Urban Leisure

Great-tailed Grackle

Phoenix.  It's a city full of heat, buildings, highways and people. It's also home to many conventions which includes the Phoenix Comicon.  And it's the only time of year when I stop to take a break from birding.  Well kinda.  

Cast members from Battlestar Galactica, Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell, entertain the crowds with their personal stories.

Some birders have the strength to switch off their birding powers. Meaning they can focus on the wedding, meeting or conversation in which they are presently engaged.  I do not have that control.  While eating breakfast with my brother and friends, I watch little House Sparrows "steal" food from around our tables.  It's amazing how these little birds work their way around people in the deadly heat. And yet somehow they do. 

House Sparrow on the prowl

In fact, the older part of downtown Phoenix really isn't a great place to bird at all. It's amazing that ANY birds can survive the heat.  But wherever dirty humans are; there be birds that thrive from our carelessness. Convention centers bring in hordes of people all year round creating an endless supply of food scraps.  Enter the Great-tailed Grackles, Rock Pigeons, Doves, House Sparrows and........well that's about it:)  Or so I thought.

Out of curiosity and a much needed break from the crowds, I grabbed my gear and headed a block away to a little green oasis in the center of town.  Without a car, I decided to go to the only spot with a tiny grove of trees. Above is the map that details just how much concrete surrounds the hotel.  However, if you take a closer look, there is just a tad bit of green indicating trees, shade, water and.....lawn. This is a perfect migrant trap. Thanks to the skyscraper buildings surrounding this area, shade protects this oasis from the scorching afternoon temps.  On this day, the temp was 105 degrees.  

Looking at a map from on top is helpful, but it doesn't always give the "at level" scale.  Here is the space from ground level.  Why are these pics important?  Let's take a look. Starting from bottom left you'll notice an Anna's Hummingbird feeding from a Penta garden.  Pentas and Coral Fountains(vertical upper right) make great hummingbird plants.  And indeed they were used by both Anna's and Black-chinned Hummers. Also note there is water, grass and tree cover.  When all of these things are present, special types of birds can be found.

Normally this time of year, American Robins can be found at higher altitudes around canyons and mountain tops. BUT on this day, I heard a thrush calling in the concrete jungle.  I traced the song to a tree and discovered a pair of Robins!  Never in a million years did I expect to find these birds here.  It didn't look like they were in any rush to leave the area as they fed in the narrow and shaded grass strips of the park. This kinda stuff blows my mind away.  I've seen the robin thousands of times but this sighting was pretty special.  

the male American Robin

The heat eventually got to this human and it was back to the convention center.  There I hung out with my brother(dressed in the Batman outfit he created) and watched people get excited while having their pictures taken next to him.  He does an amazing job with all that latex stuff.  

It was also great hanging out with my buds Gabi, Justin, Nick and Brian.  Of course, anything that has science fiction mixed up with birds has my full attention.  I purchased several creative pieces of art which include this irritated looking Chewbacca below.  Or as several friends have called him.....Jaybacca:)  I'm not sure where I'll hang these pics, but I'm glad I purchased them:) Whenever you see art that speaks to you, purchase it!  I saw this painting and kept returning to it.....which meant.....buy it!:)

Darrell Driver Fine Art

Also of important note this week, I added a new bird, the Abert's Towhee, to my yard list bringing the total to 42 bird species. Not bad for being in the middle of the city.  AND, I was asked to write an article for Bird Watcher's Digest!  There's always something exciting happening in the bird world and I'm glad to share it with you all. 

And finally, here are some images from the Phoenix area.  Every year, it's tradition to visit the Mute Swans on our way home.  These Mute Swans have attempted to nest over the past two years.  Each time, they have failed. 

juvenile Harris's Hawk

 Maybe coyotes or hawks were to blame for their empty nests?  This time around it looks like there was some human intervention.  They are loved by quite a few people and it looks like they are treated very well. 

The male kept a close eye on me....and I him:)  While this pic below isn't great, it shows that mom and dad are new parents to FIVE goslings!  Congrats!  I like to keep my distance from any type of nest, but it was fun hanging out with the flock for awhile. 

Hope you have a great week and stay tuned for more:)  Don't forget to check out Wild Bird Wednesday(upper left link) and Hootin' Anni's Chronicles. 

To the Heart of the Matter

Lovebirds galore at Encanto Park!

Twiddling my thumbs until the next great journey arrives, I joined AZFO and Magill Weber this past Saturday to find the exotic Rosy-faced Lovebirds up in Phoenix.  Their expansion continues across this great metropolitan area.  Our task?  To find as many of these lovebirds as we could.  

Guardian Rosy-faced Lovebirds

I've been finding that I need to "spice" up my birding life a bit by doing different types of birding.  This lovebird quest was right up my alley!

a new ebird hotspot!  Margaret T. Hance Park!

Over the past 30 years, these lovebirds seem to have taken over the Phoenix metro by storm.  Their numbers have been increasing and today, these African migrants are now considered an established resident within the greater Phoenix area.  We do not have them in Tucson....or at least not yet. Back in 1987, the Rosy-faced Lovebird was first reported breeding in the East Valley near the Apache Junction and Mesa city border. Today, these colorful little birds can be counted on the ABA list.....but ONLY in Maricopa county.

Fledgling Rosy-faced Lovebird.  One of possibly 4 in this nest!

So I had an absolute blast hanging out with Magill as we explored all the urban parks within our count area.  It wasn't too hot as we visited places like Encanto and Steele Indian School Parks.  We even created a new Ebird Hotspot!!!  We're proud to welcome Margaret T. Hance Park to the Ebird map. If you live in Arizona, it's right next door to the Phoenix Japanese Tea Garden above the freeway tunnel. 

Blood=heart=love=lovebirds

We went to each of the parks covering many of the palm trees looking for nesting birds.  Often times, lovebirds will fly as a flock into the various desert trees near water sites.  All of the parks we visited had plenty of urban water and grass.  And homeless people.  Skater people. Blood drive people.  People selling their religion. Balloon releasing birthday people. Needle using people. And I could go on and on.  Arizona city parks.  Definitely not the same type of park I remember from my childhood in Wisconsin:)

Magill narrowly escapes an urban water disaster! We had to get a closer view of possible nesting lovebirds around this tricky gate.

But we were a team and stood together in some of the sketchiest areas as we counted oh SO MANY lovebirds!  Our final tally was around 113 lovebirds within our count area.  There were lots more we didn't see. 

I think one of the biggest things, for me anyway, is having a sense of humor.  It's important to laugh and have a good time between the bird observations.  I've been with some birders in the past who don't have a sense of humor. OR!  Have completely lost their sense of wonder.  Part of this lovebird count was to get into the "nitty gritty" places often overlooked by so many people.

We discover a forest in the middle of our area

Magill is great and I really wish she lived closer so we could bird more often together.  Both of our spouses would probably kill us because we are addicts to the birds. Fix up the house or go find the bird?  Hmmmmm, easy! Let's go find the birds! Every time we explore a new location, we learn something different. Each offers the birder a new experience.  Every experience is like a new episode from our favorite TV show each week.

Eurasian-collared Dove

So yeah.  There are those common birds that LOVE to hang out at the parks as well, but they're still cool to me.

Great-tailed Grackle

Each one beautiful in their own unique way.  

Ring-necked Duck

So what's a birder to do?  I had to count them all! 

Snowy Egret

And while the lovebirds are not native to Arizona, they are welcomed by many of the locals for their color and personality. The "cute" factor wins people over right away. 

Note the yellow mutation of the Rosy-faced Lovebird to the right.  We found only one of these birds in our count. It's called a "Lutino".  Fascinating!

So take a look at the common birds found around the same areas as the Rosy-faced Lovebirds.  Several are exotics as well which include the Rock Pigeons, Eurasian-collared Doves and European Starlings.  One can see why the lovebirds stand out among the brown and black birds. 

Luna is wondering why there are holiday decorations to go with Valentine's dinner

And since we're speaking of love, blood, lovebirds, etc, I thought I'd include this pic of my version of Valentine's dinner.  I hate all Hallmark holidays but I'm still expected to celebrate them or get in big trouble.  So I made a holiday dinner in protest of these blasted human made events.  I had holiday music in the background with all the decorations to boot!  Dinner was delish and I made it through another one of these silly days.  Of course our cat Luna was a bit confused:)

Finally, I'd like to do a brief public service announcement.  While we were out on this day, I photographed 3 of the 4 things that kill birds out in the wild.  1.  Feral cats.  I love them.  But I love my birds as well.  They are the number one killer of all birds.  2. Sending balloons into the heavens.  The Almighty doesn't want them and will send them back down to us causing large amounts of trash around our cities. In some places, it's illegal to release balloons. 3. Power lines.  Lots of birds are electrified by touching two wires(think big birds with big wingspans!). There isn't much we can do about this one other than notify city officials if hawks, etc continue getting fried.  They can usually do some preventative work regarding this issue and just need to be notified. And 4.  Fishing line. Usually, if I can reach it and pull it off a tree branch, etc, I will.  Water birds can really get tangled up in that mess!  

Well that's my report for this week. Stay tuned for more as we journey with several of our favorite birder friends to new and old places alike.  Sometimes I feel like Mr. Rogers:)  I even wear the same dang vest!  Until next time friends!