Month: March 2019

The year is one fourth over already. I don’t know where it’s gone. Next thing you know it will be half over. Looking back, those early days of snowstorms are certainly a distant memory by now as it reaches 70 daily now. And I already have a long list of highlights, like: chasing and seeing a mega-rarity – White-throated Thrush; going way out there and getting LeConte’s Thrasher; the pure beauty of Mountain Bluebird; jet-setting to Miami for two very excellent rarities and back the next day; the regional specialties like Rose-throated Becard, Buff-breasted Flycatcher, and Black-capped Gnatcatcher; seeing birds I don’t see very often like Golden Eagle, Ferruginous Hawk, and Red-necked Phalarope; finding and watching my own Elf Owl; and finally catching up with Rough-legged Hawk and Green Kingfisher.

The next three months will be even more fun. Most of it will be spent out-of-state with chances for more life birds and even more highlights. I don’t really know how I’m doing in terms of the likelihood of reaching 500 but I do know I have not missed many birds so far. The biggest miss, Mountain Plover, I can always go back and get in November. The rarities we have come to expect – Sinaloa Wren, Rufous-backed Robin, and Tufted Flycatcher – have failed to materialize this year. There are bound to be others to make up for this loss but I sure do miss them.

In the meantime, I’ll spend the next two weeks knocking off the spring migrants as they arrive, one-by-one. The list stands at 218 – only 282 to go.

Today I spent the morning at the acclaimed Ash Canyon B&B in Ash Canyon, Huachuca Mountains. Lucifer and Calliope Hummingbirds have just shown up in the past few days. Disregard yesterday’s eBird report of Berylline Hummingbird, a major rarity here – it was a case of mistaken identity and a disregard for the old adage: “When you hear hooves, think horses not zebras.”

Despite my patient 4 hour vigil, neither Lucifer nor Calliope showed. So to fill some space, I will tell you that Lucifer Hummingbird is not named for the devil himself, but instead is Latin for light-bearing. If you want to see this bird north of the border, this is the only reliable place there is. Calliope is Latinized Greek meaning pleasant sounding, like the instrument. Both species will continue to appear during the spring and also in the fall so more opportunities for these await.

What I like about May Jo’s is that it is a complete feeding station; it’s not just for hummingbirds. I counted over 30 species this morning, excluding the African Gray Parrot on Mary Jo’s shoulder. The complete photographically illustrated list can be seen here on my eBird report:
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S54383131

Afterwards I returned to Miller Canyon to try again for the goshawk but nothing doing.

That’s more like it! There’s my car parked in the Reserved Exclusive Executive parking spot at Ramsey Canyon. I guess they got the message – this is a Big Year! After walking up the canyon I came back down and sat next to the hummingbird feeders to see who would come along. Sure enough, there’s Deiter and Alicia, so the 3 of us plus one other person watched the feeders. Along came Black-chinned, Broad-billed, Broad-tailed, Rivoli’s, and – best of all – Rufous Hummingbird (216).

Lured by the mystique and intrigue of owls and nightjars, I went back for more tonight. Without too much trouble I heard and then even caught a glimpse of Common Poorwill (217) in Miller Canyon. Next stop was Carr House in Carr Canyon where I thought I heard Whiskered Screech-Owl two nights ago. After thirty minutes of listening I headed back to the car and stopped to listen again. There it was, a distant group of toots, probably the same bird I heard before – Whiskered Screech-Owl (218). Next time you do an ABA-area Big Year and you need this bird on your list, you must come here, its North American range is restricted to southeastern Arizona. So 2 hours of owling was good, and that’s all for now. I’ll get Mexican Whip-poor-will later without too much trouble, Barn Owl I can probably get more easily in Texas, and I’ll have to make a special effort later for Flammulated Owl.

On the way back down the hill I heard a loud commotion off to the right. I stopped and heard the raucous howling of a coyote party, a big bunch of little bandits really whooping it up. “We’re coyotes and it’s a Friday night!”

Today’s goal was Rufous Hummingbird at the Nature Conservancy’s Ramsey Canyon. I woke up at 5:30 but that was too early so I turned over. I didn’t get up until 7:30 and, a few crossword puzzles later, and I was at Ramsey Canyon at 9:00. The lot was full! Not a single empty space. Should I storm inside and demand to see the manager? “Do you know what you are doing?”, I would say. “Do you know who I am? Big Year rules apply! Do I have to call a tow truck myself and clear this parking lot?!” But I didn’t. I calmly and civilly drove through the parking lot, out the exit, and down the hill. Next stop was Carr House in Carr Canyon but the hummingbird feeder I saw there in January was missing and a “closed for winter” sign hung on the gate. On the way back through town, while stopped at a red light, adjacent to an empty lot, I heard the chewy song of Bell’s Vireo (213). John Graham Bell was a New York taxidermist who joined Audubon on his great Missouri River expedition of 1843. Then straight down to good old San Pedro House where I know there is plenty of room, if not Rufous Hummingbirds. Instead I found Black-chinned Hummingbird (214) at the feeders.

Pretty soon along came a silent Lucy’s Warbler (215) in the big cottonwood tree. The highlight of my hour or so there was a very high soaring Common Black Hawk migrating north. One of these days I’m going to put some effort into studying hawk migration in this valley because I still can’t believe there aren’t more than the handful we see each year.

Failing to see anything new this morning at San Pedro House, where once again we packed them to the rafters with about 40 visitors, I made a run for some night birding, a rich source for new ticks for the Big Year. As soon as I got out of the car I heard the silly laughing of Elf Owl (212). Farther up the road I’m sure I heard Whiskered Screech-Owl but it was brief and distant so I’ll let that one go for now. One of the Elf Owls was calling in the tree and another was flying around in the trees right overhead, branch to branch. I watched it catch a large moth and eat it. The bigger thrill was watching it fly around so close and finding it without any recordings. More calling nearby may have been a third Elf. This is where I mention that the two sand traps I’ve set out for this Big Year are native-only species and no tape playback. No gadgets, no devices, no clutter. Just me, binoculars, and the birds. Birding the way it used to be and the way it should be.

Now for the headline news. Last Sunday I was up Carr Canyon looking for and finding Cassin’s Finches. One other birder was up there. An out-of-stater with a rental car in the parking lot. I can spot a goofy beginner a mile away. He was all jazzed up in new LL Bean-type clothes and was very focused on playing tape for Buff-breasted Flycatcher. The flycatchers were all over the place so the last thing you needed was to play a recording. I sighed. As he walked closer all you cold hear was the rustling of clothes and gadgets. I rolled my eyes. I wanted to go over to him and tell him to put away all the contraptions. Focus! Bird! It was well I didn’t.

Last night I looked up the blog of John Weigel, reigning ABA Big Year Champion of 2016 with the extraordinary total of 783. He’s doing another Big Year this year. I clicked on his list and my jaw dropped. He was in Carr Canyon on Sunday and added Buff-breasted Flycatcher. Pictures of him on the blog matched the birder I saw in Carr Canyon! That was him! The champion! Imagine being a duffer golfer and running into Arnold Palmer on your backyard course. Imagine further you wanting to correct his swing! I mentioned in an earlier post about Weigel being at the White-throated Thrush sighting and wanting to meet him. Sunday I had my chance. Imagine, I could have learned his secrets, asked him “how?”, could he pass some of his magic my way. But I missed out. He was right there and I mistook the champ for a rank amateur. Now that I know to look for a tall, goofy, gadgety guy, I’ll be on the look out.

Birders have been seeing and/or hearing Northern Goshawk at Beatty’s Guest Ranch in Miler Canyon. I figured I better go up there now before things get busy around here. I’m thinking that this could be the only one I see this year. I put in my 4 hours of looking and waiting but not a bite, nothing. But not all was for naught – while sitting on a rock in the shade a Black-chinned Sparrow popped up not 10 yards away, my best look ever. Sitting still can be a good technique to see things up close since they don’t recognize you as they otherwise would – big and scary.

Plus I added two new ones: Scott’s Oriole (210) and Ash-throated Flycatcher (211). Tomorrow for sure I will add Lucy’s Warbler at the San Pedro House and maybe one or two others. I’ve been re-reading Noah Stryker’s Global Big Year Blog (noahstrker.com/projects/globalbigyear) and I was surprised to see how many days he would only add 1 or 2 or a handful of new species. But he “only” needed 14 a day – every day – to meet his goal of 5,000, which he easily exceeded. If I only get 1 bird a day for the rest of the year I will come up short of 500. But if I get just 2 more a day every day I will just about break the current ABA-area record.

I can’t believe its this close! Three weeks from today starts the most exciting 2 weeks of this Big Year. First I head off to Texas – by train! What a way to travel! They’re already calling it the “Adventure of the Century!” I start from Benson, just up the road and ride it all the way across the lonely southwestern desert to San Antonio. Just imagine: the parching heat, the biting flies, bandits, thieves, and card sharks – and that’s just in the Benson train station. When I get to San Antonio – city of the River Walk, the Alamo – I pick up a car and head for the hills to see two species I have longed to see: Golden-cheeked Warbler and Black-capped Vireo. Then it’s straight down to the Lower Rio Grande Valley for all the specialties of the border – Great Kiskadee, Green Jay, Plain Chachalaca. After a week of packing the List, it’s on to Florida, starting with Fort Myers – Sanibel Island, Corkscrew Swamp – then down to Key West for a boat ride out to the most storied islands in all of birding: the Dry Tortugas. I have to be home before May 1 – they hired me on as a bird guide for the celebrated Southwest Wings Birding Festival. For details about the guides and the festival see: http://www.swwing.org.

I’ll be in Arizona until late May when I make my annual migration to New Hampshire for the summer, where I’ll rack up a long list of eastern and some boreal species. In August I visit Colorado to pick up several Rocky Mountain targets, then back to Arizona. There may be some other unscheduled trips in the fall, wrapping up with the finishing touches in southern California with all of its West Coast specialties in December.

We have a new puzzler! This one was sent in by an esteemed reader and follower, one Dave “Bud” Buddinsky of Oaks of the Ozarks, Missouri. Dave says: “Rob, I love your Blog, it’s the highlight of my day”, bla, bla, bla, “insightful, entertaining, poignant,” yada, yada, yada, “wish the year could last a decade”, etc, etc, etc. Then he says: “I have a new puzzler for you. Six species of landbirds – and ONLY six – nest on all the continents of planet earth except Antarctica. Name those 6 birds.” If you know up to 2 birds, you manage to stay awake all day. If you can get 4 I’d like to go birding with you some time, call me. Six correct answers means you read too much. The Top Brass here at Rob’s Big Year Blog says there’s plenty of dough in the till so we are rewarding the winner an all-expenses paid round-the-world cruise to see all 6 species. Write your answer on the back of a new pair of 8 x 42 Victory SF Zeiss binoculars with ultra light magnesium construction featuring the ErgoBalance concept with an 18.3 twilight factor and the Schmidt-Pechan Prism system, boxed in a case of polished Corinthian leather. Send it to me, care of this blog, Sierra Vista, Arizona.

Yesterday I saw a Cassin’s Kingbird and a Cassin’s Sparrow. Today I saw some Cassin’s Finches (209) way up Carr Canyon. Here’s one of them:

They remind me of Purple Finch with a sharper bill. I’ve had my eye on reports of this bird for a few weeks. It’s only an irruptive here and it hasn’t even been much of an irruption year for them. When I saw reports in Carr Canyon for the past few days I figured I better strike now while they are here. I could probably get this in Colorado in August but now I don’t have to spend the time on them and I can search for other things there like nutcrackers and dippers.

John Cassin was a 19th century ornithologist, museum man mostly, curator of birds at the prestiguous Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. Besides a flycatcher, a sparrow, and a finch, he also has an auklet named after him. I had a bird named after me. Go to the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles and you will see the gigantic Woodward’s Vulture. It’s the only place you’ll see one. It went extinct.

I read somewhere that more birds in the west are named after people while more birds in the east are named for physical features of the birds. On this morning’s 4th Saturday of the month bird walk at the San Pedro House a Swainson’s Hawk (208) rose out of the cottonwoods along the river, hitched a ride way up, and continued his journey north. This is the 13th raptor of the year with maybe 9 more to go.

William Swainson was a 19th century British naturalist who was a contemporary of John James Audubon. He was a member of both the Royal and Linnaean Societies and named many North American birds. I tried to find a Lucy’s Warbler, named by Dr. Thomas Cooper after the daughter of Spencer Baird, but I couldn’t find one yet. When I get to Virginia’s Warbler, Scott’s Oriole, and Bell’s Vireo, I’ll tell you about their name origins.

In a couple of days I’ll have an update on upcoming travel plans as I begin the long ascent to the next hundred. I think I can hit 300 before the end of April.

Today I wanted to go up Carr Canyon with the gang but I just didn’t make it. So instead I took a leisurely stroll through the woods in lower Garden Canyon just to see what I could see. The highlight was a Townsend’s Solitaire in the same spot I saw one in January. It might even be the same bird. My experience with this species is limited so its a thrill to see one:

With more spring migrants around, I can now find a new year bird without too much effort. Today a certain loud buzz alerted me to the presence of a Broad-tailed Hummingbird (207), the seventh hummingbird of the year.

And now an important announcement. We have a winner to the puzzler! This should come to nobody’s surprise, that ingenious engineer of Hampstead, NH, Al Maley, cracked this impenetrable puzzle. The grandfather with the birthday is the girl’s maternal grandfather. Her parents enjoyed a classic May/December wedding. Al, your prize of cash, stock certificates, and shinju knives will be delivered right to your home imminently. No need to take any action. We thank you for playing.