Good Birds still hanging around Maricopa and Pinal County, AZ

Sunday, March 14, 2021 

A last-minute decision found me at Gilbert Riparian Preserve instead of pursuing an indoor agenda. After several days of overcast skies and a touch of rain, the sun rose brightly where I live and I just couldn't stay inside.

Waterfowl were still abundant on the many ponds; I took a few photos. Below are the best sightings with pics:

NORTHERN SHOVELER (Drake)

CINNAMON TEAL (Drake)

COMMON GALLINULE (top and bottom photos here)

 Although the Peregrine Falcon was quite distant, it appears good enough to add below:

PEREGRINE FALCON

My favorite photo of the day was of the RING-NECKED DUCK since the "ring" seldom shows above the waterline shown below.

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S83394666

Wednesday, March 17, 2021

With the sun out again, I birded at Lost Dutchman State Park. With only a light breeze and temps between 51-58°F, it proved to be a good birding day.

With only a few - but important photos - it was a very rejuvenating day.

BENDIRE'S THRASHER prefers desert habitat and it continues to thrill me each time I see it whether at Lost Dutchman or at Apache Junction's Prospector Park.

Similar to our plentiful Curve-billed Thrasher, Bendire's has a shorter beak and very fine triangular spots on its breast--looking more like embroidery than the mish-mash strokes on the Curve-billed. It was so busy singing, it allowed multiple photographs.  Since it's a bit of a rarity, I took advantage of its persistent vocal presentation. After the first darkish photo, I continued to walk around it for better light. Never knowing when a bird will fly, this is the best approach. It was not disturbed by my presence but continued to provide better and better photo ops!

The other photo I'll add is the one I needed to convince myself I was actually seeing a COSTA'S HUMMINGBIRD. Approaching from its backside, I couldn't see necessary ID markers but felt sure by its size, it was a COSTA'S HUMMINGBIRD. Again, the bird stayed perched until I walked abreast of it to get a photo showing some of its front ends. Yep!  Note its smaller size than that of an Anna's Hummingbird as well as the very extended gorget (fu-manchu mustache-like appearance) which did not flash its purple color but extended much farther down its neck into its shoulder area than that of the Anna's HB.

Again, after a few more overcast days, this was a lovely sunny cool day out in the foothills of the Superstition Mountains.

Until I get out in the wild again . . .

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S83566297