Wrenegades 2020 Birdathon

Eared Grebe

Dear friends of Las Aventuras, 

I'm sorry for the delay in blog posts. I have been working on documentation for two separate writes for this week and next. It has been a lot of fun and it has definitely taken my mind off of our current situation. This past weekend we did some important fundraising for Tucson Audubon. I'd like to thank all the people who donated to our team, the Wrenegades.  We've raised some good money to protect Southeastern Arizona's birds, habitat and wildlife!

American Avocets

Obviously, this year we had to do things differently.  The team had to break up and work within our circles of family and friends being socially distant and responsible. In this post, you'll see how we accomplished our goals separately and yet together using technology to communicate.  

I was responsible for the shorebirds migrating through the state right now. I went with my friend Celeste and her furry pooch, Cheroot. Together we saw some amazing birds.  You'll see some of our finds in today's posts. Much of our energy was spent around water areas like Lake Cochise in Willcox and the riparian area near the San Pedro House.  It was a gorgeous day!

In Arizona, especially southeastern Arizona, there is a lot of habitat to cover.  While I took the Cochise county sector, Captain Jennie(MacFarland) Wren covered the Santa Cruz county area with Richard Fray and together they found such amazing birds like the Thick-billed Kingbird along the DeAnza trail.  

Her area is great for vultures, like the Black Vulture, and other hawks. There are also great sparrows like the Rufous-winged Sparrow just waiting to be found. And they did!

American Avocet

Throughout the day, we kept in contact with Jennie and reported our finds.  She kept together the checklist as we all accomplished our goals.  Jennie and Richard birded from home.  It also helps to live in Rio Rico where the wildlife is outstanding.  It's near a lot of great birding hotspots along the I 19 corridor.  

Meanwhile, Wrenegade's team member Sara Derouen Pike, took to the local state parks and city parks with her family to find such treasures like the Northern Beardless Tyrannulet.  Sometimes we get so busy that we forget the "basics".  You know......Rock Pigeons, European Starlings and House Sparrows.  And in our case for that day, we didn't have a Black-tailed Gnatcatcher on our list!  Sara saved the day and found us one!  

So many birds and just not enough time in ONE day to find them all!  Arizona birding is amazing. 

White-faced Ibis

Sometimes I will find random birds that I wasn't expecting to get on my list like the nomadic American White Pelican.  What a treat!  These are inland pelicans but not always guaranteed on our counts. 

American White Pelican

Often times, a lot of our amazing shorebird species are overlooked.  Some of them are too confusing I hear people say, but if you get a close up look, they are quite beautiful.  

Like sparrows, the sandpiper group can be difficult for beginning birders.  They can even be difficult for expert birders if they are in the wrong light!  Thankfully, this Western Sandpiper posed nicely for the camera where I could observe that nice rufousy cap with black legs. There are some rufous patches on the back that also help with this ID.  

Western Sandpiper

I failed to find any Baird's Sandpipers, but we did find quite a few Least, Spotted and Western Sandpipers.  

 

It may shock some people to hear that we even have Willets pass through Tucson.  Where's the water?  Again we don't have many watering holes, but where there is water, there can be waterbirds!  It's important to check them daily as birds come and go.  And during our birdathon, we checked Willcox Lake several times to pick up new birds during each visit.  

Western Willet

Meanwhile, our very own Matt Griffiths took social distancing and birding to the next level.  This guy BIKED from Tucson up into canyons of Mt. Lemmon!  He was the last to report from our group because he was out of wifi range.  My hat goes off to Matt.  I'd be dead trying to do that route. The ride up Catalina highway is a steep, hot and dangerous one. There can be so much traffic as well. Years ago I used to bike marathons.  Today, not so much.  He'd blow it off as nothing, but what he did was an amazing feat of birding.  Meanwhile, Celeste, Cheroot and myself sat in the shade and ate lunch with a nice cold coke.  That's my kind of birding:)  

I like the walks, but it's over one hundred degrees now here in Tucson.  You bird in the morning or in the evening.  And if you have a strong desire to bird the whole day, you go up into the higher elevations or bird from the a/c of your car. 

I had to take off my birder's cap for you all so that you can see this crazy covid do!  We wore our masks when people got too close.  We still have lots of cases here and so social distancing and masks are necessary.  Thankfully Arizona has a lot of wonderful wide open spaces to meander!

After all was said and done, our team managed to find 165 different bird species for the day.  Each one of us will tell you that we had several stand out birds from our journeys. I always love those conversations.  It's exciting to hear who found what and where. 

Solitary Sandpiper

What we do is important.  Our team has raised, so far, 4300 dollars.  We're not done yet.  Tucson Audubon is one of the most active organizations here in Tucson and in the country. The organization is very involved with the Tucson and Southeastern Arizona communities. There is so much going on at all times.  Even if you can't financially help, we still offer so many other ways you can participate with our local birds.  All you have to do is check out the Tucson Audubon website.  

Wilson's Phalarope

If you'd like to donate, click here. 

Long-billed Dowitcher

As always, thank you for following Las Aventuras.  Next week, we go on a chase and take an adventure up into the White Mountains as I learn to maneuver around birds and people.  We do some more social distancing in cooler weather!  Until next time.......

Withdrawal Symptoms

A Mallard approaches us

Have you ever closed the curtains to your windows so that you could just keep the outside world out?  Lately, I have been unmotivated and tired.  But I made a promise to myself at the beginning of the year that I would work on my US list.  My only goal?  To stay within the top 100 in the national scheme of things.  So far so good.  

I'm tired of the chasing.  I'm tired of the ebird reports and most of all just feeling a bit confined for the moment. The home requires a little TLC and I'm working on several projects right now that will add a little spark to our place.  

Black-capped Chickadee at one of the hotspots I created for Ebird in Colorado Springs.....Quail Lake

So I understand that there are birds out there that need to be seen for the year but their locations are rather uninspiring. What does that mean?  Well, there are cool birds that can be found in trashy locales full of sketchy people or hot desert scrub in the middle of nowhere. I'm much more inclined to sit in my pajamas with a cup of coffee during the weekend and read a good book. 

Bucks hidden in a secret canyon outside of Colorado Springs during hunting season

Granted there are always birds that amaze me....even the common ones.  But after a year of chasing (and this last road trip to Colorado), I'm about ready to hang up my birding vest and cap.  Next year I'll be stepping back from the birding scene and just focusing on new life birds.

American Avocets in Bosque Del Apache, New Mexico last week

For now, I've made the New Year's Resolution "find and re-find as many new and old birds as I can" a reality.  It's not as easy as it sounds.  Family, weather, money, work and home have interfered with my focus at times.  Time is everything. 

People will ask me, "What has been the most challenging part about this birding trek?"  Time and money are a challenge especially when there is a full-time job to consider. I've only hit half the necessary hot spots in the US to stay in the top 100. With more money and "free" time, I could plot and strategize better. Another challenge?  Locating grouse!  They are some of the most difficult birds to locate.  Some of the grouse that have eluded me so far this year have been the Dusky, Spruce and Gunnison sage-grouse!  They are VERY difficult.  It took me two years to discover the secretive nature of this Montezuma Quail below!  Hearing the bird is one thing but to watch it watch me only inches away was quite a learning experience.  The bird was completely camouflaged by the grasses and for me it was one of the hardest things I've had to do as a birder this year!

Montezuma Quail

BUT! The Montezuma Quail live here so I've been able to constantly go back and study their habitat. This has allowed me to get a better idea about how they interact with their environment.  But the other grouse?  Not common here in Southern Arizona and when I'm in their territory, their environment and habits are completely alien to me. Rails also fall into the same category.  There are several in December that I hope to locate.  Sometimes finding mammals are easier than spotting birds!  And let me tell you, if I were a hunter, I would have done very well this last week. Thankfully I use a camera to shoot.  Then I whisper to the deer, "Stay safe."

So as I slow down, for now, I am learning to just enjoy the simple things and pull back from my personal challenge of "finding all the birds".   I have one last big trek for the year scheduled into California.  For the time being, I'm drawing my shades and just relaxing a bit before going back on the road again.  I'm not going to let the competitive birding out there drive me insane:)  Maybe it's too late for that?

Sparrow love-Brewer's Sparrow.  Yeah it's brown and plain but.......what a cool bird!

Currently for the year, I've seen and documented 450 species of birds. I'm not done:) Last year, I observed 452 species.  While out on the road this year, we had a little fun on our treks around Arizona.  The mastermind, Tommy D, loves putting together birding videos while on his Arizonan treks.  In this state, a birder can go from extreme heat to snow within a half hour!  Sometimes we desert rats forget to prepare for the colder terrain while on that chase for a rare bird.  Here is one of my favorites he filmed while looking for a super rare bird in the north country!  Check out Tommy D's Birding Stereotypes.  Arizona truly is an awesome place to bird.  Where will we be next weekend?  Stay tuned for more from Las Aventuras. 

Don't forget to check out Wild Bird Wednesday!

Birding in Puerto Peñasco

Black Bellied Plover

As mentioned in the previous post, it was a thrill for me to have some new birds to photograph......although they weren't the only things I snapped shots of:)  Returning back to Rocky Point this time was quite special because I came with a birder's eye.  By seeing things through a different "lens", the vacation turned from a "reading books" type trip to a real wildlife excursion.  And while searching, I discovered several more favorite birds to add to my list.....like the Black Bellied Plover.  What an interesting bird!  It kept watching me with intelligent eyes.

Long-billed Curlew

Rocky Point is tricky.  There isn't really an "official" birding list, but thanks to our Arizona-New Mexico Birding List, I was able to get lists from several birders like Steve Ganley and Pete Moulton(for the CBC) and their lists were wonderfully detailed.  So thank you both for your helpful tips.  My point here is that there is a little bit more research that has to go into the trip before taking off for this lovely destination. It's a little bit of detective work:)

Brown Pelican

And of course, I'll be taking you all to Bird Island which was a bit tricky and almost didn't happen.  But if you just walk the shoreline, you are going to see so many birds.  On this trip, there were plenty of terns, pelicans, and gulls.  In fact, I thought the Brown Pelicans would steal my attention, but it turned out that there would be many mysterious birds that would fly by me like in this pic below.  What were they?  Their sillouettes give me clues but I can't see their faces or colors.

There were plenty of things to discover, but my eyes had to adjust to the intense blues and washed out and sun drenched landscape.  It wasn't easy sometimes as these birds really did blend in with their surroundings.

Willet

I would do my walks early in the morning or late afternoon and around the time that the tides changed.  A pair of American Oystercatchers were hanging out by some tide pools and that was fun to watch.  They were quite the pair:)

American Oystercatcher

The terns captured many people's attention with their acrobatic flight skills.... and their voices were great to hear all around our beach home.   When massive schools of fish would swim by, these birds would dive bomb into the waters in numbers.

Common Tern

And of course, a bird would fly into sight if I got too close.....

Black-bellied Plover

.......but the water wasn't only inviting to me but to many of the birds in the area.

I think my favorite shot of this series are the American Avocets that came from out of nowhere.   I was heading back after my long hike.  Two large groups flew past me and they didn't give me much time to prep the camera.

American Avocets

Overall it was a nice time getting to see nature in action.  There was an owl during the night.  How do I know?  I slept outside on the patio listening to the waves.  And then a "hoo hooooo" would startle me from sleep at around 3 AM.

Willet

The interesting thing about all of these ocean birds are their beaks.  Some are turned upwards.  Some downwards.  Some are wide.  While others are longer.  All of it fascinating.

American Avocet

Thankfully I brought a lot of sunblock and a great hat to keep the sun off my skin.  These birds flew often up and down the beaches.

I brought my telephoto lense for far off shots of the brown pelicans and terns. And of course, with the telephoto lense comes the tripod:)  It was quite the production that served me well on bird island. 

Originally I had come for a series on brown pelicans, but like always, it turned out to be something quite different. 

Neotropic Cormorant

I got my first glimpse at the massive Osprey nests around the area.  They aren't great shots, but now I know what to look for during an Osprey search.  Cool birds to see in person.  Tomorrow, we go more into the adventures of Bird Island and the rough waters that surround them.  This was one of those birding events that made me smile.  It was difficult but worth every moment.  Stay tuned for more.....