The Whispering Willows

Bridled Titmouse

Tic toc, tic toc.  Time is running short.  Just how many different bird species could I find in the state of Arizona before the end of January?  I'd read reports and have to carefully decide. Did I want the bird for my Pima list or Arizona list?  Ultimately it doesn't matter, but during the month of January, one has to pick and choose.  

Great Egret

Reports would come in and there were some nights I could not sleep at all.  This Pacific Loon reported in Tucson kept me up all night.  Sadly, this Mega-rare bird lived for one week before passing.  A birder found the loon floating near the reeds.  It was sent in and studied for the cause of death.  When I observed the bird, I didn't notice anything wrong with it.  Many birders around Southern Arizona were saddened by the news.  In November, Kathie and I spotted the Common Loon together.  It had difficulties getting out of a pond but eventually the loon made its way out.  This Pacific Loon did not.  I now have our local Wildlife Rescue number programmed into my cell phone in case I ever witness something like this in the field.  The bird will be preserved and studied by the University.  The autopsy had shown that the bird had died from starvation.  Mother Nature can be cruel sometimes.  But your memory dear Loon will be preserved on this blog.

Pacific Loon

Moving onto a happier report, I went onto the fabled Willow Lake of Prescott in Northern Arizona.  Home of the rare and special Tundra Swans.  It was a first for me as we scoured the lake for the Swans.  I had never seen wild swans before!

Northern Harrier

And along the way, I met my fabulous blogger friend Cynthia to find the swans!  We hiked through the cold and muddy fields full of goose $^&%$ and found our target bird.  It's more than just the birds.  Sometimes it's about the people and the experiences we have along the way.

So many wonderful birds can be seen around Willow Lake like Canadian Geese, Snow Geese, Ross's Geese, Mergansers, a couple Bald Eagles......and Swans!

Snow Geese mixed in with Ross's Geese.  There were 8 in the flock but mixed.  Possible hybrids. 

The Common Merganser took flight and I am now satisfied with a nice shot of this bird:)

Common Merganser

And then.....PAYDAY!  It took us one day to find the birds and a morning with Cynthia to get up close for those better observations and pictures. Thank you so much Cindy!

Tundra Swans

The hike was fun and the rock formations were extremely cool. If you're up in Northern Arizona, check out Watson and Willow Lakes.  The Big January report is coming up soon.

Willow Lake

Flee!

While birding at parks, I find people to be most annoying with birds.  But as a photographer, I am thrilled.  It's a fight between my human side and my naturalist side.  The above shot displays child curiosity at its best, but the birder in me wants to snap at people for purposely chasing these poor birds around.  Our policy while birding is never to disturb a bird.....if we can avoid it.

But some people, either for the photo opportunity or because they plain ol' don't care, purposely walk through a group of birds.  I think when I looked at this pic closer, the woman appears to be smiling. 

The photographer in me likes it all and as Kathie puts it....."You are getting your flight shots."

But the birder in me doesn't like it one bit.  For example, in the shot above of the Killdeer.  I could get closer but I don't want to spook the bird into flight.

I'm a regular Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  What about you?

"Great" Expectations

African Brown Goose

On a slow day, I went to take a walk at Columbus Park in Tucson.  I wanted to take advantage of the cooler temps and see if I could spot something different.

Great Egret in flight

And while I didn't have lots of new sightings, I was able to capture the "Greater" birds out in the open.  Some of them were the closest I've been able to capture on camera!

Great Blue Heron

Like the Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets.  They walked slowly around me as I watched them eye up fishermen and their bait:)

But for the first time, I was able to spot wildlife and then spot people walking towards them.  And at this point, I was able to predict their trajectory as people and dogs alike spooked the birds into flight.

And that is where I set my camera waiting with great expectation for "the" shot.

Great Blue Heron in flight

It was also the perfect time of day to spot Great Egrets as the sun wasn't as strong yet to make them "glow" in the sunlight.

And so while nothing major happened, I was able to get close to some amazing birds.  There's never a dull moment while birding:)  More tomorrow....