Joined the Stakeout for a first-time-ever reported bird in Arizona, RINGED KINGFISHER; Safford, Graham County.

RINGED KINGFISHER - male.  [from internet]
Dark blue-gray upper parts; bigger than Belted Kingfisher; gigantic bill; white collar; bright rufous breast and belly; white under tail coverts

Background:

About a week prior to Roper Lake State Park Ranger Kelly Wright’s posting her sighting of the RINGED KINGFISHER, she had been alerted by Jeff Coker to the possibility of its presence. Her October 4th-posting in eBird included photos.

A common Mexican bird that, in recent past years, had inched its way up into the Rio Grande Valley area of Texas, the RINGED KINGFISHER had never been reported before in Arizona. WOW!

Did that ever hit AZ/NM LIST SERVE (Rare Bird Alert)!! 

Eighteen (18) birders showed up the next day (October 5th) to add this bird to an Arizona or Life List of their own. Ranger Kelly had seen it fly out that morning at 7 a.m., to the private pond, but, from what I can ascertain, none or few even got a glimpse of that bird on Friday, the 5th.

As it turned out, that mega-rarity was spotted by Ranger Kelly and a few other lucky birders at various ponds in the area since then making it very difficult to find.

By the second day (October 6th) after its first sighting, a “STAKEOUT” was established on eBird to post sightings or recordings. [stakeout Ringed Kingfisher, Roper Lake Rd., Safford (2018), Graham, Arizona, US].  

Roper Lake’s dam road gave the best view of both Roper Lake and its “island” as well as the marsh grasses hiding the private pond to the north. Many birders visited the area over the next week with few gratifying reports. But the few photos that did come back were awesome, intriguing . . . tantalizing.

Then, on Friday,10/12, David Stejskal and Laurens Halsey, (top AZ birders) had some luck. A truck on the north private property, flushed the bird that flew directly over and into Roper Lake where they were able to take and post very good photos of the FEMALE RINGED KINGFISHER.

So, when Muriel Neddermeyer invited me to join her on a quest for the RINGED KINGFISHER the next day (this past weekend (October 13-14), I was itching to see if we would be among the lucky ones. 

Setting out in the rain late Saturday morning, it was 2 1/2 hours later that we pulled up to the cars parked along Rt. 191, a bit beyond the entrance to Roper Lake State Park. It was still drizzling lightly.

Saturday, October 13th:

Chris McCreedy was standing along the highway beside the hidden private pond when we arrived. Our locaton was so close you could hear water splash as ducks flew in and out but could not see into the pond at all for thick brush and tall reeds. 

Having heard the bird at 10 a.m., Chris  stood waiting to see the mega-rare bird. As the drizzle got serious, he suggested we move up to Roper Lake Road (on the dam) where 360° views are available. There was also a single metal-covered ramada to keep us dryer when the rains picked up from time to time.

A previously unknown birder who arrived, Ernst Mutchnick, was the only one of several birders who stayed the course over the next several hours.

Muriel discussed the option of checking out all other water spots where the bird had been seen. Exchanging texting info with Ernst who stayed with Chris, she and I explored three areas: 

Dankworth Pond State Park

Small private pond on corner of Cactus & Lebanon Roads (ok with owner)

All sections of Roper Lake.

The long and short of it is: We enjoyed the exploration but came up empty as to the tropical RINGED KINGFISHER.

Chris reluctantly headed out around 6 p.m., as I recall. The three of us waited to see if the bird would lift up from that northern private lake to fly south overhead where we might see it. Near dark, Muriel was almost positive she saw it fly up and westward from the pond, but it was too cloudy, rainy and dark to see color. The shape was big enough and looked correct, but she couldn’t get a view of its very large bill, so she couldn’t call it with certainty. Very frustrating!   After seven (7) hours of waiting, we surrendered.

Ernst joined us for a bit of Mexican food in town before we went to separate motels.

We dreamed of seeing this female RINGED KINGFISHER

Sunday, Octobr 14th:

By 5:45 a.m., Muriel and I were out along Rt. 191 watching for the RINGED KINGFISHER to return to the private pond. With only a cloudy sky, it felt like a whole new promising day. After the State Park opened at 6 a.m., we drove over to the stakeout position.

We saw a birder over on the "island" in Roper Lake; he stayed put and did not come up to the road over the dam.  

Two hours after our arrival (7:45), Muriel and I drove out to all the other water spots to check them out again. She got the bird alert that the Ringed Kingfisher had been seen flying north to the hidden pond, yet again. What?? We didn't know precisely when it was seen by the birder on Roper Lake, but have been wondering how we missed it. 

We explored a new location: the location Muriel's sighting disappeared after she spotted it last evening. Google maps showed a little pond to the west of the private "Hidden Pond". We drove in as far as possible before coming to fences and signs telling us not to go farther.

Actually, we're good birders and wouldn't trespass without securing permission, but it looked impossible to reach anyone without crossing the fences. Thus, deterred, we returned to the growing group of birders.

Back at the stakeout on Roper Lake Road, other birders I knew or met were on the scene: Steve Valasek, Adam Stein, Chloe Walker, Linda McNulty Ernst Mutchnick...among others. At one time, I counted a dozen of us that stayed more or less the same with turnover.

The long and the short of our 9-hour standing-in-wait, was this: 
The deep rattle of the RINGED KINGFISHER was heard, perhaps 4-6 times. (I heard it 3 times.)

We had birds!

CASPIAN TERN - flying over Roper Lake --- same for all the following tern photos:

ORANGE-RED BILL, BLACK WING TIPS, BLACK CAP

Showing some of the environment around the lake and beyond; CASPIAN ADULT TERN

Near Tern on left appears to be juvenile with orange bill; lighter wingtips, less cap.

Birders, being birders, they scanned everywhere.  We saw WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS and one VAUX's SWIFT; we had RED-TAILED HAWKS. Someone discovered a huge very high kettle of TURKEY VULTUREs with additional birds in the wide-diameter swirl of the kettle.

In particular, I liked the BLACK HAWK near the bottom of the column of birds since I see it perched more frequently than in high flight; beautiful photo below by Muriel.

BLACK HAWK [Photo by Muriel Neddermeyer]

A look through Steve Valasek's scope toward the North Hidden Pond revealed a perching kingfisher. Was it the Ringed?  We had already heard the BELTED KINGFISHER and seen it through the scope once, but none of us (as far as I know) confirmed what we all wanted it to be.

Of the core birders remaining, Muriel and I pulled out of Roper Lake State Park a little after 3 p.m., disappointed yet not dejected. The camaraderie of fellow birders sharing the experience, the birds that put in an appearance and the general respect for one another was gratifying. We sensed that if the birders stayed, they would see the RINGED KINGFISHER fly back into the park at dusk...and apparently that did happen. But not on our watch!

The only record I broke was how long I've looked for a single bird in a single location:

 7+ 9=16 hours.

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View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S4921042

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49210821