Sedona CBC

On Sunday December 30th, I lead a team on the Sedona count in an area that was new to me. Rich had shown me the territory in a quick 2 hour scout on December 20th. The route started at the 'Y' in Sedona (now a roundabout) and ended at Courthouse Rock, something like 8 miles down Highway 179. This area is in Coconino county but consists of typical Sedona habitat. We birded for 6 hours starting with a good area at the bottom of Schnebly Hill Road, and we had luck again around Poco Diablo. But it was overall a disappointing day due to the number of people enjoying the outdoors on foot or by jeep. This area had yielded me 3 new county bids for the year (Gila Woodpecker, Canyon Towhee and Northern Cardinal) on the scouting trip; on the count itself I also added Ladder-backed Woodpecker and Hermit Thrush. But we had no birds of note; the 260 American Wigeon on the resort's golf course was a high number for the count. We made many near-fruitless stops, often seeing nothing more than a Western Scrub Jay perched atop some piece of vegetation.

Western Scrub Jay

Flagstaff CBC

On Saturday December 29th, I did my usual route through SE Flagstaff with a brief visit t o Walnut Canyon National Monument. I tallied 35 species in this area, starting with a single Yellow-rumped Warbler at Little America and ending at the Purina plant with pigeons, ravens and starlings. The route's bird of the day was a new one for the count, Western Grebe. Two individuals looked out of place, necks back along their bodies in just 10 degrees, among the usual selection of geese and ducks on Lake Elaine.

The count's best bird was a Palm Warbler found by Bea at Willow Bend. With daylight dwindling away, I managed to relocate the bird close to where Shawn had found one in 2010.

Cottonwood and Prescott

On December 26th I met Rich and Nanette in Sedona and we scanned to the fields off Bates and UVX Roads just over the bridge in Cottonwood. We found 2 Cackling Geese in a group of about 30 Canada Geese. This was a life bird for me; or at least counted as such. I may have seen many of these before the split.

We then drove to Dewey where we spent 2 hours searching in vain for White-tailed Kite. I had missed the bird when it first arrived because of my travels in October, but a recent posting had given me hope. This is one of 3 species that I've seen many times but I am unsure if I've seen them in Arizona.

We ended the day at Watson and Willow Lakes in Prescott seeing many waterfowl including 2 Tundra Swans. 

Camp Verde CBC

On Saturday December 22nd I joined Tom, Jason, Dr. John and Jim on the Camp Verde CBC. We had the same territory as in January 2011. The day started well with a couple of large flocks of sparrows at the edge of the circle. Large numbers of White-crowned, Chipping, Brewer's and Vesper were mixed with a few Black-throated and Savannah, but the best birds were a single Clay-colored and at least 4 Grasshopper sparrows. This area also included a singing Crissal Thrasher and, on the way back, a Loggerhead Shrike. Although it yielded several species, the territory's riparian section at Bull Pen Ranch was quite disappointing, much quieter than in previous years.

Phoenix

On Saturday December 8th I went to Phoenix to pick up my son returning home for Christmas break. Prior to meeting him I headed out to the Gilbert Water Ranch hoping to see the group of American White Pelicans that had been around for two weeks. This was supposed to be a quick stop as the birds had taken up residence just through the Heron Gate. In the end we scoured the whole site without luck!

Anna's Hummingbird

On Sunday, we detoured on the way home to drive around the Tres Rios area. I had no luck with a couple of target species but found a flock of American White Pelicans soaring overhead.

Grand Canyon

On Friday November 30th, we went out to the Walnut Canyon Ponds to see the Horned Grebe that had been present for a few days.

Horned Grebe

On Saturday I went to the Grand Canyon with Jason, Chuck and Zack to search for the Yellow-throated Warbler that had been found earlier in the week. This was just the fourth record for northern Arizona. We had wonderful views of the bird after two hours of searching a very birdy area near the Visitor's Center.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Thanksgiving Trip

COn Friday November 23rd we headed down to Phoenix for Zoolights. On the way down we stopped along Highway 89 to see the Surf Scoter that had been reported at the Sedona Water Treatment Plant.

Surf Scoter

We spent Saturday morning, November 24th, at the Boyce-Thompson Arboretum. This was a little disappointing as birds (Orchard Oriole and Rose-breasted Grosbeak) reported earlier in the week had departed, and the place was full of dog walkers.

Anna's Hummingbird

Cardinal

On Sunday November 25th we went to Picture Canyon where we saw,perhaps 400 American Robins and 20 Lewis's Woodpeckers.

Lewis's Woodpecker