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

First Week

I started the year by watching my feeders, scanning the lakes in Country Club and making a quick stop at Walnut Canyon National Monument. This gave me a total of 41 species in the first four days of January.

On Saturday 5th we drove to Phoenix and made a stop at Tempe Town Lake where Brown Pelican was the best bird. On Sunday we stopped at Gilbert Water Ranch and Camelback Lake before heading up. The best bird at Gilbert was a flock of Rosy-faced Lovebirds, a bird I failed to find on 4 visits in 2012. At Camelback Lake it was good to see Snow and Ross's Geese side-by-side.

Inca Dove

Rosy-faced Lovebird

The Year Ahead

As with the last two years, in 2013 I hope to do plenty of birding at the weekend and on my days off. I also plan a trip to Texas in April as well as some international travel.

I had set myself the goal of at least 15 state birds in 2012, and attained this target. But the longer the list, the harder it is to add new species; I will aim for 12 in 2013 - this would take leave just 7 short of the magic 400 but it would be too optimistic to expect to reach 400 this year.  I will again set 250 as my Arizona goal; I have beaten that in both 2011 and 2012 but it remains a reasonable choice. I will aim to improve on my 181 county birds from 2012.

I fell 10 short of my goal of 50 lifers in 2012 but expect to reach this number in 2013. I am hoping that the Texas trip will help me add 30 birds in North America and take my ABA list to 550. I am hopeful that the other 20 will come from overseas. My world goal is to see 600 species in 2013.

Remaining on my wanted list for the Four Corners region in 2012 are Sage Grouse, Black Tern, Gray Jay and Pine Grosbeak. I would also like to make an effort to get Black-billed Magpie and Chukar on my Arizona list.

My 2012 Birding Year

I ended the year with 414 species, just fourteen more than my target. My ABA total ended on 338 (8 less than last year). I should have equaled last year’s total - I had failed to get the Purple Martins on Old Walnut Canyon Road, American Three-toed Woodpecker at the Schultz Burn and missed Cordelleran and Hammond’s Flycatcher, Green-tailed Towhee, Sage Sparrow, Lawrence’s Goldfinch  and Blue Grosbeak – and with more effort could have reached 350.

I had 30 lifers (10 short of my target), many of which were quite fabulous including Red-necked Grebe, Buff-breasted Flycatcher, Yellow-throated Warbler, Northern Saw-whet and Flammulated Owls, and the three Rosy Finches. But perhaps my favorite was Buller’s Shearwater. This outdid the Black-footed Albatross that I had expected to be the best of my pelagic birds.

I had 257 species in Arizona, managing to reach my goal of 250 and through the wonders of eBird learned that I saw 181 birds in Coconino county.

My year end totals are as follows:
 

Life List
ABA List	520
Arizona List	381
Coconino County List	250
Yard List	94

My 2012 Bird List

January 1st

Sharp-shinned Hawk
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared Dove
Common Raven
Mountain Chickadee
Dark-eyed Junco
House Finch
Pine Siskin

House Sparrow

January 2nd
Canada Goose
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
American Wigeon
Ring-necked Duck
Canvasback
Common Merganser
Bufflehead
Ruddy Duck
Great Blue Heron
Red-tailed Hawk
American Coot
Lewis's Woodpecker
American Crow
Steller's Jay
Pygmy Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Townsend's Solitaire
Western Bluebird

January 3rd
Northern (Red-shafted) Flicker

January 4th
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Mourning Dove
Gila Woodpecker
Rufous-backed Robin
Crissal Thrasher
Cactus Wren
Eurasian Starling
White-crowned Sparrow
Great-tailed Grackle

January 7th
Black Vulture
Northern Harrier
American Kestrel
Killdeer
Burrowing Owl
Western Scrub Jay
Pinyon Jay
Horned Lark
Savannah Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Lark Bunting
Chestnut-collared Longspur
Smith's Longspur
Western Meadowlark
Red-winged Blackbird

January 8th
Hairy Woodpecker

January 14th
Acorn Woodpecker
American Robin

January 15th
Cooper's Hawk
Northern Mockingbird
Sage Thrasher
Mountain Bluebird
Phainopepla
Black-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal

January 16th
Green-winged Teal
Redhead
Hooded Merganser

January 19th
Bald Eagle

January 21st
Gadwall
Lesser Scaup
Common Goldeneye
California Condor
Loggerhead Shrike
Bewick's Wren
American Pipit

January 22nd
Greater White-fronted Goose
Snow Goose
Wood Duck
Ring-billed Gull
Mew Gull
Greater Roadrunner
Northern Shrike
Cedar Waxwing
Harris's Sparrow
American Goldfinch

January 28th
Turkey Vulture
American Kestrel
Merlin
Eared Grebe
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Long-billed Dowitcher
Least Sandpiper
Anna's Hummingbird
Black Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Curve-billed Thrasher
Verdin
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Abert's Towhee
Brown-headed Cowbird
Lesser Goldfinch
Northern Pintail
Cinnamon Teal
Harris's Hawk
Gambel's Quail
Common Gallinule
Marsh Wren
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-headed Blackbird

January 29th
Chihuahuan Raven
Grasshopper Sparrow
Baird's Sparrow
Eastern Meadlowlark

January 30th
Mexican Jay
Pyrrhuloxia
Black-chinned Sparrow
Spotted Towhee

February 13th
Song Sparrow

February 20th
Red-naped Sapsucker
American Dipper
Cassin's Funch

February 26th
Ferruginous Hawk

February 27th
Common Redpoll

March 3rd
White-faced Ibis
Peregrine Falcon
Tree Swallow
Brewer's Blackbird

March 10th
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown-capped Rosy-Finch
Black Rosy-Finch
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch

March 11th
Sandhill Crane
Great-horned Owl
White-winged Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Eastern Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
Black-capped Chickadee

March 16th
Neotropic Cormorant
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Red-necked Grebe
Western Grebe
Green Heron

March 17th
Osprey
Western Sandpiper
Dunlin
Inca Dove
Rusty Blackbird

March 24th
Canyon Wren
Rock Wren

March 31st
Common Black-hawk
Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Violet-green Swallow
Yellow Warbler
Painted Redstart

April 6th
Clark's Nutcracker

April 7th
Evening Grosbeak
House Wren
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Bridled Titmouse
Lucy's Warbler
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
Western Kingbird

April 13th
Hooded Oriole

April 18th
Cliff Swallow

April 20th
Northern Saw-whet Owl

April 21st
California Gull

April 22nd
Bullock's Oriole

April 29th
Barn Swallow
Common Yellowthroat
Lark Sparrow

May 5th
Spotted Sandpiper

May 6th
Black-headed Grosbeak

May 8th
Blue-winged Teal
Wilson's Phalarope
Lesser Nighthawk

May 9th
Wild Turkey
Sora
Broad-billed Hummingbird
Magnificent Hummingbird
Western Wood-Pewee
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Summer Tanager

May 10th
Swainson's Hawk
White-throated Swift
Violet-crowned Hummingbird
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Greater Pewee
Dusky Flycatcher
Buff-breasted Flycatcher
Vermillion Flycatcher
Dusky-capped Flycatcher
Plumbeous Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Grace's Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Red-faced Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
Western Tanager
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
Yellow-eyed Junco
Lazuli Bunting

May 11th
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Common Grackle

May 12th
Cassin's Kingbird

May 13th
Ash-throated Flycatcher

May 18th
Franklin's Gull
Flammulated Owl

May 19th
Virginia's Warbler
MacGillivray's Warbler

May 24th
Band-tailed Pigeon

May 25th
Baltimore Oriole

May 27th
Virginia Rail
Chipping Sparrow

June 2nd
Barn Owl
Common Nighthawk
Common Poorwill
Bushtit
Hepatic Tanager

June 3rd
Juniper Titmouse
Indigo Bunting

June 7th
Greater Scaup
Herring Gull
Arctic Tern
Black-billed Magpie
Orange-crowned Warbler

June 8th
Trumpeter Swan
Bonaparte's Gull
Gray Jay

June 9th
Golden Eagle
Willow Ptarmigan

June 10th
Alder Flycatcher
Northwestern Crow
Glaucous-winged Gull
Pigeon Guillemot
Pelagic Cormorant
Common Murre

June 11th
Sooty Shearwater

June 12th
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Long-tailed Duck
Common Loon
Sabine's Gull
Black-legged Kittiwake
Marbled Murrelet

June 13th
Townsend's Warbler

June 14th
Varied Thrush

June 23rd
Mute Swan
Common Wood Pigeon
Carrion Crow
Eurasian Robin

June 25th
Eurasian Jay
Dunnock

June 26th
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Tufted Duck
Eurasian Coot
Eurasian Moorhen

June 27th
Eurasian Blue Tit
Great Tit

June 29th
Little Grebe
Great-crested Grebe
Great Cormorant
Grey Heron
Little Egret
Northern Lapwing
Eurasian Oystercatcher
Black-tailed Godwit
Pied Avocet
Black-headed Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Common Tern
Swift
Rook
Eurasian Jackdaw
Common Chaffinch
European Greenfinch
European Goldfinch
Whitethroat
Linnet

July 2nd
Long-tailed Tit
Common Pochard

July 3rd
Shelduck
Greylag Goose
Great Black-backed Gull
Common Sandpiper
Eurasian Curlew
Eurasian Turtle Dove
Eurasian Wren
Reed Warbler
Sedge Warbler
Reed Bunting

July 6th
Eurasian Kestrel
White Wagtail

July 7th
Coal Tit
Black Redstart

July 8th
Ring-necked Pheasant
House Martin

July 15th
Egyptian Goose
Bar-tailed Godwit
Common Redshank
Common Kingfisher
Blackcap

July 18th
Green Sandpiper
Great-spotted Woodpecker
Yellowhammer

July 27th
Ruddy Turnstone
Black-bellied (Grey) Plover
Common Ringed Plover
Green Woodpecker
Skylark
Yellow Wagtail
Meadow Pipit
Corn Bunting

July 30th
Little Tern

July 31st
Northern Gannet
Buzzard
Marsh Harrier
Red-legged Partridge
Stock Dove
Greenshank
Whimbrel (H)
Sandwich Tern

August 3rd
Bank Swallow

August 7th
Rufous Hummingbird

August 12th
Mississippi Kite

August 25th
Eastern Phoebe
Prairie Falcon
Baird's Sandpiper

September 1st
Wilson's Snipe
Solitary Sandpiper

September 2nd
Brown Pelican

September 16th
Roseate Spoonbill
Snowy Plover
Semi-palmated Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
Red-necked Phalarope

September 27th
American White Pelican
Willet
Marbled Godwit
Long-billed Curlew
Heerman's Gull
Western Gull
Elegant Tern
Tricolored Blackbird

September 28th
Black-footed Albatross
Black-vented Shearwater
Pink-footed Shearwater
Flesh-footed Shearwater
Buller's Shearwater
South Polar Skua
Pomarine Jaeger
Cassin's Auklet
Rhinoceros Auklet
Pacific Loon
Brandt's Cormorant
Black Turnstone
Surfbird

September 29th
Red-shouldered Hawk
California Quail
Whumbrel

September 30th
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Oak Titmouse
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Pacific Wren
Sanderling

October 1st
Clark's Grebe
Northern Fulmar
Fork-tailed Storm Petrel
Red Phalarope
Parasitic Jaeger
Long-tailed Jaeger

October 12th
Winter Wren

October 13th
Black Duck
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Chimney Swift
Blue Jay
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Palm Warbler
Eastern Towhee
White-throated Sparrow
Gray Catbird

October 14th
Blackpoll Warbler

October 15th
Monk Parakeet

October 19th
Tufted Titmouse

October 20th
Carolina Wren

October 21st
Ross's Goose

November 3rd
Horned Grebe
Barrow's Goldeneye

November 8th
Williamson's Sapsucker

December 1st
Rough-legged Hawk
Yellow-throated Warbler
Red Crossbill

December 20th
Canyon Towhee

December 22nd
Brewer's Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow

December 26th
Cackling Goose
Tundra Swan

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.