed Woodpecker flaking bark somewhere. Red-faced Warblers and Yellow Warblers sang frequently (Red-faced a lifer, but it's a lifer that I won't count if it's just heard). Finally, this WANDERING GARTER SNAKE ended our White Mountains trip. On the drive back home, a CLARK'S NUTCRACKER (#352) flew by. I did count it, but I would like to see it better soon. It is a spectacular mountain bird! "Son, on the top of that mountain, by those telephone poles, I saw 4 Lewis's Woodpeckers." One day I'll be able to say that.
One day I'll explore the entire White Mountains region within a week, I can't wait! I have a post coming up about my time at Summer Camp (same place as Winter Camp) regarding birds, and a very special bird I saw in southern California. So, stay tuned! ...That you haven't seen that Wednesday post I got hyped about. You see guys, I can say, "And stay tuned for tomorrow!" But... Sometimes, things happen, turning your beloved tomorrow into a long, numb, ice-pack-on-your-foot day. Here's last Wednesday's please-feel-sorry-for-Jared story:
All was going according to plan, my fellow stints, but plans change. It was a perfect start to my morning. I got up great, I had enough time to grab an apple before Caleb came, I had my birding stuff ready and packed up the previous night. My wonderful green apple was in the kitchen, I was just at the exit of the living room. I took a few steps forward, and... and... I feel a tack stab my pinkie toe. Except, this tack was a deadly one. It was bigger than a tack, but still small. Yellow, eight legs, it had a tail, and narrow claws. Welcome to the Conaway's, we have a bit of a Bark Scorpion problem. The Barkie happens to be the deadliest scorpion here in the America that is north. As soon as I saw it, which was after it stung me, I rushed to my parents' room, knocked on the door loud and fast, to make sure to wake them up, and said those 6 sad words: "I got stung by a scorpion." So we got ice on it, lotion, and good old benadryl, that latter 2 to relieve allergies in case I have any, which I didn't. So, 30 minutes in, I called up Caleb to cancel our epic 6-7 hour Tres Rios + B&M adventure. I had an extremely numb foot and half my leg all day. Every time I took a step, I felt like I was being shocked. Basically like my leg was asleep, except on a more painful scale. Then came the next day. All better. It felt like it never even happened. Also, I didn't have to go to the hospital, so round of applause everyone. We were to try again Friday. Caleb had to cancel. So Saturday we were going to meet at GRPs to see if any pelagics blew in because of hurricane Bud. Caleb accidentally slept in, and I hung out waiting for him to show. I didn't want to start walking around the ponds without him, so I hung out around the parking area for a while. Caleb is forgiven, but guess what? We left at 7:00, but at 8:00, Steve Hosmer came and found 5 Forster's Terns. And... 1 Common Tern, both lifers that were more than likely present when I was there, and the later of which the hardest of Arizona's regularly-occurring terns to obtain. Also, guess what? Terns are mean. They up & leave the same day they arrive. For Friday & Saturday, not Caleb's fault, he's an awesome person. I blame Saturday's terns. And of course, the legendary Bark Scorpion attack on Wednesday canceled some upcoming legit 7 hours of birding awesomeness for Jared Conaway. Lastly guys, no birding this week, excluding the weekend, because I am helping with Day Camp at my church here in Phoenix. So stay tuned for my next birding adventure, that is not to be canceled by a scorpion sting or anything else. Buy guys! Hi y'all! Doing good? Awesome. As a birder, my emails look like this: Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) - Reported May 29, 2018 06:19 by steve boyack - Verrado area, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.495866,-112.5137349&ll=33.495866,-112.5137349 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46134955 - Media: 10 Photos - Comments: "Picture Video https://www.flickr.com/photos/25326940@N04/28564389828/in/album-72157667406185918/ Thanks Caleb for the help with ID" Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) - Reported May 29, 2018 12:05 by Caleb Strand - Verrado—West Sunrise Lane Pullouts, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.499237,-112.518325&ll=33.499237,-112.518325 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46135998 - Comments: "Continuing bird found by Steve Boyack earlier in the morning. Singing often, hanging around in man-made grassy yucca areas, occasionally singing from trees. Pics and audio to be uploaded." Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) CONFIRMED - Reported May 29, 2018 12:05 by steve boyack - Verrado—West Sunrise Lane Pullouts, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.499237,-112.518325&ll=33.499237,-112.518325 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46137115 - Media: 2 Photos, 1 Audio - Comments: "Continuing bird found by Steve Boyack earlier in the morning. Singing often, hanging around in man-made grassy yucca areas, occasionally singing from trees. Pics and audio to be uploaded." Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) CONFIRMED - Reported May 30, 2018 06:25 by robert bowker - Verrado-SunriseLane, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.499237,-112.518525&ll=33.499237,-112.518525 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46157732 - Comments: "continuing. Thanks Steve B for the great find!" Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) CONFIRMED - Reported May 30, 2018 06:25 by steve boyack - Verrado area, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.495866,-112.5137349&ll=33.495866,-112.5137349 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46155891 - Media: 10 Photos - Comments: "Continue photos" Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) CONFIRMED - Reported May 30, 2018 05:38 by Lyndie Mason Warner - Verrado Neighborhoods, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.4959019,-112.5147066&ll=33.4959019,-112.5147066 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46155054 - Media: 2 Photos - Comments: "Continuing bird found by Steve Boyack yesterday. Watched it for about an hour as it sang. Lots of pics and sound recording." Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) CONFIRMED - Reported May 30, 2018 08:37 by Susan Fishburn - Verrado Golf Club, Buckeye US-AZ (33.4965,-112.5154), Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.496534,-112.51543&ll=33.496534,-112.51543 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46156828 - Comments: "Continuing. Skylarking and singing nonstop. Found by Steve Boyack." Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) - Reported May 30, 2018 06:55 by Barbara Meding - verrado, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.4924621,-112.5145839&ll=33.4924621,-112.5145839 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46172373 - Comments: "found by Steve Boyack yesterday; actively singing and skylarking" Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) - Reported Jun 01, 2018 06:25 by steve boyack - Verrado area, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.495866,-112.5137349&ll=33.495866,-112.5137349 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46210973 - Media: 5 Photos - Comments: "Continue Picture Video https://www.flickr.com/photos/25326940@N04/42446492752/in/album-72157667406185918/" Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) - Reported Jun 01, 2018 05:52 by Lyndie Mason Warner - Verrado Neighborhoods, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.4959019,-112.5147066&ll=33.4959019,-112.5147066 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46213570 - Media: 1 Photo - Comments: "Ongoing bird found by Steve Boyack. Singing and skylarking." Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) - Reported Jun 02, 2018 06:35 by steve boyack - Verrado—West Sunrise Lane Pullouts, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.499237,-112.518325&ll=33.499237,-112.518325 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46230274 - Comments: "Happily singing continues" Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) - Reported Jun 03, 2018 06:23 by Lyndie Mason Warner - Verrado Neighborhoods, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.4959019,-112.5147066&ll=33.4959019,-112.5147066 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46262331 - Comments: "Continuing bird at Sunrise and Regent streets. He was unusually quiet this morning and being harassed by a young Verdin. Perhaps it is already too hot for him. 78 degrees at 6:30." Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) - Reported Jun 03, 2018 06:31 by Brian Johnson - Verrado - CASP spot, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.499046,-112.51753&ll=33.499046,-112.51753 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46262549 - Media: 1 Photo - Comments: "Ongoing, found last week by Steve Boyack, skylarking. Photos. <iframe width="100%" height="300" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/453170775%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-7KYi0&color=%230066cc&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true"></iframe> Yeah, I know, maybe a little overkill on copying & pasting EVER SINGLE ebird alert on one bird. A recap: Steve Boyack, a guy I've birded with a few times, and that will appear in a post about a certain gull since he showed it to me, discovered a Cassin's Sparrow in Verrado on May 29th. Specifically, the Cassin's Sparrow was hanging around an area where grass and yuccas were planted. Even more specifically, the same species of grasses and yuccas found in its arid grassland breeding habitat! This really makes you wonder; "Did this bird JUST NOW happen to stumble upon favorable habitat, or did this bird find this just-so-happens-to-be-perfect-habitat years ago and has been returning annually?" Well, this question may be answered as just early last year, no eyes were directed to Verrado. Now, all eyes are directed to Verrado. And we can thank the 5 overwintering Lewis's Woodpeckers, the unusual lowland Acorn Woodpeckers, a Cassin's Finch, and now, ladies and gentleman, a Cassin's Sparrow. And Verrado can thank the abundance of shade trees for the presence of such great rarities! So, that day that Mr. Boyack discovered the sparrow, my friend Mr. Positive Encouraging, A.K.A Caleb Strand, identified it, and then shot on over there shortly before work, and recieved the Cassin's Sparrow shortly before work. Meanwhile, a birder by the name of Jared Conaway was at home, excited at the report, also doing math. Algebra. Algebra 1. Yeah... For a few days, this was my life. Cassin's Sparrow. Math. Cassin's Sparrow. Math. Cassin's Sparrow. and, uh, ah yes, math. But guys, this is when the blessing of home school, and a Positive Encouraging friend, jump in to save me from pencil-pushing algebra!: "What's your schedule look like for tomorrow?" This would imply birding. With that said we talked on the phone and planned for a multi-location adventure, including a Cassin's Sparrow in Verrado! On Tuesday, June 5th, we met in the Costco parking lot at around 6 A.M. As we were driving to our destination, we saw a runner get dive-bombed by an AMERICAN KESTREL. Don't worry, she didn't get directly hit by those sharp, twiggy talons. Better than being dive-bombed by a Common Black-Hawk. Just think Emperor Palpatine but with a hooked beak, wings, and talons coming at you. Wait, don't think that, that's a pretty scarring image. Just think a big, black hawk please. So back on subject, we looked around when we arrived. Because we are birders. And, I guess I've given enough build up to this moment, so... ... I've waited a while to see this cool bird. Kinda looks like a Mockingbird, huh? Well, this tiny Toxostoma is a Mimid, one of my favorite Mimids, the BENDIRE'S THRASHER!! Sure, he's dull, but something about it makes it a visually cool thrasher. And while he's dull, let me tell you, he's got serious vocals. The song of this thrasher is so pretty it is sure to make any Ms. Bendire fly over and give the source of sound a big thrasher kiss, and become Mrs. Bendire real fast. Of course, a thrasher kiss is more like an impale to the face, because of that beak. The credit for such a rich song goes to this guy, the individual out on the golf course is a juvenile. And he was owned by this adult. While aggressive to his little buddy, he was very shy and the desired closeup took a while to obtain. Even then the exposure and focus of these photos is problematic. Even more so, the bird poop mess that so conveniently was on this light post. But hey, at least this guy came in close. At first this bird thought it was a better idea to go in the opposite direction. Sometimes bird poop messes are included in cooperation. We enjoyed this Bendire's Thrasher, while also trying to find the Cassin's Sparrow. Even with playback, he didn't respond. Gone? Maybe so. For the few days he was around, this member of Peucaea was singing its little sparrow heart out, putting on an active show. Some birds are passing migrants... We never did find this unusual sparrow, but I will see one one day. Remember my post, "I Thrashed a Bendire's Thrasher!" Perhaps a better title would be, "I got Thrashed, By a Curve-billed Thrasher..." Guys, this thrasher, in this post is a real Bendire's. What people often don't realize, especially myself, is the crazy variation in characteristics of the CBTH. And that's just the thing, the Curve-billed Thrasher is problematic in that it doesn't technically have any characteristics. A say this because, a characteristic is a trait that is consistent or similar in every individual and is typically easily noted. The Bendire's Thrasher always has a straight bill, the Curve-billed Thrasher doesn't always have a distinct curved bill. A Bendire's Thrasher is always small, the Curve-billed Thrasher isn't always larger. The Bendire's Thrasher always has arrow-like markings, but the markings of a Curve-billed Thrasher are highly variable, but never arrow-shaped. Lastly, from a distance, the size of a BETH isn't always determinable. A useful identifying point is the slimness of the BETH, CBTH is a comparatively stocky bird. The pale base of the lower mandible is another determining feature of BETH. We also saw a couple BRONZED COWBIRDS, but guess what? I still didn't see their crimson eyes! So after enjoying the presence of my lifer Bendire's Thrasher, we left the absence of the Cassin's Sparrow and went to my patch, the GRPs. Here we were hoping for a Black Tern. I love terns. They are also my nemesis. They have long been one of my top fave groups of birds. No bird is more gracefully designed than terns, and if I had to pick a favorite out of all of them, I would pick 2, the Caspian and Arctic Terns! The most entertaining bird I've seen in flight is definitely the Arctic Tern, they are so small, light, and deceivingly delicate-looking, yet this bird makes the most impressive migration of any animal. Just imagine flying the maximum distance of this bird, which is 57,000 miles(!) (over 28,000 miles each way) from the Netherlands to Antarctica, making only a few major stops, while not spending a single cent. Arctic Tern individuals are known to stay true to their routes, so that record-breaking bird more than likely traveled 57,000 miles every year. Because of supreme agility, gracefulness, speed, and endurance, not much is able to prey on this species, so a 30 year life span is in most of these guys' futures. So, 57,000 miles every year for 30 years = 1,710,000 total miles in its lifetime!!!! Although extremely light (3.9 oz!), most of that weight is the flight muscles, which are very large! These guys are way too cool to not feature photos of one! Then there's the Caspian Tern. Next to one, the Arctic Tern is tiny, very tiny! They are almost the size of a Herring Gull, with an amazing 5 ft. wingspan, and didn't get the vibe that terns are supposed to be small to medium-sized bird. unusually, they have a short tail, and a huge, thick crimson bill that will stab and draw blood to anyone daring enough to get close to a nest. If you see paired birds consistently staying in one location for a while, stay away! They are aggressive and that beak is bound to hurt! The sheer size, long wings, and heavy red bill make the Caspian a sight to respect, and look at in awe. Not to mention the stylish black peaked crown. Alrighty, now it's time to get back onto the subject of our time at the GRPs. That time didn't deliver any terns, but our only interesting birds were a new patcher, COMMON GALLINULE calling within the riparian corridor, and a late BLUE-WINGED TEAL. Guys, there comes a time when everything awesome, the Snowy Plovers, and Hermit Warblers, Marbled Godwits, Black-bellied Plovers, and our beloved terns, just up-and-leaves the GRPs. It's called summer. But don't worry, fall migration is coming! Next we went to a location I've never been before, Hunter's Ponds, because Mr. Positive Encouraging says it is reliable for Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks. We didn't see any... So next up we arrived at the Base & Meridian WA, or B&M. Arizona has many introduced species, some invasive, some annoying, and others interesting. This is a Mexican Palo Verde, native to hot lowland deserts of, you guessed it right, Mexico, but also southeast Arizona. You may know this plant as the Jerusalem Thorn, especially in cultivation. These plants are well established now around Phoenix, growing alongside native Blue & Foothill Palo Verdes. I never really noticed these prior to Caleb pointing them out at the B&M, and that's probably because I didn't realize how distinctive they are. Outside fruiting season, they are near-to-identical to Foothill Palo Verde, and I've definitely overlooked them because of that. However, Foothill (A.K.A Yellow) Palo Verde has very tiny compound leaves, barely noticeable, while Mex Palo has no leaves. If your in the desert, you definitely want to stand under the tree that provides the most shade. Even though the leaves are so tiny, you'll know your standing under a Foothill Palo just by feeling how much more shade it provides than its invasive cousin. Within fruiting season, Mex Palos are very recognizable by those yellow pods. Now everywhere I look I see them! Our first animal was actually an invasive. As soon as we stepped out Caleb's old minivan, he pointed out a big Red-eared Slider pond turtle out in the sun, away from water. Caleb went ahead and put him in the shade, cause it was already getting hot. Caleb showed me some really cool odes (Dragon & Damselflies), my favorite being RAMBUR'S FORKTAIL. It's a damsel that's brilliant neon green on the thorax & head, black and yellow abdomen, and a sky-blue 8th and 9th abdomen segment. We also saw a NEOTROPICAL BLUET (damsel, originally Mexican but a hurricane blew them in and now they're established at the B&M), RED SADDLEBAGS (dragonfly), and WANDERING GLIDER (dragonfly). Ridgway's Rails are so amazing, Caleb and I give a round of applause for these guys! Well, actually, we clap for them because Caleb said that any sudden, sporadic burst of sound gets them out in the open. But why do these secretive marsh-ptarmigan prefer clapping so much? Well, if I were a Ridgway's Rail, I certainly would want someone positive and encouraging to clap for me, it would boost my self-esteem. But guys, there are other, less secretive, secretive marsh birds out there. Among them is the Least Bittern, the smallest heron in the world, and either requires no searching at all, or very extensive searching. We were calling for Yellow-billed Cuckoos, when I turned around and saw some reeds moving. Could that be a Least Bittern. So I brushed the tops of the reeds, and... ... "That's a LEAST BITTERN!" Caleb exclaimed excitedly. My first impression: "Wow, that's a TINY heron." The Least Bittern really is the least of the least, it's the smallest heron in the world, only 11-14 inches! The moments I did see the Least Bittern were short-lived, it flew off in the opposite direction. But for those brief moments, I saw a very beautiful bird... The Least Bittern is unique in among Herons in more ways than one. First, they have really long toes. They rap them around sedges to balance. Second, a feature I've just mentioned, they are extremely tiny. Again, like I said, the smallest heron in the world. You see, the Green Heron is a little over half the size of a Black-crowned Night-Heron, the Least Bittern is half the size of a Green Heron, and about 3 ounces. They also have stubby wings, with a 17 inch wingspan at most. Even the American Bittern has long wings, nearly 4 ft, a body of 30 inches, and weighing up to 2 lbs! That is enourmous compared to their least brethren. The Least Bittern has a stub of a tail, short little legs, a small body, and long neck. Their range is interesting, dots of eclusively-summering populations in a few western states, only year round in south east California and south west Arizona, but very widespread in the east, breeding in all the eastern states. Like a rail, this bird tries hard to stay hidden, while making itself loud and clear, proclaiming its concealed presence noisily. If it knows it is seen, you have to be within a few inches for it to flush. With all these unique traits combined, this bird is more like a rail than a heron or egret. Then there's the extremely rare, Cory's Least Bittern, or Dark Least Bittern. First collected in 1885, it was a new species. In 1923, it became a morph. It rapidly declined as everyopne wanted their hands on this bird because it was so rare to begin with. All reports of this morph come from the east, mostly from Ontario, but one record from Brazil. It is so dramatically different from the Least Bittern it should be a different species. It has greenish legs, a solid black mantle, blackish-gray beak, dark red-brown wings, underside, and face. It lacks all streaking, white, and buffy tones of normal Least Bittern. Its tertials and primaries are black, as well as undertail coverts. One day, I hope to find this extremely rare morph-that-is-probably-a-species. I am really hoping to get excellent pix of a Least Bittern tomorrow (June 13th), as Caleb and I are going to Tres Rios and B&M! "Dbink!" Says what Caleb calls a Blue Grosbeak. I got really excited when he told me this, and I became eager to find this bird. Dbink is its metallic call note, not its song, so I could either have a beautiful male in my binocs when I found it, or a dull female. Females are Brown Grosbeaks. Males, they're Blue Grosbeaks! So I followed its distinctive call note until... I took one look at the stunning deep blue bird with chestnut wing-bars, a 3rd larger than a Lazuli Bunting, and I was amazed. I snapped a few photos. Photos that were completely white due to over-exposure. But not to worry, tomorrow we're going in early morning, when the males are easily detected singing, and most likely with my Dad's camera, which doesn't have that issue. Additionally, it won't be scorching hot! Caleb said we were going to look at a few Barn Owls, as those individuals always roost under a certain area of the bridge. It didn't take long at all for us to find the BARN OWLS. And you can tell they've roosted here for a very LONG TIME, all that freaking poop! Those large black eyes on a pale disk-shaped face have made these guys among the most popular birds, they look like their the ghosts of Spotted Owls. Looking into the eyes of a Barn Owl in real life is actually a chilling experience, they directly stare at you.
This was a continent & Arizona lifer for me, as I've seen a flyby in Hawaii, where they were introduced to control the rodent/mongoose problem. That makes these the first native individuals for me as well. Lastly, we went to Tres Rios Wetlands (TRWs), which is right next to B&M to look for one of my favorite birds, mentioned earlier in this post, the Caspian Tern. We searched. We searched. We searched. And we also scanned, but apparently that's a synonym of searching. We came up with nothing. Tomorrow, we go back to Tres Rios. This bird I want to see more badly than any other bird this year, except for Mountain Bluebird. Heck, top 10 birds I want to see this year more than any other:
So... Stay tuned, for my next adventure! |
About meJared Conaway Month Archives
December 2019
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