Dirty Work

Feedlots have some amazing birds.  Keep out of the way of workers and look for great birds in the Santa Cruz Flats!

This week's addition of Arizona birding is strictly for the birds.  I don't often visit certain places around the state because they are gross and smell like %&^!.  But I had a friend who needed some state birds for his list and we made the trek to several international AZ birding hotspots where people can find unique and specific birds.  I swore that once I had found my LeConte's Thrasher, I'd never go back to that spot again, but I was wrong. Several years later, I found myself back at this Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome location. "Two men enter, one man leaves!"  Thankfully that wasn't the case this time. Let's begin with our first stop, the infamous Thrasher Spot near the town of Buckeye outside of the Phoenix area. 

The nuclear wasteland known as the Thrasher Spot

Sure.  You're saying to yourself, That's pretty. Nope.  That's just the artist in me trying to make the location pretty:)  The thrasher spot is truly a unique experience.  BUT.  It's the one place in the US, you can get all your thrashers at one stop.  Well, most of them.  Here you can find the beautiful LeConte's Thrasher, near threatened Bendire's Thrasher, Crissal Thrasher, Sage Thrasher and even Curve-billed Thrasher. 

The first and last time I've gone after a LeConte's Thrasher.  Beautiful bird in a very ugly habitat. 

Two of these thrasher species, the LeConte's and Crissal, are often very secretive and difficult to observe.  During our visit, Steve needed the LeConte's Thrasher for his AZ list.  Most of the time, a birder can just drive to the spot and easily add Crissal and Bendire's Thrasher to their lists. Well, not on that day. 

A "secretive" Crissal Thrasher

The best time to visit this location is towards the end of February until the first or second week of April when the thrashers are actively calling during their breeding season.  The important part is that you arrive early. Sometimes they are singing and other times, they need a little time to get going. 

the near threatened Bendire's Thrasher

We walked through broken sink fixtures and torn up bed mattresses like you'd see in the movie, Mad Max.  This location is also known for many Sagebrush Sparrows and a few Bell's Sparrows.  Sparrows are my specialty so we were able to find both species to add to Steve's state list.  Thrashers on the other hand were difficult!  We had to work for our Bendire's Thrashers.  It would have been embarrassing to leave the "Thrasher Spot" without a Thrasher.  We had both Bendire's and Sage but NO Crissal or LeConte's!  The Thrasher group can be a tough one.  Patience.  Lots and lots of patience is needed for these birds. Often, a return trip is required. I had that experience this past week with my Streak-backed Oriole in my neighborhood.  It took 11 attempts before I saw that blasted bird!

Burros are commonplace in the Lake Pleasant.  Be careful driving the highways there

Our next stop was another place I hadn't visited in a long time.  In fact, the last time I went was during my 2014 Big Year in the US. I needed several scoters for the state and one for my national list, the White-winged Scoter.  This location is known for lots of great ocean birds during the winter months. In fact, the one and only time I was there, I was able to capture a White-winged Scoter in flight.  The pic was published in the Birds of Phoenix and Maricopa County by Janet Witzeman, Troy Corman and Tommy D. It's a great guide for birding in Maricopa county.  And this Pima County birder was able to help:) I should mention that if you're looking for a human bird guide, there's a great guy by the name of Gordon Karre who does a lot of these treks to the spots I'm writing about today. He's situated in Maricopa and knows this county best.  I think his spirit bird is the Gray Vireo which he has a knack for finding.  In fact, he's often asked for assistance with Rosy-faced Lovebirds, LeConte's Thrashers, Gray Vireos and Black-chinned Sparrows along with the many other AZ birds. He's on Facebook and he's an excellent bird guide.  So if you're in the area and need a guide, look him up.  

Back to our challenge at hand.  So we went to this Lake Pleasant to find the Barrow's Goldeneye.  If you are new to this hotspot, I'd recommend a scope. Many of the birds are often far out in the lake and require a scope to find them. There are several points all around the park for a person to bird.  There's even burros:)

female Common Goldeneye

There were quite a number of goldeneyes in the area.  The ONLY male Barrow's Goldeneye was near the shore. 

Barrow's Goldeneyes are common in winter further north of the state.  To have one in the Phoenix area was nice

It was an easy add and a new bird for my Maricopa list and a state bird for Steve. 

Easiest Barrow's Goldeneye ever near Scorpion Point at Lake Pleasant

Then it was more gross birding in poop.  Nasty, gross poop. So we headed to the feedlot. I dreaded lowering my window. But sometimes you gotta bite the bullet. Our noses were assaulted with the stench of fecal matter. I think I need to buy breathing masks for these treks:) Doves.  They are beautiful but they do like poopy areas. 

Inca Dove

Steve needed Ruddy Ground-Doves which are very common in Mexico but rare for Arizona.  They can show up anywhere but they seem to like garbage areas around the state that don't have the most "scenic" habitat. We made an educated guess and found the doves hanging out with cattle. 

Ruddy Ground-Dove

We drove off with the lingering smells trapped inside our noses. 

So for every dirty stinky birding trek, I have to balance it out with some beautiful and scenic Arizona scenery.  And that's just what I did.  Either way, it was a fun bird outing with Steve. 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......

The Devil Is In The Details

Birding friend, Scott Olmstead, had the weekend off. We planned a specific study on sparrows that most birders try to avoid.  Enter the Sage Sparrow.

Ferruginous Hawk-one of my favorite hawks

I would say that this is one of THE most difficult groups of sparrows in the state to ID.

A Sage Sparrow is difficult to ID in bad lighting or where the field marks cannot be seen

Scott wanted a good study session.  The Bell's Sparrow would be a lifer for him.  And I love sparrows. So the challenge was on!

So we got in the car and headed to the best place in the state for Bell's Sparrows, Robbin's Butte. And there we did our detailed study.  Scott is analytical and very good about observation.  We scoured the property and found two nice loose flocks of "Sage Sparrows".  It was SUPER enjoyable.  This is not a birding trek for a lot of people, but sparrows are my favorites.....even more so than owls!  GASP!  It was fun being with someone who also found them fascinating. 

A Bell's Sparrow-a dark malar and fairly non-streaky mantle is good for Bell's

The differences are so minute with this group of Sage Sparrows that it requires extreme patience and observation.  Several years ago, they were split and a birder's nightmare began. You can compare both species above and below.  Can you see the differences?:)  If you can't, don't stress.  Most birders have to work for this tick.  The Bell's Sparrow above has a darker malar than its head. While the more common Sagebrush Sparrow is uniformly gray in malar and head.  But there's more!

Sagebrush Sparrow-uniformly gray in malar and head-streaky back mantle

The two birds have different "mantles" (the triangular patch behind the head that connects the neck and back:)  Lighting can be an issue here in AZ so it's important to confirm the 2nd field mark, the mantle.  The Sagebrush Sparrow has heavy streaking on the mantle, but the Bell's Sparrow has very light to no streaking on the back.  Anyhow, I'm proud of the "work" we did here.  It was absolutely thrilling. Here is our list from that day. Scott added a lifer, and we were on to our next locations.  These were all new for him and it was exciting to show him around the Buckeye/Glendale area......which is not really my territory.  So kudos to my friends Gordon and Magill who have shown me their preferred routes to this great birding destination. 

Maybe a Cackling Goose but the neck was really long!  I'm still stuck on the ID of this bird.

We weren't done though.  We had more difficult birds to ID.  Scott just didn't know it yet:)  We stopped in Avondale, at a location known for its wintering Cackling Geese.  It was fun watching Scott sort through these much smaller Canada looking geese. To be honest, it was hard for me. In Arizona, we don't just get one subspecies of Cackling Goose, we can get two or three! In AZ, it's tricky business.

The Cackling Goose is a smaller bird with a thicker neck.  On one subspecies, the bill is small and triangular.  But not all subspecies are the same.  This Cackler looks to be of the Richardson's subspecies. Birders have to be very careful separating Cackling Geese from the smaller subspecies of Canada Geese.

Not all birds are tricky to identify though.  Most were a welcome reprieve from our difficult ID challenges. But how does a birder ID these tricky birds successfully?  Lots of study from bird guides, online sources, conferences and observations in the field with experts can help greatly. It's a combination from all of them that ultimately make you a better birder in general.

American White Pelican

Currently, Tucson and Phoenix are home to many wintering Snow Geese.  But we always have to carefully look and make sure we don't have a Ross's Goose in the bunch.

Snow Goose at Lakeside Park

Greater Scaups are rare to Arizona.  More common are the Lesser Scaups.  But it isn't uncommon to find a rare Greater Scaup in our local watering areas during the winter months. Does that make sense?:) It just takes a little patience and recognition of the field marks. 

A mystery scaup at Kennedy Lake

A Redhead eyes me warily as if to say, What are you up to Mister?

Redhead at Reid Park

In my searches, I find more Snow Geese.

The Blue Molt Snow Goose of Columbus Park

A Pied-billed Grebe surfaces for a second before disappearing into the water in search of food.

Pied-billed Grebe

Then I spot a juvenile Snow Goose!  This winter, they seem to be everywhere in Tucson.

It has been a good month so far in that it has been full of amazing finds for the state. We both finally saw the Black-throated Green Warbler in Phoenix.  Later, we chased a rare Lapland Longspur.  And then with friend Magill, we conquered the Short-eared Owl.

My first state record of the Black-throated Green Warbler in AZ

 I currently am working on the details for more journeys into the unknown.  Some of it is scary as I retrace my past and discover (or rediscover) new birds. 

Black-throated Gray Warbler

The journey ahead will be interesting.  That much is certain.  Until next time.....

The Whispers of Wind

Wait.  Watch.  Listen.  Whisper.

American Kestrel

The secrets of the grassland eventually reveals itself.

Eastern Meadowlark, Lillian's

In a trance.  Cautiously, we watch each other.

Trust. Peace. Serenity. My world. Their world.  Our existence.

This moment of perfection and balance lasts only for a moment. Then the wind, as it moves the grasses, forces into motion the flocks of birds. They quickly take flight and then vanish into the golden haze. 

In the blink of an eye, everything disappears around us as if they had never been there.  Ghosts. 

It is here where I find peace and a spiritual connection to the universe.

Chestnut-collared Longspurs

I can travel the world and explore all of the amazing places, but it is here, in the grasslands, that I feel at home.

The cool wind forces the stagnant heat off of my shoulders. 

Say's Phoebe

I marvel at the sun and how it brings me joy.  My home. It's so good to be back.

Burrowing Owls

The thrill of coming home has never changed. My travels only reaffirm my love for Arizona. 

The thrill of finding longspurs!  In these photos, we discover the Chestnut-collared, McCown's and Lapland Longspurs

Until next time.......