Yavapai County: Sparrows, Finches, and Waterthrushes

Today on December 23rd, Caleb Strand and I went north up to Yavapai County and explored several awesome locations in the Cottonwood, Sedona, and Page Springs areas.  We were doing some fun county birding and were targeting species we needed for our Yavapai lists, and we also spent lots of time at each major stop to put in good efforts at each birding location.  I wrote down potential targets we needed (some for both of us, some for Caleb, some for me), and it came out to quite a few species.  Some were in the areas I just mentioned, while the others were in the Prescott area.  With the limits of the day, it would be challenging to hit both areas without rushing, and we decided to bird the mentioned area (more birding, less driving!)

Our first stop was at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood, a place Caleb has been a few times and I've been once briefly.  This place is awesome for birding and is one I haven't made it to for a good effort until today.  With some clouds and no wind for the weather to go along with our effort, I figured the exploration of Dead Horse Ranch State Park would be a good one.  And it was.  We birded for over 3 hours after starting roughly at 7:45 A.M.  Our main target of the visit here was an adult Harris's Sparrow that has been hanging out at and near a feeding station that is behind a camp host's site.  We started the day there, which is near the entrance to the park.  When we got there, we visited with the camp host as the Harris's Sparrow made some brief visits to the feeder while coming close to us in a creosote by the road.  While the bird came and went and made regular appearances, we also heard it sing some, which was a lifer vocalization for me.  This bird, along with a noisy flock of 18 Red Crossbills and Caleb's first-in-Yavapai Evening Grosbeaks, started the day off on an awesome note.  For me, the Harris's Sparrow was my top target.  From the park entrance and Harris's Sparrow spot, we proceeded north into the park to bird a set of three ponds and along the creek and riparian near the ponds.  This place is awesome and we detected a total of 62 species, some of which were present in great numbers.  Highlights included 3 Wood Duck, 4 Hooded Merganser, 2 Bald Eagles, a Great Horned Owl with prey in it's talons who we flushed off the ground, an American Crow, a great look at a Pacific Wren, 385 American Robins, 17 Cassin's Finch, 3 different White-throated Sparrows (another Yavapai lifer for Caleb), an Oriantha White-crowned Sparrow among 225 Gambel's White-crowned Sparrows, and 4 Myrtle Yellow-rumped Warblers among abundant Audubon's.  A great place to spend a morning or full day of birding.  eBird checklist here:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S124477305

The Harris's Sparrow!

White-throated Sparrow

Red Crossbill 

Awesome looks at a Pacific Wren!

Awesome looks at a Bridled Titmouse

Bald Eagle

Dead Horse Ranch SP

We decided to go to Red Rock Crossing for our next big stop to try for the Louisiana Waterthrush and see what else we could find, but on the way we stopped at Bill Grey Road not far northwest of Cornville to try for Sagebrush Sparrow and Grasshopper Sparrow in the brushy and semi-desert grassland habitats.  The Grasshopper Sparrow eluded us, but it was fun when Caleb detected 3 Sagebrush Sparrows, which was a Yavapai lifer for me.

We got to Red Rock Crossing at 12:20 P.M, and spent about 1.5 hours birding with access from the Crescent Moon Picnic Area.  The main target was the Louisiana Waterthrush which would be new for Caleb's Yavapai list.  When we got to the area, we were quite distracted by an incredible lineup of species.  We found up to 9 different White-throated Sparrows in brushy habitat along the trail, 5 of which were in few at one time!  A Brown Thrasher was another awesome surprise, and it came along with an abundance of birds feeding in the weedy areas.  14 Evening Grosbeaks were present, and a nice flock of 12 birds came close to where we were and gave us great looks and a good chance for Caleb to get recordings.  As for the waterthrush, Caleb didn't want to spend too much time looking, and I didn't want to look to much after seeing it last week.  On our way out I heard the Louisiana Waterthrush calling, and it flew by us as it headed upstream to where Ronnie and I had it last week.  It was great to get it at the last second.  Lots of other birds were here among the 35 species we detected, and the highlight was the high numbers of White-throated Sparrows.  Good grief.  eBird list here:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S124496113

A cooperative Bewick's Wren 

Brown Thrasher!

Townsend's Solitaire

Evening Grosbeak

One of 9 White-throated Sparrows at Red Rock Crossing..good grief.. 

We then followed the Red Rock Crossing visit up with a short stop among chaparral and juniper habitat along the road into the area, where we targeting Fox Sparrow for my Yavapai list.  After we pulled over at a spot that looked good for the bird, it didn't take long for Caleb to pish one in and we had great looks at it.  It was a Fox Sparrow of the Slate-colored race, always a good bird to see!

Fox Sparrow 

Our last stop of the day came from the Bubbling Ponds Fish Hatchery/Page Springs Fish Hatchery in Page Springs.  We started birding at about 2:30 P.M. and spent over 2 hours birding the area.  Like last week, this place is awesome and there are lots of birds to look through.  We searched for the previously reported Golden-crowned Sparrow without any luck, but the place was active with avian life and we detected 51 bird species.  The best highlight was a fun one to find ourselves, which was another Louisiana Waterthrush along the area of the Willow Point loop.  We heard it calling and it didn't take long for us to get good looks at it, as it came in between a side stream channel and Oak Creek.  We also detected 5 more White-throated Sparrows, which was mindblowing to us.  With these 5 more birds, we detected a total of 17 White-throated Sparrows today in the 3 major stops we made.  They are really having a good year in numbers in Arizona.  eBird list for Page Springs here:  https://ebird.org/checklist/S124496060

Another Louisiana Waterthrush!

Mountain Chickadee

Wilson's Snipe

Oak Creek via Page Springs

A great day of birding, and lots to explore in Yavapai County.  4 new birds for Caleb to bring his Yavapai birding to 292 species (Evening Grosbeak, Harris's Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Louisiana Waterthrush), and 3 new birds for me to bring my Yavapai birding to 277 species (Harris's Sparrow, Sagebrush Sparrow, and Fox Sparrow). 

A Chase to Lead off 2020's Gila Birding

I've always wanted to find a Red-necked Grebe in Gila County during my long scans at Roosevelt Lake.  The species is one that has been documented in the county awhile back and only once.  It was an Arizona Bird Committee accepted record from a bird at that Roosevelt Lake.  I believe the record was from the 80s or 90s, I'll have to dig it up again.  In the meantime years, Troy Corman conducts waterbird surveys from a boat for Arizona Game and Fish Department at a handful of central Arizona reservoirs.  At Roosevelt Lake, Troy has found a number of rare species such as Long-tailed Duck and Red-throated Loon, but shockingly, not a Red-necked Grebe.  At nearby Maricopa County reservoirs shortly to the west such as Saguaro, Canyon, and Apache Lakes, he has found Red-necked Grebes multiple times.  During recent surveys, Troy has had Ryan O'Donnell with him.  Ryan found a Red-throated Loon on Roosevelt Lake lake year, a bird that I chased and missed.  During the surveys in January 2020, Ryan and Troy found a Red-necked Grebe on the northeastern side of Apache Lake.  At this section of the lake, the northern half of the lake is in Gila County and the southern half is in Maricopa County.  Although Ryan reported it from Maricopa County on his initial report, he then realized that it was on the Gila side of the lake too.  I had birded this stretch of Apache Lake in the past, which is very narrow and is pretty much the Salt River that creates the lakes.  Ryan gave GPS coordinates of where the bird was, and I knew that I had a fun chase ahead of me.  And it would be my first birding in Gila County for 2020 that came on January 22nd.

Because waterbirds have a strong tendency to remain stationary throughout the coarse of a day, I decided to bird the highly un-explored Rye Creek to start the day off.   The 22nd was very foggy, and it gave the morning a neat hazy look to it.  A view of the valley that harbors Rye Creek was memorable.

I feel like Rye Creek has potential for a few incredible birds according to a Gila County scale (if there was one).  One of those such birds I have in mind is Louisiana Waterthrush.  Rye Creek would be a perfect place to find one, as it has a healthy water flow that goes for quite a distance continuously.  When I got down to the creek, I realized the flow was much higher and stronger than usual, and is one that I didn't have the right shoes or boots for.  I wanted to wade down the creek just like this young deer was.

A better Louisiana Waterthrush search will have to wait.  Bird life at Rye Creek was in decent abundance for numbers of birds.  The cottonwood, mesquite, and juniper stands that I birded through had pockets of activity.  Bewick's Wren is a bird I don't photograph much, but this one was cooperative.  It was immediately followed up by a photogenic Rock Wren.

After Rye Creek, it was that time to chase a Red-necked Grebe.  To get to Apache Lake, I would take Highway 188 along Roosevelt Lake, and then the start of the east side of the scenic Apache Trail.  This stretch of the Apache Trail parallels the Salt River/Apache Lake, where looking north into the water reveals the southern half of the flow Maricopa and northern half Gila.  I've always thought that this route was awesome, and I drove near to the coordinates that Ryan gave for the Red-necked Grebe.  From the get-go, there were a number of birds on the water.  Western Grebes, two rafts of Common Goldeneye, and Eared Grebe to name a few.  A thought that crossed my mind for the future was that someday there will be a Barrow's Goldeneye mixed in with the Common Goldeneye numbers.  I parked my truck and walked along the Apache Trail while looking at the water to the northwest and ahead of me.  Western Grebes were congregated on the Gila County side of the lake, and one grebe that was a little smaller stood out.  I realized that my chase was an easy one and was successful!

The Red-necked Grebe became my first new Gila life bird of 2020 and of the new decade.  It was a worthy chase and I'm stoked I have this bird for Gila County.  Thanks Ryan and Troy!  I loved chasing this bird, and I don't get to chase birds much in Gila County.  I watched the grebe for about an hour, and it had it's times when it came closer to the road, and crossed into Maricopa County a few times too.

Here's a few scene shots from the Red-necked Grebe location.

A Much Needed Escape from the Heat

I woke up very early today with two options:  to go birding, or not go birding.  The second option about not going birding seemed to be the higher percentage when I set my alarm clock late last night, but things changed when I got up at 3:15 A.M.  I was in the mood to go birding, kinda.  In these last few weeks, that has what my birding expeditions have been like.  I have made "spur of the moment" decisions when to go birding or not to go birding.  When I have decided to go, I have chosen locations very close to home (within 45 minutes or less).  By 8 A.M. on these days, I had already burned my butt off, and if I were to go birding today, I didn't want that to be the case.  It's not that I haven't wanted to bird, it all comes down to money issues.  I'm trying to save for my upcoming vacation, and of course, for the potential rarity chases that may be coming up.  An El Nino is on it's way, who knows what it might bring in to our lakes and ponds soon.  When 3:15 A.M. came around this morning, I thought I was probably gonna turn off my electronic alarm clocks on my phone and iPod, but the will to go somewhere despite my tiredness carried me out of bed.  I needed to get out and about, and I realized I needed to go to my escape that isn't tooooo far....Mount Ord.  Mount Ord is a common remedy of mine.  It's my escape when I need a day of birding and more importantly mental health.  Mount Ord is good food for the soul, and I feel refreshed whenever I get the chance to explore it.  It's close to Phoenix, and it's crazy to look down on the big city while birding in ponderosa pine forest.  As most know, I come here a lot.  Yeah, the focus is mainly on birds, but this place is also a great place of it's own just for it's beauty and access at such cool elevations close to Phoenix.  I have seen many great birds here.  On quiet days, I don't think I've ever complained about not seeing anything because I love this mountain that much.  I consider Mount Ord to be a great friend of mine, I hope she feels the same....

As usual on Mount Ord, I stuck to the Maricopa County sides of the mountain, although I did do some hiking on the Gila County side too.  I birded on the Transition Zones of the mountain today, nothing else.  I needed to be in the shady pine and oak forests, and the entire 7.5 hours I spent today on Mount Ord were nothing short of awesome!  The weather was mostly cloudy, which gave the day an extra cool effect.  And the birds were everywhere.  Before I get to the birds, this was about my 50th visit to the mountain in the last 5 year.  I like a lot!

The Bewick's Wren is a very common bird on Mount Ord.  They are noisy and numerous, and are very skulky and hard to photograph too.  They have a peaceful song, but they don't look all that peaceful.  These guys are very grumpy, and they just have that mean look to them.  It must be the supercillum...

House Wrens are less common on Mount Ord than the Bewick's Wren.  Before this year, I only found House Wrens breeding near the summit of Mount Ord, but they are now breeding in several areas on the lower Forest Road 1688 well below the summit.  Like the Bewick's Wren, the House Wren also has a nice singing voice, but is more of a curious bird at all times rather than a grouchy bird at all times.  Here is a younger juvenile House Wren from Road 1688.

Like wrens, the Vireos of Mount Ord are consistently loud and vocal too.  I couldn't find a Gray today, but I did have the Hutton's and Plumbeous variety.

While walking on Forest Road 1688, the rolling ball song of the Black-chinned Sparrow was heard.  I love hearing this song and seeing this bird.  As with most Black-chinned Sparrows, this guy sang his lungs out.

I could hear a few Black-headed Grosbeaks singing, but very few of them showed up visually during the day, with the exception of this female.

Mount Ord is also home to some very bright, colorful, and striking birds.  There is one that I have seen plenty of but just haven't had many chances to photograph yet.  Today, these birds helped me out a lot!

Turn around Western Tanager, cause your freaking awesome!!

Western Tanagers were very numerous on Mount Ord today, I probably had 15 individuals.  Here, this Western Tanager is sharing space with another Western, the Wood-Pewee.  

Western Wood-Pewees were cooperative today as well too.  

Pygmy Nuthatches are considered to be uncommon to rare in Maricopa County, especially during winter months.  This year though, they have bred on the mountain, which is very cool.  This Pygmy Nuthatch seems to like Mount Ord's habitat, and that calls for a big wingspan celebration!

Joking aside, I have found one nest hole for the Pygmy Nuthatch near and north of Mount Ord's summit area.  Today, I found a flock of at least ten of these small nuthatches on Road 1688 (the largest flock I've had together in the County!), three at the nest hole, and at least another two further north of the nest hole.  At least 15 of these birds on Ord today, a very good count for this bird in Maricopa County.  When I watched the birds at the nest hole, I realized they are actually quite skittish before bringing their young ones food.  When I stepped back at a good distance, the parents came to feed the young birds.

I've found these Nuthatches at this hole on every visit I've had here since April.

The more common and much larger White-breasted Nuthatch didn't go unnoticed either.

As the Western Tanagers brought in excitement, so did the Hepatic Tanagers.  The Western Tanagers outnumbered the Hepatics.  In recent years at Mount Ord, it has always seemed to be the other way around...

I thought the Western Tanagers were bound to be the bird of the day.  But, there was something that would actually top them.  Before I get to that bird of the day, here are a few other birds I was able to photograph..

Common Raven

 Hermit Thrush

 Grace's Warbler

 Hairy Woodpecker

And now it's that time for the bird of the day!  When it was getting to be that time when I needed to consider to start to head my way back home, I heard an Olive Warbler calling.  I was able to get on the bird, and it was a nice male.  I began to snap away!

The Olive Warbler is one cool bird, and one cool non-warbler too!  Well, the Olive Warbler isn't related to Wood Warblers, and is placed in it's own family.  It's a strange bird, but a very cool one at that.  It is very warbler-like though, in most respects.  With the day being overcast, I had to shoot with that look of a white background for many of the shots as this bird perched in the open.

Olive Warbler, cool bird huh?  

Closing, it was another great day of birding at Mount Ord.  Another fun and productive visit down to this place, and hopefully there are many more to go.  Here are some scenes of Mount Ord to close with.