Half A Life; Half The Credit

 

The world is a crazy place right now. It seems to test us more as we close in on the final stretches of the pandemic. And each of us struggles in our own way to try and figure it all out.  While there is hope, there is also much frustration. 

Over the past several weeks, I just gave up writing.  There has been so much happening.  We lost 2 of our older cats to something that resembled feline covid but gained two new members and were able to save our other 2 older girls. We can't shake that we somehow failed to protect them.  Even with 3 vets looking into it all; we were left with no answers. There are often moments of joy with the younger ones dotted by moments of sadness. 

Then there is work.  I don't know what happened to this semester.  It all seems so surreal.  Teachers are being forced to give students half credit for doing nothing.  There is no accountability at all and it goes against every moral fiber of our being. They ask, "How are you?" But they don't mean it. It's just a check on their list that their bosses told them to do. We see through it all. I am an understanding and patient man but to give basically free points to students/parents who abuse the system with unexcused absences? It truly is a lost year. I am not happy about giving free points to those who do not work for them.  Even with a pandemic, there are rules that need to be followed. Leadership on every level in this country has failed the American public. 

Then there is the birding.  I have been reduced to part time birder.  My heart doesn't seem to be into much of it anymore.  Rare birds aren't rare anymore.  I see people's excitement and I don't feel their joy. That scares me a lot. The weirdest part? I have found joy in watching the simple House Finch come to my feeders.  Or watch the Yellow-rumped Warbler feed from my oranges and suet.  I began this blog gardening and then became a birder.  I now find myself turning back into the gardener!  I hope this will pass. My friends tell me that this is common.  Sometimes you have to take a break. I still love my birds, but I have found other interests again.  The silver lining of covid.  Home projects are taking hold of me!  Birding money is spent into home design and art. 

I have been enjoying the work done on the coastal room. We put new furniture together and opened up the space a lot.  I've purchased paint and new light fixtures and have gotten into the art of remodeling. Our next project happens in several months.  It's all set to go.  In February, the coastal bathroom becomes a reality.  

With everything happening at home, like the roof being redone, landscaping...removing of a tree and pruning, etc, I haven't been able to bird like a normal human.  I'd say that I've gotten maybe 3 days to bird all day long.  And it's not even really about birding so much as it is about just taking a walk outdoors. 

I was finally able to do some birding with Gordon who I haven't seen since March!!!  We drove to this area just to check out things.  The best part of that day was catching up with him.  I miss hanging out with him.  Another day, I drove to a far away place to look at a beautiful Field Sparrow.  It was cloudy cool and quiet.  It was what I needed.  

I am going through something.  It's not good or bad.  Not even sure if it's really depression, but I just want to be alone working on personal projects away from everything.  I am emotionally exhausted.  Another road trip is in the works.  I was even thinking about going to Panama City, Panama because I have free flight mileage but covid is raging again and I am so near getting the vaccine. It's too risky.  I don't want to lose my airline points because of a cancellation, etc. 

Teachers in Arizona are set to be one of the first groups to get the vaccinations in the beginning of January. So that means I'll probably take the USS Betty White up along the coast to be near the ocean again to get some fresh air. And play it safe. It would also be nice avoiding getting covid a second time:)  

Right now, the USS Betty White is being serviced for a long range trek.  After that is done, I have to get new tires on the vehicle. In the above pic, a local Javelina eats pecans around my vehicle, the USS Betty White. 

For now, we all sit in a holding pattern.  We wait.  And wait.  A year lost?  Or a year full of new appreciation and perspective?  It will take awhile but at least the vaccinations have begun.  My last blog for the year will be the highlights of 2020.  There were some:)

I sit with my cats now in the catio having coffee with them watching birds and bugs. It's kind of my favorite part of the day.  

The year 2021 is beginning to shape up.  I am hopeful.  It could be the renaissance we have all been waiting for.  And one that we'll never take for granted again. Until next time......

Las Aventuras: Arizona Waterfowl

Greetings everyone! With fall migration upon us and wintering birds arriving,  I'll be writing a series of posts on Arizona birds. I'll discuss the common or rare occurrences of these birds in the state of Arizona. So if you come to Arizona, what should you expect to find as a birder?  Part one of this blog series focuses the AZ waterfowl. 

Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks.  While not a super rare duck for the lower half of the US, one needs to be in the right areas to find them.  In Texas, they are everywhere. But if you're in Arizona, where and when can you expect to find them?  They are really common during our summer months here in Southern Arizona during monsoon season.  In places like Rio Rico or Amado, you'll often find them with little babies.  Phoenix has a small population that lives there year round.  During our winter months, they are difficult to find as they do slightly migrate south into Mexico.  On occasion, I have seen a group in February or March when they are considered "rare" for the state. This is often a duck birders search for here in Arizona.  

My first record of Fulvous Whistling-Ducks in Costa Rica

Several ducks I always keep my eyes open for during our migration and winter months are the Fulvous Whistling-Ducks, Baikal Teal, Garganey, Harlequin Duck and Tufted Ducks. These are considered EXCELLENT birds and the gems of the AZ birding community. This year, the Fulvous Whistling-Ducks were seen in the city of Glendale at a Recharge Pond.  

A Long-tailed Duck shows up at the Glendale Recharge Pond in Phoenix and stays for quite awhile!

Speaking of rare AZ appearances, the Long-tailed Duck.   This duck is very common in Wisconsin. I'm so used to finding them in icy waters along our Lake Michigan piers.  So for one to appear in Arizona?!? Yes, it does rarely happen. This is one of my favorite ducks to observe in the wild.  During the months of December and January, AZ listers should keep an eye out for this bird.  Long-tailed Ducks are NOT common at all here but a few do stop and recharge for a day or more around the lakes and recharge ponds.  With this Long-tailed Duck, he stayed for about a month!

Green-winged Teal

So what waterfowl can you easily expect to observe in Arizona? During the winter months, birders find lots of wonderful ducks!  And the ducks aren't afraid of you either.  Back in Wisconsin, they tend to stay far away thanks in part to hunting.  They know that people will shoot them.  Here in lovely Arizona, many of the ducks find a safe refuge at our local parks and golf courses. I remember one time a birder told me how shocked she was to have Canvasback come right up to her!   

Canvasback

Anyhow, Canvasback, Redheads, Mallards, Ring-necked Ducks, Gadwall, Bufflehead, Green and Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shovelers, Northern Pintail(they still tend to be shy), Cinnamon Teal(this is one people look for here), and Ruddy Ducks are all pretty common.

Redhead

So what's MORE difficult to find?  To step up your game, you'll have to have patience. You'll comb through the endless American Wigeons and regular ducks to find those "less common" birds.  Take for example this Wood Duck.  They can be tricky, but they are present if you know where to look. 

Wood Duck

However, if you see a Mandarin Duck, don't get too excited. OR DO GET EXCITED!  If you play the ABA game, they don't count here in Arizona.  They are pretty though.  Every single time one pops up, I have to listen to ABA birders talk about how they are escapees from the Phoenix zoo with a small breeding population.  Ok ok, I get it ABA peeps, this duck isn't worth your time.  It's still a bird and it's still worthy of a pic:)

Mandarin Duck

Other ducks NOT countable if you play the ABA game?  Muscovy Ducks.  They are also considered escapees from somewhere.  Apparently people love to eat them.  If you want your Muscovy to count, you'll have to go to Florida to add them to your ABA list. My true experiences with Muscovy Ducks are that they are EXTREMELY shy in the wild.  

Domestic Muscovy Ducks and Muscovy Hybrids are seen occasionally in Arizona

The Scaups.  During our winter months, we have both Lesser and Greater Scaups.  I know both these birds well.  I think my spirit bird is the Greater Scaup.  I found one this year in Tucson for the birder club.  Lesser Scaups are very common here during our winter but Greater Scaups are NOT AS COMMON.  But that's what makes them fun.  With a little patience and confidence, a birder may find one hanging out with the Lessers.  They are considered "rare" here but I would say they aren't as uncommon as many think.  Look for the wide nail on the bill, the rounder head and the wider white area around the bill to help with the ID.  The Greater, as suggested in the name, is also larger than a Lesser Scaup. 

A female Greater Scaup

The Mergansers. There are three species and they all winter here.  The Common Mergansers are common here.  The Hooded Mergansers are fairly common in the right areas.  The rarest merg is the Red-breasted Merganser.  However, they regularly show up every year in the state in deeper waters.  Sometimes they do make a quick and rare appearance at our local watering holes.

Hooded Merganser

The Scoters. Yep. We get all three scoters here.  I was shocked as well.  They also can show up during our winter months and are what I would consider rare.  A birder must check the deepest lakes, many times with a scope, to see these birds. During a winter storm, a Black Scoter was blown into the Tucson area.  A year later, I saw my first Surf and White-winged Scoters up in the Phoenix area. They ARE rare and usually are found in December.  

White-winged Scoter

The Goldeneyes.  Both are fairly common in the right habitat.  They are both regular to the state and can reliably be found in certain areas.  The Common Goldeneye can be quite common.  The Barrow's Goldeneye requires a little patience because they look similar to a Common Goldeneye. SO read up on your field marks!  Generally it is found up in the Lake Havasu area where the bird will winter. 

Common Goldeneye

Wigeons.  And finally, let's talk about our wigeon crew.  American Wigeons flock to Arizona in the THOUSANDS during the winter months. A few do stay during our summer months.  American Wigeons are easily found around our area but it's the Eurasian Wigeon that everyone hopes to spy.  Over the past several years, a Phoenix park and a lake in Willcox have been home to several Eurasian Wigeons.  They can be a regular "rarity" among the thousands of American Wigeons.  The trick here is having a little patience and picking one out from the crowd:)

American and Eurasian Wigeon side by side

Winter birding is fun and relatively easy.  It's made better with a scope and a cup of coffee.  There are MANY more birds that are found alongside our AZ duck crowd and I'll cover those in the next several blog posts.  Our next feature will be geese and swans. As we get into different bird groups, things will get more interesting as theories begin to develop for certain birds.  Until next time....

Winter Birding in Maricopa County

Sometimes, while waiting for the next challenge, we occupy our time with important surveys.

Over the weekend, I grabbed a golf cart and joined friends Gordon and Joe for the Greater Phoenix waterbird count.  Gordon lead our team for this annual Arizona Game and Fish event.  

Gordon and Joe count waterbirds on the golf course

We drove golf carts and counted all the wintering waterbirds at all the watering holes......and that was A LOT! I could not believe how many golf courses are found in the Phoenix area!  

Hooded Merganser

Phoenix is an amazing place to bird in the winter.  There are thousands of ducks that find safety within the urban limits of this huge city. 

I'm not a big fan of birding here in the summer though.  It's really hot with a lot of roads and sidewalks absorbing the 110+ temps.  At night those same roads and sidewalks keep the night temps very warm by releasing the heat.  So casually walking around Phoenix in the winter is a real treat.   

Our count took the full day and along the way, we saw some great birds.  It was overcast, windy and COLD!  

I like to help out when I can.  Gordon's trek was fun and had us outdoors exploring new locations.  

It also gives us something to do while we wait for our next great trek to the North.  

Green-tailed Towhee

 So if you are coming to Arizona for the winter, you will find lots of wintering ducks hanging out in our urban parks.  During the summer in Wisconsin, I was shocked by how frightened the birds were of us.  They tend to hide better and keep their distance far far away from people. I think it has a lot to do with hunting in the Northern States.  Ducks aren't dummies.  Luckily for them, they've found safety within our urban water areas.  And they definitely aren't shy of the people here. 

The day after our count, we went to another watering hole and found a rare Cackling Goose(Richardson's subspecies) hanging out with some Canada Geese.  Look carefully at the photo.  While they all look the same, one of the geese is smaller and has a short bill. 

Cackling Goose to the lower left of this picture

I love those kinds of ID challenges in the field. 

drake Green-winged Teal

Most ducks aren't shy in our area, but the Green-winged Teal can be tricky at times.  This drake, however, decided to swim up to me.  It doesn't happen often:)

Northern Shoveler

It's also interesting to note the differences between the drake(male) and hen(female) of the duck and merganser species.  Here is a male Common Merganser below. 

male Common Merganser

And here is the female(below). Very different looking!

A thank you to Gordon for setting up our count, leading our team and driving and to Joe for helping out. Our adventures will continue next week.......

Swan Song

We began our morning at the Hassyampa River Preserve.  It was a pretty place and we did have a nice bird count.  But it was a random trek out to Sun City to confirm a recent sighting of a Tundra Swan that would make our day fun and exciting.  But I'll start off with some pretty Gray Fox and Hassayampa photos to properly get this adventure started.  

We entered the realm of Sun City, a huge Arizona retirement community.  It's always good to begin your search with the facts.  When the facts/data don't match up, it's time to ask questions. "Hi there, we were wondering if you've seen swans on your golf courses?  We're here to verify a Tundra Swan recently seen at one of your ponds."  

"OH yes!  We have swans at several of the ponds. There are some in that direction and over here."

"And you're sure they are not geese?  Like the two Snow Geese seen over there?" Oh gods....what if they thought those geese were swans.  It wouldn't be the first time.  This search reminded me of our Monk Parakeet follow up last year in Casa Grande.  What was impressive is that the residents here KNEW their birds and definitely knew the difference between a goose and a swan.  That was really cool. But where were they?

"No. No," they continued, "These are definitely swans. Go to the club house and they can give you better directions", replied the happy retired couple. We went to the club house and an elderly man asked me if I could fix the hot tub.  I felt like a guy wearing a red shirt in a Target Store. As it turned out, it was the wrong club house.  If there were swans, did the residents know the difference between a Mute or Tundra Swan?  We'd find out. 

One of several Mute Swans found on the golf course ponds

Our random conversations went like this for a couple hours.  The problem?  So many of the ponds were hidden from street view and that made it difficult spotting ANY bird. The Tundra Swan is a very rare bird for Maricopa County and it was important that we track down and confirm the ID of this bird.

As she heads towards the light, Magill realizes before it's too late that this isn't the right hotspot......for now. 

We were meticulous in our search. The problem?  We were in a retirement community that had many of the ponds on private property.  Both Magill and myself are responsible birders and obey the law accordingly.  If a sign is posted, we don't trespass.  And that was a frustrating (and yet kinda fun) challenge.  But as they say, "Where there's a will, there's a way."

A Harris's Hawk perches on top of a resident's home

As stated before, the hotspot markers were in different areas of the city.  The birder reporting this swan certainly had specific and detailed information in their report leading us to believe that the swan was legit.  Not many people have searched for this bird because there is question as to whether or not this swan is truly wild AND there has been some inaccurate reporting from this area in the past:)  So we hoped for the best and prepared for the worst.  But when it comes to birding, is there really a worse case scenario?  Well maybe if you were attacked by bears or fall off a cliff......but other than that.......:)

The Tundra Swan has a provenance issue.  If you don't know that word, don't worry.....I didn't either:)  It basically questions the origin of the bird and whether the swan can be "counted" as a wild bird.  After hearing the history of this particular Tundra Swan, I think we'll find out that the bird is indeed countable. Come spring, if the bird flies North, there is no question. If it stays, it's a different story. 

  

The stunning Hooded Mergansers

We saw some great birds in the various ponds but there was one pond that was hidden from view. We knew the swans were there. How could we view the pond without stepping on private property?  And that's when fate would have us meet up with Patti and Sylvia!  

After finding the correct club house, we stopped and asked several of the residents if they had seen the Tundra Swan or knew of any swans on the property. They said they did. And what was even better?  They knew what a Tundra Swan was! Then something really spontaneous and fun happened. They took us straight to the bird in their golf carts. Both women were so kind.  If you are reading Patti and Sylvia, a big THANK YOU for taking a couple of strange bird people out in your golf carts.  

And sure enough. There they were. The Swans. 

Tundra Swan

One Mute Swan and one Tundra Swan.  Side by side preening. 

It was a fun afternoon out on the greens.  Well, a birder's version of golf:)

It's always great investigating areas with Magill.  It reminds me of playing detective as a kid except that it's all for a good cause.  Plus you get to meet new kids adults at the playground! 

The world is an ever changing place and with it, we are finding that the birds are also adapting or struggling to survive against those changes.  I've been birding for a short 5 years in Arizona and I have to say that this year has been the craziest with sightings.  What will next week hold?  Stay tuned for more........