Babs' Birding Experiences : Granite Reef Recreation Area, Salt River, Mesa, Maricopa County, AZ

Wednesday, November 25th:
Lois Lorenz joined me for about three hours of birding this morning at Granite Reef. Under cloudy sky, I managed a few good - and some not so good - photos that I'm sharing here.
Best sighting of the day was a sparrow feeding coyote-style!!

This is how Long-billed Dowitchers look from where we stood across the Salt River

Cropped in on a mixed flock (10) of Greater & Lesser Yellowlegs

Find the female among the male House Finches

Lincoln's Sparrow on the right next to much larger White-crowned Sparrow. I tried hard to get a photo of it doing its vertical leap of about 3" into the air that carried it an inch or two beyond where it had been standing. Its jump that took it higher than the grasses was eye-catching. Was it a feeding technique? Was is simply differentiating itself from the White-crowned Sparrows it was associating with? I had never seen the jumping behavior before and was totally captivated by it. The Lincoln's is a common migrant and winter visitor but not easily seen. Its buffy whisker, buffy wash across the chest and short pointy bill help set it apart from the Song Sparrow which it somewhat resembles but appears to be more slender and neat. We watched its vertical hopping at last ten times but I couldn't get a decent photo of the bird until a car drove past scattering the whole flock. Lois found the Lincoln's in a nearby mesquite -- photo below.