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| Organ Pipe Cactus - near Ajo, AZ |
Some
of you are aware from my emails that my wife Jill and I spent the
winter in Scottsdale. I was happy to make the sacrifice so someone else
did not have to. You may thank me later. Arizona offers great birding
opportunities, as you know, particularly if you are willing to do a
little chasing and travel to the southern parts of the state. Here’s an
account of the fifteen (fifteen!) lifers I got in Arizona, and on my
return trip back to Pennsylvania through the lower Rio Grande valley of
Texas.
Lifer 1 - Rosy-faced Lovebird
I
got this Phoenix area specialty one day when I read an eBird post from a
birder who had seen it in the morning and posted promptly. I drove over
to the spot and they were still foraging in the trees where the eBirder
had reported them. The lovebirds are not rare in the area, but if you
don’t have their nest sites staked out, you just have to kind of run
into them in the course of your daily travels, Over several months, I
did this, eventually learning their call and flight characteristics.
Those suckers can move! Indeed, the silhouette and speed are pretty good
field marks. Near the end of my winter stay, I found a pretty large
nesting colony of them in a local shopping center, and was able to post
it to AZNMBIRDS, so others could find the bird easily. If I do this
right, there should be a photo of the bird on one of their nesting trees
below. You probably have to take my word that they’re RFLO.
Lifer 2 - Red-breasted Sapsucker
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| Red-breasted Sapsucker |
This
bird has wintered in the same Scottsdale municipal park for at least
two winters. It was while trying to stake it out - I later determined in
the wrong park - that I read about the lovebirds on eBird. I returned the next day, this time to the right park, and got the bird. Cell phone photo below.
Lifer 3 - Groove-billed Ani
At
Veterans’ Oasis park in Chandler, AZ, A Groove-billed Ani got
photographed by a non-birder who decided to show his photos to a birder
friend. This, of course set off a round of twitching which lasted for
the few days that the bird stayed around. I still didn’t have a decent
camera, so you’ll have to rely on my word that the cell phone photo
below is of the ani, and not a grackle.
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| Groove-billed Ani |
Lifer 4 - Streak-backed Oriole
It
was time for a road trip. Jill and I headed for Portal, AZ, where this
bird appeared to be settling in for the winter at the well-tended
feeders of Bob Rodrigues, a retired Forest Service worker who spent his
career in Alaska, but decided that 22 hours of darkness in winter wasn’t
his ideal retirement environment. Bob is generous enough to invite the
public in to view his feeders, and through his efforts, the bird stayed
all winter, and many birders ticked this species off their lists. I got
no photos, but you can see some of Bob’s here: http://tinyurl.com/lh624sh
Lifer 5 - Ruddy Ground-Dove
On
Thanksgiving Day, I checked AZNMBIRDS, and a male Ruddy Ground-Dove was
seen in a Tempe park at about 8 AM, associating with Inca Doves. I
couldn’t leave for a few hours, but I got there around noon and the
brightly colored bird was right where the poster said he’d be, and I
added another lifer. I even returned with Jill the next day, and it was
still there. (no photos)
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| Ruddy Ground-Dove (internet photo) |
Lifer 6 - Rufous-backed Thrush
I
had previously tried several times for this bird at Catalina State
Park, near Tucson, but come up short. The same (presumably) bird had
been present in the same park last year, when fellow BCDC member Nick
Pulcinella tried and missed it because he arrived on a day when large
crowds were present for an event. This is a very popular park, and is
busy on weekends. Two different birds started showing up at a house in
the Santa Cruz Flats area northwest of Tucson. This is a large
agricultural area and is very productive for birds, especially raptors,
in winter. Anyway, the birds were appearing regularly, so I made the 90
minute drive to the area to be rewarded with great views and my sixth
lifer of the trip. A bonus - while viewing the thrush with some local
birders, some Inca Doves came in for a drink at the resident’s hose,
which was dripping a bit. Accompanying them was a beautiful male Ruddy
Ground-Dove!
Lifer 7 - Rose-Throated Becard
In
Tubac, AZ - a town between Green Valley and Nogales, which is on the
Mexican border, A male becard started putting in regular appearances,
though short ones. I got up early and joined a group of birders waiting
to stake it out in its usual spot at the usual time it showed up, and it
appeared for a few minutes, as if keeping to a regular schedule. The
beautiful bright collar was easily seen, even at a distance, so there
were a lot of satisfied birders.
Lifers 8 and 9 - Buff-breasted and Tufted Flycatchers
A
pair of Tufted Flycatchers, a mostly Central American species, showed
up at Carr Canyon - right on the border with Mexico. The bird was being
seen at a campground at the top of a winding dirt road, which,
fortunately for me, had just been regraded, making it pretty easy to
negotiate, even with my minivan. In the few days before I made the trip
down there, Buff-breasted Flycatchers also began showing up, making it a
chance for two lifers. This was near the end of March. I traveled down
there, along with enough gear for an overnight, in case I needed another
shot at it the next day. As I drove south, that seemed to be a distinct
possibility, because the temperature was dropping, the sky was
increasingly black, and it began to rain, which I thought would be snow
at the higher elevation where the birds were. When I arrived, however,
the weather had improved considerably. As I suspected, there was some
new snow at elevation. As I got out of the car, I made the acquaintance
of a few AZ birders who had arrived to find the Tufted Fly. We walked
the area, and another couple of birders pulled up to do the same. The
man of the pair came up to me and said, “Hi, I’m John Harding.” I
replied, “John, it’s me - Carl Perretta!” John is an old birding friend
from the Philadelphia area who wrote the book, “Birding the Delaware
Valley Region.” I have a copy on my bookshelf. He is a long-time DVOC
member, and may even have been a BCDC member at one time. He and his
wife Eleanor had flown in from Philadelphia for the Tufted Flycatcher,
which he had missed on an earlier trip to SE AZ. It was like old home
week, and a pleasant surprise for both of us. John said he was looking
to make the flycatcher number 760 for his North American list. Of the
nine birders at the campsite looking for the bird, five were from
Pennsylvania. As we waited and searched, we observed anything that flew
into view. That’s when I got my Buff-breasted Flycatcher. One nice thing
about this bird is that for an Empidonax, it is pretty easy to ID by
sight, with its distinctive coloring. As we sauntered around the area, a
small bird flew in and actually perched on a rock. It had a very
noticeable crest, giving it an almost titmouse-like appearance. It was
the Tufted Flycatcher. With my brand new camera, I was able to get a
couple of shots that won’t win any prizes for artistic merit, but which
were good enough for documentation purposes. They were practically the
first photos I ever took with the new camera my wife had bought me for
my birthday. I’ll include one here.
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| Tufted Flycatcher |
Lifer 10 - White Wagtail
This
was truly a gift. A White wagtail - an Asiatic species - started
showing up at a small sewage plant in the town of Ajo, AZ on March 29.
Ajo is about two hours south of where I was staying in Scottsdale. We
were going to start the drive back to PA on April 1. I waited one day to
see if it stayed, and it did. It was reported on March 30. This gave me
exactly one day to see it before I had to leave. I rose in the dark on
March 31, and started the drive to Ajo in order to arrive at dawn. I got
to the ponds before the sun was up, along with a husband and wife from
Mesa, who were also there for the same thing. As the sky lightened
slightly, the woman from Mesa said, “There it is.” I was able to get on
the bird immediately, and got my 10th lifer of the trip. She posted
immediately to eBird. The time was 6:19 AM. I fired up my new camera,
and again got a few documentation quality shots. The bird had shown up
so quickly that I was back in Scottsdale before 10 AM.
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| White Wagtail |
Lifer 11 - Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Few
things are more unsatisfying than that pesky “heard only” section of
your life list. This bird was a long term resident of mine. With Nick
Pulcinella and Al Guarente, I heard this bird distinctly many years ago
when we birded the lower Rio Grande valley. I saw it fly away at a
distance then, but it could have been a titmouse for all I knew.
Fortunately, the bird has a pretty distinctive call. As Jill and I were
returning home through Texas, I was determined to add this
not-particularly-rare bird to my list of seen birds. Because Nick had
recently been through the area, and because he has more experience there
than I was, I was able to use him as a valuable resource. Nick
recommended Estero Llano Grande State Park as a great destination, and
he was right. The ranger there told me where to find a pair of
tyrannulets that had begun a nest. He had actually roped off the area
with caution tape to keep birders and photographers from disturbing the
birds, but if I kept a respectful distance, I could observe and
photograph them. The result is below, and I’m particularly proud of it.
Also at the park I got some pix of Clay-colored Thrush. That’s the nice
thing about going back to an area like this. You get to see birds again
that you’ve only seen once or twice.
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| Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet |
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| Clay-colored Thrush |
Lifer 12 - Green Parakeet
Nick
told me about a roosting area in McAllen where the birds gather by the
hundreds, right before sunset. I got some stills and video.
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| Green Parakeets |
Lifers 13, 14 and 15 - Ferruginous Pygmy-owl, Audubon’s Oriole, and Tropical Parula
These
I got by paying the fee to enter the famed King Ranch on a tour for
birders. A knowledgeable docent drove us around in a van to the spots on
the ranch which are known to provide habitat for many great birds. At
our very first stop, where we were simply to leave our cars, the guide
got excited and said, “Audubon’s Oriole!” She had heard one and turned
around to see it in a tree. Even she was rather excited, as this was not
an expected species for the trip. I was very satisfied because I had
seen one on my earlier trip to Texas, but it was on the wrong side of the Rio Grande!
If I kept a Mexican list, it would have been one of the few members. As
we searched the parking area, one of the group spotted the real prize -
the Ferruginous Pygmy-owl. I got a few less-than-perfect shots, but one
shows the eye-like spots on the back of the head. Tropical Parula got
added in several other places on the route. It sounds very similar to
its Northern cousin.
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| Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl (back of head) |
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| Looking front |
In
addition, I re-observed many Texas specialties like White-tipped Dove,
Gray Hawk, White-tailed hawk, Green Jay, Green Kingfisher,
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, Scaled Quail, Plain
Chachalaca, and others. I’ll include some photos.
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| The always magnificent Crested Carcara |
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| Wiley's Coyote's Dream Dinner |
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| Scissor-tailed Flycatcher |
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| Plain Chachalaca |
I
still have a target list for Arizona, and I’m hoping to make a dent in
it in future years. Red-faced Warbler, Greater Pewee, Black-capped
Gnatcatcher, and Rufous-capped warbler are just a few names.
