Monday, November 14, 2022
Yesterday, Sunday, November 13th, birder friend, Lois, alerted me to a FAN-TAILED WARBLER being seen at Granite Reef Recreation Area, one of my ordinary go-to places.
Having already scheduled a Book Signing for my newly-published book, Stories of My Life; Ramblings of an Old Woman, for Sunday afternoon, I made arrangements with Lois to pick her up to go to the site first thing Monday morning. Although the FAN-TAILED WARBLER is a bird of Mexico, never has it been reported in the Phoenix area of Maricopa County. Many birders (50+) managed to view the warbler on Sunday
Well! When Lois and I arrived at 6:55 a.m., birders from various places, near and far, were at the spot looking for the warbler. It seemed early in the morning for a warbler sighting, but it was discovered yesterday at 7:30 a.m., so we all wandered in small circles around the co-ordinates fortunately provided by the original spotter.
Zach from Michigan was in the middle of a planned birding trip to Arizona and had been at White Water Draw when he got the alert of this very rare sighting. So, he drove up this way, knowing that he could always return to Sulphur Springs Valley’s White Water Draw to see the Sandhill Cranes another time. Already on site for an hour, he was hyped to find our rare visiting warbler.
Birders continued to arrive: from out of state and Kay Hawklee from Sedona drove down, too. We had done some birding together previously, so it was good to see her there. Lots of folks, locally, too, that I hadn’t seen in quite a while. Our numbers grew but still no Rare Bird in sight.
Chilled from lack of exercise in the treed area where we searched, I walked out to the sunny open area to check out birds in the Salt River. The rarity was not very deep into the treed area, so I felt we would know if it was spotted.
If you’ve never seen the film, The Big Year, a comedy starring Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson, do look it up.
Time kept ticking with not even a glance at the sought-after warbler. After three hours, my patience was wearing thin. But, what else was I doing that day? Nothing notable; I realized I just wasn’t moving around enough. So, I ambled away from the bird’s previously known “stage” to see if it might have shown up somewhere nearby.
Zach came running up breathlessly, “It’s out; they’re taking photos already.” He turned and ran back. My legs started running! (They don’t do that very often anymore!) Saw the bird immediately and quietly found a place where I could kneel among 25 or more birders for potential photos.
The FAN-TAILED WARBLER is a ground-loving bird. It was scratching and foraging in leaf matter around sticks and limbs below mesquite trees and around bushes. A gorgeous bird, it also paused to look at its audience! Not skittish, it continued to scratch for grubs or whatever was in there. When I’m excited about the bird I’m viewing, I often mess up the photos. So, I took care with settings and holding the camera tightly.
From that first sighting on Monday morning until the end of the day, the FAN-TAILED WARBLER showed up to give other birders that electric charge of seeing a non-native bird in the US. For me, it was particularly spectacular in that it showed up at one of my regular birding sites!!
My two best photos from the brief time I took pictures:
Of course, neither of these photos reveal its namesake tail, so if you want to get the full nature of the bird, check out the internet.
Until, next time.
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S122419882
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