From a small town to a big city...
|
A Birding Blog
By Jared Conaway
From a small town to a big city...
|
You know, it seems no matter what passion or hobby you partake in and occupy, there are times you feel you let yourself down, times you feel let down, and times of rejoicing after beautiful satisfaction is obtained. In away birding is my escape from this crazy world- to seek beauty in something simple. Funnily enough it's not always an escape. It used to be when I was flying solo, but now I'm connected with tons of birders via social media, and because many people have their own opinions within this community- especially this community- it's crazy all over again! Also, you guys do know I got to have that suspense for the big moment. If there is a big moment. Anyways, now would be a good time to explain why I take so long to get to the point. Now, I'm sure you guys enjoy reading my writing- I would hope so. So for one, most lifers aren't obtained right away, a lot have involved hours of driving before we've arrived at the vicinity. Then there's a bit of walking distance after that. Basically, I'm doing my best to share the suspenseful environment with you guys. I imagine I have some viewers that are beginning birders, or even not at all. This makes my blog a great place to learn that lifers aren't grabbed & bagged right away! But hey, there's those times that they appear within timing of a snap of the finger. You know though, sometimes something absolutely astonishing happens that you don't see coming... And then, sometimes... you get to be a part of it. As you all know, I've been participating on bird walks with Caleb the 2nd Saturday of every month. This one was my 4th. We had a lot more species than the last few times, totaling 69. This included 2 great rarities. The first being an EASTERN BLUEBIRD of the nominate subspecies- sialis- that gave distinctive tur-a-lur calls, different from the goldfinch-like vocals of Western Bluebird, which we saw earlier. I heard it at the same time, and saw it fly into a mesquite, but didn't recognize. Caleb let everyone know of the presence of this lifer, but at first called it a possibility. Upon careful inspection, we both confirmed it was in fact an Eastern Bluebird. Receiving lifers in urban places such as that are always really cool- they throw me off guard every time. An Eastern Bluebird can be identified by the following: orange throat bleanding into orange flanks that surround a bright white underside, blue mantle, less elongated body shape, and white behind the eye in all plumages. Blue color is in between Western and Mountain. Azure Bluebird, the Mexican/SE AZ ssp. has the same blue as Mountain. The bird we saw was an adult female. Here are some photos: 2 middle pics are mine, others are Caleb's. Note pale Malar & eye stripes. Also see how bright, clear white that underside is? Another thing worth noting is that the orange on EABL's flanks extends further down, ending behind the UTCs (undertail coverts). You know what Bluebirds remind me of: A flycatcher-thrush mix. Especially this species: compact similar to an Empidonax. EABL occurs across the eastern half the continent and locally in Montana, Colorado, and New Mexico. In the northern part of its distribution it is migratory, wintering in eastern Colorado, most of NM, and Texas. The Mexican ssp. known as Azure Bluebird is completely non-migratory, including in SE AZ. It most likely will be split from EABL soon. This small thrush is rare in Arizona, but lately we've had an irruption of them due to snow in the north. The one that we found was only the 2nd one in western Maricopa. Well, it took me 3 years to get all 3 bluebirds. Mountain still remains and always will remain my favorite. I have to say though, Azure is real close behind. We managed to stick the landing with another rare bird: altivagans Fox Sparrow. It is essentially a Pacific Slate-colored From BC to Baja. Fox Sparrows are rare in the lowlands of 'copa in winter, but common in the Mazatzals & Superstitons in brushy upland chaparral or riparian. Lowland individuals are almost never of the slate-colored group. Altivagans is an example of a rare member of that group (in terms of Arizona). Photo by Caleb: I would like to note that those toenails need serious trimming. Those look longer than normal! You know, sparrows seem to be an underrated group of birds. I see them as a good way to understand subspecies, after all, most have at least a couple. I'll give a quick rundown: So, most subspecies are put into their own category, or group. The distribution of different groups is almost always the same in NA: Pacific, Rocky Mountains/Interior west, east/taiga belt. The distribution between subspecies is similar, for pacific: 1 or more for cascades/coast ranges (temperate rain forest) and 1 or more in California mountains (dry forest). For interior west: 1 or more for Rockies, 1 or more interior mountains besides Rockies. For east: 1 or more for eastern lowland deciduous, 1 for Appalachians (sometimes), and 1 or more for taiga (sometimes 1 in east taiga and 1 for west taiga). So that's basic, watered down info on understanding how ssps work. I will do an in-depth series on that, hybrids, and types. Types are based on food source rather than distribution. Since the end of the first week of January, there has been a mega-rare, extraordinary special feature creature. They call it.... White-throated Thrush, never before seen in Arizona. I recently joined the Arizona Birding league on Facebook, which is how I found out. It is a bird that has been bound to materialize in the Grand Canyon State eventually, but man, it came fast! Well, can you imagine my excitement when I found out it would be apart of my week plan. I think you already know who was going to take me... Mark Brogie, and his wife, Ellen. Ha, didn't see that coming! Oh but don't worry, Caleb was coming too: the Mastermind Birder I guess you could call him. There it is ladies & gentlemen, the Rush to see a Thrush has begun! First, a little bit of background- got to keep that suspension going: Andrew Core posted on FB that he received a photo of that bird in Madera Canyon. Madera is a mid-elevation canyon in the Santa Ritas of southeast Arizona. That's right, finally another trip to the southeast! (Chiricahuas in March 2018) It only took- hold on a sec, let me do the math here... 10 months! Dang, almost a year! So yeah, it's been a while... The morning of January 13th my Dad dropped me off at Costco to be picked up by the Brogies. They were actually on the bird walk the previous day, they're from Nebraska. Caleb is good friends with them. Many Phainopeplas (and RTHAs) later, we arrived. Here is what it looked like: I can almost see a Harlequin Duck speeding down the stream... Yeah, so my first impression of Madera Canyon is beautiful. I know critic, but I would definitely recommend it for birders & nonbirders alike. If you like nature just a little bit you'll appreciate it. If you're a birder: It has a history of rarities, and is reliable for: Spotted Owl, Whiskered Screech-Owl, Elegant Trogon, just to name a few. With this White-throated Thrush it has become... Mad-rara canyon...The mature riparian combined with proximity to Mexico is what makes it so rich in biodiversity. Anyways: we walked around a bit before we encountered a happy family of BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHERS, my second lifer of the day, first heard. Rufous-winged Sparrow was the prior lifer, heard only near the parking lot. One of the gnatcatchers I first heard before we located them. I had the cam on the wrong setting, hence the blurriness. I know, my camera has never been on the wrong setting. Well, I got a new camera that I'm not quite familiar with yet. Caleb generously gave it to me for free, the best price of all. It's an awesome camera, nothing wrong with it, but I kept bumping it to the wrong settings a lot. So expect to see blurriness until halfway through the post. The top dude is a HUTTON'S VIREO. Or so people say. Is the reason why it looks like a Ruby-crowned Kinglet classified information? Perhaps they are spies on kinglet flocks, periodically giving info to their leader(s) Or better yet: Blue-headed Vireo males send them in to find out if the BHVI females like them. Or maybe, the bill is thicker because a camera has been transmitted into it, and the birds themselves are A.I. kinglets. You never know guys. I have plenty more conspiracy theories. Anyways, we enjoyed the vireo and his BCGN neighbors for a few minutes. Both species came in really close- it was great. Features that distinguish it from other gnatcatchers are: noticeably longer bill, more graduated tail, extensive white undertail, and yes; in the summer males have a full on black cap. It used to be more limited In Arizona, or possibly just undetected. Nonetheless, it is now a local breeder in Madera Canyon, and is more common around Patagonia Lake SP. We also saw Hammond's Flycatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, other stuff, and more other stuff. And just like that... I arrived at the stakeout. Unfortunately no steak was involved, but a WHITE-THROATED FREAKING EPIC THRUSH was! These moments went by so fast... Amazing isn't it? That's not a question. This is the first time I've participated in a first state record! I know I only got 2 photos, but I was enamored with this gorgeous phenomenon. If you live in Arizona, and you love birds, I encourage you to go chase it, it is still there as I write! And guess what: I drew it! I'll share that in a bit. Here's some history on this Turdus: They are normally found from northern Mexico down to Ecuador (northern South America) It isn't a particularly stunning bird, with some low-key colors throughout like an olive-gray back & tail, plus an ashy face & underside. These are accented by a bright yellow orbital ring circling the eye, a white throat with black braids, and a broad white collar. The bill is bicolored with dark above, yellow below. The southern group possesses a bolder appearance, yellower legs, and a completely yellow bill. It is a genetically diverse species with 13 subspecies, of which 12 make up the polytypic northern group, and 1 that makes up the monotypic southern group but just got spit (called Dagua Thrush). The one here in Madera Canyon having a grand, famous time with cameras and binoculars focused on it, and while eating delicious berries (probably thinks it's living in a Hollywood scenario at this point) is of the northern subspecies. Not just because of distribution, but because of appearance as well. It is most likely of the subspecies Turdus assimilis calliphthongus. It is a neotropical thrush prominently found in semi-tropical montane coniferous forest, riparian &Tamaulipas thornscrub, down into humid rainforests of South America. Over the years Arizona has accumulated many semitropical species found in adjacent Mexico, creating a fun atmosphere for birding there. However, it is still fun to see state records spontaneously appear in the lush coniferous forests off places like the Chiricahuas, Santa Ritas, and Huachucas. This adds to the atmosphere, creating a sort of treasure hunt mentality whenever people visit there. Successfully being apart of these state records is especially special. An example of something I couldn't take part in is Pine Flycatcher. That was in 2017. It is still exciting because if it's shown up there before: it can again. I encourage my readers to bird with the same mindset: If you miss out on something, remember that either it could show up again, or you could find your own. Acknowledging this makes birding less depressing. On the same note, you shouldn't be over-confident when you find a potential rarity. This is a topic I haven't yet covered, so I might as well now. It can be surprisingly easy to manipulate a bleached juv. Glaucous Gull into an Ivory Gull. The best thing you could possibly do is note details in the moment, not later (and photos! distant or close, anything is valuable!). I've done this a few times and as such have had invalidations of species I'm confident about. Well, I did note details in the moment for the most part, it was more that I didn't ebird them until later. So basically what I'm trying to say is: find details during the observation, not after, especially diagnostic ones. Your mind tries to manipulate a bird into something you'd rather it be, and does a pretty good job at it. Anyways, that's my lesson to you. I don't take the time to convey that information enough. however, as a birder who has learned from these mistakes, I feel it is important that I communicate this, to potentially prevent pitfalls and give you an understanding of how birding works. I know I might sound like an ebird reviewer right now, but hey- I'm friends with one, an excellent one! If you ever get emailed by Caleb via ebird, he's probably right. The Boy is powerful, he has years of field experience behind and ahead of him, so he's a really good reviewer that I would suggest respecting. You might be thinking: 'but shouldn't any ebird reviewer be experienced to be qualified for their volunteer job?' Yes, but somehow unknowledgeable reviewers make it onto the scene. Don't worry though, because Caleb's not one of them. Anyways, just thought I'd put a good word in for my bird bro. So yeah, back to the thrush: There was a lot of people, among the peak stakeout numbers: about 50 total. Not all were there at the same time, but after some left more came. To be fair it was a weekend, so lots of minds were set on seeing this beautiful fluffball. The fluffball was observed by most very well, photographed by cameras of literally every size from tiny to freaking massive. It was in a large Net-leaf Hackberry tree, foraging on the abundant hackberries. I have to say though, the atmosphere felt intense as scores of birders were eagerly- some impatiently- awaited the arrival and or re arrival of this stunning creature. I'm sure that the people with cameras bigger than their torsos received satisfying photos, but I image all got good views. After observing it for the short time I did, it flew across to stream. Then we proceeded across the bridge to get to follow it. It took a few minutes, but we relocated it below us on a log in the stream. Because there was a canopy above, it was perched in a dark area. Just as I leveled the camera, it decided at that moment it should flutter away. You know how it goes! A small uphill ascent brought us back into its presence. At this point it was Caleb and I closest to the robin, with others spectating from below. We spent a couple minutes watching it hop around in conifers and oaks as it made a vocalization reminiscent of Blue-throated Hummingbird. After a short time the bird randomly flushed, disappearing out of sight. So The Boy and I (The Boy 2.0) trotted up stream to see if he went up there. We didn't find him, so we rejoined the large group at the bridge. Here we ran into familiar birders- some of which I'd heard of, and 1 I met. Eric Hough was the one I knew, it was great to see him after a while. Faithful readers will recognize him as the HRP guy. We actually talked to Eric, Mary McSparen, and Chrissy Kondrat-Smith for a while before the crew and I headed up to Santa Rita Lodge. Before I get to that, here's some non-birds: Toumey Oak Gray/Arizona White-Oak forest. Oaks are among the most abundant flora in the Serra Madre Sky Islands ecoregion. They are very important as they provide ideal shade, food and shrouding for birds. The many crevices and cavities conceal insects, which in turn become food for insectivores like empids. Madera Canyon is full of ripe 'ripe! Mexican Blue Oak on far right, Arizona White Oak left of it. Emory Oak Chainfruit Cholla The view from the parking lot before Proctor Road. We stopped here to have classic PB & J sandwiches before driving to Santa Rita Lodge (SRL) further up the mountain. Once we arrived, the presence of hyper birds were all around us, including abundant Mexican Jays (MEJA), Acorn Woodpeckers (ACWO), and Pine Siskins (PISI) I gave the banding codes because I'm going to use them a lot more often, I suggest you study to learn them. PISI This is an ARIZONA WOODPECKER, previously a heard only, now almost a year ago in the alluring Chiricahuas. This here is an adult female. The magnificent RIVOLI'S HUMMINGBIRD (RIHU) formerly Magnificent. Adult female. I'm obligated not to hate on bird genders, but it's the truth that the male lives up to its past-tense Magnificent namesake. I'm not saying females don't. I'm just saying males do. This was a lifer for me. Next time I hit SE AZ, I'll look for a male. After the RIHU, the BLUE-THROATED MOUNTAINGEM (hummingbird, but likely Mountaingem soon- same genus as mountaingems) chased her off, and then came back to visit the feeders himself. The second time he came, he flew right in front of me , fluttering adjacent to my face for some moments. Now, this isn't a pinky-sized hummingbird- it's the largest in North America! Being 6 inches long, this hummer is kind of intimidating, with a fan for a tail. This was a lifer, my favorite next to WTTH. A male Hepatic Tanager made a delightful appearance. The HETA is a southwestern tanager related to the Western- structurally the same but with mild red plumage. auriculars are gray; dark eyeline, red-orange overall. It inhabits mountain forest in the southwest south and west of the Rockies down into subtropical montane forests plus pine savannah of Mexico & Central America (northern group). The second group is found in tropical highlands of western South America. The last group is found in east/central lowlands of South America. Additionally the southern groups are darker red. Yellow-eyed Junco, the sparrow with the most fantastic eyes! Considered a southeast AZ specialty, but it may be expanding its range north. this here is an awesome pic of 2 special woodpeckers. Essentially what we have here is a Madrean Downy WP, plus a messed up Red-headed WP. AZWO (left) Acorn Woodpecker (ACWO) BTHU tease. "Let's see your beautiful face?" "No." Can't get enough of that YEJU: Male AZWO This small woodpecker is closely related to White-headed, and was originally one species with Strickland's. It is found in the madrean sky islands ecoregion (basically Mexico's version or continuation of the Rockies) MEJA- an abundant, gregarious jay of SE AZ. MEJA is in the genus Aphelocoma with the Scrub-Jays, and as such it is curious, friendly, and makes its presence known with repetitive vocalizations. It's a fun jay but possesses a much milder blue color than the others. After much enjoyment from the Sant Rita Lodge, we went down stream to look for what is considered the holy grail of SE AZ birds: Elegant Trogon. This bird has had fame bagged up pretty much since the beginning of the SE AZ birding craze- whenever that was. But its fame is backed up by a shimmering green-blue back, black head, yellow bill & eyering, white collar, insanely brilliant crimson red underside, and oddly shaped & pattered tail. Topped off with a very approachable personality, it is extremely lovable, and even birders pressed for time or focused on mega rarities, are tempted by its lustrous beauty and make time for this bird with gem-like qualities. We were joined by Max Leiboitz at SRL, so he went with us on our noble quest. Here are some sights: Absolutely enormous Fremont Cottonwood! Silverleaf Oak But alas, we received dismaying news that a guy had ran after it to get closer. Of course we didn't give up, we searched around he lower area canyon which is where it went. Now, you may think how could such a beautifully described bird conceal itself. With its back turned to you, it is the same color as the oak trees it perches in. It also shares the ability that owls have to sit completely still. At least it can be turned into a joke: "You said it was chasable!" "Not that kind!" After a while of looking, we went back up to look for Whiskered Screech-Owl, we dipped on that too. At least it's nice to know that I'll return again most likely, fingers crossed. We discussed what we wanted to do next, and decided on going to SRL again because Mark really wanted to see the Coati, whereas I wanted to get better pics/views of BTHU. A Coati was there right when we arrived. It was in a tree, but as I photographed that one I noticed there was one right in front of me... The multiple signs that said the following- "Please do not feed the coati, he is not a pet"- made sense to all of us now, as this thing sure acted like a pet, allowing me to be a half-a-foot away at times. Then he proceeded to do this: He did this for a few minutes straight. Of course the BTHU wasn't happy about his meal disappearing before him because of a random Pokémon. Now you can see the blue throat. Here's some life history: This hummingbird is in the Chiricahua & Huachuca Mountains of SE AZ, the one at SRL is a vagrant- it's not normal for Mt. Wrightson in winter. Tommy actually found one in Greer a few years ago, probably a post-breeding dispersal. It's the largest hummingbird in the US, at 6 inches. Its vocalization is distinctive: reminiscent of White-throated Thrush. I was surprised at how loud sound was coming from such a small bird. Something that makes this hummer particularly beautiful is the iridescent wings & tails, while not very noticeable it adds an extra blue tinge, something lacking in most hummers north of Mexico. The green has a coppery tinge too, especially on the upper tail coves. Last of note is the facial stripes, it looks like war paint. Did I mention it's amazing? Afterwards we gave the thrush one last ditch effort. It resulted in a very brief last sighting: I watched its shadowy form disappear into the hackberries. Since that day, eyes have turned away from the thrush- it is probably still there, but a returning star has showed up at a certain lake here in Maricopa...
This was my first time participating in a first-state record, and hopefully not my last! Special shout-out to Caleb Strand, Mark & Ellen Brogie, and Max Leiboitz. It was nice meeting you Max and I hope we an bird in the near-future. #likecommentshareplz!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
About meJared Conaway Month Archives
December 2019
Categories
Life List
Birds |