Reasons To Blow the Trumpet

2015 is coming to a close....and it's coming fast.  This year has literally flown by as quickly as I can remember previous years flying by.  2015 may just be the fastest year of life that I have lived.  It has had it's times when the clock seems to stop.  A stare down with a Long-eared Owl is one such example.  Gosh, what a cool owl.  A short observation seemed like hours..

I recently had the privilege of going to southeastern Arizona with my friend, Susan Fishburn, to chase rarities such as Short-eared Owl, Least Grebe, Green Kingfisher, Rough-legged Hawk, and more.  Susan is doing a Big Year in Arizona, and I had a day planned out that we were in strong hopes of of landing her more year birds.  As any day like this could go-the plan didn't last long and we found ourselves scampering around Arizona by the day's end.  Our first destination went as planned, which was an exploration of the San Rafael Grasslands and the Bog Hole Wildlife Area within the Grasslands.  We arrived at the Grasslands with over an hour before it got light out in a hot pursuit of any Short-eared Owls.  Despite our efforts in a 25 degree atmosphere, the Short-eared Owls didn't make an appearance.  From there, it was on to Bog Hole Wildlife Area to try for a Least Grebe that was in a pond within the area.  After a scary and needless detour, we found the Wildlife Area and started to walk through the grassland to get there.  After never having a good visual of Baird's Sparrow in my life, luck finally kicked in and one landed right in front of my face.  I had an amazing binocular view for five seconds, and I managed to get a photograph of the bird flying away.

Out of all of the times that I have been to San Rafael, I still have yet to see a Baird's Sparrow perch on a fence wire.  It is the common form of viewing that birding folks have of this Tommy repulsive sparrow.  Following the Baird's, Susan and I went down to the pond at Bog Hole and quickly found Susan the Least Grebe for her Big Year.  Gosh, this bird is tiny, and it is certainly well named.  Out of the seven Grebes in North America, it is probably my favorite, certainly not my least..

Six White-tailed Kites were also in the San Rafael Valley.  While they didn't come very close, they did provide some entertainment.  They used to be known as the Black-shouldered Kite, I guess both names suit this impressive raptor.

 Birding in the San Rafael Valley took Susan and I longer than expected.  Over breakfast in Patagonia, we talked about the remainder of the day and we had some big decisions to make.  We had a Green Kingfisher at Patagonia Lake State Park to chase, as well as Rough-legged Hawks and a Lapland Longspur in the Santa Cruz Flats.  With it being close to noon, the Kingfisher would take a long time and a majority of the rest of the day.  We wondered if we would make it to Santa Cruz Flats with any good time left in the day to visually see things.  In the process, we enjoyed this Yellow-throated Warbler in the vicinity of Patagonia City Park.  It was found earlier in the month and this rarity has been enjoyed by many birders.  After getting my first Yellow-throated Warbler in Maricopa County (without any photographs), this one didn't really compare to that one, but was still an awesome sight.

After some careful thought, we decided to head out of Patagonia and head north to Santa Cruz Flats.  It was at Santa Cruz several days before where Doug Jenness observed two Rough-legged Hawks, and Susan and I were hoping to get them for her Big Year.  The Flats were full of dozens of raptors whether hawk, falcon, vulture, or caracara, but..no Rough-legged Hawks.  Despite the disappointment, Crested Caracaras are always awesome to see!

Lightning then struck the Arizona Birding Listserv as Melanie Herring reported six possible Trumpeter Swans, all of juvenile plumage, in the the Arlington Valley in Maricopa County.  Melanie is an awesome birder, so Susan and I knew that this was a good report.  We immediately made a beeline for Arlington and Buckeye area where the Swans were being seen.  After 1.5 more hours of driving, we arrived at the spot in the area along Narramore Road and found Kurt and Cindy Radamaker watching the swans.  The chase was successful, and the Trumpeter Swans were right in front of us!

The identification between Trumpeter and Tundra Swan juveniles is one of North America's biggest identification challenges.  While we looked at these bird live in the field, all of us certainly got the impression of them being Trumpeter Swans.  Susan and I backtracked a short distance to pick up Caleb Strand, and the three of us all lifered on this huge bird.  For the time being, we enjoyed these Swans up close.

When the day was all said and done and after birders returned from the field, Kurt Radamaker quickly realized how difficult it was going to be to confirm the birds as certain Trumpeter Swans, because juvenile Tundra Swans can look extremely similar. Kurt emailed experts around the country, and both Kurt and I corresponded on our opinions of the birds.  As I did research, I went back-and-fourth between both species as my conclusion, and so did Kurt.  For our main impressions during this time, we felt as if the birds were Trumpeter Swans.  On the flipside, some of the characteristics matched up with the Tundra Swan too.  Trumpeter is noticeably bigger than Tundra, but size comparison is difficult in the field when one species is present.  These swans did seem husky and bulky like Superman.  The birds also didn't have any pale or yellow spots on any of their lores, which at least some of these six birds should have by now if they were Tundra.  The swans also had a long flat bill and a flat forehead to go along with the bill.  They were huge!  As experts discussed the identification, the consensus favored Trumpeter over Tundra even though these Michael Jordan's of birding couldn't say for sure what species it was.  Doesn't that say something about how difficult these birds are to identify?!

Although not a for-certain field mark, most Tundra Swans become whiter by this time of the year.  To have six birds like this with only one of them having lots of white on it while the contrary was the other five being a dusky gray-brown, also says something.  To be honest, the research was fun, but the in-conclusions were downright annoying.  

Melanie found these birds on December 19th, and on the following days the Swans weren't seen.  Well, it turns out they cover a large area within the Palo Verde section of the Arlington Area.  They are never in one place for very long.  Jay Taylor relocated them on Christmas Eve and several birders saw them on the following Christmas Day, where on Christmas they were seen quite easily by most who went out to see them.  It's as if the Swans knew it was Christmas.  Interestingly, several birders heard the swans giving vocalizations, and said they sounded like Trumpeter Swans.  Magill Weber even heard their heh-heh multi-part vocalizations.  When I read these reports, I was stoked!

 I then set out on a journey over December 26th and 27th during the mornings, I wanted to find the Trumpeter Swans and obtain recordings of them calling.  With me loving to bird by ear so much, I wanted to hear the swans vocalizing.  Despite careful searching, I couldn't find the swans.  But others did, including Melanie.  When Melanie found them, they landed in the Lower River Road Ponds.  During this time, Melanie documented a constant head-bobbing behavior displayed by the Swans that they display before takeoff.  Every one of the six swans participated in the head bobbing that Melanie was able to film.  And no, there was no rock music playing, they just like to bob their heads a lot.  Interestingly, this is a behavior that Tundra Swans do not show.  Yes, Tundra Swans nod their head up and down at times, but not in this constant motion.  Melanie then got some vocalizations on film that matched Trumpeter when these birds took off.  When birders saw these videos, particularly Phoenix ones who have seen these swans, we all blew our trumpets.  While no official releases have been made yet, I don't see this one going down as "maybe Trumpeter" any longer!  If confirmed, it will also be a first Maricopa County record, and one of only a handful of records for Arizona.  A life bird for me if so also..

Besides, don't they look like Goliath?  

See these two awesome kids?  This is Caleb Strand (left) and Walker Noe (center).  This picture was taken by Dave Noe, Walker's dad, who is also cool.  We recently birded and found neat birds on Christmas Eve before all of the cool Christmas activities began.

Remember the magnificent Yellow-throated Warbler that Caleb found through the Tres Rios fence?  The three of us caught sight of it as we were at Tres Rios.  It was still in the same spot, 100 feet away (maybe more), but for once it was hopping around on the outskirts of one of the cottonwoods.  My desperation shots finally showed something...

And actually, one day I somehow got closer to the Yellow-throated Warbler...closer than the 100 foot shots that are shown above...

I recently also saw this Common Ground-Dove..

As well as this Marsh Wren!  It's not often Marsh Wrens are cooperative for photos, these are the best I have ever obtained of the species.

On one of the last two days I have been looking for the Trumpeter Swans to study them for myself further, I have seen some other cool birds in the Arlington area.  The time frame also falls into place with the 35th annual Gila River Christmas Bird Count, which is led by Troy Corman.  I ran into Troy and he showed me this Merlin, who was feasting on a bird.

It's also impressive to see a large "clump" of Yellow-headed Blackbirds.

Even though on December 26th and 27th when I missed the Trumpeter Swans after wanting to see them further, the trips I took to the Arlington Area weren't without a major reward.  On the 27th (yesterday), I ran into Melanie Herring at the Lower River Road Ponds.  While we were talking about the swans, a shorebird buzzed past us and was calling.  It briefly landed behind one of our trucks.  Right away, I had a strong feeling it was a Mountain Plover.  Actually, I knew it was a Mountain Plover.  The bird then flew away from us and barely across the street, landing on a berm.  It was a Mountain Plover!  

Mountain Plovers are considered to be very rare in Maricopa County, and if the Trumpeter Swans get accepted as by the ABC that would be my 374th Maricopa County bird, which means this Mountain Plover is my 375th.  Yep, it's a Maricoper, one that I have always wanted to see in Maricopa County.  Ever since I've actively birded in Maricopa County, this is only the 3rd time I've heard of a Mountain Plover observation.  What was more surprising is that the habitat that it landed on and around isn't Mountain Plover-like.  This bird seemed lost, and Melanie and I got extremely lucky that it landed here.  Sometimes birding comes down to being in the right place at the right time!

A rule of birding often goes like this:  "When your looking for a mega-rarity, always keep an eye out for other things, because those other things show up when they aren't the sole focus of the efforts".  I never thought in a million years I would see a Mountain Plover by scanning the Lower River Road Ponds!  As the Plover stood on the berm, it flushed by a passing car as Melanie and I were trying to get closer.  I was able to snap a diagnostic flight view, which was cool because we first saw it in flight as it zoomed by us.

When the Mountain Plover took flight, Melanie and I thought it was gone.  But we then caught another sight of it in the same area.  It was running down a dirt road that was in the middle of tall alfalfa fields.  Again, a bizarre way and location to see a Mountain Plover.  This time, we had better looks.

The Plover disappeared again from our sight and we heard it calling abruptly as it flew over the alfalfa field.  It probably knew it was lost and out of habitat, and we didn't find it again after that.  We were in the right place at the right time, and that sequence was one of the best I've ever had as a Maricopa County birder.  Lucky is the word for it!  Troy Corman said it was the first Mountain Plover ever for the 35 year old Gila River Christmas Bird Count Week.  

This year has been phenomenal for seeing birds, and it has been another excellent year of Maricopa County birding.  In 2014, I added 8 birds to my Maricopa County list.  I thought that was a lot and was much more than what I expected, and in this year, I also added 8.  That will likely be the outcome, unless another amazing rarity is found in these last days of 15'.  Greater Pewee and American Golden-Plover were my first two additions to my County list this year, and the last six came from October and after.  5 of those came after November started, these last two months have been crazy.  A Red-eyed Vireo came in October, November held Heerman's Gull and Purple Finch, and December has yielded Yellow-throated Warbler, Trumpeter Swan, and Mountain Plover.  For every Maricopa County lifer I get, it's always fun to predict what the next will be.  Most of the time, the predictions are never close... 

The Digiscope and Digibinoc Era...

My camera took a dive off of the deep end recently to the point that it won't even turn on.  That is one of the reasons why I haven't been blogging as much this year.  I've also gotten very lazy towards it too, but, on the flip side, I've had time for other things that are more awesome than sitting in front of a computer and typing.  Over the course of the last month and more, I've started to take many pictures through my scope and binoculars with either my cell phone or my iPod.  It is usually my iPod.  During this time frame, I've added 3 birds to my Maricopa County list in the last month to bring my number for the County up to 373 species.  With the exception of the Heerman's Gull at Glendale Recharge Ponds (see previous post), I haven't been able to photograph the other two Maricopers I've added to my list, because they are small songbirds.  With a new camera quickly coming around the corner, my photographs on here will hopefully be back again.  But some of my digisscoping has actually worked out quite well at times..

On a November afternoon, Joshua Smith found a Pacific Loon at a pond in Peoria.  It was a smaller pond too, one of those with a fountain shooting up in the middle of it.  Pacific Loons, or any loon in general, are usually found on large bodies of water.  With some exceptions, we all have to come in for a landing if were tired right?  This loon stayed for a couple days before flying off to a bigger body of water (most likely...)  Here is a shot I took of the loon using my iPod through my scope.

Days later, another awesome rarity was found by Darrel Wilder in Gilbert at the Higley and Ocotillo Road ponds.  That rarity was an American Golden-Plover!  Ironically, it was my second American Golden-Plover in 2015, and also, it was only the second of my life.  The first was also in Maricopa County, in a slop pond outside of Tres Rios Wetlands.  Once again, pictures were snapped through my scope by using my iPod.

One recent Saturday I took Melissa Okimoto to the Hassayampa River Preserve.  No birds were cooperative for a binocular and iPod photo shoot, but seeing Melissa get her first Red-shouldered Hawk and Wood Ducks were epic.  The Wood Ducks were a male and female pair, and they are a duck birders just don't see enough of in Arizona!  Later in the day, I successfully chased a Ruddy Ground-Dove in Tolleson as well as a White-tailed Kite in the Arlington Valley.  The Kite was fantastic.  This raptor is gorgeous, and is one I hadn't seen in a few years before this one.  Here's a scope and iPod digiscope of the White-tailed Kite.

Last week I took Caleb Strand out for a day full of birding.  Caleb is doing a Big Year in Maricopa County and has had a goal of reaching 300 species.  At the start of the day, Caleb had 297 birds for his year list.  With a combination of reported rarities in the East Valley and a Red-breasted Sapsucker, Dunlin, and Cackling Goose later, I helped Caleb reach his goal of 300!  Ironically, the bird of the day wasn't even a year bird for Caleb, which was a Harris's Sparrow that he found at the Higley and Ocotillo Road Ponds.  I never thought I would take a digiscope shot of a Harris's Sparrow using my iPod, but that was also added to my collection!

The other two Maricopa County additions I have had this month have been four Purple Finches that were found at Gilbert Water Ranch by Tyler Loomis, and a Yellow-throated Warbler that was found by Caleb.  The Purple Finches came on November 30th.  I got a text from Tyler and shortly after I was on my way to Gilbert Water Ranch.  After some looking, Tyler got on the finches and we were able to study them at close range.  Tyler discovered three females that day, which Tyler eventually found a male days later with the females.  On December 9th, Caleb found a Yellow-throated Warbler at Tres Rios while he was with his birding buddy Joe Ford.  I quickly rushed up to the spot to see the Warbler, which Caleb had for me in his scope.  The Warbler was distant, but the scope views were great and I had Caleb to thank for yet another Maricopa County lifer, something he has done a lot of for me.  Here is Caleb Strand and Joe Ford celebrating Caleb's rare find, which was number 301 for Caleb's Maricopa County Big Year!

Last week, Melissa and I ventured down south to the Santa Cruz Flats to look for some of the famous birds that inhabit the location as well as a rarity from Louisiana.  Of course, those famous birds everyone loves to see are Crested Caracara and Mountain Plover.  Melissa's most desired bird of the three was the Crested Caracara, and it was mine too.  After some driving around, I spied our first of eight Caracaras for the day.  It was a great sight.  And it was time for some digiscoping through my scope using my iPod...of Crested Caracaras!

Seeing Melissa loving the sight of the Caracara with a smile on her face made my day!

Driving over to Tweedy and Pretzer and scanning the Evergreen Turf Farm didn't give us any Mountain Plovers in their usual haunt.  But...looking in taller grass on the east side of Tweedy...did.  It's not often you see Mountain Plovers in taller grass, but Melissa and I...we'll take it!

Our final target was a Louisiana Waterthrush in the area, which we got and not only got, but had killer looks at.  The Waterthrush was too difficult for me to get photographs of, but Melissa and I were so close to it that we won't forget our stellar views of it anytime soon.  Melissa did get some awesome pictures of it...

Mark Ochs and I took a jaunt up to Scottsdale to look for the Red-breasted Sapsucker for my second time of seeing the individual.  It didn't take us very long to find it at all.  Here is Mark playing the role of Phoenician Kingbird, pointing up at the Sapsucker.  At this point the bird was peeking it's head halfway up out of the branch.

I then put my iPod up to my binoculars, and snapped a photograph of this nice-looking rare woodpecker!

Yesterday, I went to the Salt River to look for a Rusty Blackbird that has been hanging out at Coon Bluff Recreation Site.  It didn't take me very long to find it.  Rusty Blackbird is very rare in Arizona, and this was only the second time I have ever seen one in my life.  The experience was cool, and once again, I took this picture with my iPod through my binoculars.  This is a female Rusty Blackbird, one I thought I'd never take a picture of through my binoculars with my iPod.  As you can all see, I've gotten pretty decent at this weird form of photography...

On Black Friday, I bought a new camera, a Canon T5 Rebel.  It arrived yesterday while I was at the Salt River.  Likely, the Digiscope and Digibinoc Era has come to an end...for now..

On a positive side, at least I have learned how to do something new...

On the random side, here's a song I think is awesome.  Give it a listen!