The Silent Land of the Artifact Glass Shards

At first the lake looks quiet.  Then we pull out the scope and discover it's rather active.  No one is in sight for miles.  If we are murdered, no one would ever know. 

Every time.  Every single frickin' time.  We try not to mention it.  Or whisper it.  Or even think it!  But then something happens.  Magill and random adventure mishaps go hand-in-hand.  We always find great birds together. So it's worth the risk:) Right?

We targeted the main body of the San Carlos Lake.  In my mind, this is where I'd expect to see the jaeger.  Deeper water, more fish, with gulls or terns near by and opportunities for the jaeger to grab someone's meal

Magill's tire light went on and we were in the middle of nowhere.  Literally, there was no one there at all.  No birders.  No Apache Indians.  NO ONE.  While trying to chase a state bird, we encountered millions of pieces of shattered glass everywhere we went on the reservation.  That. And plenty of garbage which included lots of metal fragments. 

This was a national campaign during my childhood and it's still true today

While the western world loves polluting our environment with plastics, it seems the native americans on the reservations prefer smashing glass bottles everywhere.  While trying to set up the scope, we navigated unsuccessfully through the glass shards. That's when the light went on. We gave up on the chase and prayed to the bird gods that we would get back safely to a place where we had an internet signal off the dirt roads for road service if we needed it.  

My first sighting of a Parasitic Jaeger off of San Diego.  Fortunately, this one was easy to ID. 

We were chasing a Parasitic Jaeger, a super rare bird to the desert.  I am in love with all things "gull" or "gullish" or "gull-like".  I was looking forward to seeing this bird in Arizona.  Normally, it is seen flying around the ocean.  This year, a storm blew 2 of these birds into Arizona.  And they stayed. I've seen all the Jaeger species of North America, but to be honest with you, I still can't tell the difference between a Pomarine or Parasitic Jaeger in their non-breeding plumage. I have to look at the flight patterns to figure out the species. Once I found a jaeger on the way to Catalina island and called it a Parasitic.  The ebird reviewer responded back to me in a sassy tone, "That's OBVIOUSLY a Pomarine Jaeger."  Um, not so obvious to me.  I consider myself a good birder but when those two species are not in their breeding plumage, they are a dickens to ID.  Several friends who are pelagic guides told me not to be too hard on myself because they are difficult to ID even for the ocean birder pros. But to see a jaeger in Arizona?  That would be a dream. 

We drove over this old dam and I prayed to the bird gods that it didn't fall apart. 

My bird knowledge was put on hold as we focused on our survival skills. Thankfully, we were stocked with water.  While it wasn't super hot, it was still hot, with a slight breeze. But hot. Both of us got into our serious modes.  Me, the teacher, trying to come up with a Plan B or Plan C just in case Plan A didn't get us back to Globe. I struggled to figure it out while Magill read mileage info to me.  It was like an hour glass with the sands trickling down ever so slowly.  We had both made mental notes of tire places and internet zones while on the reservation. There were a few spotty sections around the San Carlos Lake that we could hike to if needed.  

A Monarch

Praise be to the bird gods!  We made it back to Globe in one piece and weren't stranded for long.  After our issue was resolved, we headed back to the tricky-to-navigate roads.  I had theories about where the bird might be seen.  Every dirt road looked the same, full of broken glass and twisted metal.  We drove both sides of the lake and then....committed ourselves to one spot.  The bird was there, I could feel it.  

HOW DO WE GET THERE???  All the roads looked the same and some were full of ruts.  Oh and GPS markers were off.

We stood on that last final road exhausted from the trek.  Both of us said to each other, "Why in the hell do we do this to ourselves?  Why do we chase birds?" Then the Parasitic Jaeger flew our way and it was a high five moment.  That's why.

Our first Arizona Parasitic Jaeger, looking VERY healthy

We watched it soar high as it flew around the lake. Gulls, jaegers and skuas are amazing birds.  As Magill picked the glass out of her shoe, I observed lots of dragonflies having sex. 

It did some high aerial moves and it was a fascinating show

Every good birder knows that going onto the Indian Reservation requires a lot of patience and time.  Especially when there is a good bird to be seen for the state.  We stopped at the Circle K in Globe for the permit.  Magill got both of our permits for the day at 10 bucks a pop.  Then we went to Subway for a quick bite.  I hate Subway, but they are serving wraps now.  So I guess I like Subway now:)

TWO rare Tricolored Herons show up in Pima county

After a challenging, yet fun day, on Saturday, we did some enjoyable birding in the town of Patagonia on Sunday.  We found lots of rare birds on our own and met up with friends I haven't seen in awhile.  Really really good people who I admire a lot. We had a nice lunch at the Gathering Grounds and then, I was going to do butterfly photography.  It became overcast and the butterflies disappeared.  However, the birds were everywhere and we found ourselves observing lots of crazy birds migrating through Paton's Hummingbird Center.   

This juvenile male Western Tanager is fascinated by my camera clicks

I'll be honest.  I like birding safe and fun areas.  But as we climb up this ladder on this crazy state bird list, the challenges are difficult.  Magill and I have LOTS of stories.  We've had a tire blowout on Mt. Ord, a bathroom incident that involved a guy shooting up in a dirty wash, and almost running out of gas in the San Rafael Grasslands. And there's been a few others that included tumbles, nearly throwing up, an emergency call back to shore because a guy hit himself on the rail and went unconscious, getting questioned by a suspicious woman(while researching the disappearance of the Monk Parakeets of Casa Grande, a little golf cart ride with women who already had a few drinks, and misdirection(mostly by me-I'm a bad navigator:) Both of us come from Wisconsin where the birding is gentle and kind.  Arizona can be an adventure and most often, some of the rarest birds are found in rough terrain.  With both Magill and Gordon along for the adventures, we find some of the craziest things in this state. 

Stunning views, lots of broken glass, and epic bird=great memories

We both achieved our personal goals. And to answer our own questions, I think the reason as to why we do these few state chases is for the adventure and storytelling.  Before the Parasitic Jaeger arrived, I had never birded San Carlos Lake.  Now I have.  And that's what it's all about!  Discovery.  Until next time.....

Overboard!

Western Gull at sunrise

I had been looking forward to this one and only pelagic this year off the coast of California with Magill. This ten hour journey was intense but VERY worthwhile.

We, along with 88 other people(can't even get away from the people offshore!), went with Pacific Nature Tours to find lots of great birds.  The ocean weather was hot and I.....overdressed:) My mission?  To study jaegers, shearwaters, storm petrels and auklets. 

Sooty Shearwater

Surprisingly, I was able to move around the boat without too many people getting in the way.  The hierarchy of birders was also evident. I think we had everyone from beginners to the pros on this trip.  Our ebird reports certainly show the depth of reporting that had occurred!

Pacific Nature Tours

Pelagic photography is some of the hardest thanks in part to a moving boat, rocky waves, overcast(or bright) conditions and lightning fast birds.  And of course....maneuvering around people when a rare bird was seen:)

Pomarine Jaeger

Jaeger fest was a success!  We had all 3 Jaegers show up around our vessel.  I really had a great time studying the VERY slight differences between the three species. I now know some of the field marks, and hopefully I should be able to ID these jaegers down the road by myself.  Well in theory:)

The Pomarine Jaeger is a bulky tank with wings.  The Long-tailed Jaeger(below) is as elegant as it is beautiful.  But why isn't this a Parasitic Jaeger?  Well it's duller in color, but that's not a good field mark to go by. The best field mark? We were able to see the tail which was flat and not pointed.  This bird is also more tern-like in flight. It has a flight pattern similar to that of an Elegant Tern....slow with deep wing flaps. Observing the behavior was key here.  The Parasitic and Long-tailed Jaegers can be difficult species to separate when they are in their basic plumage. 

2nd Year Long-tailed Jaeger

Also along for the ride were many Common Terns and a few Arctic ones as well.

Common Tern

During the course of the day, we saw many of the very brown Parasitic Jaegers.  At one point, one chased a Common Tern!  Very exciting. 

Parasitic Jaeger chasing a Common Tern

The Parasitic Jaeger did not get the tern.  But the flight for life action happened for a good couple minutes. 

There were a few birders on board who have seen most of the birds in the U.S. and only needed ONE special bird to complete that goofy artificially created American ABA list. They were looking for the endangered and rare, for the U.S. at least, Craveri's Murrelet.  Our adventure would take a "tern" for the worse as a birder lost his balance and hit his head on a metal rail. He went out like a light! And I could hear groans from both sides as he went down....literally. 

The guy on the right is one of the several lead ebirders on board recording accurate distance and taking bird counts. We were not to submit our own reports as this company would do it for all.  No complaints here and THANK YOU!  That let us really bird.  And the ebird reports were stunning!

Unfortunately, according to the rumblings, this man did not plan well for the pelagic journey and forgot to take his diabetic medication. People went to help him and he did recover.  The Coast Guard was called and we were ordered to return back to port.  For the birders searching for the elusive Craveri's Murrelet, they lost their chance. There were a lot of angry birders.  Some vocal.  Some not.  Who was more selfish? The birder who didn't plan well?  Or the birders who paid good money to find a rare bird?  I'll let you all be the judge.  It is the price we pay when we all bird together in large groups.  If it's one thing I've learned this year from Mexico and now this pelagic, it's that I prefer to bird with a small group of friends or alone.  But sometimes you can't avoid the crowds...especially on a pelagic. 

Black-vented Shearwater

Eventually my eyes blurred from the intense sun and blue ocean.  I began to get a headache from straining my eyes into the distant horizon.  There were smaller birds like the Cassin's Auklet. 

Photo by Justyn Stahl

The world is such a complex place. I visibly see things changing.  Our planet is changing.  And global warming is real.  We read or hear about it in the news.  But I actually see it!  I don't know how I feel about it all.  I am just an observer in this short lifetime. 

My action shots of this relatively small bird:)

Some birds are taking advantage of this climate change while others face extinction due in part to their food source disappearing or moving to another area.  This year alone, the Pacific coastline has seen a massive die off of the Cassin's Auklet and other sea birds. 

I am constantly in deep thought about this planet. Eventually my brain shuts down and my eyes give out. And so I just focused on the moment and art of the Western Gull.  Lifebirds are challenging.  When there aren't new birds to find, I just relax and enjoy the moment. That's when my art can happen. 

I'm watching this beautiful dolphin jump and then am startled to find a microphone up my backside! I mean....let's have a drink first buddy! Geez! A very large man hung his body over the side of the boat to capture their sounds and crunched me into a tight space where I almost lost my balance.  SO RUDE!  I left.  If I could swim, I would have jumped in with these dolphins to get away from some of these goofy people. 

We found so many species of dolphin and whale.  On our trek we had migrating Blue and Humpback whales. 

When all was said and done, we got back into our rental car and were glad to go back to our open spaces in Arizona.  

I'm naturally claustrophobic but on our trek into California, I was reminded why I moved away from this state so many years ago.  There were TOO MANY people. Everywhere. 

Eventually someday, I will have to bird areas with even higher concentrations of people.  I'm thinking Japan here.  I'm a giant and I know how crammed their country can be:)  Birding does not come without challenges.  But again, that's what is exciting about it all. 

It's fun getting old and cranky:)  Life is good.  This pelagic trek netted me several more life birds.  I am now 4 short of 700. Where will the life bird adventure lead us now?  Stay tuned for more.