Hey Readers!
A last minute decision to bird with Laura Ellis, her husband Pat and
Caleb Strand proved to be one of the greatest trips of my birding career. After enjoying some of Arizona's best, we had to deal with a wrench in our spokes before returning safely to our homes. Here's the story. Enjoy!
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| A Say's Phoebe with a rainbow background... |
Rewind 24 hours.
Tommy DeBardeleben, Caleb Strand and I had plans to see the Christian rock band
Disciple play a small venue in Phoenix. After picking me up, Tommy decided to try and find a Trumpeter Swan that had spent some time in a field off of Verrado Way in Liberty, AZ. Tommy had seen the bird before as had Caleb, but I hadn't. Once at the stakeout spot, we began scanning and quickly located the swan on the opposite side of the field! This bird was huge.
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| I phonescoped the swan; courtesy of Tommy and his Swarovski! |
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| Funny to see its long neck pop up every once in a while! |
After enjoying the swan, we picked up Caleb and headed to the show. When Disciple took the stage, they gave us their best!
The best thing about Disciple - musicality aside - is their faith in God which is far more intense than the music they play.
The next day (Sunday), I confirmed that I could go birding with Caleb, Laura and her husband on Monday. I made my way over to Caleb's house by 4 pm and we decided to bird by bicycle around his house (aka The Patch). Not long after starting out, we found my two of my most overdue Maricopa County life birds: Ferruginous Hawk and Merlin.
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| The Ferruginous Hawk. |
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| Another Ferruginous Hawk that we encountered later. |
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| The Merlin; a medium-sized falcon that favors open areas in Maricopa County. |
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| A Belted Kingfisher |
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| A brilliant male Vermilion Flycatcher |
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| This American Kestrel captured a Mourning Dove. |
While birding, we found a Barn Owl in a mesquite with its wings held awkwardly. I first thought it was sick, but when we approached it, it fell out of the tree dragging a broken wing!
Caleb decided to try to capture the owl so that Liberty Wildlife (a rehab center) could pick it up. Caleb cautiously approached the owl with his jacket and was able to swaddle the bird and immobilize its wing.
After capturing the bird, we quickly rode to the nearest intersection where Caleb's Mom picked us up. We eventually worked out a pick up time with Liberty Wildlife and they got the owl at 10 am the next morning while we were out birding... I now know that the owl died some time after reaching the center. Although it didn't make it, it is good to know that it at least died in better conditions than it would have if we left it alone.
At 4 am the next morning, Laura and her husband, Pat, picked up Caleb and I and we set off for Patagonia Lake which is roughly 3 hours south of Caleb's place in Buckeye. I really enjoyed getting to know Pat; he's a great guy and although he isn't a birder, he certainly knows more about birds than most people! Near Tumacacori, we drove through the grasslands and carefully scanned the skies and telephone poles for interesting birds. We were able to pick out a Chihuahuan Raven and Loggerhead Shrike.
Arriving at Patagonia Lake State Park just after 8:30 am, we were pleasantly surprised not to have to pay an entrance fee! We parked and geared up for an exciting day of birding. Right off the bat, we got some good species. Northern Cardinals, Pyrrhuloxia, White-winged Doves and a Rufous-crowned Sparrow were most interesting.
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| A female Northern Cardinal |
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| A male Pyrrhuloxia |
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| White-winged Dove |
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| Lincoln's Sparrow; grayer and more finely streaked on the flanks than Song Sparrow. |
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| A Gila Woodpecker enjoys some suet at the feeders. |
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| A male Red-winged Blackbird with the more drably-colored females of its species...and a House Finch |
Further down the trail at the lake's edge, we started getting waterfowl. Gadwall, Cinnamon Teal, Mexican Mallards, Northern Shovelers, Green-winged Teal, Common Mergansers, Ruddy Ducks, Eared Grebes, American Coots, Neotropic and Double-crested Cormorants were all present in numbers.
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| A Double-crested Cormorant |
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| An Eared Grebe |
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| A lone male Northern Shoveler |
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| A couple Mexican Mallards |
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| A female Green-winged Teal |
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| The striking male Cinnamon Teal |
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| Female Cinnamon Teal |
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| Male Gadwall |
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| This bird and the next are Ruddy Ducks. |
Hiking further, we found Gordon Karre and Chris Rohrer. It was good to see Gordon again and good to meet Chris for the first time. We were all after the same bird: the Green Kingfisher... While searching for the kingfisher, we found 3 Swamp Sparrows in a wet clearing adjacent to the lake; my first lifer of the day! Also present were a Virginia Rail and Sora which were both heard calling.
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| Although similar to both Lincoln's and Song Sparrows; Swamp Sparrows have much more rufous on the back and have a different facial pattern. |
Not long after seeing the Swamp Sparrows, an Eastern Phoebe began calling, a Winter Wren hopped out into the open and a Gray Catbird surfaced from dense brush! I was overwhelmed with rarities and lifers!
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| My terrible photo of the Eastern Phoebe; not the most cooperative species in my opinion. |
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| This tiny Winter Wren looks quite different from the one in the photo below which was found later. Lighting can dramatically alter our perception of a bird. |
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| These Winter Wrens were my very first. |
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| The Gray Catbird; another life bird! |
While basking in the glory of these excellent rarities, I hear everyone start saying "Green Kingfisher!" I quickly caught onto the bird and took some photos! I could hear it giving its amazing
"clicking pebbles" call.
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| This male Green Kingfisher would fly to the water and catch small fish as we watched it! |
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| Here, Chris Rohrer, Gordon Karre and Caleb Strand (left to right) watch and photograph the Green Kingfisher. |
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| This Song Sparrow was a subspecies lifer for me; Melospiza melodia montana/merilli |
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| A Wilson's Snipe was another nice bird at the rarity epicenter. |
As if Swamp Sparrows, an Eastern Phoebe, a Winter Wren, a Gray Catbird and a Green Kingfisher all within a 300 foot radius of each other wasn't enough, we just had to add an Elegant Trogon to the mix to spice things up!
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| As we and another large birding group gazed in wonder, the trogon swooped down and snatched a katydid! |
After watching the trogon for a few minutes, we pushed on find what else may be ahead. We encountered a small flock of Dark-eyed Juncos. Most were Pink-sided, but some were Oregon. We also found a calf and its mother!
Further down the trail, Caleb and I flushed some Common Ground Doves; a species that I have limited experience with.
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| We were also surprised to relocate the Green Kingfisher from earlier! |
A Coue's White-tailed Deer burst out from a thicket and when it saw us, it turned tail and ran!
In the wooded areas of the park, we found good numbers of wintering Empidonax flycatchers: mostly Dusky and Gray, but also some Hammond's Flycatchers.
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| One of 4 Hammond's Flycatchers we encountered. |
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| This bird and the next are both Gray Flycatchers. Grays often bob their tails downwards unlike other Empids. |
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| A classic scene of Southeastern Arizona: oaks, yucca, grasses and rocks. |
Traveling upstream alongside Sonoita Creek, we came across a few of the coolest birds of the day: Black-capped Gnatcatchers! The species is still an ABA Code 3 as its range barely makes it into the US.
Other species that we found towards the end of the trail included a Red-tailed Hawk, an Audubon's x Myrtle Yellow-rumped Warbler hybrid, a House Wren, Bewick's Wren, Plumbeous Vireo and fallax subspecies Song Sparrow (following in order).
Because we had spent approximately 5 hours here and we had another destination in mind, we decided to head back to our car and maybe drive to another part of the lake in order to find the previously reported California Gull. On our way back, we relocated the Elegant Trogon perched in a tree!
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| Arizona's subspecies is the Coppery-tailed Elegant Trogon. You can see the tail above. |
As we were watching the trogon, it flew to another perch nearby.
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| The trogon and I |
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| Caleb doesn't even need binoculars to enjoy this bird! |
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| Laura took this one of Caleb and I... and the trogon |
Before leaving the bird alone, we helped 4 other people see it! Helping people find birds is one of my favorite things about birding. I guess I kind of like to re-live the experience vicariously! Back at the car, we had some food and then checked out a different area of the lake nearby.
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| Caleb has his eyes on a Greater Scaup. |
At this next spot, we found 3 Greater Scaup (which were too far out for photos), Black-crowned Night Herons, the continuing California Gull, two Red-naped Sapsuckers and a female Vermilion Flycatcher.
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| This bird and the next are Red-naped Sapsuckers. |
As rain began to fall, we decided it was best to move on to the San Rafael Grasslands in order to find more interesting species. En route, we passed through Harshaw Canyon which is a mid-elevation area of oaks and foothills. Here, we recorded Acorn Woodpeckers and Mexican Jays and a pocket gopher; either Southern or Botta's. As we were driving, we started climbing a small hill. Once at the top, we entered an entirely different habitat:
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| The San Rafael Grasslands are one of Arizona's largest and purest grasslands. |
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| An American Kestrel |
Our excitement turned to disappointment when we discovered that front left tire was leaking rapidly. Before the rain became more intense, we turned around and headed to the main road in Harshaw Canyon where we pulled over to put on a spare. Caleb also saw a Black Bear before it vanished out of sight. A few Rufous-crowned Sparrows were interesting as well.
Although our trip was cut short, we were still grateful for we had enjoyed already. I honestly couldn't have asked for more. Back on the road, we made to make periodic stops to fill the tire with a bike pump which we bought from a Walmart in Tucson. The constant stops we made all the way back to Phoenix were time-consuming and, not to mention, a little dangerous. We did make it out of some sketchy areas of Tucson! Because it was already 1 am by the time we reached Caleb's house in Buckeye, I decided to spend the night instead of trying to get home. I want to personally thank Pat for driving the entire time and for taking care of the tire issue so very well.Thanks go out to Laura as well for her entertaining stories and good photos on our
eBird checklist. I'd also like to thank Caleb who tirelessly identified every bird we encountered. I truly enjoyed myself and learned some valuable life lessons as well a lot about Southeast Arizona's birds.
Lifers:
1. Swamp Sparrow
2. Winter Wren
3. Green Kingfisher
4. Gray Catbird
5. Black-capped Gnatcatcher
For some time now, my family and I have been in the process of moving to Colorado. It is unclear when we will sell the house or when we will actually move. In the meantime, I am trying to get to know Arizona a little better. Was Patagonia my last trip to Southeast Arizona before I leave Arizona? I don't know. San Rafael sure is a good reason to return! I have yet to see what the future holds for my family and I and I greatly anticipate sharing my adventures in a new state with you all in the future.
Godspeed and good birding,
- Joshua
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