Month: March 2019

I thought I had a fair shot at getting this bird and everything worked out beautifully. Finding a Golden Eagle seems very hit or miss so I went to Ebird to see if there was any place where they were appearing regularly. I found such a place – Florida Canyon in the Santa Ritas. One or two have been recorded almost daily since December. So today I got to the lower Florida Canyon trail at 9:00 am and hiked up the trail about a mile to where you can look down on the waterfall. I found a rock and took a seat at 10:15. I didn’t know if I would be there for 5 minutes or until 5 o’clock. Fifteen minutes later I thought I saw 3 ravens out of the corner of my eye. I got up to look but only saw 2 ravens. Then I saw the third bird. That’s no raven. It was a large raptor, all dark, long flat wings, and a long tail – Golden Eagle (206). It dropped down below the ridge and that was that.

On the way back down I saw other birders searching for the lost Varied Thrush so I poked around a little too but no sightings. Highly unlikely I will catch up with that one this year. Instead I ran into my favorite Arizona bird:

I missed the Hooded Oriole that someone else saw and failed to find anything else new, so I declared victory, packed up, and got home in time for lunch at Taco Bell.

After fulfilling my bird guide duties and responsibilities at San Pedro House this morning, and not seeing a Barn Swallow, I stopped by the sewage plant … er … uh … I mean “The Environmental Operations Park.” It sounds like something you should say with a snooty accent. “The Environmental Operations Pahk, dahling.” Normally this place doesn’t smell but today it was stinky. Usually it’s not stinky, but today it was stinky. The Big Year birder doesn’t care. He goes anywhere anytime. I needed a Barn Swallow, partly to keep the streak alive but mostly because I didn’t want to get into April and still not have one. With a little searching I found some Barn Swallows (204) and a distant Violet-green Swallow (205).

Tomorrow I’m going on a chase for a special bird, one that I didn’t think I would be able to chase, that I hoped I might get incidentally. But it is showing almost daily and I think I have a good shot for it. If you click on your saved Robsbigyear icon tomorrow you will see how it went.

Wait, my producer is signaling me again. What? Oh, it’s this week’s new puzzler! Here it is. This is a problem that has been vexing me for years, I’m truly puzzled, I just can’t crack it. It goes like this. Back in the third grade, our teacher, Mrs. Crumbum, asked us if anyone was celebrating a birthday that day. Surprisingly, of the 30 kids in the class, no hands went up. Persisting, she asked us if anyone had a relative who had a birthday that day. Sure enough, the chubby little red-haired girl sitting next to me, Phyllis Cyberinski testified: “Today is my father’s birthday,” she beamed, “and (pay close attention) today is my grandfather’s birthday, and (and this is a very important “and”) they are both the same age.” How could this be? Good luck. Hint: forget about Leap Year. (Are you playing this one Jayden?)

Today I went up to Sawmill Canyon to see if I could get an early start on Buff-breasted Flycatcher, a good southeast Arizona specialty. I’ve seen them up there as early as March 16. Today I found two (203), the sixth day in a row I have added a new species, the longest run since a 5 day string from January 22 through 26. The flycatchers are not yet singing on territory so I couldn’t get a picture. Instead I’ll dig deep into my archives for a shot – since half of you only look at the pictures anyway – so you’ll have something to look at. Last year I found a nest in the same area:

I’ve never seen so much water in Garden Canyon. The stream is rushing, water is running all down the road, pouring out of the sides of the canyon, she’s a real gusher.

So why not an American Dipper? I spent a little time searching and I don’t think it’s too far fetched to get one this year with all this water.

Yesterday I missed the Golden-crowned Sparrow at the San Pedro House so I had to go back today and find it. I’ll probably see this West Coast specialty in California later this year but this is my local patch and I don’t want to be the last one to see it. Luckily while I was there I ran into John Broz and Socks the Dog. I told John I needed this bird so he filled the feeder that it has been coming to. Now it was just a matter of waiting. Maybe 2 hours later it appeared (202) and I got a documentation-quality shot:

As you can see it is an immature with just a hint of gold on the crown, more visible in real life. This bird is only considered casual in Arizona. It’s out of the way and now I won’t have to deal with it in San Diego in December.

I ran out of paper so this page 4 of the List is a little overdue but here it is:

Page 3 is at the January 25 post and pages 1 and 2 are at the January 13 post. I have no idea what the next bird will be or what I will chase. You will just have to click here and find out soon.

I can’t believe it! Leave it to the sport of birding, especially a Big Year, to see all this drama played out. When Hollywood producers get a hold of this blog….

Last night I discovered, much to my chagrin, that a Golden-crowned Sparrow has been right under my nose at the San Pedro House for a week. How did that get by me? Miffed, I went straight down there this morning to search for it. After almost an hour of combing the yard, I went down the trail to the river where it was first found and where there is an abundance of sparrows. Nothing there either so I figured I could pick up Yellow Warbler to have at least one new bird today.

I looked at the river and noticed how muddy it was from the recent rains. “No kingfisher is going to be interested in hunting in this river,” I surmised to myself. As I stood next to the pool where the trail first meets the river 100 yards south of the Rt 90 bridge, looking over some towhees, not searching for anything else, a clicking noise caught my attention, something like a scolding Cactus Wren. I looked and couldn’t believe my eyes. Right in front of me! There she was – Green Kingfisher! Before I could get a shot she moved farther downstream. About 100 yards north of the bridge I relocated her. But don’t take my word for it, see for yourself:

Little “El Chapo!” Huh! There is no escape! After 2 1/2 months of chasing you are all mine. And what number is she? Right – 200! Fitting? Are you kidding – like a glove! The Yellow Warbler I added just a minute later would not have measured up to this little beauty. I’ll have another post on the subject of finding without searching sometime later this year. And so the drama continues….

Last night, after consulting sources, intel, and reams of data, I came up with 2 good birds to chase. Rumors at the hawk watch yesterday had a Varied Thrush in Florida Canyon where one was reported back on 18 February but not much since. I went over for a look but after 2 hours of searching I had to abandon the search. The closest I could get was a Townsend’s Solitaire, also a thrush from the northwest. The highlight was this little beauty, a life butterfly and one that I’ve been hoping to see, Desert Orangetip:

On to the next chase at Patagonia Lake State Park for a Red-necked Phalarope. After first checking the beach, I went to the spillway and right in front of me there it was, fast and easy, just how I like it. (198)

Notice the long needle-like bill and streaking on the back. It’s considered rare in the spring and I may not see another one this year. I wonder why they call them “Red-necked” Phalaropes? Do they chew tobacco, fly the confederate flag, listen to country music?

After a picnic lunch in the park in Patagonia, I visited the Paton House to see what was around. Along came a Gray Hawk (199) circling overhead but nothing else new. When and where will I get 200?

Speaking of puzzlers, we have the answer to last week’s puzzler. After sifting through sacks of mail from the post office and thousands of letters from my esteemed readers like you, we have a winner: Hammond’s Flycatcher from Mr. Noe U. Terns, a retired highway patrol officer from West Turnpike, New Jersey. Sgt. Terns says he pronounces his first name like “know” since his older brother is Noel, which paradoxically has an “L”, but Noe, which has no “L” is not “Noel”. I’m just telling you what he says. Look for another puzzler in an upcoming post.

Meet Peter Collins, progenitor and protector of the Tubac Hawk Watch. Now in his seventh season, Peter counts Common Black Hawks by the hundreds every year during the month of March. Nobody knew that many were possible until he started counting them. Where are they all going? I call it an up-side down hawk watch – it takes place in spring rather than fall and instead of scanning from the highest hill around, you relax in lawn chairs at the bottom of the valley. Business is good right now:

A few days ago Peter counted 80 visitors. More importantly, yesterday he counted 70 Common Black Hawks, the real specialty of this site, and probably more than that today. Follow his colorful commentary on the AZ-NM Birds Listserv easily accessible from aba.org under Birding News. Today the Black Hawks started coming through soon after 9 am when Dave Wood and I arrived. Soon we were seeing kettles of them. Here’s a good look at one:

Zone-tailed Hawks were also well represented. Someone saw a distant Swainson’s Hawk but that will be common here soon enough. Having our fill of hawks, both of which were new for the year, we walked downstream to add some icing to the day’s cake. After an hour of searching for a drab, non-singing female, we landed Rose-throated Becard (197) near its nests from prior years. A male is frequently seen in the area. A successful day. Tonight I’ll take a look to see what’s on tomorrow’s menu as I close in on the second hundred.

Finally! Lured by recent sighting reports, I once again returned to Las Cienegas to search for the Rough-legged Hawk. Once again another dramatic finish. I arrived at 9 this morning and settled in for an all-day stake-out. By 2 pm I was resigned to another miss and decided I would leave at 3. At 2:59 – literally – I made ONE MORE scan. At the END of the scan, when I could scan no farther left, I saw a raptor hovering in the wind. Check. As it turned I saw the white upper tail feathers. Check. I continued to study it and saw the light underparts and dark lower belly. Check, check, check – Rough-legged Hawk, a rare visitor from the Far North. Since it had given me so much trouble to find, I continued to observe it for another 40 minutes through the scope. It frequently paused to hover, sometimes for 5-10 seconds without having to flap. As it got closer I could see every detail, especially the dark carpal patch.

This will go down as one of the most satisfying sightings of the year. Why? By my count, I have driven by or stopped for multi-hour visits to chase this bird 9 times since January 4, logging over 18 hours – mostly spent sitting, watching, and waiting. That’s the discipline.

Another correction. The last post said I had 199 birds for the year. That’s wrong, there was some kind of computer glitch. I brought this up with my Director of the Department of Accounting and Administration, Division of Tracking and Recording and have been assured no more problems but I doubt they are really up to the job and I may have to do all of this myself. Today’s Rough-legged Hawk is number 194. I should hit 200 in 7-10 days.

Later this week I will be doing a different kind of hawk watching that should be more fun and almost equally rewarding. Let’s see what happens.

As I write this from my desk in Sierra Vista, I think back at what an incredible trip that was. A swift, textbook surgical strike. What a cliff-hanger finish! It could have turned out very differently. Here’s what happened. Last night I checked eBird one more time and decided the Thick-billed Vireo was the better bet over LaSagra’s Flycatcher. I got up today at 5:15. My strategy was to get a very early start to beat rush hour traffic. It worked! I skipped breakfast and left the hotel at 5:40 and slid down the pike to Crandon Park on Key Biscane. Where it was still dark and the park was closed. I waited in my car for 40 minutes and then found the nature center and began the search. After an hour, 2 birding buddies from the Carolinas – one from North and one from South – joined me in the search. (one wore a San Pedro House t-shirt.) My flight home was at noon so I figured with getting gas, bringing the car back, unexpected traffic delays (there were), and getting my ticket I had better get out of the park by 9:30. We spread out and combed the entire area without luck. Big doubts filled my head. Shouldn’t I have stayed another day? Was it worth spending this kind of money for this trip? Should I have done this at all? I’m going home empty handed. More searching, more ticking of the clock. At this side of 9:15 I sat down and rubbed my face. It’s over- no vireo. Then I heard a bird singing. As I listened closer, I could tell it was a vireo, but there was a White-eyed Vireo in the area. I walked over and put my glasses on it and yelled out – “I think I’ve got it!” Someone else said: “I do too!” And there it was, right in front of us – Thick-billed Vireo – a rare stray from the Caribbean. A minute later an obscure bird showed up. I watched it eat a berry – good, could be a tanager. It came out into the open and there she was – the female Western Spindalis. Wow! Both birds! Just in time! This was like hitting the winning basket at the buzzer. I couldn’t believe my good luck. I told my Carolina friends I was heading out, “I’m quitting while I’m ahead!” I had not an extra minute to spare. I reached the gate 5 minutes before boarding.

Both birds are new for my ABA-area list and the vireo is a world life bird and my second Code 4 bird of the year. The high-stakes gamble paid off in spades. You never know when these rarities are going to leave the area. I would consider doing this again this year. Maybe a chase to Seattle or Northern California, where I will not otherwise be this year. I added 13 other species to the Big Year List, raising it to 199. I look forward to finding number 200. How sweet it is!

The Great One! And he was great, wasn’t he? The Honeymooners, one of the greatest sitcoms of all time, was only the tip of the ice burg of his film and television career. Growing up on Long Island we watched The Jackie Gleason Show loyally. Then the unthinkable happened – he moved from New York to Miami. It killed us to see him address the audience at the start of the show with “Miami, you’re the greatest!” We booed and hissed. “Traitor!” But still we watched. He was the greatest.

Miami, Florida! I said I wouldn’t do this. I said I would not travel across the country to see one bird. But I couldn’t resist the lure. I’ve always wanted to hop a flight and savor the thrill of the chase. Now I’m livin’ the dream. This is Power Birding at its best! There are three most excellent birds in Miami right now, namely: LaSagra Flycatcher, Thick-billed Vireo, and Western Spindalis. Bananquit disappeared last week. Just one of these would be a fine addition to my Big Year. I left Tucson 7:30 this morning, arriving in Miami at 3:30. Right away I headed out on a scouting trip and ran into some rush hour traffic and a few missed turns. But that’s ok, its good to be back in Latin America. Tomorrow morning I’ll get an early start to beat the traffic. I have to work fast, I leave at noon.

Tonight I was thinking of a night out on the town, maybe some clubbing among the swaying palms in South Beach. But I do have to get up early, so maybe I’ll just stay in and watch some free cable tv.