Hi all. I've been pretty behind in this blog. Things have been busy, but hey, I'm back with a new post. This post will highlight my birding in Gila County, which has taken a lot of my birding time this year in 2017. At the beginning of the year, I set goals for myself as a birder, and one of those goals was to gain more than 200 birds on my Gila County list. Well, it didn't take too long for that to happen. However, I fell in love with the County while doing so, which resulted in me focusing a lot on Gila County beyond 200. I birded and birded through the end of May and some of June and a lot now in the fall, and I now have a total of 255 birds in the County. I didn't have the luck on shorebird species as I was hoping for, but there have been other great birds. But, here are some more highlights and explorations since I reached 200 in early March.
On April 6th I ventured out to a new location in Gila County on the San Carlos Indian Reservation, which is called Talkalai Lake. I also visited agricultural fields on the reservation, as well as San Carlos Lake itself. Swainson's Hawks were prevalent in the fields.
Talkalai Lake is in both Gila and Graham Counties. It is much smaller than San Carlos Lake, but has awesome potential at the lake and the habitat surrounding the lake. Common Gallinule, Virginia Rail, and Blue-winged Teal were new Gila County birds for me at the lake.
At San Carlos Lake, it was cool to see 6 Yellow Warblers in one freaking tree. San Carlos Lake also gave me Gila County lifers that were distant such as Hooded Merganser, Bonaparte's Gull, and Franklin's Gull.
Adventures aren't adventures without a little danger...
That night of April 6th, I camped out at the Shores Recreation Area along the Gila River. I got my first Summer Tanagers for Gila County, and I shared camp with this Vermilion Flycatcher!
The following day, April 7th, I birded the Gila River at spots north of the town of Winkleman, which included the Shores and Christmas Recreation Areas. My main target was Gray Hawk, which showed well for me throughout the morning. A beautiful raptor.
Common Black-Hawks shared the attention too!
Male Hooded Oriole at Winkelman Flats Park
Early early a.m. morning on April 13th, I camped out at Roosevelt Lake and once it got light out I went north to Tonto Creek to bird via Bar X Road. I followed that up by birding Roosevelt Lake the rest of the day. This has been a common Gila County birding route for me this year, and I really like it a lot. Bar X Road accessing Tonto Creek is an incredible riparian area, with loads and loads of potential. I expect to find eastern warblers and other goodies there in the future!
A Common Black-Hawk checks me out at Bar X Riparian at Tonto Creek
An American White Pelican cruising over Roosevelt Lake
Two Willets at Roosevelt Lake, one of my better shorebirds for Gila County
A spectacular Bald Eagle at Roosevelt Lake
Solitary Sandpiper at Roosevelt Lake
On April 14th, I went to the Pinal Mountain Recreation Area with Gordon Karre and Dave Pearson. We had a great day for bird diversity from low to high elevations. Here are some highlights:
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| Phainopepla and Northern Cardinal, two crested birds in one tree |
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| Grace's Warbler |
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| The conifers in the Pinals |
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| female Olive Warbler |
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| Yellow-eyed Junco |
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| Painted Redstart mates |
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| All Red-faced |
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| Painted Redstart and Black-throated Gray Warbler discussing things |
April 21st was a good day for Gila County birding. I did my Bar X Riparian Area and Roosevelt Lake ordeal. I got 5 new birds for Gila County: Marbled Godwit, Barn Owl, Yellow-breasted Chat, Caspian Tern, and Wilson's Snipe. With the exception of the common numbers of returning Yellow-breasted Chats, the other four were choice birds for Gila County and really made the day a big success. Here are some photographic highlights from that day.
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| Franklin's Gulls and Eared Grebes at Roosevelt Lake |
My 230th bird for Gila County came on April 27th when I got to see several Harris's Hawks in the Roosevelt Lake area. Harris's Hawks are scarce in Gila County and aren't encountered much.
The next chapter of my Gila County birding adventures came from the epic Sierra Ancha Mountains. This wilderness area is accessed by taking Highway 288 north of it's junction with Highway 188 (junction is south of Roosevelt Lake). The Sierra Anchas cover a good range of elevations and habitats, with the summit topping out at close to 8000' at Aztec Peak. I spent a half day exploring this beautiful and depressingly under-birded location. The potential here is incredible at the low and high elevations within the range. I mainly stuck to high elevation coniferous forests, especially along Workman Creek. My best bird was my Gila County first Downy Woodpecker. Mountain warblers, such as Red-faced Warbler and Painted Redstart, were abundant. I wanted to spend the entire day here, but my efforts were interrupted by Arizona's first vagrant Common Crane near Flagstaff..
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| Painted Redstart pair |
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| Road along Workman Creek |
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| Workman Creek Falls |
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| Western Tanager |
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| Downy Woodpecker-this and next 3 photos |
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| Red-faced Warbler |
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| Black-throated Gray Warbler |
One of the best days I have ever had in Gila County came on May 19th, 2017. It was a woah! kinda day. I birded along the recreation sites north of Winkleman along the Gila River. At the Shores Recreation Area, it didn't take me long to hear a county lifer and abundant arriver in Blue Grosbeak. While birding the river, I found my best bird in Gila County to date, which was the first ever Gila County Golden-winged Warbler (according to my knowledge). It was singing an extended song, and I didn't know what it was at first. Upon my first glance of an adult male Golden-winged Warbler, I managed to get some documentary record shots before it flew across the Gila and immediately crossing into Pinal County. It was then a second county record for Pinal!
At Christmas Recreation Area, a singing Willow Flycatcher made it's way onto my Gila birding and added to the fun.
Winkleman Flats Park then gave me some good Gila birds, a Bronzed Cowbird and a few Tropical Kingbirds. The latter has been in this area in recent years and have become reliable in this area.
It's hard to pass up a good look at another Gray Hawk as well as pass up showing off a picture of a good look at a Gray Hawk!
That day on May 19th, I went from Winkleman all the way north to Roosevelt Lake. I guess I had one more Gila County bird in me that day, two Forster's Terns!
Clark's Grebes and Clark's Grebelets were also present, always great to see!
After finding a rarity such as Golden-winged Warbler, I realized I had never really done my own rarity chase in Gila County. After all, it is very under-birded, and after all, the County has never appealed to me much before this year and nothing jaw-dropping has been found in Gila County since I seriously got into birding (other than a Tropicbird that accidentally found someone's yard and went to a rehab facility to be released back into the wild). Brian Ison found a pair of Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers in Pine Creek Canyon, which is a decent drive from home for me. Before work after the day he found them on May 22nd, I made the drive and got lucky with one of the Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers. This bird is easily located by it's squeaky toy calls. It was a great bird to get for my Gila County list, # 239.
Pine Creek Canyon is a gorgeous canyon and recommended hike, and there were plenty of good birds and Elk to go along with the Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher.
A camping trip to those epic Sierra Ancha Mountains came on May 24th and May 25th. After work on the 24th, I packed well and hit the grocery stores in Globe before getting up into the Anchas to camp out at Rose Creek Campground. It was in these two days I would explore this promising area a lot more than my previous half-day trip that was interrupted by Arizona's first Common Crane. Once I got to camp, I set up and didn't have a lot of daylight left. I was preparing for night birding and to try and find my Gila first Mexican Whip-poor-will. On my way to Parker Creek, south of Rose Creek to try for the Whips, I crossed paths with a skittish Black Bear. Once at Rose Creek, I listened for night birds. I didn't have luck here, and was shocked because a guy came and had 3 Whips by standing at the trailhead, just what I was doing two weeks or so before. I decided to go up the road a ways where the first pine trees meet the road. After getting out there, I heard a Mexican Whip-poor-will within minutes! There were two of them calling, some of them right along the road at times. With some patience, I found one of them sitting on a slope. It was very tolerant of me, and allowed for super close approach. In all honesty, it took me stroking the bird on the back a few times for it to finally fly off. That's right, I pet a wild Mexican Whip-poor-will, one of the coolest birding stories I've ever had to tell.
May 25th was full of exploring the Sierra Ancha. I stuck to most of the higher elevations within the range. This included another big exploration of Workman Creek and a hike up to the tallest summit in the Ancha, Aztec Peak that tops out at more than 7700'. Grant Loomis found an incredible Short-tailed Hawk about 10 days before my visit. While the scenery was gorgeous beyond words, you better believe the hawk was on my mind while enjoying it! Other places I explored were Reynolds Creek (another awesome creek with loads of potential, next time I'll have to cover that as a main choice over Workman Creek), more of Rose Creek, and then, Parker Creek. I also got two new birds for Gila County, Wild Turkey calling near camp in the morning, and a migrant Swainson's Thrush along Parker Creek. Here are some more pictures from the gorgeous range.
June and July and the first half of August didn't see a lot of me in Gila County, with the exception of a trip in June to Tonto Creek via the small town of Gisela. This section of Tonto Creek holds loads of potential just like it's southern Bar X cousin. Hey, I did get my county Yellow-billed Cuckoos though, which was a big highlight!
On August 18th, I made a trip to northern Gila County to look for birds, as well as Dragonflies and Damselflies in Coconino County. The place in Gila that I explored was beautiful Valentine Tank. This area is right by Canyon Creek, and I wish I would've had more time to explore Canyon Creek (maybe next year!). I did get a variety of forest birds on the day, which also included my Gila Purple Martins as well as a Golden Eagle.
After I finished with Coconino County odes, I went south to Roosevelt Lake in hopes of shorebirds. I immediately went to Bermuda Flat, which has excellent shorebird habitat, but unfortunately, loads of RV campers. This time, there weren't so many RV campers and I thought that would improve my chances. Nope. There were hardly any shorebirds other than 3 peeps. Luckily, this Baird's Sandpiper kept me from going completely mad.
The rest of the time at Roosevelt gave me highlights of more Purple Martins as well as two Tropical Kingbirds at the north side of the lake. For the latter, it seemed pretty far north!
On September 7th, I searched for shorebirds at San Carlos Lake. Over the years, San Carlos has had some great shorebirds. I didn't have much luck. It was very frustrating. After getting kicked out of the San Carlos Sewage Ponds where shorebirds can come easy, I have to look elsewhere. 1.5 miles of walking the northern shoreline of San Carlos was crap. Only 2 Killdeer and 3 Spotted Sandpipers. The habitat was perfect too.
On the walk, I did get my Gila Clay-colored Sparrow in midst of many Brewer's Sparrows. As I drove to the southeast section of the lake, I entered Graham County (San Carlos is in Gila, Pinal, and Graham Counties) I was able to scan near the Gila and Graham County line. A big flock of Black-necked Stilts and American Avocets near that line finally gave me a few new shorebirds for Gila, and looking behind them gave me a few Western Sandpipers with more Baird's Sandpipers as well. All that work for 3 common shorebirds, wow. I hope to get more shorbs in Gila next year, some good shorbs too.
September 15th was one of the best days I've ever had in my Gila County birding. I went north up Highway 87 from Phoenix and went birding on an un-named road on the east side of 87 and just north of 87's junction with Highway 188. There is some desert-grassland area here, where Felipe Guerrero had just discovered up to 4 Cassin's Sparrows. I wanted to get the sparrow for Gila badly because it is a good bird anywhere in central or northern Arizona. It wasn't long into my birding that I stumbled across a Cassin's Sparrow, and oddly, they didn't sing once. I too, had up to 4 of them, 3 to be certain. The first two were very skittish but gave me good enough looks for identification. And then, the third one wanted to be photographed! It was my 250th bird for Gila, a number I had been wanting to hit for the County!
I then went to my favorite riparian area in Gila County, Tonto Creek via Bar X Crossing Road. This place is a goldmine, with rich riparian habitat in all sections of the area. I got lucky and found what may be a Gila County first Broad-billed Hummingbird. It was a first in eBird for sure, but I'll have to ask around elsewhere. Regardless, I was stoked when I looked up and saw this beautiful hummingbird!
Up next was a thorough exploration of Roosevelt Lake for the remainder of the day. I was hoping for shorebirds and the possibility of Sabine's Gulls. At first, I was starting to doubt I would have any major highlights on the lake. I found a flock of Ring-billed and California Gulls, and then I was shocked to have a Franklin's Gull with them. Franklin's Gulls are scarce in Arizona during fall.
Things got epic though in a 30 minute stretch at the Grapevine Group Site at Roosevelt Lake. I found a new Gila County bird for me quickly, an unexpected pair of Wood Ducks. Scanning the lake I noticed a gull out in a large raft of Western and Clark's Grebes. The gull was what I was hoping for, and it was a juvenile Sabine's Gull. When it lifted up at times it's distinctive wing pattern really stood out. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, it was joined by a second Sabine's Gull. And oddly, this may be the first Gila County record of this species. It is for sure on eBird, and as I did some research through historic Arizona records on Arizona Field Ornithologists, I coudn't find any Sabine's Gull records for Gila County. I'll still have to ask around, but this looks to be a first and overdue record. Gila is under-birded and that is why. There is no doubt this species has passed through Roosevelt and San Carlos Lakes many times in the past.
On September 21st, I went to southeast Gila County to explore the Gila River just north of the small town of Winkleman. Before the Gila River, I went a little north on Highway 177 to look for Rufous-winged Sparrows after another Gila County birder, Ed Dunn, had found one singing. This species is scarce in the County, but there is great habitat along the stretch where Ed had one. I didn't have any, but a pair of Harris's Hawks were a decent consolation.
I then went back to the Gila River, where I birded Christmas and the Shores Recreation Area, as well as some of Winkleman Flats Park. I had some great luck here. Two new Gila County birds awaited me, Common Ground-Doves and a family of Varied Buntings! Varied Bunting is very scarce in Gila, and this area is likely the only location where they are in Gila County. There may be more locations, but they will have to be found by exploring. At the Shores and Christmas, singing males have been found. This time, I stumbled across a family group calling extensively on a steep, thorny, and well vegetated slope. After falling and injuring myself, and getting many cuts on my arms from all the thorns, I managed to get these shots of one of the buntings. This area along the Gila has great potential, as it's where I had the Golden-winged Warbler in May and I think there is plenty more to be discovered. Here are pics of the Bunting and Dove.
I love Gila County, and the birding in it is awesome. This was an update to all of the birding I've done in Gila this year. Stay tuned for a lot more. Here is my total progress as a birder in Gila County by date so far:
