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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That is right. I did. I thrashed it onto my Life List, finally. Hi everyone! Usually I got some kinda build up leading up to the lifer, or lifers, or the reason behind the title. Usually, that's because many typical and familiar birds, such as House finches/Sparrows, WC Sparrows, Gracks, Stalings, UC Collared-Doves, Pigies, etc. are present long before my target species are. But today this paragraph is as much build up as you're going to get in this post, because yesterday evening the BENDIRE'S THRASHER was the only bird that I saw. So here are my photos: The most reliable place for this species is of course, the Thrasher Spot. So if you can imagine, I was very surprised when this guy showed up in my yard (well, technically my neighbor's yard). Funny thing was, when I first saw this bird yesterday, i said, "Oh hey little Towhee." First of all, that pretty much defines the size and shape of a Bendire's Thrasher well enough. Second, that's not the only reason I called him a "towhee." He was raising his tail, and peaking his crown, a behavioral trait the BETH and ABTH (Bendire's Thrasher and Abert's Towhee) share. However, this trait excludes the Curve-billed Thrasher, who usually keeps tail only partially raised. This particular bird's tail was nearly held vertically, a characteristic that should immediately rule out thoughts of it being a CBTH. Before I get to the key points of identifying this species, here's a history note on the thrashers that have been in my yard:
I currently have 2 very small thrashers in my yard. One is slightly larger than a Towhee and has been around for a month or 2. It behaves, sings, and has a curved lower mandible just like a CBTH, he's just much smaller than normal adults. His tail is also shorter than average, and bill is thinner. The 2nd thrasher, pictured above, was confirmed to be a BETH only yesterday, because I've only seen him twice now and last time he didn't stick around long. The first bird is either a highly unusual purity of CBTH, or it is a hybrid between the 2. The 2nd bird I'm very sure is a pure BETH. My designation for the latter will be explained right now. If you live in the southwest like me, especially in Arizona or New Mexico, these are all the traits that set the 2 apart (expect to see Vs. a lot). Usually, you can expect almost every one of those to be Curve-billed, especially in an urban environment. However, these key field marks should definately be memorized, because some time or other you'll get very lucky and see a Bendire's in an unusual urban habitat like me! ALL of these distinguishing behavioral, visual, and vocal traits were found on this individual, except song:
Lastly, yes, the BENDIRE'S THRASHER is a lifer for me! I'm Jared Conaway, and stay tuned for my next post!
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It was fun going to Mt. Ord for the very first time, and I still got some more birds to clean up on that phenomenal mountain! I remember how much I really wanted to go there whan I first heard about it, from Tommy Debardeleben himself. He has his own website that is actually a guide to Maricopa's birds, birders, and birding. The guide has a lot of complexity, but simple at the same time, and is a fantastic resource to quickly review and skim to get an idea of Maricopa's best birds and hotspots before you visit. Every single birding hotspot within my county that I've been to on this blog I found out about ahead of time on his website. It started when I wanted to find a legitimate guide to the birds I could see during our visits to Phoenix, more specifically, our upcoming visit (May 2017). Not to mention I knew we were going to move soon, so I might well search up some exciting birds ahead of time that would be easy to find in my upcoming new hometown. Well, birderfrommaricopa.com was at the very top. And, I was very astonished to see just how much birding information on the overall Phoenix area was packed into just a few pages on a website! I was amazed to see a list of regularly occuring birds included vireos and orioles.Wood Ducks made me smile too. Even though I knew that these birds could be found in that region of Arizona from my Audubon field guide, it was both reassuring to know these birds were 100% present there, and to have a full list of just birds in the area I was going. Thanks again Tommy D! Anyways, below are some great shots of SPECTACULAR overlooks up on Ord: Now that I no longer live in the state with 17 out of 20 of North America's tallest peaks, and packed full of some very beautiful mountain passes and ranges, I'm finding myself constantly needing, longing, wanting to be up in the northern mountains of Arizona! I guess I didn't realize how much I'd gotten used to loving, missing and having easy access to Alaska's mountains. Difference here is, more colorful birds are awaiting to be found on top of them! Hatcher Pass, about 15 minutes away from my old home in Palmer, has Wandering Tattlers, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches, and Hudsonian Godwits. Mt. Ord has Scott's Orioles, Cassin's Kingbirds, Cassin's Finches, Spotted Towhees, and Evening Grosbeaks. I gotta admit, I miss the Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches. After Ord we drove over rolling hills and through mountain passes to Heber. Heber is a tiny, isolated town in eastern Arizona, a straight shot east from Payson. It's like Palmer 2.0. We went there to bird and visit my Dad's friend, Rick Brewer. He's got a dog-grooming business there, with some people driving all the way from Yuma just to get their dog groomed! That's a 6 hour drive! That definately says something about his wife's (Mary Anne) dog grooming skills over Pet Smart and Petco (the stores that usually have dead, injured or sick fish). Speaking of which, my Red Devil Cichlid is doing very well, I'll post an update on him this week. He's 5 1/2-6 inches now! Rick has owned 100s of pets, he said at one point he had over 100 at that time!!!! He loves animals. Anyways, he offered to have dinner instead of lunch, to conserve daylight for birding, offered to have us stay the night at his house, and lastly offered directions to a place called Black Canyon Lake. The drive, complete with a dirt back-road, reminded me of our drive on Maud rd., the road that took me to Jim Lake to see the Pied-billed Grebe. That was a great adventure. About 30 minutes down the road, windows open, we finally saw a MULE DEER, a mammal Rick said we could expect to see over here. I was really happy that I got really good photos of a deer, besides Moose. Those large ears should tell you why they're called Mule Deer. Black Canyon Lake is surrounded by charred forest, because of a wildfire from years ago. And that's what makes it Black Canyon. 3 GREEN-WINGED TEAL were among the first birds we saw, as well as STELLER'S JAYS playing in the scorched trees. The teal liked to fly from one side of the lake to the other, over and over again. A non-bird made things really interesting. We were walking along the shore when a spotted something curled up against a chip of wood, straw-colored with black striping and checkering, out of the corner of my eye. I didn't pay any attention to it because I thought it was something bland like plastic or a weird thing that washed up. Before we almost walked past it I thought, 'Alright, I'll turn around to see if it promises anything cool, just cus' it doesn't look normal.' I turned around, a took a couple small steps toward it. I couldn't believe it, it was a snake! I SUPER ADORABLE snake! I immidiately recognized the small size, big eyes, habitat preference, and checkering as one of the interior species of GARTER SNAKES. But which one? My Dad kept saying "back up it's a rattlesnake, a rattle snake!!" But I said that it's just a completely harmless garter snake. Or so I thought. I knew that Garter Snakes aren't very bitty, and so kept as pets. However, they are prone to musk, which is fowl smelling stuff they release when feeling threatened. I found out they're mildly venomous, too, with the specific species I found, the WANDERING GARTER SNAKE, the most toxic. It wouldn't kill you, just painful like a Honey Bee or wasp. However, watching Coyote Peterson and Crocodile Hunter, I knew how to handle this snake:
Here're some fantastic pix I got of such a gorgeous and adorable serpent: That had to be the best animal we found at Black Canyon lake. I also saw this wasp. It's a species of Cricket Hunter. I love his violet-blue wings. A HAIRY WOODPECKER "PEEK"ed over on the hill in one of the burnt trees, I didn't see him. Then I spied this BONAPARTE'S GULL out on the lake, an Arizona lifer! A cute little gull. I've seen them often in Alaska, even 2 adults mating. The end of the walk things got more active; 3 RING-NECKED DUCKS, RED-BACKED JUNCO, CHIPPING SPARROW, ACORN WOODPECKERS, Say's Phoebe, and a Kestrel. 150+ VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS flew right above the water's surface, over the blazed woods, low over the lot and high over the lake. As beautiful as they've ever been. I remember how happy I was when I saw my first one of those swallows... Here's some puffy-cheeked Ring-necked Duckies. Before I knew it, we were back on the dirt-road-that-looks-like-Maud-Road road. I meant to type 'road' twice at the end of the sentence. We saw 18 more of these! And so we were back in Heber, had Rick drive us to dinner, which was good, and then Dad and i followed him and his Challenger to his house. He has 2 dogs, Boo Boo and Diamond, Sunny the 26-year-old Green-winged Macaw, tons of African Cichlids, and a Desert Tortoise (permit for the tortoise, so don't worry). Boo Boo the Chihuahua, he's adorable, the most likable Chihuahua for me. Usually i don't like those dogs. I played with him a lot, along with Diamond their Standard Poodle puppy (she's a year old). This tortoise is kinda hibernating, and makes funny squeaky noises. I think they painted him so that they'd know he's their in case he escaped or something. They don't leave him unsupervised outside like their previous one. That one 'ran' away. After we talked quite a bit, especially about all the cool pets they had, we went to bed. Nope, didn't sleep well like I did in Flagstaff because a freaking cuckoo clock went off ever hour. In the morning, we talked more to Rick and Mary Anne, and I played with the dogs before they needed to be kenneled up to go to work at the dog grooming business. I told Mary Anne about my fish out of water project. Reedfish are both one of the coolest fish in the world, and have to breath air because their gills are deficient. As long as they don't dry up, they can live their entire lives without submersion in water. This has never been done before, but it should work, I just need to mist them down often (maybe build a DIY homemade mist-timer system, so I don't have to do it manually, after how can I do that when I'm out birding?). In aquariums, there are holes in the lid for the bubbler, heater, filter, etc. Reedfish are well known for escaping through those holes. I'll use a large reptile terrarium, which has a gap-less screen lid that can lock, perfect for these escapees! They'll have moss as substrate, as it will retain the moisture really well, so they can be nice and wet when laying in the bedding. I will also have a group of 6 of them, as they will die if kept alone (that's what happened to mine). And how will algae ever grow without an LED aquarium light or a completely filled container? I won't really have to worry about nitrate, ammonia, or nitrites either! I'm excited for this project, and it should be easier than normal fish keeping! After our conversation, they left, and they said we could stay at the house for as long as we liked while they were gone. We went outside on the balcony for a few minutes of fresh air. I got a little more than fresh air. A CASSIN'S FINCH flew over me, making its characteristic pwee-de-lip flight call. Nice, a lifer to start the day! Rick had told us that we could see Wild turkeys at a place called turkey ridge. To get there we had to go down the same road that took us to Black Canyon lake the previous day. We never found the ridge, but still searched for Turkeys on top of the Mogollon Rim. No luck. Over by the lake, however, we drove past a herd of wild horses! I'd never seen wild horses, and I wanted some shots of them. There's an established population around the lake. Eventually, we turned around, and after a while, back on the highway. Here's the view driving the road to Woods Canyon Lake. Our next destination was Woods Canyon lake, as stated above. We still didn't see any Turkeys, but then we were at the lake. I was walking through the woods above the lake, when a loud bubbly sound came from below and in front of me. Naturally, I walked forward to flush what ever it was I just heard. A very tiny, dark brown bird erupted right in front of me, and I didn't see where it landed. "It's a wren!!" is what I exclaimed after the encounter. I moved quickly forward, cameras up because I'd never photographed a small wren before, and he flushed again. This time he did a combination of flying and jumping into a mini-cave. He was in there way too fast, and i didn't see him fly out the other side. feeling around in there with a twig did nothing to coax him out.
He's a PACIFIC WREN! I'm really sure I just saw a freaking PACIFIC WREN there!! I really did, I was so excited I might of been shaking, and each word came out as a relieved, small laugh. It was a bit hard to believe after failing to see one in Alaska during my few years of birding. At the same time, I saw this bird so close up that I didn't miss a detail; very short tail, tiny bill, dark chocolate-colored brown with tiny white dots on wings, dark barring on flanks, and pale supercelium. This bird flew lightning quick, but couldn't avoid my sight before the wren-sized cave. I loved to see that wren so much there really couldn't have been a bird to replace it as my last lifer of the trip. I love how fluffy and tiny the Pacific Wren is, sweet as a chocolote-covered strawberry, with the size and color of one! And then they're adorable. What a phenomenal adventure I had with my Dad, yet again, out of the desert! I saw a grand total of 11 lifers, my longest streak since a long time ago, and also, I finally met my Dad's great friends, Rick Brewer and Mary Anne Brewer! Best spring break I've had! It HAS to be... I'm Jared Conaway, and stay tuned, for tomorrow! In the words of a song by Steven Curtis Chapman, "This is the great adventure!" Hi everyone! Yesterday I zipped over to Verrado with my Mom and Dad, in search of the continuing Lewis's Woodpecker. There was one on Mt. ord also, but I found out by the 2 birder ladies that the Lewis's was all the way on the top of the mountain, which required either all-wheel drive or lots of hours to hike up there, the 2 things we lacked. No luck on either woodpecker, HOWEVER: I found the family of GREAT HORNED OWLS that have continued for a while! As you can see the chicks are still young, so they'll be there longer. These are my FIRST owl photographs!!!! This is a WESTERN KINGBIRD I found in one of the Date Palms, first photograph of one. I know this post has been short, but that's pretty much it for outing, since those were really the only 2 interesting species of birds in the Verrado neighborhoods. The owls drew a nice crowd, about 20 people saw them during the time I was there. Many ebirders saw them on previous days. The great Horned owl, is officially my first owl I have photographed, and a new Arizona bird for me!
I'm Jared Conaway, and stay tuned for my next adventure! Hi all! These past 3 days have been packed full of life birds, and fun! I went on a week excursion up north from Flagstaff, to Payson, to Heber, and back to Glendale. The 3 day adventure resulted in 12 LIFERS, 12! Because so much was seen and photographed, and the days were long, the outing will be divided into 2 or 3 posts. This post's events were on the 4th. STELLER'S JAYS, AMERICAN CROWS, Ravens, and Turkey Vultures were pretty much the only birds seen on the drive from Flagstaff to Payson. However, it was nice to see the tallest mountains in Arizona, the San Francisco Peaks, closer than before. I even got killer shots of them. Pretty much the only snow in Arizona right now... After the ultimate feast at Red Lobster in Flag, we were on our way to Payson! Once we booked ourselves a nice inn, we searched up ebird hotspots within town. Green Valley Park was close, and had good birds sighted recently. The typical waterfowl were abundant, as usual, in the 2 large fishing ponds. The "typicals" were Mallards, Wigeon, Coots, Canada Geese, and ring-necked Ducks. What really caught my attention was a WESTERN BLUEBIRD perched completely still on a low Ponderosa branch, posing for the camera. Remember how I was disappointed about not obtaining a photograph of one during the CBC at HRP? I couldn't believe the photos I got of that STUNNING male after frantically yanking the camera out of the pack! Unbelievable, what a gorgeous bird. And he wasn't alone. Out of about 15 Bluebirds in the park, which as far as I could tell were all males, he was the only one that sat still for a killer photograph, and wasn't hyper. Around the end of the park birding outing, I found a Flycatcher perched in one of the leafless deciduous trees. I snapped a photo of it. I'm pretty sure I didn't know a couple days ago that it was an Empid, just that it was a small flycatcher. It's an EMPID!! A HUGE deal for someone who's tried and tried and TRIED to get a photo of one for a long time! My FIRST EMPID PHOTOGRAPH!! OH MY GOSH! Better yet, this ball of fluffy Empidonax cuteness is a WESTERN FLYCATCHER! (!!!!!)If this is a Cordilleran Flycatcher this could be my 2nd to last, regularly occurring Empid for Arizona! Almost to another milestone! As you may know, this guy and the Pacific-slope are very similar to one another, comprising of a duo sub-genus within the Empidonax genus. However, Cordilleran has richer, darker, brown-olive back and underside color. Although this difference is very subtle, it's there. Sibley describes Pacific-slope as "drabber than Cordilleran." Visually, extremely hard, but bare in mind slightly darker back of the Cordill. Interestingly, neither species has been found at Green Valley, but it has to be either, and really could be either or. Alrighty, first lifer of the trip! The 6th's outing plan was looking a little more "birdy," considering we were going to Mt. Ord! So I watched a few episodes of Tanked at the hotel, then slept. Stay tuned, for part 2! A Lifer-filled Spring Break! Day 2, part 1; Mt. Ord!Mt. Ord, one of the very best hotspots in Maricopa, actually has a Gila side, and a Maricopa side. Because we lacked all-wheel drive, we drove only to the green horse corral on the lower chapparal section of the huge mountain. As soon as i stepped out of the truck, the distinctive bouncing-ball song of BLACK-CHINNED SPARROWS filled the landscape. Then these birds showed up. CHIPPING SPARROWS! They were very abundant a little past the corral, and put on quite the show. It was great that this particular one decided to give up his skittish ways and pose for me! Chipping sparrows are pretty plain, but I like their nice little rufous caps they wear on their head. I was really excited to see these guys, because they were lifers, and are handsome little sparrows. Meanwhile, the Black-chinned Sparrows continued their bouncing-ball songs up-slope and down-slope, still remaining elusive. WOODHOUSE'S SCRUB-JAYS were located by their nasal, raspy contact calls, then by a flash of blue flying from one agave stalk to another, or over the drainages. They're really beautiful birds, if only they could sit still, allow for a portrait, and some enjoyment. No photos for them. "Oh my gosh, there's a Kingbird down on that dead tree! He's a CASSIN'S KINGBIRD, he's got a white tail tip!" The king never left his perch, and 2 of them flew past it. Kingbirds are some of my favorite flycatchers, they look cool, and I love the bright yellow on them. Now this kind of photo is never going to be displayed in a field guide, because it's terrible. But its quality is very important. This is a far more common situation you'll have with wild birds, especially flycatchers. Displaying this photo in a guide is a far more accurate depiction of a real life encounter in the field with one of these birds. I'm satisfied with my identification of Cassin's for these reasons;
White-crowned Sparrows and Scrub-Jays were the most abundant birds on the way up. SPOTTED TOWHEES were really cool sparrows we saw, some singing, others avoiding sight. And this is my first photo I got of a Spotted Towhee, the only one who exposed himself in the open. He's perched in a ROSE-FRUITED JUNIPER. He's got very extensive white on his back and wings for a Spotted towhee. I got to say, it was really hot being exposed to the sun going up that mountain slope. I couldn't wait to get to the shady pines. I was relieved when we finally made to the first stand of ponderosas, even more so when I saw 2 birders sitting on a bench. Naturally, I walked over to them to talk about the birds being seen. They told me about Painted Redstarts and BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLERS singing, both of which sang away discretely as we talked. Even a few VIRGINIA'S WARBLERS chimed in! I had a brief look at a small gray bird flitting high up in a tree canopy, presumbly one of the Virginias'. As the older lady gave me directions to Verrado where a few Lewis's Woodpeckers were being seen, a photographed this adorable WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH carrying nest material, and he didn't look to sure where to put it. The younger one said, "The Painted Redstart is a bird you REALLY want to see, they are beautiful!" "Yeah I'm coming Jared! My name was called, right? Not late or anything?" "Hold on, I'm hungry. Momma bird always said; 'Foraging before play.' She was right! Uh, the birder anyways, not the Redstart's mom. I'd only seen this stunning bird in pictures, what a phenomenal experience to see them out in the field! It's not too often I find myself photographing warblers. That's one of my goals for this year. My first breeding-plumaged male AUDUBON'S WARBLER drank from a water feature (I think it's called a seep?), looking beautiful as ever! I'm used to seeing breeding Myrtle Warblers singing on black spruces in the backwoods of Alaska. At last! A DECENT ACORN WOODPECKER photo! He was right next to the Redstart. After some waiting the 2 women's goal STELLER'S JAYS showed up! A new county bird for me! For some reason, Steller's Jays flag at 1 bird up on Ord and Slate Creek Divide, despite being very abundant. We saw 3 or 4 of them. 2 of the Jays made a dolphin-like clicking by clacking their upper and lower mandibles each. Never heard that sound come from a Steller's Jay! Presumably a mated pair playing with each other, after all, jays are very playful, so making funny noises is probably just part of that. Steller's Jays remain one of my favorite common birds to see. After some talking (including about Caleb and Tommy) the birders moved on to find some more warblers, and Cassin's Finches, and Evening grosbeaks. As we were heading back down, I saw a sparrow singing in a Juniper. "Dad, it's a RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW!" And that he was, a long overdue, gorgeous, large sparrow for my Life List! And in the tree next door, was this beautiful songster, our first look at a BLACK-CHINNED SPARROW! (!!!!!) This is him lifting his head high and letting out his loud, bubbly, bouncing-ball song. The Black-chinned is basically what you get if you breed the Slate-colored Junco and Chipping Sparrow together. And look at that long tail. And at the very end of the heat, a GRAY VIREO flew away from me at the corral/parking area! A GRAY VIREO!!! My last lifer up on Mt. Ord! I'm excited to visit Ord again! I'm Jared Conaway, and stay tuned for part 2 of day 2, of my epic birding week!
Hi everyone! That's right, Jared's back on the TIMELINE Series! Ah, good old Alaska. All the most insane yardie encounters of 2017 will be included in this post. I believe it's a blessing from God, that in 2017 I probably obtained more Yard Lifers than any other year! And I'm not talking just lifers, I mean birds that I've seen before but are new to my yard and neighborhood. Because my neighborhood is so small, consists mostly of forest, and the houses are spread apart, I count ever bird seen in the hood, even if it's not seen in or from my actual yard.
May 1st: I was playing with my friend/neighbor, Michael, in the cul-de-sac adjacent to my front yard. A large black bird flew over, of course I would've passed it off as a raven if it didn't have a long, sword-like feather projecting from the center of its tail. It even had much thinner, sharper-tipped wings than a raven. It didn't take long for me to arrive at the conclusion that it was a PARASITIC JAEGER! Not just a new neighborhood birdie, but a lifer as well! I always love that bonus combo! Of course I had to plead the ebird reviewer about my photo-less bird, but he generously confirmed my sighting and put it up in the public ebird database. Bob Winckler, the local ebird reviewer, was actually very understanding and laid back as compared to the other ebird reviewers I've encountered. Now I understand why. It's because there's very few birders that actively bird the county, so there's plenty of room for the unexpected. So, for some personal advice, if you live in a seriously under-birded area, then get out there and explore, because you don't know what you could find! To give you an example of this, read this blog post! I thought I knew my yard all too well, after all, the place that I'm most familiar with birding at should be my own home, right? WRONG. I thought I knew what to expect all around my yard, and my neighborhood. But particularly before the move to Glendale, birding in and around my yard exploded! Just wait and see what I mean during this blog post. June or July, likely the latter month: I was birding in my backyard, listening to the songs and calls of everything around me. Myrtle Warblers', White-crowned Sparrows', and Alder Flycatchers' songs echoed through the surrounding forest. I can't remember what other birds I heard in my woods that beautiful sunny day in July, but I don't need to when there's only one, unforgettable species that decided to show up. Probably they were there to crash the helpless chickadees' party, but they sure made it a party for me, at least later they did! I was standing below and to the left of a Black Spruce, looking straight ahead, up and around for anything interesting, and to get warmed up in the sun. Suddenly, I heard rustling and wing-flapping above me. I looked up to see 2 large, conspicuously black and white passerines fighting and wing-smacking each other as they tumbled down towards me. They were directly above me, way too close for me to even think about raising my binoculars up to them. And I didn't have to! I could already see every feather in great detail, as they clashed their wings together. They looked a lot like over-sized flycatchers, except they had white patches on their gray under-wings. Since the sun was shining down on them, I could see from underneath that their upper-wings were black and white. I should of guessed by now what they were, but a think it was only the next day I confirmed that they were NORTHERN SHRIKES! I couldn't believe I was THAT close to Northern Shrikes, and I didn't even know it at the time! This officially made up for my extremely crappy view of a juv I saw the previous year about 2000 ft. away from me. I never got a photo of one during all those years I spent in Alaska, but I did get pix of their loggerheaded cousin. June 6th: I heard a peculiar song in the forest, kind of like a Hermit Thrush, but longer, and higher. I trudged into the forest, all the while getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, but still advancing toward the direction of that beautiful song. As it turned out, the songster was way high up in a massive Black Spruce. It took forever to locate him, until I discovered he was to the side on the tree and not the very top. I was getting bombarded by mosquitoes at this point, but wanted to enjoy my thrush. Eventually it flew down into a little birch, continuing to sing. From the side, I could see this thrush was olive-gray, with dense spotting on the breast. At this point, it was either Gray-cheeked or Swainson's, (we don't have pale Hermit Thrushes in Alaska) I was thinking it was leaning more towards Swainson's. Its song was beautiful, so I watched as it flew back into its original tree, and watched it sing a little while longer. When I got back to the house, it was still singing, and I went onto allaboutbirds.org to record its song. Just as I guessed, I saw a SWAINSON'S THRUSH! I head waited to find one the summer of the previous year as well as 2017. And now, here one shows up in my own backyard! I was really excited and thrilled at my discovery! I believe it was a whole week that I went back into the forest every day, and saw and heard my lifer singing, in his spruce! After that, Swainson's Thrushes were everywhere I went! August 19th: That day had LOTS of Warblers, maybe 100 or so in the area! All 3 subspecies of Orange-crowned warbler, Myrtle Warblers, a few YELLOWS, and many WILSON'S WARBLERS. On the 19 of August, 2016, was the my first find of BLACKPOLLS, at least 5, maybe more! It was nice to see one on my one year lifer anniversary of that species. I was surprised to get amazing looks at an unexpected new yardie, a NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH bobbing his tail as I looked at him through my binos out the window! He was super cute! Most surprising was a WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE in our backyard, present most of the day. At this point all Alder Flycatchers had left. August 20th: Today I saw a single BLACKPOLL WARBLER, along with tons of the same species from the previous day. On the 20th of August, 2016, was the my first find of BLACKPOLLS, at least 5, maybe more! It was nice to see one on my one year lifer anniversary of that species. I also had the typical Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Chickadees, Juncos, and Redpolls. A DOWNY WOODPEKER did his loud, adorable "PEEK!" Most interesting, were three large passerines, presumably flycatchers, flying around a spruce snag, very acrobatic with flight style, and obviously flycatcher as the returned to their perch after only a few seconds in the air. They had real long, thick-ish bills, long wings, shortish tails, and large, peaked heads. In Alaska, Tropical, Western, and Eastern Kingbirds are casual (Eastern accidental), so they weren't kingbirds. They also had a different shape and color than shrikes, being overall dark, and also, with peaked instead of rounded fore-crowns. They weren't Western Wood-Pewees either, as they were much larger, with a heavier build. Despite their aggressive appearance, one was real wimpy getting chased off by a Wilson's Warbler! I mean, seriously, these things were about 3 times the size of a Wilson's Warbler, maybe 4 times, they could pop them with their claws, or impale them with their beaks, and what do you know, that thing gets owned by a little yellow ping-pong ball! Eventually, they all left, leaving me to identify them. Now imagine 3 OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHERS using a Wilson's Warbler as a ping-pong ball while playing ping-pong... I was amazed, not one, but 3 of my most wanted Alaskan Flycatcher! The OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, a "yardie"/lifer bonus combo! What great migrants to come through my backyard... January-March: It all started Somewhere around late December, 2016. Many Common Redpolls would fly over the hood often, chattering and twittering. After multiple flocks had gone by, a single or sometimes a couple would be way behind, flying in the same direction at least a minute after the main flock had gone by. They made different calls, clearer, sharper, but quieter all the same. These guys were HOARY REDPOLLS, very fantastic for me, but not the same for the ebird reviewer. See, I told him you can tell the 2 redpolls apart be sound, which he couldn't believe. This may be hard to believe, but that is how I knew the birds behind the flock were Hoary Redpolls. They stumped me at first, and I was just guessing at first as well. But then I started studying their calls, listening carefully to every last note produced by bird recordings. I would listen and listen, over and over, and frequently go back out into the cold and snow to listen to the birds themselves, so I had a direct comparison of a recording and the actual vocalization heard in the field. Problem was, every time I went outside to call the bird in with a recording on my audubon app, it never responded or flew over or anything. it seemed to disappear whenever I went to look for it. Almost every other day I had to clear the driveway of snow. I was literally, a Northern Shoveler. This was the time the Hoary Redpolls(s) would come to call me. This was also the time I didn't have binoculars around my neck. So, to solve this problem, I did what any smart birder would do: I started wearing binoculars while out shoveling the driveway. For a long time, flyover views were what I got, at best. In March, a fresh, 6-inch layer of snow blanketed the ground. What was to follow? a HUGE eruption of Hoary Redpolls! I started seeing them in every flock of Common Redpolls. Some days I only saw Hoary Redpolls, flocks of them. Not large flocks or anything close to that, but often flocks of 5 to 7. Every day, or nearly so, I counted as many as 15 ranging to 30 Hoary Redpolls throughout the day. Of course, the next days I wasn't seeing different birds, because there's no way I could've seen hundreds of them in the span of a single winter, and just in my neighborhood. It's far more realistic and accurate to say that I was seeing the same birds everyday. During that month, I found lots of Hoary Redpolls in the trees, getting so much better views of such a beautiful bird than what I had been getting so far that winter. This may have been the first winter in at least half a century that Hoary Redpolls had been counted in the double digits, each day, all day, a few weeks in a row, in the double digits within a small area of a single location. Somehow the conditions at my house seemed to line up all those odds in my favor. You know an eruption is happening when Crossbills, Redpolls, Siskins, Buntings/Longspurs, and Snowy/Boreal owls are in very high numbers, actively foraging in unusual numbers during such a peculiar time of year. But when all those birds are being seen in REALLY REALLY HIGH numbers, and with double digits of Hoary Redpolls and a flock of 200 Snow Buntings, 200 Lapland Longspurs, AND A MCKAY'S BUNTING are seen in a single winter, and the McKay's Bunting and Hoary Redpolls are within a few minutes of each other, then you know an atomic explosion of birds is happening! I got more lifers that winter than any other in Alaska. I also shoveled snow more than any other winter there. What phenomenal birds to see during my final winter in Alaska. But it doesn't end there... Just a few days before we left to drive to Arizona... ... a VARIED THRUSH flew off into the distance, yard bird #57, Identified by size and call. Before that, after tripping my leg over logs (which hurt) In an Alder thicket, I pished out a GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET that I didn't even know was there, yard bird #59, my final one. I got some fantastic closeups through my binos. These birds were seen on and from the top of a nearby hill, but in Alaska (and here) I count birds seen within the neighborhood as yard birds. My total Alaska yard list is 59 species, a decent, if not large yard list for that area of the state. Honorable mention: Chukars. Escaped from captivity somewhere in the neighborhood, successfully survived 2 winters, so far breed both summers. Originally 6 adults, because their a harem bird, probably one male and the rest females. In 2015, a female had 20 chicks, ended with 10 or so. In 2016, 15 chicks, ended with 6. 2015 was a very hot summer, 103 degrees at one point, closer to natural temperatures of eastern Europe, promoting higher success rate with babies. 2017's winter has been warm from what I've heard from friends up there, suggesting a hot summer, so another large brood may happen this year. I did count the Chukars as yard/neighborhood birds, because of their breeding success and quick adaptability to Alaska's climate. It doesn't look like they're dying out or slowing down anytime soon. Hope you guys enjoyed! Despite lack of photos. I'm Jared Conaway, and stay tuned for my next TIMELINE post! Hi everyone! I have not posted in a LONG TIME. With laziness, business, and lack of time combined, I slack on my blog. Sorry 'bout that. But hey, I just couldn't postpone a post like this for weeks! Have you ever heard of the Chiricahua Mountains of southeast Arizona? Well, if you've never been there, you MUST GO! It is SO BEAUTIFUL! Trust me, it's a place you will want to visit in your lifetime, and revisit... The Chiricahuas- or Sky islands- is an isolated, and massive range in extreme southeastern AZ. To the east of the range, New Mexico, and to the south, Mexico.EARED QUETZALS, THICK-BILLED PARROTS, and TUFTED FLYCATCHERS have been found there in the past. After visiting the mountains, I saw very clearly why they're known as the Sky Islands. Huge mountains- the tallest peak, Mt. Chiricahua- erupt over 9,000 ft. over an ocean of savannah, the Chihuahuan Desert. One moment, you're driving through a vast grassland, the next, in the most beautiful mountain range in Arizona! The landscape is incredibly unique, both in distribution and beauty. Over 1000 plants reside there, most endemics, and 374 species of bird found within Chiricahua National Monument! Even species that aren't endemic, typically have an extremely tiny range, or are really rare. From Glendale, it was about 3 hrs & 50 min, a VERY long drive! But a great one! I can't wait to revisit the location, especially now that I know about the spectacular birds that live there! South of Tuscon, past the small, remote town of Willcox, I saw my first lifer of the trip. Many CHIHUAHUAN RAVENS soared over the vast, yellow sea. The only vegetation besides grass were sparsely distributed PRAIRIE ACACIAS, WHITETHORN ACACIAS, and various Agaves. The Chihuahuan Ravens are very magnificent birds in flight, very acrobatic like their cousin. The tail, and size in relation to nearby Commons, habitat, range, and size in relation to their surroundings are the best objects to take into account when identifying these Corvids. The easiest way to identify them has to be the tail, it is shaped like a pentagon (best way to describe it), whereas the Common Rave's tail is diamond-shaped, and longer/narrower. Chihuahuan Raves also don't have that stretchy appearance that Commons have (long bill, long tail, and long, narrow wings) One more thing about these Raves, if you see a Raven soaring over a canyon or peak in the Chiricahuas, it's a Common. If you see a Raven soaring over the dead, yellow sea surrounding the sky islands, Chihuahuan Ravens outnumber Common Ravens. I saw quite a few more Chihuahuans than Commons once closer to the mountains, (also where the grassland looks the deadest). With how dead the landscape is for hundreds of square miles, a high elevation, forested island oasis seems impossible. Ominous Mountains seem like just a dream. And then, that moment struck and we were in shady, green Coniferous forest. We got in & and out of the Visitor Center quickly, with a map of the hike that lay ahead. There were a few birds that were making magpie-like contact calls. I gave a guess of what they were in my head, and my suspicions were confirmed when a juvenile MEXICAN JAY flew over to a try near to me. Franticly, I snapped some great (but not quite perfect) photos, just so I had a couple for my blog in case I didn't find any again, or those ones went somewhere else. If I encountered them again (which I had a feeling I would) I would take my time, and get a few or a lot more spectacular photos. With the Jays photographed, we began the hike. The floral diversity was phenomenal, particularly with conifers and oaks. The dominant trees were APACHE PINE, CHIHUAHUAN PINE, JOHANN'S PINYON, and BORDER PINYON, all lifers. A few other additions were; SILVERLEAF OAK, MEXICAN BLUE OAK, ARIZONA MADRONE, NETLEAF OAK, and PARRY'S AGAVE. That's just a few. A little into the hike, I spotted a PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER just as it returned from its fly-catching routine to its perch. The Pacific-slope Flycatcher and Cordilleran Flycatcher are said to be 2 of the hardest empids to identify. The only reason I was able to identify this beautiful flycatcher with confidence is because its the only 1 of the 2 to be in the Chiricahuas this early in the year. That's lucky. Having his cousin around to deal with would have made things difficult. I had the camera with me, but didn't photograph my fly-catching lifer. I can't believe I didn't. The very next rest break, just a few minutes later, I found another flycatcher. This one was tiny, warbler sized, but was certainly an emp. He would give brief glimpses of color when he jumped into the light, but of course, he was uncooperative. He kept singing, and every close approach resulted in him moving away. All I wanted was for him to sit in front of my binos. And a photograph. And of course I didn't get that either. From what I did see when he showed color, he had black wings with white wing-bars, and an eyering. He never really left the area, but he moved everywhere, and I did get great looks, just not colorful ones (you know how when you're looking towards the sun and the bird just happens to stay in that direction, so it's just a silhouette. I'm lucky this bird sang, because without its distinctive song I would have never concluded what it was. I can't wait to see the BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER again! Next time in color! Birds are beautiful, but I would like to see that! Leave a comment if you have the same problem. Anyways, great bird to see in southeast Arizona, but mean't to be enjoyed. Besides, I would be able to hold my case better when the ebirders strike, which they shouldn't if I included in the comments that I saw the bird well. 20 minutes later, someone yelled, "PEEK!" Not eek, peek. Because it was a woodpecker. Guess in the comments below the genus of woodpeckers that make that call. A heard-only (come on) ARIZONA WOODPECKER, another bird I really wanted to enjoy! He made sure not to show himself, and only called twice. Right now I wish I was still in the Chiricahuas. I probably shouldn't complain, because; My great friend that I've called hundreds of times and only birded twice with is coming down next week, right after Easter I believe. My Spring Break will be that week because he's coming down. He also said he wants to check out southeast Arizona while he's here, so him and I HAVE to go to Chiricahuas! Some of the birds I saw (and missed) will be breeding in much larger numbers then, like the Buff-breasted Flycatcher. A bird I did finally get great looks at (and I did try to photograph) were BUSHTITS, which would sporadically show up during the hike, skulking, jumping around us, and calling. Here's some epic photos Dad and I snapped during the first half of the hike. Above is the JOHANN'S PINYON, a species restricted to the Chiricahuas in the US. It's a very beautiful conifer. APACHE PINE adjacent to an ARIZONA CYPRESS, photographed at the visitor center. It has the longest needles of any American pine. Very similar to the Ponderosa Pine, to which it is closely related, but like the Johann's Pinyon, is restricted to AZ's Sky Islands, very common. Also notice the grayer bark, with a slightly different texture. SILVER-LEAF OAK and yet another photo of an Emory Oak. A 3rd species, MEXICAN BLUE-OAK, was not photographed, even though I should've. And here's some BORDER PINYONS for ya! It's not just the birds that are specialties for southeast Arizona... I'm sure you know the reason they're called Border pinyons. Border Pinyons are much like the northern group of pinyons, having the same short needles, and similar bark texture & color. Johann's Pinyon looks similar to the Chihuahuan Pine, with longer needles than other pinyons. YARROW'S SPINY LIZARD. One of 2 species of spiny lizard seen during the hike. And then we were higher up. The pines to the far right are CHIHUAHUAN PINES, unique with black bark and grass-green needles, about the length of Lodgepole & Limber pines' Can you see why the Chiricahuas are nicknamed the Sky Islands? Well in these photos you should! And here's a Chihuahuan Pine for ya. PARRY'S AGAVE and MOUNTAIN YUCCA. The latter was a common plant throughout the trail. Arizona's Sky Islands are like nothing you'll ever see... This is a Net-leaf Oak: Notice how the leaf broadens as further away from the stem, and how the edges curve down and in. Below is a SCARTLET-CUP HEDGEHOG-CACTUS, PANCAKE PRICKLY-PEAR, and TEXAS PRICKLY-PEAR. The CLARK'S SPINY-LIZARD. The only common reptile seen on the trail. I saw 3 GOLDEN EAGLES do simultaneous shallow stoops, indicating a family relationship (mated pair with juvenile), they were beautiful birds, that I hadn't seen in a while! I used to see them all the time at Hatcher Pass, and I believe I was the only one in the valley who actually got photographs. TURKEY VULTURES and COMMON RAVES were commonly seen soaring over the archipelago. Just a quick note: I never highlight the latter, and rarely the former! I even caught sight of a singing BEWICK'S WREN! Closer to the beginning of the hike, I heard what I swear was a male MONTEZUMA QUAIL singing, a few times. But, I think I should SEE the freaking gorgeous bird before I list him, and second, it could've something else. Even if it wasn't something else, that bird is too beautiful to list without a sighting. Like mentioned earlier, a return to southeast Arizona should be happening soon. We're going to be escaping the heat often this summer, and later in spring. You expect an Alaskan to survive the upcoming oven temperatures? Above photo is of a probable MEXICAN PINYON. First identified as Border Pinyon. By now you've probably noticed that my style of photo placement has changed. It used to be I would right about my adventure, have a column of labeled pictures, followed by a conclusion. Then I decided I liked the idea of manipulating the photos into the story, livening up the post a little. Just so you know, there was a 3rd pinyon species that wasn't photographed, because it was seen while driving, called the MEXICAN PINYON. All right, here's a quick story about an amazing event that happened before the end of the hike; We were looking around, admiring the beauty of the place we were visiting, and talking. Then there was a high-pitched rattling. "There's a freaking rattlesnake!!" Screamed my Dad. He didn't scream, but he didn't yell either, plus he said it kinda higher-pitched than normal. I'll call it a "scream" for now. Anyways, the rattler turned out to be a little one, rattling as it slithered on through away from us. I'm positive a lot of you are making disgusted faces and maybe reading in horror, but SERIOUSLY, it's just a rattlesnake. Right after Dad screamed "rattlesnake," I quickly spotted the little serpent slither off the path and towards cover. At this, in desperation, my reaction was; "Oh my gosh, oh my GOSH! I HAVE to get a photo!" Luckily, I had the camera already strung around my neck. I popped off the lens cap, a bit slow because my fingers were shaking with excitement and desperation, so I couldn't get a grip, and snapped a couple photos. YES!! I had seen my first, wild, RATTLESNAKE! That little juvenile was adorable too. In the end, it was identified as a BANDED ROCK RATTLER, apparently a small species, and my very first! This was a lucky encounter, because that species is only found in that area of the entire stat! They are widespread in Texas and New Mexico, though. That kicks off my goal to see all 13 of Arizona's rattlesnake species! After the phenomenal encounter with that magnificent snake, we got slapped by rain and wind. In an area that was sheltered from rain and wind for about one second, had chickadees. MEXICAN CHICKADEES! (!!!!!) Like a Brideled Titmouse, but with a husky voice. I saw them quite a few times, but again, in awful lighting. And the sun wasn't even out. Some large passerines with tapering primaries flew over while we were there. Townsend's Solitaire, American Robin, Greater pewee, Olive-sided Flycatchers, Sulfur-bellied Flycatchers seem to be the only matches. They made no sound, so it's really hard to confirm what they were. I listened to the songs and calls of all my guesses on Audubon and Cornell lab, but none of those sounds rang in the canyon. We saw 4 deer, COUE'S WHITE-TAILED DEER cross the road -just as we left the national monument visitor center- and disappear into the woods (actually they never disappeared out of sight). We stopped at Massai Point to see what birds we could find. The wind was horrible there, threatning to blow me off the Chiricahuas. There was a little overlook "hut" with a door to look out at the astonishing view, but be safe from the whispering wind. The wind wasn't as terrible once we left the shelter, but still slammed the door shut. A few adult Mexican Jays were active, talking to one another about the guy with a camera and binoculars. It was great when one of them posed and perched pretty still, despite the roaring winds of the Sky islands threatning to blow him right off his resting branch. And these are the photos I got: Litterally, a few seconds after we left Massai Point; "YELLOW-EYED JUNCOS!" I proclaimed, as 2 juncos with a limited amount of white on the outer tail feathers and extensive red on wings fltted right across the front of the car! That was my last lifer for the trip. And that's what it looks like pretty much all the way from the Chiricahuas to Tuscon (and vise versa). From a dead landscape to a lively one...
I hope you all enjoyed this post, I enjoyed the adventure! I have a TIMELINE post I'm currently working on. I'm Jared Conaway, and stay tuned for my next adventure!! Hey everyone! This weekend, Fri and Sat, I returned to the GRPS, and surprisingly, made it back to the RP@GWR! That's right, Riparian Preserve at Gilbert Water Ranch and the Glendale Recharge Ponds, all in 2 days! Did I mention 5 lifers? So, with that said, I'm diving into the story! Let's start with Friday. When Mom got home, since I was finished with school early, I jumped on the opportunity to go to my patch. Usually, I don't have that kind of time for a decent birding outing at the end of the school day. We still left later than I would've liked, nonetheless we had decent light when we arrived. When other birders aren't present at my patch, I get pretty sad, because usually how it goes down; no birders, means no one to show me the location of some potential lifers there, thus, no lifers! For example, birders keep reporting LARK SPARROWS there, but never say where at. So I have to aimlessly check open fields and such, to no avail. If one of those LASP reporters are there next time I go, I MUST have them show me to the LASPS! Luckily, this birderless trip ended extremely well! First and foremost, I got another overdue Arizona lifer, the COMMON MERGANSER! it was about time I found one! Not to mention they've been reported almost every day at the GRPs for a while, since late January or something. As I right this, I can't help but think, my first ever Common Merg was a female, in early spring of 2015 in AK, and now, almost 3 years later, my first AZ Common Merg, a female in early spring also! Other than that, the normal GRPs birds were in their usual high numbers, such as the Northern Shovelers. At the end, things got interesting!... We were walking along the empty canal, which runs alongside ponds 4, 5, & 6, when I spotted a bright red bird hawking from its perch in a bare tree. "That's a red bird!" I proclaimed, because I knew exactly what I'd seen. All I needed was a good binocular view to confirm what I already knew. "YEP! It's a VERMILLION FLYCATCHER!" I had done it. I had seen the bird on my HRP cap. I had seen the bird Louis Hoeinger had gave specific but yet vague directions on back in September! I had seen the bird called the VERMILLION FLYCATCHER! The bird was in a great position for pix, but flycatched a lot and was across the canal. However, when I got closer, it flew off into an unknown direction. There was a lot of passerine activity in a rose bush, so while I was searching for the Vermill, I looked at some of the foragers in the bush. Among them was an EASTERN COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, A.K.A, the trichas subsp. of Common Yellowthroat! I'm not sure how rarely their reported in the state or county, but they are easily distinguished from the southwestern variant by: more brilliant yellow that is limited to the throat, a black face mask that is curved and pointed at the end rather than rounded, and a narrower, grayish rather than white streak that runs over the mask. All these field marks were perfectly visible as it popped out into view. The Vermillion Flycatcher marked the beginning of a great weekend! I'm Jared Conaway, and stay tuned for part 2 of this post! Yesterday, I was very surprised as we pulled up to RP@GWR, plesently surprised! I had been keeping track of the many rarities that have been reported there via ebird alerts. I had been there before, now I wanted to return. When we got walking down the trail we saw the Parula on last time, I stopped to look at an Empid flycatcher perched in a bare tree. I stayed there a while, but when I finally moved to a great viewing angle, of course it had to fly off! At home, I ID'ed it as a GRAY FLYCATCHER, my first lifer of the trip! Shortly thereafter, I looked at a HARRIS' HAWK on a telephone pole that I really thought was the continuing Zonie (bonehead mistake), until the real ZONE-TAILED HAWK flew fast right over us! 2nd lifer so far! tons and tons of birds were everywhere, floating on the ponds, wadding through shallow water, flitting in the trees, foraging on the ground, and soaring overhead. After a while, I finally found another birder and asked him about a certain bird. He said he hadn't found it yet, but was looking for it. A while longer, we bumped into the same guy, only this time, he walked us to the location where he was sure he saw the bird, the right bird. We searched for a few, but to no avail. He had moved on with another birder, as we continued the search. Eventually, I saw a tiny hummingbird as it buzzed in, and my familt thought I didn't see it come in, so they pointed it out to me. From behind, I could clearly see the broad primaries and stubby tail for a very rounded shape in the back of the bird, distinguishing it from the male COSTA'S HUMMINGBIRD in the area. just seeing that this hummer was so tiny made me raise my binos and move to the side of the bird. Through my binos, I could see a large head, relatively short, narrow bill, and tell tale buffy flanks! CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD! I exclaimed, but at that the bird flew away, over thick reeds. In a few minutes, a hummingbird came in from a different direction, and really stumped me. It had the size, shape and proportions of a Costa's Hummer, but the exact coloration of a female Anna's. I even thought it was the Calliope for some time. However: Tail extended slightly beyond wingtips, flanks were green, size larger, flanks green, and flew in from a completely different direction from the Calliope. I can't believe I didn't hardly think of those things when we photographed it, the whole time thinking the Calliope had returned! That night, I confirmed the second hummer, the one we thought was the Calliope, was actually a COSTA'S X ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD hybrid female. So, I did see the Calliope, a very close encounter too, but photographed a Calypte hybrid. B4 I move onto the last of yesterday's lifers, I should definitely share amazing facts about the Calliope! For one, it's the smallest hummingbird in North America, measuring 2.75-3 inches, and weighing barely more than a cotton ball. Astonishingly, the flying cotton ball breeds in mountain meadows throughout the Rocky Mountains, which even in summer can be a harsh region to live, especially for a tiny humminbird. Still, the Calliope breeds very high up in the mountains, above the tree line, nesting as high up as 9,800 ft! and perhaps the most amazing thing this tiny cotton ball can do, is make the LONGEST migration of ANY bird its size, flying from British Columbia (northern stretch of breeding range) south to southern mexico and some of Central America! The distance of their migration from breeding grounds in east-central BC to Belize is over 5,000 miles! That is an insane and phenomenal migration for such a tiny bird! The bird's courtship display is no less spectacular! The male ascends to about 60 ft. high in the air, flapping wings 40% faster than a normal hover, then he makes a rapid decent as he speed-dives straight past the female, producing a unique trilling sound! To further impress her, he hovers directly in front of her, and probably sucks in air or contracts muscles to flare his brilliant magenta gorget rays! They protrude outward and radiate around his throat, making his face look like a stunning magenta star! Despite the sheer amount of energy the male expends to impress a female, usually it's not successful, and the female leaves him. So, from nesting high in the alpine Rockies, to flying 5,000 miles in a year during migration, to the most spectacular courtship display of any North America, and to being the tiniest breeding bird of our continent, the CALLIOPE HUMMINBIRD, is the world's hardiest cotton ball! I really wish I had a photograph to go with my sighting of the bird! One, day, soon, I'll have stunning pix of an adult male... I know I will... On our way back, right below the start of a boardwalk, a large bird moved around in some very thick, dense, reeds. I know I caught a glimpse of it, but it was a mere shadow that quickly disappeared into dense cover. It laughed loudly and briefly at me, because I couldn't find him. Last night, since I checked the vocalizations of the first bird that came to mind when I heard him. As it turned out, he really was a VIRGINIA RAIL, just as I had guessed! So, that pretty much concludes the great weekend I had, 5 lifers, plus 2 AZ lifers! Here's a full list of the birds I saw this weekend.
Calypte hybrid. Note a Costa's build but female Anna's color. A male breeding Snowy Egret. Harris' Hawk A.K.A The Zonie Phony! VERMILLION FLYCATCHER @ the GRPs! I'm Jared Conaway, and stay tuned for my next adventure! WOW!! 5 lifers, packed into 2 days! Sure I could have seen more, but it's been a while since I've seen more than 1 lifer in one adventure! Birding is going to be GREAT this spring!
Hi all! Remember my "300th LIFER" post? Well, despite all that information I would like to clarify a little more on it, plus add some aspects that I missed before. First and for most, let's talk about North America's ecoregions. I don't find it a coincidence that there is a "type" of every species that fills in the 4 most important, largest, and most biodiverse ecoregions. To give you a picture of this, have you noticed that there are interior west, pacific, and eastern/taiga White-breasted Nuthatches in your Sibley Guide? What about the pacific, rocky mountain, and eastern Three-toed Woodpeckers and Hairy Woodpeckers? in North America, the Rocky Mountains, Pacific Northwest/California Coast, Taiga, and East Canada/US represent the most distinct, largest, and biodiverse ecoregions on the continent. Because they are so different from each other, when a type species fills in all 4 of those (like the continent-wide White-breasted Nuthatch), the different populations most reflect on where they are found. In a "type species" (I'll define a type species in a moment) found only in the west, than typically it has a Rocky Mountain/Interior West population, and a Pacific/California Coast population. The reason these populations should represent different ecoregional species, is because a species has its own genes, and "pure blood." OK, remember the Koloa Ducks I talked about? Subspecies don't have dominant or pure genes, therefore they will fade away when its full species counterpart breeds with it. So these so-called regional variations would have to be full species in order for their offspring and the generations to come remain specialized in that ecoregion. For example, the Red Crossbills have 10 different types, each specializes in the dominant tree species' cone in every ecoregion. So, if the Sitka Spruce Crossbill and Hemlock Crossbill were to breed, the offspring's bill size wouldn't be able to fit any cone because it would be inbetween the 2, right? So is it really a coincidence that each has a different call type? I mean, if you look at those same 2 crossbills' ranges, you'll see that their distribution parallels each other. However, their flight calls are extremely different, and their songs,too! It also makes sense that 2 crossbill species are found in that ecoregion, instead of the typical 1 per region. The reason it makes sense; The Pacific Ecoregion has such a huge diversity of conifers, that it's only natural that there's 2-4 conifers that dominate the forests opposed to the usual 1 or 2. From northern British Columbia northward, Sitka Spruce and Western/Mountain Hemlock are the predominant forest types, therefore, it makes sense to have a Crossbill that specializes in Hemlock cones and a Crossbill that specializes in Sitka Spruce cones in that region. So, now I want to define a "type species." A type species is a bird that has populations situated in the main ecoregions of, in this case, North America, that actually represent their own species. For example, the 4 Scrub Jays are all different species, but are also Scrub Jays. There's one Blue Jay, but there's Rocky Mountain and Pacific species of Steller's Jays. All though the Blue Jay, and the 2 Steller's Jays are in the same genus, only the Steller's Jays are types of each other, not with the Blue Jay. So bascically a type species is different populations that have subtle differences, but are still their own distinct species. For example, you could collectively call all the different Crossbill species that are red, Red Crossbill. Get the gist? I'm doing my best to make this extremely understandable. The Hemlock Crossbill must have its own unique song and flight call to stay in contact with and attract ONLY other Hemlock Crossbills. With many type species, contact calls, plumage, song ect. are consistent with the ecoregional populations. but then there's the Song Sparrow. Each variation sing the typical Song Sparrow song, they all make the same calls. Maybe it's because since the species is so adaptable in the first place, if a Southwestern and Eastern breed, the offspring will still eventually be able to specialize in the place it hatched anyways, either the east or in the desert. But does that make the variations subspecies or full species? The Fox Sparrow is far less complex. Each regional species consistently sings and calls differently than the others, plus plumages are all very different (except Thick-billed looks just like a big-billed Slate-colored). Besides, "Fox Sparrow" and "Red Crossbill" are way too generic of names! Lastly, I would also like to mention that there is technically a 5th ecoregion, the Arizona Mountains ecoregion. Because it is intermediate between the Rockies and the Northern Mexican Montane Forests it is a very fine mix of biodiversity from both regions. for example, the Red-backed Junco is a very interseting species of the area, with a range restricted to that ecoregion alone. In fact, it has a smaller distribution than the yellow-eyed Junco! Also, you're probably asking, so what happens to the subspecies after they've bridged into another species? We'll, to avoid compromising purity of the new species(s) (intergration), the subspecies would have to stop advancing forward, as in adapting, and eventually all of them die from age or predation. All, right, now I've covered all the taxonomy I wanted to cover in this post! Yippy! Lastly, on the 24th, I observed 2 VAUX'S SWIFTS flying behind our yard. This time of year is at least a month and a half early for them to be migrating through, but due to the unusually warm summer-winter we've had in Maricopa CO, early migrants are to be expected this year! So that's right, spring migration is going to coming to the GRPs sooner than you and I think!...
I'm Jared Conaway, and stay tuned, for my next post! Expect to see some knew bird names appear on my Blog Life List... I'll explain their meanings next time on my blog. Hi everyone! Welcome back to the TIMELINE SERIES, you know, the series that Jared's been slacking on doing! Honestly, I was being lazy. I probably have about 25 more adventures to write about from Alaska, plus I finished school early today, so I have no excuse to not be typing write now (get it ;). Here's the thing, I don't remember exactly what day I saw this large, fluffy bird, I just know I went searching for it again 5 times or so after seeing it. So with that, let's dive into my 6th TIMELINE post!
It was a gray day. A perfect day for a spectacular bird. A bird that I almost couldn't believe seeing. My favorite animal. For a while, a GREAT GRAY OWL was being reported on the Palmer Hay Flats, a few times. The bird's distance from the road didn't allow for any photos from anyone, but was still positively identified. I couldn't believe it, a Great Gray rarity just 15 minutes away!!! I had always wanted to see this amazing bird, it was a dream of mine. I couldn't just let this bird slip away, not without a chase. I mean, this is the GREAT GRAY OWL we are talking about. It's not just a Pied Wheater that ended up in Nome ;), this is the Great Gray Owl! On Monday, I got up too late for the chase, it was to be done around 8:00 in the morning, so Tuesday it is! on Tuesday, I got up a little more decently, but my brother and I left a little later than the ideal time. The day was very gray. fog and light rain, a perfect back drop for a foggy looking bird. It didn't obscure my view by much, in fact the lighting was decent, and would make my owl sighting more ominous. In the fog and rain, a large lump on a dead Black Spruce would stand out pretty easily. As we drove, many HARLAN'S HAWKS were perched on the various snags out on the flats. Harlans' are a very different shape from a Great Gray Owl, so it didn't cause any difficulty. At least 4 of them were perched on snags, that I could see, but many more had to have been further away from the road. Then, about a minute away from the Harlan's, a huge bird- wide from head to breast, tapering towards the tail, giving the appearance of an upside down tear drop- was perched on a tall snag less than 50 yards away! OH MY GOSH, I thought, I THINK I JUST SAW THE OWL, OH MY GOSH!!!! My thoughts were going wild, the word "Great Gray Owl" rang in my head, I got that weird feeling that I'd just seen my target lifer, I was excited, but I couldn't believe I saw it. You couldn't even tell I was excited as I sat still, quietly, and with a blank expression on my face as I thought about what just happened. As I sat there like an idiot (an idiot because I should have told my brother to turn around, as soon as the owl was spotted) my Great Gray thoughts kept coming closer and closer to the top of my head, until finally, I blurted out, "um, Ken, um, I think I just saw the Owl back there." I have this habit, when I know I just saw a lifer I really wanted to see, I never scream that i saw it, I just state it in the most calm voice ever, because I just can't believe I saw it. The issue was, there wasn't a single pullout along the road until Reflections Lake, about another 5 minutes away. Once we turned around, I kept both eyes sharp and on the flats. I don't really remember whether or not I re-located the bird, you would think I would have seen it again, but as far as I could remember, I don't think I did re-find it, that day. That's right, I did say that day, so the story doesn't end there! I can think of a couple times I saw the Owl again there. One day, it was very sunny, we were either coming back from Anchorage or Reflections Lake (if it was Reflections Lake, then that was the day I saw my lifer WESTERN WOOD-PEWEES) and I raised my binoculars to a distant raptor. I was extremely happy to see the Great Gray owl again, this time I could clearly see color, and saw his characteristic bow-tie neck pattern. He was very distant, so I couldn't see every detail, but I saw color, patterns, and shape well enough to confidently ID him as a GREAT GRAY OWL, that is, the Great Gray Owl!!! I was also very happy because although he was still on the same side (on the left coming from Palmer) he was quite a ways from his original location, and it'd probably been a few weeks or a month since my last, confirmed observation. A few times I was very skeptical, and not sure enough to identify a raptor as the Great Gray, but at least 2 times, my first and last sighting, I confirmed him! And that's one of my most cherished memories from birding in my old home state! I'm Jared Conaway, and stay tuned for my next TIMELINE post! Leave a LIKE if you want me to draw the Great Gray Owl, and HAPPY BIRDING! Hi all, I had a weekend packed full of fun, laughs, and a bush man @ Tonto Rim Christian Camp! I went with my church youth group, and on the last day got my 300th life bird, but didn't realize till I played the birds' flight call at home! One of the great aspects of the camp I was excited about was exploring Gila, a new Arizona county for me. Before some good birds, plus my lifer, let's talk mammals. ABERT'S SQUIRRELS and ARIZONA GRAY SQUIRRELS were very abundant, with a few of each being present at camp. 3 COUE'S WHITE-TAILED DEER were present on the second & last day. Our lunch host and announcer was talking when, all the sudden, everyone says WOOOOOOH!!!! I turn around to the dining hall window when a deer leaps across gracefully, bounding away from whatever disturbed it. On the last day, as we were positioned for pictures, 3 ran across the gravel area in the distance. The biggest highlight of all, maybe more so than my lifer, was this story: We hiked up a large hill at night, after 10:00 or so, and were promised a cave to crawl into. I didn't want to crawl through because of my camera, plus I wanted to see those little fluffy things with wings. ;) Hayden jokingly kept saying, "guys, there's bats in this cave!" I could identify the sarcasm, but I really wanted to see a bat in there. I investigate a small side cave with many crevices and ledges, and no one was in there too. I'm shining my flashlight all over the walls, when right above me, I focus my light on a tiny, brown, fluffy thing with wings folded close to its body! As soon as I saw it, I knew exactly what it was (well the family it was in at least). I called out to my nearby youth group, "guys, there is SERIOUSLY a bat in this cave, NOT JOKING!!!!!" I said it about 3 times before the group worked their way over there. I didn't specifically say where the bat was, so they searched in the opposite direction. So I said, " over here, where I'm shining my light." The fluff-ball was thought of as dead at first, but then it started breathing, very noticeably. When Mr. Adidas, I mean Isaac held my jacket and light for me, and everyone else held lights up to it, I fired away with my camera, getting reasonable pix of him. The little mammal was in a deep sleep, in sort of a hibernation phase for now, heck, as I type this he's almost certainly in the exact same spot... Even with flashlights, my camera doesn't do well in the dark, so the photos are only decent, some poor. Back at home I went onto iNaturalist.org and identified my bat as a DARK-NOSED SMALL-FOOTED MYOTIS, Myotis melanorhinus. YIPPY! A lifer bat!!!! What a name, too! Now let's move on to the flora, I'm just gonna go all out and put a full list of the location's predominant flora (that I saw) below. Here goes:
The Sonoran Scrub-Oak Quercus sp. probably Gray Oak or Arizona White Oak. Quercus sp. Probably Emory Oak. Alligator Junipers. Alligator Junipers are far bigger than any other Juniper I encountered. At night I attempted to photograph some ENORMOUS ones, some possibly 55 ft. tall! They are also very thick and wide. The Sacahuista, a lifer Yucca FIRE! We have this guy to thank for very delicious s'mores... My amazing discovery, the DARK-NOSED SMALL-FOOTED MYOTIS That was a great weekend, and along with lots of fun wildlife, I had a great time getting to know my youth group! We kidded, joked, conversated, laughed, and played dodge ball. And overall, had tons of fun with one another. The bush man was fun too, he shall remain a mystery... Also, I've gotten back into the groove of sketching birds. On Tuesday, I drew my 300th lifer as a tribute, and the night before the Pyrr chase, I drew the Mountain Bluebird, I want that bird really, REALLY bad! Now I'm going to cover to topics that are left unanswered by many: Why do we bird? I believe, deep inside, we get hooked and stay hooked on birding because it takes a black and white, monotone life, and turns it into a colorful life. A life of fun, a life of adventure, and the thrilling feeling you get when you see a lifer. You also build wonderful memories you never could have without birding. In a life of birding, you go places you would never go to in a normal life. Like I stated in the Alaska Photo Gal, "birding can take you to the most spectacular places on earth," and usually, it does! Birding is a life that's very close to people, but what's unique is that at the same time, it's also a life that's very far from people. Birding is a network, a connection, maybe even a family, of people who share a beautiful passion. And the adventures you go on to see birds are phenomenonal! Whether it's a drive across one of the most remote North American highways, venturing far off trail in Colorado, or hiking the 15 mile long, stunning Primrose Trail of Lost Lake, birding takes you to some far away places! When you bird, you don't just see birds, whether you like it or not, you see the World. The places that birding takes you, may likely just remain dreams for those who don't bird, or maybe not, if world traveling is their passion. So do you see my point, because I know these are the reasons I bird, I mean, it's for the birds, but can you really say no to the scenery I've witnessed, and I think it's why we all bird. So now I'm going to water it down: The thrill of getting a lifer. The fun you have when you share a lifer with someone, or help them obtain a lifer. An adventurous, colorful life. The places you go to see birds are usually stunning and spectacular! You visit very remote areas of North America and/or the World. The second topic I want to cover is the criteria and definition of a bird species: If you look at Wikipedia, they give a very complex and confusing definition of what a species is. This is my definition that is sort of based off that, is my own understanding, and is more watered down: A species is a population or more usually a series of populations of the smallest unit of taxonomy. A species will change under shifting climate conditions or to have an identical role as a sister species. For example, American Black Ducks and Mallards, both full species, have identical roles in their ecosystem, and there's wide range overlap in the North East US. The Mallard, or sister species, is present because if say the Black Duck goes extinct, the Mallard will be there to play the same role, and eventually will re-adapt into Black Ducks after a few generations. Make sense. It's the same concept as 2 chicks instead of 1 in a nest, in case one dies, the other will take its place. So, that's why species ONLY within a genus (I don't believe in evolution) are ever changing, both with shifting conditions and mainly because there needs to be plenty of birds (such as Empid flycatchers) in case one or many go extinct, the others will fill its role and eventually re-adapt into that species again. Think of it this way, there is one species of dabbling duck, the American Black Duck, if it goes extinct, no Mallard will be there to come to rescue and fill the gap that has just been made, the ecosystem will fall, leading to the extinction of the rest of the ecoregions and ecosystems. It's liturally the domino affect, on a HUGE scale, if one falls, they all go down. And it doesn't matter if one falls from the middle, the front, the back, they ALL go down in the end! So the universe came about by probability? Ha, yeah right! We all know, whether we believe in it or not, that God created everything once. So if there was always only one of each species ever, in any family, genus, etc, extinction of just one of them, or a few would mean the collapse of the natural world! God had to have given species the ability to adapt, especially with an ever changing planet. After all, there was like 1000 animals on Noah's Ark, but we have literally millions of species of animals today. This very well explains why Dusky, Hammond's, and Pacific Slope Flycatchers breed and live side by side in many areas of where they are found. If the Dusky falls, The Hammond's will be there to fill in until it adapts into a Dusky. Then there's hybridization. Because of many species hybridizing, Ornothologists often propose lumping birds like the Hoary and Common Redpolls, and Iceland and Thayer's Gull. For example, the Thayer's Gull is now the same species as the Iceland, but represents a subspecies. A subspecies is a bridge between 2 species, so one species can converge into another. A good example of this is the Gray-headed Junco, Red-backed Junco, and Yellow-eyed Junco. The Gray-headed Junco is the last stage of conversion to the Yellow-eyed Junco, with the Red-backed Junco being a bridge species to connect the 2. Even though the Red-backed Junco is a full species, it's the same concept as a subspecies. The reason the Red-backed Junco must be a full species is because it has an isolated breeding range from both Dark-eyed Juncos and Yellow-eyed Juncos. A good example of a bridging subspecies is the Hawaiian Duck. The Hawaiian Duck is considered a full species by all authorities, however, I've figured out that it's not. It may seem weird, because the bird is an ocean away from wild Mallards. The reason it's a subspecies is simple, every When a Koloa and Mallard breed, the offspring will always have dominant Mallard traits. To explain this I have to back track a little. A subspecies is a bridge right, which means a species is what's at the beginning of that bridge and the end of it. So what is a subspecies? When 2 subspecies cross, the offspring, and the generations from that original offspring, will always show more traits of one subspecies and never the other. Basically, what this means, is the Koloa is always the recessive subspecies to the dominant northern Mallard, never the other way around. It's because the Koloa isn't a fully developed species, therefore, its genes don't act dominantly, or evenly with northern mallard genes. Make sense. If the Koloa was a full species, the offspring would either be half and half, so half Hawaiian Duck half Mallard, or they would would be every where between. So, when a full species and a subspecies of that same species breed, only the full species' traits will dominate in the offspring, since its genes are individual and unique to that species. So a full blown hybrid of 2 full species, will either be 50 50 of the 2 or sometimes it'll look more like a Hoary Redpoll and other times it'll look like a Common Redpoll, and that's how you know it's a full species. So since I've described it a couple times, I would like to dive into the latter of the 2 outcomes. OK, we know a full species will have 2 outcomes if it hybridizes with another species, and there's only 1 outcome when a subspecies and its original counterpart intergrade. For this I'll use the Redpolls again. Common Redpolls and Hoary Redpolls were almost lumped, and probably will be lumped because there was so much hybridization, and the offspring didn't have half Common half Hoary traits usually. There were ones that looked almost like Hoary but not quite, and other times mostly Common but a little pale, and more often everything was indeterminate. Because of this, birders often times leave questionable birds as Hoary/Common Redpoll, since they are unidentifiable. So then came the proposal of lumping the 2, since neither was probably a full species. Basically, many so called Hoaries were intermidiate, not full-blooded individuals but intergrades. The Hoary extreme was too rare and hard to come across. But, like I said early, if 2 species have identical roles in their shared ecosystem and the only reason the other birds are around is as an insurance policy, then that means hybrids have the same purpose. Anyways, since Hoary Redpolls and Common Redpolls can show either extreme, or have 50/50 offspring, they are the opposite of what scientists say they are, they are full species. The same goes for the Iceland and Thayer's Gulls, because there is so much variance between the birds and lots of 'intermidiates' they were lumped together. Let's look at one more example to sum it up: The Flickers. The offspring of Yellow-shafted and Red-shafted Flickers almost always show 50/50 traits, basically the 2 subspecies that are parents are evenly divided into the offspring. This means that the 2 Northern Flickers are full species. It's funny, because I myself always thought of the Northern Flickers as one species. But with this new criteria and definition of a species I came up with, I may split quite a lot on my Life List! So, one more time: If there's lots of overlap and variance within 2 species, like Iceland Gull, and the Redpolls, it's a full species. If other times 2 parents of 2 sister species are evenly divided into the offspring, it's a full species as well. If only 1 parent of 2 different taxa of 2 parents is dominantly expressing traits in the offspring, then that dominant parent is a full species, and the other is a subspecies of that species, regardless if the dominant parent is male or female and the recessive parent is male or female. Furthermore, because the Mallard is always dominant to the Koloa with traits, and Mallards typically breed with the Koloas before the Koloas can breed with another Koloa, they are quickly turning back into Mallards. The Koloa bridge is fading away back to square one, but after a while those introduced Mallards will adapt into Koloas, and hopefully into another full species.The reason Koloas are adapting so slowly, and now backwards, is because a tropical island in the middle of the ocean is a very different ecoregion than where they originated from. Make sense. Animals always adapt quicker in a place they don't belong, rather than where they do belong. Koloas (Hawaiian word for Hawaiian Duck) belong in Hawaii. Mallards do not. The Koloas adapting is reversing, because the introduced Mallards are breeding with Koloas before the Koloas can breed with their own kind. The Mallard is already well established in Hawaii. Funny how the Koloa originated from the Mallard! But the Mallards came there to adapt into Koloas so they could be prepared to play their role in the Hawaiian islands ecoregion. So that's my criteria for a species, and a subspecies. I know it may seem complicated, but this is a much more simple, accurate, and realistic than some other definitions. Yes species can change, but they are limited to their own genuses only. It sounds like a fairy tale when they say "over 100s of millions of years, the salamander-like creature turned into something like the Gray Wolves we see today." Hopefully I've given you a better understanding and less confusing definition of a species. After, the most complicated, neatest, answer, isn't always the right answer.
I'm Jared Conaway, and stay tuned for my next post! I've really been slacking on the TIMELINE series. I'll also try to do a post on my 2 recent drawings. Have a great week, and a great birding life! |
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December 2019
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