Delco Winter Raptor Survey 2014

The Winter Raptor Survey (WRS) is a state-wide event sponsored by the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology where teams run preplanned routes through their counties by car and census raptors and vultures along the way. The rules require an automobile route with brief stops where the observers do not venture far from the car.  I believe the Pennsylvania Society of Ornithology started the WRS in 2000. The Delco routes were planned and first run by Jim Lockyer with the help of Dave Washabaugh. I'm not sure when the Delaware County routes started. I know I joined them in 2007. Jim devised two routes, an East & West route which are run on separate days within the predetermined survey period

The Delco East route was run this year on Saturday January 18. The team of Chris Pugliese, Bob Kelly and Al Guarente covered 84 miles in 4 hours and 45 minutes. The East route starts at Rose Tree Park and meanders past Hildacy, through Paxon Hollow, Broomall,  DCCC, Springton Reservoir, north to Radnor Twp then a nice long ride down the Blue Route & 95 to the airport counting red-tails & vultures along the way. After the airport the Commodore Barry Bridge Park is checked and the route then turns into the Aston/Chichester area and finally ends up back at Rose Tree Park by way of Middletown.

Highlights for the East team were 7  Bald Eagles including one on nest at Springton Reservoir and the usually reliable Peregrine Falcon on the Commodore Barry Bridge. A stop not to be missed is Bruce Childs' back yard which produced a Red-shouldered Hawk and Bald Eagle almost immediately upon the team's arrival.

The Delco West route was run on Saturday February 2nd. On this day Chris Pugliese and Bob Kelly were joined by Dave Eberly & WRS rookie Tom Bush. This route wanders roughly westward covering areas such as Episcopal Academy, Ridley Creek State Park, Glen Mills, Thornbury and Chadds Ford then works its way back to Rose Tree Park. Seventy-nine miles were covered in 5 hours and 45 minutes.

The sharp-eyed Bob Kelly spotted the first highlight of the day for the West team, a Red-Shouldered Hawk tucked into the woods near the covered bridge at Goshen Rd & Boot Rd in Newtown Square.

Shortly afterward we were entertained by a Red-tailed Hawk swooping across the road in front of the car and coming up with a squirrel which it then carried to a nearby sycamore tree. Fortunately we were able to pull off the road at that spot & get great views of the bird enjoying its mid-morning meal. It was almost immediately joined by another adult, presumably a mate, who perched on the limb above and called out repeatedly, red-tail style. It was unclear whether we or the greedy mate were the objects of the scolding.

A red-tail hawk munches on a squirrel while a mate scolds or guards from above (Tom Bush)

We ticked more red-tails and vultures until we found ourselves near the Glen Mills Quarry. Of course we had to check for the non-raptor ravens & were not disappointed. From our vantage point we quickly found two Common Ravens perched on different structures inside the quarry. As we were watching one flew off and disappeared but we almost immediately found a raven perched on another roof top in the same general vicinity. We felt there was a good chance this was a third raven but kept our count conservative at two.  We did pick up some vultures and another red-tail at the quarry so the stop was justified under WRS rules.

By this time we were feeling desperate for an accipiter.  Fortunately at the next stop, Barrett's Meadow at Creek & Tanguy Rd, our secret weapon, Bob Kelly, found us a Cooper's Hawk perched in the meadow. Just down the road over a parking lot at Cheyney University we spotted a mixed flock of circling raptors and vultures. In this "kettle" we picked out two circling Ravens right in there with the vultures and a couple red-tails. We also spotted a Cooper's Hawk near this group and decided to count it as a 2nd Coop for the day. The Cheyney parking lot is only 2.3 miles as the raven flies from the quarry so we decided we had to assume we were looking at the same two ravens we had seen at the quarry earlier but we entertained the possibility that although we only counted two we may have seen as many as 5 ravens in the area.

After a nice view of a Pileated Woodpecker flying across the parking lot at the Brandywine Museum we started heading back east. As we approached the more congested areas around 202 I suspect our expectations were flagging along with a little fatigue.  However we perked up when as we approached the intersection of 202 on Ridge Rd in Chadds Ford we spotted a pair of raptors on a utility wire right along the side of the road just yards from the busy intersection. They turned out to be a pair of beautiful adult  Red-shouldered Hawks. There is a large empty commercial lot for sale at this corner which was obviously the attraction.  We were able to pull into a parking lot and get excellent views and photos of both birds. One spent its time perched on the large For Lease sign at the corner. I wondered if it was eyeing the Starbucks across the street but couldn't figure out how to get through the traffic. After satisfying ourselves with excellent looks at the red-shoulders and taking zillions of photos we moved on.

                                                           (Tom Bush)

Red-shouldered Hawk enjoys the traffic on 202 (Dave Eberly)

While its mate watches from a utility line (Dave Eberly)

I can't help but quote from Crossley's intro to his Red-shouldered Hawk write-up in his new Raptor ID Guide:

"Along a damp trail draped in cathedral oaks and maples, streaks of light break through the canopy, dappling sun across hanging Spanish moss. The surrounding woods are alive with singing birds. Suddenly, a piercing scream - a repetitive, descending keeyar-keeyar-keeyar  echos through the swamp."

Well maybe not in Delco but this will do.

We picked up our last species of the day, thankfully another accipiter, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, at the Rachel Kohl Library Walking Trail near Garnet Valley Middle School. All in all a great way to spend a mid-winter's day!

Here are the totals for the east & west routes:

East (1/18) West (2/1) Delco Total Turkey Vulture 10 47 57 Black Vulture 1 31 32 Red-tailed Hawk 20 (6 a, 6 i, 8 ND) 22 (10 a, 3 i, 9 ND) 42 Red-shouldered Hawk 2 (a) 3 (a) 5 Bald Eagle 7 (5 a, 2 i ) 7 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 1 Cooper's Hawk 2 2 Peregrine Falcon 1 1

Arizona Trip Day 5, 6 and 7

     Day 5 was originally scheduled to hunt for the Sinaloa Wren at Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista, but since we lucked out yesterday and found the wren skulking around the leaf litter, it was our plan today to head east to the White Water Draw refuge near McNeal, Arizona. We were hoping to get to the refuge early in the morning. Several people we met in AZ told us that if you arrive after the photographers show up then your chances of finding our target bird  would be slim.  The photographers tend to get too close and flush the birds into the grasses where they are extremely difficult to find. So we arrived around 8AM and outside the refuge we found a large flock of about 30 Sandhill Cranes. They appeared to be the lesser sandhills based on their size. Inside the refuge were another 2000+ cranes.

       Once we arrived at the parking area for the refuge we noticed that many people were actually camping at the refuge, which I found strange.  The refuge is similar to Bombay Hook. The refuge is made up of man made pools surrounded by dikes. However, no cars are allowed, so you have to walk around the area.  We walked in and the first birds that we saw were our target birds eating right on the first dike. I set up the scope and we watched life bird number five, a male and female Ruddy Ground-Dove.

Ruddy Ground-Doves

       Although the picture is not great, the male showed no scaling on the throat as a Common Ground-Dove would show. Also there was more spotting on the wings and the wings were a lot redder then the common. 

          After sharing the scope with a couple from Georgia, who also came to see the birds, we turned around and there was a Vermilion Flycatcher right behind us.

Vermilion Flycatcher

       After walking around for a little we found two Great Horned Owls, Long-billed Dowitchers, Bushtits, and a Barn Owl sitting in the rafters of a very large picnic pavilion.

Sleeping Barn Owl

        Continuing the tour we found Northern Harrier, Black and Say's Phoebe, Green-tailed Towhee, Eastern Meadowlark and Greater Roadrunner. Returning to the parking lot there was a Loggerhead Shrike posing for us at the top of a tree.

            After visiting the refuge we headed to San Pedro Riparian Preserve back in Sierra Vista. This place was just hopping with more sparrows then I have ever seen. We found hundreds of White-crowned Sparrows, a few Brewer's Sparrows, a couple hundred Vesper Sparrows, Savannahs, Chipping, Song, Lincoln's and lots of Lark Sparrows, plus Lesser Goldfinch. The feeder at the HQ was taken over with Yellow-headed Blackbirds.

Yellow-headed Blackbirds

             After this preserve we traveled south to the Coronado National Monument. The only new bird species that we added was Canyon Wren at the top of the mountain in the park. Also at the top were two border patrol trucks with a radar system attached to an antenna. Apparently the radar picks up body heat of people, and thus they can track down illegal aliens coming across the border.

                But the interesting part of the trip was the outfit that I got to wear at the HQ. We went in the visitor center and found a helmet and a very heavy chain vest that you were allowed to try on to get the feel of how much they weighed. Well I needed help getting the vest on because of weight but once I got it over my head it wasn't too bad. Below is my imitation of a Conquistador.

Al the Conquistador

Border Patrol

            

Border Fence in the Distance

Day 6

            We started out today looking for Baird's Sparrow in the San Rafael Grasslands. This would be lifer number six but we drove around for three hours and could not find this little bugger. We did find a White-tailed Kite that was hovering over the grasslands hunting for a meal.

White-tailed Kite

San Rafael Grasslands

          Moving on after the disappointment of not finding the sparrow we drove a short distance to Patagonia and stopped at the Paton's Backyard.

 This is the property that I asked the club members for donations to help purchase. They needed to save the property from being sold to an individual who might not allow birders on their property. We were told that the Tucson Audubon will be managing the property starting in mid February. The Paton's property is world famous for having the first Violet-crowned Hummingbird recorded in the US. They also have had other great birds like Plain-capped Starthroat.

            When we arrived we were able to see Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Green-tailed Towhee and Anna's and Broad-billed Hummingbirds.

Anna's Hummingbird

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

           While we were sitting at the Paton's, a tour group came into the yard and the guide started calling out birds at the feeder. Since he was blocking the view of the other folks there,  I stood up and started looking around elsewhere. I spotted a lady who looked familiar and approached her and asked if she was from Pennsylvania. She turned around and looked at me and yelled "It's Al. What are you doing here?" It was Marcia Martin from Swarthmore. Nice to see some familiar faces.

            Leaving the Paton's we headed for  Saguaro National Monument. No new birds were added here but the park was enjoyable to see again.

Gila Woodpecker nest hole from a Saguaro Cactus

Day 7

          Our final day was just a long drive to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. New birds for the trip were Black Vulture and Crested Caracara. From here we drove to Ontario Airport in California to return our car. On the way we drove through Temucula wine country (Hello Jim Lockyer) and then to Lake Skinner to see if we could get a better view of a Blue-footed Booby. Well we did. Actually saw two boobies sitting on the dock.

Neat Sign Along Route

Blue-footed Booby

Blue-footed Booby

             So I would call this a very successful road trip. We put 2,346 miles on the car in seven days. Car rental firms love people like us. We added five new life birds. They were Blue-footed Booby, Nutting's Flycatcher, Rufous-capped Warbler, Sinaloa Wren and Ruddy Ground-Dove. Other lifers we could have gotten but missed were Western and Whiskered Screech-Owls, Baird's Sparrow, California Condors and Rufous-backed Robin. We found 142 species in Arizona and are still adding more year birds here in California.

Arizona Trip Day 4

Red-naped Sapsucker in Madera Canyon

      On our fourth day in Arizona we arose to the raucous again of the Wild Turkeys across the street from our cabin. The turkeys flew down from their roost and started across the street to the feeders right outside of our cabin.

Wild Turkey

 Also at the feeders were Yellow-eyed Junco, Bridled Titmouse, Magnificent Hummingbirds and Mexican Jays.

Yellow-eyed Junco

Magnificent Hummingbird

Mexican Jay

      After viewing the feeders for half an hour we drove down the road a little to Santa Rita Lodge and found more Mecixan Jays, a male Hepatic Tanager, Lesser Goldfinches, Acorn Woodpeckers and a nice Arizona Woodpecker.

Acorn Woodpecker

Arizona Woodpecker

Hepatic Tanager

      These were obviously great birds to see again, but our target bird was still waiting for us in Florida Canyon. So we left the easy birding at the feeders to head for the climb up the canyon. It took us about 20 minutes to arrive at the canyon and as we expected there were already a few other cars in the parking lot. We started our walk up and tried to find one of the three Elegant Trogans in the canyon but were not lucky enough to find one. We would actually come back three times that day looking for the trogans with the same negative results. 

         As we got higher in the canyon we started finding Black-chinned Sparrows, Rufous-crowned and Rufous-winged Sparrows. 

Black-chinned Sparrow

As we followed the trail we had to climb over a dam and under an few trees because the trail is not clearly marked.

Rufous-capped Warbler- photo by Nick Athanas

       We arrived in the area and met some folks and asked if they had seen the warblers, which they had not as of this time. But they did tell us about a Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet they had seen earlier. So we continued our climb further into the canyon and ran into a guy on his way out who said the bird was a little further uphill. So we kept going and met up with a small crowd so we knew this had to be the spot. We got to the group of birders and they quickly pointed out our lifer Rufous-capped Warbler. As we watched them I noticed a second one flitting around and then a third one. There appeared to be a territorial dispute going on between two of the warblers which was neat to watch. Eventually, the birds climbed uphill and out of sight. We all gave each other high fives and a group photo was taken of the gang. This was life bird number three for the trip. We've having fun now!

          After walking back to the parking lot and finding out that we missed a Black-throated Gray Warbler and a Black-capped Gnatcatcher we headed to Sierra Vista where we would make our headquarters for the next two nights. Our plan was to meet up with two birders from the area tomorrow and go look for the Sinaloa Wren in Fort Huachuca. 

Sinaloa Wren (internet photo)

Since there was still daylight we decided to familiarize ourselves with the fort and the area where the wren was hanging out. We figured that we could get a heads up and plan the strategy for tomorrow since this wren is such a skulker. So we got thru security at the gate of the fort and headed to the playground area in Huachuca Canyon. We arrived and I told Sharon to cover one side of the road and I would take the other side. After a quick check on my side I decided it wasn't the correct habitat so I walked over to where Sharon was searching. As I stood there talking to Sharon, I heard the leaves shuffling about five feet in front of me so I called Sharon over to wait and see what was making the noise. Suddenly, a small brown head popped up and I could see it was the Sinaloa Wren staring right at us but not too concerned about our presence. I could clearly see the white striping on the throat and side of face on a grayish brown wren with lots of striping on the tail. Later it popped out of the brush within two feet of Sharon.  Life bird number four was in the bag. 
        Time for a dinner celebration at the Texas Roadhouse.


      

Arizona Trip Day 3

     

Sedona, Arizona

     After spending the night in the great town of Sedona in northern Arizona we rose early to bird around town. Sedona is a gorgeous area of Arizona with the large, red, rock formations that make the town famous and is a gathering place for a large art community. We started birding on the Minquas trail just south of the chapel which is an attraction in itself.

Chapel

     On the trail we were able to find a flock of 30 Bushtits chattering among themselves as they fed along the trail. Bald Eagles were present overhead but the Common Black Hawk that we saw the last time we visited here did not make an appearance. Red-shafted Flicker, Western Bluebird and the distinguished looking Phainopepla were also noted. Today was going to be a driving day. We had to drive about 6 hours south to get to southeastern Arizona at Madera Canyon. Along the way we stopped at a lot of national monuments and landmarks. One of the nicer stops was Montezuma Castle and Montezuma Well. 

      Montezuma Well is a large spring in the middle of the desert where a tribe of Indians made their home.

Montezuma Well

The water help sustained the tribe but also caused a slow death since there is a small amount of arsenic in the water. 
     The Montezuma Castle was an ancient Indian home built into the mountain side similar to the Pueblo Indians in Colorado.

                                  Montezuma Castle

      Between  both locations, which are part of the same monument but are different units, we added Canyon Wren, American Wigeon, Pied-billed Grebe, Ring-necked Duck, Green-winged Teal, Gambel's Quail and Chipping Sparrow.

     Next stop was the Gilbert Water Ranch which is a fancy name for a water treatment plant. However, this is a treatment plant which was planned to help wildlife and provide a park for the local residents. This is a great spot in the middle of the Phoenix complex. The last time we were here we searched for the Streak-backed Oriole but failed in our attempt to get a glimpse. This time we found Black-necked Stilts, Avocet, Lesser Scaup, Great and Snowy Egrets, Sora, Least Sandpipers, Long-billed Dowitcher, Inca Dove, Anna's Hummingbird, Gila Woodpecker, Black and Say's Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike, Western Scrub-Jay, Curve-billed Thrasher and Abert's Towhee.  

Abert's Towhee

Long-billed Dowitcher

Barrel Cactus

Cinnamon Teal

Verdin

Black-necked Stilt

American Avocet - definitive plumage

    
     Next stop was Florida Canyon which is right next to Madera Canyon in southeast Arizona. Florida Canyon has held Rufous-capped Warblers now for about four winters and we have tried in the past for this little guy without success. This time we had better directions and so we hiked up the trail around four o'clock in the afternoon. Unfortunately, at that time the canyon is already in the shadows of the surrounding mountains so all the bird life was already settled in for the night. So we drove back out of the canyon and there was still two hours of sunlight left so we headed to the foothills of the Madera Canyon. There was a reported Northern Pygmy-Owl along the Proctor Road trail and we searched in vain for that but once again today we got skunked.

       We arrived at the Kubo Lodge for the night and were settling in when we heard a large raucous outside in the dark. I went outside and figured out that it must have been a flock of Wild Turkeys going to roost up in the tall sycamores across the street. Tomorrow we would try again for the Rufous-capped Warbler

Our Cabin at Kubo Lodge

 

 

      

Front of our Cabin