My First Young Birder's Camp (Part 2)

After our second day of birding, I again set my alarm for five in the morning so Walker and I could get an early start to our last day of the camp and bird hard! Before we began birding we were joined by another one of the young birders. As soon as we walked down into the creek behind the Research Station there was a flock of Mexican Jays mobbing us.

Mexican Jay--With some bling-bling in his wrists!

Even though we were birding hard we couldn't seem to find any Buff-breasted Flycatchers! Before long our hour was up and it was time for us to make a quick stop by Cave Creek Canyon--South Fork where we would once again try for Elegant Trogons. To no surprise we ended up unsuccessful, but bird numbers were a lot higher than the previous day due to it being in the morning. After returning back to camp and eating lunch we drove over to Stateline Road. Stateline Road it is right on the border of New Mexico and Arizona. Walker and I were exited to bring our NM state lists from 0 to over 12. This stop was fairly short and unproductive but we made the most of that ten minutes! Our next and last stop of  camp was in the town of  Portal where we basically walked up the road and checked out a few feeders. While most everyone took a bathroom break I birded around the area and picked up quite a few good birds.

Pyrrhuloxia

Blue Grosbeak

Barn Swallow

 Bronzed Cowbird

As I write this post the brutal thought still goes through my head that we missed AZ's first record of Clay-colored Thrush by a mile, A MILE!!!!!!! No, I am not fooling with you birders, someone just reported a Clay-colored Thrush in their yard in Portal a few days ago! After a little while Mr. John Yerger spotted yet another owl, only this one was a Western Screech on its day roost.

Western Screech-Owl

Once we headed back to the Station we ate lunch and everyone said their goodbyes. However, Mr. Ford and I were not quite done birding yet! We had plans to go birding at Madera Canyon for a little while before heading back to Buckeye. On our way to Madera I was pretty tired (first time I've ever been tired on a birding trip!) but that all changed when we stopped by a gas station and I bought a forty-some ounce cup of soda and gulped it up! When we arrived at the lower elevations of Madera Canyon we stopped in hopes of finding Boteri's and/or Cassin's Sparrows. It didn't take me long to find my 4th lifer of the trip, a Boteri's Sparrow!

Boteri's Sparrow

We heard at least two or three other Boteri's calling or singing but they kept themselves hidden. We didn't hear or see any Cassin's Sparrows but an awesome surprise came when I was listening and I heard the "kit kerr, kit kerr, kit kerr" call of the Scaled Quail (lifer and target bird)! But the area where I heard them from was fenced off, so I didn't try much on attempting for a visual. We then made a short stop at the Santa Rita Lodge where I happened to look down and see a female Varied Bunting, but by the time it hit me that it was a Varied the bird had hopped into a thick bush.

Varied Bunting-- Lifer #7 of the Trip!!!

While we watched the hummingbird feeders in hopes of a Mexican Vagrant flying in we talked with a few people about an area where they have had good luck on Black-capped Gnatcatchers and after getting some directions we found ourselves along with another couple of birders who were from Ohio at the parking lot of our last birding destination of the trip! The couple said that the BCGN was one of their target birds for their AZ trip so the pressure was on to find this bird. In the past I have only seen this species once and it was a female that was pointed out to me as she sat on her nest, so I have never actually seen them doing much. The lady who told us about the birds said that the BCGNs are usually about a mile down the trail but we didn't exactly have enough time to hike a mile so we were pretty much winging it. As we were hiking along the trail I heard a Black-capped Gnatcatcher call, we waited to see if the bird would come out of the thick brush but it didn't. While we were waiting for the gnatcatcher we had amazing views of a couple of Dusky-capped Flycatchers.

Dusky-capped Flycatcher

Losing the gnatcatcher was pretty disappointing but we decided to hike further. Our group then started to break up but everything changed when I spied the bird low in a mesquite!

Black-capped Gnatcatcher

I yelled "Guys I have the bird!" and before long we all had great views and even a few okay photos of the adult male Black-capped Gnatcatcher as it actively fed in front of us.

Black-capped Gnatcatcher

The BCGN is a rare but increasing gnatcatcher that resides in Mexico and now, several areas in southeastern AZ. To identify the Black-capped from its more common Black-tailed and Blue-gray cousins it is best to use its all white undertail, long bill, and all black mask (with no white at all above and usually below eye). Seeing this bird was an awesome way to end the trip and before we reached the car I even had brief views of another!!  A huge thanks goes out to my Mom and Dad, Mr. Tom, Mr. Ford, Walker, and the trip leaders for making this happen and making it fun!!! A weekend I will remember always " My first Young Birders Camp".  I would encourage any, especially novice young birders to look it up and go next year.

A Well Needed Trip to SE AZ (Part 1)

On April 8th and 9th I took an fun trip down to Southeast Arizona with Mr. John, and Janet Kafel, as well as Mrs. Janet's daughter and grandson Mrs. Jennifer and Ren. I had only been to SE AZ once before, and that was also a two day trip and was very birdy. Mr. John arrived at my house at 6:00AM, we reached our first destination, the Sweetwater Wetlands, where we searched for a Baltimore Oriole that had spent the winter at this hotspot, but we had bad news when a local birder told us that the oriole had not been seen for a few days and had most likely moved on. We came up empty with the BAOR but we did see many Yellow Warblers and a couple of Soras chasing each other and even swimming out in the open!

Yellow Warbler

Sora

After doing a little birding at Sweetwater we drove over to the Gilbert Ray Campground near the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum where we were going to set up camp and stay overnight. While Mr. John was signing in at the desk I heard what sounded like a cardinal but it didn't sound right, and that was when I realized it was my lifer Pyrrhuloxia! I then got some okay views of the bird but it stayed back in the brush. We then found our camping site and I did a little birding in a nearby wash where I heard and then saw another lifer, a couple of Rufous-winged Sparrows!

Rufous-winged Sparrow (Bird #1)

(Bird #2)

If you look at the birds shoulder you will see a little rufous coloring on it. thus came the name "Rufous-winged Sparrow".

After I was done studying my lifer Mr. John and I started setting up camp when his family arrived. We then drove over to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum where I saw some amazing (non-wild) mammals, birds, reptiles, and more! 

Ocelot 

Bighorn Sheep

Mountain Lion

Mexican Gray Wolf

Yellow X Black-headed Grosbeak Hybrid

Pyrrhuloxia X Northern Cardinal Hybrid

After eating at a nice mexican restaurant in Tucson I had the privilege of leading Ren (who is 9 years old) on his first ever birding adventure. We hiked around in the nearby wash and I was able to show him some long named desert birds like Pyrrhuloxia and Phainopepla. While we were hiking through the wash keeping our eyes peeled for birds and other wildlife Ren spotted an awesome Long-nosed Snake slithering right by our feet!

Long-nosed Snake

Mr. John and I started the next morning early when we woke up at 12:30AM to the sound of Western Screech, and Great Horned Owls, as well as a Common Poorwill. We then went back to sleep and woke up to officially started the day at 5:30AM. However, I had to settle the score with one bird before leaving the campground and that was to get at least one decent photo of the Pyrrhuloxia! So after stripping down the tents, rolling up the sleeping bags, and saying farewell to Mrs. Janet, Mrs. Jennifer, and Ren I started my trek to crush the "Desert Cardinal". I started by searching in the very birdy wash. I could hear a Northern Cardinal calling but I couldn't hear any PYRRs, so I hiked further down to where I could hear one singing, and I walked up to the saguaro that it was singing on and had great views.

Pyrrhuloxia

The bird then flew down low into the brush chasing what I believe was his mate. So I followed the call and eventually got an eye level photo!

Pyrrhuloxia 

Once I was done photographing this amazingly beautiful bird I walked back to camp when Mr. John and I decided it was about time to head to Florida Canyon to search for my main target bird for the trip, the Black-capped Gnatcatcher. Stay tuned to find out how my gnatcatcher quest goes!