I have been traveling across
Arizona the past several days. I had planned a three day trip to extreme northern Arizona to work on the state and year list. I also had a client wishing a three day trip to pickup several lifers. My year list trip became two days because George, the client, found himself having to escape the east coast a day earlier than expected. And we found ourselves so successful the first day of his trip that I dropped him off at the airport before noon the second day. I did get the weekend off for some rest.
11 February 2014 Tuesday:
Today I head to extreme northern Arizona. The main target is
Black-capped Chickadee, however to make this trip worth the time & expense
I need some extra motivation. The first
boost in motivation comes from a wintering Tundra Swan at Willow Lake in
Prescott. For years I have bypassed looking for swans, not this year. I arrive south of the south end of Willow
Lake at 09:15, about an hour later than planned (got to love Phoenix traffic). I assumed that I would be able to scan the
lake from the road. Wrong! I needed to
walk a mile through a weedy field along a muddy trail and follow the trail up
over a rock outcropping. From the top
of the rocks I had a wonderful view of the lake, the sun was at my back, and no
swan. I scanned the lake 4 to 5 times
with the scope hoping that the swan would fly in from another lake nearby like
the hundreds of Northern Shovelers were doing.
On the scan that was to be the last before moving to the other lake; I
find the swan. I take several camera and
digiscope images, watch it for several minutes, and thank the Birding Gods
before hustling back to my truck to continue this journey. About the time I clear the muddy section of
the trail, a White-tailed Kite cruises in and lands at the top of a small tree.
Almost immediately a Northern Harrier who owns this weedy field chases the kite
away. What a privilege to see my first
White-tailed Kite of the year at a place where they normally don’t occur. Thank the Birding Gods again and hit the
road.
While planning this trip I used
eBird to find locations that I might get Pinyon Jays. There were two sites close together on the
route between Prescott and Flagstaff, near Williams. I navigated to the GPS coordinates of one
site, Cataract Lake. I was to the east
of the lake along a Forest Service Road looking at a closed picnic area. I walked up and down the road for a while
listening for Pinyon Jays. An adult Bald
Eagle flies over, a bunch of ground-feeding Pygmy Nuthatches (interesting
behavior), and no jays. I decide to
check the other location, which turns out to be on the other side of the lake
in a neighborhood. I find another park
that is open and gives me access to the lake.
While walking around this park I hear the jays, they don’t sound close
and in the direction of the sun. Pinyon
Jays usually vocalize when they are on the move. After a few seconds I see
silhouettes of the jays flying about three hundred yards away through the pine
trees. Had it not been for the
vocalizations, the silhouettes would have been unidentified. Not very satisfying views of a new state
bird, but the birds were heading to an inaccessible area and I need to get
moving.
A Varied Thrush had been found a
few minutes off the highway in Flagstaff at a place called Eldon Spring. The bird was last seen a few days before my
arrival. Unfortunately, I was not able
to find this bird during an hour-long mid-day walk around the area. I knew this was a long shot but it could have
been a sweet year bird.
For even a longer shot I stopped
at the Cameron Trading Post to look for a Rufous-backed Robin that had been
present earlier in the winter. The last
report was at least three weeks earlier.
I find an American Robin and a Lincoln’s Sparrow but not a Rufous-backed
Robin. I plan to stop here again on my
southbound journey.
For the rest of day I
drove. I made a few brief stops but was
racing the sun. I did not want to arrive in Kanab too late. I also began
revising my plans for the rest of this trip and my next guiding excursion. I received email from my client that he was
coming in a day early to beat foul weather on the east coast and therefore
wanted to start a day earlier than planned. That meant I needed to cut this
trip short and get home tomorrow evening.
12 February 2014 Wednesday: After a night in Kanab and before
sunrise, I am heading south to Fredonia.
Before I cross back into Arizona an adult-like Bald Eagle flies over the
road and at the border (north of) I see a Rough-legged Hawk perched up waiting
for the rising sun.
In Fredonia I drive through the
neighborhood streets on the west side of town (this is where the chickadees
have been found) and then to Altus Road on the southwest side of town. Altus Road is where a Northern Shrike was
report in earlier January and I hoped that the shrike might be perched up
hunting for breakfast. With no shrike to
entertain me I return to the Fredonia neighborhood, find a place to park my
truck near the intersection of West First Avenue and Judd Street. I find access to Kanab Creek and listen for
the chickadees there for several minutes.
This neighborhood looks and feels like my Mom’s neighborhood in
Colorado. And Black-capped Chickadees
wander through Mom’s neighborhood in the winter. So I begin walking the streets of
Fredonia. At 08:23 I hear chickadees to
the east on Brown Street, it sounds like they are rather distant. I start walking in their direction and find
two Black-capped Chickadees foraging in some leafless tree along Brown Street
in front of a house immediately west of the parking lot for a fire station. Even though the tree is leafless, it is
difficult to get good looks at the birds.
After about a minute of observation the chickadees fly north. I don’t see where they land and in order for
me to head in the same direction I must walk around the block. I do and spend the next hour or so trying to
find these birds again. I feel fortunate
that I was able to get good looks at the Black-capped Chickadees however I do
wish I could have gotten a photograph.
Though I had hoped for better looks and some photographs, this is a
great state bird (so good I need to write a rare report for it) and a year bird
that should count for more than one.
Once I begin feeling like a
continued search is futile I begin to mentally prepare myself for the drive
home. I make another pass through Altus
Road and some of its side streets. Eventually, I begin the long drive
home.
I set my sights on a burn area
along the highway just west of Jacobs Lake that someone recently had seen a
Three-toed Woodpecker. As I am slowing
down for the pull off, a small flock of finches fly up from the side of the
road. They settle in a nearby pine tree
just long enough for me to confirm they are indeed what I thought they were
(Cassin’s Finches) and not what I hoped they would be (Pine Grosbeaks). The finches leave and I look into the burned
forest. There are signs of woodpeckers
on nearly every standing tree. I heard
woodpecker drumming that I attribute to my quarry. I walk towards the sounds then hear regular
tapping and pursue that. I find the
source of the tapping, a Hairy Woodpecker. But I don’t think it is the source
of the drumming. I begin walking back in
the direction of the drumming previously heard and then hear more tapping. This time, a male American Three-toed
Woodpecker is the source of the tapping.
The bird is about twenty feet away and working a dead tree about eight
feet off the ground. I am ecstatic. The
woodpecker is not too concerned with my presence except when the snow crunches
under my feet. I get excellent looks and
take numerous pictures. It has probably been twenty-five years since I’ve seen
a Three-toed Woodpecker. This is a
wonderful state bird and an excellent year bird; many thanks to the Birding
Gods. Memories of the woodpecker and the
chickadee keep me energized during the long and uneventful drive home.
I stop at the Cameron Trading
Post once again and see fewer birds than yesterday. A stop at Montezuma Lake off of I-17 fails to
produce the Eastern Bluebirds recently reported. I managed once again to negotiate Phoenix
traffic during rush hours and get home around 19:30. Miles: 1088, New State Birds: 4 (Tundra Swan,
Pinyon Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, AM. Three-toed Woodpecker), New Year Birds:
8, Total 2014 Year: 255.
13 February 2014 Thursday: George
had flown in a day earlier than planned to miss a forecasted snow & ice
storm. George had a defined list of
target birds he wished to see here in Arizona as his ABA life list approaches
700. We had originally planned for three
days; the Sinaloa Wren and Ruddy Ground-Doves the first day, Le Conte’s
Thrasher and Bell’s Sparrow the second day, Nutting’s Flycatcher the third day,
and the Rosy-face Lovebirds whenever. We
got to lower Huachuca Canyon a bit after 8am and joined several people already
looking for the wren or doing a bird census.
About twenty minutes of mostly listening I hear the wren blurt out
several ratchet calls and after a few minutes more I find the bird rustling
leaves several meters away. Eventually
about a dozen people get very good looks at the wren this morning and George
came away with a whole bunch of photographs of the bird. Off to Whitewater Draw we go.
The hour drive flew by (pun
intended) with good conversation and beautiful scenery. We arrive Whitewater Draw and find a parking
spot in front of the pole barn. As I am
gearing up a lady tells me there are ground-doves over there (pointing) and
asked what kind they are. I check them
out thinking I’m going to see the small group of Common Ground-Doves that have
been around. No, they are the Ruddy
Ground-Doves. This pair of doves hasn’t
been reported for over a week and I had been warning George that they might not
be around. I don’t even have the scope
or my camera out of the truck yet and there they are. The lady and her friends get excited as I
explain how rare these birds are. George
is excited as he takes pictures of his second lifer of the day. And I am obviously excited. After about twenty minutes, the pair of doves
flies off towards the ponds. George and
I are thanking the Birding Gods; what could have taken several hours took less
than thirty minutes.
I suggest to George that we
immediately head to Phoenix, try for the Lovebirds at Encanto Park, and giving
enough daylight try for the thrashers at sunset. He’s game and off we go.
We approach Encanto Park just
before 3pm. The truck’s navigation set
is telling us we have a quarter mile to go.
The windows are open, we are passing a golf course, and we hear the lovebirds!
I pull into the nearest parking lot (which turns out to be for Encanto Park),
we jump out of the truck, and find several Rosy-faced Lovebirds in the palm
trees overhead and in an Oleander bush out on the golf course. Again, we get great looks and many
photographs. The Birding Gods continue
the blessings.
Not wasting any time, we head
back to the highway and go west for Buckeye.
An hour later we are pulling up to the intersection of Salome Highway
and Baseline Road. We first cover the
area to the north and east of the intersection.
I had seen both a Bell’s Sparrow and a Le Conte’s Thrasher in this area
several weeks earlier and this is where other birders have been finding numbers
of Bell’s Sparrows. It is late afternoon
and not much is moving around. We find a
small flock of White-crowned Sparrows and there are several Anna’s Hummingbirds
around. Finally we hear a thrasher
singing. It is a Benedire’s Thrasher and
across Salome Highway to the southwest.
Even though it is not the species we are looking for, we head in its
direction and get some great looks at a species that is often difficult to
see. We continue walking through the
salt brush desert to the southwest.
About a half-mile from the highway we begin curving our path to head
back in the direction of the truck. And
there in front of us is a large tail cocked gray-brown bird running between
bushes. For the next thirty minutes or
so we follow the Le Conte’s Thrasher around.
Both of us get some really good pictures of this bird. The Birding Gods continue to smile upon
us. George has four lifers for the day,
incredible. We continue, focusing our
efforts on sparrows. The sunsets with us
finding just one Sagebrush Sparrow and I don’t think George got to see it.
We have effectively just
completed two planned days of birding (really lifer chasing) in one day. We agree that the Nutting’s Flycatcher is not
worth the chase based on recent negative reports from David & Lauren and
others. George has a planned trip to California next month where the Bell’s
Sparrow is one of the targets. George
also knows of several lifers he can get in south Texas and looks into flights
to Harlingen. We make plans to stay in Gila
Bend overnight, try again for the Bell’s Sparrow in the morning, and I am to
drop George off at Sky Harbor Airport at eleven-tomorrow morning.
14 February 2014 Friday: After
a good meal, good conversation, and a good night rest we arrive back at the
thrasher spot just after sunrise. Again,
I have us walking through the salt brush north of Baseline and east of
Salome. It took a while but we finally
found one sage-type sparrow. After a few
minutes of study, I determine this is a Bell’s Sparrow. This bird had thick black malar stripes and
indistinct streaks on the back (uniform-looking most of the time). We later find a loose flock of Sagebrush
Sparrows and another Bell’s. The Bell’s
Sparrow seemed to not flock with the Sagebrush Sparrows and as observed by
others seemed to be more skittish. The final tally for George was five lifers
in one day plus a few hours of birding in Arizona. I drop him off at the airport and wish him
continued success in Texas.
My drive home was almost
uneventful. I make a pass through the
Santa Cruz Flat hoping to stumble across a Merlin and I drive across and stop
at the Ina Road Bridge looking for a Cliff Swallow to fly by. No luck.
Fifteen minutes before I get home, I receive a text message from
Andrew. There has been a Yellow-crowned
Night Heron reported from Patagonia.
After some texting and emails once I get home, we learn that the report
is two days old, so there’s no rush at this point. This is good since I shouldn’t be driving
until after I get some rest. So I take a
well-deserved nap.
Oh yea, while driving to the
thrasher spot this morning, I saw a flock of Cattle Egret along Highway 85.
This is a new species for the year, number 257.
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