Flagstaff weekend

I chased birds around Flagstaff over the weekend of November 3rd-6th

On Friday November 3rd I went out to the Meteor Crater RV Park and was successful in finding a Harris's Sparrow that had been seen the day before.

Harris's Sparrow

But I had no luck with other recent sightings such as Common Grackle and Yellow-shafter Flicker. It was windy and not very birdy - due in part to an active Merlin.

On Saturday November 4th I headed out to the Cameron Trading Post where a Rufous-backed Robin had been present for a few days. The bird stayed high in the trees for the first part of my visit but eventually came down to pose for a photo.

Rufous-backed Robin

The whole time I was in the courtyard a very tame Greater Roadrunner was wandering around eating whatever insects it could find.

Greater Roadrunner

Chris from Tucson was also birding in the courtyard and we added Evening Grosbeak, Red-naped sapsucker, and with Chris's hearing skills a surprising Chestnut-sided Warbler to our lists.

On Sunday November 5th I headed out to Ashurst Lake in search of some more birds needed for my Arizona Year list, and I quickly added Common Loon and Bonaparte's Gull at the south end of the lake. Driving to the north end I lucked upon a small flock of Red Crossbills -  my first of 2017 - and I used my Mi-Fi to check the local list serve which provided news of a White-winged Scoter seen earlier in the day. It took some time to find the bird, in part due to the bird's diving and the windy conditions, for a second year bird.

Red Crossbill

On Monday November 6th I hiked from Aspen Corner up the Arizona Trail to Aspen Loop and back. Other than a number of ravens and a single Red-tailed Hawk flying overhead I saw a group of 4 Red Crossbills and a single Clark's Nutcracker at the tank. That was it for the whole 3 mile hike!

On rweturning home I had three Evening Grosbeaks at my feeders.

Female Evening Grosbeak

Male Evening Grosbeak