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 everyone. For a few months now I've helped my friend Caleb Strand lead bird walks on the second Saturday at Estrella Mountain Regional Park. But you good sir/ma'am, can just call it EMRP. I'm not going to cover it much because we didn't see a whole lot. The scenery here is typical golf course mixed with Sonoran desert; and there is a gravel-pit-lake that we visit everytime. Most notable birds were; Myrtle x Audubon's Warbler (intergrade, not hybrid), Song Sparrows, Marsh Wrens, and Lark Sparrows. The last one has been there in good numbers every time I've gone. Lark Buntings are known to associate with them. After a good walk without rain this time, Caleb said we had the rest of the to just... bird. It was just a matter of figuring out where to go, then go there. At first he said Lake Pleasant, which was a good idea until I thought of the Wood Duckies at Selleh Park, in Tempe. Lake not-so-pleasant was also going to be a nightmare with lots of people. So with begging and thought, we were headed to east valley: Selleh, Higley & Ocotillo Rd ponds, GWR. I really wanted to see the ducks because they're just so beautiful, and this pair was reliably approachable. This is a Ringed Teal. A park pet reported on ebird, otherwise know as website abuse. If the bird is a pet, it shouldn't be on ebird. Also, everybody's called it an "escapee". Nonetheless a beautiful bird; one of the world's smallest ducks. Also, you can see the water is excessively blue. Bet it taste like bleach. Perhaps the Ringed Teal has something to do with it. Hmm. My theory is these teal have special glands in their beaks that produce blue dye. I'm just kidding. After searching for 10 minutes, we found the pair tucked back into a small tree. Makes sense, they are tree ducks. Getting photos was difficult when they were in the eucalyptus, the female made it easy first, swimming into the open a little bit. She was getting excited at us throwing pebbles in the water, thinking it was food. It was cute. "Nope." Following his girlfriend. Leading her away with pebbles is all it took for him to give up his comfortable position. Eventually she got back in the tree to make friends with a turtle, clumsily scotching closer to Mr. Turtle. Yeah, Wood Ducks are terrible at walking. Mr. Turtle was disturbed by this foreign limb movement, saying "nope," then diving into the ultramarine water. She thought I wasn't looking, proceeding to dab on me. #properwaterfowldab. "Oh." After enjoying the WODUs for a while we went to Higley & Ocotillo Rd. ponds. Caleb found my lifer MEXICAN DUCK. This duck of the genus Anas was started out at species status: Mexican Mallard, Anas diazi. For a long time it was re-evaluated to ssp. status, until 2018 were it returned as a species on ebird. Pure birds can be identified from hybrids by lack of curled rectrices (on males), pale head that contrasts with dark brown mottled breast, and turquoise speculum (variable). Hybrids look similar to male Mallards in eclipse plumage. Speaking of plumage, from now on I'm replacing non-breeding & breeding with basic & alternate plumage since it's more favorable. GREEN HERON, my best pic so far. Still my favorite common heron/egret here in Arizona. This is a BLACK & WHITE WARBLER that we pished in. It gave a sharp, unique call note. It is a rare warbler throughout the state, but annual & many are found all over the place. In fact, it is the most common of the rare warblers, easy to find & likely in any low to mid-elevation riparian system or migrant trap. This adult female was my 4th of the year & life. It was also my 4th seen with Caleb. Man, I need to find one on my own. It's the most realistic vagrant to find in my hood. BAWW has an extensive breeding distribution from northwestern Canada (eastern Yukon) across the northeast & southeast states. It winters in Baja, Mexico, Florida, Gulf Coast, and Central & northern South America. Additionally there were lots of dabbling ducks- hundreds, that included a few Mexican, too many Mallards, wigeons, Pintails, and an Aflac duck. Our last location was Gilbert Water Ranch, which was crowded beyond comprehension. Caleb's never going there on a Saturday evening ever again now! When there's lots of people around, it's hard to bird. Anyways, here's a Wilson's Snipe and a very scary coot: Another great time with Caleb, thanks buddy! The birds of the day were definitely the Wood Ducks, between epic alternate plumage, and adorableness to go with it. Alright, that's one overdue post done, a few more to go...
Peace out, as always, remember to likecommentshareplz! I want to get this blog out there.
1 Comment
8/1/2022 08:39:47 pm
Instagram ucuz takipçi satın al seçeneği ile kolaylıkla hesap büyütmek mümkün hale geliyor. Sizlerde zamandan tasarruf ederek bu ayrıcalıkların keyfini çıkarabilirsiniz.
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About meJared Conaway Month Archives
December 2019
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