White Mountains Expedition
13 May 2014 Tuesday: Left
Green Valley early with my first destination being Oak Flats Campground near
Superior and my target was Gray Vireo. I
had never visited this site and am very thankful that Diane T. posted her
observations from the previous day. I
found the Gray Vireo across Magma
Mine Road from small pond just as Diane described. The campground itself appeared unimpressive,
it was very windy, and I had a goal of
making it to Pinetop by about noon – so I didn’t linger very long once I saw
& photographed the vireo.
I arrived at George &
Ellen’s Pinetop home just after noon, shared lunch with them, and then George
& I headed over to Green’s Peak. Green’s
Peak is a volcanic cinder cone rising 1000 feet above the surrounding terrain
to an elevation of 10133 ft. The south
slope is grassy while the northern facing slopes are covered with pines,
spruce, & aspen. To the Arizona
birding community, Green’s Peak is famed for Dusky Grouse. Upon arriving at the top, George & I
setoff down the 45-degree slope of the power line cut. We make it about a third
of the way down the mountain before turning back. When we get within about 50 yards of the top,
I hear a male grouse “booming” to the west.
It must have been close since their booming call is reportedly only
audible at 50 yards. To the west of my
position is a tangle of fallen timber on a very steep slope. I decide to
continue to the top of the mountain with George and hope I can look down upon
the grouse. From the top a thicket of
thorny bushes conceals the grouse’s location.
I decide this bird has won round one.
 |
| Gray Vireo - near Oak Flats CG, Pinal County, AZ |
My thoughts drift to the
nightjar and telling folks they don’t have to see it to count it. So the Dusky
Grouse is unsatisfyingly the latest addition to my Arizona state list as
well as my year list. There are other
birds to be found on this peak so George & I walk down the ski trail
northwest of the summit. While George
walks down the trail I walk through the forest 50 yards off the trail. I hear two hen grouse calling and again there
is too much forest debris on too steep of a slope to approach. I catchup with George and enjoy a few of the
high elevation birds of the area: Downy Woodpecker, Red-breasted Nuthatch, and
Mountain Chickadees. Also enjoyed, but
not quite as much were two vocalizing flyover Clark’s Nutcrackers. They
were barely seen yet visually & vocally identifiable so they count for the
year list.
14 May 2014 Wednesday: I previously requested that George, Ellen,
Sandi, and myself take a hike at Sheep Crossing. Three of my target species had in previous
years been found along the Baldy Trail; American Dipper, Gray Jay, and Clark’s
Nutcracker. I had seen the Nutcracker yesterday so I was
am to focus on the Dipper & the Jay.
It didn’t take much focus. Upon
arriving at the trailhead parking area, I see a lite gray bird feeding on
something down along the edge of the West Fork of the Little Colorado
River. It’s a Gray Jay! Then there’s another.
The two Gray Jays are feeding on a dead trout. The Gray Jay pair appeared to eat or swallow
pieces of the fish then fly off into the forest and return about a minute
later. I guess that they are feeding babies. I take numerous photos of my latest Year Bird
and State Bird.
Still reeling with excitement
over the Gray Jays, Sandi leads George, Ellen, and myself down the river to the
highway bridge. Before we get too close
to the bridge, I hear a bird singing that I had some vague & distant
familiarity. It was the American Dipper. My only previous Dipper in Arizona was a
couple of years ago at Paradise Creek.
So this was again something special and the songster posed for pictures!
Within twenty minutes my two targets were secured, now we can go have a nice
hike.
We begin our walk up the edge of
the river paralleling Forest Trail #94.
We find a nesting pair of Dippers under the old bridge and at least two
further up stream (at least 5 for the day).
Every quarter mile or so, we find
pairs of Gray Jays foraging in the meadows along the river. Being rather oblivious to our presence, they
allow for many photo opportunities. We enjoyed many other species of birds, a
few flowers, wonderful scenery, gorgeous weather, and one of the first Beaver
dams I’ve seen in Arizona.
15 May 2014 Thursday: I wake up early and try to leave George &
Ellen’s Pinetop home without disturbing anyone.
George & Ellen are heading to Green Valley for a few days and do not
have the time to join me for another expedition up Green’s Peak. I wish to get back on Green’s Peak as close
to sunrise as I can. It is wonderfully
cold, 24 degrees, as I pass through McNary and 27 at the base of Green’s
Peak. The sun is up and it’s a beautiful
morning. My plan is to park the truck a
hundred yards short of the top so as to not disturb any grouse that may be out
in the open displaying. About 50 yards
before my planned stopping point I spy the distinct shape of a grouse standing
in a patch of grass a few feet off the road.
I stop, I look, I photograph, - I am in awe! I consider backing down the mountain so to
not disturb him. However he flies up to
a nearby tree fifty feet off the road. I
pass by and park near the summit. I
briefly walk the forest edge hoping to find another. I eventually walk down the road and find the
grouse perched in another tree. He is
doing his display thirty feet up a spruce tree.
I was fortunate to witness the display but not quick enough to take any
pictures while he was performing.
Fearing that I may have caused enough disturbances, I retreated back to
my truck and descend Green’s Peak, leaving the mountain for the Dusky Grouse.
During the long drive home I
contemplate the five new year birds, two of which were state birds, and wonder
how I am going to get the next forty-five birds to reach 400. However I really should be planning the next
three weeks of guiding.
16 May 2014 Friday: I am back to guiding. Today I took Mike M. to
see Black-capped Gnatcatchers in Montosa Canyon. This search could go one of two ways. The family group could be difficult to find
since the young have fledged (on 5/10 according to Gavin) due to their
mobility. Or maybe it could be easy
since there ought to be much begging noise as the adults bring food to the
youngsters. The latter became true, I
found the gnatcatcher family about fifteen minutes after arriving. We had close and lengthy views of the male,
female, and three fledglings. Mike was
pleased with a new lifer and I was pleased with numerous good pictures of the
various individuals. We spent about an
hour with the Black-capped Gnatcatcher family without looking at much of
anything else.
On a long shot we next headed to
Tubac to see if we could find the long missing Sinaloa Wren. The wren seems to have been replaced with a
Yellow-breasted Chat as I had previously noted about a month earlier. We did find several new arrivals for the
spring, a male Blue Grosbeak and two
Northern Waterthrushes. The grosbeak
is a summer breeding species while the waterthrushes are migrants. While I am pleased to get both species for
the year list, the waterthrushes were special since they could have been easily
missed since most of my birding (guiding) during their migration period is not
in the proper habitat.
17 May 2014 Saturday: I met Mort & Andy, both from Phoenix, at
Madera Kubo for a half-day of guiding in Madera Canyon. We spend the first few minutes birding the
feeders and the area around Madera Kubo.
A Greater Pewee and a Grace’s Warbler are singing, both of these species
are typically found higher in the canyon so to hear them here is exciting. A pair of Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers appears
to be taking up summer residence in the sycamores over the cabins. We head down to the Proctor Loop Trail some
of the lower canyon specialties. We are
barely out of the truck when we find a singing Botteri’s Sparrow and a family
of Black-throated Sparrows. We ended up this thirty-seven species at this
location. A short hike up the Carrie
Nation Trail produced many of the expected species for the season except the
Elegant Trogon. The trogons have
apparently taken up residence about 2 miles from the trailhead, much higher
than they have in previous years. The
excitement for me was a second year Broad-winged Hawk soaring over upper Madera
Canyon. At the time of observation, I
was not sure of its identity but I took enough poor pictures to later confirm
my second Broad-winged Hawk for the year and a very rare bird for Madera
Canyon. Andy got 30 lifers this morning!
On a non-birding note, a Desert
Tortoise spent the evening at my front door while a Kingsnake slithered across
the backyard.
18 May 2014 Sunday: Today was the first of two days with Gray &
Gloria. Gray had a list of difficult
target birds he wished to see. We
started in lower Huachuca Canyon looking and listening for the Sinaloa
Wren. While we heard the wren give its
famed ratchet call a few times, we were not able to lay eyes upon it. We did rack up quiet a few migrants
though. Our next stop was Hunter Canyon
to try for the Rufous-capped Warblers. While
I believe I heard the warblers, I was not able to get Gray or Gloria on to the
sounds. We did here Northern Pygmy-Owl
and Mexican Whip-poor-will daytime calling – they made the hike up this rough
trail worth it.
19 May 2014 Monday: For our second day together, I took Gray &
Gloria down to California Gulch. Our
luck today was much better than yesterday.
I counted eleven Five-striped Sparrows, several of which were seen and
one was seen very well. We also had a
family of Black-capped Gnatcatchers near the first crossing, several
Black-tailed Gnatcatchers for comparison, calling Pacific-slope Flycatchers,
and my first fo the year Varied Bunting. Wishing for better looks at Black-capped Gnatcatchers
we stopped at Montosa Canyon on our way back to Green Valley. It was already mid-day by the time we arrived
and hot. Now more than a week since
they’ve fledged, the Black-capped Gnatcatcher family was difficult to
find. While we were checking out areas
closer to the nest site Gavin, leading some other folks, heard them calling
from the hillside south of the culvert.
This is about a quarter of a mile from the nest. Even while we heard them frequently, getting
good looks still proved difficult but doable.
That evening, alone, I visited
Faber Canyon with hopes of finding Buff-collared Nightjar where I had a pair
last year. While I found no nightjars,
it is a wonderful place to visit at night and somewhat scary when alone.
20 May 2014 Tuesday: I was
out with Robert and Marcella, from the Netherlands this day. With the exception of a stop near the
Continental School to watch a Snowy Egret fly over, we spent the day birding in
Madera Canyon. Though it was somewhat
breezy and there was a lull in migration, nearly every bird we saw was exciting. In particular the birds of color were most
outstanding; tanagers, orioles, grosbeaks, redstarts, and of course the
hummingbirds.
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