of Arizona's fifteen counties. Despite long waits for attention, it is a diverse county in habitats, elevation, and it has awesome birding potential. Out of those fifteen counties, it is one of the most under-covered by Arizona birders. It has plenty of birds that can be found to fill wide gaps. Those birds include a selection of state-wide rarities, as well as some local birds who aren't as rare statewide but do have potential to show up in Gila County in limited numbers. There's also those birds that have been recorded once or twice in the county. These birds are hard to discern with as far is their status and distribution are concerned within Gila. Whatever the case, this place called Gila County has plenty of birds that still need to be found inside of it's limits, unknown status and distributions voids to discern for certain species, and just as important as birds, remote locations that need to be birded that are rarely birded or perhaps haven't been birded in at all. What I've described here is a huge reason I love to bird Gila County as much as I do. And I want to continue to find or see such birds and bird remote locations to help fill some of the birding holes in this mysterious region.
Caleb Strand and I teamed up for two hardcore days of birding in Gila County on this recent March 21st and March 27th. As Caleb and I both like to take long birding days, these two days wouldn't lack any sort of effort. We hoped to bird locations extensively to increase Caleb's Gila County list, to possibly increase my Gila County list, and we hoped to find birds that have those mysterious statuses. And before the trips were said and done, we would have some awesome examples of birds that have been unaccountable to my Gila journeys so far.
On March 21st, Caleb and I left Phoenix early and headed out east to spend the day birding within the San Carlos Indian Reservation. We got out there rather early, and headed for Tufa Stone Tank as our first stop of the day. Last year, Tufa Stone Tank was my favorite place to bird in Gila County. It turned out to be a mecca of a birding location. On a not as good of note, I didn't bird the Tank since a brief stop in early November. Life got in the way, and if I would've been able to cover it more, who knows what could've been found there over the winter. If driving into the tank, there is some rather desolate and flat desert that is dominated by creosote bushes. In ways, it has always reminded me of a location where I could possibly land Sagebrush Sparrow. I asked Caleb what he thought and he said he thought it could happen but wished the habitat was more expansive. After speaking of Sagebrush Sparrows, we found ourselves getting out of Caleb's vehicle to start birding Tufa Stone Tank. The songs and calls of birds were everywhere. Looking out into the tank, it was evident that the water in the tank has evaporated significantly since last year. It didn't stop a variety of ducks and some shorebirds from using the much smaller pool. Caleb spotted a Lark Bunting flying around in the desert, and we were surprised to hear the drawn out tunes of Cassin's Sparrows.
Caleb and I had to split ways briefly for a few minutes to make important phone calls, but from where we were both standing, we heard a few call notes from a sparrow that sounded awesome. "Hey Tommy!", Caleb said, "I think that's a Sagebrush Sparrow calling!". I thought it sounded good for Sagebrush Sparrow too. Prior to our trip, Sagebrush Sparrow had only been recorded once on eBird in all of Gila County. I've looked for it in a few places where I've thought it could be present without luck. Caleb and I had just discussed Sagebrush Sparrows minutes earlier. As I started to make my way towards Caleb, he was already investigating the sounds. Like a tune you want to hear start playing on a radio, Caleb's next words were no different, "Tommy, Sagebrush Sparrow! I've got it!". I ran across the desert and up to Caleb's spot on top of Tufa Stone Dam, and in some thick brush below him was my next Gila County life bird. We didn't think a Sagebrush Sparrow would show up at Tufa Stone Tank, and the bird gave both of us great looks as it foraged in front of us for a few minutes. A light colored malar and thick back streaking eliminated the similar Bell's Sparrow immediately. I'm glad Caleb was there to track down the calls and confirm the original suspicion. Wow, speaking of Sagebrush Sparrow...
The sparrow was a great start to the day, and we continued to navigate around the Tank. It didn't take long for Caleb to love the place and see the awesome potential that it holds. Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Gadwall, and a pair of Mexican Mallards were on the limited water. Violet-green Swallow flocks flew overhead along with some Tree Swallows. A few Lawrence's Goldfinches joined the fly-overs and broadcast-ed their flyovers to us with their distinctive call notes. After walking down a path, we came to a heavily-wooded section of mesquite woodland. There were big flocks of White-crowned Sparrows near the woodland, and as well as a drainage in the area. Looking in the wooded area, I said, "This would be a good location for Long-eared Owl". As we walked down the drainage for a short distance, we ended up going back along the thick mesquite woodland. We stood along the edge listening for activity, when an owl suddenly sprung up near us, flew further into the thick before landing for a split-second, and then flying out of sight. It struck me as a Long-eared Owl as I saw an orange-ish facial disk, although my look was brief. If we could confirm it as a Long-eared Owl, it would be another quick Gila County lifer in the early stages of the day. Caleb and I quickly pursued the owl in the woodland, and as we walked through the thick, we caught several glimpses of either one or two or three owls flying around. "It flies and glides like a Long-eared Owl", Caleb said. Despite seeing action, we could only be sure of one bird. As Caleb and I stood and waited for a brief second, an owl flew in and landed close to us, and it was very obstructed by thick branches. The branches weren't thick enough to prevent an accurate identification on the bird though, and looking through my binoculars, I could see that it was indeed a Long-eared Owl! The bird stayed for a minute, allowing us to get some documentation photographs before it vanished further into the woodland. Wow, speaking of Long-eared Owl...
We had over 60 species at Tufa Stone Tank, and Caleb was impressed with the location on his first visit. Caleb and I then spent the rest of the 21st covering Talkalai Lake, San Carlos Lake, and a stretch of desert to search unsuccessfully for Bendire's Thrasher. As I've said in the past, Talkalai Lake is Gila's mini version of Patagonia Lake, San Carlos Lake is a challenging goldmine of aquatic bird abundance, and well, I haven't said much about Gila County Bendire's Thrashers because they are a mysterious county species. It was a solid day of birding overall, with the two Gila County life birds being the biggest highlight for me. Caleb's list went from 198 to 212.
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| We built a lifelike sculpture of Caleb "The Boy" Strand. It can be found at Talkalai Lake. |
Because I enjoy birding Gila County as much as I do, I subscribe to hourly need alerts via eBird. As I mentioned earlier, Gila County isn't birded all that often by others. When a report was delivered to my email from eBird, it said, Gila County Needs Alert (Hourly), with Bendire's Thrasher being that bird that I could get as new. A birder had reported a total of six Bendire's Thrashers up on a place called Peridot Mesa, which is just above the main town of San Carlos, and very close to Tufa Stone Tank, still on the San Carlos Reservation. The report seemed to be good, and I quickly made plans inside my head that March 27th, my next day off, would be the day that I would search for these Bendire's Thrashers. It didn't take long for Caleb to team up with me in my plans, and he would be in my search party with me for the day.
When March 27th came around, Caleb and I left Phoenix at 4 A.M. to get to San Carlos early. Tufa Stone Tank became our first stop of the day before we would go up to Peridot Mesa. At Tufa Stone Tank, bird numbers were produced in good numbers and we tallied close to 60 different species, again. We had killer looks at a Bell's Vireo for the main highlight. Other than the hearing the songs of Cassin's Sparrows, we didn't have anything at Tufa that was close to unusual. But I told Caleb, "Any visit to Tufa Stone Tank is good, because it needs its data baby!". We did get Tufa's first Black-chinned Hummingbird, which was the 155th species for the location. Tufa Stone Tank is now a top 10 eBird hotspot in Gila County, gosh, I would love to see it as the number one hotspot for most birds recorded someday in Gila. Folks, please pay Tufa Stone Tank a visit ;)
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| Vermilion Flycatcher, Tufa Stone Tank |
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| Bell's Vireo, Tufa Stone Tank |
Our main stop of the day, Peridot Mesa, was next. I was anxious to get to the place and once we drove up to the level of the mesa, I was impressed. The entire Peridot Mesa was entirely green and had tall green weedy stuff, scattered mesquites, wildflowers, and impressive views of the San Carlos valley below. Places on the mesa had more desert-like looking habitat as opposed to the grassy weeds throughout the mesa that resembled more of a grassland. Western Meadowlarks were singing everywhere, Kestrels hunted, and several Lark Buntings added fun. We listened and looked for Bendire's Thrashers without luck, and the numbers that were reported to eBird seemed to be matched by the smaller Sage Thrasher. I wondered if the report was a mistake of.......never mind.
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| Sage Thrasher, Peridot Mesa |
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| American Kestrel, Peridot Mesa |
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| Peridot Mesa |
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| Peridot Mesa |
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| Lark Bunting, Peridot Mesa |
Caleb pointed out that the "grassy" stuff on the mesa wouldn't likely attract typical grassland species (outside of migration possibilities) like Sprague's Pipit, different longspurs, etc. After more thought, Caleb added, "It would be a good place for a White-tailed Kite to show up". I replied back, "winter would be a good time to check for a Kite". In the next ten minutes, Caleb noticed a tank via satellite maps, called Telephone Tank, and we worked our way over to it. We scared a herd of horses out of the tank, as well as large numbers of sparrows. At this point, we looked over the edge of the Mesa and had good views of the town of San Carlos below us. As I was scanning sparrows for awhile, Caleb simply said, "Hey, a White-tailed Kite". I was freaking shocked, and Caleb pointed out the bird he just announced after he took a few photos. A White-tailed Kite flew over the location we were standing at, continued northwest of us, soared for a few minutes before being harassed by Common Ravens, and continued on and out of sight. A telephone pole line going center down the mesa was a perch that we hoped would be a landing spot for the Kite. I gave Caleb multiple fist-pumps and high fives, because I knew that this bird was one that is a first known record for Gila County. The Boy is clutch everyone! We knew without saying but still said, "Everything else is icing on the cake now, and this bird is way better than a Bendire's Thrasher". Wow, speaking of White-tailed Kite...
To conclude the second half of the birding day, we went up to Roosevelt Lake. I've talked about Roosevelt Lake a lot on my Gila County stories, it's a fantastic place to bird. Caleb and I scanned several spots on the lake. American White Pelicans were present in large numbers of about 450 from Schoolhouse Point. Also from Schoolhouse Point, we got to see Western and Clark's Grebes up extremely close. Our visit got extended by about 30-40 minutes so we could enjoy these grebes up close from the boat dock. They put on a show, and although they are abundant on the lake, they are awesome.
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| There were a lot of Clark's Grebes, but this was the only one who came in close. |
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| These Western Grebes are getting serious about each other, time to take it elsewhere |
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| They even got interrupted by a jealous bird who thought he was the "Best Western" |
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| His efforts didn't pay off. The two still danced off, not to be interrupted |
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| I wish they were closer when they danced on water, but this is still great to capture |
I'm addicted to Gila County, and I plan to bird it more and more to give last year's efforts a good follow-up. Recently, a Harris's Sparrow was reported in Gila County at the northern base of the Pinal Mountains. Caleb, Jared, and I tried for it briefly on a recent trip to Graham County without luck. As I read my needs alert the last few days, the sparrow had been relocated by Dave Pearson and company. I hope to chase that in this upcoming week, because it would be a really fun bird to get in Gila County. Thanks Caleb for birding with me on these trips, and for finding Sagebrush Sparrow and Gila's first White-tailed Kite. Boy, you are great!
Caleb and I also mentioned that Talkalai Lake would be good for American Bittern, San Carlos Lake would be good for a rare dabbling duck like a Garganey, Tufa Stone Tank would be good for a rare Asian shorebird or waterbird like Roseate Spoonbill, and Roosevelt Lake would be good for Red-necked Grebe. Speaking of those birds, I hope to find some of them in Gila County in these upcoming years...
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