October-December Recap

I added 50 species in the year’s final quarter including 9 in Chicago and 20 in one day’s birding in central Florida. 

Of the 21 birds in Arizona, 12 were state birds – Pectoral Sandpiper, American Redstart, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Glaucous-winged Gull, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Mew Gull, Long-tailed Duck, Rusty Blackbird, Thayer’s Gull, Glaucous Gull, Nutting’s Flycatcher and Red-throated Loon - doubling my state bird total for the year! 5 of these were lifers and another was new for me in the ABA area.

Flagstaff: Mt Elden CBC

The year ended as it had began with the Flagstaff: Mt Elden CBC, always held on the Saturday after Christmas Day. This time the temperatures were 40 degrees Fahrenheit warmer ranging from 27 to 58 degrees.

We saw 34 species with the highlights being a male Eurasian Wigeon and a Snow Goose.  A Bald Eagle was on the snag at Lake Elaine when we arrived in the morning but soon disappeared and we saw no more eagles during the day. A single Cedar Waxwing was the best passerine. My year ended with the birds at the Purina plant – Common Raven, Eurasian Starling and Rock Pigeon! Worse birds than the three I had started the year with!

Triple Chase

Tom called on Friday with news of a Glaucous Gull at Lake Havasu. He had to chase this, his 450th Arizona bird. I went with him and we had the bird at the Pittsburgh Point lighthouse, courtesy of Lauren and David, when we arrived at 9:00. We then went to Bill Williams and, courtesy of helping hand from the iPod, had the Nutting's Flycatcher by 10:30. A short drive to Havasu Springs and a scan of the lake yielded the Red-throated Loon, on my third trip to find it!

Glaucous Gull

Nutting's Flycatcher

This took me to 590 for the year with 347 in the U.S. and 276 in Arizona. The gull and loon took me to 112 lifers for the year. In addition, the flycatcher took me to 24 new state birds for 2011.

The Waterfowl set

At the start of the day I had seen 30 species of waterfowl this year; only one  species normally occuring in Arizona remained - Tundra Swan. Four birds had been at Watson Lake in Prescott for a couple of weeks, and so to complete the set I drove to Prescott and back stopping only briefly to watch the four swans just north of the woods.

Tundra Swan   

This was my 587th species of 2011, the 344th in the US and 271st in Arizona.

Lake Havasu

I made a second try at the Red-throated Loon, knowing that other good birds were around. I started at the Island STP where I found the Thayer's Gull. This was a difficult call for me and I took a long time over its ID; this was confirmed when a 2nd cycle American Herring Gull flew in and landed nearby! I then visited Site Six and Pittsburgh Point and had calling Common Loons, a Pacific Loon and Horned Grebe. I then went to Parker Dam and found the Surf Scoter that had been around for a while. My final stop was the Bill Williams River Delta area, full of American Coot, Pied-billed and Western Grebes, Common Goldeneye. But no Red-throated Loon! Arriving back in Flagstaff at the end of a long day I found that Lauren and David had found a Nutting's Flycatcher less than 3 miles from where I'd been sitting!

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

The Thayer's Gull was my 110th lifer and 21st state bird for the year. I added 3 more species to my 2011 list to reach 586.

Mormon Lake CBC

The Mormon Lake Christmas Birdcount was a forgetable day's birding. My group has 1 Western Meadowlark, 3 Dark-eyed Juncos and a distant Bald Eagle at the dam. We had nothing at the observatories and the 4 mile trek to Vail Lake through calf-deep snow brought 1 White-breasted Nuthatch and a calling Steller's Jay. I saw nothing at the U-bend and there were no ducks on frozen Upper Lake Mary. I did see a small group of Pygmy Nuthatches and a Red-tailed Hawk while walking down to the Narrows. But these birds, a few more juncos at the side of the road, some overhead Common Ravens and a Great Blue Heron when heading back to town were the only birds I saw all day. 9 Species in all and only 6 through binoculars! Others in my group added Townsend Solitaire, Northern Flicker, Mountain Chickadee and Scrub Jay for a group total of 12. In all the count's four teams managed 31 species.

Anthem Community Park

On Friday December 16th. I stopped by the Anthem Community Park en route to some business in Phoenix. I found both target birds as they remained at their posted locations. The Rufous-backed Robin had been located by a group of six birders at the kiddie train depot and gave good views while Christma s music played!  The Rusty Blackbird was around a water feature next to the playground.

Rusty Blackbird

The Rusty Blackbird was near for the year taking me to 583; it was also my 20th state bird for 2011.

Gilbert Water Ranch

On Saturday December 10th we took a family trip to Gilbert Water Ranch. Nothing special had been posted and we didn't find anything that was unexpected. We had a male Vermillion Flycatcher, which was new for me at this location:

Vermillion Flycatcher

 As usual the Water Ranch was full of birds and we spent a nice couple of hours wandering around.

American Kestrel

Green Heron

I did not add anything new for the year.

Lake Powell

On Friday, November 25th we spent a family day visiting Page and Lake Powell. We stopped at Glen Canyon Dam on our way out and having walked across the bridge, found that we needed the scope to properly see the birds below us. We continued on to Wahweap Marina spending time wandering along the shore- where we heard a loon call - and on the pontoons. A boy throwing bread into the water attracted coot, Mallard, Wood Duck and a single Mew Gull among the Ring-billeds. A juvenile California Gull was also at the marina. Heading home, we stopped at the dam and with scope in scanned the birds below us finding a Long-tailed Duck among the Common and my lifer Barrow's Goldeneye along with many cormorants. A stop at Cameron Trading Post yielded a single Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

I ended the day on 582 species for the year including 337 in the US. Barrow's Goldeneye was my 109th lifer for the year and I added three new state birds fora total of 19 this year.

Orlando, Florida - birding day

On Saturday November 19th I met birdingpal Al and we spent the morning in search of Limpkin in the Ritch Grissom Wetlands in Viera. We drove the loop three times in vain although we heard the bird call on our first time around.
  

Anhinga

Black Vulture

After lunch we headed to the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge where we saw many ducks and the only Reddish Egret and Roseate Spoonbills of the trip. A stop at Oak Hammock we found a single Black-and-White Warbler among many Yellow-rumped warblers. We then headed through the refuge to the Cape Canaveral National Seashore finding shorebirds on the beach and gannets and jaegers over the ocean. An American Bittern flew past us as we headed back to Titusville at the end of the day. I had 81 species on a full day's birding including 17 that were new for the year to end on 334 birds for the year in the US and 579 overall.

Roseate Spoonbill

Tricolored Heron

Orlando, Florida - working day

I arrived in Orlando at 4pm on Thursday on a business trip, and added White Ibis for my year list when I turned off the highway en route to my hotel to fix a wing mirror.

White Ibis

Between a 4 hour work session on Thursday evening and 6 hours spent on the USF campus on Friday afternoon, I took a 3 hour morning to visit Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Area just south of Christmas, FL. The trip was spoiled by the presence of 300 deer hunters wearing orange safety vests while I was without. I also visited Fort Christmas for a short while. I was surprised by the lack of passerines seeing just American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, Red-winged Blackbird, Palm Warbler, Fish Crow and an Eastern Phoebe during the day. I was not surprised to see both Turkey and Black Vultures, White and Glossy Ibis, Wood Stork, Sandhill Crane and Cattle Egret. Despite just 13 species, 3 were new for the year taking me to 317 in the US and 562 overall.

Sandhill Crane

Wood Stork

Reid Park Zoo

We spent a pleasant hour-and-a-half at Tucson's Reid Park Zoo on Saturday November 12th, unexpectedly finding a tame Common Yellowthroat. We headed to Sweetwater hoping to add Harris's Hawk to my year's list, but found construction blocking our way. So we hopped onto I-10 and headed home, finding a Harris's Hawk along the interstate just half an hour north of Tucson. That was my 558th species for the year.

Common Yellowthroat

Glendale Recharge Ponds

A number of interesting postings came ahead of the long weekend. I took the opportunity to visit the Glendale Recharge Ponds and found the Glaucous-winged Gull that had been found on Wednesday. This was my 108th lifer, 16th state bird and 557th species for the year.

Glaucous-winged Gull

Fortune did not stay with me at a stop at Villago in Casa Grande. A Black-legged Kittiwake which had been there for a week or more did not show. It seems I was two days late.

Loggerhead Shrike

Mad Chase

Having negotiated a deadline at work and with snow on the ground in Flagstaff, n Saturday November 5th I decided to chase a Red-throated Loon that had been seen at Rotary Park in Lake Havasu City. I left around noon giving me an hour and a half before sunset to find the bird. No luck! The complete species list from 90 minutes of scanning the lake was: Pied-billed Grebe, Horned Grebe, Western Grebe, Mallard, Ruddy Duck, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, American Coot, Ring-billed Gull, Bonaparte's Gull, Morning Dove and Great-tailed Grackle. Two Bonaparte's Gulls were cooperative for a while. They had been drawn to the shore by an eccentric couple - they had a cat on a leash - who fed a whole loaf of bread to the coot/ducks/gull, although the Bonapartes stayed at the fringes and did not join the fracas.

I returned to the lake on Sunday morning for a further hour of scanning the water. It was a cool 45 degrees and quiet (no motorboats.) Sitting on the beach with the water lapping against the shore was very peaceful although I saw little of interest.

I was back home by 11:00 and within an hour or so had two good yard birds - my first Red-naped Sapsucker of the season and a flock of Bushtits, a species that rarely visit my yard.

Red-naped Sapsucker

Cameron

After chasing a Surf Scoter at Ashurst Lake without luck on Saturday, I took a longer journey to Cameron today in search of three birds that had been posted in recent days. I found two of the target birds without problem at the courtyard - a female American Redstart and a juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - but had no luck with the Ruddy Ground-dove. The area wasn't very birdy; other than the two targets all I saw were 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler, 2 American Crows and 3 Eurasian Collared Doves.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Both target birds were new state birds for me - taking me to 15 for the year. The American Redstart took me to 556 for the year with 311 in the U.S and 260 in Arizona.

Chicago

On Saturday, October 15th, Chicago Aududon’s Pat Durkin picked me up from iit and took me to the Wooded Island Birdwalk in Jackson Park where we were joined by at least another ten birders. We spent nearly three hours walking a route that has been surveyed almost weekly for over 30 years! Canada Geese and Ring-billed Gulls were numerous and we saw a good number of Red-tailed and Sharp-shinned hawks migrating through the area. I also got to see Swainson’s Thrush for the second time this year and had good views of a Palm Warbler, a bird I had dipped on at Keno Springs at the start of the year. I added four birds for the year on the walk, but was in the wrong place when a Field Sparrow showed itself. A warbler made a quick visit high above our heads, flitting about very briefly. I saw yellow under the tail and black streaking on the flanks, perhaps a Blue-throated Green Warbler. But the views weren’t conclusive enough for me to claim a lifer.

Downy Woodpecker

Returning to iit I ran into a large flock of White-throated Sparrow on campus; this was another bird I had missed out on during the bird walk. Waiting to take the CTA Green Line train into the city, I glimpsed more of the hawk migration from the elevated 35-Brownsville-IIT station with a Peregrine, Sharp-shinned Hawk and Turkey Vulture in quick succession!

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In the afternoon I walked from the city along the lake shore to 31^st street, adding Dark-eyed Junco and Magnolia Warbler in the trees near the Soldier Field stadium, pale Song Sparrows in the weedy side of the Sledding Hill and then had luck at the McCormick Bird Sanctuary with Cooper’s Hawk, Swamp Sparrow, American Goldfinch, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Hermit Thrush and an obliging Eastern Phoebe. I totaled 32 species for the day including three more year birds in the afternoon taking my year’s total to 552 with 309 in the U.S. 

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I awoke on Sunday October 16th to find it drizzling outside and I spent an hour-and-a-half birding through the windows, seeing two more Downy Woodpeckers and several Golden-crowned Kinglets. I added White-crowned Sparrow and Yellow-rumped Warbler to my trip list. When the rain stopped I took a quick stroll across campus and ran into a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a bird I had missed the day before. Several Chimney Swifts also flew around.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

I headed to Lincoln Park where I birded the North Pond area which had many Wood Ducks. I added Gadwall, Pied-billed Grebe, Brown Creeper and Fox Sparrow. I joined my boys at the Zoo and saw House Finch and Cedar Waxwing. This took my trip list to 44 and my yearly tally to 555 with 310 in the US.

Snowbowl

I spent an hour hiking around the Arizona Snowbowl this morning hoping for some of the high elevation species I have not seen this year. But things were against me. It had snowed on Thursday night and the ground was a little slippery underfoot; it was a beautiful morning and some 300 people were out having fun; a firewood sale was happening and there were many chain saws working logs that had been pile in one area. I only saw one ofmy targets, Clark's Nutcracker. My 545th species of the year.

South Kaibab National Forest

I joined a Northern Arizona Audubon field trip to the South Kaibab National Forest on Saturday October 7th. Garland Prairie was excellent for sparrows (White-crowned, Chipping, Brewers, Vesper and Savannah) and for raptors the best of which were four Ferruginous Hawks including two dark phase birds. We also had Prairie Falcon, American Kestrel and Red-tailed Hawk. 

Two species were new for the year, taking me to 544 with 299 in the US.

Upper Lake Mary Mudflats

I had to wait until 4:30pm because of monsoon-like rains before heading out to Upper Lake Mary to see the waders reported on the mudflats. An interesting group of birds - Killdeer, Lesser Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitcher, Spotted, Least, Baird's and Pectoral Sandpiper - remained impassive as I lugged my scope close enough to be sure of the IDs!

Two species were new for the year, taking me to 542 and 297 in the US. Pectoral Sandpiper was new for me in Arizona, the 13th such bird in 2011.

September Recap

With work in full swing, I managed just a few birds despite trips to Wickenburg, Lake Havasu and Phoenix. And despite the fact that there were many good birds around in fall migration:


View Northern Arizona Birds: Fall Migration 2011 in a larger map

I added just 9 species for the month and also picked up a new mammal: Elk and a new reptile: Mojave Rattlesnake.

Glendale Recharge Ponds

On Saturday September 24th, I found time to visit the Glendale Recharge Ponds a couple of weeks after a bunch of sightings listing a variety of waders (shorebirds) and in a 105 degree temperature in the early afternoon! Despite the heat, there was a lot to see - Killdeer, Black-necked Stilt, Wilson's Phalarope, Least Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, White-faced Ibis and Snowy Egret. An Osprey sailed overhead and a Turkey Vulture sat on the berm.

Waders at the Glendale Recharge Ponds

On Sunday September 25th we spent a couple of hours at the Phoenix Zoo. Bird highlights included Anna's Hummingbird, Northern Mockingbird, Gila Woodpecker, Nashville Warbler, Neotropic Cormorant and a quick look at what was almost certainly a Black-and-White Warbler nuthatching along a branch.

Common Gallinule

Eurasian Starling

Neotropic Cormorant

Lake Havasu

Northern Arizona Audubon's Regional Field Trip to Lake Havasu featured a 4-hour boat trip on Saturday morning, some lake gazing for 4-hours in the afternoon and then 4-hours on Sunday morning in riparian habitat along the Bill Williams River Preserve.

The boat trip yielded good views of the Tricolored Heron, a fly by Sabine's Gull (both in California waters) and a humorous moment on choppy waters where the group got excited about a possible Little Gull on the water. This bird turned out to be an American Avocet floating on the water. Another serengeti moment occured when a young, but close to full size Clark's Grebe clambered on its parent's back before being unceremonously flipped off again.

Clark's Grebe

Forster's Tern

Western Grebe

The afternoon trip wasn't a successful one due to a loud event across from Rotary Park and watercraft everywhere we looked. A quiet sojourn over Mesquite Bay before sunset yielded better views of a Sabine's Gull but not of the hoped-for jaegers.

Sunday morning's walk added many passerines to the trip list, including both Blackpoll and Black-and-White warblers high in a cottonwood. From a viewpoint across the lake we added Caspian Terns to our list but probable Sanderling were too far away for me to call.

We amassed over 70 species on the trip, of which 5 were new for 2011 taking my yearly total to 540. Blackpoll Warbler was a new state bird, my 12th for the year reaching my minimum goal for the year.

Switzer Canyon Road

After missing out yesterday, I returned to the spot on Switzer Canyon Road to find the Hooded Warbler. Arriving at 11:15 I found Gary already there, armed with his camera, and with Townsend's, Wilson's and Orange-crowned Warblers in the scrubby boxelders. I did not have to wait too long for the target bird to arrive, although he gave me just short glimpses in his first visit to the area. A little while later, after Ken had joined us I got to enjoy better, longer looks at the bird.

Thus was my 535th species for the year. I have just eight more to reach 300 species in the US in 2011.

Mormon Lake

On Saturday September 10th, I joined a Northern Arizona Audubon field trip to Mormon Lake. We spent an hour at the old overlook, twenty minutes at the new overlook and then an hour-and-a-half on the bluff road. The lake itself had many White-faced Ibis and American Avocet and 8 Greater White-fronted Geese. There were also many Elk on the lake and on the move because of a number of bow hunters in the area.

Elk

The bluff road yielded 5 warbler species, Gray and Dusky Flycatcher, Western Wood Pewee and a Gray Vireo. A Northern Harrier hunting the lake edge was one of five raptors seen.

Late in the day I went looking for a Hooded Warbler that had been present along Switzer Canyon Road since midweek. I had Wilson's and Nashville Warblers, saw more Lewis's Woodpeckers than I've seen in this part of town for a while but not the bird I was chasing.

I added 2 new species for 2011, the first of these took me to my target of 250 Arizona birds for the year. I ended the day on 534 for the year.

Wickenburg

We celebrated Labor Day Weekend  with an overnight trip to Wickenburg for an evening herping and a morning at the Hassayampa River Preserve.

Lesser Nighthawks were the only night bird on the herping trip. Despite rainy days in Flagstaff, the Wickenburg area has been exceptionally dry this year and apparently the toads have not surfaced this year: We did not see a single Couch's Spadefoot toad in an area where there can be hundreds.We had timed our trip perfectly to see young-of-the-year Mojave Rattlesnakes and were lucky enough to see a Kit Fox. In addition we saw a few Merriam's Kangaroo Rats, some Desert Pocket Mice, a Coyote and a Common Kingsnake.

Mojave Rattlesnake

At Hassayampa on Sunday Morning, September 4th, Black-chinned, Anna's and Rufous Hummingbirds were abundant at the feeders, and both the Palm Lake Loop and dry wash was quite birdy. As expected Zebra-tailed, Desert Spiny and Western Whiptail Lizards were abundant.

I added one new species for the year to end on 532.

Zebra-tailed Lizard

Rufous Hummingbird

August Recap

August was a very disappointing month for me. A new position meant that I started back at work on August 1st and did not really bird until the last weekend! I added just a single species for the year! I did attend Pam's 100th Yardie celebration on August 13th and got to enjoy 8 Lewis's Woodpeckers at one time and a Pinyon Jay show! The only other interesting bird moment was a trio of Common Nighthawks hunting at 6pm around the junction of Switzer and Turquoise on Wednesday August 10th.

Winslow

On Saturday August 27th, I led a Northern Arizona Audubon Field Trip to Winslow, meeting up with an AZFO group at La Posada. We scoured the trees for about an hour finding Yellow, MacGillivray's, Wilson's, Black-throated Gray and Virginia's Warblers, Warbling Vireo and western Wood Pewee. We then moved onto McHood State Park where we fund high water levels but nevertheless found Semi-palmated Plovers, Spotted and Least Sandpipers on the shoreline and sandbars and a Peregrine over the Marsh.

I added one new species to end the day on 531 for the year. 

June and July Recap

Lots of birding in these two months, summarized earlier.

The following mammals were added: Asian Elephant, Sambar, Indian Muntjac, Malayan Porcupine, Asian Palm Civet, Tree Shrew, White-handed Gibbon, Siamang, Long-tailed Macaque, Pig-tailed Macaque, Stump-tailed Macaque, Dusky Leaf-monkey, Banded Leaf-monkey, Prevost's Squirrel, Plaintain Squirrel taking the year's total to 42.

I added House Gecko, Asian Water Monitor, Bengal Monitor, Common Asiatic Toad, Asian Giant Toad and Common Pond Frog  plus species of skink, dragon, frog, tree frog and tortoise! This took my yearly total to 24 named species.

Asian Elephant

Part Three

The first few days back were spent resting. A Rufous Hummingbird in the backyard on Wednesday July 27th was my 530th species for the year, Earlier that day a Great-horned Owl calling during the night was new for my yard list which inches ever closer to 100.

End of Part Two

I arrived back in Flagstaff after spending 46 days in Malaysia and Thailand. Many days were spent at home; less than 2 weeks were really birding days. I saw 237 species in this time, of which only 4 had been seen earlier in the year in Arizona and California (Hose Sparrow, Rock Pigeon, Great Egret and Black-crowned Night-heron). This took my yearly total to 529 species with 107 lifers.

Germain's Swiftlets

Red-whiskered Bulbul

The Red-whiskered Bulbul shown above was seen inside the terminal at Hong Kong International Airport en route home.

Telapa Buruk

On Saturday July 23rd, I went with an MNS group to Telapa Buruk in Negeri Sembilan. We birded along the hill road in the morning with two perched Wreathed Hornbills being an early highlight. After lunch in Kampung Pantai we spent the afternoon armchair birding in Rafi and Angela's new house. I added 5 species for the year and two lifers to reach 519 and 116 lifers in 2011.

Yellow-vented Bulbul

Spotted Dove

Black-naped Oriole

Penang

On Tuesday July 7th I traveled to Penang to see my friend Roger. I did not really bird but picked up two species that day, and a third on Wednesday July 8th for a total of 514,

Crested Myna

White-bellied Sea-eagle