Arizona County Birding: 200 in La Paz

 When I recently reached 200 species for Mohave County, it was official that La Paz County would be the last Arizona County for me to reach 200 species in.  The journey has been a fun one, and it is still far from over.  Each Arizona county has many areas I want to explore and more species I want to see in each.  I've always said that getting 200 species in a county requires a birder to explore the region pretty well.  For me to reach 200 in La Paz County, I would have to hold to that saying. 

 

Like Yuma County, La Paz County is one that has a strong lack of high elevation habitat.  The highest elevation comes at the majestic 5,681' Harquahala Peak in the remote Harquahala Mountains.  Chaparral and juniper slopes represent the highest habitats, and upland Sonoran desert is found in lower habitats.  La Paz County is in midst of a lot of desert habitat, which includes the Mohave and Sonoran desert.  The Lower Colorado River Valley is found in the western part of the county, which attracts an array of different species, and includes the Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge.  The Bill Williams River is a very important riparian source for many species.  South of the Valley and in western La Paz is Cibola National Wildlife Refuge.  It is known for attracting thousands of geese and Sandhill Cranes annually in it's fields, and the refuge also has incredible riparian habitat.  Agricultural and farm lands in Vicksburg and Wendon bring more birding opportunity to the county, and attract species such as shorebirds, waterfowl, and raptors.  Another great place in La Paz County is Alamo Lake, which is in Mohave County as well.  The lake itself attracts a wonderful diversity of waterbirds.  At the northeastern side of Alamo Lake is Brown's Crossing, where the Bill Williams River flows into the lake.  Water levels are variable here, but when low, this location may have a large diversity of birds.

As I started birding Arizona's western counties this year in 2021, I often traded off with La Paz and Mohave Counties by birding one county one week, and the other county the next, and what fun it has been.  And before this 2021, I had very rarely stepped foot into La Paz County during my birding career.  As I write now, I'll say it's a county I've really enjoyed birding in so far now that I've spent more time there.

Highlights of my path to 200 in La Paz County:

The first time I went birding in La Paz County was on January 2nd, 2012, at the Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge.  Jim Kopitzke and I chased a code 5 ABA rarity in a Nutting's Flycatcher, which was found by Lauren Harter and David Vander Pluym.  As we listened in the riparian forest along with many other birders who'd traveled from many different places in the United States, we heard the distinctive 'weep' call from the bird.  Not long after hearing the initial call, we got to watch the bird for some time while it was vocalizing.  We also scanned the wide water bodies along the Lower Colorado River, and we had Arizona rarities such as Barrow's Goldeneye, Mew Gull, Greater Scaup, and Pacific Loon.  57 species, including that code 5, ABA rarity, headlined my first time of birding La Paz. 

Barrow's Goldeneye at Bill Williams NWR

 

The next time I would bird La Paz would be September 7th, 2013 on the way back from a successful Brown Booby chase with Laurence Butler and Magill Webber.  The Booby was up in Mohave County at Lake Havasu, and on the way back home we stopped at the migrant trap and extensive Ahakhav Tribal Preserve.  It was here that I brought my county list up to 81 species, and some of the migrants we found included Willow Flycatcher, Western Tanager, Nashville Warbler, and MacGillivray's Warbler.

A few months later, on December 1st, 2013, I went with Mark Ochs and Gordon Karre to the Bill Williams National Wildlife Refuge to bird the refuge headquarters to view the waterbirds, as well as Planet Ranch Road to look for what turned out to be the remarkable continuing Nutting's Flycatcher.  Even though I had the bird previously, this time turned out to be much better as the Nutting's ended up landing at a very close range to us and almost roadside.  Other highlights from Bill Williams included a Blue-footed Booby that was previously found by David and Lauren, as well as White-winged and Surf Scoters.  During this trip, my La Paz list got up to 97 species.

Nutting's Flycatcher at Bill Williams NWR

 

After four years of not birding in La Paz County at all, I finally made it back on January 28th, 2017.  I went birding with Caleb Strand, Mark Ochs, and Felipe Guerrero to Alamo Lake State Park.  A variety of both common land and water birds made their way onto my list, and it was awesome to see Alamo Lake for the first time.  South of Alamo Lake, we stopped in some desert habitat to look for LeConte's Thrasher without any luck.  However, on the way home we stopped to bird in an area with many farm and agricultural fields near the town of Wendon.  Among the birds found were Vesper Sparrow, Mountain Bluebird, Sage Thrasher, and a big surprise in a count of 45 Mountain Plovers.  This day was an awesome one, and it brought my La Paz list up to 124 species.

Mountain Plover in fields near Wenden

 

2021:

It was about 4 years that went by that I had last stepped foot into La Paz County on the Alamo Lake State Park trip with Caleb, Mark, and Felipe.  My list of only 124 species said to me that my explorations were way down for the county, and that I needed to get my butt out there to explore it.  Along with Yuma and Mohave Counties, I made La Paz County a big goal of mine for this year.  As I switched back and fourth between Mohave and La Paz Counties, I realized that La Paz was going to take a bigger effort.  I liked the challenge, and I wanted to reach 200 species in these two counties before the month of May if I could.  As I said earlier, it didn't take too long to get there for Mohave, but La Paz felt like it would take longer due to the habitat diversity that wasn't as variable as Mohave.

My La Paz County birding started on January 22nd this year.  Ronnie Reed and I left Phoenix early and headed out to Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, which has some of the highest concentrations of wintering birds in the state.  After traveling into California briefly, we went back into Arizona after crossing the Colorado River and toward Cibola.  From the start, Ronnie and I were blown away by the numbers of birds.  Thousands of Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese were present from the start in the area's fields, and there were also good numbers of Canada Geese, mid-size numbers of Greater White-fronted and Ross's Geese, and several Cackling Geese.  We were blown away by the numbers, and loved the refuge.  Other birds during the day included Peregrine Falcon, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Bell's Sparrow, and White-throated Swift.  Cibola is one that is underbirded by Arizona birders, and it has great potential.  There are also incredible stands of cottonwood, willow, and mesquite which has drawn in abundant migrants, from common to rare.  I added 14 county birds that day on January 22nd to bring my La Paz list to 138.

Bobcat greeting on Cornfield Nature Loop, Cibola

Sandhill Cranes flying over Cibola

Greater White-fronted and Canada Geese with Yellow-headed Blackbirds

Cackling Goose

Cackling Goose with Sandhills

Sandhill Cranes and Canada Geese at Cibola

Snow and Ross's Geese spectacular numbers

The Goose Loop Auto Tour at Cibola doesn't disappoint

 

 

Hart Mine Marsh, Cibola

On February 12th, I headed to explore the Lower Colorado River Valley in both La Paz and Mohave Counties.  I began my day exploring the extensively planted cottonwood and willow stands at the Ahakhav Tribal Preserve, as well as along the river near the preserve.  There were many birds present, and highlights included Least Bittern, Common Ground-Dove, and an out-of-place Northern Cardinal.  Later on in the day, I went north to the Bill Williams National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters, where I continued north up to Lake Havasu City to scan locations in Mohave County.  On the way back and near Parker, a Ferruginous Hawk flew over my truck to bring my La Paz total to 148.

Northern Cardinal at Ahakhav

On March 4th, I went to Alamo Lake for only the 2nd time ever.  My goal was to bird not only the lake, but in the deserts south of the lake too.  I had targets of LeConte's and Bendire's Thrashers, as well as other desert species.  And of course I wanted to find birds on the water and in the riparian area at the north side of Alamo Lake, which is called Brown's Crossing.  My day started off with a Gilded Flicker, my first for La Paz as I hiked out to some more barren desert while listening for LeConte's Thrasher.  I didn't have luck with finding thrashers, and went northward to the lake.  While birding the lake and Brown's Crossing, I had a good variety of birds.  One new addition I had for the county at Alamo Lake was an adult California Gull.  On my way back home, I stopped in the deserts again just south of the lake to look for LeConte's Thrashers.  After some hiking I heard a thrasher sing.  I tracked it down for some distance to find out that it was a Crissal Thrasher.  After switching positions and going a little further south, I searched more desert flats.  It took awhile, but I heard another thrasher singing, and I managed to track it down.  This time, I was stoked to see that it was a LeConte's Thrasher!  I had great looks at it as it gave me a show for about 20 minutes.  It put me over 150 for La Paz, and it is no doubt a harder species to find in the county.  

LeConte's Thrasher south of Alamo Lake

 

On March 19th, I went back to Ahakhav Tribal Preserve, Parker Dam, Bill Williams Headquarters, and Vicksburg Farms.  My biggest highlight of the day came from the Bill Williams Headquarters overlook, where I successfully chased a Long-tailed Duck that was reported by Bobby Wilcox the day before.  When I got there, I ran into Nilesh Korde who pointed out the bird to be almost immediately upon my arrival.  The duck was awesome to watch, and I got lucky as it swam right by the fishing dock that I decided to walk down to.  It was only my 3rd time ever of seeing this species in Arizona, and the first two were at Glendale Recharge Ponds.  On my way homeward, I stopped at the Vicksburg Farms for the first time.  This location is money, and has 3 sets of ponds.  There is one pond that is straightforward to get to.  During my first stop I got lucky, and found a Black-bellied Plover.  In another pond I added Sora and Virginia Rail.  11 county birds brought my total to 162 species.

Long-tailed Duck at Bill Williams NWR

Black-bellied Plover at Vicksburg

 

On March 26th, I went back up to Alamo Lake, where I started my day off very early be exploring Brown's Crossing.  This visit was a very fun time for me, and I realized that Brown's Crossing is a location that can have fantastic bird diversity depending on water levels.  During the visit the water levels of the Bill Williams River was low, which exposed all of the riparian habitat at it's actual levels.  The wide part of the river had mudflats.  During this visit I had over 70 species, and Yellow Warbler, Hooded Oriole, Belted Kingfisher, Greater Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, Black-chinned Hummingbird, and Prairie Falcon were La Paz firsts for me among a great selection of both land and waterbirds.  When I went to scan Alamo Lake, a flock of Long-billed Curlews flying around the lake was a nice surprise and they represented my 200th bird for Mohave County.  The Curlews were also my 170th for La Paz.  

Long-billed Curlews at Alamo Lake

Belted Kingfisher at Alamo Lake

American White Pelican at Alamo Lake

 

Ever since I started birding in the county more this year, one of the biggest goals I had was to get to the county's highest elevations, which are the Harquahala Mountains.  At 5,681', Harquahala Peak is not only the highest point in La Paz County, but is also the highest point in southwestern Arizona.  In my mind I was planning to go up to the higher elevations of the Harquahalas, which have chaparral and juniper slopes and a selection of birds there that are hard to find elsewhere in the county.  I did have a big problem though as the road up to Harquahala Peak is one I'm not familiar with.  After reading it was a very rough road, I consulted some of my friends who have been up on the mountain.  They told me the road is extremely rough, and one that keeps getting worse.  Based on those conversations, I decided that I wouldn't risk taking my truck up that road.  As I looked into the Harquahala Mountains further, I found out about a hiking trail that climbs up the northern slope of the mountains and up to the peak.  This trail, called the Harquahala Pack Trail, is a 5.5 mile hike that is very steep and goes from 2,000' at the base to the 5,681' at the summit of Harquahala Peak.  It seemed much more convenient for what I own, and I didn't feel like spending money on renting a jeep to take up the southern slopes of the mountain range.  On April 1st, I decided to drive a 2 mile dirt road to the trailhead for the Harquahala Pack Trail.  Once I got there, I decided to attempt the entire hike to the summit of the mountain range.  After all, I did come prepared with plenty of snacks, 8 bottles of water crammed into my backpack, and 3 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  I also had a big breakfast before I started the hike.  After starting early, my hike was confirmed a success about 3 hours later when I reached the summit and about a 3,500' elevation gain in over 5 miles.  I was happy that I was able to do the hike, and I was exhausted.  During much of the hike I'd have to stop and catch my breath before proceeding a short distance and stopping again.  it was that steep.  The scenery was incredible, and it was great to see the habitat transition from upland Sonoran desert to chaparral and juniper slopes in the higher elevations.  Out of six target species I had for my La Paz life list, I succeeded with Canyon Towhee, Black-chinned Sparrow, Scott's Oriole, and Rufous-crowned Sparrow.  I dipped on Bushtit and Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay.  A great surprise I had to celebrate with at the summit of Harquahala Peak was a flyover male Broad-tailed Hummingbird-one I didn't anticipate and one that wasn't an April's Fools Joke.  The hike down was challenging too.  Throughout the hike, I took a ton of scenic pictures of this awesome range, and I also took a few pictures of the birds.  A spot I hope to go back to, especially in winter when it's much cooler!  On April 1st, I added three more La Paz birds at Vicksburg with Least and Western Sandpipers as well as Western Kingbird to bring my total to 178.  

Canyon Wren in Harquahalas

Gilded Flicker and odd cactus

Rufous-crowned Sparrow, very limited in La Paz

Canyon Towhee

Black-chinned Sparrow, Harquahalas

 

Lunch is legendary on Harquahala Peak

On April 8th, I went back to Alamo Lake where I began again at Brown's Crossing.  I continued to get to know the awesome place more, as I had 75 species at Brown's Crossing alone, and it gave me county additions of Brown-headed Cowbird, Bullock's Oriole, Hammond's Flycatcher, and Wilson's Snipe.  When scanning Alamo Lake, a Franklin's Gull covering a wide range of the lake gave me a county bird for both La Paz and Mohave.  It was also my first Franklin's Gull of the year, a species I enjoy seeing.  Once finishing at Alamo Lake, I had a Suns game to catch later in the day that I wanted to watch, so I decided to come homeward earlier than usual.  I decided to devote my time into looking for Bendire's Thrashers east of Wenden, where there is great habitat and where I saw on eBird that Caleb reported them at before.  As I was still in the Alamo Lake vicinity, I got lucky when a Bendire's Thrasher flew right ahead of me and crossed the road.  I got out and found the bird perched and was able to enjoy it for a few minutes.  It also had a mate with it.  As I write now, I also don't have Curve-billed Thrasher for the county, and it seemed strange to have both LeConte's and Bendire's in a county without a Curve-billed.  It's not that La Paz lacks Curve-billed habitat, it's getting a bit west of their core range.  County lifers of Barn Swallow and White-winged Dove gave me 8 for the day to bring my total to 186.

Mule Deer at Brown's Crossing

Bullock's Oriole at Brown's Crossing

Solitary Sandpiper at Brown's Crossing

Bendire's Thrasher near Alamo Lake

On April 15th and 16th, I decided to take an two day trip to La Paz, where I would camp out overnight somewhere.  I began the 15th by driving way out west to Cibola National Wildlife Refuge.  As I arrived, there was a big contrast from my January visit as all of the waterfowl and Sandhill Cranes had migrated out.  Spring was evident, and I figured I would have a good time of searching through migrants.  The Cornfield Nature Trail didn't disappoint.  In the dense cottonwood, willow, and mesquite woodland over a rather short loop trail was filled with migrants.  A count of over 30 Nashville Warblers was spectacular to see.  Every tree had birds in it, and the route gave me La Paz firsts of Hermit Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Warbling Vireo, and Cassin's Vireo.  A drive through the fields didn't produce the Burrowing Owl I was hoping for.  I headed south to Hart Mine Marsh, still in the refuge.  It was awesome to add county birds of calling Ridgway's Rails and a migrant Willet.  Least Bitterns sang and called, as did plenty of Marsh Wrens and Common Yellowthroats.  Heading north of the Refuge took me to the Cibola Valley Conservation Area, where there are extensive cottonwood, willow, and mesquite plantings.  Migrants were in good numbers here too, and it was good to add Dusky Flycatcher and Inca Dove as La Paz firsts.  Cibola gave me 8 county birds to bring me to 194.

Cassin's Vireo, Cibola

One of many Nashville Warblers, Cibola

Willet, Hart Mine Marsh, Cibola

Great and Cattle Egrets, Cibola

 

I headed back east toward Alamo Lake, where I would decide to camp out and spend the night.  En route to Alamo, I stopped at Vicksburg Farms and birded at a few of the ponds and surrounding fields.  I had a great time there, and luck really hit me with 5 more county birds: Bank Swallow, Swainson's Hawk, Baird's Sandpiper, Wilson's Phalarope, and Vaux's Swift.  

 

Wilson's Phalaropes, Vicksburg

Cattle Egret

Swainson's Hawk

Baird's Sandpiper

As I headed to Alamo Lake, I couldn't believe that I had reached 199, something I didn't think would happen as quickly as it did.  But I loved my chances of getting to 200 La Paz birds that night.  After all, I had targets of Elf Owl, Western Screech-Owl, and Common Poorwill.  I did some hiking in the evening light through Sonoran desert before it would get dark out, and I kept Curve-billed Thrasher in mind.  Once it got dark, I was about 25 miles south of Alamo Lake and it good habitat for all 3 of my target species.  It was dark, and I was anxious to reach the goal, and it was also very quiet.  I walked and walked, and was getting...nothing.  I speculated that I would hear Common Poorwills and Western Screech-Owls as it got dark.  Nope.  As the night went on, I remained quiet and patient and kept going.  After two hours of darkness later than when I first started and when it first got dark, I walked up and down a wooded wash with mesquite and ironwood.  I played the calls of a Western Screech-Owl.  As I stood there quietly, I head something land behind me, and as I got the light on the sound, I got the tail-end of a bird flying away.  I had no shot of identifying it with the ghostly glimpse that I got, but I figured it had to be a Western Screech-Owl.  After it left, I waited and then a bird called.  Of all times for something to sound weird, this would be the freaking time.  I loved it!  The sound was of an owl, but it had an odd pitch to it, and I couldn't discern whether or not that it was a Western Screech-Owl or an Elf Owl.  After the initial confusion of listening to the call a few times, I paused and listened to the pattern.  It was a Western Screech-Owl, and it sounded like it's voice box had something wrong with it.  I went toward the calls and found the bird, who was perched memorably on an ocotillo branch!  My quest to reach 200 in every Arizona county was now complete, and it was cool to reach the goal with an owl species.  After getting the Western Screech, I realized that Elf Owl is present in the area, but also scarce and not so easy to find.  I was also tired, and wanted to get to a place to set up camp.  As I walked out of the desert, I was able to watch the ending of a good Suns game that ended in a Suns victory to cap off the fun. 

Western Screech-Owl, my 200th for La Paz and the bird to complete my goal with

I headed toward Alamo Lake, and camped out at Brown's Crossing, where I would bird at the following morning.  3 Great Horned Owls serenaded the entire area as I went to sleep.  When I woke up early and pre-dawn on the 16th, I was glad to hear a Common Poorwill finally sound off.  Once it was light outside and after breakfast, I explored Brown's Crossing much further than I did in previous visits and had close to 90 species.  It kept getting better and better, and this time the mix of birds continued to have an incredible diversity of land and water birds.  When scanning Alamo Lake, my 202nd La Paz bird became a Marbled Godwit.

Marbled Godwit, Alamo Lake

 

After a week break of birding Arizona's western counties, I made plans to do another big Mohave County trip on April 29th and 30th.  I had planned it for over two months, and it was a time frame I could really find a lot of birds in in the areas of the Big Sandy River, the Signal area, and the Hualapai Mountains.  I was especially excited to see what I could find in the Hualapais, and a mind-catching aspect was to look for Red-faced Warbler.  In the Hualapais, the Red-faced Warbler has found it's northwestern-most breeding range.  Just 4 days before I would take that trip, the Hualapais had a bad fire start, and there was no way I could do the trip.  To this day the fire is still burning, but from the sounds of it there is still going to be great habitat left (thankfully!).

On April 29th, I did decide to go back to Brown's Crossing and Alamo Lake.  Brown's Crossing has become an obsession of mine, and it has kept getting better and better.  At a late-April time where migration is in a great swing, I went to Brown's Crossing at a good time.  The bird diversity was incredible, and I had 98 species in about 5 hours, and it was over a distance of a little over a mile from east to west.  Both land and water birds were everywhere, and six La Paz editions of Blue Grosbeak, Summer Tanager, Forster's Tern, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Semipalmated Plover, and Blue-winged Teal brought my La Paz list to 208.  I never would've guessed that Brown's Crossing would be as good as a location as it turned out to be for me.  I look forward to the next time I'm able to go back.

American White Pelicans and Blue-winged Teal, Brown's Crossing

Eared Grebes, Brown's Crossing

Semipalmated Plovers, Brown's Crossing

Semipalmated Sandpiper, Brown's Crossing

Alamo Lake has plenty of Wild Asses

Long-billed Curlew, Brown's Crossing

 

As upcoming expenses and bigger trips are on the horizon, my trips to other counties in Arizona were put on hold after my Brown's Crossing trek on April 29th.  As I've reached 200 for every Arizona county, it's fun to know that I've explored each county in Arizona pretty well to see birds.  It has increased my personal knowledge a lot and it makes further goals more straightforward.  And of course, I still have a lot more exploring to do and knowledge to gain in my epic home state.  Gosh it's fun!