On Saturday December 30th I did my usual CBC route with Natasha, Sue, Jay and Heidi and we totaled 45 species for the day. The most remarkable thing about the count was a record high temperature for the count at 62 degrees - beating 57 degrees from 1980. This meant that I spent half the count in a T-shirt!
We began the day with Great-tailed Grackles at WalMart and Brewer's Blackbirds at Little America and ended with European Starlings at Purina, but pent most of our day on and around the the golf course. The wind had gotten up before we got to Walnut Canyon and so we saw little out there. Our 45 species did not include anything too special but Killdeer and Northern Pintail had not be recorded since 2011 and 2010 respectively. Seeing 20 Red Crossbills (in two flocks) was a personal day high for me.
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Jerome CBC
On Sunday December 17th Brooks, Carrie, Tom, Kathryn, Jeff and I made
an early start to get to Peck's lake for 8am where someone showed to
unlock the gate for us. Peck's Lake was a popular birding spot in the
1980s but has been locked away for some time now, and some of the old
picnic spots are now covered with vegetation.
We had a good day with Wood Ducks and Hooded Mergansers among 7 duck species, and White-throated, Rufous-crowned and Black-throated Sparrows among the hundreds of White-Crowned Sparrrows. We ended the day following a Greater Roadrunner down the dirt track for a mile or so.
We had a good day with Wood Ducks and Hooded Mergansers among 7 duck species, and White-throated, Rufous-crowned and Black-throated Sparrows among the hundreds of White-Crowned Sparrrows. We ended the day following a Greater Roadrunner down the dirt track for a mile or so.
Mormon Lake CBC
On Saturday December 16th Troy and I led our usual route for the
Mormon Lake CBC, accompanied by Cecelia and Paul. The day began slowly
at the dam - although we had a Western Grebe - and in our wander about
the observatories and we had few species when we headed out towards Vail
Lake. Troy carried his scope in the hope of a Northern Shrike and
against the odds we found this bird about two-thirds of the way there.
This species is always a challenge and we spent a lot of the count time
on this single bird but Troy's digiscoped photos confirmed the ID. A
flock of 20 quiet Pinyon Jays near Prime Lake, and a flock of Mountain
Bluebirds with a single American Pipit at the far side of Vail meant
that out trek was more productive than often. A group of Common
Goldeneye at Osprey Lookout was the best of our ducks.
Nothing was open at Mormon Lake Village and so we did not get to sit down to share our stories, but the other surprise for the count - which had a count high 63 species - was a total of 5 Canyon Towhees, a rare bird for the area.
Nothing was open at Mormon Lake Village and so we did not get to sit down to share our stories, but the other surprise for the count - which had a count high 63 species - was a total of 5 Canyon Towhees, a rare bird for the area.
Half Moon Bay and Alviso
On Saturday December 9th my wife and I headed to Pillar Point Harbor on Half Moon Bay where I was chasing a Red-footed Booby that had been there for a month or so. We searched the harbor for about 3 hours before giving up, but had a good day in warm weather and saw Black Oystercatchers, Black Turnstones, a Black-bellied Plover, Brown Pelicans, and many expected birds of the coast.
On Monday December 11th I met Sergio and Garrett on the Entrance Road to the Environmental Education Center in Alviso. We scoured the area for the recently seen Ruff and Palm Warbler without luck, not helped by a Peregrine perched on a tower.
We then drove inside the gate and took up a position on the metal view point on Mallard Slough and let the birds come to us. We had a productive day in terms of the number of species, with just Blue-winged Teal new for 2017. Just as interesting were a couple of hybrid Blue-wingeds.
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| Black Turnstone |
On Monday December 11th I met Sergio and Garrett on the Entrance Road to the Environmental Education Center in Alviso. We scoured the area for the recently seen Ruff and Palm Warbler without luck, not helped by a Peregrine perched on a tower.
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| Peregrine |
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| Blue-winged Teal |
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| Blue-winged Teal/Cinnamon Teal hybrid |
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| Blue-winged Teal/Shoveler hybrid |
Oak Crek Canyon and Sedona
On Monday December 4th I decided to head down to the Sedona Wetlands Preserve to look for the American Bittern that had been found on Thanksgiving. I stopped at Cave Springs on the way down and after a little searching managed to find the American Dipper, and then headed to the wetlands. When I arrived Sam and Vic were already there with a scope on the bird and the bird was the most cooperative bittern I have ever seen even going for a walk in the open along the edge of the canvas!
I then headed to the Stupa hoping to add my two nemesis 'easy' birds, Juniper Titmouse and Canyon Towhee. I was in luck as the feeders were well stocked and I had the titmouse almost immediately, and eventually found the towhee, with Spotted Towhees and White-crowned Sparrows under one of the feeders.
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| American Bittern |
I then headed to the Stupa hoping to add my two nemesis 'easy' birds, Juniper Titmouse and Canyon Towhee. I was in luck as the feeders were well stocked and I had the titmouse almost immediately, and eventually found the towhee, with Spotted Towhees and White-crowned Sparrows under one of the feeders.
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Bellingham and Vancouver Weekend
On Thursday
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| Snowy Owl |
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| Spotted Towhee |
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| Fox Sparrow |
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| Barrow's Goldeneye |
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| Common Goldeneye |
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| Black-capped Chickadee |
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| Hooded Merganser |
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| Mew Gull |
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| Northern Shrike |
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| Short-eared Owl |
Monday, November 20, 2017
Grasslands west of Valle
On Saturday November 18th five of us headed out to a new spot, the grasslands west of Valle. This spot had been discovered recently and we were after Sprague's Pipit, McCown's Longspur and Short-eared Owl but dipped on all of them!
Driving in on Willaha County Road we saw dozens of Horned Larks, a few Western Meadowlarks, a Loggerhead Shrike and a Northern Flicker. At Little Rodgers Tanks we had many Horned Larks coming in with just a single Chestnut-collared Longspur among them. I had an American Pipit at the smaller tank. We then walked for two hours across Tin House Flat hoping to flush our target birds but only found more Horned Larks, several Chestnut-collared Longspurs and a couple of Grasshopper Sparrows. We found a Vesper Sparrow at the tanks as we headed back as well as a Golden Eagle and a Crissal Thrasher along the road. And a small group of Pronghorn.
Driving in on Willaha County Road we saw dozens of Horned Larks, a few Western Meadowlarks, a Loggerhead Shrike and a Northern Flicker. At Little Rodgers Tanks we had many Horned Larks coming in with just a single Chestnut-collared Longspur among them. I had an American Pipit at the smaller tank. We then walked for two hours across Tin House Flat hoping to flush our target birds but only found more Horned Larks, several Chestnut-collared Longspurs and a couple of Grasshopper Sparrows. We found a Vesper Sparrow at the tanks as we headed back as well as a Golden Eagle and a Crissal Thrasher along the road. And a small group of Pronghorn.
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| Pronghorn |
Monday, November 13, 2017
Morro Bay
My wife and I spent the weekend of November 11th-12th at Morro Bay.
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| Spotted Sandpiper |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Royal Tern |
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| Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Heron |
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| Juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron |
Saturday, November 4, 2017
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.
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.
The whole time I was in the courtyard a very tame Greater Roadrunner was wandering around eating whatever insects it could find.
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.
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.
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.
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| 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.
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| Rufous-backed Robin |
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| Greater Roadrunner |
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.
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| Red Crossbill |
On rweturning home I had three Evening Grosbeaks at my feeders.
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| Female Evening Grosbeak |
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| Male Evening Grosbeak |
San Jose Weekend
I spent the weekend of October 27th-29th at a number of spots in San Jose.
On the morning of Friday 27th I went to the Santa Clara Water District.
On the morning of Friday 27th I went to the Santa Clara Water District.
Saturday, October 21, 2017
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!
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!
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| Louisiana Waterthrush |
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