Wings over Willcox

On the spur of the moment, David and I took a road trip down to Willcox to see the Sandhill Cranes. David had not seen them before and it was fun for me to watch him try to get some good pictures. Our first stop was Cochise Lake where we almost immediately saw some cranes landing in a field beyond the golf course. There were a few ducks i the lake - mostly Northern Shovelers and American Coots, but also a few Common Mergansers, some Ruddy Ducks, and a lone American Widgeon. Two Northern Harriers swept the fields surrounding the lake - one pale and the other brown.

Next we headed to the AEPCO (Apache) power station ponds. We were able to get closer views of the cranes - there were maybe 2 or 3 thousand of them here. There were also more ducks at the forward edge of the ponds, including Northern Pintails, Green-winged Teal, a couple of Canada Goose, and Mallards. We spent a fair amount of time here, David trying out digi-scoping and me trying to get a fix on the swans in the neighboring pond (I vote for Mute swans, but I seem to be outnumbered). More Northern Harriers and a Red-tailed Hawk here.

Finally, we drove down to Whitewater Draw. At last we had found the hordes of cranes! More and more came in as the afternoon wore on. This time David got some very excellent pictures as the cranes were flying right over our heads. Also seen's at this location were: Blue-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, American Pipit, Killdeer, American Kestrel, Black Phoebe, and four Greater Yellowlegs that were doing a bang-up job of imitating Hudsonian Godwits! It took me over an hour to convince myself that they were, in fact, yellowlegs and not Godwits. Dang! The Vermillon Flycatcher stole the show as we were leaving. He practically burnt up in the setting sun. So beautiful.

Salton Sea on New Year’s Day 2009

The first of the year: (Oh no, don’t let it be so!) Rock Doves outside the Best Western Date Palm Inn in Indio, CA.

On our return trip from Ontario, CA, David and I made several stops along Highway 111 at the Salton Sea. Our first stop at the northern end of the sea beside an abandoned hotel/ restaurant yielded a nice variety (and quantity) of water birds, including:

White pelican
Brown pelican
Black-necked stilt
Eared grebe
Great blue heron
Great heron
Snowy egret
Herring gull
Ring-billed gull

We then stopped at Visitor’s Center a few miles down the road. There we enjoyed the video after checking out the sea by the campgrounds. This area had even more birds than the previous stop and a few different species. House finch, Northern mockingbird, and Great-tailed Grackle hung around the visitor’s center. The birds came in pretty close so we were able to get good looks at the Western grebes, Caspian terns, and Killdeer. An American pipit gave us the best looks I’ve ever had of one as it stayed within 5 feet of us along the rocky edge of the water. The terns were catching lots of fish, but the gulls and pelicans almost always grabbed the prize away. A flock of about 50 or 60 Double-crested cormorants flew by and I added one lone Ruddy Duck to the day list. This was a lively place and we could have stayed a lot longer, but our hour of free bird watching was up and we needed to move on.

After canning a trip to Wister State Waterfowl area due to lack of change (there’s a $2.50 day usage fee), we headed to the Sonny Bono Salton Sea Wildlife Refuge Area which, after a questionable start, was the very best of the day. Along the drive into the area, there were several European starling and American kestrels on the telephone poles scoping out their next meal.

We weren’t sure when we got there if it would be productive since there was only one viewing platform and fencing around the rest rooms. Even here though, there were quite a few birds including Gambel’s quail and a Greater roadrunner along with numerous Yellow-rumped warblers. We could see about a thousand Snow geese from the viewing platform, but they were kind of far away for picture taking. Eventually, we found the Rock Point trail and hit the jackpot.

The combination of salt and fresh water ponds in addition to the mesquite tree edge gives this area the variety of habitat needed to support a wide variety of birds. New species seen here:

American avocet
Marbled godwit
Long-billed dowitcher
Greater yellowlegs
American coot
Sanderling
Western sandpiper
American wigeon
Northern shoveler
Say’s phoebe
Black phoebe

As we came off the Rock Point trail back at the entrance, a female Cooper’s hawk landed in the trees near the parking lot causing all the songbirds to seek cover. A small (ah-hem) detour (AKA a “shortcut”) into the back roads on the other side of 111 yielded Cattle egret and Western meadowlark. Thirty-nine species in all and a very good start to a (hopefully) birdy 2009!

Jenn's Visit

Someday soon, I'll get to edit this post about Jenn's visit to Tucson and our birding. For now, here's the list...
Sand Hill Crane
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Commom Raven
Western Scrub Jay
Hairy Woodpecker
Acorn Woodpecker
Gilded Flicker
Cactus Wren
Lesser Goldfinch
Spotted Towhee
Phainopepla
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Verdin
Anna Hummingbird
American Kestral
Ruddy Duck
Cinnamon Teal
White-crowned Sparrow
Blue-winged teal

And the birding gods smiled...

Jenise enticed me to run after some rarities today, so off we went. Our first stop was near my work place along the Santa Cruz “river.” The Black-throated Blue Warbler was exactly where he was reported being on the listserv for the past few days. Just a little south of the Dragon’s Breath (I mean the Dragon’s View) restaurant among the tamarisk and mesquite trees. He worked the trees in nuthatch-like order, flitting downward on the trunk and then working his way upward. He was easily recognizable in his faded, but unmistakable black and blue.

We spent about an hour walking the loop path along Bonita to Congress and then back to St. Mary’s. This little area turned out to be fairly productive. We also spotted a couple of Verdin, one of which was very busy building a nest, White-crowned Sparrows, several Yellow-rumped Warblers, Pyrrhuloxia, and a first-of-season (for both of us) Vermillion Flycatcher. Apparently, we just missed seeing Liz there 

Next we traveled to Catalina State Park to try for the Rufous-backed Robin that’s been reported there all winter. We found him within 2 minutes of parking the car! He was brilliant among the Spotted and Abert’s Towhees and Cardinals. There was lots of water here, so we back-tracked just a bit and walked north for a little. Along the Bridle trail, we found Curve-billed Thrasher and Gila Woodpecker. On the way out of the park, we spotted not one, but two separate Road Runners!

To wrap things up, we stopped at Tohono Chul Park to lunch on the patio (huevos enchiladas with blacks beans and a fabulous prickly pear margarita) among the chattering house sparrows, cactus wrens, and more Verdin. The bird gods were certainly smiling on us today!

New Zealand and Fiji

October 13-20: New Zealand: South island

We left LAX on the 13th and flew non-stop to Auckland, NZ. My veg food didn’t get on board, but the staff was accommodating and I finally got some food. The individually controlled movies were a cool feature, but thank goodness for Ambien. I had a much better night’s sleep than I could have ever imagined. Since we flew across the International Date Line, we arrived in Auckland in the early morning on October 15. We then traveled by plane south to Queenstown which is known as the “Adventure Capitol of the World.” It rained much of the time there and there was even a little snow. It is very beautiful, sitting right on Lake Wakatipu with snow capped mountains called the Remarkables all around.

When we arrived, we went on a jet boat ride in the lake. We squished inside the boats as Mark, our guide explained the rules to us. It was fun getting some fresh air after all that time on planes and busses. Mark pulled many 360's on the water which got everyone very wet. After checking into our hotel, we met up and walked to the Skyline Gondola which rises steeply from Queenstown. The view from the top was awesome and we happened to catch a rainbow over the town.

That night a 6.7 earthquake shook me awake around 1:30am. The next morning, we found out that epicenter was about 38 miles west of our destination for that day. We were a little concerned about avalanches, but our bus driver, Dawn, assured us we would be OK.

We loaded on the bus and headed for Milford Sound. The drive to Milford Sound was filled with waterfalls and snow-capped mountains. Along the way I also saw lots of White-backed Magpies which looked very much like crows except for their brilliant white backs that shone when they flew.

Once we arrived at Milford Sound in the fjord lands, we went on a three-hour scenic/lunch cruise. While waiting for the cruise to leave, I was able to catch my first glimpse of New Zealand’s chaffinches which then seemed to be everywhere. The scenery on the cruise again filled with waterfalls. Some of the waterfalls would literally get blown away by the wind before they could reach the water below. The most exciting part of the trip for me though was the three Fjordland Crested Penguins we saw from the bow of the boat. They hopped among the rocks and jumped into the water. I had never expected to see penguins!

I had scheduled a birding trip on Lake Dunstan near Cromwell, but it was canceled due to the horrible weather we were having. Undaunted, I set out on Wednesday morning for some “lammie” pictures. I knew there was a farm just outside the town and decided to walk to it and get some pictures. I took my bins so that I could bird along the way. It turns out that I waked (according to Google maps) 9.8 kilometers one way which makes about 12 miles round trip. Wow! No wonder I was tired and had sore feet at the end of the day. But it was all worth it because this was the only real birding I got to do in New Zealand.

The first birds I saw were a small flock of silvereyes acting very warbler-ish at the ends of a tree. Among them I saw my first “Blackbird” which looks like a completely black robin. In the lake were some New Zealand Scaup and Australian Coots. Underneath a conifer tree was a single Song Thrush among several Redpolls. When I finally reached first a deer farm, then a sheep farm, and then a cattle farm all in the same general vicinity, I checked out the birds in the fields. Among the many White-backed Magpies were also some Island Pied Oystercatchers which looked and acted like typical oystercatchers. The sheep were quite shy and took their lammies with them almost as soon as I got close to the fence, but I did manage a few good shots while I had a bit to eat (some NZ cheddar, crackers, and a power bar). Tired, cool and wet, but happy, I headed back to the hotel. That night on the way to a bar called Minus Five Degrees (where they dress you in parkas, snow boots, and mittens, take you into a room make, quite literally, of ice and serve you a vodka drink in a glass made of ice – just what I needed after the cold and wet of the day!), I spotted a Yellowhammer and several Red-billed Gulls.

On Thursday we left Queenstown and started toward Mt. Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain. Although the bus drove to the viewing point, we couldn't see Mt. due to the clouds. The next day we get a good view of it while driving towards Christchurch along Lake Pakaki. This lake is incredibly beautiful! It’s water is tropical blue and so clear. I wanted to jump in, but I’m sure I would have turned to a popsicle in a instant.

Our last stop in New Zealand was Christchurch. I loved this place even though we were only there less than 12 hours. It’s a very English city and was much warmer and sunnier than we’d experienced anywhere in New Zealand. A few of us spent some time exploring the pubs and found a terrific Thai restaurant that was so good I licked my plate clean!


October 20 – 26 (Fiji island)

On Saturday, we arrived into Nadi, Fiji Island. The Hideway Resort was our home here. Ahhhh! Warmth and relaxation! The sun didn’t really want to show it’s face for the first two days, but it was warm and I didn’t care. I didn’t get to do much birding here, but there were both Common Mynas and Jungle Mynas everywhere.

On Sunday, a few of us went to the Kula Ecopark which housed a whole bunch of caged birds. I got to see a lot of Fijian birds, but to me, they all looked sad to be there. The natural birds I the park where all well hidden in the trees, and, not knowing the vocalizations, I wasn’t able to ID any of them.

On Tuesday, some of us started on what we thought was to be a kayaking trip. It turned into “a three hour tor, a three-hour tour!”, Anyway, this story is better said by one of my fellow travelers, Pam West. Here’s the story blatantly stolen from her blog:

…nine brave souls embarked on the adventure of our entire trip. We had originally signed up for a kayaking trip, but because of all the rain the road leading to the river had been washed out. So the river company instead treated us to a whitewater rafting trip on the Upper Navua River.

The ride up to the river was the scariest thing I had ever experienced. It was a steep and very narrow mountain road and I just kept praying that the bus wouldn't slip off the edge into a deep gorge. Once we made it to the top, we had to walk about 20 minutes through a muddy slippery path to the river. We loaded up two rafts and off we went. Talk about awesome. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera, but the brochure referred to this river as the "Fiji's Grand Canyon" and I concur.

We rafted for 15 miles and then the "fun" began. We jumped on the bus to take us back but shortly after we started out, the bus became mired in mud. We jumped back out and the guides told us women to just start walking and they would pick us up. Inez, Joe & I followed their directions. About an hour or so later, Brian, Tony, Connie & Pier caught up to us. The monsoon rain soon started and after walking nearly 3 hours or approximately 7 miles in a jungle rain forest, the bus finally comes to our rescue. We were cold, thirsty & hungry, and our feet & legs were killing us. But it certainly didn't dampen our spirits. We laughed about it all the way back to the resort. And of course we became the talk of the group over the next couple days.

My only additions to Pam’s narrative would be the two birds I managed to see without binoculars while we were walking through the Fijian backcountry jungle: Golden Dove (totally unmistakable in its brilliantly golden plumage) and Scarlet Robin.

On Wednesday, a few of us took a cab ride to Suva to check out the Suva Museum which house the leather boot soles of Thomas Baker. He was a missionary who was cannibalized right down to his boots, but when they got to the boot soles, the cannibals found him inedible. His boot soles, along with the fork, cooking pot and other utensils used to consume him are house in the Suva Museum. We also did a little shopping here and ate at a wonderful Indian restaurant called (I believe) Gandhi’s Curry House. We then stopped at a Fijian Cultural Center on the way out of town. A lovely day!

After all that running around, I was glad to hang by the pool and soak up the sun on Thursday. It was a very quiet day as almost all of the others went on a sailboat trip for the entire day.

While not a birding trip specifically, I did get to add a few species to the world list and make a few friends in the process. Not sure I would go back to New Zealand unless it was later in the spring or in their summer months, but I would go back to Fiji in a second. The people there were so nice and the food was awesome!
You can check out my pictures from this trip at: Picasa

Esperanza Ranch

Fourteen birders, including our leader Kendall Kroesen assisted by Moaz Ali, birded the Esperanza Ranch conservation area between Amado and Tubac. The area follows the riparian area along the Santa Cruz, but also has a number of other habitats which make for a great variety of birds. One of the most prominent birds seen was Lawrence's Goldfinches which seemed to be everywhere. Kendall estimated there were about 100. We got some excellent scope looks at them in really good light.

Another prominent bird was Swainson's Hawks which were migrating in large kettles above us. We also saw Gray Hawk, Northern Harriers, American Kestrel, Cooper's and Red-Tailed Hawks. Also in the air, we saw a small flock of both Great Egret and Cattle Egret. Of course, there were also many Turkey Vultures scanning the fields.

Lots of sparrows and a couple of warbler species were founded among the grasses and mesquites. Rufous-Winged, White-Crowned, Brewer's, Vesper, Chipping, Lark, Grasshopper and a few only the experts could see well enough to identify. Warblers included a fairly large flock (10 or 12) of Orange-Crowned Warblers. We also got good looks at Wilson's, Nashville, Lucy's, and Black-Throated Gray.

We had a great view of a Greater Roadrunner running down the path and leaving us in his dust. Also a good day for tyrant flycatchers: Black Phoebe, Say's Phoebe, Vermilion Flycatcher, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Cassin's Kingbird, and Western Kingbird. Other passerines included: White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Common Ground-Dove, Gila Woodpecker, Northern Flicker (Red-shafted), Loggerhead Shrike, Chihuahuan Raven, Tree Swallow (one only), Barn Swallow (many), Bewick's Wren, House Wren, Phainopepla, Summer Tanager, Northern Cardinal, Blue Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting (female), Yellow-headed Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, Lesser Goldfinch and House Finch.

Next up...birding New Zealand!

Las Cienegas

I’m coming to hate birding with large groups and today was no exception. Twenty-seven birders showed up for the TAS trip to Las Cienegas and even though we split into two groups, it was still very noisy and generally not good birding for me. Despite that, there were a few friends and good birders among the group which more than made up for the lack of “seeables”. Raptors were perhaps the highlight of the day, with excellent comparisons*Zone-tailed and *Gray Hawks. Red-tailed, Swainson's, Cooper's, Northern Harrier and American Kestrels were also there for good measure.

Another good study was the comparisons between Western and Cassin's Kingbirds. Western Wood-Pewees were numerous on any exposed snags. The weather was a bit windy and that combined with the noise levels made warbler numbers seem very low. I did see Wilson's and Orange-crowned as well as a Warbling Vireo. Also seen were Summer and Western Tanagers, lots of Blue Grosbeaks, Green-tailed Towhee, plus Brewer's, Lincoln's, and Song Sparrows.