Catbird, Lewis’s Woodpecker, and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in Tucson, AZ, January 2015

In January the family took a short vacation to Tucson, AZ – likely my favorite birding area in the entire country.  And with that reputation, my family gave me a ½ day off for birding in and around the city.  First I did a quick review of the eBird Rarities list to see if there might be any lifers nearby.  There was a tantalizing semi-reliable Rufous-capped Warbler at Pena Blanca Lake.  I’ve tried for that bird in AZ three times, and it is on my lifelist, but just as a heard-only bird.  So I’ve always wanted to actually see this species.  But the site was at least 90 minutes away, and with my limited time, I would only have an hour or two to look for it.  So despite more than just a few misgivings, I decided to turn my interests to possible statebirds instead.

My AZ statelist was at 292, so statebird possibilities were likely to be rarities.  And in southern AZ in winter, many of those rarities will typically be eastern vagrants.  So not surprisingly, the eBird AZ Rarities list revealed a few possible statebird targets in the region, including two eastern species – Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Lewis’s Woodpecker, Catbird, and Clay-colored Sparrow.  All but the Catbird were within the city, and the Catbird was less than an hour away, so all were feasible even in just a half day.

My first stop was McCormick Park where there were reports of a Sapsucker trifecta - Yellow-bellied, Red-breasted, and Red-naped.  This was a small town park just 10 minutes from the hotel.  I’ve had lots of success looking for wintering rarities in small parks like this one in a number of southwestern locations, so I was quite optimistic I could find the Yellow-bellied with just a short trip before breakfast.  I arrived a bit before dawn and scouted the park – just 15 or so large trees, and many with recent sapsucker holes.  Soon after I arrived I had a Sapsucker of unknown species fly over my head and leave the park.  But despite the promising conditions, that was my only Sapsucker sighting during my short 45-minute window of opportunity.  After going back to the hotel for breakfast with the family, I decided to head back to the park for another try.  But despite another 45-minute search, I had no Sapsuckers at all.  Though 5 very cooperative Vermillion Flycatchers were a nice consolation.

Next stop was Fort Lowell Park a short distance to the east where a Clay-colored Sparrow had been reported just the day before.  But no location within the park was given in the eBird report, so I was not as optimistic about this target.  Shortly after I arrived I ran into a pair of birders who had just spent the last couple hours looking for the Sparrow with no luck.  So I decided to not commit any more of my limited time on this one, and instead try for my other targets.  I was certainly more than just a bit disappointed since I had missed my first 2 targets.

The next possible statebird was a Gray Catbird continuing at Avra Valley Road a short drive to the north.  The good news was that directions for this bird were quite good – in brush along the river right near the bridge.  The bad news was that most birders reported only fleeting glimpses of the bird.  And since you won’t see negative reports on eBird, I wondered how reliable this bird might actually be.  I arrived at the area late morning and quickly realized the key complication – the vegetation where the Catbird was likely residing was extremely thick, extended along the entire length of the streambed, and was inaccessible on the other side of a chain-link fence.  I got to the bridge and found a local birder who had been there since dawn.  He said he might have had a brief glimpse of the bird earlier, but that was all.  Within a couple minutes of arriving I heard one characteristic “mew” call note of the Catbird.  The local birder was not familiar with its call, so perhaps it had been calling earlier.  Over the next few minutes we both heard six or eight more call notes, and the other birder might have seen the bird briefly again.  I never did see it - luckily I count heard-only birds.

I’ve now seen Gray Catbird in 46 of the Lower 48 states plus DC (see my statebird map below).  That includes seeing it at the very edge of its range in UT and NM, and now as a rarity in AZ.

 

The next target was a Lewis’s Woodpecker which was reported on eBird as continuing at an alley behind Mohave Rd. back in Tucson.  Although this species is a resident of northern AZ, where I haven’t done too much birding, it is a rarity this far south in AZ.  Before I left the Catbird spot, I asked the local birder if he was familiar with this bird.  Luckily, he had seen it a couple times this winter, and said it spent most of the time in one single tall eucalyptus tree that was along this alley.  After a quick drive I arrived at the block-long alley and was happy I had his micro-directions – it wasn’t in the best of neighborhoods and there were many barking dogs.  At least all the dogs were chained up or in small fenced yards.  I quickly found the single large eucalyptus tree and started to scan, but with no luck, even though I searched from multiple directions.  After about 20 minutes I noticed a Golden-fronted Woodpecker fly into the eucalyptus, and instantly the Lewis’s Woodpecker flew out of another part of the tree to chase it away.  Amazing the Lewis’s was probably there the entire time.  I’ve now only seen this species in 7 western states – it’s regular in large portions of at least 4 others.

 

I had just a little more time before having to get back to the family, so I decided to swing by McCormick Park for one more quick try for the Sapsucker.  By now I knew the park well, and had just enough time to make one circuit around the park to visit each of the trees with sapsucker holes.  I walked to the middle of the park, and as I approached the second tree, amazingly, there was the immature Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – right at eye level.  Where was it during my previous 2 visits?  As I was about to leave, two birders arrived looking for the Sapsucker.  I mentioned that I last saw it in a tree at the edge of the parking lot close to their car, and within seconds we all had the bird.  They were very happy birders.  I’ve now seen Yellow-bellied Sapsucker as a rarity in 3 states – CA, MT, and now AZ – along with most of the states in its regular range.

That gave me 3 new AZ statebirds for this short trip, which was more than I would have expected given my very slow start.  And now with a statelist of 295, can 300 in AZ be far behind?  Maybe I’ll reach the 300 milestone on a future trip in a quest to finally see a Rufous-capped Warbler.

Arizona Weekend - Nutting's Flycatcher and Rosy-Faced Lovebirds, January 2013

With work trips on consecutive weeks to Denver and California, I decided to stay out west over the intervening weekend and chase after some potential lifebirds.  As of early December there were 3 possible targets – a White-tailed Wagtail near Los Angeles, the returning Falcated Duck in central CA (the same one I tried for but missed in Feb. 2012), and the returning Nutting’s Flycatcher in western AZ.  As the trip neared the Wagtail disappeared, and then the Falcated Duck did too.  Argh…  But then the new ABA checklist came out and the Rosy-faced Lovebird was added based on an established population in Phoenix.  So that meant there were still 2 potential lifebirds to try for.  I contacted my good birding friend Denny Abbott, invited him to come along, and we planned our trip to try for the 2 lifebirds in AZ.  And since the CA targets had disappeared, we had time to work on our AZ statelists.  I contacted a number of local AZ birders, and got great advice not only to look for the Lovebirds, but also to get updates on some of my statebird targets.  Many thanks to all those local AZ birders!  Along with excellent eBird data, we were ready for our trip. 

Day 1 -  Arizona’s “West Coast” along the Colorado River

The key target for this part of the trip was the Nutting’s Flycatcher.  We arrived at Mile Marker 2 on Planet Ranch Road at the Bill Williams River NWR at 7:15 (30 minutes before dawn) to start our search.  It was a nippy 28 degrees so we were concerned that the bird might not start its day very early.  Soon after we got there two birders from PA arrived and joined in the hunt.  At 7:50 we heard the first “weep” call of the Nutting’s – about 150 yards east of mile marker 2 and off to the north in the riparian habitat.  There were few other birds calling in the area, so this one really stood out.  In the next 10 minutes we heard it call 2-3 more times.  And then at 8 AM we observed the bird flying over the road to the south, and it disappeared in the small amount of brush between the road and the cliff.  Over the next 60 minutes the bird called occasionally and was in view frequently though intermittently.  It was generally no more than 5 feet off the ground.  During this time it worked its way west toward mile marker 2.  At about 9 AM we saw the bird fly back to the north across the road and out of site toward the northwest.  A life bird for all of us and my first statebird!  There were few other birds in the area, though we did have Canyon and Rock Wrens, Black-tailed Gnatcatchers, and a Phainopepla.

Our next stop was the Bill Williams River delta at the NWR headquarters building.  Virtually the first birds we saw were a large flock of Common Goldeneye (statebird #2) with a small number of Barrow’s Goldeneyes (statebird #3) mixed in.  On my Barrow’s map below I have now seen this species in many of its typical western and northeastern locations, not to mention WI. 

 I then started scanning for some of the other unusual waterfowl that had been reported from the area.  Other common waterfowl were Clark’s and Western Grebes, and Greater Scaup, with a few Eared Grebes and Canvasbacks mixed in.  After quite a bit of scanning a flock of 200 Common Mergansers flew in, including 1 Red-breasted Merganser (statebird #4).  A little later I was able to pick out a Horned Grebe quite a distance away (statebird #5).  But no luck with the scoters and Long-tailed Duck reported earlier.

So we headed north toward Lake Havasu City to search for some of the rarer waterfowl reported there.  First stop was Rotary Park where both white geese had been reported.  But we could not find any white geese at all.  Did we look in the right places?  There was a pond in the adjacent golf course that we couldn’t figure out how to get to – wonder if they could have been there.  We then scoped Thompson Bay and found 3 loons swimming together – all three were similar in body shape but the one was only 2/3 the size of the others – they were 2 Commons and 1 Pacific Loon.  Not a statebird for me, but a good bird nonetheless.

Next we made several stops along the south, west, and north edges of the peninsula.  Only the water to the north had significant numbers of waterfowl, but almost all were really far away.  Best birds were a flock of 7 Common Loons.

We then headed back south and made another stop at the Bill Williams River delta to try for the scoters.  After a little scanning I was able to pick out 2 immature-plumaged White-winged Scoters at some distance (statebird #6).  Wonder where they were in the morning?  My statebird map for White-winged Scoter has an interesting pattern of virtually all the east and west coast states along with a scattering of inland states.

On a whim we decided to make one last stop before heading back to Phoenix - in the agricultural fields south of Parker to try for Sandhill Cranes.  A number of them had been reported in mid-December on eBird, but there were no recent posts.  We slowly drove south of Parker on Mohave Rd. hoping to see cranes standing in the fields.  About 11 miles south of town I noticed 3 Sandhills flying over the road.  We pulled over and watched them land and join 2 others in an adjacent field – statebird #7.  I wouldn’t have known to look for these birds there if it hadn’t been for eBird. 

Day 2 - Phoenix

The key target of the day was the Rosy-faced Lovebird – recently countable per the ABA.  A number of birders had given me advice as to where to look for them, with 3 suggesting Encanto Park as the number one location.  So we decided to make that the spot to start our day.  We arrived a bit before dawn and parked between the playground and boat house as suggested.  A couple minutes after we arrived we heard the first call notes of the Lovebirds a short distance away.  We walked toward a group of tall palm trees and heard more call notes.  Then I spotted one sitting in the open on a nearby bare deciduous tree.  It was soon joined by several others, and within 30 minutes there were 15 sitting together in the tree.  We could also see 10 birds sitting in another bare deciduous tree – 25 in view at once.  And there were several others calling in nearby trees.  Over the next hour we were almost constantly hearing and seeing Lovebirds.  Interestingly, we saw 2 that had different plumages – one had bright yellow instead of green wings, and one lacked the rosy-red face coloration.  Lifebird #2 and statebird #8.  As we walked around the park I noticed a large goose overhead – it was a White-fronted – statebird #9.  We later saw it in the park’s manmade lake.  An excellent start to the day!

Next stop was Greenwood Cemetery where 2 White-throated Sparrows had been reported with White-crowns in Area 7.  With the help of a map from the cemetery office we quickly drove to Area 7, and within a minute of leaving the car I started to hear White-crown call notes.  We tracked the calls down to a thick oak tree which was full of White-crowns.  After a couple minutes of looking through the tree we could only find White-crowns.  But then another sparrow flew in and it was one of the White-throats – statebird #10.  In addition to their normal range, I’ve now seen White-throats in a couple western states.

Next stop was the Gilbert Water Ranch where several rarities had been reported.  This park was loaded with birds – both landbirds and waterbirds.  The trails were full of Curve-billed Thrashers, Abert’s Towhees, and Yellow-rumped Warblers.  Notable birds at the ponds were 3 Hooded Mergs and a Common Merg, a number of Long-billed Dowitchers and Least Sands and a Snipe.  The first rarity we went after was a Parula Warbler which we found as soon as we got to the correct spot (my 2^nd for AZ).  The stakeout Winter Wren didn’t cooperate though.  Then we went to a spot where a Rufous-backed Robin had been sporadically seen.  Although we had no luck with the robin, we got brief glimpses of a Swamp Sparrow (state bird #11), and a Sora at the same location. 

The next rarity we were off to chase after was a Red-breasted Sapsucker, which apparently is quite a rarity for AZ.  (En route to the sapsucker spot we had a number of Lovebirds flying around the parking lot of a pharmacy in Mesa.)  We had pretty good details for the location of the bird at the Pebble Beach Recreation site within the Tonto National Forest.  But when we arrived I noticed there were quite a number of mature trees that a sapsucker could be visiting, so I wasn’t too optimistic.  However when we stepped up to the first tree at the edge of the recreational area a small woodpecker flew out – it was the Sapsucker! (statebird #12).  We got good looks at the bird over the next 5 minutes as it perched and flew between trees.

The last stop of the day was Camelback Lake in Scottsdale where Ross’ Geese had been reported.  We heard from other local birders that this can be a good spot for Cackling Geese too.  When we pulled up to the edge of the lake the flock of white geese was right below us – 3 Snows and 5 Ross’ (statebird #13).  My statebird map for Ross’ Goose is a pretty good representation of their typical US range.

 The lake had several hundred Canadas, and with quite a bit of searching we eventually found 1 or maybe 2 Cackling Geese mixed in (statebird #14).  While we were looking over the geese we heard frequent Lovebird calls from across the road and saw 1-3 birds in flight several times.

Day 3 - Phoenix

We started pre-dawn at Tres Rios Wetlands which is a remarkable spot at the edge of the Phoenix wastewater treatment plant.  At dawn the sky was filled with Neotropical Cormorants, White-faced Ibis and other waders, dabbling ducks, and yellow-headed and red-winged blackbirds, all coming out of evening roosts.  Our targets were principally a number or rarities that had been reported there, but I only got one – a calling Red-shouldered Hawk (statebird #15).  I also finally saw a Greater Yellowlegs in AZ (statebird #16) – my shorebird list for AZ is pretty awful.  Adding AZ on my statebird map puts me one step closer to filling in the entire country.  And although there were no other statebirds for me, we had a great time at this site which was just loaded with birds. 

Last stop of the trip was the Glendale Recharge Ponds to try to fill a few more gaps in my shorebird list.  This site has quite a reputation for rarities, though none had been reported recently.  We found shorebirds in 3 different impoundments, including over 500 Least Sandpipers and 300 Long-billed Dowitchers.  We were able to pick out about 6 Westerns and 2 Dunlin (statebird #17) in with the Leasts, and had a Peregrine Falcon come in to grab lunch.  A nice end to the trip.

By the Numbers…

I tallied 125 species on the trip.  The two key targets were the Nutting’s Flycatcher and Rosy-Faced Lovebirds which were Life Birds #733 and 734.  And my 17 statebirds puts my AZ state list up to 292, finally putting me safely above the ABA threshold.