Abberton Reservoir

Little Grebe

Eurasian Kestrel

Ring-necked Pheasant

Lee Valley

Great Tit

Long-tailed Tit

Indian Muntjac

Stock Doves

Langdon Hills

Tufted Duck

European Rabbit

Eurasian Blue Tit

Prescott

On March 2nd we went to Prescott for the day. I was hoping to find the Tundra Swans (Willow Lake), White-winged Scoter (Watson Lake) and Hooded Mergansers (Watson Woods) but dipped on them all. We also stopped by at the Western Screech-owl spot in Camp Verde on the way home. No luck there either. We had a change in fortune as a Great Horned Owl fly over as we drove into town at sunset.

Phoenix

On February 22nd my son and I went down to Phoenix to meet my wife who was flying in from LA. We spent some time on Friday evening, and then as a family on Saturday morning, in Papago Park chasing down some easy desert birds. We found two of our target birds Cactus Wren and Gambel's Quail.

Cactus Wren

Curve-billed Thrasher

Anna's Hummingbird

Common Gallinule

Desert Cottontail

Roundtail Ground Squirrel

In the early afternoon we headed out to the thrasher spot in Buckeye where we found Crissal's Thrasher and Le Conte's Thrasher. We then drove back via the agricultural fields around Arlington and saw a small group of Sandhill Cranes and my first Vermillion Flycatcher of 2013.

Vermillion Flycatcher

Page Springs

On February 16th we went down to Page Springs hoping to add some new birds for the year. Things turned out to be pretty quiet and even easy birds such as Ladder-backed Woodpecker proved elusive. A Virginia Rail responded to my wife's clapping. A quick stop at Lo Lo Mai Springs did not disappoint with several Wood Ducks on the pond there.

Say's Phoebe

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Bridled Titmouse

Wood Duck

In town

With snow forecast for the weekend I drove to work slowly on Thursday and found the three Cackling Geese on the golf course by the Athletic club.

Cackling Goose

Common Goldeneye

Verde Valley and Dewey

On Saturday February 2nd, I joined a small group of birders for a walk around the new Sedona Wetlands Preserve, adding a few species to my year's list but seeing nothing too special. We then adjourned for food and a bird video quiz at Rich and Nanette's.

On Sunday, we chased three birds that had been around for some time. We stopped first at the V-bar-V Heritage site where two species if sparrows had been coming to some feeders for the past few weeks.

White-throated Sparrow

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Red-tailed Hawk

Cliff Chipmunk

We then headed to the Dewey ditch where a White-tailed Kite had been seen on-and-off since October. I had dipped on this bird in December, but had more luck this time. This was a species that I had hoped to catch up with in Arizona. I may have seen it in the state before, but I was not certain - I had seen it in North America a few times. This counted as my first state bird of 2013.

White-tailed Kite

Rainy Days

Mountain Chickadee

Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona

On Saturday January 19th I decided to head to lower elevations in Coconino County to add some new year birds. We left a little after 11:00 and returned at 4:30 stopping at Cave Springs, Tlaquepaque and Poco Diablo. All in all things were very quiet and I only added 3 species for the year. The best bird was an out-of-season House Wren at Cave Springs.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Red-naped Sapsucker

Bird Eagle Survey

On Saturday January 12th I did my usual Bald Eagle Survey route through Continental and out to Walnut Canyon, seeing two fly-by eagles, one at the junction of Country Club and Oakmont and the other on the road from I-40 to the Visitor Center. We also had 4 Red-tailed Hawks and 1 American Kestrel.

We saw a group of Elk  just off the road inside the National Monument.

Elk