Babs' Birding Experiences : High Desert Birding, Maricopa County, AZ

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

SEVEN SPRINGS RECREATIONAL AREA, Cave Creek, Maricopa County, AZ [photo by Marsha Wiles]

With two birding friends, Marsha Wiles and Linda James, I arrived around 8:45 a.m., to start birding at this high desert location north of Cave Creek. With clear sky and calm winds, I was delighted -- much better than the mist/rain from last visit.

At Lower Camp Creek, we were fortunate to locate the LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH, a bit of a rarity in Arizona. Marsha spotted it first! A Life Bird for Linda, it provided lots of good but brief profile views, thus giving us great ID markers to confirm our sighting. The Waterthrush never stopped moving; thus, no photos by us, but below is one from the internet.

LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH [stock photo from internet]

Other birds at the creek area included a SPOTTED TOWHEE doing its "towhee shuffle" in thick leaf matter.

After about an hour of birding at Lower Camp Creek and chatting with a few residents and their welcoming dogs, we continued driving up the rising S-curved dirt road to higher and higher elevations (approx. 3600').

Birds continued to perch up, singing their hearts out!

Male NORTHERN CARDINAL photo by Marsha Wiles]

When we birded Humboldt Mountain Road (Forest Road 562), we turned around at 4,000' instead of continuing up to the peak due to lack of any more bird activity. What I perceived to be an observatory at the summit of Humboldt Mountain is an FAA radar station. Other towers also rise from the peak.

With shrubby grasslands on either side of that road, we had come upon various sparrows and flocks of WESTERN BLUEBIRD at the lower levels. With light winds picking up a bit along that road, absolutely zero birds perched up for us but immediately dived into the thick of a bush after lifting from the ground.

However, at the Group Campsite, AMERICAN ROBINs did perch up.

Three AMERICAN ROBIN in same tree

Close up of the two robins on the left side of top photo

female PHAINOPEPLA

RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER [Photo by Marsha Wiles]

Can you ID these two birds? [AMERICAN ROBIN (top); WOODHOUSE'S SCRUB JAY (bottom left)

Saw lots of Northern Cardinals all day, including several at the group camp site/picnic area.

Male NORTHERN CARDINAL [Photo by Linda James]

Foraging on the bare ground in the picnic area were DARK-EYED JUNCOs.

OREGON DARK-EYED JUNCO - two top photos

GRAY-HEADED DARK-EYED JUNCO [Photo by Linda James]

We also explored the road behind the old campground that got destroyed in a flood several years ago.

Linda James (L); Marsha Wiles (R)

While I thought our "Bird of the Day" would be the highly active LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH spotted early in the day, we saw an unexpected and probable migrating BLACK HAWK in the vicinity of the pond along Seven Springs Road. Spotted by Linda, all three of us got an excellent view of the perched bird on an open tree. But, of course, when we lifted our cameras, it also lifted -- thus revealing its broad white band at the base of its tail in addition to the white tail tip we could see while it was perched. None of us took a photo of it in the air.
Exciting to see that bird at this location!