An unfortunate consequence of visiting a place like Arizona multiple times is that some birds lose that ‘wow’ factor from when they were first seen. The excitement level for a bird is inversely proportional to the number of times that bird is seen. Take the Acorn Woodpecker, for instance. I remember drooling over the thought of seeing one. Now on this trip, after having seen them on other trips, I didn’t even raise the camera. This is just birding reality. It cannot be helped. Some birds still bring it, though. Some just haven’t been enjoyed enough or savored fully. They still feel somewhat fresh and exciting when you bump into them. This post highlights those birds for me on this latest trip.
Many of the these were fun mountain birds that I encountered right by our condo at the Wyndham Flagstaff Resort (great place if you go, btw). First up is the Steller’s Jay, a bird not known for its shyness. Before this trip I had only seen one on Mt. Lemmon, a brief sighting on a cloudy day. Here, they were all over the place basking in the sun. And I looked at each one.
Another montane, neighborhood bird at the resort was the Black-headed Grosbeak. Though I’ve seen them in Colorado and South Dakota, the views have always been fleeting and unsatisfying. This encounter went a long way toward rectifying that.
Anywhere from the Wyndham Resort to the Schultz Pass Road, a mountain-loving bird that was seemingly ubiquitous around Flagstaff was the Western Tanager. Even though I have seen this bird and photographed it in my home county in Minnesota, I continue to find myself in a state of face-melt when I see this bird, and I photograph it way too much. It is illogical, really. Three individuals with varying amounts of red on their faces are shown below in three different species of trees.
Literally a neighbor bird inhabiting the Ponderosa Pines right outside our balcony was the Pygmy Nuthatch. These guys are industrious little busy-bodies. As such, my only other time seeing them in the past resulted in a poor photo op. Not much changed on this trip despite being merely 5 feet away. Pygmy Nuthatch could see blog time again.
The last bird from the resort was a parking lot bird but was by no means a trash bird. In fact, this papa Western Bluebird was a photographic lifer for me.
Away from the resort there were some other non-lifer favorites, like this American Three-toed Woodpecker along the Schultz Pass Road. Keep in mind that I had only ever seen one before just this past spring in Minnesota. This bird very much still has lifer freshness associated with it. While the unique drumming sound of this Woodpecker was the same as the one back home, its back was not. Note how white the back is on this Rocky Mountains subspecies of the ATTW; the back of the East Taiga subspecies that we have in Minnesota is nearly all black with small white flecks.
In Oak Creek Canyon at Grasshopper Point Recreation Area, a Bridled Titmouse was a pleasant surprise.
And the Grand Canyon is never more grand than when it serves as a backdrop from a rim-perching Black-throated Gray Warbler, a bird I have wished to have better photographs of for a long time.
That’s it for Arizona this time. There will be more this winter. For the next post we’re headed to Wisconsin’s Apostle Islands for some Warble action.
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.
Finally. After an eight-year hiatus, the great American road-trip was reborn in our family. There’s something liberating about heading out on the open road putting hundreds of miles under our seats, crossing numerous state lines and seeing new sights. Our kids are to the age where they are now able to tolerate such intense travel and enjoy it too. This summer we were headed to the mountains of Colorado to visit my aunt and uncle in their beautiful mountain home.
The expanse of the Badlands goes for miles, and I could have photographed them all day, but I was distracted by the birds. When we stopped at one of the first scenic overlooks I caught sight of a blue bird. It turned out to be our Mountain Bluebird lifer.
I could not believe how accessible death was at this place. Sure there are fun hills to climb like pictured above, but the other side is a doozy. This canyon was well over 100 feet down.
It was fun to look at the bottom of this barren piece of earth and see a family of Say’s Phoebes, another good western bird.
What a good little stop this was – three quick lifers and a fun place to stretch the legs after a long drive. But we had more Badlands to see and hopefully more birds too, so we continued on our drive through the park. We spied Western Kingbirds wherever there were trees on which they could perch. Such a fun bird.
After securing a tidy haul of life birds and enjoying the scenery, it was time to make our way to the Black Hills of South Dakota to meet up with the presidents at Keystone. The most notable bird seen along the way was a Red-headed Woodpecker – always a treat to find.
