I think I Have A Great Crested Flycatcher!...

 I woke up early today, September 2nd, and had a mission in front of me, a hardcore one.  The root of the mission was to bird along Sycamore Creek via the Old Beeline Highway north of Sunflower.  I had a strong urge in my gut to come here, and a strong urge to bird the surrounding area such as the juniper, chaparral, and pinyon-pine covered slopes, as well as Mt. Ord.  A big reason is because there is interesting movement from Jays in the last week.  Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays have been overly numerous, and Pinyon Jays are showing signs of irrupting into lower elevations this fall as well.  A few days ago, Jake Thompson had a big flock of Pinyon Jays moving around in the town of Duncan.  For today, I wanted to place myself in a position where I could possibly get them if they were to move through, as Pinyon Jay would be an incredible species to land in Maricopa County.  Clark's Nutcrackers have been reported in a few areas too that are lower-than-usual for them.  So today would be an approach that I like to call "combo birding".  It's awesome, and it not only gives you a chance at a great diversity of species, but it also give you more of a chance to find unusual species at key times of the year during migration.  My plan for today was to stand stationary at a few stops along the Old Beeline to listen for interesting species (alright, to listen for Pinyon Jays!) at dawn, bird along Sycamore Creek early, make a few stops in pinyon-pine and juniper after Sycamore Creek, and then go to Mt. Ord.

After turning onto the Old Beeline Highway west off of Highway 87 (signed off as "Sycamore Creek", adjacent to Mt. Ord, just north of mile marker 222", I pulled off at a few pull outs along the road that gave good views of the surrounding area and habitats.  I made two stationary stops, starting just before 6 A.M. and lasting close to 6:25.  I didn't have any Pinyon Jays, but there were many Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays, a Gray Flycatcher, and Gray Vireo still hanging around, and a good number (5) of Crissal Thrashers.  As I made my way to Sycamore Creek I was surprised to see an Osprey perched on a snag along the side of the road.

I arrived at Sycamore Creek via the Old Beeline at 6:31, as the sun was coming out, and there was clear weather.  As I had the vibe that it was going to be a productive morning with good numbers of birds, I slowly made my way south along the old paved road as it paralleled the creek (which is pretty dry right now).  Birds were indeed numerous and it took my awhile to get to the old and abandoned Sunflower Workstation.  As I was about to get there, I heard this rising and upslurred "wheeiiep" call that immediately struck me as being a Great Crested Flycatcher.  I listened closely and heard the bird again.  Wheep!  I stilll thought the same thing.  Even though I could hear the calls pretty well with my own ears, I knew that my phone wouldn't be able to record the calls from where I was, and I moved forward while listening carefully.  The call continued to come, and I knew I had to record the bird.  Great Crested Flycatcher is extremely rare in Arizona with 4 state records, and Maricopa County is without a record.  The last record was also in the month of September, but it was back in 2010.  Knowing this in the back of my mind made my heart beat pretty freaking fast, and luckily I got to a point where the bird was loud enough and close enough for my phone to pull off a recording.  The bird called three times while I recorded and as it was much closer, I now wanted to get my eyes on the bird.  It continued calling as I edged closer, and I got to a spot and expected to see it.  I looked a few feet too high on the juniper slope it was no calling from, and at the last second I saw it sitting on a branch.  It flew right when I was about to react by looking through my binoculars or trying to get off a pictures.  What I did see though was important, I saw that it was a Myiarchus flycatcher.  I stood on the road and played calls for Great Crested Flycatcher and it went completely quiet on me.  For a few minutes I looked up on the juniper slope it was calling from, hoping to detect it again.  All of a sudden it/a Myiarchus flycatcher flew out from the slope and past me and toward the riparian along Sycamore Creek before landing high in a tree.  I did get the vibe of a bright yellow frontside on the bird that contrasted well with a dark upper body and face area as it flew by.  When the bird landed, I had it in view from quite a distance and unfortunately, it had it's back to me.  Pictures that I took were worthless.  The bird dropped down into some thick riparian along Sycamore Creek.  I investigated further by using playback of an owl mob.  Lots of birds came in, and it was frustrating when an Ash-throated Flycatcher was one of those birds that came in.  It was around 7:18 when I heard the Great Crested/Mystery Flycatcher, and I looked around the area for close to an hour without any further luck on it.  I let the birding community know what had happened via the Group Me text messaging application in our group, "AZ Rare Birds.  Limited service prevented me from being able to send my audio recording of the bird to Group Me, but I was able to send the audio through Messenger to Caleb Strand, Nolan Walker, and Kadynn Hatfield.  All three of them, who are great birders, agreed taht it sound good for Great Crested Flycatcher. And sadly, I couldn't find or hear the bird again.  What was important was I saw a Myiarchus giving the call, which matched Great Crested more than anything and it's one competitor would be even rarer in a Nutting's Flycatcher.  I decided to put it on my list for the day and submit it as Great Crested Flycatcher, and if my recording wasn't good conclusive enough then I would chance my observation. 

Poor shot of the bird

Aside from the Great Crested Flycatcher madness, this area was spectacular for birding.  I detected a diverse 65 different species, and there were several other highlights that were very fun.  Close to my starting time, a Golden Eagle flew pretty low overhead, and I reacted late to blow my chance at getting a photograph.  2 Common Black-Hawks were present, and I got great views of a juvenile (which I think are cool-looking), and 2 Zone-tailed Hawks were also present.  A Great Horned Owl flushed from a wash I walk down while I followed the creek.  UP to 3 Gray Vireos were still present here, as all of them sand from the hillsides.  At least 20 Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays were along the route, probably many more (and I still did listen for those longshot Pinyon Jays!).  3 White-breasted Nuthatches seemed like a solid count for the elevation and with it being this early into gall.  Migrant warblers and vireos were pretty numerous, and I managed to find a Black-and-white Warbler foraging with a mixed feeding flock.  From where I parked, I walked south for over a mile, and ended not far north of the barricade to the Sunflower community.  Aside from birds were a few herds of Javelina.  When I walked back north, I took my time as I walked through the area where I had the Flycatcher.  No more extended luck, and it was a little discouraging.  It was getting hot out toward the end, and after about 5 hours, I called it a birding day.  I almost went to Mt. Ord, but I decided not to as I was getting tired.  As I have work tomorrow, this Flycatcher may have to be in the hands of other birders who might chase.  Almost definitely so...

juvenile Common Black-Hawk

Zone-tailed Hawk

Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay

Bushtits

Virginia's Warbler

Wilson's Warbler

September 3rd, 2022:  The Best "Vicarious" Birding Of My Life

After the field yesterday, things got interesting for me.  All I thought abot was the Great Crested Flycatcher.  My recordings were ertainly intriguing to others.  Dave Stesjkal, a great birder, said of my recordings, "that they sounded like Great Crested to him over the next closest candidate for him, the Nutting's Flycatcher.  Caleb, a great birder, said too that I should partially consider a certain call from Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush.  While that would be a thousand times more rare, I still wouldn't put an Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush as impossible for Maricopa County and there's a chance that species could show up anywhere in Arizona.  The calls he referred to are similar, but would come across differently than a Great Crested Flycatcher in the field.  Plus I saw a Myiarchus giving the calls.  I was a bit discouraged, and hoped that people would go out and look for the bird.  After all, it seems to me like a bird with 4 Arizona records would attract a bit of a birding crowd. 

Early today, things got really interesting when Chris Benesh, a great birder, put the recordings from my bird (via eBird checklist upload) and compared it's sonogram with actual sonogram of the calls of Great Crested Flycatcher, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Brown-crested Flycatcher, and Nutting's Flycatcher.  He made it into a table, and mine matched almost perfectly with Great Crested Flycatcher!  The other ones weren't really even close at all.  Chris posted this before it was light out, and I knew that at least three birders in Ronnie Reed, Dara Vazquez, and Benjamin Guo, were going out to look for the bird.  During all of this time, I was at work, and was checking my phone regularly.  At 7:23, a great message came into Group Me from Dara:  Tommy's GCFL continues this morning.  It gave it's distinctive loud rising weep call.  Ben Guo recorded further audio.  Got good views of bolder plumage color than ATFL or BCFL with bright lemon belly rising high on chest.  Relocated initially in oak grove on west side of research station, then flew to sycamore and chaparral ridge on east side of canyon".

"Hell yes", I replied to the message.  I was stoked, I wanted to do backflips in front of all the hospital staff I was working with and patients who I was serving food to.  In the field, Dara and Ben located the bir barely south of where I originally found it, and Ronnie rolled up just in time to hear the bird too.  (We call him "Roll Up Ronnie" for a reason!)  Ronnie texted me not long after that Ben obtained diagnostic photographs of the bird too.

Birders asked if anyone had gotten pictures.  I took awhile, but Ben put 6 decent photographs and a sound recordinga much better than mine that showed the spectogram very clearly.  And Ben's photos, I practically had a heart attack when I saw them.  They were good documentation shots and they clearly showed a bright yellow belly-underparts extending up to upper breast, dark gray upper breast and lower face, extensive orange base to otherwise larger, sturdy black bill, brown on top of heard, and tons of rufous in the tail.  "Dang, a Great Crested Flycatcher, wow!", I thought.  And then I reminded myself I found the freaking thing 24 hours earlier.

I was obvious to everyone my bird is a Great Crested Flycatcher, Arizona's 5th and Maricopa County's 1st.  It is my 485th bird for Arizona and 409th for Maricopa County.  For Maricopa County overall, I think it's the 463rd bird.  Funny thing is, Tyler Loomis found my Maricopa nemesis-a Downy Woodpecker-while chasing the Great Crested Flycatcher.  Hopefully it sticks around!

The First Hardcore Day of 2015

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday on February 4th, 2015, Caleb Strand and I explored the eastern side of Maricopa County and visited Sunflower and Mount Ord on the north and we then followed that to visits to Coon Bluff Recreaton Area on the Salt River and Gilbert Water Ranch further south.  It was a very pleasant day of birding by the day's end with awesome weather and of course, awesome birds!

We arrived at our first stop at Sunflower at 7:40 A.M., where we spent nearly two hours actually north of Sunflower by walking up the Old Beeline Highway.  From the start we had an abundance of birds throughout the entire area, with several surprises.  Upon getting out of the vehicle, we were shocked to have a flock of roughly 30 EVENING GROSBEAKS flying overhead.  The grosbeaks were flying south of the area we parked at (dead end at the end of the road through Sunflower, which is accessed on the west side of the Beeline Highway/Highway 87 at mile marker 218) and they kept going until they landed further south and out of sight.  With the Evening Grosbeaks giving their loud call notes in flight and seeing the white secondaries on the wings and the male's bright yellow coloration in this flock, it really caught our attention.  About a minute later, another flock of about 20 Evening Grosbeaks flew past us and headed south before turning around and circling a few times close to our location before dropping down out of sight.  I managed to get a photograph showing 17 of the Evening Grosbeaks in one frame.

After having these sightings take place, we found 15-20 more Evening Grosbeaks throughout the 1.5 miles we hiked up the Old Beeline Highway.  It was an amazing thing to see, and I believe 20 is the most I have seen of this species in a day in Flagstaff last year.  Caleb and I were shocked at the numbers of these birds, and we were hoping to locate the two that were found by Troy Corman last week and we weren't expecting to find any beyond that.  For a total number of Evening Grosbeaks, I would estimate at least 60 birds in the area as a safe count, most likely more.  Besides the Grosbeaks, we had several other highlights.  CASSIN'S FINCHES were also in the area in good numbers, and Caleb and I estimated 40-50 birds.  It seemed as if these two finch species were everywhere.  Caleb and I would regularly look up on bare tree branches near the tops of trees and kept finding more and more.

Another interesting highlight was hearing a BLACK-CHINNED SPARROW singing on a slope right above our location.  Other highlights we had at this A.B.A. (Abundant Bird Area) among 43 species were SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, HUTTON'S VIREO, BRIDLED and JUNIPER TITMOUSE, CANYON WREN, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, abundant AMERICAN ROBINS (I'm sure a Varied Thrush is there somewhere), WESTERN BLUEBIRDS, CEDAR WAXWINGS, and more.

One of the coolest sights from the morning was finding a drinking spot where many birds were coming down to drink.  At one point several female Evening Grosbeaks drank in front of us and they were joined by American Robins, Cassin's Finches, and Cedar Waxwings.

The non-avian highlight was a Coues White-tail!

From Sunflower, we ventured shortly to the northeast and up to Mount Ord.  We spent over three hours and most of our time at Mount Ord by hiking down Forest Road 1688.  This pleasant forest road travels south for about two miles, and it is accessed when one reaches the first stand of pine trees when coming up the main dirt road up to Mount Ord.  As usual, Mount Ord was a pleasant place to bird at.  Caleb and I were expecting to get Evening Grosbeaks and Cassin's Finches at Mount Ord after the Sunflower numbers, but shockingly, we didn't have one of either species.  We did get two other finches, with 15-20 RED CROSSBILLS and 4-5 PINE SISKINS.  Our main highlight at Mount Ord was finding a GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, which was a life bird for Caleb and a location first for me.  Near the Golden-crowned Kinglet was also a nice male OLIVE WARBLER.  Other highlights we had at Mount Ord among 26 species recorded were 3 ACORN WOODPECKER, 2 male RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER, 4 HAIRY WOODPECKER, 4 HUTTON'S VIREO, BRIDLED and JUNIPER TITMOUSE, 8 WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, ~12 PYGMY NUTHATCH, 2 BROWN CREEPER, WESTERN and MOUNTAIN (3) BLUEBIRDS, and a Tarantula.

After Mount Ord, we went to bird the Lower Salt Recreation Area at Coon Bluff to search for the recently and seen-by-many Harris's Sparrow.  Despite a good effort and two hour search, we came up empty on locating the large sparrow.  Many species were present at the site though, and our best highlight came from finding a flock of CEDAR WAXWINGS up very close and perched rather low in a few mesquite trees.

From the Salt River, we spent our last two hours of the full birding day at Gilbert Water Ranch.  Gilbert Water Ranch was an A.B.A. (Abundant Bird Area) as usual, and we recorded 57 species in the time span from 4:30 to 6:30.  Our best highlight here was the continuing BROWN THRASHER at the southern side of the path that goes between ponds 3 and 4.  It frequented the east side of this path most of the time that we observed it and it crossed over to the west side after being chased by an aggressive Northern Mockingbird.  As expected, the Thrasher was a skulker and was hard to observe in the open for any consecutive amounts of time.  Luckily, we had a few good looks during the time before it lurked back into the dense vegetation.  This was Caleb's first ever look at a Brown Thrasher and it gave him a two lifer day.  Other highlights at Gilbert Water Ranch included the continuing GREEN-WINGED X CINNAMON TEAL hybrid in Pond 4, HOODED MERGANSER drake in pond 2, COOPER'S and HARRIS'S HAWKS, 2 SORA, AMERICAN AVOCET, WILSON'S SNIPE, PEREGRINE FALCON, etc.

It was a great day to be out birding and it's been awhile since I've put in a full day of birding.  Our final tally was 110 species between the four awesome places we visited that really give incredible avian diversity.  Thank you Caleb for an awesome day of birding.

Birding the Prescott Area for the 3rd recent time..

Hi everyone,

I made another visit to bird the awesome Prescott area yesterday on April 19th, 2013.  This place is addicting to bird, and I keep on wanting to go back the second I have to go back to Glendale.  Yesterday the birding fun continued for me in this awesome area in a full 11 hour day of birding.  The birds were abundant and there was never a dull second in the four stops I made and birded during the day.  Two new stops were made for me on this route, which was the Kendall Camp Trail and Granite Basin Lake.  Those two locations were followed my another visit to both Willow and Watson Lakes.  

My first stop of the day was at the Kendall Camp Trail, which can be accessed by driving south for just over seven miles south on the Senator Highway off a dirt road.  This is a very nice birding area with good potential.  The Hassayampa River runs through this area, and creates a pleasant birding experience.  In the immediate area of the Kendall Camp Trail, the ponderosa pines are joined by both Douglas and white fir, a few aspens, and oaks.  I hiked the trail for about a mile, which was filled with birds and I was able to find my target plus many more goodies.  My target bird here was Greater Pewee, which are found reliably in this location by Prescott birders.  As I hiked up the trail and was coming close to the fences of Kendall Camp, I heard the "Jose-Maria" call of the GREATER PEWEE.  I quickly went in the direction of the song, and I eventually saw the Greater Pewee singing on top of the snag.  It was a big thrill for me, and this is a species I don't ever see often at all.  The Greater Pewee stayed high and had a few perches it flew back and fourth too a considerable distance apart where it sang frequently.  Another Greater Pewee sang below the first on a forested slope.  I have decided to name all Greater Pewee males Jose and the females Maria, at least the ones I encounter in the field!  Certainly a cool bird.  Besides Jose, I encountered plenty of other cool birds on the Kendall Camp Trail.  One was hearing a WILD TURKEY calling, which I didn't expect to hear.  A small flock of BAND-TAILED PIGEONS flew by at close distances.  BLACK-CHINNED and BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRDS were both present.  There were also four DUSKY FLYCATCHERS in song during the course of my hike, most singing on the top of conifers.  4-5 PLUMBEOUS VIREOS were scattered throughout the trail, and a single HUTTON'S VIREO sang it's simple song a few times.  VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS flew around above the trees.  All three NUTHATCHES were present: Pygmy, Red and White-breasted.  I also enjoyed hearing a few HERMIT THRUSHES in song.  This is one of my favorite birds to listen to, and it was the first time this year I have been able to do so.  VIRGINIA'S and GRACE'S WARBLERS were common on the trail, and I was able to find a one PAINTED REDSTART.  PINE SISKINS were very common, and a RED CROSSBILL flew over calling.  In over two hours of birding at the pleasant Kendall Camp, I found 34 species.  

Greater Pewee

Kendall Camp Views

Next up was my first visit to the Granite Basin Recreation Area to bird Granite Basin Lake.  I stopped here for almost two hours to explore the area, which I was impressed with.  The habitat here is high chaparral, rocky habitats, and ponderosa pine forests.  The small Granite Basin Lake has nice willow/cottonwood riparian habitat surrounding the lake.  There are many trail options to hike in this area, which makes it a popular destination throughout the year.  When I got out of the truck, the songs of CANYON WRENS and BLACK-CHINNED SPARROWS were the first birds I heard.  They were 2 of the 42 species I recorded in this area.  Other highlights at Granite Basin Lake included an AMERICAN WIGEON on the small lake, BLACK-CHINNED and ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRDS, ACORN and HAIRY WOODPECKERS, a DUSKY FLYCATCHER, BLACK PHOEBE, ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, HUTTON'S VIREO, WESTERN SCRUB-JAYS, MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE, BUSHTITS, JUNIPER TITMOUSE, BEWICK'S WRENS, LUCY'S, VIRGINIA'S, YELLOW-RUMPED, GRACE'S, and YELLOW WARBLERS; LINCOLN'S SPARROW, and LAZULI BUNTING.

Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay

Granite Basin Lake

After Granite Basin, my third stop of the day was at a very birdy Willow Lake, where birded at for over three hours.  This lake birding wise is almost like the Gilbert Water Ranch or Sweetwater Wetlands of Prescott.  Things constantly change here by the day.  Right off the bat on this visit, I had a very nice highlight when I started at the north end of the lake by the boat ramp.  A flock of FRANKLIN'S GULLS floated on the water at very close distances at times.  They were a treat to see, and at one time I counted 25 Franklin's Gulls in the group at once.  From here I started to work my way around the lake.  A good diversity of waterfowl is still present, but the numbers are decreasing dramatically.  13 species of geese/ducks were represented best by two pairs of BLUE-WINGED TEAL, a few CANVASBACKS and REDHEADS, and BUFFLEHEADS.  About ten EARED GREBES were on the lake, as was a single WESTERN GREBE.  One NEOTROPIC CORMORANT (possibly two) was at the lake in midst of the common DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT.  A few GREAT and SNOWY EGRETS were on the lake, and a few birders also saw a rare-in-Prescott Cattle Egret.  Raptors were represented by OSPREY, COOPERS, SHARP-SHINNED, RED-TAILED, and ZONE-TAILED HAWKS.  Shorebird highlights included three WILSON'S PHALAROPES, three LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, 4 BLACK-NECKED STILTS, and 4-5 LESSER YELLOWLEGS.  Both WESTERN and CASSIN'S KINGBIRDS were present.  A PLUMBEOUS VIREO foraged in a big stand of cottonwoods located at the western end of the lake, where a few CEDAR WAXWINGS were heard calling.  A CANYON TOWHEE was present near the north parking area.  Sparrows were found in SAVANNAH, LARK, BREWERS, CHIPPING, LINCOLN'S, and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS.  7-8 YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS in reeds around the lake was nice to see, and a male BULLOCK'S ORIOLE was present in the cottonwoods.  A very productive visit at Willow Lake once again produced 77 species in the 3.5 hours.

Franklin's Gulls

Wilson's Phalarope

Blue-winged Teals

Bullock's Oriole

Yellow-headed Blackbird

My final stop of the day was at Watson Lake, which is just east of Willow Lake.  It was a very productive visit here birding wise as well.  11 ducks/geese were present here through my eyes, and I wasn't able to find the recent White-winged Scoter.  2 WESTERN GREBES found the lake.  When I walked down the Prescott Peavine Trail (which travels along the east side of Watson Lake), I came up upon a cove that held 10 more FRANKLIN'S GULLS.  Between here and Willow Lake, I had at least 35 birds.  Swallows put on a good show here, which included my first BANK SWALLOW of the year, and a single BARN SWALLOW among the 6 species.  BRIDLED and JUNIPER TITMICE were present along the trail.  A CRISSAL THRASHER also called from a nearby hill.  A sparrow highlight for me was a single RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW along the trail.  An EASTERN "LILLIAN'S" MEADOWLARK flew by and gave it's "zeet" call on my way back.  I had a total of 67 species at Willow Lake, which had a similar bird list overall to that of Willow Lake with a few differences.  Between these two neighbor lakes, I had 97 species.  Certainly an extremely productive area right in the heart of the town of Prescott.

Rufous-crowned Sparrow

Watson Lake

I ended the day in Prescott with a total of 119 species recorded in the four stops made, all within a rather short distance of each other.  It was a great day to be out birding in a great area.  The Prescott Audubon Society has an excellent website, which has a guide to the area's birding hotspots on it.  This guide covers the areas I have covered in my last three visits here, and it gives great directions and information about the birds and hotspots.  I have included a link to this guide from the Prescott Audubon Society at the link below:

http://prescottaudubon.org/birding/where-are-the-birds/sues-guide/

Jose Maria,

Tommy DeBardeleben (Glendale, Arizona)