In the field more than at my computer, this blog has been waiting to happen.
A week ago today (Friday 11/10/17), Susan Fishburn joined me to explore Granite Reef Recreation area along the Salt River in Mesa. Since that is one of my favorite local spots, I didn't expect anything new to show up, but YES! This time of year, one never knows what bird will land where. We had two very good sightings.
A bit east of the dam, we had found a spot at river's edge to set up the spotting scope. With binoculars I had watched a small flock of ducks emerge from a cove and paddle westward close to the reeds toward the dam. Quickly to the scope, I couldn't believe my eyes! How many times have I birded this location over the past several years - and never had seen what my eyes were telling me! I asked Susan to take a look and tell me what she saw. Yes. WOOD DUCKs - five of them (3 males; 2 females). The ducks turned and swam back eastward but didn't return to the cove; they lifted off, not to be seen by us again. Not a rare bird - just rare for us to come upon at this location.
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| All the way across the Salt River, these are the best three photos I managed of the five WOOD DUCK |
Our day at Granite Reef wasn't finished. Susan spotted a male HOODED MERGANSER out in the middle of the river.
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| Male HOODED MERGANSER [3 photos] |
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| Handsome bird with very thin bill, flattened white crest and two dark spurs down the front edge of its chest |
One reason for our catching up with one another was that Susan wanted to be among the first to buy one of the books I collaborated on with Janna Blok. She knows both of us. Jannie and I were thrilled when our draft submission was accepted by the first publisher we sent it to. It's an 80 page slim art book titled "where will this train take me",containing Jannie's photographs and my contemporary haiku. It's now available by order through your favorite bookstore and online.
On Saturday, November 11th, I had agreed through Birding Pals (an organization that enables birders to connect with one another from various parts of the country/world) to meet a woman who was attending a conference in downtown Phoenix and wanted to spend the afternoon birding nearby.
Therefore, I left in plenty of time to allow for some good birding west of Phoenix at Glendale Recharge Ponds. Over several hours, I had found the rare RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, lots of EARED GREBES and a BONAPARTE'S GULL.
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| RED-BREASTED MERGANSER |
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| RED-BREASTED MERGANSER migrating through |
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| Two EARED GREBE |
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| BONAPARTE'S GULL sitting out in the middle of Pond 5 with other waterfowl (A gull in the desert)
Then it was time to catch up with my Birding Pal, Fran. It was a quick trip from downtown Phoenix to Encanto Park where she had her first taste of our heat and our birds. From New York City, Fran was excited to see the ROSY-FACED LOVEBIRD and our ACORN WOODPECKER, among about six other Life Birds.
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| ROSY-FACED LOVEBIRD |
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| ACORN WOODPECKER finding grubs in th ground |
During my lunch break along a nice palm tree-lined residential road, I had checked my phone only to see that a very nice rare bird had been spotted at Gilbert Water Ranch, close to where I live on the far east side of Phoenix! Susan had posted that she had seen the rarity early Saturday morning after the sighting had been posted on Friday. Dang! And, here I was over on the west side!
As it turned out, Fran was very happy with the desert birds she saw within our hour of walking the grassy areas of Encanto Park and found the heat a bit much for this time of year. (high 80s) So, we finished up earlier than I had anticipated, having enjoyed our time together very much. She's an author of children's books, so we exchanged! Fran Manushkin wrote a series about Katie Woo and has started one with Pedro.
Then, I was off toward the Riparian Preserve at Gilbert Water Ranch hoping that someone might still be around the spot where the AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER had been observed today. Finding the birder or photographer is often key to locating the bird when the ponds are quite large. I managed to do just that and the bird was still filling up on one worm after the other.
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| AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER feeding constantly as it migrates through the area |
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| AGPL gobbling one of the worms |
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| Beautiful AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER Only 3 p.m. when I arrived and found the rare plover, I stayed for a good thirty minutes or more with two photographers who were waiting for the afternoon light to change.
The next morning, Sunday, November 12th, I met Lois L. to head up to Needle
Rock Recreation area along the Verde River, northeast of where we live. With a planned stop at the McDowell Mountain Regional Park, we spent some time in the campground looking for the recently reported migrant, Golden-crowned Sparrow, but found only many many White-crowned Sparrows along with other desert birds.
After an hour there, we stopped off at Box Bar briefly but it was extremely quiet as was Needle Rock Recreation Area. Well, not entirely quiet: some folks like to run their quads over the dirt roads there. But bird-wise, we were a bit disappointed. Our best find, the CRISSAL THRASHER, eluded the camera as usual but the SONG SPARROW down in the reeds was too busy eating to worry about us.
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER is a moving target and I rarely get photos but this Audbon's species stayed still for half a minute.
The weather was wonderful; a bit cloudy, cool and comfortable with the Verde River running high and fast. The only other photo I took was of this plant below that reminded me of a an indoor "spider plant" but it is actually an Arizona wildflower known as Texas virgin's bower (thank you Eric Hough for the ID).
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Well, I got it early but just a glimpse. I heard it first and then got just a brief look before it was spooked and flew back into the cover of thick foliage. But I saw the identification markers of its very rufous-red wings and back, plus its narrow dark streaks from its white throat to its robin red breast.
The water was full of birds! A small flotilla of LESSER SCAUP, a REDHEAD, BUFFLEHEAD, and four GREATER SCAUP, many AMERICAN COOT, and lots of PIED-BILLED GREBE, as shown in the photos below.
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| Looked almost like a LEAST GREBE but has the dark eye of the PIED-BILLED, not yellow as in the Least |
Other birds I photographed:
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| NORTHERN CARDINAL |
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| GREAT EGRET |
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| GREAT BLUE HERON and American Coots |
Migrating birds that find watering spots in our desert are a treasure that I fully enjoy. Many waterfowl winter here so I've seen more ducks and geese than I ever saw in Tidewater Virginia.
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