Magnet for Migrating Birds, Gilbert, Maricopa County, AZ

 September 9, 12 & 14, 2020

It's not often I return to the same birding spot three times within six days. But when rare migrants arrive, it's hardly a choice. Although I've seen ROSEATE SPOONBILL in Texas several times, how often has it appeared within a twenty-minute drive from my house?  Never!

Got the message several hours after it was first located at The Riparian Preserve at Gilbert Water Ranch on Saturday but by my 10:00 a.m. arrival, it had risen from Basin 5, circled overhead and took off according to the birders present at the time. Since I was already there, I continued on a quick pace to check most of the basins while really knowing that if it was still present, other birders would be on it and reporting it. Water is being released into Pond 5 so instead of the shrunken survival pond that was there on Wednesday it is growing deeper and wider.  More waterfowl are showing up for the winter months.

Photos from Saturday's quick visit, September 12th.                                                                                      PIED-BILLED GREBE

Juvenile (green legs) SNOWY EGRET

GREAT BLUE HERON

in field of amaranth

Raptors had been missing the past few times I had visited, but today an OSPREY was enjoying a good catch on a high platform.

With yet another rare bird showing up at the same ponds on Sunday, 9/13/20, Lois and I changed our planned birding destination (the river) to return to the Water Ranch. Will the CANADA WARBLER stay longer than the Roseate Spoonbills and still be filing up for its additional migratory flight?

YES! Tyler (birder) pointed several of us in the right direction after a few of us had left Pond 5 for the 4/5 trail where it had been found originally. Letting us know he had just seen it farther south along the east side of Basin 5, we returned to the presence of just a few other birders. So, that when the CANADA WARBLER would sometimes end up with a pause on a clear limb, I was in the front row, so to speak, to snap off a few quick shots.  Not a Life Bird for me, I had seen it in Canada with Glenda Jones several years back and again in Texas on one of my birding trips there. Lois thought it might be a Life Bird for her.

From showing the CANADA WARBLER'S white under-tail feathers in the top photo to the the final one showing its faint necklace of dark stripes, it was a thrill to be able to locate and photograph this rare species at such a local spot.

The second rarity at the Water Ranch was an EASTERN KINGBIRD. We saw it quite well, but the bird was behind mesquite limbs (somehow escaped my focus) that messed up the picture, so I'm posting a file photo I took of an EASTERN KINGBIRD at Wenima Wildlife Area in the White Mountains of Arizona several years ago.

Having seen the two rarities fairly early in our visit, we continued for quite some time checking out other migrants that had discovered the richness of the Water Ranch.

Among our other bird sightings were:

Pea Hen (had arrived there from unknown place)

female GREEN-WINGED TEAL

female NORTHERN PINTAIL

Not a rarity, but still a difficult bird to find where I usually bird was a GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE.  Migrating through, many others were seen in various locations within the Water Ranch today.

On our final swing through the area, we re-checked the 1/7 trail where we discovered more warblers than we identified. Lois and I tallied eight (8) warblers for the day with only one photo from the fast-moving birds.

Male WILSON'S WARBLER

Whether my next trip will be to return to this same spot or to check out the Salt River locations, I'm not sure. But it's almost cool enough to get out and about for a short time.

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S73504360

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S73590349