Seven Springs, Camp Creek, and Lake Pleasant

 Today on December 29th, I decided to venture out to Seven Springs Recreation Area and Camp Creek in north-central Maricopa County.  After I would explore those two areas, I had it in mind to check Lake Pleasant.  This year has been one that has been great for irruptive species such as Evening Grosbeak, Townsend's Solitaire, and Cassin's Finch.  On a bigger scale, Bohemian Waxwings have irrupted throughout much of the United States, and they are being found very close to Arizona.  While northern Arizona is seemingly likely to get them, perhaps central Arizona has a shot too.  Time will tell, but it'll take a bit of luck.  Something I wanted to scout out at Seven Springs was Cedar Waxwing numbers, which Seven Springs will often get good numbers of them in winter.

Seven Springs was my first stop, and I got there before 8 A.M.  It was a great time for birding, and I spent 2.7 hours exploring Seven Springs while staying close to Seven Springs road and birding north and south of the trailhead while going north of the group campsite and all the way south to Seven Springs Wash.  All in all my distance was close to a mile.  I only had one Cedar Waxwing calling during this time, and maybe there were higher numbers elsewhere aside from the places I checked.  One was pretty shocking though, I expected more.  Seven Springs was foggy at first before clearing up, and the weather was mostly cloudy and was without wind.  I had good numbers of American Robins everywhere, and irruptive species like Evening Grosbeak, Cassin's Finch, and Townsend's Solitaire provided lots of fun.  Evening Grosbeaks could be heard from far away, and a flock of Cassin's Finches commonly fed around and foraged in a juniper right along the road.  One particular Townsend's Solitaire was territorial over a juniper tree, and I noted that it chased other birds away every time I walked by.  It gave a loud vocalization constantly as it was agitated, a call I had yet to hear from this species before today.  A Northern Flicker hybrid (Red-shafted X Yellow-shafted) was interesting.  The best highlight for me was an adult male Williamson's Sapsucker near the northern end of my route-always a great bird to see.  Full eBird list here:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S124871512

Williamson's Sapsucker male

Hybrid Northern Flicker

American Robins

Evening Grosbeak female

Cassin's Finch flock (males and females)

My second stop was at Camp Creek, where I covered Lower Camp Creek.  I spent just under two hours here, starting close to 11 A.M.  Cloudy and light winds weather made for a pleasant hike.  Although this place is close to Seven Springs and has a bit of similarities, the birdlife was very different.  Aside from Townsend's Solitaire numbers (~15), irruption species weren't present as much here.  I did find a Black-and-white Warbler though, and it was in a mixed flock of birds.  Full eBird list here:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S124871676

Ruby-crowned Kinglet showing off it's namesake 

Townsend's Solitaires

The final stop of the day that I made was at Lake Pleasant, where I was hoping to find some notable birds aside from the other notable birds that have been found there lately.  I didn't find anything new as I made multiple stops from view points in Maricopa County, and at the northwestern side of the lake in Yavapai County.  Some of the continuing rarities were still present, which were Long-tailed Duck, 2 Surf Scoters, and a Horned Grebe in Maricopa waters.  In Yavapai waters, a large flock of at least ~150 Common Goldeneye were present, a high number for central Arizona. 

Gambel's White-crowned Sparrow

Surf Scoters