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.......

The Salton Sea

      Today marks the end of the Salton Sea adventures.  I think the pic above captures the image of humanity and birds living together.  Is it as beautiful as the Egret suggests?  Probably not.  But I think what I loved most about the whole experience was that it was different from other birding adventures I've recently taken. Some places recharge the birding battery and this was one of them.  

Lesser Nighthawk

We never know who to expect at each of these places.  I prayed to the bird gods and they answered by sending me a Lesser Nighthawk perched!  Never in my life had I expected such a clear and wonderful shot of this bird during daytime hours.  And the trickiest part?  Spotting the bird on the branch.  Look at how camouflage plays an important role.

American Kestrel

An American Kestrel flies from the phone lines as we walk back to our cars at the Sonny Bono center.

American Avocet

We find all kinds of sea birds feeding from the water along the shore.  I have to watch my salt intake, but apparently, they do not:)

Eared Grebe

Eared Grebes numbered in the hundreds here on this day.  I finally got to see one in full regalia!!!!  Exciting!

California Gull

California Gulls, Long-billed Dowitchers.......easy views with great observation time for each of these birds.

Long-billed Dowitcher

Terns were such a nice change of scenery for me.  I love my desert/mountain birds, but it's nice to switch it up every now and again.

Caspian Terns

Willets stood calmly along the water edge.

Willet

The whole experience is something I'd recommend for the adventurous birder not minding a little dirt with some fish bones in their shoes.

There is a documentary out there called "Bombay Beach" that addressed many of our questions while we birded there like......"Who lives here?"  We were interested in discovering what it's like living along the Salton Sea as the movie follows 3 individuals and their lives.  It is on our Netflix account and we were fascinated by it all. All I will say is that California is a diverse state that offers MANY varieties of landscape.

Caspian Tern

Apparently there is a horror flick out there with Val Kilmer called, "The Salton Sea."  We did not watch that one:)

Long-billed Curlew

The best part about exploring is understanding the culture and people surrounding the birds.  I walked into a nearby gas station for some drinks.  The lady behind the counter asked if she could help me.  It took me a second to respond because the people were so strange and interesting.  One man purchased, in Spanish, two gallons of milk with a pack of Marlboros. The Saltonian clerk responded flawlessly with a tad bit of a gringo accent in Spanish.  NOW that made me absolutely happy! Spanish teacher moment:)  But I kept my secret powers hidden and didn't let on that I could understand a single word.  The woman then turned to me and said that I looked lost.  She followed up with, "What brings you out here?" 
"Birds",  I responded.
"Are you one of them orni...ornitheologists?"
Not quite but I said, "Yes." without a blink.  I wasn't lying because I do believe in the power of birds and how they will change a person's life. Instead of a church, synagogue, temple or mosque, I worship the Audubon Society.  A secret society of bird nerds dedicated to saving our birds.
Her tone changed to a formal register and told me, "God bless you." I didn't know how to respond to that but the Cheesehead in me responded with, "Thank you.  Enjoy your day."  I'm not into the religious stuff at all but I understood her intent.
Her positive thoughts were lovely and she sent me with a smile as I left the building into the wave of heat.   I'm just hoping that that guy doesn't smoke while drinking his whole milk. That's not healthy. 
More from Las Aventuras soon. 

Birding in Puerto Peñasco

Black Bellied Plover

As mentioned in the previous post, it was a thrill for me to have some new birds to photograph......although they weren't the only things I snapped shots of:)  Returning back to Rocky Point this time was quite special because I came with a birder's eye.  By seeing things through a different "lens", the vacation turned from a "reading books" type trip to a real wildlife excursion.  And while searching, I discovered several more favorite birds to add to my list.....like the Black Bellied Plover.  What an interesting bird!  It kept watching me with intelligent eyes.

Long-billed Curlew

Rocky Point is tricky.  There isn't really an "official" birding list, but thanks to our Arizona-New Mexico Birding List, I was able to get lists from several birders like Steve Ganley and Pete Moulton(for the CBC) and their lists were wonderfully detailed.  So thank you both for your helpful tips.  My point here is that there is a little bit more research that has to go into the trip before taking off for this lovely destination. It's a little bit of detective work:)

Brown Pelican

And of course, I'll be taking you all to Bird Island which was a bit tricky and almost didn't happen.  But if you just walk the shoreline, you are going to see so many birds.  On this trip, there were plenty of terns, pelicans, and gulls.  In fact, I thought the Brown Pelicans would steal my attention, but it turned out that there would be many mysterious birds that would fly by me like in this pic below.  What were they?  Their sillouettes give me clues but I can't see their faces or colors.

There were plenty of things to discover, but my eyes had to adjust to the intense blues and washed out and sun drenched landscape.  It wasn't easy sometimes as these birds really did blend in with their surroundings.

Willet

I would do my walks early in the morning or late afternoon and around the time that the tides changed.  A pair of American Oystercatchers were hanging out by some tide pools and that was fun to watch.  They were quite the pair:)

American Oystercatcher

The terns captured many people's attention with their acrobatic flight skills.... and their voices were great to hear all around our beach home.   When massive schools of fish would swim by, these birds would dive bomb into the waters in numbers.

Common Tern

And of course, a bird would fly into sight if I got too close.....

Black-bellied Plover

.......but the water wasn't only inviting to me but to many of the birds in the area.

I think my favorite shot of this series are the American Avocets that came from out of nowhere.   I was heading back after my long hike.  Two large groups flew past me and they didn't give me much time to prep the camera.

American Avocets

Overall it was a nice time getting to see nature in action.  There was an owl during the night.  How do I know?  I slept outside on the patio listening to the waves.  And then a "hoo hooooo" would startle me from sleep at around 3 AM.

Willet

The interesting thing about all of these ocean birds are their beaks.  Some are turned upwards.  Some downwards.  Some are wide.  While others are longer.  All of it fascinating.

American Avocet

Thankfully I brought a lot of sunblock and a great hat to keep the sun off my skin.  These birds flew often up and down the beaches.

I brought my telephoto lense for far off shots of the brown pelicans and terns. And of course, with the telephoto lense comes the tripod:)  It was quite the production that served me well on bird island. 

Originally I had come for a series on brown pelicans, but like always, it turned out to be something quite different. 

Neotropic Cormorant

I got my first glimpse at the massive Osprey nests around the area.  They aren't great shots, but now I know what to look for during an Osprey search.  Cool birds to see in person.  Tomorrow, we go more into the adventures of Bird Island and the rough waters that surround them.  This was one of those birding events that made me smile.  It was difficult but worth every moment.  Stay tuned for more.....