From 10:13 to 10:15

 On October 29th, 2021 (in other words, a few weeks ago), I was out birding in the northeastern part of Maricopa County.  My plans were to bird along Sycamore Creek via the Old Beeline Highway and Mt. Ord.  I got to Sycamore Creek right after dawn, and I slowly worked my way south for a 1.5 mile duration.  Birds were plentiful, and when I got to the southern limit of my hike, I looked up and saw a Lewis's Woodpecker before heading back north.  The woodpecker flew south into the Sunflower community after I observed it for a few minutes.  During this fall, Arizona has seen quite the irruption of different species come to lower elevations.  Steller's Jay and White-breasted Nuthatch have been two examples, especially the former.  In a previous trip I took in the area closer to the Slate Creek Divide area, I probably had close to 35 Steller's Jays, but a few days prior to this hike Gordon Karre counted 61 birds in the same 3,500' route that I was traveling.  The irruption has had me coming back to these mid to high elevations in Maricopa County, and it was to my surprise that I only had three Steller's Jays along Sycamore Creek on this day.  Besides Steller's Jays, I've hoped that this odd year could possibly bring birds like Clark's Nutcracker and Pinyon Jay into Maricopa County.  Time will tell, and as I write, it hasn't happened yet and at this point I'd be surprised if it did happen.  Pondering and looking for these things are fun as well.  I had close to 50 species on the morning along Sycamore Creek, and regardless of what's seen, the place is always worth a hike and visit.  Little did I know that I would be in for a big surprise at a random time.  When random sightings happen that are a matter of being in the right place at the right time, one probably won't look at a scene the same way again.  In this case the one ended up being me.  It all started on this dead tree.

When I was finishing up my route and was nearly back to my truck, I looked in a bare tree to see a raptor perched in it.  At the initial glance I suspected Red-tailed Hawk, but a half-second later I realized it was an accipiter.  Looking through my binoculars I got the vibe that it was too big to be a Cooper's Hawk.  A standout supercillum, the patterning on the back, and the fact I thought for a half-second it was a freaking Red-tailed Hawk made me start firing pictures away.  The hawk utilized the branches of the tree and started to hop up on branches.  It had a slim and athletic but yet bulky look to it, and it's front side was heavily streaked.  I believed it was a young Northern Goshawk from the second half of the second I looked at it through my binoculars.  The more the bird moved, I made a few steps to get slightly better angles.  When the hawk got higher in the tree, it started to fly slightly to the northwest before it made a sharp turn to the south and fly directly over me.  The bulk of the bird was more evident and it's strong wingbeats that were somewhat like a Peregrine Falcon stood out to me as something unlike a Cooper's Hawk.  It made a quick circle nearby before heading further off to the south.  As I shot pictures and was wrapped up in documenting the bird, I had plenty of documentation.  Upon close inspection with the photos I took, I looked at the tail.  Uneven tailbands were on the bird, which supports Northern Goshawk.  The supercillum was striking and white, the entire front of the bird was heavily streaked down to the flanks.  White bars were on the greater coverts of it's wings, and the wings were wide and bulky.  It was a Northern Goshawk, and a Maricopa County Northern Goshawk!

 

This is one of my biggest birding highlights of 2021 so far, and a geeky celebration followed.  It was my second Northern Goshawk for Maricopa County, with the first being at Granite Reef along the Lower Salt River in September of 2010.  The first one was also a juvenile bird, and it was only a sight report when I was unable to get photos. Importantly, this time I did get that documentation, as Goshawks are considered to be very casual in Maricopa County.  My favorite part of the sighting came when the Goshawk started to fly west and then did a sharp turn south and flew right over me to allow me to get the flight shots that I did.  Looking at the time on my camera, I shot pictures from 10:13 to 10:15 A.M.  I'd probably guess it happened late in the 13 and early into the 15, because the sighting went by quickly.  Who knows if I'll see another Goshawk in Maricopa.  This sighting also made me like juvenile Goshawks way more than I have in the past.  I had always thought they were dull compared to adults, but after this close up sighting and seeing one well out of it's usual habitat, things have changed.  What a great few minutes it was in time for me.  That memorable scene comes to mind again, I'll call it Goshawk habitat..