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.......

A Taco Salad and a Ringed Kingfisher

I watched a herd of Pronghorn with Indigo at the Empire Ranch in the Cienegas Grasslands

Over the past 2 weekends, I've had the pleasure of birding with some great people searching for some excellent state birds.  And mammals. 

Scott scopes Lake Pleasant

Scott was free to bird one weekend and so we took off to find the rare Iceland Gull at Lake Pleasant near Phoenix.  It was a juvenile gull first discovered by the talented Melanie Herring.  

We find Usha and Janine already on the gull

Birders from all over the state went to go find this bird.  Last year, the Thayer's Gull was lumped back into the Iceland Gull species.  This was the trickier Thayer's subspecies.  It looks similar to a juvenile Herring Gull but has softer, more muted tones.  Even in the adult form, this subspecies can be tricky to ID. 

We get to the shore and start planning the rest of our afternoon after the gull find

This was a great opportunity for the two of us to study this bird up close.   

This subspecies of Thayer's now goes officially by the name, Iceland Gull

And like any gull, the Iceland's was no different.  Where there was food; there was the opportunity to eat. I captured this adorable scene along the lakeshore.  What an absolute thrill to see this bird in the state!  Gulls are amazing.  In North America, we are very lucky to have so many interesting gull species. 

This little girls lectures the gull on sharing something of which gull nor geese are known to do. 

While this wasn't a life bird, as they are found in Wisconsin during the winter, it was an Arizona first for both of us. It has been some time since one has been seen here. So I celebrated with a taco salad at lunch:)

I wish all birds were as cooperative as this gull.  This past weekend, Magill asked me if I would go down with her to find the first state record of a Ringed Kingfisher.  Honestly I groaned a bit.  I had gone several weeks earlier and had a VERY brief sighting and I'll be honest, it sucked.  So I gave hope a chance. When we bird together, we always get our bird. It just took patience and some skill. 

Along the way, we stopped and looked at water birds. The trek to Safford is a long one from Tucson.  In my head, I worked out a plan.  I helped Magill find all the places I had previously investigated on my first attempt.  We were meticulous.  The person reporting the bird threw the rare kingfisher on a general marker without telling anyone where the bird was. And that's ok. This wasn't our first rodeo. We spent the morning canvassing map points around the various ponds careful not to trespass onto anyone's property. 

A Long-billed Dowitcher struts around this other onlooking bird.  The bird appears to be saying, "What's up?"

The park ranger played coy with us because she was concerned about the safety of the bird.  And the birders.  Apparently, Safford is run by savage gun owners.  We did not see any bad behavior by the locals at all. They were very friendly with us. But maybe that was just with us and our Wisconsin charm. We had fun playing detective. I mean, we were also the same team who investigated the Tundra Swan mystery with several golfer ladies in their carts.   

a drake Green-winged Teal

I remembered the lovely weekend birding for the Iceland Gull with Scott.  Nice habitat, easy bird and great company. Why couldn't this bird hang out in nicer conditions for us?! I wouldn't say that the habitat is exciting nor is it my favorite place to bird in the state. But I was thankful for the great company as we did quite a bit of laughing. We stopped in this restaurant that smelled like a church. So I ordered cheese curds to cover the smell. Then the moment of truth happened after eating our taco salads.  Before lunch, I was getting to that grouchy birder phase, not quite giving up but not wanting to bird until I had some food in my stomach.  We both decided to hit the pause button and grab a bite to eat. The taco salads hit the spot.  A quick scene replay. 
Magill, "Does this taco salad have romaine lettuce?" (Romaine lettuce is getting recalled right now in the US and has been taken out of many of the restaurants)
The Waitress, "Huh? It's just lettuce!"
So we took our chances:)

scenic Lake Pleasant on a cold morning

During our meal, we played the roles of psychologist, scientist and of course, birder.  Then we went after our bird narrowing the list of possibilities down to 2 hotspots.  

Wilson's Snipe chill in the mud clumps

And VOILA!  We found this tricky devil perched quietly in the shadows. We legally observed the bird from the public road.  When it came time to ebird this information, we had a serious conversation about publicly sharing the hotspot. We hid the spot for a couple hours to have our talk.  Eventually we came to the conclusion that we'd share the spot for other birders who have been wanting to see this bird as birders have shared with us their special birds. 

a distant photo of the Ringed Kingfisher

Because it's a first state record, a lot of birders have been wanting to see this kingfisher. The problem is that humans are nuts. I don't know what is true or not, but I trust several of my friends who saw birders illegally trespass! We knew the rules before looking for this bird. Anyhow, there was drama the next day.  So part of me wishes that we had hid the checklist.  I do it with owls and other endangered birds.  Some birders didn't know the whole situation but had their 2 cents to add.  We saw the bird, never trespassed and waved and said hello to the neighbors sporting this pretty pond.  No issues. We did our documentation and left the bird to hunt alone. 

Celebrating the day is just something people should do more often.  I discover my lifer Scarlet Macaws in 1996. 

Years ago, when life was simpler and my camera was film, we'd share our experiences over a meal while on the road.  The pic was taken 22 years ago, in southern Costa Rica after a day of chasing Scarlet Macaws. There's nothing quite like a meal to celebrate a moment. It has been an amazing past two weekends here in Arizona.  I think I had the best car ride home with Scott listening to Spanish music while the sun was setting over the ag fields.  Or was it catching up with Magill and her Maine adventures?  Maybe it was watching Indigo get excited about his first Black-tailed Prairie Dogs in the field? This is what nature is all about; bringing people together.  And we need to protect it.  Until next time..... 

The Wrenegades Awaken

Pic courtesy of Sara Pike

Each year, I tell myself I'm not going to do it again.  And then I do:) Why? I like the crowd.  I like the challenge.  Raising money for Tucson Audubon is a good thing especially when our current US administration is cutting funding back for many of our conservation programs around the US. 

Tim's secret plans

Each one of us is in charge of something on this 24 hour crazy-thon.  We go a full day straight looking for birds in Southern Arizona.  Tim is our excellent organizer and planner.  Every bird hotspot is carefully chosen with a timed response.  This means we have to find as many birds as we can in our window timeframe. Then we are whisked away by our drivers Sara, Matt and Tim.  

Copulating Killdeer

 I am the documentation guy.  I ebird every hotspot conscious or not:)  I keep the lists and photos of our journey for our donors.  After it's all over, we process the data and pics so that the group can send their supporters all the highlights and fun from our treks.  

Long-billed Dowitchers, Least Sandpipers

But I have to admit.  There are some spots I love more than others.  I love Willcox, AZ.  I love that after our search we stop at the Mexican restaurant to grab something to eat.  It's essentially the calm before the storm.  

American Avocet

 I love owling with the crew on Mt. Lemmon.  I don't like birding alone in the dark.  And you'd be surprised by how many random cars we see at night around 3 in the morning.  It's hard to see who is in the car since the windows are all fogged up:)

Scaled Quail

This year our team made some interesting discoveries.  At Cochise Lake, we found 4 Western Grebes.  I haven't seen these birds here before so it was an interesting observation. Also at Cochise Lake, we discovered, for the AZ birding crowd, a cute little Snowy Plover.  

But a big surprise was about to happen during our night out on Mt. Lemmon.  Our team has suspected for a long time that we had been hearing Northern Saw-whet Owls near Summerhaven over the past couple years.  We just never had visual confirmation.  Until now.  

A new bird to my Pima County list! Northern Saw-whet Owl

 Thanks in part from a tip by Brian Nicholas, a Tucson birder and really great guy, we went to an area near his coordinates.  Almost immediately, we heard a high whinny call that was NOT a Northern Pygmy Owl.  We knew we had a different and very rare owl on the mountain.  Any sleepy thoughts I had were quickly erased as I became super alert.  While the group was excited by the discovery, Matt and I grabbed the spotlight and flashed it up to where the call was being made.....and my camera got one shot and that was it. For Matt, it was a lifer.  For me, it was a significant discovery that will now lead me into a new investigation.  Is there a tiny population that breeds up there?  OR are they migrating through the area?  This bird alone made the trek worthwhile.  

But the fun didn't stop.  At dawn, the bird chorus on the mountain is overwhelming.  It began at around 4:30 AM and continued for 30 or 40 minutes.  One call in particular lead us to this hard to photograph warbler, the Virginia's Warbler.  For the first time in 6 years, I was able to get long and satisfying looks at this normally secretive warbler. This is one of my favorite pics from our trek. 

Virginia's Warbler

 As we continued throughout the morning, I began to get more tired.  It was cold and then it wasn't.  In fact, it got nasty hot.  And I hate birding in the heat.  But when doing a birdathon, birders have to keep going. 

Western Wood Pewee

 And we did.  The heat began to get closer to 100 degrees and my body was not having it.  

Hermit Warbler

At one point, I nearly passed out.  I couldn't do it anymore.  We were at the DeAnza trail in Tubac when I lost the energy to bird.  

the Davis Pasture in the Cienagas Grasslands-pic by Matt Griffiths

While Matt, Jennie, Sara, Corey and Tim kept hiking the 90 degree, chigger sensational DeAnza trail, I sat in the park under the ramada and counted birds.  I am, after all, a mere mortal.  I should have taken two days off instead of one but finals have arrived and students need their teacher for support.  

Matt, Jennie, Sara, Corey, Tim and me in the back

By the end of the day, I acquired new information that I can now use for my own research.  The team was exhausted but we did it. And it felt good. Not only did we raise several thousands of dollars, we broke our old record and surpassed our 180 bird species goal in a 24 hour time period with 182 birds.  I really like these people a lot.  

 We cross paths throughout the year but really only bird on these two days together each year as a team.  It's a tradition that I hope we keep going every year.  If you'd like to track that tradition, here are some links to our past searches and how we've grown as a team. 
 2014-Blur  2015-Veni, Vidi,Vici 
 2016-Return of the Wrenegades

And as a side note, I'd be remiss if I forgot to mention how Tim is always attacked by some wild mammal. One year it was a rabid skunk.  And while not wild, this year it was a mother cow.  Good times!  Until next week:)