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 y'all! Doing good? Awesome. As a birder, my emails look like this: Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) - Reported May 29, 2018 06:19 by steve boyack - Verrado area, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.495866,-112.5137349&ll=33.495866,-112.5137349 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46134955 - Media: 10 Photos - Comments: "Picture Video https://www.flickr.com/photos/25326940@N04/28564389828/in/album-72157667406185918/ Thanks Caleb for the help with ID" Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) - Reported May 29, 2018 12:05 by Caleb Strand - Verrado—West Sunrise Lane Pullouts, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.499237,-112.518325&ll=33.499237,-112.518325 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46135998 - Comments: "Continuing bird found by Steve Boyack earlier in the morning. Singing often, hanging around in man-made grassy yucca areas, occasionally singing from trees. Pics and audio to be uploaded." Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) CONFIRMED - Reported May 29, 2018 12:05 by steve boyack - Verrado—West Sunrise Lane Pullouts, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.499237,-112.518325&ll=33.499237,-112.518325 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46137115 - Media: 2 Photos, 1 Audio - Comments: "Continuing bird found by Steve Boyack earlier in the morning. Singing often, hanging around in man-made grassy yucca areas, occasionally singing from trees. Pics and audio to be uploaded." Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) CONFIRMED - Reported May 30, 2018 06:25 by robert bowker - Verrado-SunriseLane, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.499237,-112.518525&ll=33.499237,-112.518525 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46157732 - Comments: "continuing. Thanks Steve B for the great find!" Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) CONFIRMED - Reported May 30, 2018 06:25 by steve boyack - Verrado area, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.495866,-112.5137349&ll=33.495866,-112.5137349 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46155891 - Media: 10 Photos - Comments: "Continue photos" Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) CONFIRMED - Reported May 30, 2018 05:38 by Lyndie Mason Warner - Verrado Neighborhoods, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.4959019,-112.5147066&ll=33.4959019,-112.5147066 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46155054 - Media: 2 Photos - Comments: "Continuing bird found by Steve Boyack yesterday. Watched it for about an hour as it sang. Lots of pics and sound recording." Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) CONFIRMED - Reported May 30, 2018 08:37 by Susan Fishburn - Verrado Golf Club, Buckeye US-AZ (33.4965,-112.5154), Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.496534,-112.51543&ll=33.496534,-112.51543 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46156828 - Comments: "Continuing. Skylarking and singing nonstop. Found by Steve Boyack." Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) - Reported May 30, 2018 06:55 by Barbara Meding - verrado, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.4924621,-112.5145839&ll=33.4924621,-112.5145839 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46172373 - Comments: "found by Steve Boyack yesterday; actively singing and skylarking" Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) - Reported Jun 01, 2018 06:25 by steve boyack - Verrado area, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.495866,-112.5137349&ll=33.495866,-112.5137349 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46210973 - Media: 5 Photos - Comments: "Continue Picture Video https://www.flickr.com/photos/25326940@N04/42446492752/in/album-72157667406185918/" Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) - Reported Jun 01, 2018 05:52 by Lyndie Mason Warner - Verrado Neighborhoods, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.4959019,-112.5147066&ll=33.4959019,-112.5147066 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46213570 - Media: 1 Photo - Comments: "Ongoing bird found by Steve Boyack. Singing and skylarking." Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) - Reported Jun 02, 2018 06:35 by steve boyack - Verrado—West Sunrise Lane Pullouts, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.499237,-112.518325&ll=33.499237,-112.518325 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46230274 - Comments: "Happily singing continues" Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) - Reported Jun 03, 2018 06:23 by Lyndie Mason Warner - Verrado Neighborhoods, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.4959019,-112.5147066&ll=33.4959019,-112.5147066 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46262331 - Comments: "Continuing bird at Sunrise and Regent streets. He was unusually quiet this morning and being harassed by a young Verdin. Perhaps it is already too hot for him. 78 degrees at 6:30." Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii) (1) - Reported Jun 03, 2018 06:31 by Brian Johnson - Verrado - CASP spot, Maricopa, Arizona - Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=33.499046,-112.51753&ll=33.499046,-112.51753 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46262549 - Media: 1 Photo - Comments: "Ongoing, found last week by Steve Boyack, skylarking. Photos. <iframe width="100%" height="300" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/453170775%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-7KYi0&color=%230066cc&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true"></iframe> Yeah, I know, maybe a little overkill on copying & pasting EVER SINGLE ebird alert on one bird. A recap: Steve Boyack, a guy I've birded with a few times, and that will appear in a post about a certain gull since he showed it to me, discovered a Cassin's Sparrow in Verrado on May 29th. Specifically, the Cassin's Sparrow was hanging around an area where grass and yuccas were planted. Even more specifically, the same species of grasses and yuccas found in its arid grassland breeding habitat! This really makes you wonder; "Did this bird JUST NOW happen to stumble upon favorable habitat, or did this bird find this just-so-happens-to-be-perfect-habitat years ago and has been returning annually?" Well, this question may be answered as just early last year, no eyes were directed to Verrado. Now, all eyes are directed to Verrado. And we can thank the 5 overwintering Lewis's Woodpeckers, the unusual lowland Acorn Woodpeckers, a Cassin's Finch, and now, ladies and gentleman, a Cassin's Sparrow. And Verrado can thank the abundance of shade trees for the presence of such great rarities! So, that day that Mr. Boyack discovered the sparrow, my friend Mr. Positive Encouraging, A.K.A Caleb Strand, identified it, and then shot on over there shortly before work, and recieved the Cassin's Sparrow shortly before work. Meanwhile, a birder by the name of Jared Conaway was at home, excited at the report, also doing math. Algebra. Algebra 1. Yeah... For a few days, this was my life. Cassin's Sparrow. Math. Cassin's Sparrow. Math. Cassin's Sparrow. and, uh, ah yes, math. But guys, this is when the blessing of home school, and a Positive Encouraging friend, jump in to save me from pencil-pushing algebra!: "What's your schedule look like for tomorrow?" This would imply birding. With that said we talked on the phone and planned for a multi-location adventure, including a Cassin's Sparrow in Verrado! On Tuesday, June 5th, we met in the Costco parking lot at around 6 A.M. As we were driving to our destination, we saw a runner get dive-bombed by an AMERICAN KESTREL. Don't worry, she didn't get directly hit by those sharp, twiggy talons. Better than being dive-bombed by a Common Black-Hawk. Just think Emperor Palpatine but with a hooked beak, wings, and talons coming at you. Wait, don't think that, that's a pretty scarring image. Just think a big, black hawk please. So back on subject, we looked around when we arrived. Because we are birders. And, I guess I've given enough build up to this moment, so... ... I've waited a while to see this cool bird. Kinda looks like a Mockingbird, huh? Well, this tiny Toxostoma is a Mimid, one of my favorite Mimids, the BENDIRE'S THRASHER!! Sure, he's dull, but something about it makes it a visually cool thrasher. And while he's dull, let me tell you, he's got serious vocals. The song of this thrasher is so pretty it is sure to make any Ms. Bendire fly over and give the source of sound a big thrasher kiss, and become Mrs. Bendire real fast. Of course, a thrasher kiss is more like an impale to the face, because of that beak. The credit for such a rich song goes to this guy, the individual out on the golf course is a juvenile. And he was owned by this adult. While aggressive to his little buddy, he was very shy and the desired closeup took a while to obtain. Even then the exposure and focus of these photos is problematic. Even more so, the bird poop mess that so conveniently was on this light post. But hey, at least this guy came in close. At first this bird thought it was a better idea to go in the opposite direction. Sometimes bird poop messes are included in cooperation. We enjoyed this Bendire's Thrasher, while also trying to find the Cassin's Sparrow. Even with playback, he didn't respond. Gone? Maybe so. For the few days he was around, this member of Peucaea was singing its little sparrow heart out, putting on an active show. Some birds are passing migrants... We never did find this unusual sparrow, but I will see one one day. Remember my post, "I Thrashed a Bendire's Thrasher!" Perhaps a better title would be, "I got Thrashed, By a Curve-billed Thrasher..." Guys, this thrasher, in this post is a real Bendire's. What people often don't realize, especially myself, is the crazy variation in characteristics of the CBTH. And that's just the thing, the Curve-billed Thrasher is problematic in that it doesn't technically have any characteristics. A say this because, a characteristic is a trait that is consistent or similar in every individual and is typically easily noted. The Bendire's Thrasher always has a straight bill, the Curve-billed Thrasher doesn't always have a distinct curved bill. A Bendire's Thrasher is always small, the Curve-billed Thrasher isn't always larger. The Bendire's Thrasher always has arrow-like markings, but the markings of a Curve-billed Thrasher are highly variable, but never arrow-shaped. Lastly, from a distance, the size of a BETH isn't always determinable. A useful identifying point is the slimness of the BETH, CBTH is a comparatively stocky bird. The pale base of the lower mandible is another determining feature of BETH. We also saw a couple BRONZED COWBIRDS, but guess what? I still didn't see their crimson eyes! So after enjoying the presence of my lifer Bendire's Thrasher, we left the absence of the Cassin's Sparrow and went to my patch, the GRPs. Here we were hoping for a Black Tern. I love terns. They are also my nemesis. They have long been one of my top fave groups of birds. No bird is more gracefully designed than terns, and if I had to pick a favorite out of all of them, I would pick 2, the Caspian and Arctic Terns! The most entertaining bird I've seen in flight is definitely the Arctic Tern, they are so small, light, and deceivingly delicate-looking, yet this bird makes the most impressive migration of any animal. Just imagine flying the maximum distance of this bird, which is 57,000 miles(!) (over 28,000 miles each way) from the Netherlands to Antarctica, making only a few major stops, while not spending a single cent. Arctic Tern individuals are known to stay true to their routes, so that record-breaking bird more than likely traveled 57,000 miles every year. Because of supreme agility, gracefulness, speed, and endurance, not much is able to prey on this species, so a 30 year life span is in most of these guys' futures. So, 57,000 miles every year for 30 years = 1,710,000 total miles in its lifetime!!!! Although extremely light (3.9 oz!), most of that weight is the flight muscles, which are very large! These guys are way too cool to not feature photos of one! Then there's the Caspian Tern. Next to one, the Arctic Tern is tiny, very tiny! They are almost the size of a Herring Gull, with an amazing 5 ft. wingspan, and didn't get the vibe that terns are supposed to be small to medium-sized bird. unusually, they have a short tail, and a huge, thick crimson bill that will stab and draw blood to anyone daring enough to get close to a nest. If you see paired birds consistently staying in one location for a while, stay away! They are aggressive and that beak is bound to hurt! The sheer size, long wings, and heavy red bill make the Caspian a sight to respect, and look at in awe. Not to mention the stylish black peaked crown. Alrighty, now it's time to get back onto the subject of our time at the GRPs. That time didn't deliver any terns, but our only interesting birds were a new patcher, COMMON GALLINULE calling within the riparian corridor, and a late BLUE-WINGED TEAL. Guys, there comes a time when everything awesome, the Snowy Plovers, and Hermit Warblers, Marbled Godwits, Black-bellied Plovers, and our beloved terns, just up-and-leaves the GRPs. It's called summer. But don't worry, fall migration is coming! Next we went to a location I've never been before, Hunter's Ponds, because Mr. Positive Encouraging says it is reliable for Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks. We didn't see any... So next up we arrived at the Base & Meridian WA, or B&M. Arizona has many introduced species, some invasive, some annoying, and others interesting. This is a Mexican Palo Verde, native to hot lowland deserts of, you guessed it right, Mexico, but also southeast Arizona. You may know this plant as the Jerusalem Thorn, especially in cultivation. These plants are well established now around Phoenix, growing alongside native Blue & Foothill Palo Verdes. I never really noticed these prior to Caleb pointing them out at the B&M, and that's probably because I didn't realize how distinctive they are. Outside fruiting season, they are near-to-identical to Foothill Palo Verde, and I've definitely overlooked them because of that. However, Foothill (A.K.A Yellow) Palo Verde has very tiny compound leaves, barely noticeable, while Mex Palo has no leaves. If your in the desert, you definitely want to stand under the tree that provides the most shade. Even though the leaves are so tiny, you'll know your standing under a Foothill Palo just by feeling how much more shade it provides than its invasive cousin. Within fruiting season, Mex Palos are very recognizable by those yellow pods. Now everywhere I look I see them! Our first animal was actually an invasive. As soon as we stepped out Caleb's old minivan, he pointed out a big Red-eared Slider pond turtle out in the sun, away from water. Caleb went ahead and put him in the shade, cause it was already getting hot. Caleb showed me some really cool odes (Dragon & Damselflies), my favorite being RAMBUR'S FORKTAIL. It's a damsel that's brilliant neon green on the thorax & head, black and yellow abdomen, and a sky-blue 8th and 9th abdomen segment. We also saw a NEOTROPICAL BLUET (damsel, originally Mexican but a hurricane blew them in and now they're established at the B&M), RED SADDLEBAGS (dragonfly), and WANDERING GLIDER (dragonfly). Ridgway's Rails are so amazing, Caleb and I give a round of applause for these guys! Well, actually, we clap for them because Caleb said that any sudden, sporadic burst of sound gets them out in the open. But why do these secretive marsh-ptarmigan prefer clapping so much? Well, if I were a Ridgway's Rail, I certainly would want someone positive and encouraging to clap for me, it would boost my self-esteem. But guys, there are other, less secretive, secretive marsh birds out there. Among them is the Least Bittern, the smallest heron in the world, and either requires no searching at all, or very extensive searching. We were calling for Yellow-billed Cuckoos, when I turned around and saw some reeds moving. Could that be a Least Bittern. So I brushed the tops of the reeds, and... ... "That's a LEAST BITTERN!" Caleb exclaimed excitedly. My first impression: "Wow, that's a TINY heron." The Least Bittern really is the least of the least, it's the smallest heron in the world, only 11-14 inches! The moments I did see the Least Bittern were short-lived, it flew off in the opposite direction. But for those brief moments, I saw a very beautiful bird... The Least Bittern is unique in among Herons in more ways than one. First, they have really long toes. They rap them around sedges to balance. Second, a feature I've just mentioned, they are extremely tiny. Again, like I said, the smallest heron in the world. You see, the Green Heron is a little over half the size of a Black-crowned Night-Heron, the Least Bittern is half the size of a Green Heron, and about 3 ounces. They also have stubby wings, with a 17 inch wingspan at most. Even the American Bittern has long wings, nearly 4 ft, a body of 30 inches, and weighing up to 2 lbs! That is enourmous compared to their least brethren. The Least Bittern has a stub of a tail, short little legs, a small body, and long neck. Their range is interesting, dots of eclusively-summering populations in a few western states, only year round in south east California and south west Arizona, but very widespread in the east, breeding in all the eastern states. Like a rail, this bird tries hard to stay hidden, while making itself loud and clear, proclaiming its concealed presence noisily. If it knows it is seen, you have to be within a few inches for it to flush. With all these unique traits combined, this bird is more like a rail than a heron or egret. Then there's the extremely rare, Cory's Least Bittern, or Dark Least Bittern. First collected in 1885, it was a new species. In 1923, it became a morph. It rapidly declined as everyopne wanted their hands on this bird because it was so rare to begin with. All reports of this morph come from the east, mostly from Ontario, but one record from Brazil. It is so dramatically different from the Least Bittern it should be a different species. It has greenish legs, a solid black mantle, blackish-gray beak, dark red-brown wings, underside, and face. It lacks all streaking, white, and buffy tones of normal Least Bittern. Its tertials and primaries are black, as well as undertail coverts. One day, I hope to find this extremely rare morph-that-is-probably-a-species. I am really hoping to get excellent pix of a Least Bittern tomorrow (June 13th), as Caleb and I are going to Tres Rios and B&M! "Dbink!" Says what Caleb calls a Blue Grosbeak. I got really excited when he told me this, and I became eager to find this bird. Dbink is its metallic call note, not its song, so I could either have a beautiful male in my binocs when I found it, or a dull female. Females are Brown Grosbeaks. Males, they're Blue Grosbeaks! So I followed its distinctive call note until... I took one look at the stunning deep blue bird with chestnut wing-bars, a 3rd larger than a Lazuli Bunting, and I was amazed. I snapped a few photos. Photos that were completely white due to over-exposure. But not to worry, tomorrow we're going in early morning, when the males are easily detected singing, and most likely with my Dad's camera, which doesn't have that issue. Additionally, it won't be scorching hot! Caleb said we were going to look at a few Barn Owls, as those individuals always roost under a certain area of the bridge. It didn't take long at all for us to find the BARN OWLS. And you can tell they've roosted here for a very LONG TIME, all that freaking poop! Those large black eyes on a pale disk-shaped face have made these guys among the most popular birds, they look like their the ghosts of Spotted Owls. Looking into the eyes of a Barn Owl in real life is actually a chilling experience, they directly stare at you.
This was a continent & Arizona lifer for me, as I've seen a flyby in Hawaii, where they were introduced to control the rodent/mongoose problem. That makes these the first native individuals for me as well. Lastly, we went to Tres Rios Wetlands (TRWs), which is right next to B&M to look for one of my favorite birds, mentioned earlier in this post, the Caspian Tern. We searched. We searched. We searched. And we also scanned, but apparently that's a synonym of searching. We came up with nothing. Tomorrow, we go back to Tres Rios. This bird I want to see more badly than any other bird this year, except for Mountain Bluebird. Heck, top 10 birds I want to see this year more than any other:
So... Stay tuned, for my next adventure!
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Hi all! This post goes way back. July 3rd 2015. The TIMELINE SERIES is supposed to be set in 2016 & 2017, but this adventure is just way too cool and memorable to not post! Plus, it has very great photos of some extremely cute birds! So let's go back almost 3 years, to Hatcher Pass, Alaska. CAUTION: The birds are very adorable. Press on. This is one of my favorite birds, the GOLDEN EAGLE. They are strong enough to overpower, kill, and eat adult Gray Wolves, fling mountain goats off steep cliffs and break a limb with a simple squeeze of the talons. But they are beautiful! They love to play and do crazy tricks in the sky, such as high speed dives, upside downs, loops, and simultanious flight between a pair. Contrary to what you believe, they are the FASTEST BIRD, not the Peregrine. My Uncle is a falconer, and he was one of the first or first to fly a Golden Eagle in the US. He found that it out-flies the Peregrine at between 250-260 mph (I'm pretty sure, I'll have to ask again). Then I found this ptarmigan sp. perched on a boulder out in the open. And I wanted to get closer... Mamma PT. wasn't alone, as you might guess since I called her mamma and there is an adorable baby ptarmigan in the above photo. There were 6 of them total. The babies wern't tame at all, they liked to do laps around the boulders while I failed to catch up. But Mom ptarmigan wasn't phased at all. She made soft clucking sounds and showed no sign of stress or agitation. She didn't mind me petting her tail either. I kept going back and forth with photographing the adult fem and babies. I think the babies saw that mom didn't care, because soon the stopped running away and started hanging out very near. Here they're waiting for me to chase them around the boulder! Did I mention they were very tiny? Well, they are. Think baby chickens, but only half the size! I love those big fluffy feet! Here mom wonders why we give her family so much attention. A baby's unfocused head is in this shot as well. Now, this pic is very adorable. He looks into the blurry distance and vast expanse of alpine tundra of Hatcher Pass, probably wanting some adventure... And that orange patch on his head looks like a piece of bread. Very cute. He's posing in this one. Like a little ptarmigan model. Mom stares blankly at me, grateful I haven't devoured the family, but instead, entertained them. At this point, I noted the adult was very small, at least smaller than I thought a ptarmigan would be in person. Along with a unique pattern, this lead me to the identification of WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN. A lifer at the time. This species is highly sought after by birders, having the smallest range of any ptarmigan, as well as being the least common. They're also the only ptarmigan that's resident in the lower 48 states, in the Colorado Rockies, and north-east Utah. An introduced population resides in east-central California. With such a tame White-tailed Ptarmigan with us, what better idea than "Hey, how bout' I get my picture with this bird?" I'm a Golden-crowned Tanager. And the little PT just stands there, with an inquisitive look on her face... I'm so glad I finally posted this adventure, because, it was an adventure. This is one of my very best birding memories, and probably the best of my early birding days. As we hiked back, though, there was another family, 6 babies and one adult fem, again!
Knowing these are the toughest PTs to find, makes my memory of them all the more exciting. It was also very cool to get really close up with a family of them! And, I petted one... How often does one pet a ptarmigan? I might be the first to ever pet an unrestrained White-ptailed Ptarmigan! Thanks guys for reading another one of my TIMELINE posts, and for reading one of my best memories of my early birding! Stay tuned guys! I am almost caught up with all my May posts, but I should have one coming up this week, hopefully going to Tres Rios with Caleb. Our biggest target is a male Painted Bunting, which might still be there. It has set up territory there for 3 summers in a row so far, so if nothing ate it, it should be returning!
There is a very colorful bird I saw recently, better yet, in my own neighborhood. In my last post, published yesterday, I mentioned Tommy saying that my neighborhood had some potential, considering the multiple grassy areas with shade trees included Velvet Mesquite. That evening, I attempted re-finding the first patch he pointed out to me, since I'd never been to that one. As you've already figured out by the use of the word 'attempted', I failed. However, I found something even better. I found a Fremont Cottonwood. Migrants are very attracted to these trees, as the are large, tall, and offer a lot of shade. Black-and-White Warblers and American Redstarts, both rare but annual transients/winter visitors, are often found foraging in these trees. But it's not just those 2, there are so many other warblers and vireos that have been found in these trees! Finally, it helps that the Fremont Cottonwood is a native species. So anyways, I returned to that cottonwood on May 13th. On the way there, I got a neighborhood first, BRONZED COWBIRD. Those things look way cooler than a Grackle. This bird was a male, shiny black with a fluffy ruff on the neck, and a cape like mantle that fluffed up in flight. When I arrived at my cottonwood, I waited, waiting for an interesting bird to show up. In the tree, I didn't expect to get any vagrants from the start, just some colorful neighborhood firsts like Lazuli Buntings, or Black-headed Grosbeaks. I waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. And- "Hey, that looks like a kingbird." A bright yellow bird was flying overhead, only it didn't exactly look like a kingbird. It was smaller, and stockier, shorter-billed, shorter-tailed, and shorter-winged, making dips in flight like a Melanerpes woodpecker. So I gave this bird a second look when it landed in a tree. Not the cottonwood, but a tree that resembled a Russian Olive (probably was). "OH...MY...GOSH!!... OH MY GOSH. OH MY GOSH. OH MY GOSH. OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH. OH MY GOSH. WOW. OK. OH MY GOSH. OH MY GOSH. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh... And so continued the limited vocabulary for, I'm not kidding, 30 minutes. This bird was unmistakable, and it was only a matter of time before I saw this brilliantly-colored common migrant. It was a male WESTERN TANAGER. I thanked God for this beautiful bird, and continued to look at it for a while. The Western Tanager is a bird you recognize instantly, with a scarlet-orange head, a bright, very bright yellow underside and back, with coal-black wings and tail with double yellow wingbars. Oh my God, what a beautiful bird you created! The Western Tanager is so beautiful, it puts the Rosy-faced Lovebirds to shame, which, I did have some of those that day. Right after the tanager, a PRAIRIE FALCON soaring was a surprise! #firstforneighborhood. Thanks Tommy for your suggestion! No exploring my neighborhood= no finding a Western Tanager in it! Stay tuned for my next post! Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed MBD, and I hope you enjoy this! On the 10th, Caleb and I became set on going to the GRPs, again. We were going to go the next day, early morning on the 11th! But I got a very pleasant surprise when he sent this text: "BTW Tommy will be with me when I pick you up." A while ago I published a post about my adventure with Tommy Debardeleben at HRP. That was months ago, Sunday of October 22nd! Nearly 8 months later, I receive a text from Caleb that Tommy will be there on the 11th! Because he works at a hospital, Tommy has a busy life, with little room for blog posts these days. He's also is usually unavailable for birding. This day, was different, however. Around 9:30 on the 10th, I set my alarm for 3:43 AM. The reason was because my tablet is an hour behind, thus it would go off at 4:43. Caleb was going to be over at 5:00 or earlier, so I set my alarm so that all I had to do was wait for a few minutes, I had everything ready anyways. At 3:18 AM on the 12th, my alarm went off. I checked my tablet alarm time, seeing it was this time. I thought, OK, it's 4:18, a longer wait than I'd planned. But then I caught sight that the time on the top of the screen also said 3:18. This wasn't right, because only the alarm time was set on the Alaska time zone, not the actual tablet clock, it adjusts automatically to the current time zone. So I got up, and laid down on the couch to expect a wait. But a few minutes, I got curious to the times displayed on our other devices. Oven: 3:18 AM. Computer Monitor: 3:18 AM. So it was officially 3:18 AM. Dang it. Then a thought occurred: whenever I watched youtube time flied. If I kept watching 15 minute videos or less or more, Caleb and his minivan would be here in no time at all! So after eating cereal I went to the Brave Wilderness channel, and watched Coyote Peterson episodes I hadn't viewed yet. My early rising actually ended up working out for the better, because I ended up eating cereal before watching Coyote. Waking up at 4:43, I would've gotten up at 4:46, and would've been half asleep getting in the car. That would've left no time for breakfast, which would've added hunger as a problem. Plus, Coyote Peterson is awesome! It was about 4:50 when I heard what sounded like a knock, but it seemed too faint. Not even a minute later, Mom came in asking if they were here yet. Apparently a knock woke her up. So she told me to check out the car across the street. I was kinda skeptical, because I thought he would park right in front the house. But it was a minivan. Sure enough, when I got close, Caleb's voice said "hey Jared," as he was rolling down the window. So I turned around, gave a thumbs up to my Mom, and got in the back. And sure enough also, Tommy was up front with Caleb. They're best friends, even outside birding. Once in, I said, "Hi Tommy, how's it going?" He responded, "Good, how's it going for you?" I replied, "Really great, last week I did MBD." He's like, "MBD, what's that?" So I told him about my attempt to beat his record at Maricopa Big Day, and told him that I got so many lifers. Caleb was going a little fast over speed humps and Tommy said, "Dude, it's a 25 zone through here." Then Caleb replied, "The way I see it, the faster you go over them, the less you feel em'." Then Tommy turned to me and said, "I just don't want this boy to get fined. Or ticketed." Nonetheless, Caleb's a responsible driver. Also, there are way too many speed humps in Phoenix. Tommy's like, "What if we did an Obnoxious Big Day, you have 10 minutes at every location!" I laughed and said, "That would be insane and annoying." Maricopa is pretty big, so 10 minutes at every location is a huge waste of gas, and if you want any chance of world travel for birding, that is not the kind of big day to engage in. 10 minutes at every location on a Mat-Su Big Day, now that's just a colossal waste of gas, because that's a huge county (well, borough)! And because there's only one hwy going north (George Parks), one highway going east (Alaska Hwy) and one going south (Glen Hwy), if there's a Traffic Jam or construction zone on any one or all of those, say good by to your big day! Eventually we made it to the GRPs, my patch. Also Tommy's patch. Our first bird was a LESSER NIGHTHAWK, fluttering around for a few minutes before a return to the day roost. We didn't hear the singing Virginia Rail that was here last week. During summer at the GRPs, Cliff Swallows are extremely abundant, a couple weeks ago, I had 600! "Hey, is that a Solitary Sandpiper, it looks like one?" Tommy said. Caleb replied, "No, that's a LESSER YELLOWLEGS. Hey, that's flagged so get a doc photo." Tommy's like, "Dang, I always get that one wrong, the Lesser Yellowlegs, for some reason I always have trouble with the identification!" Poor Tommy was a bit rusty with his birding skills. The waterbirds weren't really interesting, with shorebird numbers very low. A few SPOTTED SANDPIPERS were present around the ponds, common migrants late April through early May. Usually this time of year, the ponds are great for various terns, but it's been a bad spring for them, Tommy said that if mudflats were present, so would the terns. This spring, water levels at the GRPs have been inconsistent, and very odd. Conditions have not been very ideal. The Willet didn't stay long. Nor did the BBPL (Black-bellied Plover). And no Snowy Plover has showed up yet! The usual waterbirds were present this time around, the diversity thins out as summer approaches. And you really can't blame them, it's really hot at this point. Here's my first decent pix of WILSON'S PHALAROPES. Phalaropes are fun shorebirds, I think they look like someone through a gull, tern, and Solitary Sandpiper in the blender. After all, in the sibley guide, they are the shorebirds closest to the gulls & terns, so either that's Taxonomy or Mr. David Allen Sibley agrees with me. Like the terns, my history with these guys is tough. I didn't see my first Red-necked Phalarope until 2017, and only recently did I get Wilson's. But I'm young. BTW, Caleb gave me the lens on these, as in, he let me use his camera. Normally I crop my pix, and detail them with clarity, vibrance, & exposure. It wasn't until I got home and plopped in my SD card that I realized they weren't completely focused. Phalaropes also have a lively feeding habit. These ones just look like boring old yellowlegs with their probing technique in these photos. When swimming in water, though, these guys go round and round in adorable little circles. I know they like it, its an excuse for these birds to have fun! #speakingofwhich, birds do have fun. I've seen Golden Eagles do some insane acrobatics over peaks and ridges, with their mates. I've never mentioned this, but I absolutely love Golden Eagles. Everyone's heard its name, it's the most well known Aquila. But are they really just typical raptors like the Red-tailed Hawk? No, not at all. #terriblephotoof YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS. I also got my first breeding-plumaged WESTERN GREBES, in Basin 3, They look really cool! Things got much more interesting in the riparian section. My first patcher was the TOWNSEND'S WARBLER, in all, we found 3! It was funny when Tommy said: "Hey that looks like a Green Heron! Wait, that's a grackle, no a dove!" Then he said, "It looked like a Green Heron'as beak facing down, like it was fishing or something." Caleb's like, "Sure, a Green Heron fishing from 20 feet up."I got another patcher, one from MBD, the BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK!! Still holds up as a beautiful bird. Of the few photos I got of this male LAZULI BUNTING, this one was the most decent. Like the BHGB, this bird still holds up as stunning! You can see that in midst of the brilliant turquoise-blue, there are patches of brown on the crown, rump, & mantle. This is because they are irridescent, meaning the blue appears because of tiny mirror-like structures, instead of pigment. Im pretty sure I read that all birds with blue coloration are irridescent, even Hyacinth Macaws and Bluebirds. If you look at many pix Mountain Bluebirds (such as I have), some will look more turquoise, and some will be Montana sky-blue, and of course every shade in between the 2 extremes.
Then we were walking towards Matt Haberkorn. I told Tommy and Caleb how one time when I was with him, we saw Buffleheads wagging their tails. So Caleb's like, "Oh yeah, Tommy wags his tail, he loves wagging his tail!" Tommy: "Yeah I like wagging my tail." They're funny. I busted up laughing at the sheer randomness of the remarks, but bring up Buffleheads wagging their tails is pretty random. Our talk with Matt was brief, we asked what he had and he said he heard a Virginia Rail singing. When we got back to the parking lot, no Virginia Rail, but a couple VAUX'S SWIFTS flew around with some Cliff swallows. I also had a MYRTLE WARBLER in a cottonwood. And that raps up my adventure with Tommy D and Caleb Strand at the GRPs. There were a lot, I mean, A LOT of birds I did not mention, not because I forgot, I just wanted to point out the most important ones in this post. In all, we had 75 species (remember when I thought 35 species was exciting!?), a very good day! A good bird I did forget to mention was a PEREGRINE FALCON, perched on a telephone pole. And I guess I should mention the singing HORNED LARKS and BULLOCK'S ORIOLE (imm) and 4 CINNAMON TEAL. That's right, Horned Larks. Cinnamon Teal. Birds that would've been helpful on MBD... However, because I did not mention a huge amount of species we saw that day, our shared checklist is @: ebird.org/view/checklist/S45575291. Thank you so much Caleb for the fun and for taking me to join the fun at the GRPs, and thank you so much Tommy for the guide to Maricopa birding! One last thing, Tommy said this as we were driving through my neighborhood to return me to my house: "Hey Jared, in these green patches you could get birds like Dickcissel or Rufous-backed Robin, in winter. Your neighborhood has a lot of potential, you got some good birding patches." And that suggestion resulted in some great birds, including the star of my upcoming local post, a very, VERY brilliant bird! I'm Jared Conaway, and stay tuned for my next post! Tommy is the cool guy on the left, and Caleb is the cool guy on the right. Hi all! In Alaska, Puffins, and Yellow-billed Loons are a reality. But then we have Asiatics, but what it costs: A fat wallet and a colossal bank account! You might as well be saving up to got to Indonesia while your at it! It's the once place on the continent where you can see Taiga Bean-Geese and Tundra Bean-Geese side by side. It's also the only state that doesn't have egrets on a regular basis, but when we get egrets: Say hi to your lifer Chinese Pond-Heron, Intermediate Egret, Yellow Bittern, Pacific Reef-Heron, and Gray Heron! Even so, such egrets are a dream in the minds of American birders, such as myself. So, what do you do when these birds are within your grasp, but not? You long to go to Arizona. Living in Alaska, Orioles, Grosbeaks, Tanagers, Ibises, double digit amounts of warblers in one day, even American White Pelicans, Rufous-backed Robins, Elegant Trogons, alongside with about 375 other beautiful birds, were a distant dream, conjured up only through Sleep Kingdom. To see these birds while awake was more of a hope, or a "what if???" Instead of a fact. In 2016, Lynn Barber did an AK Big Year. She shattered the record of 287 birds with 307. Among those 307, were Alaska's first Lewis's Woodpecker, a few male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, a Curlew Sandpiper, and Tropical Kingbird. I had longed to tag along with Lynn to travel the state that I'd lived in for 10 years! My lifers were limited to the Wandering Tattler, Blue-winged Teal, Hudsonian Godwit, and American Pipit, among other common birds. It's not at all that these birds were worthless, the Wandering Tattler is one of the coolest shorebirds I've ever seen. But birds like Ruddy & Black Turnstone, as well as my favorite woodpecker, Lewis's, would've been excellent editions. But there was one bird that Lynn had seen that I wasn't going to miss, the Pied-billed Grebe. I also had to strike out multiple times to see a roadside Northern Shrike that Lynn had been seeing, only to see it very, very, very far from the roadside. I received very distant views of the cool over-sized chickadee that thinks it's a Northern Hawk-Owl. May 2017 came, I found Anchorage County's first South Polar Skua. July 22nd came, I found Mat-Su's first Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. The camera was zipped up in a backpack in a locked car 30 ft. away when the Skua flew by. The Flycatcher happened to move into a deep thicket when Dad raised his camera up to it. I don't want to just see the birds anymore, I want to photograph them. I'm thinking of seriously upgrading to a superb camera in the near future, once I get that thing called a job. It has been a camera-less adventure living in Alaska, but now, North America's most colorful birds are a reality now! But... Alaska will see me again, hopefully next year, I want to bird Denali Highway harder than it's ever been birded before! I had a blast a couple weeks (slacker) ago going out for a full day of birding, exploring the best hotspots of Maricopa CO. I didn't beat Tommy's record, I mean, 168 is ridiculous!!! However, I did see many species vital to winning the day, but what we had in rarities, we lacked many expected species. Oh don't worry, we saw pigeons and Collared-Doves, but when it came down to waterfowl and shorebirds, they weren't anywhere!!!! Justin Saunders must've scared them off. I've never met the guy, but I just found out he was at Gilbert Water Ranch! Why so funny, because he is from Palmer, AK! He's Mat-su's Owl King, just look at his checklists, you'll find Great-horned Owls, Short-eared Owls, and many others- a lot without any comments. How do you go out every day at different locations, and just happen to see a Great-horned Owl for every one of them? Sure, their common, probably the most expected owl to see ever, but seriously, he's pushing it. So, I'm very suspicious of him. In Alaska you see Bald Eagles every day, not owls!! For the sake of awesomeness, I am writing this from the standpoint of the end of that day, instead of a 2-weeks-later standing point. Our first location was the GRPs. We started about 5:35, with our very first non-junk bird being a calling VIRGINIA RAIL, in the reeds in the parking area. This was very cool, because they're usually far west, in the Buckeye & Arlington area, though their regular at Gilbert Water Ranch. We quickly grabbed GAMBEL'S QUAIL, CLIFF SWALLOW, EURASIAN COLLARED DOVE, ROCK PIGEON, GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, MALLARD, MOURNING DOVE, HOUSE SPARROW, ABERT'S TOWHEE, and EUROPEAN STARLING before entering the parking lot. My plan for the GRPs was to do the riparian section first, as usually we start at the ponds. A few minutes in, a flock of 7 VAUX'S SWIFTS were with a few Cliff Swallows, fluttering in circles. It was nice to make that one official! They're very cool birds! Then, in the weedy section, a small bird jumped around on the ground. "LARK SPARROW!" I exclaimed! This bird has long been a nemesis of mine at the GRPs, and today, a lifer! No one ever specifies where they find them at that location, which is frustrating, because like I just mentioned, it's a lifer! Surprisingly, only a few other birds were in the riparian section, singing COMMON YELLOWTHROATS, a SONG SPARROW and a calling SORA. And the ponds weren't exactly crowded either. Last week, the ponds had tons of great birds all over, Red-necked & Wilson's Phalaropes, 2 Semi Plovers, Yellowlegs, a Green Heron, Brewer's Blackbird, a Wood-Pewee, Lazuli Bunting, and American Goldfinch. None of these were present today! No yellowlegs, not even a single phal, no gulls, no terns, not even a freaking Least Sandpiper! What we did get: AMERICAN AVOCETS, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, KILLDEER, BLACK-NECKED STILTS, WESTERN SANDPIPER, SNOWY & GREAT EGRETS, GREAT-BLUE HERONS, BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON, AMERICAN COOTS, RUDDY DUCKS, RING-NECKED DUCKS, AMERICAN WIGEON, BALD EAGLE, NEOTROPIC CORMORANT, CANADA GOOSE, WHITE-FACED IBISES, and SAY'S PHOEBE. That's it, not even a Cinnamon Teal!! There were 65 last time we went! Here's our Dowitcher. We had 3 really awesome MBD birds that would be vital for winning- right at the beginning, but from there only the most typical GRPs birds made it on the day list. Don't worry though, cause' the day gets better! 35 species total for the GRPs. Before Hassayampa River Preserve, we made a quick stop-by at Verrado Town Sqare, where we could easily get Great-horned Owls. Imagine my surprise when a walked to the front of the nesting palm, and see that they weren't there! Apparently, the baby owls haven't left the area, just the nest, and continue to hang out with mom. I did add AMERICAN KESTREL and WHITE-WINGED DOVE to the day list. The Kestrel turned out to be lucky in the end, bacause that was our only one for the rest of the day! Hmmmm, that's weird. Rule of thumb: many birds named after America are common. Many birds named common, are uncommon to rare. Common Ground-Dove was named by someone who didn't understand the word common, not well at all. Although, common in birding & Ornithology means widespread, not abundant, that's what I've learned The Common Gallinule is widely distributed, but is uncommon overall when speaking in terms of abundance. Same with the Common Black-Hawk and Common Ground-Dove. Our next stop was HRP, where I was hoping to meet up with Eric Hough. He is a park ranger there, and I birded with him and his group on the CBC this year. Gosh, it's already been nearly 6 months since then! In the additional parking - the main parking was full- I got my first HRP addition of the day, a NORTHERN CARDINAL. In Arizona, the cardinals actually look different than the standard eastern subsp. Their a brighter red, larger-billed, and instead of a smooth triangular crest, its higher, rounder, and fluffy. The black on the face is very limited. To me, the Southwestern Northern cardinal looks something in-between the Pyrrhuloxia and Eastern Cardinal. Another cool fact about this crested grosbeak, my first ever ones were in Hawaii. The females there are slender and black-billed, and the males look darker than the standard eastern birds. He was a nice-looking male too. In the parking area itself, a pair of Gambel's Quail ran across. On the hummingbird feeders, a few ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRDS & BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD were crowding around the sweet sugar water. On the passerine feeder, I quickly received a few LESSER GOLDFINCHES and HOUSE FINCHES, new day adds. then we entered the VC (visitor center) to pay, and on the way out the center, I couldn't resist petting the stuffed female merganser. I wish I owned a merganser, or maybe a Bufflehead, with their wagging tails... Well, that's besides the point, well within the point that mergansers are soft, but outside the more important point, big day. Once we walked out of the VC, huge Fremont Cottonwoods were dense with crisp green leaves. One of the many interesting things about the preserve; Is that it has one of the very few extensive cottonwood/mesquite/willow riparian habitats. That it is, when Willows Cottonwoods, and Velvet Mesquite, as well as other acacias, are combined, it usually accounts for a tiny area. The fact that this habitat is extensive in and around the preserve, allows for a massive diversity of bird species. That massive diversity of birds includes this adorable and epic lifer, WARBLING VIREO, an abundant bird here at the Hass. I was looking in some cottonwoods and Gooding's Willows when I got the bird in my binos! That is the cutest face I've ever seen a bird give in any photo I've ever taken! Oh yeah, this is my very first vireo photo! Kinda crappy, but seriously, the look on this vireo's face just perfects this picture... ...My second photo... But in the words of Kenny Bostick, or Sandy Kamito, "No one remembers who comes in second." Sorry Mr. Vireo can't remember you by your second photo, only the first. In all, I snapped 4 pix, but those won't be posted since the birds puffy cheeks, beady eyes, and stubby bill are not visible in them. #43 Before the vireo, we had a pair of PHAINOPEPLAS in some dry reeds. We stayed with the vireo for a few minutes, to wait for any other awesome birds. I got my first male BULLOCK'S ORIOLE, which, I'm very sorry, no photos of that bird. He made sure to remain inaccessible to pictures, by flying around quickly, briefly landing, and going behind the cottonwoods. I also got my first ever male SUMMER TANAGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Exclamation marks don't even come close to describing how bright red this bird is. But keep in mind, the Scarlet Tanager is EVEN brighter red!... It only took us a few minutes of walking around to find another lifer, the YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT!! The YB Chat often isn't so cooperative for photos. Not because their shy, but it's because their known as a "skulker." That term refers to birds that stay in dense foliage low to the ground, have loud songs and calls, make sure that they're heard, and don't stay still for long periods of time. This criteria applies to chats, smaller wrens, riparian warblers (members of the genus Geothlypis) some Setophaga Warblers, Some Thrashers and Gray catbird, and etc. I still kick myself for not getting a freaking photo of that Pacific Wren of last week, but that wren should be wing-slapping itself for what it did. A cool new day add was a heard only AMERICAN ROBIN calling, a new Maricoper! Then I had brief views of a HERMIT THRUSH. As we walked around, in some willows, 6 beautiful male/female MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLERS were flitting around. I even got great brief looks at a male! As a Geothlypis Warbler, they are skulkers, so brief views are to be expected. This was actually my very first time offically seeing this bird! When Caleb and I met, we heard a few of them, and that was back in fall migration. I also got LINCOLN'S SPARROW, and RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET. If only I could have this Cardinal's face in the shot. Dang. And if you're a big fan of crimson birds that "conveniently" cover their faces, these may just be the right photos for you. This camera doesn't actually seem to pick up the color very well. My personal camera brings out that color really well, but feather edges, sharpness, and vibrance are a bit low. Speaking of my personal camera, have you noticed that for the past few posts, since the Chiricahuas, the pix displayed have been solely from my Dad's canon? Well, I'm afraid my camera battery has died. The kind of "death" that can't be revived via charger. But hey, that gives me a better camera to use! While going through one of the Mesquite bosques, I saw my first WILLOW FLYCATCHER, likely a FOS (first for season). In Alaska, we have the very similar Alder Flycatcher. The southwestern ssp. of Willow Flycatcher- which breeds at the preserve- is endangered, and fairly uncommon. Additionally, there were tons of VERDINS making alarm "chips" and contact calls. On the River Ramble Trail, over 100 ft. from the path's intersection with Palm Lake Tr. and Mesquite Meander there is a tiny bridge to get over a stream. A little before the bridge is an open sandy area surrounded by large cotton woods and willows. I'll try to explain as best I can, my perspective of a streaky brown warbler. Looking forward in the direction of the intersection, but to the right, I saw this bird perched on a fallen willow branch arching into the Hassayampa River. It's one of those trees that stands at the very edge of the river bank, with the top bending and the roots slithering into the water, and that falls down so the bendy top smashes into the river bottom, creating that cool arch. Alright, now that I've thoroughly explained my visual perspective of the warbler's perch, let me describe the bird. "Hey, that looks like a NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH," I said as I examined a large warbler, washed with olive-yellow with a spotted throat, thick brown streaks flowing down the breast and the flanks, with a whitish supercilium, thin, long bill, and a tail that bobbed up and down. This is a cool warbler that I will not see often anymore, as they are rare, though regular, in Maricopa CO. This is one of the many birds we saw that day that were like striking gold for a Maricopa Big Day. Because Hassayampa River Preserve meets their desired habitat preference, this is the only location (so far) that hosts them on an annual schedule. Therefore, this bird is of big aid in winning a big day within this county. On the bridge, I encountered a cool species, a birder, a female too. I asked her if she'd seen anything cool, and she replied, "I just had a couple of Tropical Kingbirds and a Thick-billed Kingbird. So I asked, "were they still there when you left?" "No, they flew off after we watched them for a couple minutes." "Where were they at?" "About a half a mile down Mesquite Meander." "Thanks, awesome!" And so it was time to go to Mesquite Meander. Except, the kingbirds flew off. Uh-oh. I absolutely love the brilliant yellow of this cooperative Yellow-breasted Chat that sang in a Velvet Mesquite! The song of this bird is rich, warbled, and varied. That was how I found this chat. This neat little lizard was very numerous on every trail, though particularly on Mesquite Meander. They are fast, and run on there hind legs and spin their zebra-tails. Yes, this is a Zebra-tailed Lizard. Here's an even cooler herp, the Tiger Whiptail! What an awesome looking lizard! However, I wouldn't say it earns the reign to the title of Coolest Herp of The Day, just wait and see! Hint: It eats rattlesnakes. I photographed the whiptail as he went under a bench, that's why the lighting is weird. Right after the whiptail, Eric and his group were coming our way! Among them was Barb, the lady who is friends with Caleb that mentioned him to us weeks ago at FR 1688 (Mt. Ord). She was waving at me as I was saying hi to Eric. And by that I mean I said hi, followed up by how I was doing. Eric's a great birder who I certainly recommend birding with when visiting HRP. I also recommend visiting HRP! Reason for recommendation (RFR): Hassayampa River Preserve is AWESOME!!! Then we walked down into the riverbed. Within minutes, Eric said, "I've got a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Townsend's Warbler. Eric specified on the warbler, helping me find it. When I spotted the bird, I was breath-taken!! The TOWNSEND'S WARBLER is nothing short of GORGEOUS! #56. And what's better, this individual was a male! Not that the females are dull, but the males are very striking and brilliant! #itisimportanttonote that in Alaska, on a sunny summer day I went to Jim Lake. It is the most reliable location to have Townsend's Warbler in the county. On that sunny summer day at Jim Lake, I looked in the direction I had heard an unfamiliar song. I got some nice but distant binocular views of a brilliant black and yellow warbler. A plumage characteristic I'd never seen in any warbler was a black throat flowing into a band across a bright yellow breast. The only warbler in Alaska that bears this trait, is the Townsend's Warbler. I guess I wasn't satisfied with my lifer view, and that's why it never made it onto my Life List. Sometimes lifers are like that, you know what you've seen, but it had gone as fast as it had come, or too far away, for you to give it a proper place on the Life List. Or maybe, it's because that was the most beautiful bird I'd ever seen in Alaska? This warbler was unmistakably colored and patterned, yet I said "no" to placing it on my Life List. It was too beautiful to believe, I was skeptical. Looking at that Townsend's Warbler foraging along the river embankment at HRP, I whispered to myself, "That looks exactly like the bird I saw at Jim Lake." We climbed up a small slope to get back on Mesquite Meander. A VERMILLION FLYCATCHER gave us great views! We also had an exciting day add: The MEGA-RARE RED-TAILED HAWK!!!!!! We also observed some high-flying VIOLET-GREEN/NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS, adds #59 & #60. And many GILA WOODPECKERS. This here is a Contopus. Have you ever come up with creative terms in birding? Well, this here represents one of mine. Did you know there's wet and dry flycatchers?! One does not simply bird and not come up with funny terms like that within the duration of their passion! So, what makes a wet flycatcher wet, and a dry flycatcher, dry? Contopus & Empids are wet. Emps are residents of lowland forests, where rain prevails mid-summer. Contopus flycatchers love marshy, boggy, or riparian areas, often with a lake or river present. Then there's the dry flycatchers. The kingbirds and phoebes. Black Phoebes live in arid deserts in the lowlands, Say's Phoebes can be found in open fields, urban areas adjacent to these fields, or on mountain slopes or cliffs. Kingbirds love farm fields, or open parks. However, this is just general, because the Vermillion Flycatcher is just a stubby phoebe, breeding in riparian corridors. The Gray Kingbird is found in mangroves. Tropical, Couch's, and Thick-billed Kingbirds are found in riparian areas. Eric identified this bird as an Olive-sided Flycatcher So why not all-caps, because Sean, the regional ebird reviewer, said it's actually a WWPW, WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, nonetheless, day add #62! This is a BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, but since this bird has a white throat (and fainter streaking) this is a female. This is my first of the day, first ever visual, and my first photo! It's always so exciting when a bird isn't new in just one way! In Maricopa, this species breeds in high elevation pine/oak forest such as on Mt. Ord, Slate Creek, & Four Peaks WA. To me, the BTGW looks like a Townsend's Warbler in the 1940's (black & white photography)! Here's another Western Wood-Pewee. How much wood could a wood pewee pewee if a wood pewee could pewee wood?? But would a wood pewee even pewee wood? We continued to see Summer Tanagers as we walked on, and a few calling LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKERS. One of the guys in the group had a Canyon Wren ringtone, and it was pretty funny when I heard a CANYON WREN respond, instead of the guy on the other end of the line! #speakingofwhich, I heard a skulking BEWICK'S WREN before meeting up with the group. In the distance, a GRAY HAWK made its characteristic peacock call!! It wasn't cool that it was heard only though. Eventually, the group left, leaving just me and Eric. While I was with Eric, added a few more day birds, but no lifers. And I continued to get some awesome views of male Summer Tanagers! 5 more adds: BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS, YELLOW WARBLERS, PACIFIC-SLOPE & HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, and WILSON'S WARBLERS. We spent about an extra hour(!) over the intended time limit, but did this work out for the better, or worse, why don't you ask this cool snake. I actually have the snake to thank for 2 extra lifers, and an even more exciting time, here's why? We were so close to leaving, we had just split up from Eric, and all we had to do was walk up 4 little steps to get to the visitor center. A black and white plastic snake was laid out across the second step. Or so I thought. As I approached it, I could see I was looking at a real snake! His head was lying on its side, appearing dead. Then he started moving. I looked back at Dad, then turned around and pointed at the CALIFORNIA KINGSNAKE. "Snake, right there! There's a freaking kingsnake right in front of us!" I was not exclaiming this out of fear like most, no, I was excited. After reading about 2 snake encounters on my blog, you guys know by now that I love finding them! I mean, just look at that gorgeous bold black & white banding! And of course, there's no holding me back from a photographic opportunity of a snake! So I got in close... Here you can really see the sand on his head, that's because he was laying his head sideways in the dirt, the adorable little snake was likely sleeping. In the above photo, the kingsnake looks absolutely cute, and stunning! He's curling up because he's about to turn around, if he was in a strike pose, his head would be up. He slowly slithered away into the leaf litter, but before he could fully disappear, I... petted him! He was very soft. It was awesome to have finally petted a wild snake! This snake is one of the most harmless in the world, very reluctant to bite, and often wild snakes are tame when held. This Colubrid has every right to have the title of king, because although completely harmless to humans, the same cannot be said for its prey, rattlesnakes! So how did this snake add an additional 2 lifers? Well: After petting the snake, I ran over to where Eric had been, and he was still there. I told him about the kingsnake encounter. Then we headed back toward the visitor center. But this gave me a second chance to bird that little area, because the first time heading that way, I didn't pay attention to the cottonwoods, being pressed for time. Immediately, there was a large flycatcher that I almost left without, a BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER! #Ithasoccurredtome, this is my first Myiarchus I've featured on my blog. Speaking of, the Myiarchus can't really have a general placement in one category over another regarding wet or dry. I forgot to mention that the ponderosa pine/oak species fall into the dry category. Therefore, Nutting's, La Sagra's, and Dusky-capped Flycatchers are dry, Great-crested & Brown-crested Flycatchers are wet, and Ash-throated Flycatcher is half in half. Though it's said the ATFL prefers drier habitats than the others, I've had a half a dozen in the riparian area at the GRPs. So really, the Myiarchus can't be generalized like the others, since it's 50/50. My second lifer came when I had a female HOODED ORIOLE in some bare branches up high. Even the females are beautiful birds! On our way out, we waited with Barb for a Pine Siskin one of the birders in our group had earlier. Unfortunately, our wait was made short, we were now even more pressed for time. We were at a stoplight, on the highway looking over the canopy of the riparian area of the Hassayampa River. Usually stoplights are boring, except when you get a visual of a GRAY HAWK!!! I had spotted it when it swooped up onto a snag. Right after, it launched itself up, very briefly ascending, then making a sick, completely vertical dive! Just after he dove, the stunning raptor made a sharp swoop upward to get back on his snag. And that is all for HRP, I had a phenomenal adventure there, and obtaining a visual on one of my top fave Buteos, concluded my time there really well! And so continues my MBD! Up here on the Ord, things are not at all Ord-inary, and lifers can practically be Ord-ered as often as burgers! Birders, I present to you, the extra-Ord-inary Mt. Ord, of the very north-eastern corner of Maricopa CO., in the Mazatzal range! And here's an un-focused photo of an extra-Ord-inary (Ok I'll stop) bird, the BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK!!! #75! There couldn't have been a better bird to start our time up on Ord! And when this bird took flight...- SPECTACULAR!! I feel very blessed living in a state where such colorful birds are a reality! Next, the abundant Ord-resident WOODHOUSE'S SCRUB-JAY made 76 when we were within its favored chaparral habitat. Then we got to FR 1688, by the seep, where the Ponderosas begin. Sure, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER should've been easy, but this was to be our only one for the day! It was cool to see one in a pine forest. PAINTED REDSTARTS were singing, BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERS were skulking, and a female Bullock's Oriole in a Gambel's Oak was a nice surprise. Plus a YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER. In a Ponderosa Pine, I lifered with a pretty female HEPATIC TANAGER! Although beautiful to some degree, she really doesn't compare to the stunning crimson males. But then a huge surprise occurred. a large swallow was flying high in the sky over the south side of the mountain (chaparral). I raised my binoculars to it, and for one, it was massive (by swallow standards), additionally long-winged, notch-tailed, and shimmering black. "Oh my gosh, it's a PURPLE MARTIN!" To have a Purple Martin- especially as a Big Day bird- up on Mt. Ord is phenomenal, and shouldn't be expected. Caleb has told me that HRP usually has them annually, as a migrant, 1-2 birds a year. Then we progressed on the road to get to the top, where a certain woodpecker was. We stopped the car. In a pine near the FR on the slope, was a stocky, medium-sized bird. "Wow, a male Hepatic Tanager!" Because this bird has various gray tones on the flanks, back, and face, the red areas actually appear deeper and stronger than the all-red of the Summer Tanager (sometimes appears orange). Additionally, It's our largest tanager. Tanagers are cool, and beautiful! Another stunning bird we had on the way up was a male Townsend's Warbler, and this time, I got excellent views! He was in a low pine branch overhanging above and in front of our car. We were so close to the top, when I saw a large, shiny black flicker-like bird perched on a bare oak branch. I had a very good idea of what it was. Sure enough, my very good idea was confirmed. My favorite woodpecker, the woodpecker that doesn't even drum, I give you: The LEWIS'S WOODPECKER!!!! #83! There are many aspects about this bird that make it unique, and unfamiliar among North America's most familiar birds. Have you ever seen the documentary about the Lewis & Clark expedition? Never once do they mention the discovery of this beautiful woodpecker by Mariwether Lewis. It is one of the very few newly discovered specimens that survived the expedition, originally named the "Black Woodpecker". Except, this woodpecker isn't just black. It's a combination of colors that make it unique among its kind. It is the only one with a pink underside. Additionally, it has a broad silver collar, crimson face, and green-blue wings & back, with a black tail & head. The Lewis's Woodpecker is of the genus Melanerpes, but looks more like a flicker. For one, the 12-inch length it shares with the flickers, as well as the long primaries, long, thin bill, and spike-like central rectrices. And despite the name, this bird doesn't peck into wood to obtain food- at least, not as often as the others. No, they fly-catch, and I observed that with this individual, which is very entertaining to watch! Lastly, they make a sound unlike any other woodpecker. I like to describe it as "a raspy, metallic whistle". All other North American Melanerpes woodpeckers make a crisp, vibrating rattle, such as "dlurrrrrrrr!" or "blurrrrrrrr!" I absolutely love this woodpecker, everything about it is unique among its genus, and family! From its shimmering colors, bizarre voice, huge wings, flicker-like appearance, and fly-catching habit, it's hands down, my favorite woodpecker (so far, tropical woodpeckers are brilliantly colored)! Another aspect that makes this guy cool: They are rare in the county, and during the winters they do occur, it is insane for one to stay this late into the year! Of note is that the Verrado area had at least 5 individuals that stayed throughout the winter, with 2 that stayed the whole time, another 2 that stayed for most of winter, and 1 that was there for a short time. Winter is gone, summer is coming, if not here. No wonder I live in a city named after a flaming bird. A few minutes later, we were on the top of Ord. And the first thing I heard was a strange metallic, raspy whistling (kinda sounds like chimes) echoing from down-slope. I went over to the unique call, and was surprised to see ANOTHER Lewis's Woodpecker! This one did not stand still like the other one, perching briefly to scan surroundings for insects. Then the massive wings would spread, and the bird would make upward swoops, horizontal dives, or dips in flight to snatch its prey. In flight, this woodpecker looks more like a crow, flying in a straight line with rowing wingbeats, while all others (except Campephilus & Dryocopus) have that familiar undulating flight-style. Also to mention is that this bird appears entirely black from a distance, just about matching its appearance to a crow. Lucky for me, outstanding views stand still, and don't fly off to catch flies... This Black-throated Gray Warbler's curiosity helped out a lot. Never once have I ever had such a cooperative, and inquisitive warbler! He stayed nearby when I was in his little section, probably a warbler-sized territory! He and about 14 other buddies were singing all over the place up on top of Mt. Ord. This sharp-plumaged Setophaga was in a Gambel's Oak. So was our first Lewis's Woodpecker. Notice how Lewis's tree had leaves, and this guy just has buds. That is due to increase in elevation. Despite being a just a small increase, it still effects the opening time of the buds. The BTGW and LEWP were the only 2 species on top, so we decided to head back down to the water tub area. Then it happened. There were 3 Lewis's Woodpeckers now, where there had just been 1! They were actively fly-catching from the same snag that had our first bird! All of the sudden, ! bird chased the other 2, with the 1 in front splitting off to fly right and down-slope, while the other 2 stayed left and flew up-slope. To avoid double-counting our first, we had a total of 4 Lewis's Woodpeckers! After them I quickly got another Melanerpes, a few ACORN WOODPECKERS. Then came a COOPER'S HAWK that flew across the FR, directly in front of us! #85. As we continued down, a STELLER'S JAY flew in front of us, #86! Down there I found 3 PLUMBEOUS VIREOS actively foraging in this Ponderosa Pine. #87 for the day. This is my first pic of one, you can take the time to find him if you like. Here he is. Ah! So much better! Vireos are excellent at being adorable, and according to birders and field guides, slow foragers. I wouldn't say these PLVIs were slow... In the same tree, I got lucky and found a GRAY VIREO, #88, among them! I finally obtained a decent view! And the vireos didn't end there, they ended when I got a HUTTON'S VIREO in a nearby pine! a couple VIRGINIA'S WARBLERS were singing, becoming our 89th bird. Getting closer to breaking 100. But don't worry, the number will get higher. And higher. And higher. I heard a song I was now very familiar with. A song that belonged to only one species of warbler. Of course, this warbler is so astonishingly beautiful, one, especially me, cannot simply here its distinctive "che che che che che-che-che-che-che" song and just walk away. Quickly I located the bird trilling from the mid-level of a Ponderosa Pine. "Oh, I got a GRACE'S WARBLER!! Wow, gorgeous bird!" You guys know how much I love that bird. Really, I don't think the words gorgeous, beautiful, stunning, or spectacular lift the bird as high it could go. In other words, they don't come close to describing just how, beautiful this bird is. And something that makes this bird even more great, is that you can't find this bird in an urban setting during migration like most colorful warblers, such as Yellow & Townsend's. #90. Then 2 BUSHTITS were actively moving around in a drainage, giving contact calls back and forth, confusing me on where they really were. As we were driving back down the mountain, we were greeted by our Black-headed Grosbeak friend. The center photo is definitely my favorite, it turned out the best! We stopped at the green corral in the chaparral of lower Mt. Ord to grab Rufous-crowned & Black-chinned Sparrow. Neither of which was singing, and lack of any activity or movement suggested they weren't even there! However, I did obtain decent views of a CHIPPING SPARROW, #92! At the very, very bottom of the mountain, before you got on the highway, came an unexpected Ord bird. I got excellent views of a BREWER'S SPARROW in a leafless bush, right next to the road. And so made for our 93rd bird. Our next location was N. Beeline Hwy. First thing was first. Get that Long-eared Owl. I found the nest, found the bird, and snapped away to prove once and for all that it was 100% a LEOW. But only a dark, obscured bird was in the pix. So I'm like, "Alright, I'm just going to look through my binos!" The shiny black plumage and heavy bill said it all: It was a Common Raven. A Common Raven. A raven. A raven that is common. That's frustrating. I had the bird earlier in the day, but didn't mention it yet, so #94. Also, I haven't mentioned Turkey Vulture, so that's #95 But then, I saw some little birds hopping around, and one of them perched on a fence. I raised my binos and my jaw dropped! #96, my very first male LAZULI BUNTING!! Oh my gosh that bird is beautiful! But the fun continued when I saw that Lark Sparrows were everywhere! And here was my chance for a photograph, I wouldn't miss it this time! This is one of my favorite sparrows, because of the unique facial pattern. I was worried I wouldn't even see this sparrow once that day, I saw it twice, with a count of about 35 at Beeline! Then we came to the sycamore with the nesting Common Black-Hawks. I looked up, raised my binoculars, and, of course... ...I obtained photos! EPIC RAPTOR! My 97th bird. Our final location before home: Riparian Preserve @ Gilbert Water Ranch (GWR) First, here's some photographs: I am going to keep the events of GWR short, since this very long post is at last coming to close. Our first add for Gilbert was a surprise VESPER SPARROW, #98. Then we found the long-overdue WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, this is the best hotspot to see them. Eventually we finally found the BLACK PHOEBE, another long-overdue bird for the day. That was our 100th bird. We searched for a while trying to find rarities such as Common Poorwill, a cooperative Least Bittern, and Swainson's Thrush, but never found them. 2 things really didn't help in this situation, for one, GWR is a huge area, and there are so many trees you lose track of where you've been, and where your going. As a result we kept getting lost. We also couldn't find any birders to help us out, just the normal people who have never heard of a Yellow-rumped Warbler. There was a 3rd thing that didn't help: We thought for sure the waterfowl, grebes, shorebirds, and maybe even terns we missed at the GRPs, we would get here. But how are you supposed to do that when terns are absent, shorebirds are absent, grebes are absent, and the only waterfowl species present - and I'm not kidding, only one- is the Mallard? Our last edition was an INCA DOVE, again, what is up with the overdue birds? Well guys, I did it. I broke 100, with 101 for my blog! However, my MBD checklist that I made totals 109. May 5th 2018, was the very first time I broke 100 for 1 day of birding, but considering the county I live in, I know I can get a much higher number. I know this because my friend Tommy Debardeleben had 168 species during his big day of April 2014. Jared's Maricopa Big Day will return... Stay tuned, for when that day comes...
-Jared Conaway Hey birders! I got to admit, I've been slacking on my blog lately, but I've got a few posts coming up! But every once in a while, there comes adventures that I can't be lazy about posting! Remember Desert Botanical Gardens, well, guess what showed up there? On May 14th, Don Witter reported a Flammulated Owl @ the DBG during the Monday morning bird walk. Later today, Caleb texted me regarding if I wanted to be picked up to go chase the bird with him! After telling Mom how spectacular of an experience (and rare) I could have this evening, looking at a lowland Flam Owl, Caleb called me back and asked about the situation. I told him that it was a yes, and would be at my house in 45 minutes to an hour. Including that Tommy would also be coming! I haven't finished the post yet, but just on Friday, I teamed up with Tommy and Caleb to bird the GRPs. Dara was to meet us to show us the Flam as well, as she saw it earlier today. About 45 minutes later, Caleb and Tommy arrived. Tommy then gave me a guide to Phoenix and Maricopa birding. He's actually one of the authors of the book. The DBGs are a bit far from my house, almost an hour, and adjacent to the Phoenix Zoo. Once we arrived, we waited near the entrance to meet Dara Vazquez. After about 5 minutes of talking and hanging out, Dara came to us. The 4 of us got through the entrance, and with excitement, Dara lead us to the Flam's tree. Less than 5 minutes into the walk, a couple people told us they just had a Western Screech-Owl sleeping in an Ironwood in front of us. Looking straight up, I saw my lifer WESTERN SCREECH-OWL as a ball of fluff with a stubby tail looking the other way!! Tommy let me use his camera for this amazing lifer, I just had to plop in my SD card! As you may know, I missed this owl on my first run to DBG, for the Pyrr. It's funny, because about a minute before we saw this little owl I asked Caleb, "Remember that Western Screech they had here? I missed that bird." Caleb replied; "Yeah it's still here." Caleb with his sharp eyes found this bird after the other people. A few minutes later: "Oh there's the Flam! Right through that little window of branches towards the end of the tree!" Dara exclaimed this, though I couldn't see the tiny Flam for a few minutes. But those few minutes were short when Caleb pointed the bird out to me really well!!! Please congratulate me on my 345th LIFER! This is my FIRST photo of the FLAMMULATED OWL!!!!!!!! #YEAH!!!!!!!!!! It is so unreal that my first ever Flam, I got here, in this lowland desert area! This tiny owl stands at a short 6 inches in height. Its breeding habitat consists of high elevation Ponderosa Pine dominated forest, with mixed oak and Doug Fir. Caleb says he always has them 10 ft. from the tops of pines, perched in the basin of a forked branch growing off the trunk. The Flam Owl winters in Central America, southern Mexico, and northern South America. In Arizona, the Chiricahuas, Flagstaff, and the Mazatzals hold great breeding habitat for them. The forest canopy has to be very open in their breeding range, so the forest will have just Ponderosa Pine or sometimes very few Doug Firs and some oaks. In this awesome photo, it's clear that this bird is ideally camouflaged on his day roost branch. This owl is also VERY tiny, only 6 inches tall (or short, I guess)! Having a Flam in the lowlands like this individual isn't impossible, it's just that during migration, the bird will have a dayroost in a very dense spot of a tree. Being camouflaged to begin with, many of these lowland birds are overlooked. Also their stay is very brief, since they're just migrants. We were lucky this awesome little owl decided to stay another day! Tommy said that while all others would tick this bird (get it on their Life List) and move on quickly, we were going to stay with this epic bird until after 8:00. As a small owl, this species is primarily an insectivore, though will take shrews and voles. We were hoping to see him overpower the Mourning Doves relaxing on the branch right in front of him. Next to the doves, this bird was freaking small! After a while, maybe 40 minutes or so, the 3 or 4 doves closed their eyes, with a couple sleeping! Please enjoy this series of photos I took of this adorable owl!! Below is my very best photograph of this gorgeous owl, my VERY BEST! Thank you so incredibly much Tommy D for letting me uses your awesome camera! I didn't order these first to last, but the 4th pic down shows the Flam with his left eye almost fully open, with his other eye squinting. Around 7:30-ish, Tommy clicked his flashlight on, shining it at the owl. It was amazing, the Flam's jet-black eyes opened fully!!! Believe me, the Flammulated Owl has BEAUTIFUL EYES!! Personally, I think the Flam's eyes are the coolest among American owls. Often, when thinking of owls, a pair of large yellow irises with black pupils comes to mind. But the Flam has entirely black eyes! I think that's cool. Also in all of these photos, you can see the tiny feet and talons of this owl. Very cute. A few minutes later, I asked Caleb to do his Western Screech Owl hooting to see if we could call them in. Within minutes, first one, then a second bird started calling. Then one landed in a small, open tree on a prominent branch, around eye-level. Tommy adjusted his camera for me, but then the bird flew off. Dang. But then Caleb found the bird again, this time above my head! In the above photo the WESTERN SCREECH-OWL is actually hooting. It's a rapid descending whistling sound. As it was doing this, its body vibrated, and its wings and tail twitched. This owl's eyes were stunning! This bird kept looking straight into mine, when trying for pix. It made direct eye-contact very brief, but in the second photo I managed to capture the experience!
And an experience it was! We checked on our Flam quickly, to see if he was still on his perch. He was, and I got 4 more pix, but they were very poor. Then we got back to our Screech-Owl, and we watched him fly off quickly. Then we turned back to Mr. Flame, but he was gone! We tried for a while to find him again, but didn't. Flams prefer to hunt right after sundown, and that was the time, so that was likely why hed flown off. To hunt for moths. We were hoping to see him active, but missed that. Oh well, why complain, what an EPIC LIFER! Earlier Dara showed us an really nice photo of 2 Bullock's Orioles males fighting, and Tommy said, "That's me and Jared fighting over the Glendale Recharge Ponds." He said this because earlier I'd said something about the GRPs being my patch, and Tommy's like; "No it's not Jared, it's not your patch, it's my patch, I claimed it already." Of course, Tommy D was joking, though yes, it is also his patch. It was also really fun seeing Tommy dance to some rap in the car on the way back, he's funny. Oh my gosh guys! I never thought I'd see a Flammulated Owl at DBG! Or in any lowland desert habitat, or even so soon! Thank you so much Tommy for the Maricopa/Phoenix bird guide! Thanks to Caleb, Tommy, and Dara for the DOUBLE lifer owls and getting me out of the house, for the second time today (Went to Phoenix Herpetological Society for a couple hours with uncle and brother)! And, thanks Mom for allowing me to join the adventure! Finally, thank you Tommy D for giving me the Birds of Phoenix and Maricopa County Arizona! OH MY GOSH guys, the FLAMMULATED OWL was spectacular! And how could I ever forget the eyes of that WESTERN SCREECH-OWL?! The Flam left me speechless, and if you guys ever see one, or have seen one, it will do that to you. A few new blog posts are coming soon, including part one of MBD and also my previous adventure with Tommy and Caleb. Thanks again guys! I'm Jared Conaway, we also had some GILDED FLICKERS, and stay tuned for my next adventure! My Maricopa Big Day is TOMORROW!!! I am super hyped- can I beat Tommy D's 2014 record of 168?! Stay tuned, because here's my stragety:
I plan on working my way from lowland riparian, up to upland riparian, then highland ripaerian, and just a few minutes from highland riparian, is chapparel, then Ponderosa Pine/Douglas Fir/Gambel Oak/and maples. Then it's back down to lowland riparian, on the east side. Essentially, I'm working my way from the west side of Maricopa to the east side, with 4 out of 5 locations riparian. At 5:30 A.M., it's the GRPs, we'll be there until 7:00 A.M. Next, we're at HRP from 8:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M. Then it's up in the east and into highland riparian on North Beeline Hwy (remember last week?) We'll spend about an hour there, going from 1:15 P.M. to 2:15 P.M. Once off that short road, the turn-off for Mt. Ord is right there. We'll drive up to the Corral, grab the lowland Chaparral species, then drive further up the mountain, and grab Scott's Oriole and if Cassin's Finch if it's present. Both are found in higher elevation chaparral, the latter can be found at higher elevations though, so from there it's up into the pines where a plethora of migrating and breeding warblers, among others. Higher up, if I'm extremely blessed I will find the continuing Flam Owl pair, and grab Lewis's Woodpecker at the very top, by the cell tower. Will drive back down, stopping to get what was missed, if there are any, then finish the day off with east-side lowland riparian at Gilbert Water Ranch, which will be from 6:30 P.M. to 7:30 P.M. Wish me luck, God Bless, and happy Global Big Day! It's going to be EPIC!!! I'm Jared Conaway, and stay tuned for tomorrow! Hi everyone! Yesterday I ended up in northern Arizona, birding at Green Valley Park and then the Woods Canyon Lake area. I attempted to photograph A couple of YELLOW WARBLERS, and a common Arizona migrant, WILSON'S WARBLER, but those efforts failed. Though I wouldn't let my self fail at getting my first pix of this Lincoln's Sparrow! But, that's not a Lincoln's Sparrow. This little guy's a SWAMP SPARROW (immature, first year?) I found at the park! Over the winter, a 2 of them stayed at Green Valley from November to January, though my bird looks nothing like the ones photographed here, that is to say, he looks younger. The other 2 birds were in adult plumage, probably a mated pair. This species was once very rare in Arizona other than western most and southeastern areas, but in recent years, has become an annual and multi-individual occurrence outside of those regions. I figured out pretty quickly that this bird was a Swamp Sparrow, and this is how: Once reviewing pix, I noticed these stand-out features that led to the identification of Swamp Sparrow:
SWSP summers in the north across the taiga belt, as well as along the northeast coast & northeast interior. It favors boreal, sedge, & cattail swamps, as well as wet grasslands. It is now my favorite Melospiza, and the best-looking with rich reddish highlights throughout on the tail, wings, crown, and back. In the grassy areas of the park, CHIPPING SPARROWS were very abundant, with a BREWER'S SPARROW, a few PINE SISKINS, LESSER GOLDFINCHES and White-crowned Sparrows among them. I counted about 40 of the Chipping Sparrows! It's interesting to think that just a couple of weeks ago, this bird was a lifer! Chipping Sparrows are one of my faves of the sparrows, because of their sharp, handsome breeding plumage, and the markings contrast with each other. And here's some Pine Siskins: This is only the second time I've seen this species in Arizona, the first being at the GRPs. They are abundant during the summer months in Alaska, particularly coastal areas. Below is a Spinus finch I didn't expect to be so common up north, Lesser Goldfinch. They were very common at Green Valley Park. The WESTERN BLUEBIRDS were very skittish this time at Green Valley, not allowing for good photos. After that, we grabbed subs and headed off to Woods Canyon Lake. That's one of the views of the trail we were on, the trail runs along the edge of the Mogollon Rim. I found this insect just a couple of minutes into our walk, and no, it's not a bumblebee. This is a ROCKY MOUNTAIN CLEARWING MOTH! Moths can be just as beautiful or more beautiful than butterflies! All those little white dots in the web and in front of him are spiderlings, disgusting. This is a PLATEAU LIZARD. They were abundant on the walk. Those are WHITE FIRS, They grow on the very edge of the rim, overlooking a lush valley of pines that washes over the land far and wide. In Arizona, these trees only grow at very high elevations. Many Warblers sang throughout the hike, though fewer than anticipated because of the wind, and their sweet songs were difficult to hear through the wind. About a mile from the lake, I heard one high up in a Ponderosa Pine right in front of me. I stepped back and scanned the canopy for the little Setophaga songster. I spotted movement pretty quickly, and I raised my binoculars in excitement. My jaw dropped at the sight of a Setophaga warbler with a brilliant sharp yellow breast and eyebrow, with a gray streaky mantle, smoky wings with white bars, and a white underside with black flank streaking. "Oh my God!! That's... A Grace's.... a GRACE'S WARBLER!" I am NOT JK., if, or when you see that bird for the first time, you will be awestruck by it's vast beauty! The yellow on that bird is insanely brilliant, I mean, VERY BRILLIANT! I stood there, for about a minute, in awe of the little mountain warbler as it hopped around. I didn't stay with it very long, because I really wanted to show my parents, but when we ran back, it hopped behind some branches, and didn't come back out. I WILL, I WILL, get photos next time (Global Big Day, 5 days from now!) I find one. Good thing they're very common on Mt. Ord! When we walked a little more, I started walking to the side, and when I was in the oak shrubs and trees adjacent to the path, I stirred up a GILBERT'S SKINK! These smooth shiny, extremely fast, lizards are really cool, but skittish, once they start moving, they don't stop until you've lost sight of them. I encountered at least 3 of them on our walk, but none of them got a photo, or got caught. In hopes of finding a skink, I flipped over a large rock and "whoooooaa, those are some very huge ants!" They were Carpenter Ants, nearly an inch long! They are not eating rice, those are ant eggs. This Plateau Lizard was chillin'' on a stump, very nice photos of this herp. He looks like a miniature Bearded Dragon, but shorter tailed and smaller-headed. This butterfly was really cool-looking, a Checkerspot sp., not particularly sure of genus designation. This is a very beautiful AMERICAN ROBIN, uncommon in Arizona, extremely common in Alaska. Then we arrived at Woods Canyon Lake. My Dad went to the store there, and I birded around the trees near the shore. When I walked up to a certain bush, A loud, jumbled song rang from right in front of me. The bird wasn't perched in the twigs, so that combined with the song-type meant it must be a wren. Right below me, a tiny, dark brown bird crawled away, so I stepped forward, and it was great that it landed in some bare Gambel Oaks across from me. When I approached them, the bird flew into a branch right in front of me. I lifted my camera; "It's a PACIFIC WREN, gosh, yes, YES!" They are one of my favorite birds, particularly compared to other wrens and 'puff-ball passerines.'The Pacific Wren was within a couple feet of me for about a full minute. And the camera decided to be unfriendly by focusing in and out rapidly, while the wren remained friendly. At least within that short-lived minute. Then the puff-ball flew into another patch of Gambel Oaks. Frustrated, I searched frantically through every branch and looked down and up around me. I shook trees to entice the bird to fly from the ground, if that's where it was. But once again, my favorite wren, the PACIFIC WREN, eluded photographs and disappeared into a discrete location. This wren was very likely the same Pacific Wren I saw last time at the lake, when it was a lifer. Heck, he was very close to his original location when I last came here. It was amazing to see this chocolate-covered, charming, adorable, short-billed, stubby-tailed ball of fluff so close, and in such detail. Very frustrating I didn't capture the experience with a photo. Everything about this wren I love, the rich brown with little white dots and tan bars on the wings, the pair of big black eyes, stubby, cocked up tail and thumb-tack-like beak, and those short, jump legs, and puffy cheeks and petite body, the Pacific Wren must be the cutest bird ever! And that concludes that section of the trip. We stopped at North Beeline Hwy where a nesting Common Black-hawk pair was. We found a cottonwood with a nest and bird in it. I was so excited that I snapped photos forgeting that the Black-Hawk nest was in an Arizona Sycamore, not Fremont Cottonwood. Then I told Dad, disappointed, it was just a Raven. But it wasn't that, either. Prepare your eyes for some horrible doc pix. of our mystery bird: In the top photo you can see why I mistook it for a raven. However, the 'beak' is too thin, and where the head would be is too wide. The second photo is just plain crappy. But the 3rd one, you see the 'beak' is an ear-tuft, a barely visible facial disk outline, and black where the eyes would be. The face is a faint buffy-orange color. After painful review of this bird's face, that just happens to be mostly covered by stupid leaves, I decided on LONG-EARED OWL, a lifer! You may have noticed that it is already on my Life List, that's because I've had 2 unlikely sightings in the past, but I never took it off anyways. Often I do that with life birds I'm probably or definitely going to see soon anyways, I don't need to take it off if I'm going to see it soon. Although, it's been a while since my last uncomfirmed Long-eared Owl (May 2017, Phoenix Zoo, I'm thinking a high-flying pigeon viewed poorly). However, if someone asks me, about a bird I'm going to take off, or replace with a true, confirmed sighting eventually, I will say no. Anyways, back to identification: Great-horned Owl would be larger than this guy, lacking blackish 'warpaint' vertical stripes over eyes, also this bird has a more slender physique, although like every field mark of this owl, is obscured by leaves and the camera is not in complete focus. This bird was an incredible find, out of like 40 or so people who've visited this location to see the Black-Hawks this year, I'm the only one who found it! And it's not that they weren't looking hard enough, even with an obvious nest, this owl is incredibly cryptic. The nest was fairly large, I'm thinking an abandoned Raven nest, as this bird is small in proportion to the pile of sticks it sits in. Also Zonies and Black-hawks prefer Arizona Sycamores. Long-eared Owls do not build their own nests, the take abandoned ones instead. This owl was also exciting because this means I can have it as yet another goal bird for Global Big Day, which will actually be a Maricopa Big day for me! Can I shatter Tommy D's record? On the way out, I got terrible photos of a ZONE-TAILED HAWK soaring overhead. Man, they are an amazing Buteo! I got 3 lifers that day; SWAMP SPARROW, GRACE'S WARBLER, LONG-EARED OWL. And a failed to get a photo of a definite PACIFIC WREN right in front of me...
I'm Jared Conaway, and stay tuned for Maricopa Big Day, THIS SATURDAY!!! I'm VERY EXCITED! Yo yo yo. Hi everyone! Welcome back to my blog. Yesterday I had an astounding day with my new friend, Caleb Strand. Caleb and I met back in September of last year. Hey was the first birder I bumped into at the Recharge Ponds, and the first in Arizona, period! He's certainly got an excellent eye, and has to be one of the best birders I've meet out there in the field. I have to say, meeting tremendously excellent birders can be more enthralling than encountering lifers! Seeing a lifer by myself is something, but it's such a thrilling experience when you share it with someone, or when your standing next to a birder as you enjoy the newly obtained lifer! Remember the Western Flycatcher photo? At first I labeled as a Cordilleran Emp, the next day, Gila CO. ebird reviewer Caleb Strand emailed regarding that Cordill and P-C Flycatchers are visually un-ID-able. Wait a second! I got an email from Caleb!! I immediately replied, telling him that it was great to hear from him again, after about 7 and a half months! He replied by saying that he'd tried getting in contact with me after our run-in at the GRPs, wondering if i'd like to bird together. Apparently he missed a c in [email protected]. At this I perked up, nearly 8 months of birding with him was missed! At the same time, this was great news, one of the best emails (the others are the other replies from Caleb, and a couple of other birders too). Caleb's replies were so fantastic because out of my other 3 birders I'm able to contact, he's the only one I'm able to bird with right now. His friend, Tommy D, is very busy most the time, and it's hard for him to make plans nowadays. Dan Crowson and Bob Winkler are in Alaska, so if I was to bird with one of them, then one of us has to go 3,000 miles! Caleb and I then proceeded with plans to meet at the GRPs before 6:00 A.M. on Tuesday of last week. We had a great time, no lifers, but 78 species for me, including my FOP (first of patch) Franklin's Gull and Bank Swallow! And we came across the older lady that we meet on Mt. Ord, her name's Barb. She was glad I could meet up with Caleb. Sorry if I didn't blog about that, but yesterday's meet up I couldn't pass up blogging. On Monday night, Caleb texted me that he was available to have dinner at my place the next evening! AND that there was room for an exped to the GRPs before dinner! Booya! Mom and I arrived at 4:16 P.M. after listening to the Lifer album of Mercyme. And after about a minute of watching the countless Cliff Swallows flying under and over the canal bridge, Caleb pulled up in his van. Dara Vazquez reported an insane patch bird the previous day, a Black-chinned Sparrow! as you know a couple weeks ago that was a lifer for me. So that's where we started. Caleb used playback of its familiar bouncing-ball song to bring him in, but to no avail. It does make sense, a Chapparel breeder discovered in lowland riparian habitat this time of year, is a discovery that will either be shared with only a few other birders, or move on before it can be shared with other people. In other words, it's a discovery that won't last. I couldn't stay disappointed, a Black-bellied Plover and a Willet were here! I don't know when the opportunity to see a Black-chinned Sparrow at my patch will come up again. Still not much in the riparian area, except I spotted a male BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD hovering above a small tree. but next week that'll change big time! So we moved on to the ponds, our focused habitat today. Within minutes, my first patch bird of the day was found, a BONAPARTE'S GULL showing off his tern-like physique way off in the distance. Now that I'm in Arizona, I've realize how much I appreciate that gull! Caleb said, "Yeah, we'll get you closer views of him, we're going to head that way anyways." He turned out to be right. At pond 1, the gull approached from the direction he went a few minutes ago. He came directly at us coming within 5 feet of us to land in a puddle. "Get your camera ready cause' he's probably going to fly directly past us," explained Caleb. After a few minutes of enjoying him, he left our company. And that was the closest anyone got to any one of the 3 B Gulls continuing here, so far. It was epic to enjoy my newly obtained "patch-er." Often times you can distinguish these from smaller Larus gulls by tern like shape, size, and flight style. next up we scanned ponds 4 & 3. Caleb then pointed out a black, red, and yellow grebe 10 or so yards away in basin 4. "There's an EARED GREBE in breeding plumage," Caleb informed me. Caleb set up the scope for me to look at the stunning bird. I was awestruck at this bird's sheer magnificence! Through the scope, I looked at a a slim-bodied grebe with a black neck, shaggy yellow cheeks with radiating feathers, a black peaked crown, a thin, upturned bill, stunning rich chestnut flanks, black wings, back, and face, and finally a pair of brilliant crimson eyes. I kinda wish I tried for a photo, but they probably will still be there next week. As you can probably tell from my enthusiastic description, that was my first breeding plumage Eared grebe. Heck, it's only the second grebe species I've seen in peak breeding plumage! The other of course being the Red-necked Grebe. We walked along the embankment seperating the 2 basins, seeing what we could find. A lot more was happening in Pond #3. Because it was mostly dried up with sparsely scattered large puddles, it had the most ideal shorebird habitat. This is where the Willet and Plover were being seen. We spent about less than 5 minutes overlooking when Caleb relayed this extremely important information to me: "There's a WILSON'S PHALAROPE over there, a female." "Oh, my, gosh. Are you serious," I asked in astonishment. "Yep." Then he added, "It's over there in front of the orange cone." I lowered my binos, directed my sight to the cone he was pointing at, then raised them and immediately sighted my target, gasping in bewilderment! Here's something you should know: My friend Dan Crowson monitors Knik Goose Bay State Game Refuge (KGB) every spring, and for the past few years, has hosted a field trip there at the end of April. Well, every year for the last few years, a pair of Wilson's Phalaropes have arrived at Dan's patch, I believe on the same day annually. Wilson's Phalaropes are the rarest of their genus in Alaska, pretty much just leaving the casual status and already up to a rare, annual breeder recently. Their range in the state has been limited to the southeast region only, very rarely showing up farther north. Dan's pair has become a reliable duo of rare Phalaropes to observe in these recent years. On June 3rd, Dan sent me a text with a photo of the 2 birds. After some pleading and planning, and a conversation with my friend, I replied "I'm headed that way." Mom had never been to KGB, so she waited just outside the forest on the shore entering a sea of marshland. Scope in hand, brother beside me, and grasping my binos, I stepped into the swamp, confident. the phalaropes put the "ph" in "phar" with how much distance we had to cover to get to them. During our conversation, Dan had said they were 700 yards out. It was only a matter of time before frustration took hold. This wasn't like a flooded, flat rice field. Alaskan bogs are anything but flat. Let me put it this way, one foot could be standing in a few inches of water, while the other foot stands in 2 feet of water. And that's no exaggeration either. That's exactly what it was like with just about every step taken once when the spot we'd originally started from looked hazy because of the distance. I tripped so many times, and got soaked to my thighs in water. My boots were like anvils attached to my feet with how heavy with water, cold, and numb they were. And setting up my scope was very hard too. It fell a couple of times, getting dosed with mud and water. And all this was happening only 300 yards out from where we'd started, and I gave out from frustration, exhaustion, and soaked feet. How in the world can a 14-year-old not accomplish something a mid-50s-year-old could? I was so frustrated that I couldn't even appriciate the killer close up views of Sandhill cranes we got, and that was the only time I was over 10 ft. away from those cranes! At the end of it, my entire body was sore. Very sore. And that's a story that I wouldn't have to skip on my TIMELINE series if it weren't such a failure. I will return to KGB for those Phalaropes, as long as they keep returning, one day. Dan digi-scoped them from a couple hundred yards away, and that's not what I'm going to do. I will go the entire 700 3-foot-lengths, I will walk right up to that pond (and this is if they're in the same pond, or same distance) and get epic shots of them. And no matter how often I see Wilson's Phalaropes in the future, I will never take the bird for granted. That epic fail adventure has made me appreciate the bird so much. So you can imagine my pure joy, and excitement when my other birder friend directs me straight to one that is less than 70 yards away, and immediately locate it, without bearing wet anvils on my feet. And you can imagine my excitement now when Caleb says: "Hear, I'll get it in the scope for you." And that he did. I looked at a tiny needle-billed, white-cheeked bird with stunning chestnut-sided mantle, nape, and lower wings, with a frosty gray crown, white back, lores, and underside, and a black, orange, and red stripe streaming down a snowy white neck, with gray scapulars and secondaries, spinning in circles. And let me tell you, this cute bird looks especially adorable when it spins around in rapid circles. All I could say was, wow, followed up by more 'wows'. one more thing you should know, females of all 3 phalarope species are far more colorful than males. And those are the 2 very different experiences I had with the bird. I had a double strike-out with the Willet, and a triple strike-out on the Black-bellied Plover, as neither bird showed up. the plover is now a nemesis bird. When the phalarope is finally close (hopefully next time, which is this upcoming week, when there's 20 Wilson's Phalaropes at the GRPs) I will get a photo of them. Then came the ibises. The WHITE-FACED IBISES. And with them, a bird Louis, Caleb, and I first thought of as a Glossy Ibis, a bird that shows up in the county every 4 years. It struck Caleb as a hybrid, because of pink in the center of the facial skin. After Caleb and I saw it, Caleb called Louis to come and check out the bird, because a few minutes ago he'd said if we found a Glossy ibis, call him over. Louis came over with his big camera, and pointed out the bird. After 30 minutes of looking at it, the flock took off, looking like it would leave the ponds, but it swung back around, and landed in the pond instead of the embankment like the previous 2 times. Now they were closer. Louis became convinced it was a pure Glossy, but Caleb got more and more convinced that it was a hybrid. The next day, I did extensive study of Louis's shots on the bird, and he had reported ebird it was a purity. At first I couldn't at all see what Caleb was talking about, but when i looked a final time in the late afternoon, it became very clear. https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S44679555 Above is the link to Louis's checklist. The bird has a dark red eye, suggesting White-faced as one of the parents (or grandparents). Because its eye is so brown though, here's my opinion: A male Glossy and female White-faced Ibis had a baby. The baby hybrid then mated with a pure Glossy, the result is a second-gen hybrid, the offspring Caleb, Louis, and I saw. There is also very minute pink in the face, suggesting White-faced heritage. It also has gray on legs running down to the knee (Glossy), but with red running from the knew to the feet (White-faced) A pure Glossy has all gray legs. for some reason, this bird was a lot smaller than the white-faced Ibises, possibly from Glossy ibis ancestry. The most striking feature of this bird had to be the tertials, the innermost, largest secondaries. The proportions were off for either species, though leaning more towards Glossy. both species have very large tertials, with square ends, that conceal the short primary projection, extending beyond it. Our ibis's tertials only went to the tip of the primaries, not extending past it, and the edges were smoothly rounded, instead of squared. This is an example of hybrid offspring acquiring a trait of neither parent, or in this case grandparents. Finally, the headache flew off with the rest of the 60 or so ibises. And here's some beautiful flight shots i obtained We had a serious high-count of 18 BANK SWALLOWS, but possibly more. Conservative estimate for caution of double-counting. This is my first Bank Swallow I've ever photographed. (audience claps). 2 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS flew a few feet over us while making their squeak calls. Adorable sounding instead of annoying, like the Killdeer. There is a first for everything, and in this case they were my first breeding-plumaged Semi-s, except when you only see the underneath of the bird in flight, the look just like the non-breeders. If they weren't flying so fast, or at all, you'd see a picture or 2. Along with those epic birds, we had a great 60 species total for that evening! On our way back, we relocated the Bonaparte's Gull in another puddle, with a SOLITARY SANDPIPER. At the parking lot, Caleb and I didn't farewell, he was to follow us to our house for dinner! A great dinner with a great birder who is now my great friend celebrating a great day with a great lifer! dinner was excellent,scalloped potatos, corn, and barbeque chicken. The potatos were extremely good, my favorite food during our dinner. Caleb and I made short work of them. Next week, likely Monday, Caleb and I are teaming up again for another adventure at the GRPs, here are my goals:
Hopefully within the next week, Caleb and I can visit other epic hotspots in Maricopa CO., and in the near future southeast Arizona, and eventually out of state!
Thank's so much Caleb for the Wilson's Phal, and for being so nice, and awesome! Can't wait for our next outing! Lastly, here's our shared checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S44723002 And here's Calebs's blog: http://birdingwithcaleb.blogspot.com/ God bless and bird hard! I'm Jared Conaway, and stay tuned for my next adventure! Will get back on the TIMELINE series soon. Hi everyone!
There was a writing project I did for homeschool back in October, and it may have been a preface for my blog! Basically, it would be equivalent to a pilot episode on a T.V. series. Funny thing was, about a week later my first post for AK-AZ Birder (at the time called "The Birding Life") came out, and Mom said that my writing project (Birding Adventure At Hassayampa River Preserve) should be my very first post, or one my first posts. 38 blog birding adventures later, I listened to her advice. And guess who I met during my "technical" first blog post/adventure? Stay tuned, because you're about to find out! Birding Adventure at Hassayampa River Preserve Jared Conaway | Current Events Report | 10/23/2017 When we entered the Visitor center at 8:00 sharp, I immediately noted a row of feeders meant for busy buzzing Hummingbirds. About a week ago, a really rare Broad-billed Hummingbird had showed up here, humming hundreds of miles away from its South-eastern Arizona haunts. 2 other rare Maricopa county birds that were considered regular and annual residents were the Red-shouldered and Gray Hawks. On this fine sunny day I half expected to see a wild Gray Hawk, but it is getting late for them and they haven’t been seen for about a week. Now, the breeding pair are likely to be well on their way to their winter vacation home in southern Mexico. The Red-shouldered is typically a year-round, annual resident to the dense Riparian woods of this beautiful preserve. Out the door we went, and I was ready for anything, and, after examination of the name section of the sign-in sheet, I was ready to meet the top birder in the county, Tommy Debardeleben. Walking slowly and quietly down the trail, I was looking around, almost aimlessly, to see what I could find. Before I had a chance to spot my first bird, I saw a birder, characterized by walking a few feet and stopping, leaning forward to examine an area of the bush or tree where leaves were rustling and then moving on. His movements were slow, deliberate and intent, but yet he was speeding down that trail. I had to catch up. Finally he came to a stop, and stayed for a moment, I fast-walked up to him, and seeing his focus, I suddenly slowed down so as not to interrupt his birding and scare the bird out of view. As I came to a close approach I stopped and looked at him, followed his binoculars to the spot he was focused on, I asked, “What do you see in there?” In a sort of deep voice he replies, “Ah, just a Hermit Thrush.” Excitedly and nervously I said, “Oh, cool. So you must be Tommy Debardeleben, best birder in the county!’ As I held out my hand so as to imply to him to give me a good hand shake, he pauses, and carries on with talking. “Yeah, I don’t know about the best birder in the county but I’m pretty good.” Then he gives me a solid hand shake and my brother catches up and says, “Hi I’m Kenny, and this my brother Jared.” “Hi Kenny, I’m Tommy good to meet you. You look familiar.” “Familiar?” Ken asks, confused. “Yeah, I know someone named Kenny from the hospital that looks just like you.” As the rest of the family catches up, we move on through the Palm Lake Trail. A small raptor flies overhead. “That’s a Sharp-shinned”, Tommy announced. I look up at the towering palms as we walk down the trail, Northern Flickers and Gila Woodpeckers fly from frond to frond and will not stay still. Tommy looked through some trees to examine the lake, or pond. He was trying to look at a Gallinule, which I couldn’t see. We continued on and found some excellent riparian habitat. A Flycatcher flies into a chalky white, dead cottonwood tree. “That’s a flycatcher it looks like, oh he’s dark, he looks like a Dusky!” I remark. “Yeah he’s an empid, probably either Dusky or Hammond’s” replies Tommy. As we trek through the wilderness of this place we see and hear; Hutton’s Vireo, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Gila Woodpeckers, Northern Flickers, Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Red-breasted Nuthatches, and Abert’s Towhees. “Oh now here’s a good trail, if your family is coming,” says Tommy. After calling my mom twice, the family comes. Tommy and I cut ahead down that trail to look at a White-crowned Sparrow that he heard. “PISH! Pish-pish-pish-pish…” Tommy gets to work on flushing the bird out of the dense Mesquite-Willow thickets. The Sparrow flits about in the upper layer of the thickets, then another flits by. They are responding to pishing, a technique used to flush birds out into the open, the pishing, is imitating the alarm calls of random species, falsely stating the presence of a predator. “I just heard a Bewick’s Wren, you hear ‘im.” I get excited, I did indeed hear him skulking in the underbrush. “Kssk-kssk-ksk-ksk-ksk-ksk…” skulks the Bewick’s flitting somewhere in the bushes and trees. Tommy pulls his phone out and plays the song, shortly after, the Bewick’s flies up onto an open tree branch to investigate, before he flew up there he was singing along with the playback. “Oh! I see him, I see him, I see him! Right up there in the tree singing!” As soon as Tommy turns and I focus my binos, he flies to the other side of the trail and disappears in the thickets. He is still present, skulking away as we watch and listen for him and other species. A Canyon Wren calls, Tommy identifies it as such, and tells me. He tries to get it into the open by playing its song, telling me that he will have no trouble getting it into view. Sure enough, he does have trouble, the bird never shows up. Luckily though, heard birds count, but the Canyon Wren was one I wanted to see. With a really long, thin beak, a narrow head, beautiful chestnut coloration, a contrasting white throat, and black and white spotting on the back and wings, it’s a very beautiful bird. A few minutes pass by and a Rock Wren calls, I hear it just as Tommy points it out, but again, a heard-only bird. We have already heard a few House Wrens calling, but I really wanted to see these wrens, they are very unique looking birds. Sure enough, my luck changes. We explore another trail that Tommy is familiar with. He is our birding tour guide for today. A little bit a ways down the trail we find the House Wren. It flits and jumps around on the ground, looking more like a shrew with wings than a bird, always returning to the sheltered stick piles. It still never allows for perfect views, but it’s at least satisfying to see the bird, the dense thickets and woodlands have allowed for either brief views or none at all. This area, however, is much more open, consisting of a large stand of Cottonwood Trees and no vegetation on the forest floor. “There’s a Red-naped Sapsucker!” blurts Tommy. It was amazing, as he said that, it took off and made an elegant steep drop and started flying again. He explained: “You never see Sapsuckers flying above the canopy, they prefer to fly real low.” “Yeah that would actually be my first Sapsucker I’ve seen.” “Congrats,” replies Tommy. The Red-naped is a spectacular North American bird, with that brilliant crimson on the nape, crown, throat, and cheeks, and a black collar bordering the red throat. Its face is a contrasting black and white, and its wings are black with an elegant broad white stripe running the length of the wing from the shoulder to the base of the median coverts. They also have white barring and speckling on the secondaries, primaries, and tail, and white flanks with black and gray vermiculations, and finally a pale yellow underside. A pair of them was moving about from treetop to treetop, refusing to stay still, but I got a couple of great binocular views of them. We continue until we get to a marshy area. As we walk around adjacent to the marsh searching for birds, Dragonflies and their twiggy cousins, Damselflies, start flying all around us. Tommy tells me: “I’ve seen 80 out of the 140 of them here, so I’m doing pretty well.” Beforehand he told me he’s only been “Oding” for just this year so far, so he was indeed doing really well for a first-timer. Ode is an abbreviated term for Odonata, the order in which Dragonflies and Damselflies belong to. “That’s a Variegated Meadowhawk.” Or, “Oh, look! That’s a Painted Damsel, the best looking damselfly in my opinion!” I point out an unknown Dragonfly. “Oh shoot, what is that? Come on, land, land.” Finally, it perches on a reed protruding from the water. Tommy brings his binos up to it. “Oh, that’s a Blue-faced Clubskimmer!” Sooty Dancer, Royal Bluet, Familiar Bluet, Flame Skimmer, American Rubyspot, and Black Saddlebags were some other species observed, with all but the Familiar Bluet and Flame Skimmer being Odes I had never seen until then. I was just as excited as Tommy, not only was I able to get some insight into the world of Dragonflies and Damselflies and observe new ones, but it was exciting to see someone beside myself get excited about insects. In fact, we must have spent 45 minutes standing there marveling at the world of Odes! Another very cool insect observed during our “Ode excursion” was the Tarantula Hawk Wasp, the largest wasp in North America, and it was quite intimidating as they buzzed right on past my head. Tommy explained that they only sting if you pick them up, making them a more passive species. None the less, their sheer size will make some people jump back a few feet! They’re also a very beautiful bug, with an iridescent 2 ½ inch, blue-black body, and huge shimmering orange wings. Lastly, they’re number 2 on the insect sting/bite pain index! Worried that my family had abandoned us to continue on with the walk, I was relieved to see that it appeared they had left because there was a stand of cottonwoods between the marsh and the trail. We grouped back up, and Tommy and I, cut in front because I knew that he knew where I could find some life birds, and we did, 7! Plus I was able to officially place the Northern Flicker on my list, last year I was told they were at Thunderbird Park. In fact, we were told that while we were there. I even thought I had seen them on that hike, but thought isn’t enough in birding, I had to know for sure. To conclude the 7, Tommy helped me find a Plumbeous Vireo, we spotted about 3! That trip, was truly amazing, 7 lifers and within 5 minutes of walking into the visitor center and out of it, I spotted, met, talked to and was guided by the top ebirder of the county, Tommy Debardeleben himself. He is truly fun to hang around with, and an excellent guide to take you into the backwoods of Maricopa. I hope that one day I can be his best friend, and that we could trek through mountains, deserts, and forests together, with a common goal, to pick up life birds and have fun in the process. Two people, with one passion, brings them together, and they eventually form a passion for each other, a friendship in the case of Tommy and I, but some Girl and guy birders end up living long and happy marriages! They become lifelong friends, and that is one of the pleasures of birding, it is a giant network, where you form friendships, becoming a hotline to one another in case there’s a rare bird in town, calling even at 4:00 A. M.! Birds aren’t aware of it, but they have the power to bring people closer to nature, and even each other. Going out in nature is after all, almost definitely the healthiest thing for yourself, and birds are a great way to connect with it. Getting lost in the wilderness is dangerous, sometimes fatal if you’re not careful, and spectacular. Risky, great! The deeper and darker the woods the better, the taller the mountain the better, and the vaster the wilderness, the better! People are always so afraid of getting lost in the wilds of anywhere that we fail to stop and ask this question: “Am I truly lost in the wildest place on earth, or am I truly lost right here, within the confines of civilization? That is why experiencing the natural wonders of the world is the best medicine for you. It can be dangerous, yes, but you cannot marvel at God’s creation at the mall, but only at the tallest mountain, the largest coral reef, the deepest forest, and vastest prairie. Out in nature, you gain a sense for exploration, and we need to preserve the wildest places on earth for as long as we can, and do as much as we can to keep it that way. So, would you rather get lost in God’s most spectacular creations, or get lost in human creation, after all, only God can create something that is perfect, so nature is perfect. But because sin has taken ahold of us, we are plenty flawed, which means that the mall or an X Box is not perfect. Because of human encroachment, sin is being brought into nature, the confined wild spaces are causing species that could normally coexist together, are now turning against each other, and issues such as cannibalism and inbreeding are becoming a much more common problem. So that brings us to this last question: “What can I do to help?” Great question! You need to get out there, explore the vast beauty of God and these splendidly magnificent wilds that He placed on this earth for us to enjoy. See for yourself just how beautiful birds and other animals (and plants) are, and you won’t wonder why we should preserve the most spectacular places on earth and their ecosystems, anymore! What an adventure, and as you can see the formatting and style was very different than my current posts, fantasy-story like in the way the narration was formatted, and the "life lesson" at the end, and the back-woods-by-the-campfire-story was what I was aiming for at the time anyways. Thanks for reading my VERY FIRST PUBLISHED birding story, and stay tuned for my next post, which involves Tommy's friend who is now my friend! |
About meJared Conaway Month Archives
December 2019
Categories
Life List
Birds |