Green Kingfisher at Hassayampa River Preserve

Kingfishers have always been some of my favorite birds. Their huge bills and stocky proportions really make then stand out, and their foraging habits are quite interesting. The Belted Kingfisher is known to hover above a body of water before diving in for small fish or insects. The rarer (as least in the USA) Green Kingfisher tends to fish from perches.

The Green Kingfisher is particularly rare in the USA and is only a consistent resident in South Texas. Most years there are also a handful of sightings in the San Pedro River area of extreme SE AZ, or sometimes around Patagonia Lake, also extreme SE AZ. In fact, I was planning a trip to San Pedro (hoping to go in April) with the main goal to see a Green Kingfisher. Little did I know one was planning to come up my way!

In late February the first report came in that a Green Kingfisher had been seen at Hassayampa River Preserve just WNW of Phoenix near Wickenburg. I made the short trip up there Saturday March 6, and fairly quickly was able to locate the bird (along with 6 or so other birders).



For what it's worth, this bird is the first Green Kingfisher known to stray into Maricopa County, and it is also the furthest north one has ever been spotted in Arizona. According to Bird Life International, this species is thought to be expanding in numbers. Combine that with a general trend of southern birds showing up further and further north, and this may not be the last to show in Maricopa County.



Like so many birds, it tends to return habitually to the same perches, so once you know where to look it is easy to find.

On a related note, this was my first trip to the Hassayampa River Preserve. This is a Nature Conservancy Preserve and contains some pristine riparian habitat. The Hassayampa originates in northern AZ and actually flows underground for much of its path, but emerges for about 5 miles around the preserve.

Other birds seen at the preserve include Vermillion Flycatcher, Cedar Waxwings (flock of 15+), American Robins (which have been prolific in the low deserts this winter), and even a Red-Shouldered Hawk, which is also rare for AZ. Total species seen was only 20, but they were all good ones!

Hepatic Tanager

Yesterday late afternoon I had a tanager show up briefly in our mesquite tree. What caught my ear was its unique single-syllable call that it was repeating every couple of seconds. It stayed about 3 minutes - long enough for me to locate it, go inside and get my camera, and then take a couple of photos.

I'm still relatively new to Arizona, but based on what I know about tanagers a winter appearance is not common. According to distribution maps in my field guides, Hepatic Tanager is the only regular winter tanager, with a range limited to the southeast Arizona 'sky islands'. While my location is fairly far south in Arizona, it is in the low desert in an area with little habitat diversity (aside from the young trees and shrubs planted in our small community). It's fairly distant from typical Hepatic habitat.




I was leaning towards Hepatic due to bill proportion, head shape, the grayish auriculars, and the single-note call. This identification was confirmed by a number of experts on the BIRWWG05 forum. And in the mean time it has already made another appearance on Feb 1.

Rufous-backed Robin and Other Highlights

Another rare Mexican bird has turned up in Arizona - a Rufous-backed Robin. In fact, there have been a handful of Rufous-backed Robins reported in southern Arizona over the last few years, and as many as two were spotted at the same time at Boyce Thompson Arboretum over the last couple of weeks. This bird is one that has been consistently seen at Boyce Thompson for about 4-6 weeks.

The Rufous-backed Robin looks a little like the American Robin that is so common across much of North America. However, this bird tends to spend more time in shrubs and trees and less time eating worms. It is also a bit more secretive and retiring than the American Robin. As such, it rarely presented any photographic opportunities.


Rufous-backed Robin

Boyce Thompson has been a little slow for birding in the last month or two, but it seems that there are always Northern Cardinals willing to put on a show.


Northern Cardinal

The big highlight at Boyce Thompson lately has been a Coatimundi, a sort of raccoon relative. Unfortunately, I just missed seeing it, and a photographer at the scene commented that it was "flushed" out by another photographer, and he'd gotten some very nice photos of it. Unfortunately, it was probably a bit scared of all the commotion, and despite waiting for over an hour at its favorite feeding site, I never saw it.

I also tried a new birding spot (for me) - Granite Reef recreation area along the Salt River - only about 7 miles north of east Mesa. Granite Reef dam has created a nice sized and fairly deep lake, presenting one of the best spots locally to see ducks and waterfowl that prefer large and deep lakes. The dense reeds and riparian habitat along the lake make for excellent spots to see Sora, Bewicks Wren, warblers, and many other types of birds.

Highlights were Golden-crowned Kinglets, which usually don't travel to such low elevations in Arizona, as well as many ducks (Bufflehead, Canvasback, Redhead) that are not typically seen on shallow recharge basins and city ponds.


Granite Reef Recreation Area


Golden-crowned Kinglet


Canvasback

My day actually started with a visit to the Gilbert Water Ranch where over 50 species of birds were seen, along with the usual assortment of rabbits and feral cats. Some wintering Cattle Egrets were the most interesting find. From what I read, Cattle Egrets used to be quite rare in the winter in southern Arizona, but it seems that I've seen them each of the last 3 years now. Cattle Egrets can be easily overlooked if there are many other egrets in the area - especially Snowy Egrets. The Snowy Egrets are also white and about the same size, but the cattle egrets posture and behavior is slightly different. The most noticeable difference in appearance is the shorter bill, evident in the picture below.


Cattle Egret

Other interesting birds included a juvenile Vermillion Flycatcher:



The usual Black-crowned Night-herons:


An American Kestrel:


A Pied-billed Grebe:

Paper Wasps

Melanie spotted a wasp nest in the back yard the other day, and its location goes to show how well wasp nests can just blend in. Paper wasps are known for often constructing their nests in conspicuous areas, often under the eaves of houses. However, they also like to construct them on the under side of branches and limbs, as is the case here. Of course, this picture doesn't do it justice since I photographed it from an unobstructed direction.




Moving closer, you can partly see a wasp on the backside of the nest:


And closer still:



I didn't see much in the way of activity at the nest the few times I've checked on it. Most wasps are much less active this time of year, and it might be the case for this species as well. In fact, I haven't been able to confirm the exact species because I haven't gotten a good look, but I am assuming Golden Paper Wasp.

Paper wasps are known for having a particularly painful sting, even as wasps go, so I haven't tried to stick my head into the bushes to get a better look.

And keeping with the wasp and bee theme of this post, here is a honey bee on a Mexican Blood Flower. Honey bees (most are the Africanized kind around here) are still very active this time of year. In fact, only on the coldest few days of the year do they seem to disappear.



The above photo was with a 300 mm f/4.0 handheld. I was unlucky in that it focused on the bee's body rather than his head.

Grand Canyon

Saturday October 24 marked my first excursion into the Grand Canyon (and first trip to the Canyon since moving to Arizona over 3 years ago). The itinerary for the day was moderately aggressive - a 4 AM wake-up in Tusayon, drive to the Bright Angel Lodge, take a shuttle bus to the South Kaibab trailhead, and hopefully be on the trail before sunrise. We'd take that trail to the canyon bottom, cross the Colorado River to Phantom Ranch to meet some friends for a short 30-45 minute break, then head back over the river to the Bright Angel trail and back up to the South Rim.

Things went pretty much according to plan, though we didn't reach the trailhead until just past 6 AM (about 30 minutes later than we wanted). Our party of 4 was entirely out of the canyon by 2:30 PM, with some out by 2 PM.

South Kaibab begins on the South Rim at about 7200 feet elevation. The temperature was likely in the upper 20's. Sunrise occurred about 30 minutes into the hike, and provided for some brilliant red/orange lighting of the already reddish rock.





About an hour or two after sunrise, photography in the canyon gets very difficult. The rock faces and bright sun make for very high contrast scenes that cameras just don't handle well without playing some tricks. With no tripod on the hike, I had to rely on handheld shots, which further limits some of the tricks that can be played to improve the dynamic range of the photos.

Around 7:30 AM the Colorado River first comes into view. The photo below demonstrates the issues with the high contrast scene. The shadows are too dark and the sunlit areas look bland, and this is after some photoshoping.



With a tripod, I could have bracketed my exposures and merged them for a more pleasing view. Maybe next time.

Continuing down the canyon, the vegetation begins to noticeably change. The rim is lined with Ponderosa Pine and some fir trees. Gambels Oak are seen just below the rim (and perhaps even at the rim, though I didn't see any). Shortly there after, pinyon pine and juniper begin to take over. There are some yuccas and cacti on the rim, but these increase in variety and number through the descent.



A solitary Desert Bighorn Sheep was seen about 1/2 way down the canyon. It was first spotted a few hundred yards away - you can see it in the middle of the frame below the trail in this photo. You can click on any of the photos for a larger view.



The sheep was heading towards the trail, so we picked up the pace and nearly caught up to it by the time it reached the trail. The sheep had no concern for us, and continued down the trail at a slow pace for a few minutes.



It eventually went above the trail and posed for a couple of pictures. It soon got tired of our gawking and started towards us, making it clear that he'd had enough and wanted us to move on.





Another great view awaited us, with the Colorado in the foreground and great rock formations in the background. Again, the photo doesn't do the scenes justice due to the contrast.




Once at the bottom of the canyon, we cross the bridge over the Colorado River. Here is the bridge and some views from on it:





This point marked about 4800 feet of descent.



Along the river and tributaries numerous deer were foraging among willows and grass. They were extremely tame, used to campers at the nearby Phantom Ranch facility.



While at the bottom, nearby canyon walls obscure the taller more distant walls. From this vantage point you'd have no idea how large of a canyon you were in.



We crossed the river again to connect to the Bright Angel trail.





After a steep 15-20 minute ascent, hikers get a view of just how much higher they have to go.



The first 60-90 minutes of Bright Angel has 3 or 4 stream crossings. The trail runs parallel to a stream for awhile, providing a nice winding line of Fremont Cottonwood trees and a cooling effect. Temperatures at the canyon bottom can be 25-35 degrees warmer than the south rim, and 40 or more warmer than the north rim.





Bright Angel doesn't provide many great photographic opportunities as you reach the middle and upper elevations. I skipped the few that did occur as my focus turned to maintaining a pace and getting out of the canyon. I made it around 2:30 PM despite being slowed by a flare up of some knee pain. The total length was 18 miles, with 4800 feet of descent, and about 4400 feet on the ascent (Bright Angel trailhead is about 400 feet lower than South Kaibab).

Here is a shot of the team, me behind the lens, Paul, Xarold, and Chris:

Low Desert Birds in Maricopa

My wife and I have lived in Maricopa, AZ for a little over 3 years now. Maricopa is located in the middle of the low Sonoran desert south of Phoenix - some of the hottest and driest areas of Arizona. The land is quite flat and only light desert scrub grows in most of the area. While much of the Sonoran desert is relatively lush, that is not the case in the surrounding areas.

The closest areas with decent vegetation and more varied habitat are the Maricopa mountains about 10-15 miles WSW, the Table Top wilderness about 25-30 miles south, the Estrella Mountains about 15-25 miles WNW, and a variety of washes that are dry for 10 or 11 months of the year (including the Santa Rosa wash that meanders through the town but only has sparse Palo Verde and shrubs).



Southern Arizona is known for its diverse wildlife, but most of that diversity comes from the "sky islands" - scattered mountain ranges reaching to 9000' providing sanctuaries and diverse habitat. Maricopa, on the other hand, is located in the middle of a dry, baron land that doesn't provide much shade, water, or cover for wildlife.

However, Maricopa's location may actually provide a lot of potential for bird life in the future, however. The town is by and large a new city, having really sprung up during the housing boom in the 2004-2007 era. Prior to that, it was a small agricultural community with just a few hundred residences. Now the population is thought to exceed 30,000.

How is this good for wildlife, and more specifically bird life? Well, it may not be good for year-round low desert inhabitants such as snakes, the Sonoran Desert Toad, and other hearty species. But Maricopa's location may provide an "oasis" affect for migratory birds. With homes comes diverse vegetation, bird baths, water fountains, irrigation, and man-made lakes and ponds. As time progresses all of the new/immature landscaping planted in the last few years will begin to grow and provide improved habitat.

In my own back yard our maturing landscaping is continually resulting in new bird arrivals. Orioles are becoming more common, migrants not previously seen are showing up fairly regularly, and more desert regulars are showing up. Below is one example of a migrant - a Western Tanager that has shown up twice in the last two weeks.



Our yard has attracted 5 warbler species including the Yellow-Breasted Chat, 5 hummingbird species, 2 oriole species, and lesser goldfinch (which take up residence for 9 months of the year) - in all 37 species of birds. That number expands to 45 when including sitings are ponds within town. While 37 (or even 45) is not a lot compared to the potential, this is not bad considering such low desert staples as Gila Woodpecker, Curve-Billed Thrasher, Cactus Wren, and Northern Mockingbird have yet to make an appearance.

Brown Pelican in Arizona

A posting on a local online forum alerted me to the fact that a Brown Pelican showed up on a small pond (approximately 2 acres) in my hometown of Maricopa, AZ. Brown Pelicans aren't extremely rare in Arizona, though they are uncommon. Unlike White Pelicans, Brown Pelicans infrequently leave coastal areas, and tend to like deeper water where they can fish by diving head first from the air. It is a little odd that this pelican showed up so far inland on such a small pond.




There have been several cases of western Brown Pelicans becoming disoriented and ending up in places they typically don't inhabit. This made the news quite a bit in 2008 and early 2009, where cases of Brown Pelicans walking onto busy freeways, hitting boats, and one case where a bird ended up on a snow covered peak highlighted the issue. This bird in Maricopa appeared in good health. It flew around the park one a couple of occasions, and actively swam in the water. It didn't demonstrate any abnormal behavior that I could discern, though I'm not an expert.

The park where the pelican was seen (Pacana Park) is less than three years old, and I typically don't search for interesting birds at it. The vegetation is young and the lake is small, though it is stocked with fish. Other interesting birds seen at the park while the Pelican was there included Green Heron and a Neotropic Cormorant. Driving by in the past I've seen Great Blue Heron and Great Egret.