When Arizona Trash Birds Are Lifers

This is my first post of my first blog; I have a ton of great stories that I want to share.  But before I begin writing new posts, I wanted to write of some of my past experiences.

I have lived in California all of my life and after a great job opportunity for my Dad, my family decided to move to Arizona.  As a birder, I couldn't have been more excited!  I spent hours poring over the recent eBird sightings and spent a considerable amount of time making target species lists.  The bird I wanted to see most in Arizona was not an Elegant Trogon, LeConte's Thrasher, or Five-striped Sparrow; it was the humble Cactus Wren.  I had heard its idyllic and mechanical call only in movies before, and to me, that sound was the soul of Arizona and I wanted to hear it for real.  My family drove out to Arizona in the spring of 2014 for my Dad's job interview and we decided to make it a little vacation.  I remember it like it  just happened...

My family just stopped to meet with a realtor in Anthem, AZ.  It was around 110 F and this Californian was cooking!  However, not even the heat would stop me.  I drank some icy cold water, grabbed my bins and camera, and left the nice AC in the car behind.  I wandered the parking lot; it was thrilling because I knew that potential life birds were everywhere.  In that parking lot, I found two.  My beloved Cactus Wren and the spunky little Verdin!

My first photo of the Cactus Wren

I take my binoculars everywhere I go now.  You may ask:

"Even when you're driving to the grocery store?!"

Absolutely.  I sincerely believe that the good birds come out into the open only when you've put your optics away in the car and just sat down on the bumper of your car to eat a sandwich.  That has happened all too often.  Because I am a slightly paranoid birder, I've mastered some of the most important skills in backseat birding.  You know that no one's gonna stop for that unknown raptor on a telephone pole along the freeway if you're traveling with others.  You now have three options:  beg vainly for the driver to pull over, ignore the bird, or try to observe as many field marks as possible in the two seconds you have with it.  I prefer option # 3.  Here are some tips:  1.  Learn how to acquire a target in the car.  Know how to maneuver your bins around the headrests and windows so the bird is not obstructed from your view.  2.  Learn the fast draw.  You don't have to be Wyatt Earp, but it helps to practice focusing on distant objects quickly with your binoculars.  3.  Learn to let go sometimes.  This is the hardest of them all.  You can't identify every bird you see down to the species.  It's always worth a try, but sometimes, that hawk is just gonna have to be a hawk sp. on your eBird checklist.