Christmas Bird Count, Saturday, December 17, 2022. GWR, Maricopa County, Arizona

    By habit, dressed in layers for the 33º F, 7:30 a.m., start to our Count Day (CBC),  Lois's team included Linda Elder, Ellen Leng, Linda Jacobs, and myself. Mike McMillie assigned us to Ponds 5, 6, 7, and the fishing pond while his group would cover Ponds, 1, 2, 3 & 4.  The plan was to meet back at the library parking lot around 11:30 a.m.

    Crossing the wooden bridge at the Fishing Pond gave our team a great start with some new winter birds.

    A single WESTERN GREBE and five LESSER SCAUP were our first sightings among the usual RING-NECKED DUCKS and MALLARD. 

WESTERN GREBELESSER SCAUP (drake)

LESSER SCAUP (drake-right rear; hen front left)

MALLARD (female) 

    Moving on to the other ponds in our Count area, I'm posting the following photos:

AMERICAN AVOCET - above and below

GREEN-WINGED TEAL

NORTHERN PINTAIL (drake)

WILSON'S SNIPE

GREAT EGRET

BLACK-NECKED STILT

GREAT BLUE HERON

    Among the few songbirds I photographed, are the following:

ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD

HOUSE FINCHYELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER

    Between our two teams of bird counters, we came up with 71 species of birds, 2670 individual birds.

    Not a bad half-day at all.  Appreciated the good camaraderie among us all.

    Until next time. 

    * * *

Bushnell Tanks, Maricopa County, AZ

 December 11, 2022

    With Lois Lorenz, we started birding around 9 a.m. @ 42 degrees F.  We warmed up as we continued on the dirt road down to and across dry Sycamore Creek, then uphill for a total of four (4) miles round trip in four hours. Many birds were quite distant and frequently directly into the sun for bad photos. This higher-elevation bird was fun to see; not on our usual local list.

        TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE

A male NORTHERN FLICKER's pecking at a dead tree caught our attention.

A BEWICK'S WREN paused long enough for a quick photo, below.

AMERICAN ROBIN

I don't recall ever seeing a PAINTED REDSTART at the Tanks, but there was one present today. Lousy photo, below. My file folder shot beneath it is just a tad better! The bird is seldom still.

    A SPOTTED TOWHEE provided us a good look, photo below:

And, before we departed, a RED-TAILED HAWK sailed up and away from its perch.

    Lois and I had poked around in the open areas, walked the dirt road trail, and chatted a bit with some solo birders checking out this rewarding location. All in all, another good day in the field.

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S123813519

* * *

Two Visits to Higley & Ocotillo Ponds, Maricopa County, AZ

 December 8 & 21, 2022

    Two visits; two different experiences. Lois was with me on the first visit. I'll let the photos below show some of our sightings.

Two Mexican Duck:  Forward one is the Drake; the rear one is a juvenile.

Northern Pintail.  Hundreds of them were in the SE Basin along Higley Road

Canada Geese flew overhead

Spotted Sandpiper minus its spots in winter plumage

Killdeer

    On Wednesday, December 21st with our community group of birders, we saw several different species that can be seen in the second list below.

Black-necked Stilt

Yellow-rumped Warbler

    What doesn't make it to the bird lists are mammals and other exciting things we spot. On 12/21 it was a Coyote napping out in the dry grass next to one of the basins full of waterfowl.

When it became aware of us, it stretched. Then lay down on the dry grass again to scratch its back before giving us its inquisitive eye. It was maybe fifty yards distant.

We must have looked non-threatening as it turned and trotted up to the dirt road trail we were walking.

Keeping its distance, the Coyote ambled down the road ahead of our group.

Bird Lists for Higley & Ocotillo Ponds:

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S123640689

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S124369927

* * *

Surprises at a local birding hot spot, Maricopa County, AZ

 December 1, 2022

      With a late start of 9:30 a.m., I was surprised at the number of active birds as I walked only half the trails around the basins that form the last stage of the local Water Treatment Plant.

BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON

GAMBEL'S QUAIL (male)

ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD (male)

AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN   

    Good! Thus, I knew the pelicans were present but I had yet to see them at Pond 7, its previous location. Interestingly, the number of these pelicans has proliferated from the usual three to five birds to the 59 I counted today. Seeing so many reminded me of the 100th Monkey phenomenon. 

    Birds use neither i-Phones nor Facebook, so how do they communicate? Briefly, the 100th Monkey described what happened when a single monkey on an island of monkeys, took its food to the sea where it washed it before eating. Was it the salt the monkey liked? Or, just the cleanliness? After a few others mimicked that behavior, all the monkeys started following that new "fad". But, then, inexplicably, monkeys on other islands nearby, having had no physical contact with this original tribe, began doing the same thing. Conjecture assumes the original tribe reached a point of critical mass carrying the behavior throughout the species. Perhaps it is the idle assumption that the birds communicated this ideal location in that way. But it reminded me very much of how much or how little we know about communication among birds and other wildlife.

    While viewing the pelicans, I almost tripped over the INCA DOVE, above.

    In a bush beside me, I spied a very stealthy quiet GREEN HERON (above) going about its business of searching for just the right fish.

More AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN

    Most often, the CURVE-BILLED THRASHER (above) goes onto my list having heard its "WHEET-WHEET" call. This morning I was able to track it down.

    At the next clearing, I spied a LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER working the mudflats, below:

At that point, another AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN flew overhead before deciding to join that extensive group at Pond 5. Note the position of the flaps on the wings and the landing feet beginning to lower.

    Enjoying myself for quite some time now, my feet were moving me back to my starting place, the parking lot at Gilbert Water Ranch. Having birded only the east side of the many acres of basins and trails, it had been a wonderful morning.

    Then! Guess who popped out from behind a bush to pose for me:

Whoops! One good look at me and . . .

GREATER ROADRUNNER

    What a day!

    Until next time...

* * *

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S123298132

Good Weather; Good Birds. Wrap up of several Outings. Pinal and Maricopa Counties, AZ

     Spontaneous short visits to local birding hot spots ended up being pleasantly rewarding. Despite very high winds, a quick run to Oak Flat Campground in Superior, AZ, produced more birds than I could photograph. (11/20/22)

White-crowned Sparrow (above & below)

American Goldfinch - female

White-throated Sparrow (above and below)

Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)

    At the Salt River on 11/25/22, a WESTERN BLUEBIRD caught my attention at Coon Bluff. 

At Granite Reef Recreation Area on 11/28/22, the number of waterfowl in the Salt River had escalated. Among the 150+ AMERICAN WIGEON, some new species had arrived: GADWALL, RING-NECKED DUCKI, BUFFLEHEAD and CANVASBACK. 

Catching my attention immediately was an upside-down bird--a TRUMPETER SWAN with its very large gray/white body above the surface. Already reported by multiple birders, I had hoped it would be present. A CANVASBACK associated with the very much larger swan.

Thrilled to see this out-of-territory rare TRUMPETER SWAN so close to home, the SWAMP SPARROW I found later had seemingly lost its cachet.

SWAMP SPARROW

* * *