Return to the River to look for Migrating Birds and/or new Summer Arrivals

 Tuesday, March 30, 2021

    A last-minute decision on a warm sunny day led me to Coon Bluff for today's birding adventure. As soon as I opened the car door, my heart went pit-a-pat; one of my favorite birds was singing its little tune over and over and over.  

    With binoculars and a camera in place, I set out to find where it was perched. I felt like I was standing directly beneath its tree - bare mesquite - yet I could not find this very conspicuous feathered songster. Its high rolling trill with its definitive ending continued. 

    Lifting my eyes, I found the VERMILLION FLYCATCHER circling high above the tree still singing. Was this part of its mating display? Continuing to observe the bird, it finally dropped lower quite quickly, but not in a dive as Anna's Hummingbird does. Perching in the open as it often does, I clicked away.

    My usual approach to this recreation area is to walk the gated dirt road close to the bluff looking for birds. It felt good to follow the birds this morning rather than to search. Many skittish RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDs were foraging on the ground. Too full of shadows for good photos, the birds never did leave the area but flew here and there to where I caught them by photo perched in a tree.

This female Red-winged Blackbird (above) was so hard for me to identify at first;

she looks nothing like the male but the size and shape of her bill helps

A pair of RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDs

Skittish, this flock of RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDs flew up to this spotThe red on the male's wing will become more and more prominent into the summer months

        Continuing to walk east along the Salt River, two CANADA GOOSE took to the air.

       Farther east, it wasn't birds that caught my attention; it was a band of wild (feral) horses on the north shore.

The Crossing

     Always at these river locations, several BLACK PHOEBE make themselves known by their "fee-be" call. In the flycatcher family, the bird flies out to catch an insect above the water, then returns to its same or close by perch before launching outward again.

    One summer arrival was the LUCY'S WARBLER. Throughout the recreation area and the east trail, its song rose above the trees. Hard to photograph, the one below is the best I could do.

    A single BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD was perched up high. 

    Never happy to see this bird, I hope it was the only one present. While it can often be seen with grazing cattle foraging for insects they raise, it is known for what we don't see it do. The female lays her eggs in a wide variety of host species' nests. I once saw a small Black-tailed Gnatcatcher feeding one such young that was bigger than the gnatcatcher. This parasitic behavior has earned its scorn of many birders as the pariah of the bird world. 

    Finishing up, I often take note of what I haven't seen, too. No Bald Eagle, no Ash-throated Flycatcher (reported there), no Belted Kingfisher, no Javelina!  But as I returned toward the parking lot, I spotted a GREAT EGRET flying above the river. Later, I found it moving quickly along the north shore.

    74°F when finished, I felt ecstatic. That's a good temperature for here. Soon, I'll need to start birding at very early hours.

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View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S84403224

Birding a loop around Chandler, Maricopa County, AZ

 Sunday, March 28, 2021  

    Joining Hinde S. for a loop around three birding sites in Chandler, I was not disappointed! Starting at the Higley/Ocotillo ponds (east side of Higley prior to reaching Ocotillo but need to do a turn there to return north to the parking lot), our birding attention was subverted by a hot-air balloon quickly filling, then lifting off from an empty field on the south side of the ponds. Weather was finally warm; it felt great to not be weighted down with layers to deal with changing temperatures.

With a layout of four large ponds, we discovered only the front two carried enough water for the waterfowl that we managed to see there. White dots you might see in the water are "cotton" falling from the cottonwood trees.

Female MALLARD with 12 ducklings

LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER

ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD (male)

KILLDEER

AMERICAN AVOCET (female, that has a very distinctive up angle at end of bill; male's is less so)

GREEN-WINGED TEAL (male)

LESSER GOLDFINCH- Male

Two pair, CINNAMON TEAL

Pair of AMERICAN WIGEON

You can view our eBird report at the link below.  

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S84267032

    Our second stop was a new location to me at a housing area where Hinde has friends. Although we didn't cover all of the connected ponds, we counted eleven species in about thirty minutes. When I saw my "spirit bird" (the one that got me started birding), I took its photo even though it was huddled in a corner below a concrete walking bridge.

GREEN HERON

I chose not to take photos of the 105 AMERICAN COOT that were both in and out of the water, nor did I take the RUDDY DUCKs that were distant. CLIFF SWALLOWs were feeding young in their mud homes beneath the pedestrian bridge.

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S84270186

    Although I like the third site we visited, it's a bit distant for a quick bird outing and it has been a while since I birded VETERANS OASIS PARK. We managed to spot 34 species there with a combination of several water birds and many birds flitting among the trees.  The COMMON GALLINULE and BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD are the only two photos from this site.

COMMON GALLINULE (above and below). [formerly named Moorhen)

BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD 

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S84278289

    A perfect-weather day for this type of birding, it felt good to get out and about again to some slightly more distant spots.  Thanks, Hinde!

Until next time.....

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Birding a Hidden Treasure in Oracle, Pinal County, Arizona

Sunday, March 21, 2021

When Sochetra Ly told me we’d be hiking the trail, I suspected it might be the more wilderness trail I had never birded previously. Following him in my car, I was glad when he drove past a very muddy trailhead for the rugged trail. We continued on for some time into the remote lovely Peppersauce Canyon Campground located on the North side (backside) of the Catalina Mountains in Tucson. Full of tall old sycamore and walnut trees, many campsites were full on this early Sunday morning. 

The odd name came about by an 1880's prospector, Alex McKay who claimed his hot sauce went missing while he was camping in the area; thus the name: Peppersauce Canyon.

Peppersauce Creek supposedly flows through the area but as with many desert creeks, there were only one or two places where water had gathered or mud was present. But this invisible waterway can become a raging torrent during monsoons or big rains. We hiked the same trail I had hiked five (5) years ago! Time flies--it didn't seem that far in the past.

Families were camping in the primitive sites along the road we birded.  Sochetra heard birds way beyond my hearing ability. When birds were close by I was better at the ID but quickly realized that with my lack of almost daily birding this year (Covid), I couldn’t ID some of the calls that sounded very familiar! Dang!  

Walking 4.3 miles round trip on the road up and away from the general campground, we managed to find 32 species, some of which are less common so, adding to my file collection, I took extra photos of the RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW and BUSHTIT.  Many birds were so quick, I’d be standing directly under the tree where the bird was moving and most times, I still missed.  

Birds are named below each photo.

Dark-eyed Junco - Pink Sided

Dark-eyed Junco - Gray headed

Rufous-crowned Sparrow (above and below)

ACORN WOODPECKER

Bushtit

Canyon Wren - singing its beautiful song

Plumbeous Vireo

An invigorating two and a half hours of birding felt good. When we wrapped up, Sochetra continued on toward Tucson in search of a specific bird; I stopped by Oracle State Park where very gusty winds arrived. After eating a bit of lunch, I spent some time just enjoying and breathing in the wide-open spaces. 

As always, check the link below if you want to see our full eBird list.

Till next time I venture out!

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 https://ebird.org/checklist/S83864242

 

Catching Up With Birder Friends, Pinal County, AZ

Saturday, March 20, 2021

A text invitation from a friend that birded with me and several others in the past was heartwarming. Cautionary restraints during the Covid pandemic meant I frequently birded solo. But today, Lois Lorenz and I caught up with Julie Clark (her invite) as we started out at Boyce Thompson Arboretum showing her its Wallace Garden additions. 

Busy birds had us turning our heads in every direction while still trying to take in the new plantings that show little trace of being “new” in the garden. 

Male and Female PHAINOPEPLA

Female NORTHERN CARDINAL

At a specially-designed section of the Wallace Garden, including a sculpture of a horse looking out for the welfare of its Native rider getting a drink, stood some rocks showing the azurite and malachite that are mined in Arizona.

That area, too, was buzzing with hummingbirds and other species displaying their spring behaviors of chasing one another, gathering nesting materials, hanging out together as partners.

    Out in the Demonstration Garden, the Mexican Redbuds were in full bloom.

L-R: Lois; Julie

On our walk up to Ayer Lake, I spotted this TURKEY VULTURE perched on a ridge pole near old Highway 60. 

The vulture stayed so still for so long, I kept looking back to be sure it wasn't an installed sculpture! Finally, its wings closed. Next, it had joined a kettle of TuVu up in the blue sky circling higher and higher. Would some of them be migrating? 

Having listened to the arrival of several WHITE-WINGED DOVE, I finally found one perched for a decent photo. It supposedly arrives about the time Saguaro Cactus blooms as it is one of that plant's major propagators. Seemingly early for its main task, I would be surprised by a saguaro bloom in another part of the arboretum.

Rare to be able to photograph a saguaro's top bloom, this one was camera accessible from a ramada on the trail up to Ayer Lake.

Birds at Ayer Lake continue to surprise me. Today, we spotted two RING-NECKED DUCK, a PIED-BILLED GREBE, an AMERICAN COOT plus a GREAT EGRET.

GREAT EGRET

PIED-BILLED GREBE

Passing by the mansion in the arboretum, we were serenaded by a CANYON WREN on the stones along the wall beneath it. 

NORTHERN CARDINAL were abundant from east to west throughout the gardens with a conservative count of 18.  

Male and Female NORTHERN CARDINAL

Six (6) BROAD-BILLED HUMMINGBIRDs were stunning to observe but too fast for good photos.  Below, one from my files.  

Having walked the new Wallace Garden as well as the perimeter trail around the arboretum, we had a comfortably warm Spring Equinox day to be surrounded by flowers, birds, lizards, plants, trees, sculptures for over three hours. 

Two birds: the WHITE-WINGED DOVE and the LUCY'S WARBLER (photo below) were first-of-season sightings for me.

Together, we counted 32 species. Clicking the link below will give you access to the full list.

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View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S83744679