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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In my previous post, I finally saw a lifer tern after 8 long years. I've only waited a couple short months for this epic bird, so that's why I'm revealing it in the title. Caleb and I met up at the legendary Glendale Recharge Ponds July 30th in the evening. Coming our way were some ominous black clouds, welcome to Arizona monsoon season. Also, welcome to Arizona fall migration!! I know what you're thinking; "spring migration just happened." Well, there are only 2 setbacks barricading the gateway to epic AZ migration birding: June & July. Fortunately there's just 2 before fall migration, but there's 4-5 before spring migration. That means there's a grand total of 6 boring months without beautiful migration. I have McKown's & Chestnut-collared Longspurs to find this winter... So yeah, peeps and bigger-than-peeps shorebirds are now migrating through, making for eventful birding. I had 2 goal birds on this exped, one a lifer, the continuing Black Tern, and a shorebird that I haven't seen since 11 months ago, Stilt Sandpiper. About 15 minutes in, a flock of 4 STILT SANDPIPERS flew low over us, fulfilling my dream. Technically my objective was to finally see one in breeding plumage since my first was, gray. Now here's the thing about Stilt Sandpipers, they're freaking awesome! Their flight style is reminiscent of a dowitcher, and appearance a cross between that & Solitary Sandpiper. It's funny, because it's a Calidris. I wish I had a photo... Copyright this person. Copyright this person. Copyright this person. Copyright this person is a better photographer than me. I never do this. God forgive. Copyright this person. I know, I know, I know, but I had to do it. Isn't that what Google's for? Well, Mr. Individual who's name is in tiny text that is top-half-blocked-out by a bar that allows me to edit text & paragraphs, this message is for you: Your photo is on my blog. If you want to show your blog viewers what a Mexican Jay looks like, I have some photos you can use, not to brag. Well anyways, this shorebird is lit, right? #Rhetoricalquestion. Soon I'll have my own pix. And 5 minutes later (that's right, no suspension this time around) it happened. "The word 'it' is only to be used when a Black Tern flies across the GRPs." Yeah, I can be random. Here's what the BLACK TERN is: I took 30 photos of this epic lifer, and this was the ONLY UNO that was good. R.I.P Jared's Photography Skills. "Forever remembered." Nov. 2, 2017- July 30, 2018 I'm just kidding guys! The tern was flying really fast... Also, one may think that calling this bird a Black Tern is false advertising, but it's not my fault because this Black Tern happens to be a young individual. An adult has a smoky black head & underside, white undertail coverts, gray back & wings with white lesser coverts, and a short gray tail. This is also one of the smallest terns, only slightly larger than Least. Let me tell you, a tiny tern such as this one is adorable. Caleb asked me, "Out of the 3 terns you've seen, which one would you say is your favorite?" "I think Caspian," replied Yours Truly. "If this Black Tern was an adult, I'm sure it would be your favorite." Is that a challenge, Positive Encouraging? Maybe It's time him and I bring the idea of The Annual Battle of The Fave Terns into the light... speed test, endurance, bill dueling, flight tricks, appearance competition, exclusive to The Annual Battle of The Fave Terns. Caleb, go get the fliers. As mentioned earlier, shorebirds are starting to stream through, the ones we got this time around were 8 WILSON'S PHALAROPES, a few SPOTTED SANDPIPERS, so many Least Sandpipers, 2 SOLITARY SANDPIPERS, 85 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, WESTERN SANDPIPERS, and 65 Greater Yellowlegs. I'm excited for when shorebirds flood in, which isn't too far off, because that's also when rarities come in and more photographic opportunities. Of the shorebirds available, I would say Solitary Sandpiper is still the best this fall, not the Phals because they aren't wearing their beautiful feathers right now. Also, here's epic vagrants to look out for this fall at the GRPs: Whimbrel, Red Knot, White-rumped Sandpiper, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint, Sanderling, Red Knot, Bar-tailed Godwit, Hudsonian Godwit, American Golden-Plover, and Snowy Plover. This place, as well as the whole county, has great coverage this time of year, which means that the chances of a rarity being overlooked is very low. Heck, a Tropical Kingbird (first for the location) was discovered there just yesterday by Steve Boyack (photographed). Lets hope it is still there. Some other highlights we had were: 10 PEREGRINE FALCONS, a BANK SWALLOW, and some HORNED LARKS (over 2 years since my first one) This was a new insect for me, the THISTLEDOWN VELVET ANT, a wasp in which females are wingless, and have one of the most painful stings of all insects! This thing was skittish, I had a hard time photographing it. And then came the dust storm. About 15 minutes after I took this picture, it hit. Hard. Gravel, pebbles, and course sand collided into us in 40+ mph, making for a painful experience. We also had to hold our shirts over our mouths to breathe. Eventually the storm got so bad that we couldn't see over 10 ft. in front of us. And of course, my hat blew off. Twice. So we decided it was a better idea that I should just hold onto it, because wearing it just wasn't working. Caleb said, "Well, you won't be seeing any Black Terns now!" Caleb's funny. As much as it hurt, and as scary as it was, we were both laughing almost the entire time. Fortunately we found the parking lot, eventually.
Looking back on my past 2 experiences with terns, I'm thinking that they've been some of my hardest-earned birds. I nearly got heat stroke after the Caspian Tern, I had a headache by the time we got back to the parking lot (Dara's electrolytes fixed that problem pretty fast). And of course a week ago I got sandblasted for a Black Tern. And, on top of that, I've had to wait 8 years for both species. It was all worth it though! So, with that said, this post is finished. Please do share with your friends and fam, follow @ G+, comment down below, leave a thumbs up, it would greatly appreciated, and stay tuned for my next post!
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You wish for a lot of things when you bird without a camera, particularly a camera. I must inform you that this post is without photos. Sorry.
Hi guys, I recently had a fantastic time with my youth group and some excellent northern birds. Other animals highlighted the trip too. I will keep this post relatively short, I need a break. Day 1 (July 5th): First and foremost, a family of PAINTED REDSTARTS in the riparian of Craggle Creek (#nottherealname) on day #uno. As you know, Painted Redstarts are cool, and they look fantastic with the white eye-arcs on the black face, crimson underside, and white wing-panels. Usually they're active and are major showoffs, but an adult male was very kind to provide my best looks ever of this species. Day 2: The second day was far more productive regarding nature stuff. I got to birding right after breakfast. Right next to my cabin a male GRACE'S WARBLER foraged for its baby right in front of me! I'm used to seeing these spectacular birds extremely high up in the canopy, and this thing came down to the ground. Seeing a Grace's Warbler 50 ft. above me was awesome enough, but for this to happen, is there a right word for the experience? Well, at the very least, it's beyond epic, and you guys probably know what this bird looks like by now, so you should know what I mean by the use of the word 'epic.' I could even come up with a rap: "E-P-I-C, that's what the Grace's Warbler is meant to B-E!" With a lot more lyrics, that could be a masterpiece. My fellow blog-viewers, I challenge you to comment below some bird raps. Right after that, I heard a branch snap below. "Oh snap, pun intended." A female Mule deer looked up at me. Since I saw Austin go inside before this, I was going to get him, because deer are cool. Well, this time at least. When they're skittish they're also boring, because you just saw a neat animal, and a fleeting glimpse is all you get. But this particular individual was amazing. It just walked around, ate, and went under the barbed wire fence. It didn't have its attention on us at all either, not once didn't turn its ears towards us, and we were talking loud too. Instead it listened carefully to far more distant sounds. We also were within 3 ft. when it crossed the fence, it probably would've let me pet it... In the afternoon I caught a Ten-lined June Beetle (big beetle) by knocking it down from a window on the front of our cabin with a stick. This creature squeaked, it was funny. Also I showed a lot of people, and a positive response to this adorable thing was what I got from most. I also received my best views ever of Acorn Woodpeckers. When I followed up on an individual flying through the forest with my binos it felt like one of those high-quality B-roll shots in a documentary. There was also one with a 90 ft. stash tree all to itself. For those who don't know, Acorn Woodpeckers drill up to 100s of holes in a tree and fill them with appropriately-sized individual acorns. Near my cabin another Acorn Woodpecker allowed for excellent quality of an observation and stood still for almost the entire time. I could easily see every single detail, it was beautiful. The final interesting Acorn Woodpecker had almost the entire top of its beak snapped off. It didn't have any problems foraging though, so I'm sure the bird will be find. It took awhile, but a lifer finally happened on the trip. A flock of 4 BAND-TAILED PIGEONS flew right over the canopy, and while a fast observation, I was able to see all the features that make this a freaking cool pigeon. The lilac-lavender plumage, yellow bill and feets, huge size (bigger than a Rock Pigeon), long wings, long tail, and pale band on the outer half of the tail. I will be going up north for 3 days starting this Friday (July 27th), so I'm hoping to see this species again then. A CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER was another bird that was cooperative. I observed one low in an Alligator Juniper (only 10 ft. up in the tree, and right above me). That reminds me, I have a post regarding my Yellow-bellied Flycatcher I'm going to write soon, because the 22nd was the 1 year lifer anniversary, and it turns out that I saw the bird in Matanuska CO. Another day 2 highlight was my first for Gila CO. MEXICAN JAY. This beautiful corvid was much more skittish than the Chiricahua ones, though I still received great looks. Although this species is known from Texas and southeast Arizona, you'd be surprised that they are found as far north as the White Mountains region. I also still need to get to Slate Creek so I can add them to my Maricopa list. We also went to Woods Canyon Lake on day 2. My church doesn't know the history I have with this particular lake. But you guys do, Pacific Wren ring a bell? Recap: I failed to photograph a Pacific Wren there, twice. Now, I get that it's a wren and that that group of songbirds are some of the toughest to photograph, but we must acknowledge that this Pacific Wren was EXTREMELY CLOSE to me, less than arms length away!! Fortunately I know a location within my home county that is reliable in the winter time, Seven Springs Rec Area. This time, I was on the opposite side of the lake. The typical Violet-green Swallows were present, I really enjoyed 3 OSPREYS, which are always a highlight. One Individual even performed the epic & famous plunge-dive. There were also at least 3 swallows that gave me a PURPLE MARTIN vibe, though they were very distant. This lake is a reliable locality for that species. As you know, my first Purple Martin was on Mt. Ord, which was an epic sighting by the way! I had fun there, besides watching Ospreys, such as canoeing, which I haven't done in a long time. On the way back from the lake, I saw 2 GOLDEN EAGLES, always an ultimate highlight. Golden Eagles are popular and recognized for their power, but people don't know just how much of it they have. let's just say that not even an adult Gray Wolf can escape the insane strength of a wild Golden Eagle. Day 3: This day was interesting. My first highlight was yet another Golden Eagle in the afternoon. It flew right over the canopy, which was fairly low. Again, an excellent highlight despite being a brief one. Golden Eagles are freaking epic! One of my friends found a giant beetle by the volleyball court. It turned out to be a Ponderosa Pine Borer Longhorn, about 3 inches long and reddish-black. It has massive jaws that are painful and strong, long antennae, and a 5-inch wingspan! At night 2 amazing animals were caught by yours truly. First and foremost was a large male Cottonwood Stag Beetle. These huge insects are almost 2 inches long, with 2 spiky jaw-like horns curving on its head. Next up was a Wright's Mountain Tree Frog (state amphibian) that my peeps found right outside the cabin. It had been way too long since I caught my last frog, so it was only logical that I got my hands on this one! It is a cute little frog that lives in deciduous trees such as Boxelder and Sycamore He was about 1 1/2 inches, with big black eyes, bright green skin with brown patches. Day 4! We packed up and headed to California. The city we were headed is Santa Clarita, inland from Ventura. To get there, we drove through Los Angeles (which is way too big), with spectacular huge mountains. The tallest of which is Mt. San Antonio, of the San Gabriel Mts, at 10,064 ft. One of my favorite trees is a part of the lush Cali coast montane forest in these mountains, the Sugar Pine. It is the tallest pine in the world, over 300 ft. tall! The cones are also the longest, an insane 28 inches long! The needles are short, branches are whip-like. The flora present in these mountains are diverse: Parry Pinyon, Gray Pine, Coulter Pine, Jeffery Pine, Lodgepole Pine, Big-cone Douglas-Fir, California Sycamore, Coast Live-Oak, Canyon Live-Oak, Chaparral Yucca, etc. Y'all know what I've taught you: Many plant species = lots of birds! The same applies to insects, except for them it's relevant to a diversity of flowers. Birds present here reflect many of the mountain species found in Arizona, except as coastal counterparts. For example, Acorn Woodpeckers in Cali have longer bills. Some specialty birds hiding in the chaparral include California Towhee, California Thrasher, Wrentit, and California Gnatcatcher. Can you guess which state 3 of them are found in? It's too bad visiting these beautiful mountains wasn't part of the plan. Day 5: We went to Six Flags Magic Mountain for the day. I had a great time, despite very few birds. But hey, birds don't define a great time every time. Though I must say, depending on the bird(s) present, the awesomeness scale can be highly amplified. I went on a few rides, one of them I don't ever want to go on ever again, called the X2. That thing made me vocalize like a non-16-year-old. "There's a blonde-crowned Jared in the mixed flock foraging in the underbrush. Let's pish him in. Whoa, that was an unusual flight call, Jeff, take note on ebird, be sure to describe it well. Say, it sounds like a 'higher-pitched elongated Varied Thrush song.' ok?" Day 6: Ok, no more suspension, this was the final, and best-bird day. What I saw on the way back home was totally unexpected but took on with excitement. I was car-pooling with a portion of my group and as we drove through the chaparral a medium-sized, black bird with a tiny beak, long, sharp, arched back wings and broad tail soared over a low slope that was little above eye-level and close to the car- not too close though. "Was that a Black Swift," I questionably mumbled to myself. I knew it was- everything about it was so distinctive, even within such a brevity of an observation- but I was in absolute disbelief. That's all I could say, "was that a Black Swift." I did not expect to see one at all. It was in the very back of my mind. Then I thought, "wait, this is my only lifer for California, that's insane!' Looking back I'm also surprised by how well it was seen despite being brief. By now you all want to know what makes the BLACK SWIFT so epic. This swift is the least known of all North American breeding birds next to Gray-headed Chickadee. Its summering range consists of the towering mountains in: southeast Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, E Idaho/W Montana, Colorado, and central & southern California. Very few nests have been accessed due to its habit of brooding in caves and behind waterfalls at very high elevations- laying only one egg. It migrates all the way to South America with its pair of elegant wings. It is uncommon wherever it occurs. For me to see one so low in the sky was also unusual, as they forage for insects high in the air. Low cloud cover (which was present) causes them to soar closer to the ground. This individual had most likely just left behind its breeding grounds closer to the peaks to head south for the Bahamas or S America. |
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