Part 2 of an Awesome Week of Birding

On February 7th I went on a rarity ramble across the East Valley with Mr. Gordon Karre. We met at the Rio Salado Audubon Center early in the morning to head over to Coon Bluff. I had gone to Coon Bluff three days before, with Mr. Tommy and missed a beautiful adult Harris's Sparrow that has been hanging out with a small flock of White-crowned Sparrows. Mr. Gordon saw this bird about a week ago and crushed it, so I guess Mr. Gordon seems to be a HASP magnet. We arrived at Coon Bluff before the sun rose, so we birded around the the river for a bit before heading towards the sparrow spot. Coon Bluff is one of the best spots in the state to see Phainopepla. Everywhere we looked there was a Phainopepla or two on top of a mesquite! Here are some photos of the abundant species seen around the mesquite bosque areas.

Vermilion Flycatcher

Gila Woodpecker

I present to you "The Phainopepla!"

Phainopepla--Male

Phainopepla--Female

Gila Woodpecker with a Phainopepla in the background

Once the sun rose we drove over to the spot where the Harris's has been seen.We then hiked through the area for a good hour before walking onto the other side of the road. After coming up empty on the other side of the road Mr. Gordon asked me "So what do you want to do now Caleb?" I then told him "Maybe we could check the area one more time, really quick" So we searched the area where the sparrow has been seen most of the time. Mr. Gordon and I then split up a little ways when I saw a sparrow right in front of me, when I lifted my binocs this is what I saw.

A few things stood out with this bird: it had a bright bill and legs, it had whitish flanks, and its face was plain. That was when I knew it was the Harris's Sparrow!!! The bird then perched on the ground in the shade of the tree (which I guess it does a LOT!) 

Harris's Sparrow

After the bird flew away I then got Mr. Gordon and told him I had the bird. His excitement all of a sudden rose and we found our selves getting great shaded looks at the Hansom Harris's!

Harris's Sparrow

After watching the bird for a while it even came out into the light!

Harris's Sparrow

We then told Harris goodbye and drove over to our next stop at ASU, where a Chestnut-sided Warbler had been seen. As soon as we arrived I started pishing and the bird responded very well!

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Then we drove over to Arrowhead to look for a Eurasian Wigeon that has been seen over the winter. When Mr. Gordon parked the car he quickly saw it from across the pond. Once we walked around the lake we were rewarded with amazing views, and at one time I could have picked up the bird! Hey, that's not a bad idea, I could kidnap the bird and drop it off at one of the ponds on my Patch and count it for my patch list! Nah, I guess I have to find my own.

Eurasian Wigeon

After watching the wigeon for a while we returned to Rio Salado to do a little birding before a class, that was at the Audubon Center. We didn't see anything out of the ordinary but I saw I super strange back lit Gadwall, that made me think of a Red-necked Grebe! I had a fun day of birding and got two more lifers, once again (HASP and EUWI). Thanks Mr. Gordon for the enjoyable day of lifering!

Birding the Hassayampa River and Lake Pleasant with a bit of SAS in the mix

On October 29th I was invited to go on a birding trip to the Hassayampa River Preserve by Mr. Paul Doucett. We were planning to bird the US 60 rest stop (along the Hassayampa River) before the preserve opens at 8:00AM and then bird the preserve, and after all of that we would drive on up to Lake Pleasant. The first bird I saw when we arrived at the rest stop was a beautiful male Vermilion Flycatcher.

  After birding the rest stop for about 50 minutes we hiked back to the car when my brother spied this Red-naped Sapsucker that allowed us get within about five feet from him!

 We then drove about a mile down the highway and turned off onto the short dirt road that leads to the Hassayampa River Preserve. Once we parked we met up with the Sonoran Audubon Society (SAS), watched the hummingbird feeders for anything different, paid our fee, and then started birding the picnic area. But before I get any further, here is a photo of one of the many Anna's Hummingbirds.

 Now lets get back to the picnic area. The picnic area (which is just behind the visitor center) holds some very nice birds and as I walked around the palms I spied three Band-tailed Pigeons! However, I was only able to photograph of of the three due to the tree being very thick with leaves and branches.
Booya, a double pigeon species day! I nearly had a heart attack when I had a flock of Rock Pigeons fly over, but Band-tailed Pigeons?! Someone call an ambulance!!!

Luckily everyone was able to see the pigeons, I didn't want any doubt in the air. The pigeons took flight a couple times but kept on returning to the same tree. Unfortunately we couldn't spend to much time on the pigeons because we had a walk to start! The first trail we picked was the Palm Lake Loop, we decided to bird the east side of the loop. We then took a shortcut on the Willow Walkway and right before we reached the PLL again our group spotted five more BTPI's!

Many birds later we reached the Mesquite Meander trail (home to a pair of nesting Tropical Kingbirds in the summer) but the many dead snags didn't hold anything strange.While I was watching the sky I found Mr. Paul's target bird of the trip the Harris's Hawk!

There was also a juvenile Cooper's Hawk watching us through the thick riparian forest.

After the Mesquite Meander, we hiked over to the River Ramble trail where we split off from the group who were leaving. Along the river we had a few mixed flocks which held many Yellow-rumped, and Orange-crowned Warblers, as well as Ruby-crowned Kinglets, there were also smaller numbers of Cassin's Vireos, Black-throated Gray Warblers, Bridled Titmouses, and Hermit Thrushes. After stopping at the end of the Lykes Lookout trail we headed back to the picnic area where I photographed this Hermit Thrush.

Once we were done eating our lunches we drove over to Lake Pleasant.  Mr. Tommy D has been seeing some Herring Gulls, so that was my target bird. We birded the Maricopa side of the lake first. The Maricopa side did not have much to note, but Mr. Paul did get his lifer Ring-billed Gulls.

After we covered most of the stops along the Maricopa side of the lake, we drove to the one stop on the Yavapai side which was the same spot where I got my lifer California Gull last time I was there. As soon as we stopped I started scanning, it did not take me long to find a juvenile Herring Gull flying towards us!
                                                                 Herring Gull Life bird 320!!!

Surprisingly the Herring Gull was not a life bird for Mr. Paul! With Mr. Paul being from the east coast he thought it was funny seeing a gull with the desert behind it! Our day ended with a pair of Common Ravens and a Side-blotched Lizard, who unlike the other lizards that usually show off on how good they are at push-ups just sat there posing for photos.
                                                                Common Raven

                                                                   Side-blotched Lizard

I hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for reading! I also must thanks Mr. Paul and the SAS for great day of birding with many highlights!