The Pima County Birding Challenge

From the birdy office of Las Aventuras, I bring you all the latest in Pima County birding.  Pima county is located in beautiful southeastern Arizona and this year has been an exceptional year for crazy birds.  Pima County has improved a lot of habitat over the past two years at parks and water reclamation plants. With covid ever present in all of our lives, many are forced, or have chosen, to stay home. 

With every major wildlife trek cancelled, I had to find myself a new challenge for the year.  In fact, I think a lot of people have done the same in their own way.  I chose to add new "life" birds to my Pima County list this year.  Every time, I reach a mile marker, I post about it.  For the world life list, it's every new hundred birds.  With my Pima County list, it's every 10 birds. The start of those new ten birds began on October 2019.  On Wednesday, I completed that "10" marker milestone. 

 

There is something very rewarding about staying within your own county and birding.  It makes you a better birder. And a better detective. It's also fun.  It can also be tedious. One of the birds, I hadn't had on my Pima Life List was the Painted Bunting.  It was a lot of fun to chase and easy! It was also a bird that required a better observation.  This year in Pima, Painted Bunting, the western subspecies, have been everywhere and in good numbers.  They will disappear with the warmer weather come October. 

The Arctic Tern was one that wasn't on anyone's list.  It was a mega rarity that showed up at Canoa Ranch.  There were very few documented cases of this tern in Arizona.  That was until now. 

Birders from all over the state came to see this bird as it was a very good state bird for many people. 

This has been the year of rare Mexican migrants. A first Pima record, Clay-colored Thrush, showed up in Arivaca along a muddy watering hole full of worms. There it sang its beautiful song.

Again, this was a bird that has only one other record in the state.  But it stuck around and people from all over the state came to Pima County to chase this rare bird.  I remember the several sightings to be quite beautiful and memorable. 

This next Pima "lifer" was not my favorite chase.  I like vireos and the hike was gorgeous on Mt. Lemmon, but the terrain made it difficult to get good views of this somewhat rare breeder on Mt. Lemmon. 

  

While looking for the bird, I almost stepped on the Sonoran Gophersnake below.  The hike itself was new for me.  I will admit in years past, I was quite lazy to chase this bird.  It's a cool bird but it didn't inspire me to look for it in Pima when they are quite numerous in Maricopa County.  So this bird was work. 

On that day, I got to meet the Bowens.  They are doing a big year in Arizona and doing quite well.  If these rarities keep showing up like they are, they could break the year record!  

Another chase that didn't really excite me but needed to happen was for the rare Sanderling.  It was at a sewage pond far away.  Pima County is quite large.  In fact, it's larger than some states!

The consolation prize for not only finding this bird was from all the incredible blooming wildflowers along the road.  It was also a more innocent time before covid took hold of everything. It would be the beginning of the end to all new promises of 2020.  Trips and festivals were starting to be cancelled. I remember feeling melancholy on this day. It was a long drive with much time to think. 

Then came the Sagebrush Sparrow.  It was a cold winter day and I was in the mood to play detective.  So I did.  That's when I found my Pima lifer Sagebrush Sparrow.  Again, I had been lazy with this one.  These sparrows are much easier in other counties of Arizona. I remember sitting in my vehicle speaking with Park Ranger Chip Littlefield about putting together a special field trip to Saguaro National Park with my students. Again, this was a time full of hope and excitement.  

An enjoyable chase for a Ruddy Ground Dove in December 2019 brought me to the rose garden of Reid Park. 

There I watched this somewhat rare dove forage around the garden for bugs. 

The next bird is a curiosity and probably the most unknown random species in Pima County.  Unlike most places in this country, the American Crow is super rare here.  I've lived in midtown now for years.  With covid happening and work at home, I leave my doors and windows open to hear all the wonderful birds on our property.  I don't have pics or a sound recording but I believe we are on some sort of migration route for these birds. I've checked records on ebird and there seems to be specific time periods with a "line" showing a route over the Rincon mountains into areas like Willcox, etc.  Their unmistakable "CAW CAW CAW!" was heard in March as I was gardening outside. I looked up and they zipped over our El Presidio grounds....again.  In October, I got a visual of them as they were making a lot of noise flying over our house. I don't have digital evidence for ebird and their evaluation crew, but I am hoping to get some documentation on this bird next month.  It's always in the afternoon when I'm in the middle of something.  Had I not been working from home, I would have missed them!  

Another treat was a beautiful hike back in December last year to the Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge.  It was a cool winter day full of birds.  I was excited to chase this rare warbler for Pima County.  He was sneaky too!  The Prairie Warbler was like the cherry on top of an amazing day of birding. Plus I like hanging out with the volunteers there listening to them speak about the Northern Bobwhite reintroduction efforts happening. 

The detective work in Pima County is far from done.  I still have a LeConte's Thrasher to chase which is not really a fun idea for me because it's far and lives in some of my most unlikable bird habitat....the Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome habitat.  Desolate, remote and hot. 

There is truly only one man in Pima right now "in charge" of all the birds.  Brian Nicholas, since he has retired, has really done an amazing job connecting other birders to some rarities.  He specifically monitors Canoa Ranch where a very rare national, state and Pima County bird showed up.....the Northern Jacana.  Like the Eared Quetzal, everyone is flying or driving from all over the country to see this bird and get it on their lists. 

It's a pretty common bird in Mexico and I've seen them close to the AZ border in Sonora, Mexico.  But this one crossed over into the ABA area.

And finally I got another Pima lifer, the Black Tern. Normally they migrate this time of year through parts of Pima County but they never stay.  I've been too lazy to chase them over the years.  I had tried initially and then just took the approach...."If I'm in the area one day..."  And that was the case with the Northern Jacana.  Birders were saying, "Have you heard?  They have 4 species of tern down there at the Amado pond."  This past week with that Black Tern, I added number 381 to my life list in Pima County.  Now that is something!

We can give up or we can create our own challenges during these challenging times.  I'd rather try my best even if I'm not exploring strange new worlds and civilizations.  There is still adventure nearby.  But instead of us traveling to all those exotic places to find them; we wait for them to visit us. Until next time.....

Hermit Thrush In Tempe!

Prairie Warbler is super rare to the state of AZ.  Currently, it's been showing well at Saguaro Lake near Phoenix, AZ.  State bird!

People always wonder how I find rare birds.  Well, it's a little bit of me and it's a whole lot of birders working together reporting their findings around the state, country and world. We are all a big part of the "network". On a daily or hourly basis, we can receive an email with rarity reports from the AZ Listserv or ebird. 

During a rain event, we targeted the grasslands for a Short-eared Owl and we got our sights on TWO!  They are difficult birds for Arizona.  Another state bird and Arizona nemesis NO MORE!

Anyone who subscribes to the AZ listserv will recognize the title of this post. Everyone has at least one of these birders in their community. While it is significant to their backyard patch, it is not significant to the overall community.  It's a tiny piece of a larger puzzle that we, as individual birders monitor in our own worlds.

Arizona Song Sparrow has unique rufousy tones when compared to the other subspecies of Song Sparrow

I'll get a buzz on my phone. Ooooo!  What is it?  A Trumpeter Swan in Tucson?  An Eared Quetzal on the Carrie Nation Trail?  A Prairie Warbler at Saguaro Lake? Nope. Just a Hermit Thrush on private property in Tempe.  WTF!  Even if that were a rare bird for this time of year, it's on private property!  So why even post it?

It's not a Louisiana Waterthrush.  That's rare. 

I finally have excellent views of a beautiful Louisiana Waterthrush

It's not a Red-breasted Sapsucker.  That's significant. 

A Hermit Thrush is up there with a Ladder-backed Woodpecker(at least in AZ). It's one of our most common birds found around the state.

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

If it were an American Bittern at Sweetwater, one should probably mention it. That's a rarity. 

An American Bittern holds still in the reeds at Sweetwater Wetlands. 

But do you know what's not a rarity?  A Pied-billed Grebe. Or Hermit Thrush. 

A Pied-billed Grebe out of water

When an email is sent out about the Hermit Thrush in their backyard, birders give each other the look and ask the question in a most cynical tone, "Are you going to chase that Hermit Thrush in Tempe?" We have a laugh.  Don't they know that a Hermit Thrush isn't rare?  Hasn't anyone told them? S/he seems like a nice person. And I do love their excitement.  But still.......

Rufous-winged Sparrow at my work site

If it were a Red-breasted Nuthatch at Reid Park in Tucson, THAT is newsworthy. 

A rare wintering Red-breasted Nuthatch at Reid Park in Tucson

A wintering Zone-tailed Hawk in Tucson is worth a chase!

A wintering Zone-tailed Hawk hangs out at Reid Park in Tucson

Even the casual, yet still rare, Northern Parula is worthy of a shout out. 

A Northern Parula

A Gila Woodpecker in Arizona, however, is not a rare bird and should never be reported on the listerv for Tucson or Phoenix.  Now if one was found in Florida, then birders should absolutely, without a doubt, report that miraculous sighting. 

A male Gila Woodpecker feeds from pecans

And while Pyrrhuloxias are cool, they are not rare for several parts of the state.  If it was found outside of its habitat range, then THAT is news worthy. 

The Desert Cardinal or Pyrrhuloxia

A Rufous-backed Robin should always be reported. Because it's rare ANYWHERE!

Rufous-backed Robin

And while a Hermit Thrush is NOT rare in Tempe during the winter months, it *might* be a significant find during our hot summer months.  One summer, I remember finding American Robins on a green patch in Phoenix, AZ. That was rare. And do you know what else I found?  A Hermit Thrush. Unusual.  But not rare:) 

A Prairie Falcon

Now this person has been doing this for years.  I don't know if they are a man or woman.  I just know that if I see that post, HERMIT THRUSH IN TEMPE! one more time, I will scream. If you are new to an area, observe what local birders are posting as "rare".  

A Hermit Thrush NOT in Tempe

The whole purpose of this write?  Well, it makes me more conscious about what I should and should NOT post when reporting birds to the community.  Very rarely is it appropriate to report a rare bird if it's on private property UNLESS birders can legally chase the bird from the road or have permission to enter the property.  Currently, a homeowner in Tucson is ok with birders coming to her house and looking at her rare Streak-backed Oriole. On a side note, don't post your exact sightings of owls. I've watched people go crazy over owls and they do some inappropriate things. However, it's okay to post your sightings of a Hermit Thrush:)  Most people wouldn't chase it. Until next time......

600 Life Birds

Oh the road can be sooooo slow!  Life birds?  What are those?  Last year in April I was at 500 life birds.  Throughout the year, I added birds regularly every month.  This year it has been a trickle:) I suppose it gives me a chance to absorb all the amazing observations of the birds without feeling rushed.  I do hope to make up for the birds down in Mexico this year. Will I be able to make it to 700 by the year end?  Here are the stories behind each of the top ten birds.

Monk Parakeet

The Monk Parakeet was seen downtown Ft. Myers, Florida near a swimming pool.  I grew up with these birds at home as they are sold in the pet trade as Quakers. In fact, this is how they invaded the US! Loud, ruthless and quick to multiply, the Monk Parakeets have become established in many US communities which include cities like cold Chicago and tropical Florida.  My bud Sydney and I played a hunch and followed the human trail to several nest sites and voila! There they flew in great numbers with twigs and branches making nests around power lines and palm trees.

Wilson's Plover

The Wilson's Plover was number 510.  I went to Bunche Beach, Florida to count hundreds of shorebirds only to come out with thousands of chigger bites!  It took nearly two months for my body to heal!  It rained after I heard and saw the bird.  I was able to help several birders get their scopes on the this plover.  Later in Mexico, I would see this bird once again under much better circumstances.  Sunny and bug less! It's call is distinct and easy to pick out.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

At 520, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak made its way into Willcox, AZ.  I went to chase the bird and hung out in a very kind man's backyard.  There we watched this beautiful bird feed off of his fruiting mulberry tree.

Bobolink

By life bird 530, I was in Maine visiting Kathie.  Together, we went to a field near her home and discovered the magnificent Bobolinks.  There they called and collected caterpillars for their young ones. This is one unusual and gorgeous blackbird.

Black Guillemot

Life bird 540 happened near Eastern Egg Island.  This Black Guillemont went after what looked like twizzler's licorice.  I braced myself on the rocky boat as I snapped off several shots of this bird flying near the side of our boat.  At this point both Micheal and Kathie were under the weather and very seasick!  Now THAT was an adventure I won't forget anytime soon:)  Nor will they.

Blue-headed Vireo

In the dark mossy forests of Maine, we discovered a Blue-headed Vireo.  This lovely bird graced the branches while we sweat it out in the woods:)  This bird made 550 on the list. 

Prairie Warbler

At 560, the Prairie Warbler made its swirly call as the rain began to fall.  I was able to briefly see this bird before it went back into hiding as two young morons revved up their truck and sped past us on the dirt roads of Maine. 

the exotic Northern Red Bishop

At 570, I was alone again in California.  Here I spotted the exotic invading Northern Red Bishop.  What a beauty!!!

Wrentit

By December, it all began to slow down.  Again, I returned to Southern California where I stood silently near a city park lake and watched the Wrentits move around me.  This was Life bird 580.  

At 590, the Black-throated Blue Warbler was a real shyster. Not all life birds play nice.  We sat and waited and waited for this warbler to come out.  When he did, the tiny warbler was so far away! I finished in the US with number 599, the Painted Bunting.  But I wondered which bird would mark the magical 600.  Drum roll...............

Green Parakeets

We flew into Southern Mexico during the night hours.  At dawn, the first bird that made itself known was the Green Parakeet. They seemed to be flying everywhere around us.  And so in my life, number 600 marks the Green Parakeet. The adventure continues next week as we begin our exploration into Chiapas, Mexico.