Hooked

  I'll save the details on the long drive. It was a long drive. Exhausting actually. I don't think I could have picked a worse time to quit smoking but I'm sure the rental car company thanks me for it anyway. I'll also save the details on the next morning where for the first time in a week it was cold (45 degrees) in the morning and gray and overcast. It also was the first day in six days that the hook-billed kites didn't do their daily flyover. I was there from 7 am until 1pm with no luck. Then over to Laguna Atascosa for the rare chance of seeing a blue bunting that had recently been seen in a restricted area. It's a nice place. There are a lot of birds but not the one I had hoped for. We had one more day before we were flying home so that meant one more morning to try for kites. 

Standing on the dike at Bentson at 7 am it was a completely different story from  the day before. Not a cloud in the sky and and much warmer. I again separated from the group after talking with a bunch of people. I find that groups of people do a lot of talking compared to actually birding so I tend to go it alone. But I did meet a nice guy from Arizina who I plan to contact on my next trip out there since he lives in a great area for birds. 

After a little while a fellow Ohian joined us and we chatted a bit about the area and birds. Rick is a great birder and is lucky to spend the winter in such a beautiful place. 

We spent the next hour and a half watching different species of Hawks flying over with both types of vultures. Just after 11 we got on a bird that was a fair bit farther down the dike beginning to kettle with vultures. Without a doubt hook-billed kite. Then a pair of them. A dark male and a light female. We watched them through the scope and then they did the almost unthinkable. They actually flew closer. Overhead. Affording excellent looks. Including the hooked bill. It was a fantastic way to close out the trip. I had decided I was going to leave at noon to head back to Dallas with or without the kite. I left early and very happy. 

The long drive to Dallas was time rehash the birds and the scenery and the laughs. Lots of laughs.  It wa a great trip and I didn't want to go home but duty calls. And it won't be long before I hit the road again. The winter at home is brutal and there aren't any new birds in the state for me so I might as well go somewhere that has new birds. And sunshine. 

Return to the nightmare...dream come true

We again left early, and as a matter of fact I'm not even going to mention that anymore. I always leave early. On the off chance I sleep in I'll let you know. 

We rolled back into Texas welcomed by ferruginous Hawks and  lark buntings to again look for cranes. Finding cranes was easy. Abundantly easy.  We went back to the same spot where we were the other day. Thousands of cranes were these. Mind boggling numbers to sort through and they were a little jumpy. At times the sky was full of them calling and flying and coming and going. It was almost an exercise in futility to even scan through the birds. I would get through part of the flock and they would shuffle again. After about an hour they settled down and began to tuck their heads to rest. Oh hell no.  

I am looking for a single bird that I am only going to find if I can see their heads. I decide to take a few steps closer. The part I got the less I had to deal with heat shimmer and that was also a bonus. Ten to 15 feet at a time I edged closer. I got about 75' closer that I had been when the birds began to get a little nervous. I didn't want to flush them again I just wanted them alert. Well my plan worked. Every bird on the ground stood tall and alert. Every bird was facing left. I scanned through once and on the return pan I saw what I was looking for. The dark face and neck that stood a little taller than the 15000 other birds. It was one of those moment where you're not quite sure if it's real if if you're imagining it after looking for so long at the same type of bird. But there it was. Plain as day. So easy to spot it made me wonder how I could have spent 8 hours the other day looking and not finding and another hour and change this morning looking again. But there it was. Photos weren't easy, but I managed a few. 

Can you find the Common Crane? 

The adrenaline definitely invigorated me and I was ready to bird hard out last few days. 

It was decision time again. It was 12:30pm.  Where to go. What to go for. What To Do. Well it wasn't that hard of a decision to make. Hook-billed kites had been seen with some regularity the last week at Bentson back in the valley. It was an easy decision. A 550 mile decision. A 9 hours drive decision. Easy. Bentson here we come. 

Sandia part II

After driving as far from chicken death land as I could we got up and drive back to Sandia Crest to try again. This was a much better day. The sun was shining and it was going to be 70 degrees that day. We rolled into the crest house parking lot around 11:30 and went in to find 20 other birders awaiting the birds. It's true that there really is no doubt when you see other birders that they can be spotted a mile away. A sea of khaki clothing, big hats, North Face, Patagonia and Marmot wear mixed with Columbia and Under Armor, every size, brand, weight and design of binoculars and loads of camera equipment. And of course we sort of fit in. They had been waiting since the building opened for the stars to show but so far only mountain chickadees, red-breasted nuthatches and Stellar's jays were visable. A red-tailed hawk and a sharp-shinned hawk floated on the updrafts over the feeder area in the cloudless blue sky. 

An interior white-breasted nuthatch put in an appearance while we had lunch from the cafe. After about an hour the leader of the tour group that was monopolizing the cafe says "here they come" like one of the alien attack movies with an urgency in his voice that induced a ripple of panic from the group. They all shifter and jockeyed for a closer section of window which apparently makes the birds uncomfortable and the flock flew in and out almost immediately. They did however make multiple passes at the window. Black rosy-finch was easy to spot but the other two were not as easy. Finally after another 20 minutes of near misses and a lovely young couple taking selfies on the deck the birds came in. Gray-crowned and Brown-capped along with the Black rosy-finches all made an appearance. Gasps, camera shutters galore, muffled cries of jubilation and a lot of shifting and swishing fabric was enough for me. Time to move on. 

We explored the different areas down the mountain but few birds were seen. But many picnicking families enjoyed the day playing in the small areas of remaining snow in the 50 degree weather on the mountain.  

Along a few more residential roads we tracked down pinyon jays, Townsend Solitaite, Cassin's finches, scrub jays, and doves. We spent the remainder of the day just cruising around and making our way east again finally stopping in Santa Rosa for the night. Sleep came easy and morning comes quick on this trip.   

Valentine's Day Love

 We spent the morning birding Santa Rita lodge and Madera Canyon before bidding it farewell for this trip. I always had to leave but I know that I will go back a few times this year.  While enjoying all of the birds at the feeder's we added hepatic Tanager and olive warbler to the year list somewhat unexpectedly. 

We headed north in the midday sun toward Phoenix. We stopped for gas and while the tank was filling I looked up recent sightings nearby. There was one bird in particular that this populated seemed to have quite a few of and it would be a life bird if I could find one. We drive around the city parks and streets listening and looking for signs of the birds. It wasn't long before we saw a small green bird with a bright blue tail fly into a large palm. We parked and checked the tree but could not find a bird  in the 30 foot tall tree. Then the bird dove out of the backside and plummeted down into the adjacent neighborhood and disappeared behind some roofs. I drive down the street in this modest neighborhood and found a house with a feeder out front that was mobbed with our target. Rosy-faced Lovebirds were feeding and calling right in front of the homeowner who was relaxing in a chair on her porch. I asked if I could take a few pictures of her birds and she laughed and said of course.  

For many reasons I hate residential birding. Slowly driving around a neighborhood or God forbid walking around with binoculars in front of people's houses always makes me feel like I'm doing something very wrong but the nice lady here had no problem with it at all. In fact she was happy to share her love of the birds. Definitely fun to find love birds on Valentine's Day and always fun to add a life bird. 

The decision for our next stop was easy at the time. We would go to the intersection of Baseline Road and Salome Highway to look for thrasher. Bendire's, Le Conte's and Crissal thrashers are all found regularly in this general area in the mornings. Well we wouldn't arrive until 4:39 in the afternoon making it more difficult. It's a vast, wide open area of dessert scrub habitat that these birds love. Apparently it is fine to just park and walk around this area wherever you please. For anyone who has never been there a few words of warning, for those of you that have been there shame on you for not warning the rest of us idiots.  First, when walking around watch your step. The ground is riddled with burrows that collapse underfoot if you hit them just right. This could easily lead to a twisted ankle out there in the dust. But the second, and drastically more important thing that everyone should know going in is that this place, if the wind is coming from the southeast, smells like utter, undeniable , complete and total death. Well shit to be more exact.  Chicken shit. There is a chicken "farm" just down the road and the smell of one of these places is enough to endure vomiting without warning, your eyes to water, your lungs to collapse and possibly a total blackout. Not to mention whatever lasting effects it may have. Add that to the broken ankle from tripping in a boobytrap hole while running from the stench and I can imagine this would make many folks not want to return.  It worked for me. I was done and had no desire to return the following morning. Or ever for that matter. But I will most likely try this one more time but never when the wind is from the south. To anyone who goes in the future:  You have been warned.   

Not a great way to end the day for sure. But Bendire's thrasher was new for the year so all wasn't lost. And the lovebirds definitely saved the day anyway. 

From lakes to canyons and everywhere in between

We got an early start and headed to Pena Blanca lake where the sun was shining and the wind had calmed down. It was a beautiful morning to bird this scenic and secluded area. A few fisherman were already at the lake when we arrived and started our hike down to the waters edge. We followed the trial around the lake to the far corner cove and started searching the cattails for our next target. Rufous-capped Warbler. Within a few minutes the bird vocalized and started moving through the reeds. Glimpses were had until the little guy came out into the open in the reeds on the far side of the cove. 

Satisfied with finding this bird so quickly we decided to bird the area a bit and added a few new year birds. Red-naped sapsucker, Brewers sparrow and a few violet-green swallows overhead. We enjoyed the area but knew we still had places to go and birds to see. 

We arrived at the Florida Canyon parking area at the end of the road mid morning after slowly driving up and birding the whole way. Rufous-winged and black-throated sparrows were around and phainopepla were everywhere. As soon as we parked I heard the call of the black-capped gnatcatcher we were looking for. We saw two of them working the scrub and watched them for about 5 minutes before the moved deeper out of sight but were able to get a few other birders on them for great looks by all. 

We then hiked up the trail to see any other birds that were around. It was a beautiful day and birds were calling and some singing from the hillsides but all were making it difficult to see them except a Hutton's vireo and Hammond's flycatcher.  

As we were hiking back down and almost to the parking area we hear the distinctive call of an Elegant Trogon from up the canyon. We hiked back up to ask the other birders if they had heard it or if they had played a call. At the time they were standing next to a cascade of water over the rocks so they couldn't hear much. We walked a little farther up and looked everywhere and listened carefully but did not hear the bird again. Wen though there is no doubt that it was an elegant trogon calling I am not adding it to my year list yet. This is a beautiful bird that I want to see again and I will be back in Arizona for a few more opportunities on future trips. For now I'll let it go. 

Next we birded Madera Canyon, by far one of my favorite birding areas that I have ever visited. The feeding stations at the Santa Rita and Kubo lodges are spectacular for Arizona birds as well as being one of the most relaxing places to see them. Magnificent hummingbirds were using the feeders, Arizona woodpeckers, a Townsend's warbler, bridled titmouse, Mexican jays, lesser goldfinches and pine siskins, wild turkeys, ladder-back woodpeckers and yellow-eyes juncos actively can into the feeders as 20+ birders watched and enjoyed them. I inquired at the gift shop at Santa Rita about staying there and it turned out there was one room available for the evening. With the gem show in Tucson the lodge actually was a cost saving place to stay.

 We ran back down to Green Valley to grab some food and decided to make our way slowly back up the canyon as the sun set. Birds were everywhere and Gambel's quail were new for the year. We reached the end of the road and parked for a few minutes to listen for owls. We barely had stepped out of the car and a whiskered screech owl was calling not far away. On the way back down a northern-Pygmy owl was calling at the amphitheater area. Another reason I love this area.  We got settled in and enjoyed the suite at the lodge for the evening. 

Sandia in the snow

So we decided to head Sandia Crest to try for the rosy-finches next. When we woke up it was 45 degrees and partly cloudy but it looked like a decent day. But the closer we got to the mountains it began to look a bit more bleak.  

At the turn off to head up to the crest snow was lightly falling and the evergreens and bare trees had that beautiful look of freshly fallen snow. By the time we made it up to the ski area 6" of snow covered the road and there was only a single set of tire tracks to follow ahead of us. By the time we reached the 10,009 foot pull offs the world was covered in more than a soft blanket of snow. There was at least a foot of that white shit on the road and the wind was howling and drifting it even higher in some places. By the time we reached the Crest House it was near white out conditions and not another soul in sight. 

I couldn't imagine the building opening up for business in the next 31 minutes so we decided to wait it out at the ski area parking in hopes that the dedicated employees would soon be making their way up. 30 minutes.  60 minutes. 90 minutes passed. No one was coming.  We were on our own. Right about the time I was bitching and saying lets go 3 cars gunned past us up the hill. I decided to wait a little while longer before Following them up in case they decided to come back down. I gave them another 30 minutes before heading back up the road. All was good until we reached the 10,000 foot parking area again. There they were. All three cars. Parked and getting covered in snow while their occupants were off cross country skiing and hiking. Morons. I like a bigger moron thought I'd give the top just one more try. The snow was even deeper now. The tire tracks we had followed before had long been covered and the snow continued to pile up. I got to the top lot, parked and decided to walk out to the overlook to look down at the feeder area just in case any stray birds or finches were waiting for breakfast. Not one. I was the lone idiot standing in 30mph winds and snow looking for any signs of life. The drifts were hip high and with this I knew it was over. No one was coming today. And I was leaving. 

Down we went again. And this time we didn't stop until we reached the gas station at the base. A dusting of snow down here. How pleasant. I punched up directions to Benson, AZ and we left the winter wonderland behind.  Gladly. 

 Six hours and change later we were in Arizona. 54 degree and the sun was setting. We would stop for the night here since I realized that there was a gem and precious rock show in Tucson that meant every hotel for 70 miles was either booked or completely overpriced. 

Somehow this place we had stopped was in a general good location if we were going to go to Fort Huachuca or Sierra Vista, not so great for Madera or Florida canyons but it would do because realistically what is an hours drive at this point? 

We arrived at Patagonia Sonoita Preserve just before it opened. It was warming up but windy and there were supposed to be pretty heavy winds at times this day. Not my favorite birding conditions but there was a mission. We headed to the staked out hackberry trees looking for 2 American Robins and a wayward Rufous-backed Robin that had been feeding in the area for weeks. 

We spent a few hours wandering the area without seeing either bird. When I was beginning to think it was time to move on another birder said he had just seen a few robins up the trail. We headed that direction and watched the 2 Americans feed in the wind sheltered area for a while hoping their friend would stop by to say hello. After about another hour and 30 degrees warmer we were just getting ready to go when there it was. Sitting silently in the tangled branches was the Rufous-backed robin. We called over a few other birders that were within earshot to share this beautiful bird and taking a few photos. It had definitely been worth the wait. A life bird as well as a year bird. 

We then headed to a few other areas but the high winds were making it difficult to find a lot of birds so we decided to head over to Tubac to try the trail for Sinaloa Wren. Again there were not a lot of birds actively moving around but we found the area where te wren has built a nest and has been seen most reliably. After an hour is looking around and seeing Bewick's wrens I heard the fast rattle call of the bird and located it moving through a scrubby brush like area. The bird only came out into the open a few times and for the briefest moments but all of the relevant field marks were observed and the bird did vocalize one additional time. 

We headed to local italian restaurant for dinner where we were disappointed in the subpar food but elated with finding two of our target birds on a windy Arizona day. 

Crane Mania

Out the door before the sun rise again and headed to looks at cranes. How hard could this be right? I mean it's a little larger, paler and has dark facial markings and a yellow bill. It should stick out like a sore thumb. We headed to the lake first just as the sun was rising. Nine scaled quail ran across the road in front of us as we approached the lake with their little white peaked tufts standing straight up. By this time the sky was full of cranes. Thousands of them. The sun was like a laser beam out if the east making every bird appear dark and silhouetted. Great. Well let's just follow them. But which ones? They were cruisin out in every direction. Shit. 

Well let's just follow the largest group. We did.  For miles. Down dusty red dirt roads. Like a hot air balloon chase vehicle except the birds constantly change course. Finally they started to settle down into an agricultural field and as we arrived the reality of this chase began to set in.  

There were other birds around. Flocks of brewers blackbirds and eurasian-collared doves were feeding in a field as a pair of beautiful light ferruginous Hawks perched on poles and circled the fields. A flock of lark buntings perched in a bush for some quick photos before moving on, new year birds as well. 

But sorting through Thousands and thousands of cranes feeding a quarter mile out in a field with blazing sun and morning heat shimmer was not going to be easy and it was still supposed to get warmer. We spent a few hours scoping and jockeying for different positioning to get a look at the entire flock. The warmer it got, the harder it got. The cranes began to concentrate in a shallow wet area in the field at the end of a dirt road. We set up scoped for a few more hours. No luck. 

At this point we needed food and a break so we drove into New Mexico for gas and beverages. On the way we had a gorgeous prairie falcon on a power pole that took flight and soared around us for a few minutes. Check. 

We headed back and met a couple of birders from Mississippi on their way to California also looking for the common crane. They had arrived at the same

location that we had left and spent the last few hours looking through the flock 

We exchanged numbers and continued to search the area ending the day at the lake again watching the cranes come in to roost. As the sun set we were disappointed but had added three new year birds so all wasn't lost. We decided call it a day and crash. My eyes were strained and all I wanted was to sleep. 

Amistad and beyond

Another early start to bird Amistad National Wildlife Refuge. It's a large area where we stopped at a few different areas of scrub habitat to look for new birds. The sun had just come up and birds were singing all around. Rufous Crowned sparrows weren't shy and neither were the flocks of chipping sparrows and black-throated sparrows. I also found a clay-colored sparrow in with the many chipping. We finally heard and had great looks at black-tailed gnatcatcher to count it as new as well. 

We then started the long drive up to Baileyboro Lake to look for one bird. 

Common Crane. We arrived with about an hour of daylight and watched cranes come in by the hundreds to roost for the night but did not see the celebrity. A pair of great-horned Owls perched up on a telephone pole hooting away before we observed their quickie and the male flew

off. Typical. We would spend the night nearby and try again the next day. 

Along the border

Time kind of flies down here. The days are long and it's hard to muster the strength to get caught up on the blog after getting settled in for the night. I usually just pass out after dinner. Again, not most people's idea of a vacation but I have no problem with it. I'll just have to recap the last few days to get caught up:

Sunday:  We birded quite a few areas. We started at Santa Anna NWR on the off chance the blue bunting was still around. We didn't have any luck with it or many other birds for that matter. Mostly quiet so we moved on to Anzalduas park.   There were lots of birds around and we ran into the young couple again that helped with the tropical parula. This time they were looking a black-throated gray warbler that has been spending the winter at the park. We no sooner had parked the car when I spotted the bird in the tree in front of us. I called them over and all of us were able to observe the bird for some time. This was a life bird

for them so I was happy to have been able to help. 

We decided at this point to start making our way north. We stopped at a few places along the way including Bentson, Salineño and most interestingly Roma Bluffs. This is an interesting area. It's tucked back into a neighborhood with a viewing platform that looks out over the river into Mexico. Hundreds of people we're picnicking, fishing and generally hanging out enjoying the day while a half dozen border patrol cars and sheriffs were keeping a watchful eye on a guy that was in a four wheeler going across the river. We watched birds flying around the river and mostly in Mexico adding to my Mexican life list but a few rough-winged swallows were cruising overhead in the US side for a new year bird. 

Next we stopped at Falcon State Park which also had its fair share of people enjoying the nice day. We walked a trail and heard black-tailed gnatcatchers buy could not get a view of them in the thick scrub. I would wait to count this as a new bird. We ended up driving up to Del Rio, Texas and spent the night. 

Rarity cleanup

The day started at first light at Estero. We headed out to the Spoonbill Trail first to try for the gray-crowned yellowthroat since it seemed more reliable in the morning. Within five minutes I heard the bird call a few times and positioned myself as close to the call as I could. Boom. The bird popped up and called from a small branch for excellent looks. Good looking little guy. Thanks for popping up. 

It was then off to the tropical zone again. By the time we got there there were 40 people gathered. They were all peering through the chain link fence into the trees beyond. With all of the rain in the last months the anacua trees have fruit and the thrushes we're loving it. A half dozen clay-colored thrushes and american robins were feeding with mockingbirds and squirrels making every movement worthy of a look. I finally spotted the bird after about an hour in one of the trees. Darker backed than clay-colored and  a definite eye ring stood out as well as the white throat. Everyone in the group except for another woman were looking at a nearby clay-colored at the time and I think we were the only two to see it at that time before it dove into the tree again. Though I would have loved to have gotten a photo it would have been close to impossible as the bird was about 50 feet back in the top of the tree with leaves and branches all around that I'm sure the camera would have auto focused on just to annoy me.   

Satisfied with the look we moved on to Resaca de la Palma to try for the tropical parulas that seems to love the parkinglot. We spent about an hour wandering around after checking in then we met another couple who were looking for the bird as well. This was their third time trying and they were leaving empty handed again. That's always discouraging to hear. But we kept looking. A little while later we ran into a nice couple we had seen over at the thrush spot and they said they had just seen the bird Minutes before. So we headed over to that area and walked around it multiple times before I saw some slight feeding movement in an ebony tree above our heads.  Finally bright yellow was visable, then the blue back and wing bars then just the head with the dark eye line until finally the bird came into the open for 15 seconds before retreating back into the thick canopy. Tropical Parula. Check. 

Next we went over to SPI (South Padre Island ) just because it was a beautiful, warm and sunny afternoon. The gulf was beautiful and many people were out enjoying the day. About a million people were at the convention center for a dance show so we skipped that and just enjoyed the drive and the beach. 

We decided to go back to Estero again to finish off the day there. The thrush had been seen plenty throughout the afternoon but sightings had dropped off by late in the day.  We enjoyed the area and chatted with a few folks before deciding to call it a day. Four new birds in the area was great considering I came down primarily for the gray-crowned yellowthroat. The weather for the next day was predicted to be even better than today so definitely looking forward to more sun and birds. 

That's the "Spirit"

Well we got a slower start than we had hoped. Our cheap Spirit Airlines flight was delayed out of Cleveland which put us down in Texas at around 1 am after yet another interesting group of travelers ( idiots ) prohibiting sleep on the plane. By the time we arranged a rental and figured out where we were going it was almost 2 and we had a decision to make: Just crash and get up early to hit the road or put in some drive time and see how far we could get before stopping. Since we both felt pretty good we decided to drive. And drive some more. At a coffee stop about 3.5 hours in we again faced a choice: stop for the night and sleep a few hours or just push it and get there. Another coffee and 5-hr energy it was. 

We arrived at Estero Llano around 1pm and headed out to the area where the gray-crowned yellowthroat has been seen. A few other people were also looking but had not had much luck. We eventually heard the bird song twice and call for about a minute from the center of the tall grass area near some scrub but we could not get eyes on this bird.  I was prepared to stick it out and then I looked at my phone. White-throated Thrush in the tropical zone. Ok let's go.

We get out there and join the other 10-15 people searching for the bird with little luck. We staked out the same spot where the bird was originally discovered and stayed there for three hours. Clay-colored thrushes started to pop up from the understory and feed in the berry trees. Catbirds, thrashers, robins and doves moved around. Altamira Oriole and green jays flitted about and a northern-beardless tyrannulet put in an appearance. 

At around 4 I could barely keep my eyes open and we decided to go get some sleep.  Of course the thrush would be refound at around 4:30 but at that point it could have been in the parking lot of the hotel and I'm not sure I would have gotten up to see it. We are plannin on going back in the morning and that's enough for me. I passed out around 6:30 and slept until 5 am.