A lifer in Flagstaff

My last lifer in Arizona was the Tufted Flycatcher in Ramsey Canyon in 2015; my last lifer in Coconino county was a Lapland Longspur at Babbitt Tank in 2011 and so adding a bird to my life list at the Frances Short Pond in Flagstaff was very unexpected. Roger had found a Louisiana Waterthrush on Saturday 14th and I had no chance to look for the bird until lunchtime on Tuesday 17th, but there it was cooperatively feeding on insects and bobbing its tail! (The bird stayed until Thursday afternoon.)

I has seen the easy (Northern) waterthrush in Chicago on August 16th, and now two months later I had the other species. Perhaps I have broken the jinx!

Louisiana Waterthrush

Reno and Lake Tahoe

On Thursday October 12th I flew to Reno, NV to join my wife who had been attending a meeting there since Tuesday. When her meeting ended at noon on Friday 13th we walked along the Riverwalk in Reno before heading down to South Lake Tahoe, California.

We stopped for a short hike at a state park, and then along the western edge of lake looking for Black-billed Magpie without any luck. But then found the bird sitting atop a lamp post as we drove along the highway!

I had a few targets for Saturday 14th and got the first one while heading to and from breakfast! Clark's Nutcrackers were calling and one obligingly flew over me as I returned to the room. My wife and I headed to Taylor Creek to see the salmon run and hoping to see Black Bear or Mink feeding on the fish which die after spawning. No luck there but it was an interesting place, but crowded with people. We had missed the peak time - the last weekend in September would have been better - but still got to see the bright red fish at the end of their lives with Common Mergansers after the fish and Mallards after their eggs. We then took a side trail away from the crowds and I added Mountain Chickadee, Hairy Woodpecker and Red-breasted Nuthatch as California year birds. Our next stop was at the DL Bliss State Park along the shore of Lake Tahoe where we went on a lovely hike in the pines and firs, with manzanita on the under storey, and  the lake to one side; but this was not at all birdy.

Lodgepole ? Chipmunk

A big surprise was another Black-billed Magpie on a lamp post as we headed back. A short stop at Fallen Leaf Lake delivered White-headed Woodpecker, the last of my reasonable targets for the trip.

Southern Arizona

I headed to Scottsdale for one final day's workshop on September 9th, again having no luck with Costa's Hummingbird or Burrowing Owl on the SCC campus. But I continued down to Tucson and did the Nogales Loop on Sunday September 10th. I had been to Paton's in January and missed the Violet-crowned Hummingb ird then, but this time quickly had the bird. Broad-billed Hummingbirds and Common Ground-Doves were also easy to get, and I had a Lucy's Warbler while walking along the trail that is partially completed down to the Nature Conservancy reserve. I stopped at the Amado ponds on the way back and saw many Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and a single Brown Pelican.

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

Brown Pelican

I got to my motel in Casa Grande quite early and checking the list serve found that I was close to a spot where a Red Knot had been seen. I drove to the Goldman Dairy Sludge Ponds and found the bird, but these ponds were as disgusting a place that I have ever birded: I can still sense the smell of the place when I think about it.

Back in Flagstaff

I returned to Flagstaff for the start of the new year and having been at sea level for three months, started with easy walks at Picture Canyon and Fat Man's Loop. I added some expected year birds but got lucky with a calling Northern Pygmy Owl on Fat Man's Loop. More year birds were added from my back yard.

A new place had popped up on the list serve - Fulton Pond. This is the pond next to the fire station at the south end of Mormon Lake and I made two trips to get Stilt Sandpiper - a Coconino County bird for me - and Baird's Sandpiper on either side of September 1st.

Shorebirds at Fulton Pond

Chicago

On August 15th I flew to visit my other son in Chicago, and on Wednesday August 16th I went to Lincoln Park hoping for some year birds. I had been lucky at this site a couple of years earlier with Eastern Kingbird and this time found several of this species. But luck was really with me and I found Northern Waterthrush around the luck - this is a bird that has been something of a jinx and although each year a few are seen around Flagstaff I have not seen one in Arizona for 30 years! Other year birds included the expected Black-capped Chickadee and Common Grackle, but I also found a Least Flycatcher at the southern end of the lake as I headed toward the zoo.

American Goldfinch

Least Flycatcher

I met up with Pat on Friday 18th and we headed to Burnham Prairie on the Illinois-Indiana border looking for some of the waders that had been reported. We had Chimney Swifts en route and my best bird was a Semipalmated Sandpiper. While scanning with Pat's scope I also found a Semipalmated Plover. We then crossed the state lie and went to the Gibson Woods Nature Preserve where a feeding station brought in many species of eastern bird, of which Blue Jay, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Baltimore Oriole were new for the year, all from a comfortable armchair in the visitor center!

Here and there around San Jose

My son came for a couple of weeks, and my wife showed him some of the local hot spots. I was able to finally identify a Short-billed Dowitcher and had luck with a Least Tern, oddly away from the bay at Almaden Lake. A trip to the bay at Palo Alto yielded a Lesser Yellowlegs, and then a trip to Moss Landing brought a year bird in the form of over 1000 Elegant Terns!