Monday, January 23, 2012

Weekend in the northernmost part of Arizona

On Saturday Rich, Nanette and I drove north stopping at Navajo Bridge, Lees Ferry and the Condor Viewing Area en route to Fredonia. Lees Ferry proved to be a nice spot and we had good views of a Loggerhead Shrike, perched initially on a speed limit sign. We found at least 7, perhaps 9 condors in the air and then watched them land and perch on the Vermilion Cliffs. We continued on to Fredonia to look for the Black-capped Chickadee but the winds were strong, feeders nearly empty and after along search we found nothing. We made a brief side trip to Pipe Springs but it was snowy/rainy and we saw little. After a further search of Fredonia we headed to Page drivign through a very snowy Jacob Lake.

On Sunday we looked at the Page STP and some gold course ponds before heading to the bridge and scoping below Glen Canyon Dam. We saw Lesser Scaup and Redhead but not the birds we had hoped for. We continued to Wahweap Marina where we soon found the Mew Gull but Lake Powell seemed devoid of birds. The highlight was seeing a shrike atop a speed limit sign that looked very different from the one the day before - a Northern Shrike with a hook to the bill and a narrow mask.

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