Exploring a new birding area in Maricopa County, Arizona

Thursday,  February 25, 2022

    Birding friend, Lois L., shared with me her new birding location(s) in Queen Creek. Due to listening to my GPS instead of Lois, we ended up at the Queen Creek Wash Trail at two different locations. Not far apart, I called her to tell her I had arrived a bit East of her location at Power Road. So, we began walking toward one another.

    On the North side of the Wash, my first bird was a COSTA'S HUMMINGBIRD. Not nearly as frequent as the Anna's, I was thrilled to have the sun behind my back as I lifted my camera.

   The Queen Creek Wash concrete trail runs at least five miles from S. Power Road past Ellsworth Road--on the South side of the Wash. With various pedestrian options to enter the Trail, I had erroneously ended up on the north side of the Wash at a playground (west of Sossaman Road). With the preserved land on each side of the Wash full of mature bushes and short trees, I was relieved when at an opening Lois and I caught sight of one another. With only mud in the wash, I was able to cross over to join her on the concrete trail.

     Lois's first bird was a GREATER ROADRUNNER! Missing a photo of that one, we were greatly surprised to find a total of four (4) along our walk together. 

    Many were perched on tree or bush limbs trying to get warm. While we may wear a down jacket, these clever birds spread their top wings away from the down on their backs, letting the sun warm its finer feathers. Bringing their wings together above that heated down. See below.

GREATER ROADRUNNER with wings drooped low to expose down on its back to the sun.

As we walked the concrete trail, birds presented themselves by voice and, with luck, a sighting. Singing its heart out as it warmed up, a CURVE-BILLED THRASHER's voice accompanied us for quite a while.  Below.

    Always on the lookout for a small morsel for breakfast, the COOPER'S HAWK, below held its position.\

     In such good desert habitat, we also found a BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHER.      A SAY'S PHOEBE was busy flycatching. Sallying out from its perch, it would catch something, bring it back to swallow, and wait to take off again.

    The flocks of GOLDFINCH were mixed with both LESSER and LAWRENCE'S, see below.

LESSER GOLDFINCH:       Babs file photo above

LESSER GOLDFINCH as observed along Queen Creek Wash Trail   (above)

    Male Lawrence's Goldfinch has a black face and cap

Digging deeper into my files, I found a decent photo of a male LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH taken at Santa Gertrudis Lane, south of Tucson a couple years ago.

Babs' file photo above

Female LESSER GOLDFINCH-top left; Male LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH-bottom right

Female LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH

   

 Surprised when we came upon a lake on the north side of the Trail, we walked up to see what might be swimming around. Ah, one of my favorite ducks - REDHEAD.    With about fifty RING-NECKED DUCK out on the lake, I took a photo of a male and a female 

drake/hen

    With marvelous, albeit cool weather (40-57°F), we were thrilled with our first venture to this unique and well-preserved wetland.

    The previous week, on Saturday, February 19th, Lois shared another new trail with me, also located in Queen Creek, south of the Queen Creek Wash.

    Sonoqui Wash Trail, accessed off of Power and Ocotillo, delivered one special bird, the MONK PARAKEET. They construct a large nest out of short sticks. See my photos below. What a Joy!

    That's it for today's post. Will be back before long with migration picking up and weather warming. 

    Don't forget to check on the link below to view the eBird checklist

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S103694046

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S103034545

Birding Northwest of the Phoenix Valley, Wickenberg, Maricopa County, AZ

 Wednesday, February 16, 2022

With four of our community birders planning to bird Hassayampa River Preserve while camping at nearby Lake Pleasant, those of us remaining in AJ decided to meet them at the Preserve at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, February 16th.

Leaving from home base at 6 a.m. and driving north, we were treated to a wink from the Full Moon as it slipped into the sky past a big cloud. Later, the clouds diffused providing colorful moon scenarios. Our cameras were tucked for the awaited birding. 

The name “Hassayampa” comes from a Yavapai Indian word, hayesamo, meaning “following the water as far as it goes.” Apache Indians referred to it as the “upside-down river” because it flows underground most of the way (per the internet).

Having had successful rainfall during the summer monsoon and continuing months, the Hassayampa was more than drought-caused puddles and sand bars of some previous years. The width of the River (or lack thereof) made an impression on those seeing it for the first time.  No, it is not a ditch; not a canal; it is a narrow river flowing through the Preserve. It was fresh, clear, and bubbling along as beautifully as I’ve ever seen it. 

Checking out Palm Lake and some trails came first. Then we would Bird the River Ramble looking for the resident Red-shouldered Hawk and songbirds.

Lots of action around the edges of the picnic area kept us busy swinging binoculars from one bird to the other. One would continue running out from the shelter of downed branches to the wide dirt trail we walked — a HERMIT THRUSH.

Babs photo

At the lake -- such cuteness!  An adult PIED-BILLED GREBE with a juvenile stayed close to the reeds as they swam. Glenda managed a good “catch” of the two through limbs and sticks beside us.  

Photo by Glenda Jones

     After finding a BLACK PHOEBE, ABERT’S TOWHEE, and several MALLARD at the pond, we turned onto the Mesquite Meander trail. Starting out on that trail appeared to be a poor choice with few if any birds calling or flying about. But when we got away from the sound of traffic out on Route 60 and turned north under the trees with open space, we came upon several different mixed flocks of songbirds. With poor lighting (too much sun and or too little)  photos below are from my files.

HOUSE WREN.  Babs file photo

PHAINOPEPLA. (female) Babs file photo

LESSER GOLDFINCH-male.   Babs file photo

WESTERN  BLUEBIRD - Babs file photo

    The Mesquite Meander delivered us back to Palm Lake, so we birded around the far side of it in order to have fully circled the lake.  SONG SPARROWs like to be around water.

Babs file photo

        From the Lake, we descended the few stairs to the river. It was out on this River Ramble Trail that we managed to get our eyes on two raptors overhead appearing to contest territory. The larger bird, RED-TAILED HAWK, was being driven off by the shorter, broader, shorter-winged RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. In contrast to the RED-TAILED, the RED-SHOULDERED HAWK has a long barred tail (dark/light) and a checkerboard pattern on the light trailing edge of its orangeish wings. Its "fingers" at the tips of the wings appear longer and farther apart than on many other raptors. In today's lighting, Roxie commented on the aura produced by the sunlight moving through those slender fingers. That same sun prevented an overhead photo.

RED-SHOULDERED HAWK - Babs file photo

    After almost four hours of birding, we were all ready to return to our respective habitats.

Ellen Leng, Chardi Kollmann, Karen Martin, Glenda Jones, Gloria Karch, Hinde Silver, Roxy Squires, Judy Carrier.

Until next time. . .remember to say "Hello" to the birds!

Click eBird Report below for our full list of sightings.

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S102745458

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Inaugural Nautical Birding Adventure, Saguaro Lake, Maricopa County, AZ

 Wednesday, February 9, 2022

    Checking wind reports for Saguaro Lake up to the last minute, a marine report finally provided "winds of two to four miles/hour" during our planned time on the water. So, almost suddenly, it seemed, our community birders were in a "GO" situation rather than needing to cancel. Ignoring earlier "high gusts" reports, we decided to go check it out.

    Typically, Santa Ana winds form over the mountain ranges between California and Arizona in the fall. California suffers the brunt of these winds as they blow west in cooler months after building up in the fall. Arizona sometimes gets its own winds from the turbulence. Not wanting to put ourselves in the least bit of jeopardy, we were now game for going with the current mild wind forecast. "Grab and Go!"

    Gloria K. instigated the idea of Lake birding. All ten of us were supportive as she took the lead in making it happen. Karen M., our captain, handled the 12' pontoon boat smoothly despite birders in the front of the boat sometimes standing, probably blocking her clear view of the Lake ahead.

    Swinging around the Stewart Mountain Dam for starters, it appeared Cormorant would be our only species out there.  Oh, no!  Coming in just a bit closer, waterfowl were beyond the dam, too. NORTHERN SHOVELER and COMMON MERGANSER were among RUDDY DUCKs and AMERICAN COOT.  

    The two species of cormorant, NEOTROPIC and DOUBLE-CRESTED are more difficult to identify in basic (winter) plumage, their current status, than in mating plumage. They love inland lakes around Arizona. 

While DCCO, less than ten inches larger than the NECO, size makes little difference not only to beginner Birders, but to those of us more seasoned. For those of us here year-round, we've learned that the NEOTROPIC is not only smaller (25") but has a relatively long tail and a short bill making it appear slim and lengthy in flight.  The DOUBLE-CRESTED (33") appears more "squat" in the air with a short tail and broader body.  Numbers for these two species, individually, stood at 50 - 50 for each, which is undoubtedly low but we focused on other waterfowl.

    Although my file photo of these two species, taken at Margaurite Lake in Scottsdale in the month of January (2017), the birds are closer to their mating plumage than the ones we saw out on Saguaro Lake.

Neotropic Cormorant are on the left; Double-crested on the right, where size difference is very apparent. Note the V-shaped white-feathered border on the Neotropic's chin patch. Those feathers were not yet showing (mating plumage) on the birds we saw on Saguaro Lake, making identification more challenging. The DCCO has orange lores and a rounded border of bare orangeish skin beyond its bill, both of which are difficult to see when the birds are in flight.

      As we moved away from the dam towards the wider part of Saguaro Lake, EARED GREBE were abundant. (64).  Early light was reflecting off the water. Note the Grebe's red eye and the way it carries itself in the water.   

EARED GREBE - Canyon Lake 2020  from my files

    COMMON GOLDENEYE were spotted by several of the birders, so photo below is from my files. You should be able to see the difference between Drake and Hen. Females are often drab to blend with nesting habitat.

Drake and Hen COMMON GOLDENEYE frequently seen in winter months at Granite Reef along the Salt River

    Glenda, always ready with her camera, managed a good photo of a BELTED KINGFISHER that happened to fly by.         Photo by Glenda Jones

    Farther along, we came upon a GREAT BLUE HERON rookery. It was a busy place.

Our count of 22 RING-BILLED GULL may be on the low side; they appeared back and forth during our venture out and back on opposite shores of the water.

    Eventually, we found the expected rafts of WESTERN and CLARK'S GREBE. Two keys to identification is bill color and eye location.  Olive or Yellow.  Eye within black cap or below it. Photo above shows WESTERN GREBE, left rear; and CLARK'S GREBE, front right.   from my files

    An elliptical route around Saguaro Lake to Bagley Flats and back to the marina would not be complete without at least one sighting of a BALD EAGLE. Three sightings --  even better!

     Talking to our Marina clerk when we returned the boat, he mentioned our day was the first calm water on the lake in about a week.

     As usual, a link to our full eBird Report is posted below. Just click to read.

    Until next time, then...

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S102338213

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Salt River - Coon Bluff Recreation Area, Mesa, Maricopa County, AZ

 Wednesday, February 2, 2022

    Arriving at Coon Bluff around 8 a.m., our community's intrepid birders joined me in listening to the vocalization of an ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, just beyond the parking lot.

    Nice bird! And, the first of year sighting for us!

ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER

    Having found the ATFC so close by, we then birded through the developed mesquite area with picnic tables to the shoreline of the Salt River. Following that, we birded around the bluff area that also borders the river. Waterfowl observed included: MALLARD, PIED-BILLED GREBE, SPOTTED SANDPIPER (2); GREATER YELLOWLEGS.

    Perching and running all over the bluff were two ROCK WREN. Too quick for photos, the ones below are from my files. When they perched on the bluff, the early sunlight spotlighted their white front.

    

    Farther along the river to the east, we found a GREAT BLUE HERON and a GREAT EGRET.

LEAST SANDPIPERS, instead of flocking overhead, were scattered throughout the shallows on the North shore. Many were juveniles.

Juvenile LEAST SANDPIPERS with white eyebrows, very light chest stripes but the usual greenish legs.

    Moving away from the river, we found a small flock of LESSER GOLDFINCH, photo below.

    Ellen spied a DARK-EYED OREGON JUNCO in the leaf cover below the bank at water's edge. Another FOS (first of season) bird.

    My file photo: 

    Having spotted several LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKERs, I finally managed a photo of this male, below.

    WESTERN BLUEBIRDs are always a treat. Often in larger flocks than we happened to see today (4),  they perched up alone at different spots in the same tree or another one close by.

    The VERMILLION FLYCATCHER was present, as usual at this location.

Thrilled with the cool crisp weather, clear sky and calm wind, our group had dressed appropriately for the 41°-53°F temperature. L-R: Ellen Leng, Gloria Karch, Karen Martin, Judy Carrier, Hinde Silver.

    As usual, click on the link below if you wish to view our full eBird Report.

Until next time in these good birding days.

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S101902767

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