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.

Maricopa County Birding: Cacti, Rivers, Riparian, and Conifers

Hi Everyone,

Today I birded the Lower Salt River Recreation Area and then followed that up by a visit to Mount Ord.  Besides local birding and longer trips throughout the state, I haven't been to areas I love to bird that are further in Maricopa County where I usually love to go.  Because of that, today was extra fun, and there were some awesome birds to go along with it.

I started the morning off by spending over three hours of birding at an active Granite Reef Recreation Area.  As soon as I got out to bird, I heard the continuing RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH calling on the west side of the picnic area.  I was never able to see the bird during my time.  Things got interesting when I had a large mixed flock of songbirds mobbing what seemed to most likely be a small owl in a dense mesquite tree with mistletoe.  I wasn't able to see the reason for the mob, but in the mob was an adult female AMERICAN REDSTART.  It's always fun to see this bird, and she was actively fanning her tail and was moving around the area very actively.  Finding the Redstart was a good way to start my day.  Also in the mob were numerous RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS and "AUDUBON'S" YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS and also a single WARBLING VIREO and several HOUSE WRENS.  Throughout the morning, birds continued to squawk at whatever was hanging out in the dense clump.  Other highlights among 54 species of birds at Granite Reef included 12 AMERICAN WIGEON, 1 GREAT and 3 SNOWY EGRETS, 1 DOUBLE-CRESTED and 1 NEOTROPIC CORMORANT, 1 GREATER ROADRUNNER, 4 BELTED KINGFISHERS (early in the morning, three females were fighting with one another over perches, it was quite the scene to watch!), 2 VERMILION FLYCATCHERS, 1 GRAY FLYCATCHER in the parking area singing and calling, a silent "WESTERN-TYPE" FLYCATCHER, and 2 calling CRISSAL THRASHERS at different ends of the area.  Granite Reef is one of those awesome places that has bird activity that can change quickly by the hour, you never know what you may find!

American Redstart

The yellow-ish base of her secondaries indicate an adult bird.  I still have yet to see an adult male of this species.

This is a horrible photo, but this is all I really did need to document a Redstart!

Vermilion!

The Lower Salt River.  Beautiful place and scenery.

Up next was another area along the Salt River that I like to go to, which isn't a public recreation site but is a riparian stretch along the Salt River that is between the old Foxtail and Sheep's Crossing Recreation Sites.  A wash full of tall willows is the reason for birding along this area.  The "Willow Wash" was rather quiet when I got there today, but I did detect my second RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH of the day.  This one was more cooperative than the one at Granite Reef and it was in close range for good views and photos.  Although extremely common but extremely awesome, I was treated to close views of several BLACK-THROATED SPARROWS on my way out.

1 of the lowland invasive Red-breasted Nuthatches

"Willow Wash".  A great place to look for migrants and other goodies.

The striking Black-throated Sparrow

Before exiting the Lower Salt River Recreation Area, I made a quick stop at Saguaro Lake.  A large raft of WESTERN GREBES were on the water, as were roughly 10 EARED GREBES and the usual yawners.  A signing ROCK WREN by the parking area overlooking the lake was the best sight.

Saguaro Lake

The Rock Wren lighting up the lake and it's coots and mallards

My final stop of the day came from a three hour exploration on Mount Ord on Forest Road 1688.  I thought I had something very interesting, as the call from either a Downy Woodpecker or a Ladder-backed Woodpecker was coming from the pine and oak forest above 6000'.  I've never had Downy in Maricopa County, so I was hoping for that bird.  The two species do sound almost identical, so I needed to see this bird to get a confirmation.  After I chased it for awhile, I wasn't able to locate it so I tried playback.  Within seconds, out flew a higher-than-usual LADDER-BACKED WOODPECKER from the pine forest.  It's the second time I've had a Ladder-backed Woodpecker at Mount Ord in pine habitat.  Hopefully that Downy will show up one of these falls or winters!  I did have two very awesome highlights at Mount Ord.  One of them was a NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL perched at the top of a tall pine tree, the first NPOW I've found on Mount Ord this year.  And any day where I get to see an Owl, I consider to be a great day!  The other cool highlight was a striking male OLIVE WARBLER at close range.  Mount Ord had 24 species total, not a lot species wise, but there were pretty good numbers birds throughout Road 1688.  Other highlights included ~10 ACORN WOODPECKERS, 4 HAIRY WOODPECKERS, ~15 NORTHERN FLICKERS, 1 DUSKY FLYCATCHER, 1 HUTTON'S VIREO, 15 WHITE-BREASTED and 4-5 RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, 1 BROWN CREEPER, 2 HERMIT THRUSH, 2 RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROWS, 3 SPOTTED TOWHEES (in breeding season they are the most abundant bird on the mountain) and 13 PINE SISKINS.  A great day to be birding in Arizona!

Olive Warbler

Northern Pygmy-Owl

You've gotta love Mount Ord!

Good Birding,

Tommy DeBardeleben (Glendale, Arizona)

Explore Maricopa County!
My Website: http://birderfrommaricopa.com
This website features Birding in Maricopa County, my online guide for finding birds and birding locations in Maricopa County, Arizona.  This guide can help find birds in the Phoenix area and throughout Maricopa County.  Features of the guide include:  Over 100 birding hotspots divided by 13 birding areas in the county, hotspot links to eBird, directions, and tips of how to find over 260 of the regularly occurring birds in Maricopa County.  View this guide here-
http://birderfrommaricopa.com/birding-maricopa-county.htm

The Bravest But Dumbest of Birds in Maricopa County

The name of this post might sound strange.  It is definitely very strange, but it's also true.  Birds may be brave, but yet so dumb at the same time.  Some of these birds are practically asking to be killed, others are just satisfied for a seed, even if it is way far and away from home.  Recently, Magill Weber and I went birding, and it seemed if our day was highlighted by brave and dumb avains.  On a quest into Maricopa County's higher elevation to see if we could win the Nutcracker lottery (without luck!), we were entertained by "dummies".

Let's start with this Horned Lark.  We went to Scottsdale's Rousseau Sod Farms in search of Longspurs, but we found this Horned Lark instead.  He decided to run up to my truck and then run along with it as we drove.  On one of the pictures below, the forward motion is obvious.  It was awesome to see it this close, but hey this lark drank too much larkquor.

Just down the street from the Horned Lark was this moron of an Osprey.  I wouldn't call this bravery, but stupidity.  We drove up on this Osprey, and he was eating his spectacular catch on the grass.  Who would want their meal to be covered in grass?  I know I wouldn't, and the Osprey couldn't fly to a nearby powerpole that abound nearby to eat his fish just scaly instead of the scaly-grassy combination.  But once again, it was awesome to see it this close, despite the fact the bird has issues.

On a stop at the Salt River, we knew about a few Mountain Chickadees that have been hanging out in the area.  The Salt River isn't in the Rockies by any means, but is in a desert dominated region.  The chickadee flew over nearby Transition Zones in order to have the mesquite seeds and beans, whatever they are.  Just northeast of the Salt River is the Mazatzal Mountains, which are full of good wintering Chickadee habitat.  But this guy ignored them.  Once again, it was cool to see them here, but the word "Dummie" still came out of our mouths.

When we drove up to a Least Sandpiper, it boldly stood it's ground.  After all, it was on it's favored cement drain.

We then stumbled upon this American Pipit on the same cement canal drain.  It ran down into the drain at first, but after awhile, it came back up and stood it's ground, while the Least Sandpiper still stood nearby.

The Clark's Nutcrackers didn't show up at Mount Ord like Magill and I had hoped for.  Instead, we found a handfull of crazy birds, represented in these photos.  It was a great day of birding, and some days are fun when you just have a lot to laugh at.  The following day, I went out to Lake Pleasant, and I found another brave and dumb bird.  A pair of Rock Wrens that seem to find their home right in the Scorpion Bay parking area.  Here they hopped on the sidewalk, ran under and on vehicles, sat on lightposts, and acted more hard core dumb than even a rock.  As long as these birds are cooperative for photographs, I don't mind the Bravest but yet Dumbest Birds in Maricopa County!

The Local Birding Channel

Most birders have a local hotspot they visit more than often.  I sure do.  It's like our local television stations in a way!  In this case, it's Tres Rios Wetlands and Glendale Recharge Ponds for me.

Let's start with a few highlights I've had at Tres Rios as of late!  Here's the latest from my "Local Birding Channel".

Northern Harriers are starting to increase in numbers...

Despite it's name, this Night-Heron is flying during the day.  Would that make him a hypocrite?

The most amazing show of sight are the Yellow-headed Blackbird flocks.  Come extra early so you won't miss it!

Ospreys have increased in numbers also.  Watch for them where there are any bodies of water.

A Greater Roadrunner was seen perched on a fence.  How odd is that?

Casual at Tres Rios, this Rock Wren was found at Tres Rios's only formation of rocks.  You can't miss the rock peninsula!

The Peregrine Falcons are cool as ever.  Keep your eyes peeled overhead!

Black Vultures are abound in large numbers!  Keep an eye out for them in the farm area just northeast of Tres Rios.  

To change the channel from 3.1 to 3.2, we now stop at the Glendale Recharge Ponds..a rather ugly but mecca of a birding location.  Large bird numbers congregate whenever these large basins carry water.

The Least Sandpipers are lining the ponds right now.  Despite it's name, the Sandpiper itself doesn't feel like it's the Least.  It's the smallest sandpiper in the world, and they are certainly one of the most common in Arizona.

A lone Western Grebe has been chillin at the ponds.  He is bigger than most.  Here, he is joined by a female Cinnamon Teal. 

Black-necked Stilts and American Avocets are both around---you can't miss em!

The Avocets are especially cool!

Don't forget to tune into your Local Birding Channel!  In other words, don't forget to go birding at the awesome locations near you.  Tommy D..out.