The Christmas Bird Counts

The team spies Mexican Jays across the lake

The CBC, or Christmas Bird Count, has been around for 119 years.  It has been a long lasting tradition for many birders around the United States during the months of December and January. And it continues to grow in popularity. And before I get started, I hope everyone had a wonderful start to their New Year! 

Orange-crowned Warbler along a remote lake

Each year I try to do at least 2 CBC's.  Anything more than two is too much:)  The CBC is a great way to meet birders from all over.  It's also a chance to explore areas that are generally off limits to the public or too difficult to enter.  There are several Arizona "circles" where the birding is rather difficult due to the remote unmarked and rough dirt road conditions. Often the leaders are given permission to get onto private land. This "circle" requires a lot of powerful vehicle driving and 4 wheel driving is a must. There's a bit of danger involved which is why it's exciting.  One of my favorite places to bird is in the Atascosa Highland area as it has some of the wildest spaces in Southeastern Arizona. But getting there is no easy task. Getting lost is a given and a road map is needed!

a secret lake in the middle of nowhere in the Atascosa Highlands

This area is also excellent for a secretive species of quail known as the Montezuma Quail. If you are going to see them well, you have to be quiet.  We were not. 

And that's why a covey flushed off into the dry wash.  Not only did we find these birds, but we also had sightings of Townsend's Solitaires and many other bird species.

This CBC count is special because it's right along the border.  You'll find water depots and buckets with food for people looking to call the US home. Every year, I have fun doing this count because I get to explore new areas that I normally don't visit.  This year we explored Apache and Jalisco Canyons.  At one point, a road became a small running creek.  There was no cell service so we packed our things well.  

Sharon spies a Hermit Thrush on a hill across the lake

The CBC is a great way to meet new people in the birding community and true to form, I met 2 new birders on this count.  

A Bewick's Wren greets us

Unfortunately, I couldn't stay for the dinner party at Wisdom Cafe because I had several doctor's appointments to attend the following day.  However, it was a lot of fun.  

The gray ghost, a male Northern Harrier

Then for the second CBC, because I only do two, I helped my friend Gordon with his area.  We went into the Buckeye area full of agricultural lands and canals.  On that day it was wonderfully cold and rainy.  I learned several new things about Maricopa birding.  I don't often bird around the Phoenix area and while Buckeye is outside of the Phoenix area, it's still in Maricopa County.  

One of the 14 Common Ground Doves we discovered along a Palm nursery

I never knew this but two rather difficult-to-find doves in Arizona are somehow breeding in this area.  We went into a palm tree nursery and found a lot of Common Ground Doves.  I can see why they'd breed in this area as it has the scrubby palm orchard necessary for cover. 

The gray skies made photography almost impossible, but on rainy days, at least for Arizona, the birds can be quite active.  However heavy wind and rain can make birding a challenge.  Our big challenge for the day was not to get stuck in the mud which there was plenty!

Long-billed Curlew

 Phoenix birders get to see certain birds more frequently than we do around the Tucson area.  Tucson gets colder than Phoenix in winter and we don't have the amount of water that Phoenix does. So finding birds like White-faced Ibis, Long-billed Curlews and Black-necked Stilts made me happy. 

Black-necked Stilt

While we were on the road, Gordon ran into some friends looking for the second rare ground dove of the day, the Ruddy Ground Doves.  Apparently these birds are at this property year round!  What the heck?  I never knew that.  All I knew was that Ruddy Ground Doves once bred in the Phoenix area, but housing projects destroyed their habitat and watering holes. I know this first hand because I researched old ebird reports where ancient birders reported hundreds of them. The old hotspots are now replaced with cookie cutter homes.

We were thrilled to spy 5 Ruddy Ground Doves on this day. So many people come to see these birds and they often dip.  Thankfully Gordon's friends were spared that feeling of a dipping disappointment. 

Ruddy Ground Dove

CBC's are wrapping up across the United States.  It will be interesting to see what their results will find.  If you are interested in the data collected, click here. 

Botta's Pocket Gopher

There's more to birding than just counting birds or finding new species.  During our time out in the field, we saw a small tornado forming.  To our knowledge, it never touched down but it was fun to watch. 

The rain kept the dust down around our count areas and made for some optimal birding.  Ferruginous Hawks are one of my favorite buteos. During our counts, we found several around the area. 

Ferruginous Hawk

Have you thought about doing a CBC?  If you've done one or more, where did you do it?  And what was the craziest bird you found? Below, I took a video of thousands of blackbirds getting ready to eat out in the ag fields. Until next time.....