From a small town to a big city...
|
A Birding Blog
By Jared Conaway
From a small town to a big city...
|
This week, from September 11th through 14th, my parents and I headed to Pine Grove CG to camp for 4 days. Here's the thing though: I must admit, I thought that in regards to birding it would be boring. That isn't to say that the whole trip would be boring. I knew that I would have a great time with M and D. The reason I thought that the birding would be rock-bottom, is that I knew what to expect in forest that only had Ponderosa Pine. Honestly, I despise that kind of habitat, and not just because of lack of birds, the scenery is identical whether you look east, west, north, or south. I knew we would be visiting nearby locations, but I didn't know which ones so I assumed they would be the same habitat. I couldn't have made a more wrong assumption. First and foremost, I didn't expect the exclusive-pine forest to look any better than the other locations I've been to that contains this habitat. It actually did. It had a single small willow to break the one-tree-species rule, and there was an attractive little meadow before the campground. The actual campground was of course more Ponderosa Pine, but the ground had many species of grass and lots of rocks with a diversity of size. This micro habitat of course wouldn't make the birding better, but the opportunity for insects was looking juicy! The variety of grass species meant a diversity of grasshoppers, starting with this Lakin Grasshopper. It preferred grass that made me very itchy. Carolina Grasshopper was more uncommon, and very un-catchable! This Orth is very large at around 2 1/2 inches. Its hind wings are blackish-brown with a pale yellow margin. Neat-looking in flight. A very interesting species that was pretty common and one I observed all 4 days is Crackling Forest Grasshopper. It makes a distinctive noisy fluttering sound in flight. I have a photo of one later in the post. Yet another cool Orth was Blue-winged Grasshopper. True to its name, the base of the wings are cyan, along with a mid-wing brown band, and tan outer wing with brown tip. My first bird for the location was a visual HAIRY WOODPECKER. Adjacent to us was a camper with 4 hummingbird feeders. This took the word "boring" out of the Ponderosa Pine forest. I had potential to see 4 different species, all of which belonging to Selasphorus. Calliope, an uncommon migrant, Rufous, a common migrant, Broad-tailed, summer resident and common migrant, and Allen's, a very rare vagrant.\ On the first day only RUFOUS & Rufous/Allen's Hummingbirds were showing up. Rufous Hummingbirds are absolutely beautiful; Adult males have a green cap, orange on the face, flanks, rump, and tail; The back is coppery-green, gorget is brilliant crimson. The Rufous/Allen's duo is a difficult one. Allen's can be told apart with confidence by: Tail feathers: Outer-most rectrices are extremely narrow, needle-like Back: Green, extensive, rump typically green. Rufous can show extensive green just as Allen's can show orange uppertail coverts. Only on a couple individuals was I able to clearly note broad tail feathers. The rest I didn't get satisfying views of. The next day was much better for hummingbirds. I had about 15 total and they were periodically showing up at the feeders every 15 minutes. In between intervals they were aggressively chasing each other or perching mid-level in the trees. Only once did a BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD come around, and that was at a feeder. Fortunately I was fairly close when she came. This species is an overdue lifer considering I've been up north where they breed this spring and summer many times now. It is one of the most common birds in its respective habitat. Additionally they're migrating through the lowlands right now and can be found in urban areas. Anyways, since I was unfortunate enough not to have a camera with me, It's a good idea to provide a description. I'll start with a female, since that's what I saw: green crown/back, orange-buff flanks, white underside & throat with gray spots, gray face. Males look like Anna's except crown is green, not pink, breast is clean white, gorget lacks side-extensions, and rear flanks are buffy. Rectrices 1, 2, & 3 have orange base, black center, and white tip. 4 is green with black tip and 5 is plain green. Although I lifered with Broad-tailed, it is depressing writing this since I didn't get to enjoy or photograph it. Here's an interesting unidentified Robber Fly. These flies are massive! Adorable Gray-collared Chipmunk, a new mammal for me. I still find myself enjoying the presence of WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, despite being one of the more common northern birds. PYGMY NUTHATCH was more abundant, though uncooperative for pix. There are 3 subspecies of White-breasted that may represent their own species, I'm excited for that split. White-lined Sphinx Moth. Late in the morning we left Pine Ground to walk to Ashurst Lake. The forest quickly transitioned into exciting opportunity as Double-needle Pinyon, Rocky Mts. Juniper/Oneseed Juniper, Arizona Alder, and Gambel Oak appeared. Northern migrants like Hermit Warbler like deciduous undergrowth and a small variety of conifers while despising Ponderosa exclusive forest. Ponderosas alone only attract the most typical summer residents. A pair of GOLDEN EAGLES was a perfect way to begin birding. I would have loved to see them destroy the Turkey Vultures they were with. The eagles were in simultaneous flight, a fun thing to watch. It's where the birds get in an identical flight position, wings bent in the same way, tail turning at the same time, etc. i feel like there is always something to say about the Golden Eagle. And why not? They freaking toss goats off cliffs. They hunt down adult wolves! Not to mention I've petted one. Golden Eagles are affectionate and deadly at the same time. Golden Eagles aside, I didn't know what to expect on the way to Ashurst Lake, but certainly not this: A high-elevation meadow! This opened up a huge amount of opportunity. My first birds for the grassland was a large flock of mostly Barn & Violet-green Swallows with at least a couple PURPLE MARTINS mixed in. Both were female/immature-plumaged individuals. Large, stocky, long-winged swallows purple above and grayish-white & streaky below. Also out there at first were American Crows and Horned Larks. A Meadowlark landing on a fence post excited me, because there are 2 species out here, one of which a lifer. I think you guys know which one. Eastern. Arizona has its own subspecies that also belongs to New Mexico & Texas. It's called Lilian's. I assumed wrongly that identifying one from the other would be easy. A great thing about about meadowlarks is that they almost never hybridize, a pain taken up by too many other birds. There is a compromise though: At this time of year, that it just so happened to be when we were up there, many identification keys are thrown into the very car they start and then locked in. For one, the malar should be white on Eastern, yellow on Western. Buffy on both in fall, making that feature indeterminate, at least for the most part. The reason I say "for the most part" is because some birds molt into fall/winter plumage later in the summer. Additionally, the eyeline is blackish on Lilian's outside of fall. This is a useful mark because it contrasts with the white cheeks. I good way to put it is that WEME has a dirtier face: browner eyeline and gray cheeks. But it's like I said, outside of fall. Even winter is better because both are in fresh nonbreeding plumage. Things really picked up after that specific individual, which remains indeterminate. Meadowlarks were exploding into the air from the tall grass and flying into the safe treetops everywhere. The confusion isn't over yet. The easiest and hardest field mark for Eastern Meadowlark is found in the tail pattern. How could it possibly be both at the same time? Here goes: In the nominate subspecies of EAME, 3 outer rectrices plus the outer most half of the inner most outer tail feather are white. In all subspecies of WEME, 2 & 1 half are white, not 3 & 1 half. The remaining central tail feathers on EAME have broad dark centers, which WEME lacks. Sounds all good and easy until you add Lilian's to the picture. LIME has the most ivory in the tail with all 4 outer rectrices white. A good way to put it is when tail is spread on WEME, the shape of center is a broad trapezoid, EAME is a narrow trapezoid, and LIME is a narrow rectangle. However, LIME also lacks the broad dark center and thicker barring of nominate EAME. Its central rectrices are identical to WEME. This isn't much of a problem with the tail spread, when you can see the prominent difference in amount of white, but when folded... Now you might be thinking, "But Jared, if EAME and LIME have significantly more white in tail, wouldn't that also show when tail is folded?" I wish that was the case, but: They have 12 tail feathers total; The central tail feathers overlap the outer ones, thus on all 3 the uppertail is brown & barred, the undertail is white. Like I just mentioned, this isn't a problem in regards to EAME & WEME, but it is with LIME & WEME. There is great news though: A definite EASTERN MEADOWLARK eventually flushed, clearly showing those awesome white rectrices! My only problem was that I wasn't sure if the one meadowlark I photographed was an EAME. I really wanted pix of my lifer meadowlark for the blog. After all, I didn't have any for Broad-tailed Hummer. It drives me crazy (and every other birder) when I obtain pix of everything on an important trip except the lifer(s) Anyways, it brings more of a challenge and more enjoyment to finding new birds. We had quite a few meadowlaks, over 50. Most of them I followed into the brush to get vocalizations; most sounded good for EAME! I saw a COMMON BLACK HAWK soaring over the prairie in the distance. Always an amazing find! After a couple hours Ospreys made an appearance. This meant we were close to Ashurst Lake. With a decent variety of upper-growth and under-growth flora the oppurtunity for birds is good here. One of my best was a TOWNSEND'S WARBLER; a typical but colorful migrant. The highest densities of its close cousin, Hermit Warbler, is found in mid to high elevations with at least a small variety of conifers with oaks mixed in, such as this place. Despite my hopes, I didn't receive any Hermits. We didn't stay at Ashurst Lake very long, we didn't have any mind-blowing birds anyways. This is a bee fly I frantically took pictures of on the back to our campground. At first I proposed it was a Grasshopper Bee Fly, looks more like a member of the genus Lordotus (more on that later in the post). Its color is very different from any species available on bugguide and inat. A Pepsid wasp I found near a puddle, likely Pepsis thisbe. Back near the meadowlark spot, where junipers fade away, & pines take over, a medium-sized streaky, lanky falcon flew over us. I instantly recognized it as a female MERLIN, an early migrant and excellent bird in general. Merlin is distinct from the other falcons in that it closely to an accipiter in color/pattern (so like Cooper's or Sharp-shinned Hawk). It is slightly larger than a Kestrel, with a build more like Peregrine, but lankier. The one I saw might be of the prairie subspecies. Back to meadowlarks! This is for sure a WEME, as when it took flight I took a pic which clearly shows 2 1/2 white outer tail feathers. Note how pale the head stripes are. Here is a cute Gray Flycatcher. I am still bad with Empid pics... Now, finally, FINALLY, FINALLY... I present to you a likely LILIAN'S MEADOWLARK! In the previous meadowlark I said, "Note how pale the head stripes are." On this individual the crown stripe plus eye-line are significantly darker, blackish. The cheeks are also definitely brighter because there is a clear distinction between the cheek and stripe in front of eye. This stripe appears lacking in the previous bird because it is the same color as the cheeks. So from what I've said so far, WEME is less contrasting in all aspects. This is reliable to go by, but wear can mess things up. You see, I was lucky to catch this meadowlark in contrast plumage, as being late in the breeding season meant that both species had worn breeding plumage. The reason wear happens is because Melanin (dark brown-black pigment) rubs off over time. Often times you find Melanin on the edges & tips of feathers; This is because it also the strongest pigment, essentially a protective layer over lighter pigments. The same goes for white; It wears to gray over time, hence why cheeks on both meadowlarks are dull in fall & winter. Like I said, I was blessed to catch sight & pics of this individual. This is the first pic I took of the individual. Again the crown stripe & eye-line are conspicuous. With its head up, you can see white below the eye, and I don't think that's an exposure issue. To show that exposure isn't an issue, I've brought the lighting level way down, and you can still see that below the eye is just as bright as above the eye. CASSIN'S KINGBIRD. Back in the forest I walked away from the path to flush passerines into the open. Then I caught sight of large birds out of the corner of my eye. I looked, and they were MERRIAM'S TURKEYS! I shouted that they were turkeys, because apparently I can't contain excitement. Then they ran off. Instead of calmly photographing them, I had to be frantic. That didn't end very well. Finally we got back to our campsite, exhausted. But instead of crashing, I journeyed to the shower building where there was an outlet to charge my Mom's phone so I could research meadowlarks and create my checklist. I ended up learning most of what I've taught you in this post that day. The next morning Dad and I wen't the same route to Ashurst Lake, this time equipped with a van, making more time for birding, less time for traveling. My first objective was to get to the meadowlark spot, with yesterday's newly acquired knowledge. To my delight, meadowlarks were singing absolutely everywhere, about 60! This was great because song is said to be the best way to distinguish the 2 meadowlarks. This was also a problem, I hadn't studied the differences recently, and I didn't yet know that Lilian's has a lower pitched song than Eastern. At first I thought these 2 individuals were candidates for LIME. However, the second meadowlark has marked gray cheeks, all yellow throat, and gray-brown head stripes. Note how I said "all yellow throat:" Well, the meadowlark in the pic above this one shows no yellow in the breast and throat, but that doesn't eliminate WEME. After all, it shows pale head stripes as well. Better pics of the same Gray Flycatcher from yesterday; I was amazed that we relocated him. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... The malar seems separate from the throat, and the stripe in front of the eye is well-defined. We could have another Lilian's! Remember, I knew I had definitely seen 2, both from the previous day- one with bright white cheeks and another with 4 white outer rectrices- I just didn't know if I'd photographed or heard one. Enough confusion, the weeks- actually one of the year's greatest highlights happened next. We were walking back to the van when a flock of bluebirds were flying around. One in particular caught my attention. A sky blue one broke off from the flock and landed on a rock. I raised my binoculars- "Oh my God, that's a MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD!" I was in a mountain grassland 2 days in a row, and I had not even thought of that species! I excitedly got nearer to the bluebirds, and they got startled. I counted 10 Mountain Bluebirds which separated from the Westerns. At first I walked towards them, getting further and further from the road. Iended up quite far from where I started, with still a ways to go to get to the birds. Then I thought, 'I am certain a saw a couple break off and fly close to the road when they first flushed, I'll head back and look for them there.' I was greatly relieved to find one not far from me and close to the road. It didn't seem as skittish either. When you see the girl you like from far away... When she's coming your way... In the midst of folling the 2 MOBLs, I was really surprised to see a breeding-plumaged meadowlark, possibly Lilian's as it appeared brighter yellow (LIME/EAME has slight orange tinge as well, which this bird might have shown), and its cheeks looked plain white from what I could see. I did get a binocular view, though that didn't bring the bird close. I also was much more interested in the bluebirds, as this was a dream bird and I had my fair share of meadowlark confusion. It would also make more sense to be LIME, since they do arrive on nesting grounds later than WEME in Coconino County. Anyways, here's some facts about Mountain Bluebird: First & foremost, it is absolutely beautiful! It is and always has been one of my favorite birds in the world. I know, there are birds in the tropics and even our own country that have 10 more colors, and even more vibrant colors at that. So why the Mountain Bluebird? For one, its color of blue is very unique, it is actually the only truly sky-blue bird in the World! It is so vibrant that it looks like Montana's sky. There are also 2 morphs for both sexes. For the males: One that has blue flanks, and one that has gray flanks and slightly duller shade of sky-blue. For females: rusty morph & gray morph, both with blue in wings/tail. Along with that all 4 morphs have brighter & paler variants. So even though no matter what only 2 colors are on this gorgeous bird, it is highly variable. Since I mentioned the brightest morph, here is my next goal involving this species: I've seen the Mountain Bluebird. I've enjoyed the Mountain Bluebird. I've photographed the Mountain Bluebird. The last objective involving this species is to do all that with my favorite morph, the blue flanked, more vibrant male! Except, that's not my last objective. I've always wanted to see this species in Alaska. Of particular interest is to see if they breed/nest in the Denali Highway region. This bluebird summers in some of the most beautiful habitat, very high elevation mountain grasslands from New Mexico all the way into western Alaska, making it second-most widespread, behind Eastern Bluebird. As you know, I had a brief sighting in the prairie out in the White Mountains, a sub-region of the Rockies. That was an immature/female individual. I also said in the Caspian Tern post that Dara made me feel bad. To specify, she said: "So it's not going on your Life List because it was a female?" I added it, but this species is one of the few that I want the first time I see it be climatic. I highly respect female birds, but it's safe to say that almost all the time the males are a more spectacular sight. I say almost because phalaropes are more accurate with dimorphism. The small shorebirds are also an exception because the juveniles are more beautiful than adults. Anyways, MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD is epic!!!!!! The last birding we did for the day was Mormon Lake. This is one of 2 naturally occurring lakes in Arizona. Ouch. Alaska has 3,000,000! Mormon Lake has had one bird in particular that was amazing: A Common Crane! Sounds common, but this bird originated thousands of miles away in Siberia. Mormon Lake now looks sad, I expected extensive shallow water, but there was no water in the lake at all. Arizona's one of 2 natural lakes might sadly being resting in peace very soon. However, it was still impressive, in a different way: Over 200 Elk. The only bird highlight were a few Cassin's Kingbirds. The next morning I walked away from the campsite and found this unusual fly. This was unlike anything I'd ever seen, in terms of flies, so I ran full speed to the camp with a fast beating heart and frantically grabbed the camera. I was so relieved to re-find the cute fly within moments. That is when I took these pix. I thought that maybe there was a remote chance it could be a new species. After a week I discovered it was Lordotus striatus- Orange Bee Fly, according to BugGuide. Everything about this fly is unique and fascinating. For one, it is rarely encountered, pretty elusive. It has a long needle-like proboscis. It holds its body high with long orange legs. It even holds its wings in an odd position. Its colors are another fantastic aspect. Shimmering gold & orange hairs, with a couple black bands on the abdomen. In person these colors are even more beautiful! Let's also take a moment to acknowledge that this fly is adorable. In the Afternoon we wen't to Walnut Canyon NM in Flagstaff. It wasn't what I expected: *I like= sympathy for this upside down tree. Please, Doug the Douglas Fir needs you... Walnut Canyon was very beautiful, among the better-looking high elevation locations in Arizona. I was actually expecting Ponderosa Pine forest with some oaks and for the canyon itself be smaller. It was interesting because the 2 sides of the canyon were dominated by different flora. North was Doug Fir, Ponderosa Pine, Rocky Mt. Juniper, Smooth AZ Cypress. South was Ponderosa Pine, Oneseed Juniper, Single-leaf Pinyon, and Double-leaf Pinyon. Of course this is generally speaking, since the trees didn't stay exclusive to their sides. As in, there were some Doug Firs and Cypress on the south side. With such a diversity of Coniferous, Deciduous, and undergrowth flora, here is where the great birds live. Close to where we started, there were a group of birds saying "ha-ha-aaa" above the canyon. Eventually I found the source. Some corvids flying out of pinyons into a snag, and then flying into the forest. I suspected, and later found out that they were PINYON JAYS, a long-anticipated mountain lifer! They were silhouettes, but thankfully my observation of them wasn't too brief. They looked just like Clark's Nutcrackers, with different vocalizations. They are also powder-blue. Pinyon Jays can been tough to find due to nomadic nature. They are an irruptive species in that they wander in search of pinyon nuts when the crop at home falls short. Instead of carrying one nut at a time to a caching sight like most birds, they can carry 40 seeds at a time in their throat crop! Also, flocks are basically family as birds born in the same area will stay together for life. These flocks can consist of more than 500 individuals sometimes. In the parking lot a cute JUNIPER TITMOUSE provided the best looks I've gotten from that species as well as a perfect photographic opportunity. He was foraging on Oneseed Juniper cones. This reminds me; I still don't have pictures of Mountain Chickadee. Hhhhhhmmmmmm... We didn't leave Walnut Canyon yet, though. we made some sams and ate at some picnic tables in the Pinyon-Juniper woodland. I was hungry, I needed this, I deserved this, all this birding makes a man hu- "Ooh, a woodpecker." As soon as I saw it, I already knew what it was, but I needed a triumphant moment with this bird before announcing its awesome presence to my parental units. I went over to the tree he- uh, she flew into. Before moving on, that was a hint. Think of a woodpecker that you can immediately recognize as female without a second look or a view of the crown. Anyways, she flew out of that tree. So I walked to the next tree. She then flew off deeper into the woods, putting a lot of distance between me and her. I was devastated. All I needed were a few moments of her time. For a few minutes, I thought it was over. But just remember, God is cool. I heard quiet tapping. I stood still and listened. Tapping again. Somehow she snuck into a tree next to me. She then flew a few trees over. I quietly walked over to her pinyon, looked up at her with binoculars, and said: "My awesome God, I'm finally looking at a WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER!" I quickly proceeded to get a couple photographs, making sure I get a good one. After these 2 (which actually turned out to be the only good pix) I backed up because I thought I could get a better angle, and then felt a very sharp pain in my leg. I looked behind me: A yucca had ruined a tender moment by stabbing my ankle. I was furious, with the strength of 10 men, I proceeded to pull it out of the ground from the roots, then then I threw it down the canyon. I shouted in roman: "Thou seeketh to deprive thee of the most tenderest moment in thy life! Thou not welcome in thy presence!" Ok, y'all know that I'm kidding on that last part. Man though, I got stabbed by a yucca, that's a pain not many can say they've experienced. And it's ironic because yuccas are used for pain-relieving wounds... I guess I can say it backfired on me? Hmm. So, I was just saying that seeing the males of a species is almost always the most ideal first-time situation. I'm kinda going to contradict that, because seeing a female first allowed me to see the uniqueness of this sapsucker in person. Sapsuckers are unique among woodpeckers, Williamson's is unique among sapsuckers. Males have 2 white stripes on the face, one behind the bill and underneath the eye, another behind the eye. The crown, nape, breast, and sides of throat are black, the throat has a crimson center. There is a broad white stripe on both black wings. Flanks are gray with black vermiculations, underside is bright yellow. Lastly, the back is entirely black, rump is white with some black spots, and wingtips have tiny white spots. With all this combined, the male WISA has a lot more black than other sapsuckers, somewhat resembling Black-backed Woodpecker. Because females & males are so drastically different, from each other, that they were thought to be 2 different species at first. It took a while for the scientists of that day to catch on, but now we all know them as the respective sexes of one species. Before they were merged, the female was called Black-breasted Woodpecker, the male wasn't named after Willamson yet either. Among bird females, WISA is pretty cool-looking. Basically the ultimate flicker-Gila Woodpecker mix. Favored summer habitat is Doug-Fir mixed with Ponderosa and oaks, also higher up with mixed White Fir and down low with pinyons. Walnut Canyon is the perfect place for this species, probably a high density area. This sapsucker is among the less common Arizona mountain birds, an awesome experience to see one for sure! This is the last highlight of the trip: A millipede before leaving. It's funny, because it was under a rock right next to a crumbling tree base that had a centipede in it. I tried to dig it out, but somehow it burrowed into the hard core of the base. I ended up breaking a few sticks trying to get it out. Centipedes are venomous (can't kill though) so I was going to use a stick for it to perch on, set it down, and get some nice shots. Since that failed, a flipped over an adjacent, and caught this guy.
I hope you enjoyed this great post, I know the adventure itself was really amazing, one of the best mountain trips so far! I also really hope I didn't kill anyone from meadowlark confusion. #likecommentfollowshareplz. I'm Jared, and stay tuned for my next adventure, 'cuz I have plenty of overdue ones! The meadowlark confusion is over at last...
0 Comments
Well, September 9th has passed, which means I've lived in Arizona for an entire year now. I know I just released a post involving the same route and locations, but here I am again, blogging about it a second time! This time was very different... This post does not start off in Dateland, however, it starts with me catching and photo-shooting this lifer GREEN FIG BEETLE: I was so excited to finally find one of these, and you can see why. These species is brilliant, but to think that there are even more beautiful scarabs in southeast Arizona is amazing. This big beetle has expanded its range a lot since southern America became developed. Now they're after citrus and apples instead of just figs. They used to be primarily Mexican and South American. Saturday evening Caleb and my brother came over for dinner and a herping (reptile search) expedition along a road that goes from Maricopa to Gila Bend. We didn't end up with any reptiles, but Caleb spotted a toad jumping on the road. We turned around, saw it again, and I jumped out to catch it. The COLORADO RIVER TOAD jumped out of my hands about 20 times prior to these photos. Just like the fig beetle, I was excited to see and catch my very first toad. In Alaska our dominate amphibian is Wood Frog, which I've caught plenty of times. Once I kept them as pets for months. I had 11 by the time I had to release them, because we were going to Arizona. Despite toads being poisonous, I leaped like a frog to catch this awesome species. Besides, my mouth would have to come into contact with the toxin for it to work. Also people, that is, the toad-discriminators ( also known as the majority), think that these creatures are disgusting. They are covered in bumps and are often underground or in the mud. Well, they don't feel like anything you'd expect, it was surprising to me. They are rough and dry, but smooth in between the bumps. In fact, I would say they're reminiscent of a Leopard Gecko. I have one of those by the way, she's been with me 5 years, she deserves a post on this blog. Well anyways, toads are interesting to hold. So one more thing, this Colorado River Toad was 3 1/2 inches, I thought that was big. I already knew that they get to 7-8 inches. We hoped to have a diversity of reptiles and amphibians on this night trip, but that was our solo herp for the day, sadly. But hope was soon to come in the form of Dateland! About 15 minutes into birding, Caleb & spotted something epic at the same time. We were scanning the tams on the west side of the RV park, when we thought a Willow Flycatcher was in one. Caleb gave it a closer look, finding out it was a Black Phoebe. In the same tree was a cute Empidonax right in front of the phoebe. I was looking at that and Caleb said, "Uh, you should get photos of that." The way Caleb said it I could tell it was really rare. "It's an eastern Empid." Word of advice: Get photos of rarities and vagrants if you want a good reputation in birding. Excellent views don't automatically mean they'll take your word for it. Believe me, I know this. My AK ebird reviewer, and friend, Bob Winkler, was generous in that he accepted all but 3 rarities of mine: South Polar Skua, Bar-tailed Godwit, and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. The reason that that's generous is for one, I have no vagrant pix from Alaska. Secondly, SPSK & YBFL are 1st county records. BTGO isn't much more regular at 1 prior county record. I may not seem like a very good birder because it sounds like my comments weren't convincing enough for these reviewers to accept them. YBFL: Originally thought it was on the Denali hwy, but I discovered the precise location of the overlook I found this bird, a vista of Denali. Plumage details: Black wings, white wash on secondaries, crisp white wing-bars, olive back and head, yellow-green underneath, bold eye-ring. Short-tailed, a small flycatcher. I got fantastic views as it perched within 6 feet of me! Insane to see this bird so far west, but breeding habitat was plentiful where I found the Empid. LIFER! SPSK: Observed from gas station being mobbed by 3 gulls. Smaller than the Herring Gulls but broad black wings with very conspicuous white patches between greater and lesser coverts. Short black tail with no elongated central tail feathers, heavy hooked bill, gray face, underparts and mantle. I really wish I had a photo, but I didn't want to run to and back from the car to get the camera because by that time I probably couldn't relocate the skua again, so I decided to observe the bird for as long as possible and look for all the field marks that would point me to South Polar Skua as the ID. Fortunately I was able to find all the field marks. LIFER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BTGO: Unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me but here is the best description I can give; large, approximately 16 inch dowitcher-like sandpiper (larger than the 2 dowitchers). Long black bill slightly upturned, bright cinnamon-rufous flanks, breast and underside. Had typical dots and fleck markings of other godwits on back and wings, the bird was, without a doubt, a Bar-tailed Godwit. Had 2 dowitchers standing right next to it for comparasion, Godwit was a very bright cinnamon- much more colorful than dowitchers. These are the original ebird comments. Even now, despite thinking I had to say a Bar-tailed Godwit was cinnamon twice, there's nothing wrong with these descriptions. They're plenty good for these vagrants to be accepted. Well anyways, speaking of Yellow-bellied Flycatchers: That's what it is! Prior to ours there a have only been 4 in Arizona, including one from Dateland years ago! Even more awesome is that it is a lifer for Caleb. As you guys know, this is only my second time seeing this species. Funny that both places it did't belong in. Of course, where I found my first, I'm 100% sure they breed & nest there. The Yellow-bellied Flycatcher is distributed across the entire Taiga Belt ecoregion from east-central Alaska to Nova Scotia in wet boreal spruce bogs. They stay on breeding grounds for the least amount of time of American migrants, only 70 days or even less. This species is my favorite of the Empids, easier to identify because of bright colors. It has a yellowish wash on the lower belly, yellowish throat, olive back, breast, & head, , bold white eyering, and adults have black wings with broad white wingbars. Their secondaries & tertials are well-defined with white. Overall brighter, more contrasting plumage compared to other Emps. After I took these photos, our buddy realized we were interested in him. So he became uncooperative, jumping and flying all over the place. We continued to follow him for a while to get a YBFL vocalization. Unfortunately we didn't, but that's alright. Apparently that YBFL specifically is this female Western Tanager's favorite artist. She was excited to meet him. In the palms a CEDAR WAXWING was calling distinctly, making it a heard only lifer for me. This winter I should without a doubt get visuals. That was our monthly dose of Dateland. This GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE looked out of place in a desert puddle at the Aztec sludge ponds. Here is a continuing PECTORAL SANDPIPER. This Calidris has an interesting courtship ritual: It inflates its throat sack, fluffs the breast to reveal black under-feathers, fans its tail and wings, and lets out rapid deep whistles Crappy PESA pictures aside, here's some egrets in a pond near Paloma Ranch. Your all dying to know what the big gray one is... Immidiately upon arriving at Paloma Ranch I saw this lifer 1st year REDDISH EGRET! Paloma seems to be good at producing rare brown birds as of late. This Reddish Egret was found by Caleb Strand a week prior on Sept. 3rd. While juveniles look like... that, the adults are one of the best looking herons, competing with Tricolored. It is larger and thicker-necked than its closest Egretta cousin, Snowy Egret. Adults have a conspicuous bicolored bill, the first half pink, the rest black. Additionally, their name sake comes from the long, rusty, spiky plumes on the neck, head, and breast. The rest of the plumage is dark sooty gray. In peak breeding plumage, the facial skin & legs are brilliant blue. Additionally it has long fluffy feathers on the back and 2 long laces that are elongated tail rectrices. This large egret also has a stunning white morph found along the gulf coast. I briefly got to observe its unique foraging behavior, jumping sporadically while flapping wings. Its distributed along across the coast of Baja, Mexico, the Gulf, and the Caribbean. They wander inland typically in late summer through fall water gets too high on the coast. Individuals in Arizona come from Baja. This heron intimidates me. Let's not forget OSPREY!! Next up were some nearby ag fields that had a flock of 100s of LONG-BILLED CURLEWS! This is one of my favorite shorebirds, it just looks plain funky. With Far Eastern Curlew, it is the largest of the American sandpipers at 23 inches. I was so happy to finally be able to observe them, as you know in the last post it was a simple flyby. Caleb counted all of them without finding any Whimbrels. I also got to see another favorite of mine, MARBLED GODWIT, my 3rd lifer for the day already! This is the largest of the godwits (Limosa), its bill is also proportionally the longest. This godwit associates with Long-billed Curlew and looks very similar, drastically different than the other godwits. I'm thinking the reason for curlew-like plumage is so they mistake MAGO for their own species, thus avoiding competition. This godwit primarily is found in the northern Great Plains during summer, sharing nesting grounds with LBCU (the latter is also in the interior west). There are tiny populations on the Alaska peninsula & James Bay (Ontario) as well. Alaskan MAGOs have stouter wings and are heavier. We actually had 2 MAGOs in the flock of 382 LBCUs. At one point the closer individual took flight and delivered its characteristic nasal calls. The LBCUs were noisy as well. After enjoying the curlews and godwits, with hit the pelican pond at Paloma Ranch to look for the Red Knot Caleb found a week ago. Above is a photo is a DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT with Neotropic Cormorant. By now you should know which is which. #speakingof, the cormorants on the water in my side-by-side pic in the previous post are both NECO, according to Caleb. Lesson learned, NECO shows drastic variation. Reminds me of another bird, that I don't like... There is a WILLET in this flock. The question is: Can you find it? Here's 2 Greater Yellowlegs with a Willet. Note how the Willet's legs are blue-green. Also note the thicker-based bill. A Killet and a Willdeer... In these 2 photos you can really see how large Willet is. A Killdeer is about 12 inches long, yet this Willet towers over one. Here you can see better that it has webbing on its feet. Yellowlegs have so little webbing its not noticeable unless your really close. By the way this is a different Willet. Again, check out those awesome blue feet! Imagine if that Willet kicked the Killdeer hard in the face... I'd probably die of laughter. I must admit though, the Killdeer is a pretty good-looking shorebird. That doesn't mean we're friends. Inornata is the subspecies we have here in Arizona, Western Willet. Hopefully it will be split from Atlantic Willet in the near future. There is no range overlap, plumage and calls are different. After that we stopped to look for more shorebirds at the Gila Bend sewage ponds. Here our highlights were: A flock of 86 WILSON'S PHALAROPES, a Cinnamomea SOLITARY SANDPIPER, STILT SANDPIPERS, SPOTTED SANDPIPERS, and a cute little PIED-BILLED GREBE. I didn't see the need to take pictures, we would be going to a couple more ponds where the same birds would be closer. And speaking of which, these guys were at the Old US 80 ponds. Can you identify them? Stilt Sandpipers. Semipalmated Plover. When will Arizona get Common-ringed? The majority of them are BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS, Caleb counted 58! They are the larger scaly-backed ones. This Least Sandpiper doesn't know what to do as he's surrounded by the Big Baird Bunch. They are an infamous gang of shorebirds. This is the awesome WHITE-BEARDED ROBBER-FLY. It was on the wind-shield wiper of Caleb's van. These huge flies are over 1 inch long, they use that needle-like projection to stab smaller flies and liquify the insides. Despite looking intimidating, these flies are some of the cleanest. They kill disease-carrying species, while not carrying diseases themselves. Instead of laying eggs on rotting flesh, they lay them on wet leaves. Our last good bird of the day was this Pectoral Sandpiper at another pond. Our last birding location was the Lower River Road ponds, where we didn't pick up anything really cool. Those same ponds have had Royal Tern and Black Skimmers a couple years ago. To bad they weren't that awesome this time around.
This trip was epic, we ended with 18 shorebird species, one less than last time, but the lifers plus a freaking Yellow-bellied Flycatcher in Arizona were epic! Of my 3 lifers, I liked Reddish Egret best, knowing how beautiful it will look when it grows up. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher is hands down our best bird altogether today. One last thing, as I mentioned at the beginning I mentioned that it has been a year since I moved here. I've come a very long way since then, now with 267 birds seen in Arizona, with 198 of them being lifers. I would certainly say this adventure was a proper celebration of 365 days of birding in Arizona! Stay tuned for another post coming soon... It will be EPIC! Hi all! Welcome to the blog and to today's post. On August 11th I had a fantastic birding trip with my great friend Caleb Strand, A.K.A Positive Encouraging! In fact, that was the entire day. Our original plan was to hit Sunflower, Mt. Ord, Granite Reef and end the day with GWR, but because of the sketchy weather in that direction, we quickly transitioned to Dateland. Dateland... Dateland... DATELAND! This place is interesting. It is between Gila Bend and Yuma City, in the middle of nowhere. The elevation is 800 ft. and lower above sea level. 100s of thousands of Creosotes and other small shrubs are sparsely distributed throughout this very flat, vast, and desolate area of the Mohave Desert. The actual town, or lack thereof, is just a Circle K, RV park, Elementary School, and large Date Palm grove, plus a few other buildings. The best part about Dateland is: The birds! Of course, that's something you expect to here from a birder, a hardcore birder at that. This place has an insane birding history behind it, and an epic future ahead. Wood Thrush, Thick-billed Kingbird, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Kentucky Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Baltimore Oriole, Cassin's Finch, Palm Warbler, Red Crossbill, Varied Thrush, Lewis's Woodpecker, White-throated Sparrow, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Black-throated Blue Warbler, and Scott's Oriole, just to name a few. For an Arizona birder, these are some of the best birds you could ever see, at least in the state. But hey, I'm always game for a Wood Thrush. It is still early in the season for vagrants, but things will really pick up within the next 2 months. I got up around 3:00 am, with Caleb arriving around 4, just as planned. I even managed to not get stung by a scorpion again! That is always a plus nowadays. On the way to Dateland, I asked Caleb why vagrants such as eastern warblers end up so far west like in Yuma and southern California, this is a question I've had a while now, and I should know the answer by now, because I'm a birder. So, this is why: Often young birds or new adults get to where they need to go by following the adults, because being young and all, migration is a first for them so don't know the landmarks that the adults are long familiar with. If a predator or even a slight breeze separates the inexperienced bird(s) from the flock, it doesn't know what else to do but go westward. By going west the bird could end up stopping anywhere in that direction, Alaska, Washington, Wyoming, etc. But sometimes these birds aren't just inexperienced, they are dumb, they go straight west. They land in southern California because they've reached the end of the continent. But even then, some birds are complete idiots. They fly past the continent to attempt crossing the ocean to get to where they think their destination is. But they see the islands off the coast of Cali, and they have to land there to live. I don't know about other birders, but I'm so glad that birds are dumb! So yeah, this same fact applies to Dateland, they have to stop there because there's a huge desolate desert between there and the food-rich and excellent climate California coast. This is Yuma County, near Dateland, pretty much the very definition of what a desert is. Our first good bird of the day was LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE. Personally I like Northern Shrike better, but that's just an opinion. A WESTERN TANAGER and a BULLOCK'S ORIOLE just being buddies. A BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK and Western Tanager just being buddies. That same Black-headed Grosbeak let me approach within a few ft. and obtain killer photos! I love it when birds do that, everyone does. It refreshes my memory that birds aren't always far away. Unfortunately it's not for the reason I would like it to be, this bird didn't want to be buddies, he was just too exhausted to react right away. He didn't lift a wing until I was 1 ft. away! He then returned to his favorite hose when I turned around top look back. These moments were also very special because this is a species I never expected to have a close-up encounter with. Ones I do expect this kind of experience with are Red-breasted Nuthatches, Black-capped Chickadees (and the other 2 common Alaskan chickadees), Gray Jays, and Northwestern Crows. OK guys, I must admit, I've taken 2 full weeks off the blogging streak. As a result, My memory isn't as fresh as when I posted these BHGR pix. None to worry though, because all I'm doing is cutting myself some stress for just the Dateland part of the adventure, since I remember everything else pretty well. Also, I only forgot unimportant details. So, with that said, here's some highlights: Fem. Bullock's Oriole. I know, we all want to see a male. It's not my fault. Fem. HOODED ORIOLE. It was hanging out with the BUOR in the exact same palm. I would recommend going back and forth between these pics to get a feel for the differences of these 2 species, because while the brilliant males are conspicuous, females are cryptic about their identification. Of course, if you have these 2 squared away, that's excellent! Eventually we ran into another Black-headed Grosbeak, presumably the same one due to same level of tameness. Just like the previous one it paid off with some great photos. Black-headed Grosbeaks aside, this is a migrant ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER. #firstpic. This creature is very cute. Oh, by the way, I've done this quite a few times on my blog, but I'm going to start doing this all the time, whenever I feature a lifer, state bird, or one that is very cool, I will give identification features (if it's got a painstakingly similar cousin), sometimes distribution (for example, the Ash-throated is a southwestern species), and things that distinguish this species from others as particularly cool ( for example, why seeing Double-crested Cormorants in large numbers instead of Neotropics at the GRPs is unusual). So yeah, just thought I'd mention that, since I'll be giving the life hystory on a number of birds during this post. With that said, I haven't put the ATFL in the spotlight yet: Along with Brown-crested Flycatcher this species is an uncommon member of genus Myiarchus. Distinguished from the gorgeous Brown-crested by a smaller, narrow bill, whiter underside, colors on Ash-throated are much brighter on Brown-crested, and choice of habitat; Riparian for BCFL, dry washes for ATFL. However, both species favor riparian (Brown-crested outnumbering in that habitat) but BCFL stays away from dry washes. BCFL favors willows and cottonwoods over mesquites and paloverdes favored by ATFL. Of course identifications don't come that easy, that means that BCFL can perch in a paloverde or mesquite, and an ATFL can perch in a cottonwood or willow. A couple other things to remember are: The larger more peaked head of a Brown-crested, as well slightly darker crown/face and darker back. I generally like to have more than 1 photo of each bird. It is a fact that Warbling Vireos are cute. That fact gives them a pass on being colorful. Turkey Vultures on the other hand... They are horrific-looking. I don't know how else to put, but their heads are almost a skull. Someting gross but kinda awesome is that Black Vultures will actually tease Turkey Vultures until they regurgitate their food. Then the Black Vulture eats it. Disgusting, but it's great because it makes the Turkey Vulture look terribly dumb next to the epic Coragyps atratus. On a side note, at the phoenix zoo a Black Vulture walked right up to the glass and stayed close to me. It kept looking straight at me, it was adorable. Yes, unlike the hydeous skull-faced Turkey Vulture, Black vultures are actually cute. Caleb then spotted my first lifer of the day, The Long. The billed. The CURLEW!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was flying high in the sky and moving away very quickly, so yours truly did not get a photo. There's a ton of hope though. Like seriously, if you were to weigh the amount of hope there is for this bird, it would be 2,000 pounds. The hope comes in the form of flooded alfalfa fields during late fall/winter. Large flocks come to this habitat during that time frame. Now's probably a good time to mention that we ran into Christopher McCreedy here. We did, he's a fellow ebirder, he's also well known for not using playbacks when birding for fun (he does for science). He's also a biologist, the kind that studies Dusky and Willow Flycatchers, among other birds and animals. #itisimportanttonote that his camera, is... huge. Probably the largest camera in North America. If it has subspecies then it probably is the largest subspecies too. One day I'll get around to getting one of those. Definately not as big as Mr. McCreedy's that would make a 15 minute birding outing exhausting. That camera probably weighs as much as an anvil. "What'd you do today?" "I photographed a Hepatic Tanager with an anvil." ":/" This COMMON GROUND-DOVE reminds me of such a dream... Yes, you heard me right, another species of men's soap!! This Mourning Dove wishes he could be as cool as his cousin. This dove didn't allow for a complete victory though, the photo makes this obvious. The Common Ground-Dove (COGD) is one of the smallest American doves at 6 1/2 inches. In Arizona they nest in Mesqite Bosques, migrating through and wintering in dry flat areas with an abundance of small seeds. Their scientific name (Columbina passerina means "little sparrow dove". Their size makes it clear why that name has been designated to them. Although not utilizing particularly beautiful habitat, the dove itself is very attractive. Its beak is bicolored magenta and black, the crown is a powder blue-gray with black-bordered feathers (giving a scaly appearance, this feature is also on the breast). Its eyes are big and brown, the tail and wings are stubby, and the body is washed with a salmon tinge. Like the other Columbinas (ground-doves), its primaries are bright red-brown. 2 other highlights were 3 WESTERN WOOD PEWEES we saw throughout our walk, and a flock of LARK SPARROWS that came after the dove. You guys know I love LASPs. After all, LASPs are life. I'm just kidding on that last part, but they are an important, meaningful bird on my Life List. I mean, I did see my very first on a special day, Global Big Day (treated by me as Maricopa Big Day). I was also surprised to see a flock of 40 that same day! I like them so much because they have such an amazing plumage pattern. And this is the legendary Dateland I speak of. Doesn't exactly look like the kind of place with a history of Wood Thrushes, huh? Next up we headed to the school of Dateland. This place has contributed to some of Dateland's mythical creatures, such as Lewis's Woodpecker. Here we found our rarest bird of the day, are you ready for the rarest bird of the day? It was funny because we were literally just talking about it when Caleb found it. The one. The only: The legendary Yuma county fire-breathing dragon- ha, I mean HARRIS'S HAWK. Note that it's basically anorexic. Caleb sure knows how to make birds appear when we're conversating. Caleb, you and I need to have a discussion about Curlew Sandpipers at the GRPs... And that is the end of the post. Except that I'm just kidding! "Listen you don't even know me this is just beginning." That something TruDog said and I'll say it to. #bytheway TruDog is Truett McKeenhan, tobyMac's (Toby Mckeehan's) son. Toby is one of my favorite artists, his songs are so catchy! He's most of what I listen to when I blog. One of my fave songs by him is "Undeniable". The message is that God is undeniable and unmistakable. It's also an epic birding jam! This here is a gorgeous WHITE-STRIPED TIGER-BEETLE. Caleb found it in the Dateland Circle K. This small desert beetle is freaking amazing-looking! Our first stop along the Old U.S. Hwy 80 were the Aztec Dairy sludge ponds. Doesn't exactly sound appetizing, now does it? But, it's were the shorebirds are. Our first peeps of the day were Least Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper and my favorite, a flock of 6 BAIRD'S. Y'all will see some photos later, but these 6 individuals were a bit of distance away. Nonetheless, I got great binocular views and excellent comparison with the adjacent WESAs. BASA is distinguished by a larger body, shorter, thicker legs; sharply cut-off buff-brown breast and long primary projection. The last feature is due to their nature as a long-distance migrant (more so than the other common stints) wintering in western South America. However, the long primaries are useless for differentiating from WRSA (White-rumped) In this case use the straight bill of BASA & different patterns/colors. I don't know why I particularly favor the Baird's Sandpiper, after all it's a brown and white bird like almost all the other sandpipers. I guess it's that the more species shorebirds there are in a large group is when that kind of birding gets interesting. I'm really excited for the day(s) to come where I find something much rarer or much more cool looking in one of those flocks (like say, a Curlew Sandpiper, one of my favorites. Sooner rather than later buddy!). "MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" After a while we finally arrived at a place I had been anticipating the whole morning. I had some catching up to do with a young Brown Pelican at the Paloma Ranch. This is not a Brown Pelican, you guys know that, this is the Eared Grebe Lord. At this time of year this species is very early, thus I thought it was a good idea to obtain photos, despite being an insignificant rarity (I didn't mean that Mr. Grebe Lord, I love you buddy, your significant, your life matters). Right, the pelican: I was so relieved when I saw it as soon as we got out of Caleb's magic minivan. The relief came from the thought that I wouldn't get a chance to see this species this year. Even a week prior to this trip when the young pelican was first reported, I was worried that Paloma Ranch wouldn't come around to my schedule. Even then, there is always fear that the bird will fly away. Speaking of, I remember when over 2 years ago I went for the Palmer Pied-billed Grebe, that even after getting great looks, the real relief came when the lady said it couldn't fly and wouldn't be able to for 2 more weeks because of missing primaries. That 2 weeks ended up being 3 weeks, the last day it was seen was Sept. 5th, I saw it on Aug. 14th. I was happy that there was plenty of time for even more birders to see this extremely rare bird (not seen in the county for more than 50 years). So yeah, I had a few reasons to be worried, despite the fact that they aren't good reasons for the non-birders reading this. Especially because it hasn't been a half-century since a Brown Pelican was present in Maricopa CO., more like since last year. Based on this young bird, the beauty contest automatically goes to the American White Pelican of the interior west lakes. The Brown Pelican is a coastal resident, undoubtedly the most characteristic and familiar bird of California & Florida beaches, even to non-birders. I also wouldn't doubt that a few of my blog viewers have seen this species often, I'm sure some of you guys live in Florida or California. Heck, if that is the case, you've seen adults in breeding plumage, which are actually a match for the beautiful American White Pelican. Something pretty high on the epic scale that Brown Pelicans do is plunge into the water in a completely vertical position to catch fish. I hope to see this someday, and I know I will, I'll be able to just drive to California once I have my license. However, I have seen Arctic terns do the same thing. Kittiwakes actually land on the water surface that way, not to catch fish. This young pelican is going through a molting stage; old feathers replaced by new ones. As a result I don't think it can fly, almost, but not quite. Its primaries look pretty rough and short. #itisimportanttonote that the Brown Pelican is the smallest of the Pelecanus and is the only one with subspecies. It is rare and annual in Maricopa, once a year round resident at Tempe Town Lake. Not seen there since January 14th, 2017. Also present was a continuing LESSER SCAUP, way early for winter. I don't know what to say about this duck. This is actually the same photo, except it's the cormorant edition. Do you know why this pic is significant? Because it's a DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT side by side with a Neo. I've seen this situation a lot since we moved, but this is my first photo of that. Finally I can show you how to distinguish these 2: First and foremost, DCCO is the back bird: DCCO bill: long & dark, curved on the top of upper mandible NECO bill, short & stout; lighter color DCCO neck: thicker NECO neck: narrower & shorter DCCO body: muscular and stocky; longer as well NECO body: comparatively slender, breast not as muscular. DCCO malar patch: broad & rounded NECO malar patch: very narrow & rectangular. Normally bordered with white, but not on this bird Interestingly these 2 cormorants are in exactly the same plumage stage. Both are transitioning from breeding to winter plumage, which must be why the Neo is temporarily missing the characteristic broad white border around the malar. Now class, using what we just learned, here we compare perched birds. This time they're mostly in summer plumage. Now it's obvious how much larger DCCO (left) is. You can also clearly see the forementioned white malar border on the Neo (right). Another distinguishing feature of DCCO is the short tail and thicker legs. Here's a closeup of a GREG family. "Greg you imbecile, get your freaking skeletal smelly feet out of my face!" "Neco, I am going to wrap these skeletal feet around your stubby beak, and fling you over my back, you are going to hit the water too hard to survive. Btw those were your last words." Before Neco could react, Greg stayed true to what he just said. "R.I.P Neco," said the random Brown Pelican. Oh, how I love birding. Next up were the Citrus Valley slop ponds. In one pond was a large flock of Killdeer & Black-necked Stilts, the other had a huge flock of peeps to search through for any goodies. Again the usual WESAs & LESAs were present in decent numbers. scanning through we picked up our first SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER of the day, also my first for Arizona. Although I've most certainly seen this species in a large mixed flock with WESAs 3 years ago in Homer AK, I didn't get to properly enjoy them because I only found out years later when I carefully reviewed those photos. SESA is easy to overlook until you actually lock onto it in the midst of the flock. After that it's pretty difficult to lose track of. I guess what I specifically like is the crisp plumage, it reminds me of a mix between a winter Sanderling & summer WESA. That combined with the fact that here in Arizona they are an uncommon transient makes then a special find in a flock of the typical shorbs. Also in midst of the flock were a couple more BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS, SOLITARY, WILSON'S PHALAROPES and my first of fall (FOF) SEMIPALMATED PLOVER. The Semi Plover was absolutely adorable, a field mark of this species. Additionally we picked up some LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, not literally, though I wish, you know what I mean. But there was one bird I was particularly interested in, one Caleb got me to anticipate... Here came the absolutely cutest creature I've ever seen! Please give it up for my favorite bird of the day, I remember how happy I was to find this tiny plover... (blank space) (more blank space) (That was a lot more blank space) The. Snowy. Plover!!!!! What makes this bird so awesome you ask? What gives it a grand introduction? Because it is adorable. It is fluffy. It is brilliant white, and breeding birds are especially beautiful with black on the side of the neck, cheeks, and crown.. It is the warmest brown. It is very tiny, about half the size of a Semi, and that is a 3rd the size of a Killdeer. SNPL is equipped with many qualities that make it the cutest of all shorebirds: Enormous eyes, large head, stubby bill, tiny size, short tail, and small, sharp wings. These characteristics make it epic too. The fact is that this plover is fantastic I think it's neat that this plover looks like a freaking plushy. Its distribution on our continent is complicated: It has tiny populations in: Montana, Saskatchewan, Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada, and Arizona. Larger populations reside along the Gulf & Pacific coasts, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Kansas, Utah, northern Nevada, and California. So yeah, the Snowy Plover is a very lovable bird, certainly my favorite lifer of this day. Next up were the Gila Bend Sewage Ponds. Our target bird here were a pair of RED-NECKED PHALAROPES, which we got right away, along with a couple dozen WIPHS and SPOTTED SANDPIPERS. We also scanned for terns such as Common/Forester's without getting any. I got curious about many odd sounds coming from the Creosotes, they turned out to be Desert Clicker Grasshoppers. Since I don't want to be empty-handed with a Red-necked Phal pic in this post, so here's one from spring. Next up was the Arlington Wildlife Area. We really didn't see any birds, unless you would like to beg me for Cinnamon teal photos that I can't provide because I didn't take any. But that didn't keep it from being hilarious. First we had to drive to the end of a slippery muddy road to get there. Caleb's got driving skills. This area is also the most reliable location for Yuma Ridgway's Rail in the county, I think. That's when my great friend Caleb did something that is too hilarious to forget. Ridgway's Rails like a round of applause before they feel comfortable to make an introduction. Caleb took that a step further, or a leap further even. "RANDOM RIDGWAY'S RAAAAAAAAAIIIIIILLLL!!!!!!!!!!! KEK KEK KEK KEK KEK KEK KEK KEK!!!" I was awestruck, the Paloma pelican was scarred for life, it was a great moment in Jared's birding history. Lastly we proceeded to head back. The first time down that road I was laughing, but now I was really nervous. Probably because this time I looked at the size of the ditch adjacent to us. As soon as we got started, a Matthew West song came on, and Caleb said, "Matthew West, that's a perfect way to go out, anything you wanna say to your Mom before we die?" Mr. Positive Encouraging was joking of course, which kept me laughing through our second drive down that intimidating dirt road. I'm glad God kept us safe, and I'm glad Caleb'as a skilled driver (just as he's a skilled birder). That there is one of the reasons I love birding: I get to have a great time with my hilarious friend. Next up were the Old U.S 80 slop ponds. I really don't know why the heck any shorebird would stop here to have a meal. Just order In n' Out (#notsponsored), because these slippery sloppy slobbery slop ponds will send any appetite to its grave, they smell absolutely horrific. It only took a few minutes for me to forget about the smell, because that's all it took for my next lifer to happen: I present to you the long-anticipated WESTERN WILLET! The most eye-catching characteristic of the Willet is the pair of conspicuous black & white wings. Also evident is the enormous size, the largest Tringa at 15 inches (the trailing Wilson's Phals the size of SOSA). Also note that the phals look extremely similar to nonbreeding Lesser Yellowlegs. The western ssp. of the Willet summers on the shores of lakes surrounded by upland prairies of the beautiful interior west ecoregion. Another highlight was this STILT SANDPIPER. This individual is transitioning into winter plumage. Most people don't actually know why birds a lot of birds become dull in the winter, or why males are more bold than females, after all, it's the opposite for us humans.Well, let's start with winter plumage: They have to remain inconspicuous on their wintering grounds so they have a good chance of surviving into the next breeding season, a crucial time of year. During that season females remain dull though. That's because they don't just have themselves to protect, they have babies. However, there are a few shorebird fems that make sure all eyes are on them in order to lead potential danger away from their adorable chicks. They are: Killdeer, Purple Sandpiper, and Willet. These 3 will perform the famous broken-wing act, infamous to predators. I wonder if the chicks do the same thing so that mommy Willet doesn't send them to school?... I love this photo. Sure, it's not the result of expert photography, but it's so cool because it includes 5 species of shorebirds all of the genus Calidris. It is a fantastic comparison pic because it represents how you'll typically see shorbs when your birding, plus you can still clearly see all the characteristics that makes each of these species unique. From left to right: An extremely overweight BAIRD'S SANDPIPER, Least Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER (below WESA), and STILT SANDPIPER. #itisimportanttonote the BASA puts the p-h in phat. Now, all these shorebirds are common, but that's a good thing, because once you're familiar with these main 5 Calidris of the west (plus Red Knot & Sanderling), you'll be able to identify something much rarer in a flock of these guys, like say, a Temminck's Stint. Our last highlight for the US 80 slops was a BLACK VULTURE that provided awesome views and cooperatively soared very low, eventually landing in a tamarisk. CATTLE EGRETS! Then we hit Hunters Ponds. You guys might recognize this as the place I've struck out on Black-bellied Whistling Ducky. Well this time we were here for shorebirding. Something very bizarre happened: The right bird is a SESA. Caleb and I felt sorry for him because he was all alone, at first. We were relieved when we saw he had a buddy. His bud was surprisingly a BASA. It was odd because these 2 species are almost never seen alone in Arizona, they are normally in large flocks of LESA & WESA. So this was an interesting situation. Note how normal-sized this Baird's is compared to the other one. SESA is barely larger than a LESA, and barely smaller than BASA, yet the LESA next to the BASA is significantly smaller. Anyways if that Baird's Sandpiper sat on that Least Sandpiper, then R.I.P LESA. Here you can see the long wings, thick legs, and longer bill of BASA. SESA has a short, thick bulbous-tipped bill and short primary projection. Additionally it has white-bordered pale feathers on the mantle & wings, giving a scaly appearance.
Our last shorebirding stops for the day were the Agua Fria Riverbed & GRPs. First we hit AFRB, where we finally received our first AMERICAN AVOCETS of the day. Another highlight of that place was a Black-tailed Jackrabbit, a mammal I hadn't previously gotten good looks at, and that was years ago. At GRPs we managed to find 2 more SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS in a large flock of LESAs (with some WESAs of course), as well as yet another BASA. We also had a rare female REDHEAD, 2 more BURROWING OWLS (we had about 50 that day!), a flock of 7 PIED-BILLED GREBES, and 2 new patchers; BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS & WESTERN TANAGERS! Oh my gosh guys, this is the end of the post! An overweight-Baird's-Sandpiper-sized thank you to my great friend Caleb Strand for such a great time and for making this happen! This trip was so much fun, we ended the day with 5 lifers- LONG-BILLED CURLEW, COMMON GROUND-DOVE, BROWN PELICAN, SNOWY PLOVER & WESTERN WILLET- 19 species of shorebirds, besides the lifers some of my faves were: Baird's Sandpiper, Stilt Sandpiper, Red-necked Phalarope, Spotted Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, and Semipalmated Plover. We came out with a total of almost 100 species of birds, with the absolute best out of all being Snowy Plover! Fortunately a trip involving the same route is happening this Sunday! Some birds to look forward to are Reddish Egret, Red Knot, and maybe some vagrants in Dateland this time! I'm very excited! Stay tuned for my next adventure, it's going to be exciting! #likecommentsharefollowplz. "R.I.P Neco. He will forever be in our hearts. Sometime in the past- August 11th, 2018. There's not much to say on his grave stone except that Neco was an idiot." ~the random Brown Pelican Neco's funeral will take place soon. #pleasebethere. |
About meJared Conaway Month Archives
December 2019
Categories
Life List
Birds |