Yavapai County: The Horseshoe Ford of Agua Fria National Monument

 On January 12th, I decided to do some Yavapai County birding at the Agua Fria National Monument via Bloody Basin Road.  For it being in another county outside of Maricopa County, this location is pretty close at right around an hour away (closer to or less of a drive than many of the Maricopa County locations I often go to).  When I got to Bloody Basin, I saw that it was very windy outside and I didn't think the outing was going to be very productive.  Definitely not a good sign, but I kept going down to the Agua Fria River crossing which the crossing and stretch of the river is referred to as Horseshoe Ford.  When I got out of my truck, I realized that the wind wasn't bad and that the canyon sheltered the habitat from the weather-thankfully.

The river had a lot of water in it, and a good flow for much of the way.  This was evident when I started, and I wore my rubber boots so I could navigate the terrain well.  The boots made navigation much easier, and there were also plenty of muddy areas along the route.  I walked the river and it's riparian habitat west of Bloody Basin Road and followed the river up to 1.5 miles southwest from my starting point.  The habitat is filled with awesome cottonwood and willow groves, mesquite, hackberry, and surrounding desert ridges that harbor the river.  Truly an awesome place, and the most I explored it.  My best highlight birding wise was a new Yavapai County bird in a Black-and-white Warbler.  It was with a mixed flock of Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Orange-crowned Warblers, and Bridled Titmouse.  Aside from west of Bloody Basin Road, my route also took me a short distance east of Bloody Basin Road.  It wasn't until later that I realized I should've explored more of the habitat to the east, because there is more awesome habitat with mesquite and hackberry that I didn't cover and remembered from a previous visit.  On this east side I did find 3 White-throated Sparrows in close proximity of each other.  This species is really having a winter in Arizona with high numbers.  Among a total of 41 species detected in the Horseshoe Ford area in almost 4 hours, a few other highlights included 4 American Wigeon in the river, a Great Horned Owl, Brown Creeper, 3 Townsend's Solitaire, 20 Hermit Thrush, 18 American Robin, and Green-tailed Towhee.  Full list on eBird here:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S126024583

After Horseshoe Ford, I hiked Bloody Basin for 1.5 miles southward and up to an area with extensive semi-desert grassland.  The 1.5 miles hiked was 1.5 miles I could've driven, as for some reason I thought the road got very rough after Horseshoe Ford.  Nope, lesson learned.  When I did get up to the grasslands, my target was Grasshopper Sparrow.  In 2 hours of walking around, I flushed one Grasshopper and I didn't get the perched view I wanted, but was glad I got one.  This was another new Yavapai County bird, my 279th.  In the walk through the grassland, other birds I had included Western and Mountain Bluebirds, many Vesper Sparrows, and both Western and Chihuahuan Meadowlarks. 

An awesome day birding within the Agua Fria National Monument, a great place to bird and a fun place to explore, hike, and see cool scenery.