On August 20th, Darryl Montgomery was birding at Paloma Ranch. At one of the ponds within the ranch property, he found the extraordinary in the from of a Pacific Golden-Plover. This shorebird species is one that is considered as a mega-rarity in Arizona. Darryl's report potentially represents the 5th record of the species in Arizona, and 2nd in Maricopa County. For Maricopa County, the first was found at the Glendale Recharge Ponds about ten years ago by Melanie Herring. It was a quick wonder, seen by Melanie for a short time and not to be found again. When Darryl's report surfaced I was at work and had my binoculars and camera handy, a daily habit of mine in case something shows up. By the time my shift ended, I decided to chase the bird at Paloma Ranch. At first, I wasn't up for a long drive and chase, but once I got to Paloma Ranch and saw the bird, I was glad I went. I joined a group of birders, there were ten of us in all, and we were stoked to be looking at this Arizona rarity. Thanks to Ryan O'Donnell, I had great scope looks at the plover as I didn't have time to go home and get my own scope without going on a lengthy detour. These birds are known for their impressive ability to migrate for thousands and thousands of miles from breeding to wintering grounds. As they rarely make their way to Arizona, I kept that in mind when I didn't want to take a bit of a drive after work. Seeing the plover was epic, and hearing it was even more epic. The calls the bird gives help seal it's identification from the very similar and from it's formerly con-specific American Golden-Plover. We looked at the bird visually and wondered if it was Pacific over American at times because the bird had worn feathers, including the tertial feathers. The worn tertial feathers gave the primary feathers a longer appearance, something that would support American. But luckily, the bird called and told us what he was. He ended up vocalizing a lot. I managed a few poor pictures of the bird, which still had a bit of it's striking breeding plumage remaining.
The Pacific Golden-Plover entertained us for close to two hours before it flew off and to the west, not to be seen again. I'm grateful to have gotten this one in Maricopa County, which was my third ever sighting of the species. This was a great find by Darryl Montgomery! For better pictures and an awesome audio recording of bird, check out Ryan O'Donnell's eBird checklist at the link below:
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