Happy Owling!!!

Recently, I have been behind on posting about my birding adventures, but I have finally broken that curse with this post! As usual the summer marks the time when I go camping with my family to Happy Jack Lodge every other weekend. During the first few weekends that we were there I decided to spend my time birding during the night instead of the day, or at least for the most part. So this summer I have spent many nights owling in the cool pines of Happy Jack. Most of these hikes were unproductive (with many of them producing no birds AT ALL!!!), however, there were two or three trips that were pretty awesome! The first night I owled was just flat-out depressing, because, I didn't hear a single bird! The next night I went owling again only in a slightly different area. After hiking for about a half mile I stopped and listened and could hear two super distant Flammulated Owls, lifer!!! I have to admit though, hearing these birds was pretty cool but I was trying for what only a hand full of people have done, and that is to not just see this elusive species but to photograph it! The second night I didn't have the chance to do so, but I did end up hearing three different Flams calling! The third night I owled was unproductive as well as the forth and fifth nights. The sixth night I wasn't planning on owling but I decided that I would walk up to the edge of the forest to listen for a couple minutes. While I was listening I all the sudden heard a Flam give its single "poot" call a few times!!! I then ran back to camp to let my parents know that I was gonna hike down into the forest to search for this bird when my mom offered to come with me. So there we were, my mom and I hiking down the dark and nearly endless forest in search of a 6.75" tall bird! Once we reached the spot where I was hearing the bird I was pumped to hear that the bird was still calling! Once I locaed the direction where the bird was calling, we quickly started hiking towards it. Once we reached a spot where the bird sounded like it was fairly close we started scanning through the treetops with my flashlight when we both caught sight of the bird flying away! We then followed the direction of where the bird was when we again reached a point where the bird sounded fairly close. This time instead of the bird flushing from about 20' away it flushed from 5'!!!!! I was totally confused at how the bird sounded like it was 20'-30' away when it was only 5'! This time when the bird flew off I kept the flash light on the Flam as it flew and saw where it landed!!!

Flammulated Owl (taken without a flash)

Once I got my mom on the bird we then walked a little closer to the bird and had even better views!

Flammulated Owl

Watching the Flammulated Owl and getting to observe it while it actively hunted for nearly an hour was probably my best "Booya Moment" bird-wise! While we watched this guy for a while his mate even came in to see what was going on, but she didn't stay around very long. By the time my mom said that it was getting late I had a whole bunch of photos of this guy!

Flammulated Owl

After that night of owling I didn't have any extreme birding moments like that but I did see that Flam two more times and even heard my second owl lifer at Happy Jack, a Long-eared Owl! I hope you enjoyed my Flammulated Owl post and I look forward to seeing this species again in the future! Cheers to the Flams!!!

Warbler Hybrid ID: Conclusionish

Hi All!!!
Regarding my last post, after getting replies from many birders from around the county (including some of the country's best birders) I haven't gotten a 100% sure answer from anyone. However, many of those great birders said that the bird wasn't a pure American Redstart but it definitely had AMRE blood. Most of the birders replied saying that the bird looked like an American Redstart X Parula sp. hybrid. Although it does sound bizarre that a Tropical Parula would cross breed with an American Redstart, one of the birders pointed out that some of the tropical warblers will breed on their wintering grounds, which is in Mexico where American Redstarts also winter at. But American Redstarts have also been known to crossbreed with Northern Parulas which was another thought that those birders had.
Thanks to all who replied to me!

Warbler Hybrid ID

Hi all!!!
Recently I was birding on my patch in Buckeye (West Phoenix), AZ and I noticed a very strange warbler, I am pretty sure that it is a hybrid of some sort and it looked like it has a lot of American Redstart in it but there were a few fields marks that didn't make sense. Any help with the ID of this bird will be deeply appreciated!
Bird Hard!!!
Caleb

Hitting the Jackpot!!!

Recently after going to the birding camp up in the Chiris I have kept in touch with Walker Noe, he and I talked about birding at the B and M and maybe even Tres Rios if we had the time. Now, neither Walker nor I are what I would call experienced planners. After going back and forth on where we should bird at we finally decided to just meet at the B and M and wing-it from there. I had one target bird for the day and that was the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, which I have heard but never seen in the county, and Walker also had one main target which was his very overdue lifer Barn Owl. As soon as we arrived at the B and M we were greeted by an Osprey who posed for us.

Osprey

Once we started walking north along the road it didn't take us long to locate my target Yellow-billed.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

We gave up trying to get better views of the cuckoo shortly after losing the bird. We then decided to look for our second target of the day, the Barn Owl. Somehow three of the four fledgling Barn Owls died and after finding bullet shells under where the fledglings were staying it kinda summed up my investigation. However, one of the fledglings survived and the parents are still healthy.

Barn Owl

After locating these birds we were content with our day, but we looked at the clock and saw that it was only 6:00A.M. and we still had nearly five hours left to bird! So, from the B and M we hiked east towards the west end of the Tres Rios Overbank Wetlands. On our way there we had to hike through a quarter mile of barren ground which is excellent for Lesser Nighthawks, we even found a female incubating two little brown eggs.

Lesser Nighthawk

After observing the nighthawks we hiked further to the west end of Tres Rios which has many mature cottonwoods. On our way we passed by a nice green area which looked like it would be good habitat for almost any eastern vagrant and I jokingly said "What if there was a Painted Bunting in this patch?!" We laughed at how unlikely that would be but I have been having a lot of luck when it comes to pointing out stuff like that, so who knows! Before long we reached the west end of Tres Rios where we picked up a few more awesome species, like two more Yellow-billed Cuckoos, a Bullock's Oriole, a few more Blue Grosbeaks, and Walker's overdue lifer Yellow-breasted Chat. While scanning the large trees in search of anything else we decided to hike towards 91st Avenue which is about 2.5 miles from the west end. While Walker and I were talking and laughing at dumb "bird jokes" I spied a super distant bird on the top of a mesquite tree. After putting my binocs on I thought of many birds in my head "Baltimore Oriole? No. Orchard Oriole? No. What the heck, Walker, I see a male Painted Bunting!!!!!!!"

Painted Bunting!!!!

For a split second Walker thought I was just joking with him, but once he saw that I was serious we both nearly had heart-attacks!! The PABU was in an area where we couldn't get any closer because the trees were too thick to see through, but we enjoyed our distant but unbelievably awesome discovery! The bird then popped down into the super thick jungle of mesquites and we then decided to move on and see if our blessed day would get any better. While Walker and I were hiking further along the road we were still in shock of the amazing bird and we couldn't stop saying "What the HECK!!!". Once we reached the area where the trail splits into two we took the other side of the trail back west. The first area we checked out was a thick jungle of willows. While we scanned the area a Barn Owl flushed and a flock of forty-some grackles came out of nowhere and nearly harassed the owl to death! We continued on our way back to the bunting when Walker walked up to the edge of some reeds and I quietly screamed "STOP!" Walker turned around as if I screamed bloody murder (which I probably did). I then pointed out a Least Bittern about ten feet away!

Least Bittern

Least Bitterns are always a treat to see and I never take them for granted. The first time I had good looks of a Least Bittern, I actually heard it giving a very strange call first and after scanning the area where the call was coming from for over five minutes I finally found the source of the sound and I nearly fell in the lake in astonishment! Since then I have seen MANY Least Bitterns and I always stop to look at this awesome marsh-dwelling heron. After observing one of my favorite birds we had to move on as the heat was starting to creep up on us a little ("a little" as in "a little" over 100 degrees!), and before reaching the bunting spot a flock of three Caspian Terns flew over!

Caspian Tern

After the terns flew over, Walker and I had to try to avoid seeing or hearing any other birds so that our brains wouldn't explode from birding too hard! But despite our attempt we couldn't stop from hearing the song of the male Painted Bunting creeping in our muffled ears! However, Walker and I endured the pain of our exploded brains (and the now 105 degree heat) and searched for the singing bunting once again. This time the bunting was a lot more cooperative and provided mind-blowing views!

Painted Bunting

For you readers who survived the mind blow here are a couple less shocking photos.

Painted Bunting

Seeing all of these awesome birds was awesome! The PABU took the cake, no doubt in any mind, while the owls, nighthawks, and cuckoos gave the cake the perfect amount of icing, but after adding the Osprey crush, the Least Bittern crush, and the Caspian Terns flying over, I think the cake was inedible, but I still took it and here I am alive and unhealthy! After the awesome half day of birding with Walker I returned to the B and M and Tres Rios a few days later to show Mr. Joe Ford and Mr. Paul Doucett the bunting. We didn't just find the bunting but had great views of a Great Horned Owl!

Painted Bunting

Great Horned Owl

Seeing the Great Horned was kinda like a welcome to the the owler's club. Why am I all the sudden a huge owl fan? Well you'll have to wait till my next post to find out. But until then keep those nocs in reach and "Bird HARD!!!"

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.