Road Trip

This Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay isn't stupid.  The bird is waiting for a handout in the tourist heavy Garden of the Gods

I love the idea of road trips, but as I'm getting older, I don't have the patience to sit for 11 hours in a vehicle like I used to. That is the amount of time it takes to get from Tucson to Colorado Springs IF you don't make long stops. And how can a birder pass up such fantastic birding hotspots like Bosque Del Apache?!  I like to meander to my final destination spot. 

Orion is a human beaver hybrid

I agreed to do the trek because I wanted to see our family and because I didn't want Micheal driving alone during the holidays.  It's a dangerous drive between the border of New Mexico and Colorado.  We've had so many issues going through the Raton Pass.  Between a serious tire blow out to the pass becoming slippery due to an icy storm passing through the area, we've had our share of mishaps.  This trip would be no different.  A rock fell off a cliff and hit a car knocking the car off the highway.  The other car driving behind that car ran over the huge rock and blew their tires out.  The rock pieces?  Well those flew onto my windshield cracking my front window! We dodged a bullet and I called my insurance to have the crack fixed.  Thankfully no one was hurt, but unfortunately both cars were in bad shape. 

During a stroll in a nearby cemetery, I enjoy watching Fox Squirrels chase each other around the grounds. 

I like to take things slow and I needed to take a break.  My body has been healing and I didn't want to overdo it.  So there were two requirements.  If I took my car Betty to Colorado, we needed to stay an evening in Socorro, close to Bosque El Apache.  I needed that moment when the sun began to set and the birds began to fly over our heads to put myself together. No matter how many times I see it, it never gets old. The video below is just one moment from a long one I had while watching the miracle of Sandhill Cranes and other waterfowl fly over my head. 

The following morning we left Socorro for Colorado Springs, but we stopped in Pecos, New Mexico for breakfast.  And at this cozy restaurant, we saw the most beautiful holiday tree.  I sat sipping my coffee next to the fire trying to memorize all the details of that gorgeous tree. Those are the moments from a road trip that I enjoy.  

Sometimes I'd love to shrink myself and get lost in the majesty of a holiday tree like Chip and Dale did in that Christmas special so many decades ago.

As we headed north towards the Colorado border, we began to see Black-billed Magpies, a sign that we were getting closer. 

Black-billed Magpie

We arrived at a nice time in the Colorado Springs area.  It was still light out.  Never drive into or out of this city at night.  There are many elk and deer along the way.  And had we been driving through the Raton area at night, I would have never seen that rock fall onto the pass. I have never experienced near death experiences like the one we had during our wedding when our tire blew out at night while trying to get home.  A man with a hook for a hand came and towed Micheal's car to his place to pick "some things up".  He proceeded to get into a fight with his girlfriend and then left his trailer.  Once inside his tow truck during that LOOOOONG drive to Trinidad, he began telling us about how Trinidad was the transgender capital of the world. Where was he going with that story? In fact, where am I going with this story? Once we got to Trinidad, a tire shop tried to sell us huge tires because Micheal's car was foreign and they didn't have his tires. Our only spare was not going to get us home as it was 8 hours away. I walked all over that small town the following morning finding the only two foreign tires that would fit his car for that long drive home. 26 bucks!  That's all it cost. Had we gone with the bigger tires, we would have paid around 400 dollars and had vehicle damage!  As you can imagine, it probably explains why I am not a big fan of the Raton Pass and I'm traumatized for life. 

Poor Bee Bee.  She's not a lap dog at all. 

Once we arrived into the Colorado Springs area, we had a nice visit with the family. And while there wasn't anything new in the birding category for me to find, I finally got to observe not one or two Cackling Geese but thousands! In Arizona, they are rare. But in the Springs area, they were everywhere!  Many years ago, I created several Ebird Hotspots in that city so I felt like it was my duty to do a count around those three local parks. And that is where I discovered my Cackling Geese.  

A Cackling Goose comes in for a landing

Just when I thought there was nothing new to discover, I was reminded again about how wrong I can be.  I assumed all the geese were Canada Geese, but while out in the field, I was getting a Cackling Goose vibe. Surely, Cackling Geese were rare for Colorado.  When I went back to the in laws, I got on my computer and looked up the data and discovered that Cackling Geese(Richardson's subspecies) wintered in the Colorado Springs area!  So cool!

An easy ID for this Cackling Goose, a white line at the base of the short neck, dark back, short bill, square head makes it perfect for the Richardson's subspecies. 

I went back the next day at the same time and studied the various subspecies really well.  It was the first time that I was able to really get close and observe field marks. It's not always obvious.  How does one tell the difference between the Taverner's subspecies from a "Lesser" Canada Goose!?!  It's not easy.  But the bill is usually the first field mark we have to look at.  And that's not always a great one to use.  A Taverner's bill isn't as small and triangular like the other subspecies of Cackling Geese.  But it's not quite as long as the Lesser Canada Goose either. 

Cackling Geese are easy to pick out when next to their larger relatives, the Canada Goose.  This Richardson's subspecies is about a third of the size of the related Canada Goose

I spent so much time studying them that I forgot about the time. I went in the morning and the next thing I knew, it was lunch time!  I had told Gordon before our road trip that Colorado birding this time of year is pretty uneventful.  And I was wrong in a good way. It's not Arizona birding but it's fun.  Plus I got to add American Tree Sparrow to my 2020 year list!

The Richardson's Cackling Goose is the main subspecies to winter in Colorado.  It is possible to find Taverner's mixed in with this group.  Source: Utah Birds

We took nature walks during the early afternoon.  It would be cool to cold depending on wind gusts. And daylight was a premium.  It was a constant battle to get any birding done because the sunrise was late and due to the shadow of the mountain, the sun set early. 

There's a great place to bird near Colorado Springs in the town of Fountain.  It's a lovely preserve that goes along a river.  During our walk we discovered that beavers had been busy.  We also had a Great Horned Owl fly out from the trees over our heads.  

My nephew Orion finds an old wasp's nest. I spy my first-of-the-year(FOY) American Robin. 

American Robin

There are places that we always seem to go visit when we're in Colorado Springs like the Fountain Creek Regional Park, Pike's Peak, and of course, the amazing Garden of the Gods. 

Now I've taken you all there once or twice before, but it's impossible not to enjoy these spaces over and over again. 

I personally like the gift shop there.  They have affordable art to hang on your walls and a fun restaurant where you can enjoy the beautiful outside.  And it was there, I added my first 2020 Townsend's Solitaire!

We had a lovely time.  It seems to speed up when we are there.  I also noticed my pain was gone for most of our visit.  Strange but it was a nice break from my side aches. 

Honestly, I don't know what this year will bring.  I've left much of it open.  I have visitors coming to go birding with me and I am really looking forward to spending some great time outdoors showing them my beautiful part of the world. If and I mean IF, this body gets back on track, I am organizing treks to Florida, the Darien Gap in Panama, and on the big island of Hawaii (or O'ahu). For now, I look forward to peaceful weekends with my cats in the catio, a nice stroll close to home, and doing some work in my garden. Until next time....

The Long and Short Of It

Ambitious and unrestrained for 4 days, I took my birding on the road.  I didn't plan a thing.  I just let it unfold as it would.  And spontaneity happened!

We watched as this male Red-tailed Hawk captured this Western Patchnose Snake to present to the female as a gift.  A sign that spring is here and that nesting is about to begin for many birds in our desert.

We climbed the high elevations and found a pair of Arizona Woodpeckers hungrily tapping on the bark for a little snack.

Arizona Woodpecker

And then, we discovered this Long-eared Owl resting in the shadows.

So we got to thinking.......

Black-throated Sparrow

Could we find the Short-eared Owl that had been reported recently?

No luck, but that didn't matter. 

Other rarities popped up for us during our search like this Gray Catbird below!

And who could resist this beautiful Pyrrhuloxia?

Or the mesmerizing blue grays of the Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay?

Or the orange sherbert of an Olive Warbler....

Or the colorful song of a Greater Pewee?

Simply put.  It's fun to show people around beautiful Southern Arizona and help them find a lifer or two.

It's time to get back on track and seek out new life and new civilizations.  Arizona is my home but there are new birds that must be discovered!  Stay tuned for a very special Las Aventuras next week.

Crissal Thrasher

 

Armchair Birding

Every summer, the AOU(American Ornithologists' Union) releases new findings and studies about birds.  Birders eagerly wait for these reports to come out because there is often a lot of new information released about the current state of the bird world. Most importantly, with the advances of genetic studies, we are finding that there are more new species of birds out there. And vice versa! Take for example, the Caribbean Coot.  Gone.  It has now been lumped back into the American Coot. I always find it a fascinating read!  Anyhow, this years splits have given me some easy "life birds".  Without having to do anything, I've added two new birds! Or as birders call it, "Armchair Birds". 

California Scrub-Jay

Birders have suspected for a long time that the Western Scrub-Jay found along the Pacific Coast was actually a different species than the one found in places like Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, etc. There was a noticeable difference in the color between the two birds.  The Woodhouse's subspecies(was more light blue/gray) while the coastal subspecies was a brighter blue.  They even acted slightly different.  The coastal subspecies is not a shy bird as it sits upright on top of the vegetation.  The Woodhouse's does the same thing but tended to be a bit more shy. 

Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay

This year I focused on the California subspecies(now separate species) before heading over to Catalina Island. Another similar species of jay, the Island Scrub-Jay, is found on Santa Cruz island!  In the birding community, there is always talk that certain species will be split. And so I carefully made sure I noted that detail in my observations.  

Island Scrub-Jay

Today, the Western Scrub-Jay has now been officially split in the US.  The coastal subspecies is now referred to as the California Scrub-Jay.  Now when you go to California, you have to look for all the other "California" titled birds like the California Gnatcatcher, California Quail, California Thrasher, California Towhee, California Condor, California Gull and now...the California Scrub-Jay! Pretty cool!

The former Western Scrub-Jay found in Arizona(and other states) is now called the Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay.  What do these splits do to someone like myself?  Well, I have to go back into my records and separate them all. Each file is renamed!  In the case with these two jays, I had to move the photo documentation to the correct area.  In a sense, birders are librarians of data:)

However, the bird splits didn't stop there!  During my pelagic trek off the San Diego coast, several birders were kind enough to point out the subspecies of Least Storm-Petrels.  To be honest, this is a bird I'm unaccustomed to observing out in the field as I am an Arizona birder:)  It was great being with birders who could point out the subspecies of these petrels while teaching me to note the very slight differences in size and coloration. Again, I made careful notations.  

Townsend's Storm-Petrel

The Leach's Storm-Petrels were also split into 3 new species which are now known as Leach's, Ainley's and Townsend's Storm-Petrels. Apparently, this split has been a long time coming! The Townsend's Storm-Petrel is a smaller and darker bird when compared to the Leach's Storm-Petrel.  We were able to observe both species flying together for size and darkness comparisons. Yet another easy add! 

White-naped Brushfinch

And then the tropics happened. This one was about the details.  Newer species?  Yes and no.  I didn't add any here, but I had to retitle several of these birds.  Back in 2013, Las Aventuras traveled to Guatemala.  I found the White-naped Brush-finch.  I thought the title was ridiculously long.  Today, they have taken one of the hyphens out and now the bird is a White-naped Brushfinch.  The devil is in the detail:)

the "new" Lesson's Motmot

And finally for today's write.  The Blue-crowned Motmot complex.  I've been reading about this for some time and expected the splits to happen.  I just didn't know when it would happen.  I've already thought they were difficult enough to ID, but now they're even much more so!  Luckily, the region plays a big part in their ID help!

Whooping Motmot in Panama City, Panama

On a trek to Panama back in 2011, I stopped at a beautiful park called El Parque Metropolitano in Panama City.  I first began birding and had a blast here.  But I quickly discovered that my first Motmot I observed was actually the Whooping one.  How did I find out?  Well, I put Blue-crowned Motmot into ebird and it came up rare.  It all has to do with their calls and the blue caps on their head.  The Whooping Motmot's blue cap doesn't extend below the eye. Anyhow, the Blue-crowned Motmots have been split yet again.  The Whooping Motmot still stays the same, but the Blue-crowned Motmot has been broken up into two new species......the Blue-capped Motmot, now found mostly in Mexico, and the Lesson's Motmot which is found in much of Central America.  As you can see, this birding stuff can get quite nerdy.  More splits and lumps have happened this year but they didn't affect any of the other field observations.  For more info on the 2016 AOU updates, click here. Quite honestly, with all the heat from this desert summer, it's nice to add a couple new lifebirds without having to move an inch.  Until next time.....

Gone are the days of the Green Violetear. Today, this bird has been split into two separate species.  The Mexican and Lesser Violetear.  Above, we have the Mexican Violetear, which is a rare visitor in the United States.