Today I went to a lot of spots southwest and west of Phoenix. I can't remember the last time I had a solid local day in Maricopa County where I visited a lot of spots all day long. Gila County can be thanked for that.
I started the day of at Baseline and Meridian Wildlife Area, where I was in pursuit of a Black-throated Green Warbler that Caleb Strand discovered last year. I missed this bird a few days ago on an afternoon jaunt, but on this morning jaunt today, the time of day was really all the difference needed. Just minutes into my search, the Black-throated Green Warbler popped up and gave me some awesome looks. It now joins the Louisiana Waterthrush and Prairie Warbler in the awesome warbler department for 2018.
The Thrasher Spot was up next. I had awesome looks at a Crissal Thrasher on the ground in front of me, as well other highlights in Le Conte's and Bendire's Thrashers, and Sagebrush and Bell's Sparrows.
One of the many spots I visited was the spot where Dara found the Tennessee Warbler and Golden-crowned Kinglet. There was no activity, probably because this guy was sitting there.
Gillespie Dam had a lot of American White Pelicans.
Burrowing Owls highlighted the Old US 80.
I managed to find a few Bell's Sparrows at Robbin's Butte.
Two cool woodpeckers: Lewis's and Acorn, highlighted Verrado. Verrado is going to keep getting better and better too.
If you read my last post, "The Digiscope and Digibinoc Era", you'll know that I've wanted a new camera for awhile. By that post, I also said that I purchased a new camera on Black Friday. For starters, the fall happened at the end of July when I was hiking to the summit of Mount Baldy with my family in Arizona's White Mountains. Out of all of the places I could have tripped, I tripped on flat ground with no challenging terrain (and the terrain is challenging throughout the hike to Mount Baldy). My lense was hit hard and it lost it's automatic focus. Any photos in general from that point on didn't register very well. And then the camera decided it would just...die. I took my Sony into the camera shop and they estimated close to a $300 repair. Sounded like a lot, so I decided to sit and think about what I was going to do. Those repairs sent to the shop can take 6 to 8 weeks for repair. It was right around the time of Black Friday, and a killer deal came in. The Canon T5 Rebel came into play. An $800 value was trimmed down to a $400 value. The $400 was even a little expensive for me, but I had to go with it. Like a rebel! And not to mention, the Rebel came with two lenses, an 18-55 mm and then my favored 75-300 mm. Plus all of the usual charger, battery, and camera bag. For $30 more, I bought a memory card and another charger with two more batteries. For the steal Canon T5 Rebel deal that I saw on Black Friday and decided to go with, I haven't been dissapointed. Once again, I am equipped and ready for some fun birding photography in the future. Here is Rebel, my new buddy!
I've made it out into the field several times since I have gotten Rebel, and I've been very content with the results that have been produced with this new camera. This post will show a selection of photographs that I have obtained so far. I don't have time for lengthy text on this post, and I won't say a whole lot about the photos other than what they are and where they were taken. I am going to include a song on this post. If you wish, play and listen to the song while scrolling down and looking at the photos. It's another upbeat Lincoln Brewster song, this one is called "Oxygen". Play it and enjoy the photos!
Inca Dove, Northern Greens Apartment Homes
Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Greens Apartment Homes
Aleutian Cackling Goose, Crystal Gardens Parkway. A rarity in Arizona, especially this race of Cackling Goose. Found by Melanie Herring.
Snow Geese, Crystal Gardens Parkway
Ross's Goose, Crystal Gardens Parkway
Great Blue Heron, Tres Rios Overbank Wetlands
American White Pelican, Tres Rios Overbank Weltnads. I watched this Pelican for a good ten minutes, who wanted to land, but decided..not to land....
Immature Bald Eagle, Tres Rios Overbank Wetlands
Cooper's Hawk, Tres Rios Overbank Wetlands. This was a neat experience, one that I happened to stumble across. It was fun to watch this juvenile Cooper's Hawk bathing in the water channel. The hawk was cooperative and as shown, it allowed me to approach closer than most hawks do!
American Redstart, Tres Rios Overbank Wetlands. Found by Caleb Strand, this is one of the coolest birds I've seen recently. I've seen plenty of female American Redstarts over the years, but prior to this year, I had never seen an adult male. This is the first adult male American Redstart I've gotten to photograph, and it gave quite an entertaining show!
Belted Kingfisher, Tres Rios Overbank Wetlands
Northern Parula, Tres Rios Overbank Wetlands. My discovery!
Black-throated Gray Warbler, Tres Rios Overbank Wetlands
Ash-throated Flycatcher, Tres Rios Overbank Wetlands
Loggerhead Shrike, Tres Rios Overbank Wetlands
Long-eared Owl, Undisclosed Location. What an awesome bird...
Merry Christmas Everyone! Hopefully I'll be able to write some trip report posts soon like usual. Stay tuned for more to come in 2016 as well as my annual post where I recap the year of 2015.
