In The Gila: You Can't Win If You Don't Play

When Arizona birders hear the other-worldly calls from the Buff-collared Nightjar right after dusk, it usually comes from canyons in the southeastern part of the state.  Aside from Arizona birders, birders from many corners travel to witness this bird as the United States' range of the Nightjar is more knowingly restricted to these few Arizona canyons.  Over the years, this bird has shown that it has a high ceiling of showing up elsewhere and further north in Arizona into ranges outside of the typical canyons near the Santa Rita Mountains and California Gulch areas.  Last year, a Buff-collared Nightjar was sound recorded and eBirded in northern Pinal County, close to it's junction with Gila County and at the base of the foothills to the Pinal Mountains on the south side of Globe.  Just as nightjars are cryptic creatures of the night who would require a maze to locate if they didn't vocalize, it seemed as if a remarkable eBird record was just as fleeting on every level.  I never heard one person talk about this record.  Not one.  To me, a species of interest like this, a regional specialty, would qualify for a louder broadcast.  I never knew about it.  Thankfully Caleb Strand is a good buddy of mine, and he brought the record to my attention.  I was blown away, and Caleb made a good point that the species has to be somewhere in Gila County during certain years.  Looking at the eBird range map of Buff-collared Nightjar also showed records of birds in Aravaipa Canyon from Pinal County.  These records showed a handful of observers, but the knowledge of the observations were ones that still eluded me until a Caleb-inspired-research.  Between the bird near the southern base of the Pinal Mountains (which was less than a mile away from Gila County) and Aravaipa Canyon, Caleb and I looked over maps at habitat that looked considerable for additional records of the bird in Gila County.  The Boy and I made it a goal that we would find a good area or two and try to pull up a remarkable record of our own for Buff-collared Nightjar. An equal thrill of finding one would be it being a first Gila County record, a county that is well under the usual radar for the bird.  We were well aware that there was a much better chance of striking out rather than succeeding when looking for a species like this, but it was a worthy goal to us.  Caleb and I had the mindset of, "You can't win if you don't play".  The thought process stays true to the hobby of birding.  For great discoveries to happen, one has to put the work in for it.  I found myself planning a trip with Caleb over the days of July 18th and 19th, where we would be trying for not only a remote Buff-collared Nightjar, but for other birds that are scarce in Gila County that one wouldn't get if they didn't put the times in for.  You can't win if you don't play!

Buff-collared Nightjars are obviously named if you see one in the field or take the more likely route of looking in a field guide or simply going to Google.  These birds are at the very northern limit of their range in Arizona, and seeking them out in new places in places where they haven't been discovered yet is always of high interest.  Even though the nighjars are found in a variety of habitats further south throughout their main Mexico distribution, they are tied into a much more limited habitat choice in southern Arizona.  Most records come from dry canyon bottoms above 3000' and up to 4500' in midst of steep surrounding slopes within deserts or along drainage areas that feature some riparian habitats that have mesquite, hackberry, and oak trees nearby.  Caleb set his eyes on a place that is called Ranch Creek.  The creek is east of Globe and is on the western edge of the San Carlos Indian Reservation.  Looking at maps, Caleb realized that the habitat and elevations were similar to the habitats where Buff-collared Nightjars are typically found in southeastern Arizona.  While I had some places in mind south of Globe along State Highway 77, this place that Caleb had located seemed like a better option.

July 18th was an odd day.  Caleb and I planned to trek over to Ranch Creek after I would get off of work in the afternoon.  It was a Thursday, and for some odd reason I thought I had to work early in the morning that day.  I went into work only to find out that I was off for the day and that I mis-read my schedule, and by the time I told Caleb I actually had the day off, he made plans for the first half of the day.  That point in time was one of my dumbest, but in the early afternoon, we made our way towards Globe and Ranch Creek.  After purchasing recreational permits for the Indian Reservation, we made our way south down a rough road that eventually paralleled Ranch Creek for most of it's entirety.  Ranch Creek Road got rougher and rougher as we continued south.  Caleb's Suburu has a lot of muscle to it and can endure a lot of rough terrain.  Whenever we would cross a dry Ranch Creek, I was concerned for the vehicle.  It got to a point where Caleb parked the car and we would decide to walk south for up to three miles to explore the creek.  In the beginning stretches of the creek and it's riparian habitat of sycamore, cottonwood, and willow, we were greeted by a Zone-tailed Hawk.

Zone-tailed Hawk

Seeing Ranch Creek in person was better than it was on Google Maps, and Caleb was absolutely right that the habitat looked great for the potential in Buff-collared Nightjar.  We thought it also looked great for Varied Bunting, a species that we would have have had a much better chance at finding in the early morning hours or in the middle of a good monsoon season.  Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet was another bird that we thought would be present as we came up upon stands of healthy mesquite bosque with surrounding hackberry and desert vegetation along the sycamore and cottonwood riparian habitat in the creek.  It didn't take long before we heard the distinctive call of the tiny flycatcher, and it was a Gila County lifer for Caleb.  Ranch Creek was a fun place to bird during the remaining hours of daylight, and we had a variety of birds that included Cooper's Hawk, Vermilion Flycatcher, Cassin's Kingbird, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Bushtit, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay, Bridled and Juniper Titmice, Crissal Thrasher, Canyon and Rock Wrens, Canyon Towhee, Hooded Oriole, Lucy's Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Summer Tanager, Blue Grosbeak, Rufous-crowned Sparrow and most of the common Sonoran desert birds.  Caleb also flushed up a surprise in his first Barn Owl for Gila County.

Cooper's Hawk

Zone-tailed Hawk

Ranch Creek Scenes

After a good hike, we returned to the vehicle at dusk.  Caleb planned it out perfectly (so did the rough road too, I guess) that we would go through what looked to be the best habitat for any potential Buff-collared Nightjars on our return drive north and out of Ranch Creek.  Common Poorwills didn't hesitate to sound off immediately as it got dark.  From the start, Caleb played the calls of Buff-collared Nightjar out loud by placing a speaker on his vehicle.  The sound carried for distance aplenty, and we hoped it would be answered.  We made stop after stop, and we weren't able to locate any Buff-collared Nightjars in close to two hours of nocturnal birding.  Neither of us had hopes that went too high for the species, but at the same time, it was extremely awesome to try.  It was also great to explore a new area that has probably rarely ever been birded.  You can't win if you don't play, right?  On the other hand, we did detect 12 Western Screech-Owls, 2 Great Horned Owls, an Elf Owl, and 4 Common Poorwills.  The first former of those night birds had several individuals that wanted to chill with us and perhaps they had always wanted to see a Buff-collared Nightjar in Gila County too.

Western Screech-Owl

Kangaroo Rat

Elf Owls were present at our camp out along Highway 77, south of Globe and north of the small town of Winkelman.  July 19th was the day, and we planned to venture south along the Gila River north of Winkelman before looking for Gila County rarities in Mississippi Kite, Black Vulture, and Varied Bunting and we would then visit the high elevations of the Pinal Mountains in the second half of the day.   Before the temperatures in this lowland habitat would hit triple digits, we birded along the recreation sites and riparian habitat at the Gila River.  Gray Hawks were a cool highlight, as was a heard-only Willow Flycatcher and Yellow-billed Cuckoo.  We didn't detect any Varied Buntings, which I've only found once along this stretch in 2017.

Gray Hawk

Summer Tanager 

In Gila County, Black Vulture and Mississippi Kite are two "you can't win if you don't play"-kind've-birds.  There are several records of Black Vulture in Gila County, most of which are from the town limits of Winkelman or just barely north of Winkelman while birders have been traveling on Highway 77.  I had tried for the bird a handful of times, and it managed to elude me.  Mississippi Kite is one that used to be reliable in Gila County in the town of Winkelman, especially on the public golf course in town.  From what I've heard, birders in the past used to be able to see the kites pretty easily, and often at times without having to get out of their vehicles.  Since then, they have declined in the area, but have been recorded breeding just to the south along the San Pedro River adjacent to the town of Dudleyville.  Looking at eBird, the last Gila County sighting of the kite was from Ed Dunn in June of 2015.  I still think the Kites visit the area, but are a species one has to make regular visits for in order to obtain a sighting.  Our stakes were definitely higher to see a Black Vulture out of the two, and as we got to Winkelman mid-morning, Winkelman Flats Park was our first visit.  Immediately after turning onto the entrance road to the park, I saw that three vultures were perched up on a large tree.  The left was a Turkey Vulture, and the other two were shaped differently, had gray heads that had bare skin that extended further down to the neck, and longer legs.  I freaked out and knew that we had landed our Gila first Black Vultures!

Black Vultures (Gila County #312)

Most of the Turkey Vultures in the area had started to lift up and start their morning soaring, but the Black Vultures weren't in any rush to start their soaring.  As Caleb and I observed them, they did fly away from us a few times to land on nearby perches.  It's been awhile since I've been pumped up to see a Black Vulture, but a Gila County Black Vulture is a Gila County Black Vulture...

This Tropical Kingbird was also nearby.

Our next birding stop was in high and cool elevations of the Pinal Mountains.  We started off in the Pioneer Pass half of the range, and we were impressed with the area.  It was my first time visiting Pioneer Pass, and we had close to 40 different bird species in the places that we stopped at, and that included a handful of Yellow-eyed Juncos.  We tried for a Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher that was found by Paul Wolterbeek while he was birding along Trail 200 a few weeks prior to our visit.  The Flycatcher eluded us, but what we were really searching for in the Pinals was Short-tailed Hawk.  Short-tailed Hawks are for sure "you can't win if you don't play-kind've-birds too, and Caleb and I climbed up Trail 196 in Pioneer Pass to get to an elevated viewpoint to scan the ridges for any raptors.  This small buteo was one that had eluded Caleb prior to our July 19th visit to Gila County.  We didn't find one at Pioneer Pass in our long shot attempt, but after Pioneer Pass we went over to the area of Pinal Peak, west of Pioneer Pass where the Short-tailed Hawk was more likely.

Juv. Yellow-eyed Juncos

Caleb and I were convinced we were searching for an active Shorty, especially since Dave Pearson and his birding group had seen an individual earlier in the season prior to our visit.  Even though the hawk was one I chased and got to see in the Pinals last year after Jeff, Dara, and Laurie had discovered two remarkable individuals, I was extremely pumped for Caleb to have the chance at seeing one.  I was rooting for Caleb, because it was a life bird to be for him.  When we got close to Pinal Peak, Caleb got excited as he saw a raptor that had a great initial impression.  But all it was was a Swainson's Hawk taunting Caleb.

Swainson's Hawk

The odds seemed to be against us after the Swainson's Hawk gave us a fool, and it's a raptor that usually sticks to lower elevations in mid-July.  Caleb laughed it off, and said that it was a perfect way to start our Short-tailed Hawk search in this upper part of the Pinals.  In the past, Caleb had looked many times in southeastern Arizona mountains and scanned ridges for Short-tailed Hawks without any success.

After we started scanning Pinal Peak for about ten minutes, Caleb spied two smaller raptors in the distance and further west of the towers of Pinal Peak.  They were harassing a Red-tailed Hawk.  Looking at their proportions, Caleb was convinced that they were a pair of Short-tailed Hawks.  We rushed over to get closer to spot where the hawks were at, and luckily, Caleb was able to get on them again and confirm that they were Short-tailed Hawks.  In all of the times that Caleb has scanned for this bird, it was freaking awesome to see him come away with not one, but the Pinal Mountain pair.  The behavior of the Short-tailed Hawks resulted in the birds coming after other raptors when they would fly over a specific part of the mountain.  It suggested nesting behavior, and there is probably a nest somewhere within that area where we observed them.  After a patient wait, one of the Short-tailed Hawks flew over at a fairly close range.

Short-tailed Hawk!

Caleb "The Boy" Strand right after getting his lifer STHA

The Pinals came through big time, and it's pretty rare to see Caleb get a life bird in Arizona these days.  Before leaving the Pinals, we made a last stop at a line of hummingbird feeders that are managed by a friendly couple who reside in a cabin near Pinal Peak.  We got to see Rivoli's and Calliope Hummingbirds during our quick visit among numbers of Rufous and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds.

Rivoli's Hummingbird

Searching for uncommon and rare birds as target birds is a fun way to bird, and it pays off when success is a conclusion.  In the future of my Gila County birding, I hope to make continued reps to search for the possibility of Buff-collared Nightjars.  There's also rare grassland birds one can expect in the winter, and those Mississippi Kites.  And I still need a Northern Goshawk for Gila...

Texas Times: Among The Oaks and Cottonwoods

As night approached on that second day of our trip, April 28th, we had already driven about 900 miles from that Phoenix airport into the westernmost "tip" of Texas.  No words really need to be said to explain the vastness of Texas, but driving through a section of it can seem like forever.  Roads are fun to travel on when birding in new places.  They are the link to success, and no matter how long these roads may be, they are going to inevitably lead to those awesome places.  During longer stretches of driving, I knew that the stops ahead of us were worth every second of the time.  It's also fun to spend time with cool people!

After leaving Reeves County and Balmorhea Lake, we dropped down into Jeff Davis County, which is home to our next stop and pursuit, the Davis Mountains, most of which are privately owned.  The Davis Mountains have amazing potential for birds, and have reminiscent bird life of those in southeastern Arizona's sky island mountain ranges such as the Huachucas and Chiricahuas.  A population of Buff-breasted Flycatchers breed in the Davis Mountains.  Other birds that may be found include Montezuma Quail, Mexican Whip-poor-will, Spotted Owl, and Rivoli's Hummingbird.  Texas specialty wise, Colima Warblers have bred in this range, and have been found hybridizing with Virginia's Warbler.  A chapter of the Nature Conservancy holds a preserve in these Davis Mountains, which would be our shot to search for these mentioned birds among others.  Sadly, the Davis Mountains Nature Conservancy Preserve has a lot of limitations on when it is open, and that didn't fall in line with the April 28th and 29th that we would be visiting.  Caleb and Josh came up with an alternative plan of owling on the 28th, camping out, and then birding in mountainous oak and juniper habitat during the April 29th morning hours.

We stopped at a place called Limpia Creek as we pulled up at our first roadside stop, well after dark.  It was here that we would listen for owls and nightjars.  Things got fun as we heard our first owls for Texas, Elf and Western Screech-Owls.  Fenced off private property made it hard for us to access the habitat to pursue visuals further off of the road, but both species ended up treating us well and came within viewing range.  Two women pulled up, who were also birders from out-of-state, and they enjoyed the owls with us.

Western Screech-Owl

Elf Owl

After owling, the four of us were exhausted and went to camp out under the stars in our sleeping bags.  The crashing location was a place called Lawrence Wood Picnic Area, which would be our birding destination in the morning for the Davis Mountains due to the Nature Conservancy Preserve being closed.  I remember sleeping well throughout the night, and at times another new night bird made it's way onto our Texas lists that is Common and sang out loud "Poor-will.  Poor-will".

After a decent and much needed sleep, I woke up slightly before dawn as April 29th, the third full day of our trip, was upon us.  The Common Poorwill continued to say his peace at times, and a Western Screech-Owl briefly joined in with his.  Once dawn hit, a chorus of many different songbirds was impressive.  Before it was really all that light out, we started birding.  What we were really hoping for was Montezuma Quail, as the habitat was great with oak, juniper, and tall grassy areas on steep surrounding slopes.  Birds who filled up our outing included Wild Turkey, Acorn Woodpecker, Western Wood-Pewee, a handful of Gray Flycatchers, Cassin's Kingbird, Hutton's and Plumbeous Vireos, White-breasted Nuthatch, Canyon, Rock, Bewick's Wrens; Western Bluebird, Cedar Waxwing, Black-chinned Sparrow, Canyon Towhee, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Scott's Oriole, and Hepatic Tanager.

Wild Turkey 

Gray Flycatcher

A few clear whistles echoing loudly from the slopes above us into the flat terrain we were on indicated a new life bird for me as David called out, "Black-crested Titmouse".  I was pumped at the sound of a new life bird and I wanted to see it right away.  Josh chimed in and said, "Tommy, they will be everywhere on this trip.  Everywhere".  I was glad to know that they would be everywhere, but I have a knack for wanting to see a life bird after I hear it.  While I didn't rush running up into any slope after a bird that I knew would be abundant for a good portion of the trip, I did keep my ears out for them if they would come any closer.  It didn't take long for the whistles to start coming from the end of the picnic area, and I made may way over to catch my first glimpse of the Black-crested Titmouse.

The Black-crested Titmouse has a range in North America that covers a lot of Texas and some of Oklahoma.  It is tied to oak woodlands, and it's range continues much further south into similar habitats in Mexico.  This species used to be one species with the widely familiar and eastern-tied Tufted Titmouse.  The two have hybrid contact zones where their ranges meet near the central strip of Texas, but otherwise, their range doesn't overlap. 

Caleb, David, Josh, and I spent close to three hours birding Lawrence Wood Picnic Area, and we had close to fifty species.  It was a fun and productive location to bird.  From there we went down to the southern base of the Davis Mountains, where we stopped at a few places and birded before continuing further south into west Texas.  A rest stop along the Highway 118 that we were on was a good one.  It had tall cottonwood and other riparian trees along a creek.  A Common Black-Hawk flew out of the trees as it gave it's distinctive call.  Working the riparian habitat along the creek gave us migrants of Swainson's Thrush and Northern Waterthrush among 27 species in a quick stop.  

After leaving the area of the Davis Mountains, we started to make our way towards Big Bend National Park, which was a three hour drive.  Big Bend was where we'd bird in several places before hitting up the Chisos Mountains within the park for a long hike to conclude the day.  Along the three hour drive, we passed through this small town called Alpine, which probably wasn't named too well considering there weren't any pine trees in sight.  We got plenty of food and gear we would need for the hike.  After grocery shopping, we encountered Alicia's Mexican Restaurant.  The food there was incredible, and it marked that second day in a row of having a great lunch at a Mexican restaurant.  

Driving through some grassland-ish areas along the way was fun.  Birds we had included Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Cassin's Sparrow, and Lark Bunting.  We had dropped into Brewster County, which is the home of Big Bend National Park.  The aftermath of the lunch meal left us in need of some loud music, and I said, "Caleb, can we listen to Amaranthe?"  Caleb let me bust it out, and while Caleb already likes the music of my favorite band, after playing a 20 song playlist Josh and David told me they enjoyed Amaranthe's music too.  Score.

Lark Buntings

Before we knew it, we entered into Big Bend National Park.  As with most national parks, this one could be driven for long distances.  While the Chiso Mountains were our primary destination for entering this park, there were other places to visit too.  Cottonwood Campground was the first place we visited after driving a considerable distance south within the park.  I reached a point of tiredness and dozed off for a half-hour.  When I woke up again, we were driving into Cottonwood Campground, which I immediately thought was a cool-looking spot.  The campground is well named and is filled with cottonwoods, has grassy under-stories, and the open under-stories below the cottonwoods are lined with thick mesquite and paloverde trees.  Barely south of the campground is the Rio Grande River, and halfway across that river width is the country line of the United States and Mexico.  It was a crazy thing to think about.  But first, we stuck to the campground.

Lucy's Warblers and Painted Buntings filled up the campground sounds with their songs, but the first big highlight came quickly when Josh looked behind us and said, "Guys, I've got a Golden-fronted Woodpecker on that sign".  We turned to look and see the bird Josh called out and it became a lifer for us, my fourth already at the time just in west Texas.  The Golden-fronted Woodpecker didn't stay on the sign long, and flew to nearby trees.  Throughout the time spent at Cottonwood Campground, it was fun to study this species (as there was a pair of them present) and to observe them up close during the time spent.  

Golden-fronted Woodpeckers are very closely related to Gila and Red-bellied Woodpeckers.  The trio sounds similar to one another, and in most respects, they look similar to one another in appearance, size, and structure.  In the United States, Golden-fronted Woodpeckers reside throughout much of Texas and a small portion of southwestern Oklahoma.  They hybridize regularly with Red-bellied Woodpeckers where their range overlaps.  Golden-fronted is obviously the most striking out of the three species mentioned, and it is found mainly in decidious forests but also plenty of drier, mesquite dominated habitats as well.  South of Texas, it's range continues further down into Mexico. 

In close to two hours of birding Cottonwood Campground, other bird highlights we had among 52 species were Greater Roadrunner, Anna's Hummingbird (pretty scarce in Texas), Vermilion Flycatcher, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Bell's Vireo (some of which were definitely from the eastern population), Crissal Thrasher, Clay-colored and Black-throated Sparrows, Green-tailed Towhee, Orchard and Bullock's Orioles, Pyrrhuloxia, and stunning Painted Buntings.  

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Lark Sparrow

Anna's Hummingbird

Summer Tanager

Vermilion Flycatcher 

Painted Bunting

It was also interesting to walk down to the Rio Grande River and look just across the river and into Mexico.  Seven common species filled our Mexico lists while we stood in the United States, including Northern Cardinal and Black and Say's Phoebes.  Caleb tried to chase a Greater Roadrunner into Mexico, but that plan didn't work out.  

As we finished up at Cottonwood Campground after throwing around a football for fun, we would make our way much further into the heart of Big Bend National Park to the headquarters and trailhead that would take us up into the Chiso Mountains.  That will be another story to tell.  What was cool about driving along on our way was a remarkable view point of the Rio Grande River that showed a big "bend" in the river, which is where the park gets it's name from.