When Maricopa County Birding Explodes

I haven't birded in Maricopa County as much lately this year.  It seems kinda weird for me to be saying this, and yet, writing this too.  Birding in other counties, especially Gila County, have outnumbered my birding reps in Maricopa County this year.  Exploring is a blast, and it's fun dissecting other counties.  Especially ones that are under-birded, such as Gila County and rarely explored Greenlee County.  Although fun, those counties fade when the idea of a new Maricopa County life bird comes into play.  Because I've spent the last eight years of obsessively birding Maricopa, it's been fun doing Gila County as well as others.  Most of the time, I rarely find a new bird for Maricopa, but when I get that chance...

Earlier this week, word came out that a Prairie Warbler was at Gilbert Water Ranch on Wednesday, October 25th.  The bird was announced on an online forum later on Thursday night, October 26th.  I was amazed by the sighting and photographs, but then I was irritated, because I would have a work shift that wouldn't allow me to get to the bird until the evening of Friday, October 27th.  And when October 27th came around, it was about 7:30 A.M. in the morning when Caleb Strand texted me that it was continuing.  The Prairie Warbler continued throughout the day for many birders and I had to go through work annoyed and wanting to get out there as soon as possible.  Things didn't help when the time had finally come and Brian Johnson told me the bird hadn't been seen in over two hours.  A 50 minute route turned into much longer on the freeway because of an accident.  By the time I got to Gilbert Water Ranch, I had about 20 minutes of light left before it would get dark.  I found my friends Brian Johnson and Muriel Neddermeyer, and they both were waiting in hopes of the bird to show back up.  This was not a good sign for me.  I was angry for the drive and the little time I had left to look.  Since Brian and Muriel were stationed where the bird was being seen at most, I decided to walk further south just "in case".

Truth be told, birders are an interesting bunch.  I'll throw myself on the line for this one.  There was a younger couple taking pictures along the trail, I'll call them John and Jennie.  They had a baby.  I walked by them determined, with tunnel vision, I didn't say anything, and I can remember John looking at me seemingly thinking something along the line like, "Wow, what's with this dude.  He is geared up.  It looks like he has to document some emergency".  After I walked by them and continued past Brian and Muriel further south, it then came to that time where John and Jennie would cross paths with Brian and Muriel.  At this point and time, Brian had just spotted that coveted rarity, the Prairie Warbler.  Seeing that John and Jennie were right there with their child, Brian said, "Don't be alarmed, but I have to yell to my friend".  And perhaps everyone at the Water Ranch heard the scream, "TOMMY!!!!".  As John and Jennie kept walking south past Brian and Muriel and towards my direction, they saw me sprinting by, in my gear and looking more psychotic then ever.  I may have heard John say to Jennie, "Wow, what kind of geek club is this".  Whether he said it or not, they may have thought it.  And honestly, I was laughing brutally at the way I must have looked to these people after the fact.

It didn't matter after my sprint, because I was with Brian and Muriel, and we were all staring at the Prairie Warbler.  It emerged for us at "the buzzer" and the three of us were now in a great mood.  For Muriel and me, it was a life bird overall.  Prairie Warblers are an eastern warbler, mainly in the southeast of the United States.  They prefer brushy and old fields and other open areas.  Adult birds are striking.  In Arizona, this warbler is very rare, and the last known Prairie Warbler in Maricopa County was in the winter of 2005.  Ironically, it wintered for a several months and it was also at Gilbert Water Ranch.  While adult Prairies are unmistakable and striking, first year birds aren't so much.  And this Prairie was a first year.  While first year Prairies aren't as striking, they still have distinctive field marks.  The semi-circle under the bird's eye as well as the side streaking and lack of strong wingbars are other good marks to go by.  This bird is also very yellow below.  Muriel, Brian, and I didn't get any looks or photographs to really brag about as the lighting as quickly fading, but we were content!

The Prairie Warbler became my second addition to my Maricopa County list for the year of 2017, with the first being Dale Clark's epic Royal Tern.  Prairie Warbler was my 385th Maricoper.  Brian Johnson was clutch on this bird, as he spied it with hardly any time left on the clock.  Thanks to Brian and if it weren't for Brian I would have had a frustrating drive home, and then a definite return to Gilbert Water Ranch on the following day.  Here is a Prairie Warbler celebration selfie taken by Muriel!

After our sighting, Muriel and I had minds that thought alike.  The Prairie Warbler was a life bird for her, too.  We both wanted to see it in better lighting, get more extended views of it, and we also wanted to get better photographs.  So we both came back on Saturday, October 28th.  And we both ran into each other and got to the parking lot at the same time.  As Muriel and I worked our way over to the Warbler spot, we ran into Robert Bowker, who had just photographed the bird minutes before we got there.  For the next hour, it was more of a waiting game.  Birders were flocking to the spot.  Everyone was waiting for the Prairie to appear.  Conversations were lit up to shoot the breeze.  One conversation was about warblers.  I remember saying, "Blackburnian Warbler is my favorite warbler".  As we waited, the sun was starting to really hit the Prairie Warbler haunt and we were thinking it would emerge in any moment.  I was walking back and fourth and so were many other birders.  Muriel was with me often, and we went back to the exact spot where we saw the Prairie Warbler the previous night.  A warbler caught my attention who was flitting around and feeding in that exact spot.  Expecting it to be the Prairie, I lifted my binoculars to not see a Prairie Warbler, but to see another rarity and new Maricoper, a Blackburnian Warbler!  My favorite warbler at that!  I was stunned, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  Before I had a good look at this Blackburnian Warbler, which was a first-fall bird, I had a brief glimpse of it before I had THE LOOK at it.  The first half-second of the sight had me thinking Townsend's Warbler, but when it popped out into the open I immediately exclaimed to Muriel, "Get photos of this bird, quick!!!".  We both got photos.  Mine were crap, and Muriel's were good.  I couldn't be more thankful that I had Muriel there with me.  She is an excellent photographer, and really documents things well.  Her picture gave us immediate proof without any doubt that a Blackburnian Warbler had crossed our paths.  We made the birding crowd around us aware of the new arrival, as well as the online birding forums.  And sadly, the bird wasn't seen again.  As this Blackburnian Warbler was my 386th Maricoper and was also my first in Arizona, it wasn't a life bird.  Blackburnian Warbler is my favorite warbler because of the striking breeding plumaged males of the species.  Go back to a recent blog I wrote, called Wisconsin Warblers, to see that fun!  Here is what I managed of the Blackburnian, which I consider to be dumb luck and truly being in the right place at the right time!

Tracy McCarthey was another one of the birders on site.  She had a brief look at a warbler she thought to be a Townsend's before Muriel and I had the Blackburnian, but once she saw Muriel's photograph, she knew it was the Blackburnian she had seen.  When Tracy saw it, it was a little further south than where Muriel and I saw it.  When Muriel and I lost it, it kept foraging and heading to the north.  Two new Maricopa Warblers for me 14 hours apart was ridiculous and a sequence that may never happen to me again..

Dozens of birders were at Water Ranch throughout the day.  Right after Blackburnian made it's brief appearance, out came the Prairie Warbler.  Every birder who came that day got to see the Prairie, as it put on a show.

My buddy Mark Ochs came for the Blackburnian and we spent a lot of time searching for it and we hung out with a lot more of our friends.  Dara Vazquez added to the rare warbler fun when she found a Northern Parula!

Outside of these two incredible warblers for Maricopa County, the County has had a lot of awesome birds in the last few weeks.  I will highlight some of them!

Verrado is a spot that is really picking up with birding, thanks to birder Lyndie Warner.  Lyndie has found this place to be a migrant trap, and it certainly is.  Rufous-backed Robin, Varied Thrush, and Lewis's Woodpeckers.  Mark and I made the trip on a break from the Blackburnian search to get these awesome birds.  Sometimes the Rufous-backed Robin and Varied Thrush were seen feeding in the grass side-by-side!

Here is a big clan of birders enjoying the two rare thrushes.  Yours truly documented the birders at this upcoming birding area in Verrado.

My friend Laura Ellis has a backyard in Avondale that is good for birding.  Laura has water features in her yard, many different bird feeders, as well as a lake behind her house.  Recently, she has had two awesome rarities in her backyard.  The first one was a Golden-crowned Sparrow.  The sparrow is a good bird to find anytime and anywhere throughout Arizona.  Then a Dickcissel showed up, which is a big surprise for a yard bird!  Both birds stayed for a good amount of time, and Laura kindly hosted many many birders at her house so they could see her two rarities.  I was one of them, thanks Laura!

Before I went to Verrado on the trip to chase the Varied Thrush, Lewis's Woodpecker, and Rufous-backed Robin, I went a week before that to see the Rufous-backed Robin when it was first found by Lyndie.  The Robin was cooperative for me during the first time I saw it.  After looking for the bird for about thirty minutes, I found it foraging alongside a neighborhood street.  It allowed me to get close and I also got to study it's flight calls when it flew around.  Hearing the Rufous-backed Robin was neat, and it was the first time I got to study any vocalizations of the species.  Here's some photographs from that outing.

The Glendale Recharge Ponds always put up some sort of a good show.  Here's my spark bird with my birding obsession, the Osprey.  If it weren't for the Osprey, I don't know if I'd be a birder!

When a Peregrine Falcon shows up, it usually means turmoil for the shorebirds and ducks.  For me, the Peregrine pursuit can be fun to watch.  After all, it is nature.  Unless there is a rare bird I'm trying hard to find, I don't mind a Peregrine flying around and terrorizing the bunch.  The one photographed below is a juvenile Peregrine of the Tundra race.  This race sure is cool looking!

A Black-bellied Plover had also been frequenting the ponds for some time!

Also recently I enjoyed a few Long-eared Owls somewhere in Maricopa County.  These guys are fun to see, but because they are a very sensitive bird, I will not say where they were seen at.  They do not like people, including me.

Maricopa County is huge!  What other birds are lurking and waiting to be found around the corner?!...

Fall Greatness

As the fall season has continued to move on, I have continued to bird a lot.  The work schedule hasn't changed, and I don't have to be at work until 1 P.M. on almost every day that I am scheduled.  It is a challenging schedule, but on many of my mornings I can go birding.  By default I am a very early riser.  Even if I go to bed at midnight, I still wake up at 5 or 6!  Weird huh?  Probably, I try not to think about it too much.  I'm the type of person who doesn't like to sit around in the mornings and wait for work.  The conclusion will mean many of those morning hours birding.  The search for eastern vagrants that I've wanted for either my life list or Maricopa County list (which is technically..both) has continued to come at full force.  Since my last post, birding outings have been amazing!

The above picture is of the well-named Yellow-headed Blackbird.  This picture was taken at Becker Lake Wildlife Area in the White Mountains.  I went up to the White Mountains for a recent weekend with my good friends Mark Ochs and Gordon Karre and we took part of the annual Arizona Field Ornithologists (AZFO) State Meeting.  It was the 9th annual meeting.  Long weekend short, there were field trips on Friday for birders to participate in, the state meeting all day on Saturday with presentations, discussions, and quizzes, as well as field trips on Sunday morning.  Mark, Gordon, and I participated on field trips that went to Lyman Lake State Park, Concho Lake, Wenima Wildlife Area, and Becker Lake Wildlife Area.  There were good birds present, and I added six new birds to my Apache County List:  Greater White-fronted Goose, Neotropic Cormorant, Green Heron, Red-necked Phalarope, Dickcissel, and Rufous-crowned Sparrow.  Below are photographs of the Neotropic Cormorant and Green Heron.  Poor photos, but new Apache County birds!

Here is a picture of 10 plus birders scanning Becker Lake on the Sunday expedition.  Yours truly is in the picture, and the photo is courtesy of AZFO.  This is 10 of probably 80 bird nerds like myself who attended the Show Low meeting.  There were many cool people to talk to over the course of the weekend.  In this picture, we were all trying to photograph a cooperative Virginia Rail who emerged out of the reeds to greet us.

This was the best I got of the Virginia, but it did give me a chance once to photograph it well.  I guess I wasn't quick enough..

Once back from the AZFO meeting and getting back into the normal flow of the Phoenix life, I continued to bird more and more and more in pursuit of those special migrants and just to enjoy any birds and being out in general.  I have been staring at groves of willows and cottonwoods a lot, and birding inside of them too.

The above picture is from the Box Bar Recreation Site along the Lower Verde River.  Box Bar has become one of my favorite birding locations in Maricopa County, and amazing things happen at Box Bar!  The location has a ton of potential, which is why I'm birding it often.  It's one of those places where one never knows what they may find on any given outing.  One morning, I was pleased to look up and see a Merlin perched above me.  This small and fierce falcon is one that I don't get to see very often.

Another place I have visited often is of course my patch, the Glendale Recharge Ponds.  There have been some neat birds here too over the course of the last few months, and as the colder months approach, I'm sure more will show up.  Loads of cool ducks and hopefully a surprise gull.  Right now, a trio of young Peregrine Falcons have been terrorizing smaller shorebirds and waterfowl at Glendale.

Also at Glendale, I got to meet Melissa Okimoto, an amazing girl!  Melissa started birding this year, and she is an awesome birder.  I started talking to Melissa for awhile and we quickly realized we both loved birding in some of the same areas, such as locations in the Tonto National Forest.  Melissa and I then decided we would go to Slate Creek Divide and explore that area together.  When I first ran into Melissa, she had spied this Marbled Godwit, which is always a great bird to see!

On October 3rd, Melissa and I headed up to Slate Creek Divide together to explore and bird the area.  It was Melissa's first time of seeing Slate Creek Divide, and I really wanted to make it special for her.  We decided to walk down the main drainage in the area heading south into Maricopa County to search for high elevation goodies.  This area is dominated by Douglas fir and it has plenty of pines, oaks, and some sycamore habitat.  I told Melissa that seeing a Mexican Spotted Owl was a decent possibility from the start, and she loved the idea of seeing one.  In my mind, I was praying and hoping I would find one for her.  The hike down the canyon was beautiful and birds emerged as we went.  A Steller's Jay led the day off and Red-breasted Nuthatches sounded off their "trumpet" call.  Two Mountain Chickadees also showed up, a species that can be very scarce in our region.  Melissa and I found ourselves also enjoying Acorn Woodpeckers, Northern Flickers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Bridled Titmouse, Brown Creepers, Canyon Wrens, a Dusky Flycatcher, and some puzzling Empid Flycatchers.  Single migrants of Black-throated Gray Warbler and Western Tanager added to the fun.  I was loving the time with Melissa!  As we started to walk down the canyon for a good distance, I wasn't finding any of the Spotted Owls despite looking on almost every imaginable perch and previous perches where I saw them on.  As we came around a corner, I finally caught sight of what I was hoping and praying for to show Melissa...

I had the Spotted Owl in my sight, and to be honest, I was relieved!  I really really really really wanted Melissa to see this bird for her first time.  When I turned around to Melissa, I calmly said with a smirk, "Hey....".  She wasn't expecting me to say ".......Spotted Owl" and then point to a Spotted Owl with a calm reaction.  The look Melissa had on her face as she looked up at this neat bird was something I'll never forget.  It was an amazing moment, and I don't think I've seen someone as happy as Melissa was to see a Spotted Owl.  I took this picture of her right after I pointed the bird out to her.  Seeing Melissa's joy in the sighting was better than the sighting itself for me :)

As Melissa and I were scampering around and were busy being thrilled with the Spotted Owl, the Owl opened up it's big black eyes and stared at us for awhile before lazily dozing back off again.  It amazes me how Spotted Owls have been seen in the drainage this year.  After birding Slate Creek since 2010 every year and not encountering a Spotted Owl in the daytime before this year, Spotted Owls have now been seen here five different times by birders this year (with three of those times now being when I've made trips down here).  

Melissa and I had a seat in the canyon and enjoyed the Spotted Owl for awhile.  It had times where it was calmly curious about us.  I'm sure these birds wonder why people stare at them with amazement..

Melissa and I really took our time exploring Slate Creek, and we then decided make a day out of the Mazatzal Mountains and to go to Mount Ord and hike Forest Road 1688's two mile duration.  It was one of the best days I've had in a long time because of the amazing company I had with me, neat birds, and being at two of my favorite locations on earth!  And on Mount Ord, Melissa and I continued to find amazing birds, including her first Red-naped Sapsucker, a nice male that she spied up high in a pine tree.  Olive Warblers and a Townsend's Warbler also showed up for a few more neat birds to add to our day list.  Other than the Spotted Owl, the birds were difficult to photograph in the thick fir and pine trees during the day.  This epic day can be summed up perfectly though by two smiling faces :)

As October has gone on, I've continued to visit riparian areas to stare at willow and cottonwood groves, and of course walk through them too.  In the past, I have often visited many different places to search for migrants instead of a few.  But this year, I have changed that up a lot.  Instead of going to many different places, I have really focused on going to a few places, and Box Bar on the Verde River has continued to be one of them.  I figured that some of these special migrants are bound to pass through, and if I keep visiting a good place like Box Bar on a regular basis, that is a better strategy than going to many different places.  Here is that picture of Box Bar's willow/cottonwood habitat again..

I found myself walking around Box Bar one morning recently, and things were good, but I found myself wanting to move on because I wanted to bird more areas further into the day.  And then I came up on a line of cottonwood and willows.  After a day of mediocre activity, the activity on this stand was all of a sudden...active.  I was surprised to catch sight of a Painted Redstart foraging above me, one I don't see in the lowlands often.  As I wrote down "PARE" in my field notes, the Redstart only proceeded to drop a poop right on my notes.  Because I was getting ready to head back and was thinking about leaving Box Bar, I took that as a sign I should probably leave.  As I continued down the stand, which was right along the Verde River, I saw a songbird feeding on the ground.  Right when I looked at it I realized it was something good.  Green back, solid white front.  I thought it was a Tennessee Warbler at first for the first half-second before I saw that the bird had a fierce look to it, a long white supercilum, a long bill, a dark head cap, and a red eye.  It was a Red-eyed Vireo!  The sight of the bird had me jumping, and my dedication to birding Box Bar had paid off.  The Vireo was a life bird for me, and it was also my 370th bird for Maricopa County.  It's always amazing to find a rarity rather than chase a rarity!  I enjoyed the Vireo on the ground for a few seconds before it started foraging on the willows above me.  While I didn't get a great picture, I at least got enough to document it's presence!

Red-eyed Vireo is a casual vagrant to Arizona, but is usually annual in the State.  Prior to this sighting, which was on October 6th, I had never seen a rare vireo in Arizona.  Other rare ones are Yellow-throated Vireo, White-eyed Vireo, and Yellow-green Vireo.  I have looked for and chased Yellow-green Vireo twice in my history, each one I have missed by seconds while others right by me have had looks at them!  That fact also made this sighting beyond amazing for me, it was my first rare vireo for Arizona.  For this next picture: if the lighting would have been better to show of the Vireo's red eye, it could've added a more suspenseful twist to the story.  The Red-eyed Vireo peeking out at you..........

Other than searching for special migrants at Box Bar, this peaceful place along the Verde River is full of amazing things.  Sometimes I see a Peregrine Falcon lurking around in the riparian woodlands..

Other times I'll enjoy a Harris's Hawk or two or three perched up on Saguaros..

Some of the days here have been overcast and rainy.  Isn't it cool to see two big raptors perched near each other?  

Several families of wild horses reside on this stretch of the Verde River.  It's really neat to hear them in a wilderness area rather than on a farm!

One morning I got to show the area to Melissa.  We had a great time, and I really love birding with Melissa!

The Verde River via Box Bar is one epic place!

Recently, I also made a visit to the Hassayampa River Preserve.  The Hassayampa River is another place where birding is awesome in migration.  Quite surprisingly, I haven't been there very much this year.  And because I haven't birded as much this year as I did last year, I connected with my first Gray Hawk of the year.  This is a juvenile Gray Hawk, which is a neat thing to see.  Maricopa County has a nice breeding population of this species in the Hassayampa River area near Wickenburg.

While I was at Hassayampa, I was very shocked to hear and see a male Evening Grosbeak.  It seems very early for this bird to start coming down into the lowlands, or this far south into Arizona as it is!

It's not a good picture of the Evening Grosbeak, but hey, we can tell what it is right?!  This particular Evening Grosbeak may just be an indicator of what's to come in the winter months of 2015 and 2016.  With finch irruptions starting to pop up, owls already showing up in the southern parts of the North early, and with an El' Nino being in the forecast, I think some amazing things are in store.  I hope to witness a lot of it!