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.

Cave Springs

With some free time for the first time in a while, I went to Cave Springs for an hour this morning. Painted Redstarts and Lucy's Warblers were singing away but overall there weren't too many birds. I stopped by the overlook on the way back to find many swifts were flying around just below the rim. I added two new species for the year to end the day, and the first quarter of 2011 on 184.

Kachina Wetlands

I went out to the Kachina Wetlands an hour before sunset today to find plenty of water and lots of birds. Seven duck species and coot on the water, snipe and Killdeer at the edges, Red-winged Blackbirds singing, lots of Western Meadowlarks and many swallows. Violet-green Swallows were new for the year taking my total to 182.

Northern Shoveler

Clear Creek

I drove to Camp Verde this morning to join a NAAS field trip to Bull Pen Ranch, and when that ended a little early we continued on to the Clear Creek campground itself. I added two summer birds - Plumbeous Vireo and Lucy's Warbler - on this part of the trip and also finally caught up with Canyon Wren. But the highlight of the day was a Western Wood-Pewee which I heard calling and then saw clearly after exiting the restrooms at the rest area on I-17 driving down! This is a very early date for this summer arrival, perhaps a month earlier than expected. I added 4 species for the year, taking my total to 181.

Mourning Dove

White-crowned Sparrow

Backyard Predator

I had filled my feeders this morning with snow forecast and before I left there was a good variety of birds feeding at my feeders and on the ground.. I came home for a break between appointments at 4pm today to find a Sharp-shinned Hawk on the ground having taken a female Cassin's Finch. It flew into a tree at the back where it sat feeding for a while.

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Gilbert Water Ranch

After a short stop at Rio Salado where we saw a Greater Roadrunner carrying nesting material, we spent a couple of hours at the Gilbert Water Ranch before heading back to Flagstaff.

Green Heron

Greater Roadrunner

At the Ranch we found the usual high numbers of water birds - waders (shorebirds), ducks and egrets. I added six new species for 2011 to end the day on 177 for the year.

Great Egret

Black-necked Stilt

East Mesa

On Saturday afternoon we returned to Phoenix as my son had an early flight the next morning. We took advantage of a kind birder who had invited others to see a pair of nesting Barn Owls in a palm tree in his yard in east Mesa. His yard also proved to be a hot spot for Peach-faced Lovebirds! With a Peregrine seen on the way down, I added 3 species for the day to end on 171 for 2011.

Peach-faced Lovebirds