Two Birds Are Better Than One

Black-capped Gnatcatcher

On a beautiful and relaxing weekend out, we went searching for 2 new birds to add to the Arizona State list. It was cold and it felt good to be on the trails again for long periods of time.

White-faced Ibis

Our first count happened at Patagonia Lake State Park for the rare(to the US) Green Kingfisher.  It's a pretty bird that happened to be hanging out in a beautiful location. 

The waterways of Patagonia

These past two months close to home have been fun for me because the riparian corridors in Southern Arizona have been really exciting to explore.  And it seems like the birding trend has been for birders to explore these spaces more.  The weather was perfect and the bird finds were fantastic.

Bewick's Wren

Besides all the regulars we get, we had a whopping 10 rare species show up on our count over a 5 hour time period! Yes.  We were on the trails for 5 hours because the weather was SO nice.

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

We also went to help out with the CBC counts down in Patagonia.  I didn't sign up at all because I couldn't commit to the dates.  Originally we were supposed to go up to Mt. Lemmon but a snow storm hit the mountain and made it difficult for us to help that CBC count.  My car is a simple one. She's not rough or rugged like other birder cars.

While we were down there, we were able to relocate the Green Kingfisher and help the crew find some new species to add to their counts.

Hutton's Vireo

The photo of the Green Kingfisher below is a stock photo of the many we have seen down in Mexico. It's a very pretty bird.

As we were finishing up our counts, we saw a gull fly towards us.  Gulls in Arizona are fun because we obviously don't get to see them often in the desert.  But a Pacific Storm had rolled through the area bringing with it a Pacific Loon(expected rarity during this time of year) and a California Gull.

California Gull at sunset

People had said there were Ring-billed Gulls in the area so I had expected to see this more common gull.  Then I saw the red dip on the lower bill and I knew we had a California Gull. Again this bird isn't unexpected, but it does show up as rare.  Patagonia State Park is expensive and the 20 dollar entrance fee is too much.  Unfortunately, this will be our last trip there until that fee comes down.  However, we had an amazing day out finding at least 77 species of birds. Here is our count.

Cackling Goose

As Sunday arrived, I had one more bird I needed for my AZ state list, the Long-tailed Duck. It's a crazy bird for our state.  They do show up from time to time in December.  A couple years ago, one showed up on Christmas Day and then disappeared shortly afterwards.  For those who could break away from the Christmas formalities, it was a gift.

Hammond's Flycatcher

So when this one showed up a week ago, I thought it wouldn't stick around for the weekend.  Then it did.  And that's when I made the decision to go.

Northern Cardinal

However, this location, the Glendale Recharge Ponds, is not so pretty and not really so much fun to explore.  You just show up and look at the basins to count birds that are usually too far out to see without a scope.

Pyrrhuloxia

When a birder arrives at this location, they are greeted by lots of graffiti. I've been told that some people have had things stolen or worse.  Just recently, a man hung himself from the bridge.  There was an altar to remember him as we parked our car at the "entrance". 

The canals of Glendale Recharge Ponds

I called my friend Gordon on a whim to see what he was doing and he's like....yeah, let's go birding!  That was awesome.  Even though he had seen the bird, he wanted to go out and bird for awhile. Plus, he is a master of kung fu and jujutsu.  So he warded off the bad people as we scoured the ponds for the Long-tailed Duck.  While we were there, we witnessed a lot of poaching along the canal.  Several people were collecting fish illegally.  When we moved to their location, they moved away but not without collecting several buckets of fish.  So here is my advice for this popular birding spot.  If you are visiting, go during the day and with a friend.  Many locals go alone but only because they are familiar with the area. 

Long-tailed Duck

Coming up next week, Las Aventuras hits the road once again to find new birds.  I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season.  Until next week.......