From a small town to a big city...
|
A Birding Blog
By Jared Conaway
From a small town to a big city...
|
Hi everyone! Had a hit-and-miss scenario in birding today. I hope you aren't getting tired of my constant GRP (Glendale Recharge Ponds) posts, but it is the most familiar and closest birding hotspot. You and I are in for a TON of birding fun in the summer, when my sense of adventure can go rogue again, as all the breeders will return and I won't have homeschool to deal with! Anyway, as we were close to GRPs I watched 2 cars in front intentfully as to see if they had the same destination. I really wanted extra eyes and knowledge to spot a BRANT GOOSE previously reported yesterday and earlier today. On the 25th, it was a huge deal, many birders were present and took fantastic photos that I also wanted (very jealous of the stunning close-ups!) Unfortunately, since I saw The Man Who Invented Christmas at around 9:00 last night, I didn't find out about the rare goose till I checked Gmail at about 12:00 that night! When we arrived at the ponds, I frantically raced over to 3 birders who had just arrived. I yelled, "see the Brant!" twice, but Matt said no. Matt I had previously met there a few weeks ago. Steve Boyak was also there, he found a SABINE'S GULL there when I met him. That was an epic lifer for me, but despite being an uncommon Arctic breeder, it is annual in small but actually pretty decent numbers here in AZ. I missed one that was reported in Anchorage, AK earlier this fall. I searched around for the Brant and any other interesting bird. The 3rd birder, who's name I never got, showed us a pic he took of the Brant. Yet another great photo! I asked Steve and Matt where a reported Clark's Grebe had been seen. Steve said there was a pair he saw in pond 2 earlier! Perfect! Long after Matt left to explore the other ponds I quick walked and ran his direction, it was getting dark and I needed to see the orange-yellow bill, pale flanks and white around eye or at least one of the 3 to identify it as a Clark's Grebe. When I caught up to Matt, I asked about the grebe. He said he had 2 in there. After a few minutes he focused his scope on a RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, so that I could get a good look at it. decent views were indeed obtained, despite being distant! Although I had seen a gorgeous male out on a river while in a car in 2016 and one on august 28th standing on a rock with a sun-bathing HOODED MERGANSER, this was a AZ lifer! Both genders are always great-looking with that nice whispy hair-doo that they have! Males are particularly beautiful being colorful and all. Then Matt generously allowed me to use his scope to find the Clark's Grebe. And I did! The distant Clark's was observed through a wobbly scope, as I forgot to fix it into place when I was done moving it. Because of that I didn't leap for joy, at least not yet. I relocated the bird a minute later with a group of ducks. I ID'd it as a Clark's almost immediately because of the whitish flanks. I then handed my binos over to Mom because she wanted a look at it. When it got even darker and I had looked at pond 5 for a decent amount of time I swiv'ed on over to look at pond 2. I was pleasantly surprised to see at first one, then a pair of CLARK'S GREBES!! (!) (Were you wondering when I would put its name in all caps?) Due to dim light I couldn't find them in my scope of view for the camera, plus even in full zoom it looks like you're standing farther away from an object than you actually are. Dang it camera! Also, got decent looks at that orange-yellow bill, which is still prominent in dim light. The pale flanks were impossible to see though, and the white around the eyes was subtle but still faintly visible. As we headed off towards the sunset to get back to our cars I saw 3 distinctive birds with a conspicuous flight pattern circling diving and flapping above the ponds. I knew almost immediately what they were, I raised my binos and quickly focused on them. Sure enough, these were LESSER NIGHTHAWKS! They are a common bird in the summer, but should have already arrived in South America by now! Their shape, size, and flight pattern make them instantly recognizable. I mentioned to Matt that it is a good year for them, as many birders, including myself, high-counted over 50 of them at the GRPs in Sept. Just like with the SUMMER TANAGER on the 21st, I believe that the reason almost every migratory bird is still present this late because of the following: Due to extreme weather this summer, birds wanted to postpone breeding until the weather cooled down a bit. And it's still very hot now that we're close to December! The very hot weather would surely result in low breeding activity of the bugs they prey on, which ultimately leads to hungry chicks which means that the birds should wait until cooler weather arrived so they get well feed chicks and they don't bake to death. So long story short, the chicks got a very late start resulting in the late migrants because these birds are still waiting to finish their far-overdue molt. Makes sense, right? Awesome that I found 3 Nighthawks! I won't bother to mention the typical birds because they're, typical. Trip Highlights (THs): 14 BUFFLEHEAD, 2 COMMON GOLDENEYES, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, 3 NEOTROPIC CORMORANTS, GREEN HERON, NORTHERN HARRIER, NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS, 3 LESSER NIGHTHAWKS, RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, SNOWY EGRETS, RUDDY DUCKS, LEAST SANDPIPERS, GREAT BLUE HERONS, GREAT EGRETS, and the GF (Grand Finale), a Clark's Grebe (pair) in a pear tree, or a smelly pond in this case! And so it concludes my hunt for all of the Grebe species found in the west! Least Sandpiper Great Egret Great Blue Heron A fantastic sunset! All in all, not as many TTBs as before, but this time I came home with a lifer, so I shouldn't complain. The Buffleheads looked super cute today because Matt and I observed them wagging their tails while they swam! Buffleheads are and always will be the cutest duck ever!
TTBs: 34 species! Please leave a LIKE and a comment, and thanks for visiting my blog! I'm Jared Conaway, and stay tuned for my next Post!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
About meJared Conaway Month Archives
December 2019
Categories
Life List
Birds |