After the week we’ve all had, there are few safe harbors of respite remaining on the internet. Social media is a minefield; regular media of any flavor is only trusted by half the people. It’s a dark world, so let’s make it a little brighter with some pics of some rad birds from this year’s Arizona expedition. You know who doesn’t give a *#&% about elections? Burrowing Owls. Let’s be more like them.
There is a pair of Burrowing Owls within a mile of my parents’ place that I usually visit, but this year I didn’t find them as easily in the past. I did eventually see one which brought me relief; I hadn’t seen them the first few times I checked this year. Normally they are always out. To get my Burrower fix this year, I had to find some brand new ones which is always fun. This pair was found on school property in Maricopa. How cool would it be to have Burrowing Owls at your school?
Another new Burrowing Owl I found this trip was only 100 yards from my parents’ backyard fence–I was pretty pumped to find this one.
Burrowing Owls aren’t the only birds I enjoy re-seeing on our annual AZ trip. Vermilion Flycatcher is another. Every year I’m finding more and more around my parents’ neighborhood. Fun fact: Vermilion Flycatchers look just as amazing after November 8th as they did before.
I did get to do some birding beyond my parents’ neighborhood and city. I had the pleasure of once again meeting up with good friends, Tommy DeBardeleben and Gordon Karre for some intense birding outings in southeastern AZ. We’ll save the really juicy lifer stuff for the next two posts, but there was plenty of non-lifer goodness as well, like a Green-tailed Towhee seen along the De Anza Trail near Tubac. Previously I had only seen an extremely back-lit one in Colorado.
In many ways, this was a photo redemption trip of many birds. This Lazuli Bunting was another nice find on the De Anza Trail. The only other sighting I had was a fleeting glimpse at a lifer in MN. Here I got to see the front AND back of this looker.
Black Phoebe is another of which I only had marginal photos before this trip.
And Greater Roadrunners…we got skunked on this bird our very first AZ trip. This bird below might have even let me pet it. It actually walked toward me when I was only 10 feet away.
Now this next bird is one that I have better photos of, but c’mon, it’s a Black-throated Sparrow and needs to be included in this post regardless.
And finally, the best photo redemption of all was of the only Owl Iifer I had never photographed. Last year we saw a Barn Owl, but it flushed from its roost before I could get a photo. It was a major letdown that I wanted to fix on this trip. This time I was able to get a few shots before it flushed.
Then Tommy and I found it after it flushed and got some more shots of this cool bird.
Next post will be all lifers. With three more posts (two AZ), there is much to look forward to!
The Lovebirds have adapted well to the oases of the water-filled landscaping in the greater Phoenix area. They especially like palms which have proven useful for nesting.
These birds are truly cute. Melissa agrees.
Here’s an important public service announcement for those of you not acquainted with the Lovebird. It is safe to say that despite this being an “easy” bird, I don’t think I would have found them without Gordon’s help. Here’s why: my sense of this bird’s scale was way off. Since all you ever see on blogs are impressive close-ups of this crushable bird, I was looking for something that I thought was Pigeon-sized. I guess I was wrong. 
It’s hard to stop taking pictures of such a cute bird, but that’s mostly because Kiwanis didn’t offer up much more than Neotropic Cormorants and Pigeons. A pair of Gilded Flickers at our feet was a nice bonus.
With the Lovebird lifer out of the way, we made the short trek up to Tempe Town Lake. The Brown Pelican was a bird I’d like to think I could have found on my own. Gordon wasn’t taking any chances. He led the way and spotted it out in marsh section of Tempe Town Lake.
Finally the Pelican/Lovebird anxiety was no more. After saying our goodbyes to Gordon, we had much of the day to do whatever, like check out the impressive collections of potted cacti and caged Macaws at Leaf&Feather in Maricopa. I had no idea so many species of Macaws existed. Might have to put Brazil on the bucket list.
We also spent time playing in one of the most impressive rain storms I have seen, in Arizona no less.
Some children were not as enthused about the deluge and were downright grumpy.
Another AZ trip is on record, full of many new birds and great memories. It’s time get back to MN though with some good winter owling. Stick around, these posts will be coming out fast.
The famous Paton House–hard to believe I was actually here.
No, we didn’t come for the common White-winged Doves, though they were dapper and only the second time we’d seen one.
Nor did we come for the WWDO’s cousin, the much less abiding Inca Dove.
It was nice to see a Black-headed Grosbeak even if it was a bit scruffy looking, but that’s still not why we came.
We came for the Hummingbirds. But not for the Broad-billed.
Ain’t it a beaut?
It knows it too. Like Orcas or Dolphins, it pandered to its gawking audience.
So that was that. Tommy DeBardeleben and Gordon Karre had told me about a much rarer Hummer, the Plain-capped Starthroat, that had been seen regularly somewhere in Patagonia. Not knowing exactly where to go for it and not feeling I could make yet another birding stop with the non-birding family, I didn’t even bother to check into it.
Scanning a residential pond in the low light of the evening, I was excited to see the brilliant pop of color of the male Vermilion Flycatcher in my binoculars. They never get old.
We also saw a Jackrabbit of some sort which was a cool experience.
The Arizona fun isn’t over. Next up is the final post and arguably the ugliest and cutest birds you will see.
Such a striking bird. Check out this chest!
Even though it was far away, it was still such a treat to watch this handsome duck. Our lifer a couple a years ago was an immature-type bird that did not live up to its name.
After that fun, Evan and I hit the road for the 3-hour trip home. Our second Northern Shrike of the fall was a nice bonus on our drive. Despite the memory card snafu, it was a memorable trip with Evan where we got to see some really fantastic birds for Minnesota.
I really, really like the pot-bellied appearance of this bird. This may be my favorite photo from the trip. And is it just me, or does ROWR bear an uncanny resemblance to our 27th President?
High on two completely unexpected lifers, I continued to scope out the fun birds around the hotel, not the least of which were numerous Lark Sparrows. I have not seen enough Lark Sparrows yet.
What I have seen plenty of in recent years are Say’s Phoebes, and I already have plenty of photos to prove it. But these birds just know how to pose…
It was also fun to see a prickly-looking Curve-billed Thrasher. I’m glad they didn’t choose him for state bird.
We got some great views of some fun birds while we rested from our recent hike in Hunter Canyon. It was nice to finally see a much nicer Canyon Towee than the haggard one I saw in Florida Canyon last spring. This bird was a lifer for Evan.
We also got to see another Scott’s Oriole (female), but this one did not show itself well either.
Seeing a lifer Dark-eyed Junco sub-species, like this Gray-headed variety, is always fun.
Acorn Woodpeckers were a common sight at all our stops in the Huachucas. At least at Mary Jo’s feeders, you can get a good photo while sitting down–a great combo.
Evan also got his Magnificent Hummingbird lifer with the help of owner Mary Jo who seems to constantly monitor the bird activity in her yard. Tommy and Gordon were watching a different set of Hummingbird feeders and had seen one of the reported Lucifer Hummingbirds. So Evan and I joined them and watched those feeders for a short time to see if we could get this rare Hummer too. That said, Miller Canyon was beckoning, both for what it held and for the short amount of time we had left to bird. Thankfully the Lucifer was understanding and showed up in short order. Note the thick, decurved bill.
The rarity of this bird was really cool even if the plain looks of this juvenile bird were not impressive. I regretfully later found out that an adult male Lucifer had been visiting these feeders on the very day we were there. Doh!
After hiking nearly a mile uphill, we finally reached Split Rock. Here there were two elderly women had been brought to this location earlier to look for the Spotted Owls. Our guide checked out the usual perches for the Owls, a family group of four birds, but none of them held anything. Then, real casually, he points to a different tree and says, “Oh, here’s one.” Sweet!
This Owl was a pretty mellow fellow, which I understand is typical for this species. It could not have cared less that we were ooing and awwing over it.
Tommy and I went a little further up the canyon hoping to spot one of the other Spotted Owls on our own which is half the fun of owling. But without any more luck, it was finally time to head back down the canyon. What a thrill it was, though, to get this prized lifer:
Then there was one last big gift for our big day in the Huachucas. We were nearly to the car when Tommy thought he heard a Black-throated Gray Warbler. I saw one last spring, but only briefly. I was hoping for a better photo. However, I’m just going to have to wait for that because the bird turned out to be a lifer Townsend’s Warbler instead! Now I need a redemptive photo of two western Warblers.
What an incredible day it was at our three stops in the Huachuca Mountains. It was finally time to hit the road to join my family back at Green Valley. Once again, Tommy and Gordon outdid themselves and provided another fun set of SE AZ memories. We said our goodbyes and vowed to meet up again this winter back in Minnesota where it’s not as warm, definitely not as scenic, but with just as cool (if not cooler) Owls. Hopefully Evan and I can repay these guys with some awesome lifers of their own.
Tommy’s ear for bird sounds is truly impressive–hardly a chip note, flight call, or song gets by him. In fact, he doesn’t even announce all that he’s hearing unless it’s important, like this lifer Bewick’s Wren.
It is where this lowland scrub terminates and the forest of the canyon begins that the Slate-throated Redstart had been seen just a couple days prior. We paused to look and listen, but it seemed well-known at this point that the Redstart was gone. We did, however, start to hear multiple Rufous-capped Warblers all around us! Getting a visual of this brush-loving bird is another story. The sound seemed to come from everywhere and then stopped all of the sudden. Weird. So onward and upward we kept going. At least the view back down the mountain was nice.
In hindsight, this was the calm before the storm because things took off in a hurry. It all started when Tommy spotted a male Hepatic Tanager which was a lifer for Evan and me. I didn’t see it, but I spotted my own Hepatic lifer (female).
I really wanted to see the male Tommy found. Eventually I saw it, but it was not being cooperative at all.
Tommy said that sometimes Tanagers will respond to a Northern Pygmy-Owl call. When he played it, a live Pygmy-Owl tooted back! Tommy took off up the canyon trail to see if he could locate it. I started soon after but then saw bright flash of yellow and black come across the blue sky–Scott’s Oriole! What a looker it was! It landed at the very top of a tree offering me nothing but butt views. It’s a pretty nice-looking butt, anyhow.
As I was jockeying for a position from which I could see the Oriole better, Tommy called out calmly, “Guys, Pygmy-Owl.” For some reason I thought this meant he was hearing it, and so I continued to keep working on the Oriole. A few seconds later, Tommy’s voice carried a little more urgency. An Owl lifer trumps an Oriole photo. Evan, Gordon, and I hustled up to where Tommy was. Sure enough, he had eyes on it. Wow, just wow.
This was such a fun life bird. I was not expecting this one on this trip. Excuse the numerous photos–I was, and still am, very excited about this sighting.
Time waits for no man, though, and neither do Rufous-capped Warblers. As I was photographing this cool Owl and trying for better angles, a Rufous-capped Warbler started singing nearby and Tommy was off again! In seconds Tommy got a visual on the bird and called me over. I’ve learned from Tommy and Gordon to first get a good look at a lifer with binoculars and then worry about a photo second. So that’s what I did. In no time at all, I also saw the Rufous-capped Warbler pop up for a second and got to see that amazingly yellow throat.
…and then go to next-door Miller Canyon and Ash Canyon for even more adventure! You don’t want to miss it–there will be coon dogs, guns, and yes, more cool lifers.
The sun was sinking but things were still glaringly aglow around us as we Dodge Darted ourselves across town to Tempe Town Lake where 
Once we completed the hour-long, 26 mile drive up to Summerhaven, I immediately started scanning for my target bird, a bird that 
At least day two was going according to plan. Now, could we say the same for day three in the Huachuca Mountains where there was not only a Slate-throated Redstart but also SEVERAL Rufous-capped Warblers?
But no bird dominates the desert habitat near Coon Bluff like the Phainopepla. Try to not see one if you go to Coon Bluff.
Once Tommy arrived, we all went down to the mesquite-bosque near the river to look for some of our pre-dusk targets.
Darkness and owl hoots weren’t the only thing we were waiting for–bird blogger Laurence Butler of the famed 
Obviously, Tommy is much more experienced at this, and therefore much better at the bird selfies than I. One thing I have learned from Tommy is the importance of having fun while doing this hobby. It is clear that I still have much to learn this owl Jedi.
