Arizona Keeps Giving

May 25, 2013- Our first full day in Arizona. We camped the previous night at Barfoot in the Chiricahua Mountains. After packing up camp at first light, we moved to Rustler where we had a taste of some of the Southeast Arizona specialties. Almost immediately after stepping out of the car, a Greater Pewee was heard singing insistently. This is a bird I missed last year, and hadn’t seen since 2006!

Greater Pewee

As we were watching and listening to the Pewee, a Red-faced Warbler began singing. Then a Grace’s Warbler. Then a Yellow-eyed Junco at close range! It kept getting better and better.

Red-faced Warbler

Yellow-eyed Junco

Grace's Warbler

We spent a while with these wonderful birds, but it was time to move down canyon. On our trip down we kept the windows open. This is how we got our first singing Townsend’s Warbler of our trip.

Townsend's Warbler

We moved further down and kept flushing Steller’s Jays. Finally one posed for a moment.

Steller's Jay

At the intersection that leads to Paradise, we had a tip that a pair of Mexican Chickadees were setting up territory. We missed them the day before, but eagle-eye Kevin spotted the pair as I was busy photographing a cooperative Painted Redstart.

Mexican Chickadee (look at the size of that black "bib"!)

Painted Redstart

It seemed like everything was going our way. However, we still had a lot of specialties we wanted to see. We decided the South Fork area would be our best bet. It soon became obvious why this is one of the premier birding locations in all of Southeast Arizona. First, an Arizona Woodpecker joined a Hairy right along the road.

Arizona Woodpecker

A little further up, a rustle in the understory turned out to be three Montezuma Quail! How lucky can you get!? This is a bird I figured I would miss this year as they can be extremely hard to find and we didn’t have much time to search. I scrambled to get a few shots off as they scrambled up the hillside. I’m glad one turned out to be identifiable… barely.

Montezuma Quail

As we were watching the quail, an Elegant Trogon started calling a little up the canyon. This was getting ridiculous. We walked up the canyon but the Trogon fell silent. Finally, seemingly out of nowhere, the bird appeared. It couldn’t have provided any better views!

Elegant Trogon

The last bird I had really hoped for on the trail was Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher. There were plenty of sycamores around, the preferred tree of the Flycatcher. A pair finally sounded off, blowing their cover. They were a bit far, but I had no complaints.

Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher

Having pretty much cleaned up in South Fork, Kevin and I decided it was time to move on. There were a few goodies recently reported at Willcox, including a would-be lifer Franklin’s Gull for Kevin, so this was our obvious destination. One can bird Willcox relatively quickly. The Franklin’s Gull(s) did not disappoint while the Baird’s and White-rumped Sandpipers did.

Franklin's Gull (again sorry for the quality; heat haze, distance, excuses)

Besides the gulls, Willcox was dead. And the Huachucah Mountains were calling. We could get there with a solid few hours of daylight left. This meant we could visit Beatty’s in Miller Canyon where we would hope to catch up with the continuing White-eared Hummingbird or the cooperative Spotted Owls. We got to the feeders and watched Broad-tailed, Magnificent, Black-chinned, Broad-billed and a female Blue-throated Hummingbird all fight for possession of the nectar. Finally, the White-eared Hummingbird fought for control over a feeder right in front of us. Now that is a snazzy hummingbird!

Blue-throated Hummingbird (female)

Broad-tailed Hummingbird (notice the rufous in the tail)

Magnificent Hummingbird

White-eared Hummingbird

On our way down from the feeders, before heading towards the canyon where the Spotted Owls lurk, a family of Rock Wrens with at least 4 recently fledged young were roaming the area. They weren’t shy either!

Rock Wren

Up the canyon we went, attempting to follow the very detailed (almost too detailed?) directions we received for the Spotted Owl location. After much trial and error, we found a silent, sleeping Spotted Owl snuggled next to a pine tree trunk. This wasn’t the greatest spot for a nap as a gang of Mexican Jays later found and harassed the owl.

Spotted Owl

We had one more bird we could hope for in this area. We heard that a Northern Pygmy-Owl nest had been found further up the canyon, but we weren’t sure where. We gave it our all, but came up empty. As we were heading down, a photographer promised to show us the nest location. Back up the canyon we went. We waited and waited by the nest with no sign of the owls. I spied movement from up the canyon wall, behind the nest tree, but a ways back. I couldn’t believe it when it turned out to be one of the Pygmy-Owls. It never came closer while Kevin and I were there. I can’t even believe this picture turned out at all! As if location wasn’t enough, the spotted sides of the breast rule out Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl.

Northern Pygmy-Owl

Having enjoyed some incredible birding, mixed with a lot of luck, we decided it was time to set up camp. We chose Carr Canyon and our campsite became even nicer when a Buff-breasted Flycatcher started singing before dusk. Then, a chorus of Greater Pewees sang us to sleep. Oh how I miss Arizona.

Buff-breasted Flycatcher

More pictures from this day can be found here.

I’ll do at least one more update from our trip to Arizona. Then, I’ll attempt to update with all the pictures I’ve taken from Nevada and eastern California. I have a few days off coming up, which may be spent in the Kern River Valley (California)… The birds (and butterflies) are great right now. Keep checking back.

Arizona Day 1

After a lot of driving, Kevin and I made it to Arizona on the afternoon of May 24th. It was the heat of the day, so we figured feeders might be our best bet. The feeders in Portal had a lot of activity, including some very low Band-tailed Pigeons. They scattered as soon as we got there. However, many of the typical desert Arizona birds continued to feed.

Black-headed Grosbeak

Curve-billed Thrasher

Gambel's Quail

Last year I got my one and only Juniper Titmouse at a feeder in Paradise, AZ, just outside of Portal. We had great luck at this feeder with wonderful looks at Scott's Oriole and Juniper Titmouse, among many other species.

Scott's Oriole on jam

Juniper Titmouse

Once again in Portal, near the grocery store, we scored Hooded Oriole, Cactus Wren and a Lucy's Warbler! The year birds were coming fast and easy.

Cactus Wren

Hooded Oriole

Lucy's Warbler

As the sun went down, the birding got even better. We had dinner while watching 4 Lesser Nighthawks patrol a dry wash, flying only feet away from us. We heard an Elf Owl, but a huge group of people came out of nowhere and were very loud, so Kevin and I went toward Stuart Campground in the mountains in hopes of less people and more owls.

We had another Elf Owl here, quite cooperative. I attempted a photograph, and I guess it turned out alright.

Elf Owl

We also heard Common Poorwill and Mexican Whip-poor-will. We moved up canyon a bit and lucked into some Whiskered Screech-Owls.

Whiskered Screech-Owl (notice the dull yellow bill)

I have some cool voice recordings of the Screech-Owls calling back and forth to each other that I will upload when I actually have a decent internet connection (could be a while).

I have many more pictures from Arizona to sort through, and I won't be uploading all the common birds to this blog. They can be found on the flickr page here.

More pictures when I have some free time. I'm in California/Nevada and camping without internet or cell service for the most part. The birds and butterflies are great, though. More soon!

Road Trip- Michigan to Arizona to Nevada

I just got to Nevada after spending a few wonderful days in SE Arizona. Kevin Welsh and I drove from Michigan down to Arizona before having to start my master's project in Nevada. He is working here as well.

I have an unbelievable amount of pictures to edit, so be patient. I promise they will be worth the wait.

I'll start with a few birds we picked up along the way. We decided it would be a good idea to check out Horseshoe Lake State Park in Madison, IL to quickly look for Eurasian Tree Sparrows. We didn't have much of an idea of where to look, but two birds on the side of the road turned out to the Sparrows.

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Our next stop was Jerome, Missouri. Recent eBird reports of Dickcissel enticed me to take a short detour to see if we could find them. I wanted to clean this bird up before spending a while in the west. There were a few birds singing.

Dickcissel

We drove almost through the night, heading for Portal, Arizona. We took a quick "nap" in the car at a gas station somewhere along the way. After we started driving again, while stopping for gas in the northern part of Texas, we were greeted by a few noisy Great-tailed Grackles.

Great-tailed Grackle

We had no more target birds along the way, so we cruised to Portal.

Since I have so many pictures from Arizona, I'll write about those days in future blog posts.

After arriving in Nevada, we needed to get some new/better tires for our field vehicle in Fallon, NV. While this didn't work out for a few reasons, we were close to a wetland called "S Line Reservoir". We killed about an hour that was very productive. It was here I got my first Brewer's Blackbirds and Yellow-headed Blackbirds for the year.

Brewer's Blackbird

Yellow-headed Blackbird

While scanning over the hundreds of coots taking advantage of the water source, a pair of Black Terns flew through my binocular view. Excellent! This was one I didn't have time for in Michigan before I left. They were a bit distant.

Black Tern

Also present were a few Aechmophorus grebes that were too far away to photograph. However, we later came upon a close Clark's Grebe.

Clark's Grebe

Also distant, but still photographable, were my first Cinnamon Teal of the year.

Cinnamon Teal

We came upon another very close Aechmophorus grebe that we initially thought was a Western, but a thing or two bothered me. Specifically, while there is some dark around the eye, it isn't the darkest, especially near the bottom of the eye. The lores also have some white in them (a trait that shouldn't be shown in a pure Western?). The flanks are also a little light for my liking. It is my understanding that interbreeding between Clark's and Western is on the rise. I think I have to throw this bird in the hybrid/intermediate group. Perhaps I'm being too critical, but the white lores really get me...

Aechmophorus grebe

I don't have experience with many hybrid/intermediate Aechmophorus grebes, so if anyone wants to argue otherwise, I'm all ears. In the meantime, I'll work on finding a better looking Western Grebe.

I'll work on my Arizona pictures and get them up here as soon as possible. We had great luck for only being there 2.5 days. More soon!

Where I'll Be

Just a quick post to let the readers know where I'll be for the coming few months.Tomorrow (5/23) I leave on a road trip to Nevada for my first field season as a graduate student. I will be in the Great Basin area of Nevada and California and in the field every day. I'll be tent camping the majority of the time. Therefore, I won't have regular access to internet, but hope to update the blog at least weekly. The field season is over in mid-August.

Before we get to Nevada, my friend and I are taking a detour to go birding in SE Arizona. We will only have about 3 days so I hope to make the most of my time.

Expect the next update to contain tons of pictures from Arizona.

Two More Quickies

As I head out for Minneapolis in a few short hours, I thought I'd try to add a couple more birds to the photo list. Willow Flycatcher and Golden-winged Warbler were the targets.

Early this morning my dad and I visited Maple River SGA. I always get Willow Flycatchers singing from the power wires along Taft Road. Today we saw or heard at least a dozen Willow Flycatchers, they were seemingly everywhere. However, Willow Flycatcher looks identical to Alder Flycatcher. Voice is key. At the start of this big year, I pondered how to tackle this issue. The obvious answer is to take video, with audio, of the bird singing. My digiscoping camera does a pretty good job of handling this task. I then shot the bird with my SLR for good measure.

 

Willow Flycatcher singing, with multiple birds in the background

I took some stills of the same Willow Flycatcher.

Willow Flycatcher (same bird as in video above)

I was surprised to see so many Willow Flycatchers along this little stretch of road, but it was nice to have them back. Also along Taft were at least 3 singing Clay-colored Sparrows. 

Next target was Golden-winged Warbler. Gratiot-Saginaw SGA is a good location for this bird. We ran into one singing Golden-winged, but it moved around a lot, and the area is separated by a wet, wide ditch. The bird finally moved to a bare tree, out in the open, and I wasted no time digiscoping this beautiful warbler.

Golden-winged Warbler

Distance to the bird and backlight prevented any top notch photos. This gorgeous warbler was one of my last two eastern warblers for the year. Connecticut Warbler is my last. I won't have a chance at this bird until the fall where I'll have to be very lucky to pick one up during migration.

My friend Kevin Welsh and I depart Michigan on the 23rd to start out job/grad project out west in the Great Basin area of Nevada and California. However, we will be taking the scenic route, with  2-3 days in SE Arizona! It is my only chance to get there this year, so this whirlwind of a trip will have to be very productive. 

I hope to add a bird or two in Michigan during my last few days here, but time is very limited.

Magee and Beyond

On Wednesday, 5/15, I visited Magee Marsh in Ohio to try to clean up some of my missing warblers and other migrants I had yet to photograph. The winds looked good, and a Kirtland's Warbler had been seen the previous day. I was hoping the migrants would cooperate.

In short, they did. It was an awesome day. East Beach was loaded with warblers, including the female Kirtland's from the day before. I also added Chestnut-sided and Bay-breasted Warblers to the year list.

Bay-breasted Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Kirtland's Warbler

After enjoying the migrants at East Beach, I retreated to my car to avoid a nasty rain squall that looked like it would quickly pass. I moved to the boardwalk where the birds were just as numerous as the people. The one upside to a crowded boardwalk is that if a bird is around, some one will see it. However, I didn't need the crowd of people to point out this very vocal, and skulky Mourning Warbler.

Mourning Warbler

One of my favorite warblers, the Canada Warbler, was also present. I never see a lot of these warblers, so I always appreciate a sighting.

Canada Warbler

It was also neat to see this American Woodcock resting up right off the path, being admired by many. I wondered if I would be able to photograph this bird this year.

American Woodcock

There were a couple other migrants around the boardwalk, but you'll have to visit the flickr page to see them.


Today, 5/18, my dad and I birded Muskegon County, Michigan. I had three main targets: Ruddy Duck, Eastern Meadowlark and, most importantly, Upland Sandpiper.

On our drive over, near Coopersville, I spotted a white goose with some Canadas off the highway. I exited and backtracked, happy to find that white goose was indeed a Snow Goose. +1

Snow Goose

We drove to Pere Marquette Park to look for shorebirds. Only shorebirds present were a plethora of Spotted Sandpipers.

At the Muskegon Wastewater, Ruddy Duck was common and easy to photograph.

Ruddy Duck

Eastern Meadowlark proved to be a bit more of a challenge. I finally got one photo to show the white malar.

Eastern Meadowlark

While driving around the wastewater proper, we spotted a couple Eared Grebes. The lighting was the worst, and the picture is barely manageable.

Eared Grebe

This was going very well! Now to just find an Upland Sandpiper. On our first drive around the property boundary, we didn't see one. On our way back, we spotted one running around. If it hadn't been moving, we would have missed it.

Upland Sandpiper

We even made it back to Lansing in time to watch the Detroit Red Wings crush the Chicago Blackhawks. All in all, a great day!

I won't be doing a lot of birding in the coming few days. I need to prepare for my first field season as a graduate student, which involves a quick trip to Minneapolis. I leave for the field season  (in Nevada) on May 23rd. I hope to get one or two more birds in Michigan before I head out. Stay tuned.