Babs' Birding Experiences : Cruising Phoenix West Valley Ag fields for Birds, Maricopa County, AZ

Sunday, January 9, 2022

When Lois and I began birding in the Buckeye agricultural area, our first significant spotting was a FERRUGINOUS HAWK. Took me by surprise and didn't have my camera ready, so the one below is from my files. Perched in a tree with its white front facing the early morning sun, it got nervous when I finally rolled down my car window to try for a photo. It lifted and flew off. Also a wonderful sight.

Passing a dairy farm, we next came upon hundreds of YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS.

RED-TAILED HAWK sightings would be plentiful today, but this was the first one we saw:

Then, Lois caught sight of a huge tight flock of WHITE-FACED IBIS overhead. The whole flock dropped into a field where we were able to see individual WHITE-FACED IBIS bunched up together. We estimated the tight flock held at least 500 birds. Without the white breeding feathers around its face, it was still identifiable by its red-faced skin as opposed to the blue of the more eastern Glossy Ibis that occasionally shows up in our territory. There were many first-year birds in the flock, too.

Slowly, the Ibis began to spread out eagerly foraging here and there in the nearby fields.

Some of the WHITE-FACED IBIS landed in a field where BLACK-NECKED STILT and GREATER YELLOWLEGS were foraging. If you look carefully at the photo below, you'll see two GREATER YELLOWLEGS among the Stilts.