In Maricopa County? No Way...

On June 24th, I had just started what would be a full day of birding in Coconino County, which is a county that is under-birded by me.  I planned to cover a variety of elevations and habitats for the course of two days of the 24th and 25th.  At my first stop, I got a text from Caleb Strand with a few pictures of a screenshot from a discussion of a photographed oriole at the Hassayampa River Preserve.  Birders called it a Bullock's Oriole and birders also called it a Hooded Oriole.  It was confusing, but Chris Benesh chimed in and said it looked like a Streak-backed Oriole to him.  I was intrigued at the photograph, which was of the bird's frontside and not the backside.  The backside would be the best indicator, because the Streak-backed Oriole is a well-named bird.  Cheryl Gross was the photographer of the bird, and she was asked to show more pictures of the bird.  She sent in some more pictures and said that the bird had been building a nest.  By looking at her pictures, not only was it evident that she had a female Streak-backed Oriole, but the nest the oriole was making was different than the nests that are built by Hooded and Bullock's Orioles.  It was a wonderful way to identify the bird from two aspects.  I couldn't believe that there was an active Streak-backed Oriole nest in Maricopa County.  Questions were asked of who her mate was or if she had a mate.  Was there a male Streak-backed Oriole nearby?

As the 24th was a Wednesday and the Hassayampa River Preserve is open during summer months from Thursday to Sunday, I decided to spend my day in Coconino County and come back that same day so I could chase the Streak-backed Oriole.  I was pumped up at the chance I had to get this Mexican rarity in Maricopa County.  In Arizona, Streak-backed Oriole has nested before, and it is a casual visitor otherwise.  When one is reported, it always has a lot of birders who want to chase and seek.  There were a few years that a male Streak-backed Oriole spent the winter months at Gilbert Water Ranch, and it was right before I got involved with the Arizona birding community.  It was something I wished I would've seen and not missed by a year or two, and I was glad that I would have a chance for this bird.  In 2016, I did get to see a nice male Streak-backed Oriole at a stakeout spot in Yuma County.

Eric Hough works at the Hassayampa River Preserve as their ranger.  He was working the day the oriole was found, and he went out to re-find it.  Chrissy Smith was with him, and they went out and relocated the nest along the Mesquite Meander Trail of the Preserve.  It was right over the trail, and they decided to close about 100 feet of the trail off so the bird could have space for nesting.  What Eric and Chrissy did was awesome because it gave the bird guaranteed breathing room from people swarming the area, but they also did it from a distance where people could still see the bird very well.  Eric and Chrissy saw the bird that evening when they went out.  By scanning the tree, Eric also found another nest that had been built by the oriole.  It was apparent that she was present at the Hassayampa River Preserve last year too, and had built that nest last year!  I couldn't believe it.  It turned out that the Oriole was photographed on June 9th and 23rd by Cheryl before it was identified by Chris Benesh on June 24th.  It was also observed and photographed by Rachel Stringham on June 6th, and she realized that she had photographed the female Streak-backed Oriole.

On June 25th, I headed out to the Hassayampa Preserve and got there right at opening time.  There were many birders there, and I would stake out the viewing spots for the Oriole for most of the day with Dara, Jeff, Derik, Erin, Mary, Eric, Chrissy, Caleb, and Kav.  It was a lot of fun, and the Oriole would make many appearances.  When I first walked up to the nest from one side of the Mesquite Meander Trail, the nest stood out.

After hearing some chatter calls from Orioles, it didn't take long for the female fly into the nest and make a very brief visit.  When she did this, the nest bobbed back-and-fourth, and it was evident that something made the nest move.  It's almost like watching a bobber go up-and-down while fishing.  She would peek her head out for a half-second or so before flying off and making routine quick visits to her nest.

The nest was placed under the canopy of a cottonwood tree, and below a mistletoe clump on the cottonwood.  At times throughout the day when going to both viewpoints, the female Streak-backed Oriole gave us birders some awesome views.  It was very hard to see at times.  When describing key field marks to a female of this species, AZFO photo editors David and Lauren describe it as:  "Heavy-based straight bill with black on underside of lower mandible, brightest orange on the face and particularly the malar region, white edging to the wing feathers".  And of course, streaks on the back if the bird is viewed well enough!

A few times the female Streak-backed Oriole was seen in what looked to be in copulation pose with another oriole.  For awhile we thought it was a younger male Streak-backed, but Chris Benesh chimed in again and pointed out why it was a male Bullock's Oriole she seemed to be paired with.  Mary got some awesome photos of the birds (SEE AZFO PAGE AT LINK HERE) as they seemed to be in copulation pose.  When the two birds were present at once, it was hard for me to get a good look at them, yet alone a picture, as they moved through dense habitat.  In the days to come, a female Bronzed Cowbird was also seen entering and leaving the Orioles nest.  Perhaps the cowbird was getting ready to give the Oriole a different responsibility.

A week later on July 2nd, I returned to the Preserve again to meet up with Caleb.  The Streak-backed Oriole made brief visits to the area, and didn't come directly to the nest.  But she perched above the nest and I was in the right spot to get off a few lucky shots!

I got took photos of a few other birds along the Hassayampa River during the Streak-backed Oriole adventures.  Young Vermilion Flycatchers and a few cooperative Yellow-breasted Chats.

As I write today, the female Streak-backed Oriole continues at the Hassayampa River Preserve.  Time will tell if she produces young or if things were put on hold by Bronzed Cowbirds.  The Hassayampa River corridor is one that hosts an incredible variety of birds.  There have been many incredible rarities that have shown up there over the years, but the rarities that stand out to me most are those that are mainly from riparian areas in southeastern Arizona and Mexico.  Hassayampa has annual breeding populations of Gray Hawk and Tropical Kingbird, which are more expected.  At times, Thick-billed Kingbird has nested.  A Green Kingfisher was a remarkable bird that found the Preserve, and it stayed in the area for about six months.  When having conversations with Caleb and Eric about what to watch for in the future at the Hassayampa River Preserve, birds that the three of us mentioned were Yellow-green Vireo, Rose-throated Becard, and Nutting's Flycatcher.  Hopefully it won't take too long for these birds to show up...it wouldn't surprise me if they did!

My North American Migration Count-May 14th, 2016

Yeah, this is a late post.  In fact, there are many more late posts on the way.  I've been very busy so I haven't had the appropriate time for blogging.  On May 14th, 2016, I opted to explore the Bushnell Tanks arm of Sycamore Creek for the North American Migration Count (NAMC).  Bushnell Tanks is a great location, and it is one that is under-birded in general and is also one that I don't take the time to visit as often as I should.  Because of that reason, I decided to bird it hard and carefully count each and every bird in about a five hour duration.

Because I found a way to carefully count birds on this count in a quick manner, I think I can count birds with accurate numbers a lot more now.  And it's actually quite fun.  Here's my list from the count, I'm sure you can find my main highlight pretty quickly:

Beeline Highway--Bushnell Tanks, Maricopa, Arizona, US
May 14, 2016 5:55 AM - 10:35 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.5 mile(s)
Comments: It's been a long time since I've birded this epic location, so I thought, "Hey, why not do this spot for the NAMC".
68 species (+1 other taxa)

Gambel's Quail 18
Turkey Vulture 5
Cooper's Hawk 1
Common Black Hawk (Common) 2
Broad-winged Hawk 1 Rare but annual in Arizona, especially in spring migration. What caught my eye today was a small buteo flying high with a Cooper's Hawk. I saw how small the bird was and that it had strong black primary tips with black trailing edges on the lower border of the wing. This bird appeared to show both adult and 1st year features from my pictures and the missing primary may indicate molt. The uniform brown coloration and black primary tips and trailing edges on the wings eliminate Gray Hawk. The noticeable white tail band eliminates the larger and longer-winged Swainson's Hawk and the much rarer in central Arizona Short-tailed Hawk (which has never been recorded in Maricopa County). The nearby Cooper's Hawk gave a good size comparison between the two birds. These are horrible photographs, but they do support Broad-winged Hawk. Also note the bird's flat flight dehidral when soaring with the Cooper's Hawk.
Zone-tailed Hawk 3 All from different spots along the old road through the area.
Red-tailed Hawk 1
White-winged Dove 11
Mourning Dove 8
Greater Roadrunner 3
Black-chinned Hummingbird 5
Anna's Hummingbird 1
Costa's Hummingbird 1
hummingbird sp. 5
Gila Woodpecker 25
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 3
American Kestrel 2
Western Wood-Pewee 2
Gray Flycatcher 1
Say's Phoebe 1
Ash-throated Flycatcher 9
Brown-crested Flycatcher 26 Well distributed throughout duration hiked.
Cassin's Kingbird 13 Well distributed throughout duration hiked.
Western Kingbird 3
Bell's Vireo 29
Gray Vireo 5
Western Scrub-Jay (Woodhouse's) 4
Common Raven 5
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 2
Violet-green Swallow 12
Bridled Titmouse 4
Juniper Titmouse 2
Verdin 9
Canyon Wren 2
Bewick's Wren 23
Cactus Wren 10
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
Curve-billed Thrasher (palmeri Group) 1
Crissal Thrasher 1
Northern Mockingbird 5
Phainopepla 23
Orange-crowned Warbler 2
Lucy's Warbler 62 Well distributed throughout duration hiked.
MacGillivray's Warbler 1
Yellow Warbler (Northern) 69
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) 6
Wilson's Warbler 3
Yellow-breasted Chat 15
Chipping Sparrow 4
Black-throated Sparrow 11
Lark Sparrow 3
White-crowned Sparrow (oriantha) 2
Canyon Towhee 4
Abert's Towhee 5
Rufous-crowned Sparrow 3
Green-tailed Towhee 2
Summer Tanager 8
Western Tanager 17
Northern Cardinal 17
Black-headed Grosbeak 3
Blue Grosbeak 9
Lazuli Bunting 12
Indigo Bunting 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 9
Hooded Oriole (nelsoni Group) 29 Well distributed throughout duration hiked.
Bullock's Oriole 17
Scott's Oriole 3
House Finch 54
Lesser Goldfinch 43


Yeah, on this count I found a Broad-winged Hawk!  It was only the second time I've ever seen this species.  This bird is turning into a rare but regular migrant in Arizona, particularly in spring.  This bird was a distant soaring sight, but when I saw it through my binoculars I knew it was something good.  Any small buteo in Maricopa County is a good thing to find.  As the Broad-winged Hawk soared with a Cooper's Hawk, I snapped as many pictures as I could before it left my sight.

The black trailing edge to the Hawk's wings, tail pattern, and uniform brown coloration point to Broad-winged Hawk.  It was the first time I've photographed this species, hopefully I'll have a closer chance in Minnesota in the coming week.

Another neat highlight was a total of 5 Gray Vireos.  Whenever I have birded at Bushnell Tanks in spring and summer, a Gray Vireo highlight was usually involved.

Orioles were very common.  I tallied 49 orioles of 3 different species:  29 Hooded, 17 Bullock's, and 3 Scott's.  This rather distant Hooded was my only proof that I actually saw one of them ;)

Two local raptors, Common Black-Hawk and Zone-tailed Hawk are always a big draw in this area.  While in a stand of riparian trees, I had a Black-Hawk fly over me.  In the surrounding hills and such, two Zone-tailed Hawks perched out in the open to give me a chance to snap a few pictures.

Cassin's Kingbirds are another bird I enjoy in this area.

Bell's Vireos too...

Lucy's Warblers and Yellow Warblers were the day's most numerous birds.  Yellow won the fight with 69, but Lucy's was a close second in at 62.  Here are two of the 62 Lucy's.

Less numerous but still in good numbers was another "warbler", the Yellow-breasted Chat.  15 Yellow-breasted Chats are noisy with all the different vocalizations they give.  For a bird that usually skulks, I got my best ever shots of the species.

Black-throated Sparrows and Rufous-crowned Sparrows also highlighted the morning.  68 species total for my count, and a fun morning it was!

The King of Thick Highlights at Hassayampa

The Hassayampa River Preserve near Wickenburg is always an awesome place to go birding at.  I usually see something very cool whenever I am visiting the location.

The endless cottonwood and willow riparian galleries are not only a rare habitat in Maricopa County but they are filled with amazing bird life.  One such example is a local Gray Hawk population that numbers in double digits.  Gray Hawks are rare in Maricopa County outside of the Hassayampa River.  A bird that isn't rare in the County is the Yellow-breasted Chat.  Their calls and songs fill the preserve.

Hassayampa has recently became "the spot" to see Broad-billed Hummingbirds in Maricopa County.  There are at least four of these hummingbirds at the Preserve that I can think of.  Once considered casual in Maricopa County, Broad-billed Hummingbirds are growing very fast in numbers in some areas.  Here is a male Broad-billed that was frequenting feeders within the Preserve.  What a cool looking bird!

The double call notes of the Summer Tanager is a very common sound along the river.  Sometimes it's all one hears.  The caller will sometimes come into view, followed by his lighter yellow counterpart.

Hooded Orioles also bring in excitement, and are usually seen right near the Preserve's entrance and visitor area.  A male was sitting up high here, but was obviously noticeable.

Bullock's Orioles too.....

A cool draw to me at this time of year at Hassayampa are the Kingbirds.  Along the Mesquite Meander Trail, a pair of Tropical Kingbirds have begun building a nest.  Like the Gray Hawk, the Hassayampa area has it's own population of Tropical Kingbirds. This is the usual location to see this flycatcher in Maricopa County, although they have been found elsewhere on occasion as a breeder or rare winter visitor.

One of my best encounters here during these visits I made was not from a bird, but was from my first ever Desert Tortoise.  These turtles are epic!  As I was hiking up a trail and was taking a quick break, I looked up the trail to see the turtle walking down the trail and in my direction.  I decided to sit there, and the turtle proceeded to walk right past me.  At times we were less than a foot away from each other, and I was the one who didn't budge!

Here's a video of the Turtle as I viewed him to show how great this experience was.

I mentioned days here didn't I?  Yup.  After I got home last Friday I thought I didn't miss any major highlights.  Turns out I did.  The next day, Melanie Herring found a Thick-billed Kingbird along the Mesquite Meander trail and in the same area as the Tropical Kingbirds.  Sometimes both species were in the same tree!  I was kicking myself and I probably walked right by the Thick-billed.  The Thick-billed Kingbird would be a new Maricopa County bird for me, and it's just an awesome bird in general.  I wanted to see it badly!  In the past, Thick-billed Kingbirds bred at Hassayampa and were mainly along Mesquite Meander within the known preserve limits from 2003 to 2008.  They stopped the year I really got into birding.  After Melanie found the bird, I saw that many others got to see due to it being the North American Migration Count on May 14th.  I was elsewhere in the field, but I did get off of work the following afternoon at 2 P.M.  With Hassayampa having it's last day of closing at 5 P.M. for the season, I would have about two hours of Kingbird searching.  I felt good about my chances on Sunday the 15th, since others had seen it earlier in the day.

Well, my two hour search didn't produce that highly wanted Kingbird.  I may have seen it after turning a corner to see a Kingbird flying away.  Thinking it was one of the two Tropical's that were present, I only looked to see the two Tropicals sitting together in the same tree this mystery Kingbird flew out of.  To be honest, I was very bummed out about missing this one.  With the Hassayampa Preserve going back to it's summer hours after this day, it would force me to wait and try for the Kingbird on Saturday.  Perhaps I was just there at the wrong time of day.  For the bird sticking around, however, and with the area it was hanging out in, however, history for Thick-billed Kingbird here was on my side!  The bummer was lifted in a lot of ways on my way out a minute before closing time at 4:59 P.M..  I looked up in a mulberry tree to see my first male Rose-breasted Grosbeak.  This is a striking bird, and I've only seen two females in my past.  Wow!

When Saturday, May 21st came around, I was ready to look for the Thick-billed Kingbird for the second time.  This time I felt hope was really on my side as Sean Fitzgerald and Tyler Loomis found the bird the day before on Friday.  With this species formerly breeding here in the past, I've always hoped they would return.  I was ready to see it in Maricopa County, and I wanted it badly.

My good friend Gordon Karre and I made plans to bird the Hassayampa together on this Saturday for the four hours that the Preserve was open.  Gordon and I were joined by Joshua Smith and his dad Garth, Dale Clark, Babs Buck, Lois Lorenz, and Julie Clark.  The eight of us headed over to the Mesquite Meander Trail quickly in pursuit of the Thick-billed Kingbird.  I was very anxious about wanting to see it.  Once on the trail, it took us less than ten minutes to get to the spot where the Kingbird was being seen at most often.  Looking up at the familiar trees, I could already see the Tropical Kingbird pair as soon as we arrived at the location.  And then the Thick-billed Kingbird started calling, and it started calling loudly!  It was very close to us.  At times, the loud voice of the Thick-billed Kingbird made it sound closer than it really was at times.  With many pairs of eyes scanning, Joshua Smith got his eyes on the Thick-billed Kingbird first.  I was very glad to look up and see it sitting on an exposed branch on a bare top of a tree.  The Kingbird vocalized often before being chased off by the two Tropical Kingbirds.  I forgot to check my camera settings before firing off shots of the Thick-billed Kingbird and I didn't get anything.  It was very frustrating, until the Kingbird came back twenty minutes later...

Joshua Smith has a good eye, and he spied the Thick-billed Kingbird flying into another set of cottonwoods further down the trail.  As we rushed over to the spot, the Kingbird started calling again.  Gordon managed to spy the bird through a "window" in a tree and this time, I had my camera settings right!

See how massive the Thick-billed Kingbird's bill is?  It's a well named bird.  In the United States (ABA area), southeastern Arizona is the main location to see this highly local species.  It is a sought after prize for many out-of-state visitors.  The fact Maricopa County has had them breeding at the Hassayampa River Preserve is a big thrill and that this one has appeared for many to see so far.

As the Kingbird switched positions, it then sat in a more open perch, where eight birders gathered around to enjoy it for a long time as it sat there contently.  The bird often preened itself and would call at times too.  Hearing the bird call was awesome, and the vocalizations it gave were very loud.  It almost sounded like the Thick-billed Kingbird was using a microphone.

The eight birders left the Kingbird sitting there.  After it flew off for a long time earlier, it then became that cooperative.  Gordon mentioned that without it's vocalizations at times, the bird would be very hard to locate, and he was right!

We had at least 5 Tropical Kingbirds on the day, but there was a good chance there were seven individuals.  A third pair couldn't be confirmed for sure, but that number was highly likely.

There were many swallows and some White-throated Swifts flying over the Palm Lake Trail when our group made it up there after Mesquite Meander.  In midst of them was an uncommon to rare migrant, a female Purple Martin!  She really stood out like a sore thumb with her much larger size.  The White-throated Swift was the one I was able to get a photograph of.  None of these birds are easy to photograph..

As we continued down the path along Palm Lake, a couple pointed out a Kingbird to us and said, "Here's the Tropical Kingbird up here".  I looked and saw that it was the Thick-billed Kingbird!  It was the Thick-billed Kingbird or another Thick-billed Kingbird, we can't be certain.  If it was the same bird, it was quite a distance away from where we were originally seeing it at.  In the near future, it's definitely worth checking the area for two birds.  This time, we all got a much closer look at it.

Gordon and I eventually covered the rest of Hassayampa on our own and saw many more birds in the four hours that we had to bird there.  Certainly some eventful three outings for me at the Preserve.  Thanks to everyone I birded with and to those who reported the good birds present during this time.

The Thick-billed Kingbird was the second addition to my Maricopa County list this year to bring that list to 377 species.  Speaking of 376, I haven't blogged about that one yet.  I will get to that in a near future blog post in an adventure that took me to a remote side of Maricopa County that I have never been to before.  I'm also behind in many blog posts, stay tuned for several others coming along also.  Last, TOBY will resume next weekend as I pursue my 18th North American Owl of the year.  With Flammulated Owl coming as my 17th species as of a month ago, I've had almost a month of my normal Maricopa County birding.  Stay tuned.