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.......

My Desert My Home

Broad-billed Hummingbird

After two months of absence, I returned home to Tucson.  It felt good to be in my own space again and to hear my own voice. 

I am connected to the wildlife here.  I feel their living presence around me.  Nothing surprises me here anymore.  It's my home I know best. I hear their voices and understand their movement.

White-nosed Coati

I see my friends and it all makes me happy. 

Rufous-crowned Sparrow

There is beauty in every space IF we know how to look for it.  But somehow, this desert space is way more epic than anything I've seen around the world. 

A sunrise.  A sunset.  A monsoon shower.  A Gilded Flicker calling to the other.  "Come here!  I found a hill of ants for dinner!"  The other responds and flies to its mate. 

I sit under a ramada in the 100 plus temps.  A migrating Wilson's Phalarope casually passes me by. 

Wilson's Phalarope

I hear the rustle and anger of birds in a tree.  I suspect a snake is raiding a nest. 

Sonoran Whipsnake

Purple Martins are amazing birds, but somehow my desert Purple Martins are better:)

Purple Martin, the desert subspecies hesperia

Especially at sunset near their Saguaro home. 

I am back in my own car again, the USS Betty White.  As the sun sets at Saguaro National Park, I think to myself that I am one lucky guy.  There is no place like home. 

Specks of Dust

On a prayer and on a hunt, we chased several birds near Lake Cochise in Willcox, AZ.  Things have been warming up and I had hopes to find my Scaled Quail.

Spotted Sandpiper

I also had hopes of getting better observations of birds that I have on my lifelist. On this day, I would finally have some wonderful views of the Spotted Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Franklin's Gulls, and Marbled Godwits.

But after circling the lake many times and looking into the waters, our eyes began to blur from the intense focus and count.

Franklin's Gull

Was there only one Franklin's Gull?  Or were there 2 or 3?  After doing several scans, we were successful in spotting 3 of these lovely birds.

And there was dust.  Dust storms blew into our area like mini-tornadoes. I wear contacts so I had to protect the eyes from the intense dust.

They are quite common in the deserts of the Southwest and also very beautiful....from a distance.

The birds were unaffected as we circled the lake 5 times observing such rarities like the Wilson's Phalaropes. 

Lesser Yellowlegs

Shorebirds are becoming easier to ID for me.  We moved behind blinds to observe many of these birds without disturbing them.  The only issue we had was from a random dirt bike that sped quickly around the lake and .......you guessed.......stirred up more dust!

But there were so many magnificent birds out there to get on camera.   The White-faced Ibis is a shy bird and one that can detect a birder in close proximity.....blinds or no blinds:)

White-faced Ibis

They strike me as Egyptian by the way their bill is curved.  During migration, the White-faced Ibis fly through Arizona.

I enjoy these kinds of observations while birding.  Sometimes the birds are so small that it's difficult to see them clearly.

Including the Marbled Godwit trying to hide in the grasses.  But the bill is much too hard to disguise.

Marbled Godwit

The Wilson's Phalaropes were a bonus bird for me and in great numbers.  At one point, a Peregrine Falcon came out of nowhere and scared up the flocks.  As they did, we were able to observe the birds as they flew circles around the lake.

Wilson's Phalarope

Flocks of birds flew around the lake.  Two Red-necked Phalaropes and a Baird's Sandpiper were supposed to be in the mix, but we could not find them.  And we spent hours looking for them in the water, around the water, above the water........until our eyes blurred and saw yet more......dust.

Phalaropes with Mr. Franklin

We did find the Scaled Quail and I believe that Kathie was able to get great shots of them. I tried but they were quick within the tall grasses.  Another time.  Now if I find the Montezuma Quail that will be the last quail found here in Arizona for the year. They are extremely elusive and probably THE hardest of the birds to find.  Most people just count them on voice alone.  That won't be me because I'd love to see this beautiful bird.  Las Aventuras has more to come.  Stay tuned!

Lesser Yellowlegs

Gadwall 4

Mallard 6

Blue-winged Teal 2

Cinnamon Teal 8

Northern Shoveler 100

Green-winged Teal 2

Ruddy Duck 60

Scaled Quail 4

Eared Grebe 1

White-faced Ibis 10

Turkey Vulture 4

American Coot 30

Killdeer 6

Black-necked Stilt 4

American Avocet 36 There were many in the lake and in the other side pond.

Spotted Sandpiper 2

Lesser Yellowlegs 3

Marbled Godwit 1

Western Sandpiper X

Least Sandpiper X

Long-billed Dowitcher 12

Wilson's Phalarope 30

Franklin's Gull 3

Eurasian Collared-Dove 8

White-winged Dove 3

Mourning Dove 1

Peregrine Falcon 1

Cassin's Kingbird 4

Western Kingbird 2

Horned Lark 16

Northern Rough-winged Swallow 2

Barn Swallow 26

House Wren 1

American Pipit 6

Yellow-rumped Warbler 1

Chipping Sparrow 6

Brewer's Sparrow 3

Vesper Sparrow 10

Pyrrhuloxia 1

Eastern/Western Meadowlark 1

Great-tailed Grackle 4

House Finch 6

House Sparrow 12