Cave Springs

Cave Springs

I spent an hour at Cave Springs on Thursday morning where things had gotten much greener since my last visit. I had singing Plumbeous Vireo and Northern Mockingbird while many ViolEt-green Swallows were flying above the campground. But none of these species were new for the year, and I remained stuck on 193.

Northern Mockingbird

Page Springs

Page Springs

On Saturday April 23rd, I took a short trip to Page Springs quite late in the day; a small flock of Lark Sparrows and a singing Bullock's Oriole were the only birds of note.

Lark Sparrow

Bullock's Oriole

But I had a serengeti moment watching an Osprey take a fish and then a Bald Eagle harassing the Osprey.  The Osprey clung on to its fish and eventually the Bald Eagle left to try its luck with the Great Blue Herons.

Bald Eagle

Returning home I finally had a hummer at the feeder I'd put up a couple of weeks ago. Broad-tailed Hummingbird was my 193rd species for 2011.

Odds and Ends

I spent an hour on Sunday morning, April 17th, at the Kachina Wetlands. Common Yellowthroats were singing and a single Lesser Yellowlegs was the only wader (shorebird) besides a few Killdeer. I added Yellow-headed Blackbird for the year to end on 191.

I drove down to Cave Springs for an hour or so on Monday, April 18th. Painted Redstarts and House Wrens were singing in good numbers but the birding wasn't great because of the wind. I did add Yellow Warbler to end the day on 192 for the year.

Page Springs

Spring seemed to be in full swing on a trip to Page Springs today with Common Yellowthroat, Cassin's and Western Kingbirds and Bullock's Orioles adding color and song to the area. Wintering waterfowl have moved on - with just a few Mallards remaining. Temperatures reached 80 degrees. The day's best sighting was a Great Horned Owl followed by a sighting of two downy young in the fork of a tree along the creek. I added 3 new species to end the day on 190 species for 2011.

Killdeer

Turkey Vulture

Cave Springs

I returned to Cave Springs for an hour this morning in the hope of finding some new birds. Painted Redstarts and Lucy's Warblers remained in good numbers and were joined by many singing House Wrens. But overall things were quite slow. I added one new species to take my yearly tally to 187.

Eurasian Collared Dove

Montezuma Well

Flagstaff had a foot of snow on Saturday April 9th following high winds at the end of the week, and I was hopeful of finding something interesting at Montezuma Well on Sunday. Alas! The birds were very similar to those seen two weeks ago at Clear Creek - Lucy's Warbler and Common Black-Hawk the only notables. Unexpectedly for April, I failed to add a new bird for 2011.

Common Black Hawk

Prescott

Willow Lake

In 71 degree (22C) weather, we decided to visit Prescott for the day, but found little signs of spring. Most duck species were still present and summer visitors were few and far between. I finally caught up with Bushtit at Watson Woods, and found a single Franklin's Gull in a group of 25 Ring-billed Gulls on Willow Lake. These two species took my yearly tally to 186.

Gadwall

Osprey

Ruddy Duck

March Recap

I added 27 species to my year's list in March but fell a little short of my target. The weather cooperated with just 8.6 inches of snow for the month, and trips south brought Burrowing Owl and Barn Owl as well as the lifer LeConte's Thrasher. I had forgotten that March also meant allergies and so days outdoors were usually followed by days of suffering indoors! Nevertheless I am happy with 184 species.

Common Moorhen

Pied-billed Grebe

Snowy Egret

Abert's Towhee

I also ended the first quarter with 14 mammals - Striped Skunk, Coyote, Gunnison's Prairie Dog, Rock Squirrel, Roundtail Ground Squirrel, Cliff Chipmunk, Tassel-eared (Abert's) Squirrel, Arizona Gray Squirrel, Blacktail Jackrabbit, Desert Cottontail, Javelina, Mule Deer, Whitetail Deer, Pronghorn  and 2 herps - Tree Lizard and Chorus Frog. So my quarterly tally is exactly 200 species!

April will be a busy work month but the summer birds will be arriving and I should be able to add several to my list without a lot of effort. My end-of-month target is 200.