A pair of Zone-tailed Hawk monitored us quite well.
After getting Walker his lifer Gray Vireo we made our way back to the car where we continued birding, and Mr. Gordon packed for a trip to Mexico. Walker and I had been birding for four hours and our day was only a sixth of the way over! We then drove through Sunflower in search of Common Black-Hawks but we dipped. Now we were on our way to Mt. Ord, where we'd spend the next 12 hours birding at (12 hours!!!!). A quick stop on the lower slopes provided us with Black-chinned Sparrows (a lifer for Walker), Rufous-crowned Sparrows, Scott's Orioles, Gray Vireos, and more! We then went to our next and last stop on Mt. Ord, Forest Road 1688. Walker and I had good hopes for here. Walker wanted one lifer here which was the Olive Warbler. Everything else would be icing on the cake. We started hiking along the 1688 and before long we had reached the end of the good forest habitat (two and a half miles away from our car). Now we hadn't encountered any of the really active mixed feeding flocks so we decided to sit in one area for about an hour. Here we had Black-chinned, Anna's, Costa's, and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds entertaining us along with a few Hutton's Vireos.
After eating lunch we decided to do something crazy! Near the end of FR 1688 there is a nice drainage that runs almost all the way down the mountain. Now Walker and I, being the young kids we are, decided it would be a great idea to hike down the drainage at least a mile! Now it wasn't a dumb idea by any means, but I'll tell you we were beat once we got down the drainage! Walker was tired too. With only getting an hour or two of sleep the night before Mr. Fly was loosing gas. I heard an Olive Warbler call and pointed it out to Walker and after he got a glimpse his lifer in flight he decided to hit the hay, or in this case, fall asleep on a log that was narrower than the width of his body! While Walker was down for the count I hiked a little ways down the drainage. All of the sudden the forest got really thick and shady and I nearly stepped on a Spotted Towhee before it burst into a loud flight! At the time I was a bit paranoid, and the freaky forests were getting to me. I continued searching the area in hopes of finding an owl on its day-roost or something else neat. I started getting less paranoid and more comfortable with forest when all the sudden a Black Bear jumped out of a bush right in front of me and ran the opposite direction from me! After the Black Bear incident I thought I heard Walker call my name but I wasn't sure. I hiked back up the drainage and sure enough Walker was awake. He asked me "Man, how long have I been asleep, an hour or two?" I told him that it had to have been less than a half hour that he was asleep. Okay, it was time to head back up to the car, we needed a break! The mile hike up and out of the drainage was a killer and it seemed never-ending! However, we were about ready for a break I spotted the 1688 and our eyes glowed! Tired and sore, Walker and I made our way back to the car and rested in it for a good ten minutes. We then decided to drive down to the hot Sunflower area and bird there for a good hour. At this point of the day we were both really tired and were almost ready to be done!
After I was done talking to a Zone-tailed Hawk in Sunflower we gave Mr. Tommy DeBardeleben a call. Walker and I call him our motivational speaker, because, he always gets us pumped on the birding possibilities! So after getting our motivational speech for the day Walker and I drove back up to Mt. Ord to do some owling. When we arrived, once again, at the 1688 the scenery was amazing!
We then arrived at the end of the 1688 and waited for darkness to fall. A calling Northern Pygmy-Owl got both Walker and I pumped! We hoped that the pygmy-owl was only the start of our owls but once darkness fell we only had enough time to hear a few Common Poorwills before it started raining! Walker and I walked and even ran the two and a half miles back to the car where wen then drove down to our last birding spot for the night, Coon Bluff! I didn't take us long to locate a family of Western Screech-Owl
After watching the owls for a while I learned that they can give you some strange looks!
The owling was fairly good other then missing Elf Owl and getting attacked by a feral horse! While Walker and I were having the Western Screech photo shoot a psycho horse ran by us at full speed which seemed strange, but then a came back and was running strait towards Walker who was only a few feet away from me! Fortunately, the horse veered away from Walker before it would've made him toast. It was about mid-night by then so we decided it was time to call it a trip! We ended the day with nearly 100 species (pretty good for the summer in only a couple habitat zones), hiking about 16 miles, birding for 22 hours, coming close to death a couple times, and getting one Maricoper while Walker got a few lifers! What a day of bird hardness!!!
My next, and last birding expedition in Maricopa County in July was to Tres Rios on the 7th to show Mr. John Kafel the Painted Bunting. The bunting was showy as normal but it was about the only thing of note out there.
Although I didn't hardly bird at all in July, that 22 hour day of birding was enough! Thanks Walker for the bird hard day!
On the 4th I did some local birding on my patch. the migrants had just started to come in and among the many birds I observed, I got my FOY Nashville Warbler
Nashville Warbler
On the 13th I woke up early in the morning to bird at the Dean and Beloat Riparian Area. Migrants were hitting this spot in good number and along with the 9+ species of warblers an American Redstart and an American Redstart X Parula sp. hybrid highlighted the morning.
American Redstart
American Redstart X Parula sp. hybrid
I also had great views of a couple of Yellow-billed Cuckoos and a Barn Owl.
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Barn Owl
On the 17th I birded at the Glendale Recharge Ponds and found my lifer Semipalmated Sandpiper among the many other peeps. Unfortunately it was too far for photos.
On the 19th, I believe it was, I chased a Sabine's Gull and Sanderling at the Glendale Recharge Ponds. With the small time-frame I had to bird, I wasn't able to locate the Sanderling but I did get the Sabine's Gull!
Sabine's Gull
I also had a rather long-billed Semipalmated Sandpiper.
Semipalmated Sandpiper (foreground) Least Sandpiper (background)
A return visit to the Glendale Recharge Ponds on the 29th proved to be very productive! Among the many birds, I had the continuing Sabine's Gull, my Maricoper Sanderling, two Semipalmated Sandpipers, my FOY Pectoral Sandpiper, Stilt Sandpiper, FOY Short-billed Dowitcher, and FOY Semipalmated Plovers!
Sanderling
Semipalmated Sandpipers
On the 30th I made another trip to the Dean and Beloat Riparian Area to see what I could find. This turned out to be a very eventful morning! After already checking the area once I was on the way back from my second check through the area when all the sudden I spotted my lifer Vauxe's Swifts flying over me! I just happened to look up at the perfect time! I was ready to call it a day when I convinced myself to check one more area before heading back. I spotted a warbler, and like I always do, I put my binocs on the bird to find that it was my lifer Prothonotary Warbler!!! A double lifer day! My jaw dropped and the bird gave me great five second looks before it flew down the riparian area. I looked for the bird for about an hour before I called it quits. I came back the following day in search of it but the water level had dropped all the way down and I didn't see much of anything.
August ended the month with 286 species for the year. My pace dropped but it was time to turn that around and start birding hard again, however, it's much easier said than done.
September
On September 2nd I birded both the Arlington and Gila Bend Areas. The day wasn't too good but I managed to find a few cool birds. A Short-billed Dowitcher at the Gila Bend Sewage Ponds was nice. The best bird of the day had to be a super cooperative pair of Great Horned Owls at Paloma Ranch!
Great Horned Owl
A Western Kingbird X Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was a strange bird to see in the Arlington Area so I snapped a couple photos to document this rarity before a couple dogs chased me off.
Western Kingbird X Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
On the 11th I showed Mr. Ford the Dean and Beloat Area for the first time and he loved it! Many warblers showed off for Mr. Ford and I even spotted a Vauxe's Swift flying in the distance.
On September 16th I had a Crested Caracara fly over my house which was a nice surprise! Also, sometime during mid-September I explored the Gila River with Alexia and we flushed a Great Horned Owl who was quite friendly!
Alexia with Great Horned Owl
September was a fairly good month of birding. I cleared house on my shorebirds and got quite a few rarities. I ended the month with () species for my big year. Only () more to go!
October
On October 3rd I birded across the West Valley with my bro, Dalton! We started off at Dean and Beloat, where I showed him around and he even got his lifers Green-tailed Towhee and Virginia Rail! While we were exploring this awesome area I even found my first for my patch, Canyon Wren! We then drove over to the the B and M where we walked to the west end of Tres Rios in search of rarities. At the B and M we were surprised to find some Cassin's Kingbirds which are a good find for the lowlands. At Tres Rios we were unable to find any of our own rarities but we did relocate a Horned Grebe previously found by Mr. Robet Bowker.
On the 7th I birded, yet again, at Dean and Beloat. Finding my FOS (first of season) Black-and-white Warbler and Evening Grosbeak was really nice! I actually had a rather late juvenile Swainson's Hawk which I believe to have been one of the offspring from a pair of Swainson's that spent the summer at Dean and Beloat! Things got crazy though when I spotted a rather small buteo hawk flying in and identified it as my lifer Broad-winged Hawk!!!
Broad-winged Hawk
On the 17th I found a Lapland Longspur and McCown's Longspur in the same field which I had them in earlier in the year. And on the 24th I had a few Lawrence's Goldfinches fly over me on my patch while I was fishing with my friends.
On the 31st I was attempting to relocate the longspurs on my patch for Mr. Gordon Karre, Ms. Susan Fishburn, and my sister Barbara Meding (inside joke) but we had no luck with the McCown's or Lapland. However, I found 2 Sprague's Pipits and a Chestnut-collared Longspur!!! The pipits were rarer than both of the longspurs combined, and the Chestnut-collared was an overdue Maricoper. Unfortunately neither of these species allowed for pics that day. I then showed them around Dean and Beloat and we found a pair of Wood Ducks and my first for my patch Dusky Flycatcher! A late Townsend's Warbler was also cool.
I ended October with 289 species for my big year! This is getting close! 11 birds left!
November
On the 1st I decided to try to photographing the Sprague's Pipits on my patch but failed, even though I found three! Photographing these pipits was a challenge! I'd search for them for an hour continuously riding my bike around the many fields in the area, and all of the sudden one, two, or maybe even three would burst into flight and fly out into the distance until I couldn't see them any longer and they would then dive strait down into a distant field! These fields were thick too! SPPIs are 6.5" tall and these alfalfa fields had to be about eight inches tall! I was losing hope on photographing these birds but I couldn't give up! So I tried again on the 2nd. This time it took me a couple hours until I, all the sudden, heard one of the birds giving its "squeet squeet" flight calls. I noticed that the bird was getting closer so I kept my eyes to the skies. Then all the sudden two birds flew over me and landed about 300 yards away from me. Now I couldn't see them at the time so keeping track of where they were was key! However once I got to where I thought they were, I couldn't see anything, and at the same time they weren't flushing. I walked back and forth down that field a couple times before I caught sight of a bird that popped out into a small bare patch in the field! "Please don't be a Savannah Sparrow" I begged, and as soon as I lifted my binocs onto the bird my jaw dropped.
Sprague's Pipit--Finally!!!
The bird then ducked back down and started walking around the field and I lost it. But then all the sudden four Sprague's Pipits burst into flight in front of me! One of which I got a crumby flight shot of.
Sprague's Pipit
On the 6th I road my bike down to Dean and Beloat to bird there for a while. Like when I found the Prothonotary Warbler, things were very quiet at first. But later on I found a Black-and-white Warbler and a very interesting Blackburnian/Townsend's Warbler which I couldn't ID in the field and the photos that I got aren't diagnostic.
Black-and-white Warbler
Blackburnian/Townsend's Warbler
This warbler sure did leave its burn marks on me, as I am leaning towards Blackburnian, but it wouldn't be wise to count it with me not being 100% sure. A couple of flyover Evening Grosbeaks also added a little spice to the morning.
On the 8th a casual stroll around the patch produced a returning Gray Flycatcher (2nd winter in a row at this spot) and a very late and strange Western Kingbird.
Western Kingbird
A quick trip to Blue Point along the Salt River proved productive. We chased my Maricoper Surf Scoter and got it within a few minutes of arriving!
Surf Scoter
The scoter was entertaining to watch but Mr. Troy Corman had just had a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in the area so I spent the last hour or so searching for the sapsucker. Although I couldn't relocate it, a few Gray Flycatchers were fun to watch.
Gray Flycatcher
On the 11th I lead a birdwalk for the Sonoran Audubon Society to the Arlington Area. This day was great! The birds were cooperative and the birders were excited (the two best things for a leader of a bird walk). On our way to the Arlington Wildlife Area we stopped on the side of Arlington Canal Road to check out some Sandhill Cranes. Once we pulled over I noticed a Common Grackle about three feet from the car!!! But my camera was in the trunk! So I ran as fast as I could to get the camera and was able to take one diagnostic photo of the grackle before it flew off.
Common Grackle--#290 for my big year!
At the wildlife area I got my FOY White-tailed Kite hunting throughout the area.
White-tailed Kite--#291!
A Great Horned Owl also put on a show.
Great Horned Owl
I flyover Red Crossbill was also quite interesting. After I was done with the birdwalk, I continued on with Ms. Susan and Ms. Barbara to the Glendale Recharge Ponds where we looked for a Lapland Longspur for Ms. Susan's AZ big year. Unfortunately, the longspur was a no-show which ended our day.
On the 14th I attended one of Mr. Ford's monthly birdwalks at Estrella and then later on birded with fellow young bird, Joshua Smith. Estrella didn't have much of note so I continued onto my patch where I guided Josh around Dean and Beloat. The highlight here was a Lawrence's Goldfinch which flew over calling. We then continued onto Tres Rios. A calling Yellow Warbler was the highlight for here.
On the 17th I returned to Arlington to do an IBA count. The Wildlife Area was highlights by a flyover Sprague's Pipit (!!!), a few Mountain Bluebirds, and some Sandhill Cranes. In the Arlington Valley the continuing light morph Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk put on a show.
Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk
On our way back we stopped by the Lower River Road Ponds and I was quite surprised to spot a Zone-tailed Hawk flying low overhead!
Zone-tailed Hawk
Some local birding on my patch provided me with some cool Burrowing Owl shots!
Burrowing Owl
On the 18th an IBA count at the Baseline and Meridian Wildlife Area was fun. I didn't take many photos but among the 60+ species seen highlights included a couple Barn Owls, some American Goldfinches, some Red Crossbills, a Hooded Merganser, a Cedar Waxwing, and a Yellow Warbler.
The following day I birded at the Glendale Recharge Ponds for about an hour and a half. After scanning the area once, I decided to look through the many waterfowl more carefully, and sure enough I picked out a Greater Scaup hanging out by itself (#292!). Once I returned to my house I saw that Joshua Smith had just found a Pacific Loon at Dos Lagos Park in Glendale! I gave Mr. John Kafel a call and before I knew it, he picked my up and we were on our way! By the time we arrived, the sun had just set so I knew that photos were gonna be hard but sure enough I spotted the loon actively diving in the fairly small pond (NICE FIND JOSH!!!)
Pacific Loon--#293!!!
Out of the many photos I took of the loon this has to be my favorite though!
An Inland Loon looking at a Pacific Loon!
Before we left the spot, we took a quick look at Lenard the Eurasian Wigeon to see how he was doing.
Eurasian Wigeon
My last birding expedition in November was on my patch. I wasn't really expecting to get much in the quick search but I was surprised! It first started off with my Maricoper Clay-colored Sparrow mixed in with a sparrow flock!
Clay-colored Sparrow--294!!!
However, this was not the best bird I had on my short survey on my patch. While I was scanning a local mesquite bosque I all the sudden spotted a kingbird fly over and land in front of me! I observed the bird for a good ten minutes, and I could clearly see that this was a clean-cut Tropical Kingbird (a first for my patch!)
Tropical Kingbird
It takes much caution in identifying Tropical/Couch's Kingbirds. As a matter of fact, most of these birds aren't identifiable by looks alone. Tropical Kingbird has a fairly long skinny bill while Couch's had a thick shorter bill but this isn't usually a good field mark, as there is much overlap. However, my bird was one of the more extreme Tropical Kingbirds with a clearly longish skinny bill.
I ended November with 294 species! At this point I was starting to worry that I wouldn't get those six birds and I really just wanted to get them and be done with it! To be honest, I really didn't know how this was gonna pan out! SIX BIRDS TO GO!!!!!
December
This was it, the last month of the year! However, I had plans to go up to Idaho/Washington on the 29th to visit Walker and his family who had just moved there. It was time to go big or go home!
On the 1st I called Mr. John up and we headed out to the Gilbert Water Ranch to chase some Purple Finches that Tyler Loomis had just found.When Mr. John and I arrived it was very quiet. There wasn't much bird activity and we had walked back and forth along the Tiger Moth (3/4) Trail a couple times now. So we decided to get a quick bite at Culver's and then return and search for a little longer. Mr. John gave me an hour to search for these birds before we would head back. So I ran all the way to the other side of the preserve and started scanning. Once I reached the area where they had been reported I quickly picked them out!
Purple Finch--#295!!!
The following day a quick survey of my patch turned up the returning Greater Pewee (2nd winter in a row!).
Greater Pewee
On the 3rd a quick stop by the Glendale Recharge Ponds got me two yearbirds, Snow Goose and Clark's Grebe!
Snow Goose (left) and Ross's Goose (right)--#296!!!
Clark's Grebe--#297!!!
An amazing phone call came from Mr. Tommy the day before! In order to hit 300 I knew I was gonna have to go to the East Valley, but I had no rides! I was really troubled and was doubting that I'd get 300. I was almost becoming depressed! But on the 1st Mr. Tommy gave me a call telling me that he'd like to drive me around and help me get 300! I was so pumped, you wouldn't believe it! I now only had three birds that we needed to get on the 3rd! Will we get them or not. Read bellow to find out!
Early on the 3rd Mr. Tommy and I headed out to the East Valley in search of yearbirds. Our first stop was at the Scottsdale Ranch Park where we searched for a Red-breasted Sapsucker. Mr. Tommy and I arrived at the spot before most of the birds were awake so we just hung around until bird activity picked up. We found a tree that looked good for sapsuckers and before we got under the tree the Red-breasted Sapsucker flew in from across the street and landed right in front of us!
Red-breasted Sapsucker--#298!!!
Mr. Tommy even decided to snap a few shots with his iPod!
Even though observing this lifer was awesome we knew that we had to move on! I was going rock climbing with Alexia in the afternoon and I wanted to be back on time, so we had to be pretty speedy! Our next spot was Coon Bluff where we searched for a Reddish Egret that had been seen off and on. We spent quite a bit of time searching for this bird without success so now we were getting a little nervous that we might not get #300 that day. We then made a beeline to Higley and Ocotillo Roads Ponds. Here we had two possible yearbirds, Eastern Phoebe and Dunlin. I scanned the riparian habitat for the phoebe while Mr. Tommy scanned the mudflats for the Dunlin.
The King of Maricopa birding hard!
Before long Mr. Tommy called me over so I ran full speed knowing what I was gonna see next!
Dunlin--#299!!!
ONE MORE BIRD LEFT!!!!!!! Mr. Tommy and I teamed up and started scanning the whole area. Mr. Tommy mentioned that we should head back but I wanted to bird further on, because, the habitat only appeared to be getting better. Mr. Tommy had just turned back to start walking back to the truck when I said "Hey I have a Harris's Sparrow!"
Harris's Sparrow
Mr. Tommy jumped when he heard me say that I had a Harris's Sparrow. He quickly came over and we both enjoyed great looks at this fine rarity. After documenting this rarity for a while Mr. Tommy agreed on the idea on heading further along the road in search of any other interesting birds. However, it got very quiet very fast and the songbirds were no longer active, so we decided to call it quits. BUT WAIT! Since Mr. Tommy and I didn't hit any traffic on our way back we decided to make a quick drive by Crystal Gardens in hopes of finding a Cackling Goose which would be a Maricoper and more importantly, at the time, #300! Once we arrived at Crystal Gardens we noticed that all of the geese were starting to take off, but we continued working our way down the ponds. All of the sudden we located a Cackling Goose!!! Our views were fairly good but the bird took off before I could snap any photos. CACKLING GOOSE--#300!!!!!!!!!!!! We were both pumped that we got my 300th bird for Maricopa County in 2015! Boy I really enjoyed the rest of that day. Mr. Tommy and I then drove over to the rock climbing gym and I spent the rest of the day climbing and hanging out with my best friend, Alexia. What a day!
On the 6th I had a small interview type thing from PBS at Rio Salado. Of course I birded before the interview and had quite an active morning. At one spot I sat down and heard a Winter Wren and Red-shouldered Hawk calling at the same time! After the PBS thing we went to the B and M and Tres Rios. Not much of note here except for a Slate-colored Fox Sparrow. We then went to our last stop of the day, Dean and Beloat. Here I heard a Western Screech-Owl call briefly but that was it.
On the 9th I had plans to bird at the Tres Rios Overbank Wetlands with Mr. Ford. We started out with scanning the wetlands from the fairly tall bank. While I was scanning the wetlands I heard a strange warbler call, so I checked it out. It was in the same area that I had the Yellow Warbler in a while back with Josh, so I wasn't expecting this bird to be anything but I turned out to be very wrong. I starred at the cottonwood trees from across the marsh, which was about 100-150 feet away, for about five minutes before I located the bird, it was a Yellow-throated Warbler!!!
Yellow-throated Warbler--#301!!!
I was absolutely shocked when I saw that the "mystery warbler", which was more than liklye just another Yellow Warble,r was actually a Maricopa 2nd ever (as far as I can find) Yellow-throated Warbler! Eventually the warbler flew across the marsh and closer to us.
Yellow-throated Warbler
Mr. Ford and I enjoyed great views of the rare warbler for about a half hour before we decided to move on. I gave Mr. Tommy a call too, as this would be a Maricoper for him, but he didn't answer his phone so I left a message. As we continued birding I found an American Redstart, awesome!
American Redstart
I got a hold of Mr. Tommy and he said he was on his way, so Mr. Ford and I started walking back to where the Yellow-throated Warbler was. While we were waiting for The King of Maricopa to arrive I spotted what appeared to be a T-Rex X Bald Eagle hybrid flying in!
Crested Caracara!!!
Soon after the caracara flew over, Mr. Tommy arrived and I got him his Maricoper Yellow-throated Warbler, which is now his rarest warbler for his Maricopa list!
On the 12th I attended Mr. Ford's birdwalk at Estrella. The highlight of the morning were two Bonaparte's Gulls!
On the 18th I had plans to bird at Dean and Beloat for a few hours. I had two targets, Northern Parula and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Now both of these birds have become nemesis birds. On my way to D and B I found a first for my patch Mountain Bluebird!
Mountain Bluebird
I started strong when I noticed a woodpecker up in a willow and found that it was my lifer Yellow-bellied Sapsucker!
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker--#302!!!
I was pumped to get the sapsucker, now it was time to get the Northern Parula! Well four hours later I knew it was time to give up...oh well.
On the 19th, after an awesome morning of rock climbing with Alexia, I returned to my house to find that Ms. Melanie Herring had found a few swans that she couldn't identify. Either Tundra (which was likely what they were) or Trumpeter (which would be a first county record) would be a yearbird for me so I chased them later in the day with my mom. We arrived at the spot in Palo Verde to find that we were just a mere two minutes late of the birds being flushed, and to add salt to the wound they said that they were leaning towards Trumpeter! I stuck around at the spot for about a half hour, and from the pictures Ms. Melanie showed me I had good thoughts that these birds were Trumpeter, but no one really took my word for it. Unfortunately, I had to leave and didn't see the birds. BUT WAIT!!! When I got back to my house and was laying around in my failure I got a call from Mr. Tommy telling me that he was on his way to my house! WHAT?!?!?! I met up with Mr. Tommy and Ms. Susan and we drove up to the birds (second time that day for me) and sure enough there they were!
Trumpeter Swan--#303!!!
These Trumpeter Swans were my last Maricopa yearbird for 2015 leaving me at 303 birds!!! However, this wasn't the last time I birded Maricopa in 2015! Here are a couple victory photos from that night!
Ms. Susan and Mr. Tommy
Mr. Tommy and I
On the 24th I birded with Walker Noe, Mr. David Noe (Walker's dad), and Mr. Tommy. We did some local birding around in the morning but then hit Crystal Gardens where we got great views of Greater Whit-fronted and Cackling Geese!
Cackling Goose
Greater White-fronted Goose
We then continued onto Tres Rios where we easily found the continuing Yellow-throated Warbler and some Yellow Warblers.
The last little bit of birding I did was on the 26th. I got Walker his lifer Sandhill Cranes and we birded hard around Maricopa but couldn't find anything of note. This day marked the last day of my Maricopa big year!!
Summary
2015 was my best year of birding in Maricopa County, by far! I saw 303 species in only 2015, out of those 303 species 14 of them were chased by the Arizona birding Community's reports. I did the math and that means that I got around 4% of the birds in Maricopa in 2015 from other people (14 our of 303)! And out of those 303 species I saw about 205 of them were seen from biking from my house!
Top 10 Birds From My Maricopa Big Year
10. Trumpeter Swans
On the 19th after an awesome morning of rock climbing with Alexia I returned to my house to find that Ms. Melanie Herring had found a few swans that she couldn't identify. Either Tundra (which was likely what they were) or Trumpeter (which would be a first county record) would be a yearbird for me so I chased them later in the day with my mom. We arrived at the spot in Palo Verde to find that we were just a mere two minutes late of the birds being flushed, and to add salt to the wound they said that they were leaning towards Trumpeter! I stuck around at the spot for about a half hour and from the pictures Ms. Melanie showed me I had good thoughts that these birds were Trumpeter but no one really took my word for it. Unfortunately I had to leave and didn't see the birds. BUT WAIT!!! When I got back to my house and was laying around in my failure I got a call from Mr. Tommy telling me that he was on his way to my house! WHAT?!?!?! I met up with Mr. Tommy and Ms. Susan and we drove up to the birds (second time that day for me) and sure enough there they were!
9. American Restart
Okay, okay. I know that a lot of you might be saying "American Redstarts are so common!". With this species being uncommon in AZ it's a pretty good bird! But that's not why I chose that species for #9! This year I saw my first adult male American Redstart. It almost looked like a mini Red-winged Blackbird from a distance! They are so beautiful and have such distinct feeding habits, so that's why American Redstart made #9.
American Redstart
8. Pacific Loon
On November 19th, after returning from a school class and a short birding trip to the Glendale Recharge Ponds, I browsed through eBird to find that my friend, Joshua Smith, had found a Pacific Loon in a small pond at Dos Lagos Park in Glendale! Afraid that the loon might leave at night, I made a last second trip out there with Mr. John Kafel. We arrived at the spot just after the sun was setting so photos weren't great but I was pumped to simply see the bird! Loons are one of my favorite family of birds, and I've always wanted to see a Pacific Loon in Maricopa County, so that's what made Josh's Pacific Loon #8. Great find Josh!
Pacific Loon
7. Western Screech-Owls
Prior to 2015 I had only seen one Western Screech-Owl ever, and that was briefly on a CBC with Mr. Troy. I never imagined I would be within three feet of a wild owl but that was the case with the Coon Bluff Western Screech-Owls! As many of you know, owls are my favorite family of birds and it would be hard to leave such an experience, like I had with these screech-owls, out of the top ten! And both times I went to Coon Bluff I had great company (first time was with Alexia, Mr. John, and Mrs. Janet and the second time was with Walker). So with me pretty much being within petting distance of a wild owl these Western Screech-Owls had to be #7 in my top ten!
Western Screech-Owl
6. Ridgway's Rail
The Ridgway's Rail is one of my favorite birds. Ever since I first heard my first Ridgway's I've always wanted to see one, and that happened for the first time last year! Since then I've had outstanding luck with Ridgway's Rails. This year I got my best pictures yet of a Ridgway's Rail from about eight feet away! WHat made it even better was that the bird came out in the open, which is very rare for rails. With this being one of my favorite birds, and getting such amazing views the Ridagway's Rail has to be bird #6!
Ridgway's Rail
5. Sprague's Pipits
On November 31st while I was attempting to show Mr. Gordon, Ms. Susan, and Ms. Barbara some longspurs that had been staying on my patch I found two Sprague's Pipits! Now Sprague's Pipits are rare in Maricopa and It's always been a bird that I've wanted to find on my patch. Now I really wanted to photograph these birds and they proved to be very challenging! On the November 1st I decided to try hard at photographing the Sprague's Pipits but failed, even though I found three! Photographing these pipits was a challenge! I'd search for them for an hour continuously riding my baike around the many fields in the area and all of the sudden one, two, or maybe even three would burst into flight and fly out into the distance until I couldn't see them any longer and they would then dive strait down into a distant field! These fields were thick too! SPPIs are () tall and these alfalfa fields had to be about eight inches tall! I was losing hope on photographing these birds but I couldn't give up! So I tried again the next day. This time it took me a couple hours until I all the sudden heard one of the birds giving its "squeet squeet" flight calls. I noticed that the bird was getting closer so I kept my eyes to the skies. Then all the sudden two birds fly over me and land about 300 yards away from me. Now I couldn't see them at the time so making sure I knew where they were was key. However once I got to where I thought they were I couldn't see anything and at the same time they weren't flushing. I walked back and forth down that field a couple times before I caught sight of a bird that popped out into a small bare patch in the field! "Please don't be a Savannah Sparrow" I begged and as soon as I lifted my binocs onto the bird my jaw dropped.
Sprague's Pipit!
With me always wanting to find a Sprague's Pipit on my patch, finding not one but four Sprague's Pipits, and later on finding one in Arlington, this bird had to be my 5th best bird in Maricopa County in 2015!
Sprague's Pipit
4. Black-and-white Warbler
Now the Black-and-white Warbler had been a nemesis bird for about three years by the beginning of 2015, and I hadn't missed it by lack of chasing! As a matter of fact, my mom had seen a Black-and-white Warbler while I was birding with her and I just missed it by a minute! It was getting pretty ridiculous! Black-and-white Warblers are uncommon to rare in AZ and I should have had one by then! On January 17th, while I was birding at Dean and Beloat, I heard a Black-throated Gray Warbler calling so I attempted to track it down to make sure it wasn't anything rare. A black and white songbird then flew into a willow and once I got a glimpse of it climbing up the trunk of the tree I had good hopes! All of the sudden, I got a clear view of the bird and saw that it was my lifer Black-and-white Warbler!!! FINALLY!!!!!
Black-and-white Warbler
Since seeing this Black-and-white Warbler I have seen at least three other Black-and-white Warblers! I guess that's how it goes with nemesis birds! With the Black-and-white being one of the coolest warblers I've seen and it being the biggest nemesis bird for me so far, it had be #4.
3. Yellow-throated Warbler
Here we go! The top three birds of Maricopa County in 2015! On December 9th I birded at the Tres Rios Overbank Wetlands with Mr. Ford. Now I didn't exactly expect much but I was sure wrong! While we were up on the tall bank scanning the wetlands I heard a Yellow Warbler-like call, but I checked it out just to be sure it wasn't one of those eastern warblers. The warbler was about 100-150 feet away, across a marsh, so it took me nearly five minutes of scanning the trees it was in with my binocs before I found that it was something much rarer than a wintering Yellow Warbler, it was a Yellow-throated Warbler!!! Here's what the bird looked like through my binocs, can you see it?
Yellow-throated Warbler
After losing the bird, we continued scanning the trees when I looked at a bush near us and saw that the bird had flown across the marsh to investigate us!
Yellow-throated Warbler
This Yellow-throated Warbler is what I believe to be the second ever record for Maricopa County! I was also able to show Mr. Tommy the bird that same day. Mr. Ford and I were pumped with how our day went at Tres Rios! With this being such a rarity and an awesome bird too, this was to no doubt #3 for Maricopa in 2015!
2. Painted Bunting
On June 23rd Walker Noe and I birded hard at the Baseline and Meridian Wildlife Area and Tres Rios! Walker and I had recently met at a Young Birder's camp in the Chiricahua Mountains. We had such a blast at that camp, as a matter of fact, on the three day camp we got just over four hours of sleep, because, we birded so hard! After this camp we knew that we had to continue with our one two punch of awesomeness! We picked the B and M and Tres Rios, because, we knew that this would be a great spot to show off our skills. **BIRD HARDNESS=All targets+a self-found highlight** So after Walker and I got our two targets (Barn Owl and Yellow-billed Cuckoo) we knew we had to find something. While we were on our way to Tres Rios I pointed out some great habitat, and I jokingly said "I bet there's a Painted Bunting in there" we both laughed because of how rare PABUs are in Maricopa but we knew it wouldn't be impossible because Walker and I both found our own PABUs in Maricopa in just last winter. Once we reached the west end of Tres Rios we took a short break, but soon after continued hiking east. We heard a strange song and after clearing a corner we put our binocs on it and both of us melted right there(not by the 100 degree heat but by the pure handsomeness of this bird!)!
Painted Bunting!!!
Both of the birds Walker and I found last winter were females, so finding this male kinda completed our Painted Bunted status in Maricopa County! After the bird dove into the thick mesquite bosque so we moved on, but later, on our way we found Mr. Pabu in the same spot!
Painted Bunting
Mr. Pabu made spot #2 not just because of Walker and I's luck with that species, but because how beautiful this bird was, how rare it was for Maricopa, how many birders got to see it (somewhere around 100 birders), and the circumstances we were in when we found this bird!
1. Spotted Owl!!!
On May 25th I explored the Slate Creek Divide area for the first time with Mr. Troy Corman. After checking out a few spots and getting me my 300th bird for Maricopa (Mexican Jay) we continued birding the area. Now a Spotted Owl had been seen at Slate Creek the year before by Mr. Tommy, but he had only seen the bird(s) at night. He had spent so many times searching the Slate Creek area for Spotted Owl day-roosts but he couldn't find one. For that reason I just threw away the thought of finding a Spotted Owl on my Slate Creek expedition. "If the King Of Maricopa can't find a Spotted Owl day-roost why would I be able to find one" is what I thought to myself as I scanned the through the forest. While Mr. Troy and I were hiking throughout the area I happened to look up a hill out in the distance and as soon as I spotted what appeared to be a fat blob in a tree I knew exactly what it was, a Spotted Owl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Spotted Owl!!!!!!!!!!
I quietly screamed (in other words, yelled) "Spotted Owl!!!" And Mr. Troy quickly turned around and calmly said "Really?! Where?" I pointed out the bird to him and we both had fantastic views of our Maricoper Spotted Owl! With Mr. Troy and I knowing the behavior of the Spotted Owl we approached the bird closer, only at a safe distance, and enjoyed amazing views of this threatened species.
Spotted Owl
While we observed the Spotty for a few minutes it probably only opened its eyes a couple times but when it did you could clearly see its amazing black eyes starring into my soul! Here are a couple photos of Mr. Spotty in his habitat.
Mr. Troy even snapped a photo of me and Mr. Spotty together! You're #1 Spotty, smile!
THANK YOU!!!!
Now I have a lot of people to thank for my big year! I must thank my parents first of all! Without them it wouldn't have happened, and they pretty much controlled how my year went. Thanks for being awesome, Mom and Dad!
I also want to thank my awesome friend, Alexia, for encouraging me not just on birding but on everything. Thank you for going birding with me so much, to put how much of an awesome friend you are into words is impossible (YOU'RE AWESOME AL!!!)
I then want to thank my three main birding mentors, Mr. Joe Ford, Mr. John Kafel, and Mr. Tommy DeBardeleben for teaching me everything!
Mr. Ford, you taught me pretty much how to bird, ever since I was a 12 year-old boy, and without you I'd be limited on my birding skills, you're an awesome teacher Mr. Ford, perhaps the best I know!
Mr. John, you have been encouraging to me in my birding carrier for a long time now and have taken me on chasing trips so many times, 300+ species in Maricopa County in one year wouldn't have been possible without you, thanks Mr. John!
Mr. Tommy, to be honest you are, no doubt, the best birder I know! You have taken me on many very important birding trips to get me many awesome birds for Maricopa and you have helped me a lot on birding-by-ear. Every time I go birding with you I learn knew things, you will always be The King Of Maricopa! You're an awesome friend, Mr. Tommy!
I also want to give a special thanks to my friends the Noe family!
Thanks Walker for being my BIRD HARD (!!!) partner in 2015! We tore up Maricopa County while you were here! And we will continue to tear up wherever we go!
Thanks My Bro (you know who you are) for also birding hard with me! You're awesome and you'll be a crazy good birder when you get older!
Also, thanks Caden for the encouragement on this post. You're awesome!
Other people to thank for my big year include: Mr. Troy, Joshua Smith, Mr. Paul, Ms. Haylie, Mr. Kurt, Ms. Susan, Ms. Barb, Mr. Gordon, and the whole Arizona Birding Community!
THANKS EVERYONE, IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU I REACHED 300+ IN MARICOPA IN 2015!!!
God Bless and BIRD HARD!!!
Caleb
