Another visit to the Lower Salt River to check out the birds, Maricopa County, AZ

Monday, October 19, 2020

Driving into the dead-end Goldfield Recreation Area, accessed north of the 4-way stop sign at Bush Highway where the Salt River Tubing warehouse sits on the NW corner of Bush Highway and Usery Pass Road, I often feel like I'm wandering into a wonderland. On the west side of the blacktop road, the open field contains a virtual "forest" of chain-fruit cholla, a leggy-type cactus full of spines that stands tall with limbs laden with fruit, still green. 

One other car is already in the large parking lot above the Salt River below, This site is the final "take out" location for Tubers coming down the Salt. They must haul their tubes up the hill so we have benefited in a way by a new concrete path built for them, I assume, that now takes us quite easily down to the river-rock beach. Our first bird, SAY'S PHOEBE, was in the parking lot at 6:20.

Down the concrete path, we picked up several other desert species, including a male NORTHERN CARDINAL and a distant COOPER'S HAWK.

A GREAT BLUE HERON and GREAT EGRET appeared to be squawking at one another but we would see them loosely together from time to time farther along upstream.

Although most PHAINOPEPLA have migrated out, one couple remained. This desert species moves northward to coastal and central California and other states in that general area, as well as SE Arizona and SW New Mexico.

Lois and I took our time covering the tamarisk "islands" on the beach, one on each side. HOUSE FINCH and YELLOW-RUMPED WARB LER were abundant.

Although we checked the many YRWA we would continue to see, neither of us came up with the Magnolia Warbler that Tommy D. had seen a few days previously.

The rattled call of a BELTED KINGFISHER got our attention but the male was too fast for a photo.  

The river itself was rather low here, but moving right along.  The "deew, deew, deew" preceded the arrival of two GREATER YELLOWLEGs. We saw ten (10) altogether along the river.

Following the vehicle track up to higher land, we followed its dusty trail, slowly but with many looks at the river along the way, out to the sandstone cliffs.

A  BALD EAGLE flew out of the North to the South of us, quite close overhead but I wasn't prepared for a picture.  Although we saw another mature BALD EAGLE fly close to the water upstream, I was again taken by surprise. Telling Lois I thought it might perch up ahead, I kept my camera ready for a long time with no result.  Then, of course, we're standing next to a tall thick Salt Ceder/Tamerisk tree when we hear big wings taking off from it.  I expected, perhaps a Heron, but no, it was, presumably, the same  BALD EAGLE that had given me the slip downstream. 

One of my most surprising photos was a BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON that still appeared a bit leery of being where it had just landed. We had heard in the distance the howl of a pack of coyotes and I'm guessing it flew up as a result of being chased by them. It gave me the kind of photo op I like: perched and still. Note its red eye. The heron is seldom close enough for my camera to pick up so clearly on that.

The next unusual sighting was of a drone flying upstream, pretty much dead center about 30 feet above the water.  Is this even legal in the Tonto National Forest?  We heard gunshots later, so I will definitely check out the dates for duck hunting because that can make my river choices a bit more dicey.

BLACK PHOEBE were everywhere out there. A common sight and sound at the Salt River, I finally photographed one that perched up on a snag.

Farther east along the Salt, a GREAT EGRET on the opposite shore provided a very nice photo op through some bushes that fortunately did not infringe on the picture.

When we reached the sandstone cliffs, we scanned for PEREGRINE FALCON. Each of us found one!  My sighting appeared to have it in a "time out" situation--looking into a crevice/cave opening on the east side. Lois's was out in the open about a third of the way down the cliff. Photo revealed the "time out" Peregrine was actually looking directly at us. It may have been eating something. The other was quite distant from where I stood at the time. Both of these are of the Pacific subspecies that have the more "helmeted" head as opposed to two whisker stripes beneath its eye and nape area of the Tundra species.

This PEFA took off and returned with a meal (bird) within ten minutes, so I tried to really zoom in on it after moving closer. 

Before leaving the cliffs, we saw two GREAT BLUE HERON fly up and perch on the eastward end.

We would see a PRAIRIE FALCON hunting from a snag as we returned toward the parking lot.

At 52°F at the start of the day, we managed to get in a good three plus hours of birding before the heat started to build. Many birds were not photographed, of course, but these were all special.

You can see our full checklist at the link below:

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S75097777

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Birding Three Days in a Row; Pinal and Maricopa Counties, Az

 Monday, October 12, 2020 (Indigenous Peoples’ Day)

Prospector Park, Apache Junction, Pinal County, AZ

It was ten years ago when I started making lists of the birds I saw when I was outside. Three years later, I realized I was still lumping all the sparrows together as “LBB” or Little Brown Birds. So many other birds were new to me, I hadn’t cared much one way or the other about those ever-present little brown ones. So I called myself a "wuss" and said, “No more LBBs.” So began my slow but steady move to eliminate the LBB from any list. While I may mis-identify some, they are no longer LBBs.

One problem with identifying sparrows is that they don’t all live at the same place where we have an opportunity to get good field practice.  So, when I saw that a neighboring birder, Samantha Starr had posted 9 sparrow species at Apache Junction’s Prospector Park, I arrived around 6:50 a.m. the next morning. What a text-book opportunity to brush up and get photos if possible.

The first birders who arrived walking toward me were Susan Fishburn and Brian. I was oblivious to Samantha and Cindy Marple who had already arrived and were "in place" to see the sparrows. Just prior to reaching them, a small flock of birds had dropped down from a bush onto the dirt trail on the east side of the playing field. One was an Abert’s Towhee; the other smaller. Whoop! Whoop!  SAGEBRUSH SPARROW. Right here in AJ saving me the drive all the way west to Thrasher Corner to find it!

Just standing and observing, then, along with Samantha, Cindy, Brian and Susan, I was able to name and get photos of the following: Sagebrush, Brewer’s, Black-throated, Clay-colored, Lincoln’s, Vesper.  Not all photos turned out well; here are a few that did:

1.  SAGEBRUSH SPARROW

2. BREWER'S SPARROW

3. VESPER SPARROW

4. BLACK-THROATED SPARROW

5.  LINCOLN'S SPARROW

Many other birds were foraging or bathing in mud puddles left by the sprinkler system:

female VERMILLION FLYCATCHER fluffing and drying after her morning bath

CACTUS WREN checking out a potential nesting spot?

RED-TAILED HAWK

Prospector Park provided a bonanza of birds on this holiday Monday! 

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Tuesday, October 6, 2020

PAPAGO PARK-SOUTHEAST POND

Stopping here after an early-morning appointment in Phoenix, I saw and photographed many common birds. The least common and best sighting from my perspective was a GRAY FLYCATCHER that helps its proper identification by flicking its tail downward when it alights on its perch.

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Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Salt River—Coon Bluff Recreation Area, Maricopa County, AZ

A sliver of the crescent moon hung low in the sky before the sun’s brightness rose up on the opposite horizon as I drove west toward Coon Bluff.  Was I really feeling the energy of nature and its natural systems showering me?  Or, was it just the temperature that I hadn’t experienced in months? - 51°F !   

For me, the natural treasure at Coon Bluff is “birds”.  For others, it might mean damsel flies or dragonflies?  Fishermen, hikers and horse watchers arrived at about the time I reached the parking lot at 6:00 a.m. to pursue their passions. Friend, Lois Lorenz pulled in shortly after I did and we got underway. Nature was still asleep! But, not for long.

GREATER ROADRUNNER

Male VERMILLLON FLYCATCHER

Mature BALD EAGLE

Four Peaks in the background just at dawn

revealing continued smoky haze in the air

With cooler morning temperatures, it felt good to go out to explore with a bit more energy!

Until, next post....

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Notes on Birding a few local sites located in Maricopa and Pinal Counties, AZ

1)  Wednesday, September 30, 2020

A quick stop to see just a few of the rarities visiting Gilbert Water Ranch, Jannie and I got great looks at the ROSEATE SPOONBILL that has been hanging out with a GREAT EGRET!  We had checked Pond 5 for it but as we turned to leave that spot, we  noticed a group of birders at the south open area to view Pond 7 (near the platform). While the Spoonbill was distant, it was still within reach and we both got some good pics.

ROSEATE SPOONBILL preening with its wide spatula-like bill  SW corner Pond 7

ROSEATE SPOONBILL letting its wide bill suck up food from the marsh

Both of us got quick but identifiable views of the rare BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER (female) but neither of us came away with a good photo!  Migrating birds stop over at good habitat to fill up with food - feeding incessantly to fuel their continuing flight.

A WESTERN KINGBIRD (below) compensated for the fast-moving Blackburnian Warbler by perching up for us to take several photographs.

2) Friday, October 2, 2020

With Lois Lorenz, I birded for the first time the trail east of Granite Reef Recreation Area along the Lower Salt River where we parked in the wide dirt parking lot at the trailhead. The trail descended gradually to flat land that paralleled the Salt River. It is also fenced for keeping wild horses out.  

RED MOUNTAIN on native land, north side of Salt River

This area of the Lower Salt River caught fire two years ago. The burn is still very visible both in heavily charred mesquite and other trees. Ground growth, however, is significant and that is where we found many birds. But most of my photos were taken when we split off the trail to stand beside the river.

RED-SHAFTED FLICKER male (top);

with female below on same snag

Two of our best finds at the river were a WILSON'S SNIPE and WESTERN MEADOWLARIK:

WILSON'S SNIPE

Western Meadowlark behind Killdeer on an island in the Salt River

3) Thursday, October 8, 2020

Before coming to Arizona in 1993, I lived in Virginia where our state bird was the NORTHERN CARDINAL; they were plentiful there.  Not as frequently seen here in Arizona, I'm a bit loathe to spend much time photographing them unless I have failed in my other bird photos at that spot. That was the case today, when cardinals were plentiful and tended to perch or stay still long enough for a decent pic.

In addition to birds, however, I managed a number of photos in the recently-opened Wallace Garden addition to Boyce Thompson Arboretum.  

Morocco Mound

Crested Bunny Ear

Sculpture in the Grotto area of Wallace Garden

Until, next time . . .

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