Miracle Bird Day!

On December 13th, this past Saturday, I had returned home after a tiring day of scouting for a Christmas Bird Count.  As I started to settle down for the night, an eye-raising post came onto the listserv from birder Duane Morse about a White-eared Hummingbird in his front yard coming to a feeder in the South Mountain area in Phoenix!  I was beyond shocked, and I didn't really know what to think at first.  Duane said the bird was a young male on the post, and I hadn't really studied up on younger White-eared Hummingbirds much.  I was overly tired that night and had family plans the next day in late morning, so I was in the mood that happens rarely-I wanted to just ignore the rarity.  When Sunday came around, I wasn't thinking about the hummingbird much.  It seemed to good to be true!  Duane had reported the bird from his yard, so I was a little hesitant to email him about it because it is his home.  I studied pictures of younger male White-eared Hummingbirds, I had that "duh Tommy, you idiot" moment.  It's just as distinctive as the adult male.  By this time, it was too late to see it by the time Monday and two full days of work came around.  I that the pictures were of a stunning bird, and I was still just as shocked when the email came through, and then Duane showed me pictures.  It just didn't seem like it could possibly be true, but it was!  A new Maricopa County record.  And I was dying to see it and was kicking myself that I didn't email Duane and attempt to see it early on Sunday morning prior to proceeding with family plans.

I emailed Duane on Monday, and I asked him if the bird was still around and if I could look at it on Wednesday if it was still around.  Duane answered me back shortly, and kindly told me I could make a visit.  Things got even better when Duane said that the White-eared Hummingbird was actively guarding the feeder and was chasing off any other hummingbird competitors.  When hummingbirds do this, it's a good sign they will stick around for awhile!  I had two painful twelve hour work shifts to get through, which set the stages for me to attempt my first views of this miraculous Maricopa County rarity once they were over with (and I was tempted to call in on both days).  My plans for the chase was secured when Duane said the bird continued through Tuesday night.  When I woke up this morning, I was off on the road before I knew it.  I left early and arrived somewhat early, and poked around until 7:15 came around.  At 7:19, I got to Duane's yard near South Mountain park, and I heard a call note from a hummingbird that sounded very different than what I usually hear.  It came from a creosote bush that Duane said the bird highly favored throughout the day, and I new it had to be the bird.  A hummer then flew out of the bush and landed on the hummingbird feeder.  It was the White-eared Hummingbird!  As it was starting to get light outside, it was still very dark for my camera.  In the camera's eyes, it was still nighttime.  The hummingbird quickly flew back to the bush after a brief drink at the feeder.  It sat in view, and I was able to get a shot off of my earliest sighting.

The White-eared Hummingbird started chasing away every other hummingbird competitor, and he was fierce.  Birder Sean Fitzgerald arrived shortly after I did, and the two of us enjoyed views of the bird.  While it took a long time for it to get light enough for daytime-looking-pictures, we watched the bird up close and coming to the feeder time and time again.  Wow!  White-eared Hummingbirds breed in fir, pine, and oak forests in their normal range.  Some of that range does include southeastern Arizona, where I have seen three adult males coming to feeders at the base of Miller Canyon on Beatty's Guest Ranch.  But no, we weren't even close to being in this birds normal habitat.  As I looked around, there was desert landscape in every surrounding yard in the neighborhood and South Mountain Park was right behind us.  How bizarre!

As we waited for better light, Sean and I talked birds and watched this epic discovery.  Besides the hummingbird feeder itself, the young White-eared Hummingbird was feeding off of flowers from the creosote bush.  Other hummingbirds rarely had a chance to enjoy anywhere near the creosote, and the feeder was the danger zone.  The White-eared Hummingbird had the others terrified in his chases, and at times, the 1,000,000x speed chases wound up skimming our heads.  If any of these birds made contact with my eye, it would be gone.  Once it got lighter up, we got to have better photo chances at the hummingbird as he came and came and came and never let up in the two plus hours of observation.  There was one time when the hummingbird was somewhat tolerant of another....

But other than that, this bird rolled solo on the sugar!

"This is mine.  Stay away!"

The two plus hours of observing this miracle rarity went by very fast, I never grew tired of this Maricopa County White-eared Hummingbird.  I'm still shocked as I write this that this bird is now a part of the County list.  Here are just a few more views I had of the bird throughout the observation.

The White-eared Hummingbird is my 366th bird for Maricopa County, and certainly one of the best I have ever had in the county.  This is one we may never get again, so my urgency to get this bird was very high.  It is also the eighth addition that I have added to my Maricopa County list this year, and it is certainly one that I never would've expected to show up.  Those ones are the best!  Last year, I also had eight additions to my Maricopa County list.  With two weeks left in the year, I would think that this will be my final addition for Maricopa lifers, but who knows?  The hero of this story is Duane Morse, who I am very grateful to for allowing me to see his discovery and mind-blowing yard bird.  I didn't get to meet Duane while I was watching the bird, but hopefully I can thank him in person someday as well.  What a year it has been so far, and this bird has probably taken over as the top bird for my 2014 rankings.  Cheers to White-ears!

After the hummingbird, I still had some more birding left in me.  Gilbert Water Ranch!  I had only been to Gilbert Water Ranch twice before this time today earlier this year, so it was going to be a treat.  Several rarities have been a Gilbert lately too, including a Brown Thrasher.  The Brown Thrasher is a skulker and one that doesn't prefer to venture out into the open world, and many views have to be in this manner.

I was initially happy with my first views and twig lined picture above, but then the Brown Thrasher became a little more cooperative.  I was just happy I got to see it.  Brown Thrashers are rare but annual in Arizona, and this this was my third, my second for Gilbert Water Ranch.

The Brown Thrasher eventually came hopping over my head by only five feet and then flew over my head to another side of the trail as I stood there still.  Wow!  

A White-throated Sparrow Sean found earlier in the week was present further down the trail, but this Swamp Sparrow was much more cooperative for my camera!

Sean also informed me of a neat Cinnamon Teal X Green-winged Teal hybrid in Pond 4 at the Ranch.  I was able to find that also.  The one target I missed at Water Ranch out of 4 was a Fox Sparrow, which I still don't have for 2014.

Birding at the Water Ranch was a great way to wrap up a memorable day such as this.  Who knows how long the White-eared Hummingbird will continue?  It's interesting to think about right now..

'Tis The Season: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

December is a great time to be birding in Arizona.  When birding is out of the equation, it's also the best time of the year.  Things start to rapidly cool down, people are finally out and about, and there's just an awesome feeling in the air.  I can't get enough of Christmas lights and fun Christmas programs such as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (which I have watched twice already).  Friends hang out and host fun gigs, and everyone with the exception of the cardiac-arrest shop-till-you-drop people are trying to make the "real" best out of Christmas.  And birding is quite similar.  Eastern and pacific vagrants start to show up throughout the state in seemingly good stocking stuffer numbers, which every birder loves to either discover or chase.  Christmas Bird Counts fill the calender also, which is a great thing to participate in.  Scouting for Christmas Bird Counts is a busy task too, as hard core birders try to have the best counts as possible.  These counts are a great way to find cool birds as well as have the chance to hang out and bird with awesome people.  Around Phoenix, whether there are rare birds or not, the December weather is the best out of any month of the year!

I've had fun days here-and-there lately for birding.  Most days are spent sitting on my butt at my hospital job.  There aren't any good birding spots that I know of in the hospital parking lot.  Rock Pigeons and Great-tailed Grackles are present in high numbers.  I always think it's great to see a pile of Pigeon feathers in the lot, because I know that my buddy is back.  He hangs out on the roof of the hospital, looking for the helpless pigeon.

American Kestrels are around in high numbers everywhere right now.  In your reading this, take a look outside and you might see one.  For such a common bird, it's one that is always a treat to see, and it is the second falcon to lead this post off.  Kestrels perch on funny things sometimes.  This one says, "do I look like a freaking Osprey?"

One of my more recent trips came on this past Monday, which was December 8th, 2014.  I took a trip with my friend Steve Hosmer south of Phoenix to Tucson's Sweetwater Wetlands as well as Pinal County's Santa Cruz Flats.  We were chasing two birds, both of which would be lifers for me from the east:  Baltimore Oriole at Sweetwater, and a Black-throated Blue Warbler at Santa Cruz.  Steve and I chose to go to Sweetwater first to look for my life bird and his state bird.  Once at Sweetwater, I spied the Baltimore Oriole within ten minutes of arrival.  As Sun's broadcaster Al McCoy would say, "Shazzaaammm".

The Baltimore Oriole was far away at first, but Steve and I still had good binocular looks and then great looks through Steve's scope.  And then we were able to get closer to the Oriole, with much better views.  This bird was stunning, and I was very glad I was able to add it onto my life list!

Sweetwater Wetlands has harbored many many many many many rarities during it's history.

Winter season hosts raptors and waterfowl in abundant numbers in Arizona.  Northern Shovelers and Red-tailed Hawks are two perfect examples.

Immediately after Sweetwater, Steve and I were heading back north up to Pinal County's Santa Cruz Flats in pursuit of the Black-throated Blue Warbler.  The Warbler was found on private property within the Flats from a public road, so when Steve and I got there there were other birders birding from the road but looking onto private property.  It had been found a week or two earlier, and thanks to Magill Weber and Muriel Neddermeyer, they relocated it and prompted our trip and attempt at this beautiful eastern warbler.  A handful of birders were on the scene as expected other than Steve and I:  Babs Buck, Barb Medding, Laurens Halsey, Lindsey Story and her father Dick, Brian Walsh, Larry Norris, Doug Jenness, Keith Kamper, and more.  The warbler wasn't cooperative during most of the search.  Several other birds such as an American Redstart, Acorn Woodpecker, Summer Tanager and "Western" Flycatcher were good side kicks.  After two hours of waiting with some of the birders listed above, we were about to move on and search the Flats more and would then come back to try for the warbler again.  Luckily, as people were getting in their cars, I took a last-second scan at the house on the property, which had some berry bushes around it.  A small bird caught my eye foraging on a branch and then on the house itself!  It was the Black-throated Blue Warbler!

No, this isn't a good picture and I wasn't trespassing to get a better one.  The binocular views were quite good.  Most of the birders had gotten back to their vehicles but quickly came running to the sound of my voice once I spied the warbler.  The warbler started to jump around on the house and even the Christmas lights that were hanging down from the roof!  Sadly, it flew before I could take a picture of the Christmas light sequence.  You'd have to see it to believe it, but I swear it happened.  The warbler was singing Jingle Bells too.  

Everyone was very happy with me that I spied the bird, and I was glad I was able to spy it for everyone.  This was one of the stranger occurences I have had when getting a life bird, but one of the more awesome ones too.  The Black-throated Blue Warbler is one of my favorite warblers.  Seeing an adult male like this in it's splendor was an epic treat.  A great life bird to get, and I hope I'll be able to get a good picture if I get lucky to come across one again.  The Warbler spent some time hopping around the old house on the property and human made structures leaning up against the wall.  Food source must have been good there, because the Black-throated Blue Warbler was joined by many other songbirds.  This is another horrible picture, but the warbler went inside this old crevice and came out of another hole up a few feet higher!  This picture shows the nice blue back rather well...

Steve and I drove around the Flats looking for other goodies after the warbler excitement.  We did come back for the warbler again and weren't able to find it the second time, but Laurens Halsey did, and it was a nice addition to his epic Arizona Big Year he is doing that is now the current Arizona Big Year record.  Other birds around the Flats included my first Lark Bunting of the year as well as the neat Prairie Falcon.

And then came along a fun scouting trip along the Verde River on December 13th for the upcoming Salt and Verde River Christmas Bird Count on December 15th.  I can't participate in any official count dates this year, but I did help several awesome birders scout the area and get birds for count week.  The Verde River is a fun place to bird, but it is on the Fort McDowell Indian Reservation and we aren't allowed to venture into the Reservations during other times of the year.

I don't stop to look at Lesser Goldfinches very often, but a tree full of them is a neat sight!

I spent most of the day scouting with Troy Corman, Justin Jones, and Marceline Vandewater.  Tom Lewis and Kurt and Cindy Radamaker also joined us for awhile.  It was a pleasure birding with these awesome people and awesome birders.  Here is a shot of Justin, Marceline, and Troy getting ready to find noteworthy count week birds!

Before we arrived to the Verde River, we were rather nervous about the weather conditions, as forecasts said there would be heavy rain most likely through mid-morning.  Luckily, the rain was gone by the time we got to the Ft. McDowell!  During bush-whacking treks along the Verde, we certainly did get our share of high mud levels in places.  Most birders (99 percent) would avoid this mud, but the mud also accesses amazing habitat areas where Troy, Justin, and Marceline have found great rarities in in the past.  If you don't get your feet wet, you won't discover a lot of what's out there!  

As we were in the earlier hour of our expedition in the mud zones, I heard a Red-shouldered Hawk calling from the riparian across the river.  After a muddy crossing, we were able to get around on the cottonwood and willow islands much easier.  We then found a male Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers with great views, which was cool.  It sat low at one point and I was able to have great visuals through my binoculars.  We went further into the habitat and had a Dusky Flycatcher, and we then had a great visual of the Red-shouldered Hawk.  The hawk was perched in a cottonwood at first after we followed it's loud screams for awhile.  It eventually flew up over our area and we had great views.  I was able to snap a few pictures.

The "Shoulder" is a beautiful raptor, and this bird is one than isn't easy to photograph due to it's skittish and low-flying behavior.  When this bird flew up, it gave me the chance to snap the best photographs I have ever had of this species.  Troy exclaimed several times how striking the bird was before it flew up in the air, and once it did, it became a great sighting for all of us!  Moving back along the mud zones that were two feet deep in places, we came upon another section of great habitat, where multiple eastern warblers were found last year.  This time we found a Black-and-White Warbler and Troy found a very rare Pacific-Slope Flycatcher for this time of year.  The Flycatcher was cooperative for Troy and it gave a distinctive Pacific-slope Flycatcher call note so we didn't have to mark it down as a Western Flycatcher spuh.

Also, here's a cool dragonfly that Justin found along the route!  Birds aren't always the only things to look at out there, the world of dragonflies is another awesome thing that requires a lot of searching.  

We are a little over two weeks away from the end of 2014.  What an awesome year it has been for 2014.  I have a feeling there may be several more awesome outings remaining on my calendar to close out this year.  Regardless of what else I see, this year has been great.  

For the Love of Apache County

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for the belated report, I'm finally getting the chance to write this up.  After Thanksgiving, Susan Fishburn, Babs Buck, Gordon Karre, and I headed to the White Mountains to bird Apache County in the very under-birded time frame of late November over the course of November 28th through November 30th.  It was a very fun trip and it was my first real time of birding this awesome area in the winter.

The four of us met up and left early to get into the White Mountains region just after 8 A.M. on November 28th.  Our first stop was at McNary, where we birded the ponds at the Old Mill Area (hotspot on eBird).  There were good numbers of waterfowl and American Coots on these ponds, as well as common songbirds typical of ponderosa pine.  A female CANVASBACK and three BUFFLEHEADS highlighted our short visit here.

A lone female Canvasback is with this mixed flock of Mallards, Gadwall, and two Scaup.  The Canvasback was my first Apache County lifer of the trip.

Our next stop was at Crescent and Big Lakes.  These two lakes were mostly frozen over, but there were pools of water in places where waterfowl congregated in large numbers.  An amazing sight came when a BALD EAGLE stood out on the ice on Big Lake.  This was one out of five Bald Eagles in the Big Lake Area.  Ducks were highlighted by stunning BUFFLEHEAD and COMMON GOLDENEYE drakes.

Bald Eagle on ice.  Breathtaking!

Our next stop was at Sunrise Ski Area.  Other than a flyover GRAY JAY, the place was very quiet.  The temperature here was near 60 degrees-I found myself without a jacket on near 10,000' elevation at the end of November.  Only in Arizona!  We walked around listening for Pine Grosbeak for about an hour without luck.

Sunrise Ski Area.  And yep, no jackets were needed in the late morning.  Epic.

After Sunrise, we went to the Greer Lakes hoping to find some of the neat birds Eric Hough found on the previous week.  Our luck changed around, and we didn't find the waterbirds we were hoping for.  We did have a nice consolation in two EVENING GROSBEAKS at the south side of River Reservoir.  River Reservoir did have an assortment of water birds, that included AMERICAN WIGEON, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, CANVASBACK, RING-NECKED DUCK, BUFFLEHEAD, COMMON GOLDENEYE, RUDDY DUCK, and WESTERN GREBE.  A male NORTHERN HARRIER was along the shore of Bunch Reservoir, as the other two Greer Lakes (Bunch and Tunnel) were deprived of any water birds.

Our next stop was at Grasslands Wildlife Area, which was painfully quiet.  We couldn't even find a Horned Lark.  Things got better when a juvenile FERRUGINOUS HAWK soared over the grasslands.

Gordon trying to turn up a few spurs.  The birds and the thorny things.

As we headed towards Springerville, we noticed that it seemed to be active right as we were passing over the Little Colorado River while driving on the 260 and entering Eager.  A quick scan of the river gave us a nice looking pair of HOODED MERGANSERS.  We decided to get out and look more and we then detected a SWAMP SPARROW in tall grass on the north side of the 260 and just feet east of the bridge that is just over the Little Colorado River.  A tree was full of AMERICAN ROBINS, and Susan counted 22 of them in this spot.

Our last stop for November 28th was at Becker Lake, which had abundant numbers of waterfowl and other water birds.  There were impressive numbers of GADWALL, CANVASBACK, BUFFLEHEAD, COMMON GOLDENEYE, RUDDY DUCK, and AMERICAN COOT.  Several REDHEAD and COMMON MERGANSERS were also present.  The lake also had about 10 HOODED MERGANSERS, which several males were displaying, each in attempt to lure a female.  6 WESTERN and 2 CLARK'S GREBES were also out on the lake.  2 BALD EAGLES paired up in a bare tree, which looked awesome as the evening light set in.  As we walked and birded along the eastern perimeter of the lake Susan was ahead of us and she spied a LARK BUNTING.

Becker Lake.  Hooded Merganser drake flying solo.  The Hooded Merganser was one out of eleven Apache County life birds I added on the trip.  The AC's were Canvasback, Common Goldeneye, Ferruginous Hawk, Hooded Merganser, Swamp Sparrow, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Ross's Goose, Cassin's Finch, California Quail, Greater Scaup, and Merlin.  My list is now at 217 in this awesome county.

On November 29th, we started our day off at Becker Lake after enjoying a flock of Penguins at McDonald's.  Becker Lake was very brisk in the morning, but within an hour it warmed up significantly.  The day actually got up to 68 degrees, which was one warm weekend for this climate and elevation at this time of year (we weren't complaining).  Our main target at Becker Lake were longspurs, which we had success in with locating a flock of ~10 CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS.  While we didn't have any ground looks, a few birds flew low and close by to us to give us some great flight views.  They were associating with large numbers of HORNED LARKS.  Scanning Becker Lake resulted in very similar species and numbers as in the previous night.  We did have a late BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER calling along the eastern side of the lake along the trail, which we eventually were able to see for a few seconds.

Susan, Babs, and Gordon facing the cold.

This Loggerhead Shrike was the only bird on the trip I got a halfway decent photograph of.  LOSH is awesome.

Following Becker, we headed north to Lyman Lake State Park, one of my favorite places in Apache County.  The best highlight we had here among 30 species recorded was a ROSS'S GOOSE mixed in with a flock of CANADA GEESE along the south-eastern end of the lake.  Lyman Lake's northern shore line (opposite of us) had thousands of ducks and many grebes and coots.  Sadly, many were too far out for us to properly scan all of them, but the expected ducks and grebes were found.  A HORNED GREBE at fairly close range was nice to see.  The lake also had a few shorebird surprises, with a late AMERICAN AVOCET and GREATER YELLOWLEGS as well as a few small flocks of LEAST SANDPIPERS.  5 RING-BILLED GULLS were present.  Along one of the shoreline areas were many HORNED LARKS feeding, and they were also joined by ~8 CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS.

After Lyman Lake, we went back south and stopped at Wenima Wildlife Area.  One of the better detected birds of the trip came here when we heard a CALIFORNIA QUAIL calling a few times on a slope above the trail we were on.  There is a small population of this quail in the White Mountains, which have an established population and is the only place in Arizona where it can be found.  We were all very happy to add this bird to our state list.  Wenima had abundant numbers of MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS, AMERICAN ROBINS, DARK-EYED JUNCOS, and PINE SISKINS.  Several CASSIN'S FINCHES, CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS, and WESTERN SCRUB-JAYS were also present.  Seeing the Mountain Bluebirds in high numbers of probably close to 150 individuals was very impressive.  They were everywhere along the trail we hiked, and a shot that Gordon took revealed 25 of them flying up from a water source in one shot, most of which were bright males!

Mountain Bluebirds and Cassin's Finch

Bluebird enjoyment while one scales for Quail

Wenima Wildlife Area has awesome potential at all times of the year.

Going back to Springerville and heading south from there to stop at a number of places began with the Sipe White Mountain Wildlife Area.  Here we had two RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS and three DARK-EYED JUNCO subspecies, which did include a SLATE-COLORED individual.  A large hawk we weren't seeing well enough raised eyebrows, and it ended up being a juvenile FERRUGINOUS HAWK once I pursued it after I saw where it landed.  Heading out of Sipe gave us looks at a beautiful adult FERRUGINOUS HAWK.

Our next stop continuing south towards Alpine was at Nelson Reservoir.  The south side of the reservoir held an assortment of waterfowl similar to the other stops, but we had a nice surprise with a female GREATER SCAUP.  There was likely another Greater Scaup with this one, and both of these birds had their heads annoyingly rested most of the time.  As LESSER SCAUP swam by, the Greater Scaup was noticeably bigger, had a large rounded head unlike the peaked head of the Lesser Scaup.  As we were looking at ducks, Susan looked up and spied a beautiful MERLIN (Taiga) perched on a juniper tree that was on the slope above us.

Following Nelson we stopped at Nutrioso Reservoir.  Among the selection of waterfowl here were ~50 CANVASBACK.

Our final stop of the 29th came from Luna Lake, which also had a very high abundance of water birds, probably more than anywhere else we visited, but nothing new after a lengthy scan.

On November 30th, we had a half-day planned before heading back home.  High winds in the White Mountains affected a lot what we had planned, but two days of minimal wind was something to be very grateful for.  We birded at South Fork for close to two hours, which was very pleasant with forest birds like CASSIN'S FINCHES, PYGMY NUTHATCHES, and TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRES being seen.  Sunrise Lake was too windy for any enjoyment, and Hawley Lake was closed.  That ended our Apache County birding for the trip, which resulted in 77 species being seen.  Birding at this time of year is very interesting, and I want to spend more time in the future in this area at this time of year.  Two days is awesome, but there is so much exploring to do.  We tried hard for two targets we thought we would get, Rough-legged Hawk and a Loon species, without any luck.

Townsend's Solitaire

Elk herd running around near Sunrise.  They probably heard a gunshot.  It was elk season.

One the way home we stopped at Gila County's Timber Camp and Jones Water Campground.  Both are amazing places, and the highlight came when Susan found a female WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER at Timber Camp.  Jones Water Campground had abundant bird life, and is one of those locations that will have good birding on a year round basis.  We ended the trip with over 100 species in all of the traveling combined.  Thank you much to Susan, Babs, and Gordon for an awesome trip!  All of our eBird checklists from the trip are up on eBird.

From left to right:  Babs Buck, Gordon Karre, Susan Fishburn, Tommy D.....

Good Birding,

Tommy DeBardeleben (Glendale, Arizona)

On This Date in History on Tommy D's Birding Expeditions: A Blue Miracle

I woke up on December 1st, 2011 with plans on going to bird at the Hassayampa River Preserve.  I had already broken my Big Year record for Maricopa County, which was 304 the previous year, and I had the entire month of December to add to my new record.  This was the fun and more relaxing part of the big year, although I would still attempt to chase every new possibility.  Although I wanted to go to Hassayampa, there was Sophie, who always got in the way of things.

I woke up that day, and started to hang out with the lovely Sophie.  Sophie was hard to leave, and she was very addicting to hang around.  When it would be time for me to need to start heading out, Sophie would win my heart over every time.  She was funny, she was cool, and she was beautiful.  She was easy to get along with, and times with Sophie made time fly by.  Before I knew it, it was kinda late to go to Hassayampa.  Going to Hassayampa from my house is a long task if you wait to long, not because of distance, but because of traffic.  I let Sophie steal the show, and it was hard not to let her steal the show.  After all, she was an Australian Shepherd, and Sophie was one good dog.  She was good enough to delay my birding day.  I decided to go to Tres Rios Wetlands at the historic Hayfield Site.  Hayfield is now dead, but back in 2011, the location was dynamite.  And thanks to Sophie, I found myself staring into birdless trees at Tres Rios.  The place was seemingly dead, but Sophie was worth it.  As I walked around the rather small location for about 1.5 hours, I was then starting to consider heading back homeward.  In an open area with lots of space, something caught my eye and would eventually make Sophie the real HERO of this story...

The first hour was quiet and boring, but that changed quickly as I got my eyes on a bright male Bluebird perched in an open shrubby area.  It had a bright white belly and I thought it was something else at for a split second, and then when I realized what I was looking at I jumped.  No bluebirds in Maricopa County have ever had that bright white belly, and when I saw that it had an orange throat and orange sides on it’s neck, that contrasted with the white belly, I jumped even more.  It then flew over me and vocalized, and I took pictures of this bluebird, which had a solid blue back.  I knew I was looking at and listening to an EASTERN BLUEBIRD!  It was cooperative and allowed me to get perfect pictures, as it vocalized a lot.  I was shocked at the sight of this bird, as I knew it was a first record for Maricopa County.  After ten minutes of watching the bird, I lost it after spooking it.  Luckily, Jeff Ritz arrived at Tres Rios and relocated the bird in a big cottonwood grove close by about an hour later.  The bluebird was cooperative for both of us while we observed it. I went home and birders discussed this was likely the eastern race of Eastern Bluebird, “Sialis”, where the southwestern and pale subspecies “Azure” hasn’t been known to migrate.  Finding a first Maricopa County record meant the world to me!  I returned the following day to Tres Rios and heard the Eastern Bluebird briefly, but after that, it was never observed again.

After finding Maricopa's first Eastern Bluebird, another Eastern Bluebird was found in the Lower Salt River at Coon Bluff Recreation Area and my friend Jim Kopitzke happened to be in the area and was able to see that bird.  Interestingly, Eastern Bluebird has never been found in California, and my bird is one of the furthest western records I'm pretty sure.  For my home county, this is one of my favorite birds on my Maricopa County list due to the fact that I discovered it and it was a first Maricopa County record.  

I wasn't singing any sort of blue's on December 1st, 2011!  The Eastern Bluebird was bird # 307 for my Maricopa County Big Year, which ended up reaching 313 species for the final tally.  It resulted in being my favorite bird of all of 2011.  And if it weren't for the irresistible Sophia, I never would've had my plans changed and yet alone would've found an Eastern Bluebird thirty minutes from home!