Update and return from blogging hiatus

To all of my faithful followers, SORRY!!! I haven't posted in over a month.  Each time I went to do a post, I would get distracted by something. It's been an insane summer. 

I won't go into all the details just yet (save those for a dreary winter day :D ) but I will fill in on some of the stuff that has happened. 

As usual, for most of the summer, I've been chasing rare birds around southeast Arizona. Some of the birds that have turned up since my last post have been: Plain-capped Starthroat (as pictured on my blog header), Aztec Thrush, Brown-backed Solitaire (a potential first ABA record), a Green Kingfisher at San Pedro (which has repeatedly refused to appear for me), 2 Black-bellied Plovers at Wilcox (Found by me), another Aztec Thrush in the Chiricahuas (again, found by me) and several other awesome birds. 

A Wood Stork has been hanging around in Phoenix over the past week (I'm not chasing it) and a Blue-footed Booby turned up on a lake just east of Albuquerque, NM (might chase it). 

Other than that, it's been absolutely crazy.  I've been kept pretty busy. 

Oh! I wanted to tell you the most fun part of the whole summer! I got to help out with Camp Chiricahua! 

Some of you might remember me mentioning this last year when I attended Camp C. 

This year, I actually got to hang out with the group.  

It was a younger group of kids this year, but a very awesome and highly interested group. 

You could show them a bird 3 or 4 times and they would still look at it. You could show them plants, and they would look (Dave was very happy about this). 

Anyway, it was one of the most awesome groups I've ever hung out with. This year, instead of the usual one person not interested, it was the opposite. Everyone was interested and everyone was a good birder! Not like some groups you get where one person isn't a birder at all (Dave was pretty happy about this too. :D ) 

This year's camp counselor (Rebekah Rylander from Austin, TX) was awesome and did her job well (keeping the kids out of trouble.... lol ). Definitely a good person for the job and more creative than most. She gets high marks from me. ;) 

Camp C this year was highly successful (we even got to camp at Rustler Park this year. Got rained out last year.) The high point of the camp for almost all of the kids (I, unfortunately couldn't join them that day) was the finding and documenting of the ABA's potential first record of a Brown-backed Solitaire.  I heard from them a couple hours later and then drove over to join them that evening. They were ecstatic (It was the first time any Camp Chiricahua group had found a first ABA area record). Dave seemed to be almost more ecstatic than they were! :D 

As you can imagine, I wasn't very happy. ;)  But I did take them to Patagonia to see the Sinaloa Wren and then on to Florida Canyon to see the Black-capped Gnatcatchers. 

After dropping them off in Tucson, I headed back to Sierra Vista the next morning and headed up Ramsey Canyon. Fortunately for me, my luck held and I did not even have to wait. The bird sang as I walked up the canyon. 5 minutes later, I was looking at the ABA's first potential record (well, first to potentially be accepted anyway) Brown-backed Solitaire. 

Fortunately for everyone, the bird stuck around for a few weeks which gave me time to go back and photograph it. 

Unfortunately for the campers, an Aztec Thrush was found in Ramsey Canyon a few weeks later. I had the good fortune to be able to go see and photograph that bird as well. 

A couple weeks later, a Plain-capped Starthroat showed up in Patagonia at the Spirit Tree Inn. 

I had just happened to be in Sierra Vista when the bird was reported so I was able to be there the next morning. Again, my stroke of good luck held. The bird came in every 30 minutes (hence the photo on my blog header)  Unfortunately for others, that was the only day it did. 

Other than that, it's been rather quiet recently. 

Onward to upcoming news! 

I am driving to Tucson tomorrow, getting some stuff checked out on my car, and then I am driving to Monterey, California on Friday!! 

I'll be doing it in stages. I'll drive to L.A., spend some time puttering around there, then drive north along the coast to Monterey where I will be catching the Aug 31st Pelagic trip with Debi Shearwater!! You can tell I'm excited. :D 

It will be my first Pelagic trip ever so I'm expecting lots of lifers.  I'm buying another CF card so that I can take lots of pictures.  I'll need it. I expect that the first 200 or so photos will be blurry. I'll need a few hours of practice to get sharp photos from a moving boat. 

Anyway, I'll give a full report about that when I get a chance.  

I will be back in Arizona on the 4th of Sept. I'm picking up Dave Jasper from the Airport on the 5th and will be back in Portal that night. I will be in Portal on the 6th (packing mostly) and then starting the long drive home on the 7th.  I will be home by the 15th. Just in time to leave for Duluth on the 16th.  I'll be home for good by the 21st. 

Sorry for the lack of photos in this post. I felt bad, so, same as the last post, here's my Flickr url: http://www.flickr.com/photos/swallowtailphoto/

Happy Birding!! 

Whirlwind Birding Pt 3: Nogales to Phoenix, a nine lifer weekend

California Gulch

After the Five-striped Sparrows, our next stop was nearby Sycamore Canyon. 

Sycamore Canyon also runs to the border and doesn't get birded a lot so the potential for rarities is greater.  However, the rarest bird we found was our 3rd Thick-billed Kingbird of the weekend:

Since we had dipped on Flame-colored Tanager the first time, we decided to head to Madera Canyon to find it.  Madera was only a 30 minute drive north to we arrived rather early in the morning. As we drove in, a Botteri's Sparrow flew across the road and I spotted a Rufous-winged Sparrow sitting in a bush as we drove by.  We drove up to Madera Kubo, parked and got out. Less than 30 seconds later, Jacob spotted the Mr Flame as he came down to the jelly feeder. I managed to get a shot of him a minute later: 

A minute later, this Hooded Oriole also posed for his portrait: 

Having nothing left to do in Madera, I called my friend Tyler to see what he was up to. He said that he knew where there was a Common Black-hawk nest.  Tyler lives in Tempe but we had the whole day so we drove up to pick him up.  It was then that we found out that the nest was another hour's drive away.  We drove out to Sunflower, AZ where Tyler managed to pick out the nest. The hawk was sitting on it, in plain view:  

It was my 8th lifer of the weekend. 

After seeing the hawk, Tyler also mentioned that he knew where to find some Gray Vireos. Gray Vireo was a lifer for me so I readily agreed. 

We drove out to the vireo spot and stood listening.  We heard many Black-chinned Sparrows singing. I managed to get a few decent photos: 

The Sparrows were great, but our real target was the vireo. After listening and pinpointing one down the slope, we were able to get him to come in: 

Lifer #9 for the weekend! 

There aren't many places that I can get 9 lifers in one weekend. Southeast Arizona (until now) was one of them. 

We drove back to Phoenix and dropped off Tyler at his house. Then, Jacob and I continued on to Tucson where he had left his truck.  

As we drove along the road to the house, I spotted two hawks sitting on the wire. They didn't look quite right for Red-tailed though. I did a U-turn and went back. Sure enough, there were two Harris's Hawks sitting on the wire. While not a lifer for either of us, it was a decent year bird: 

I dropped off Jacob and drove home to Portal. I arrived home shortly after midnight, exhausted, but exhilarated after an amazing weekend of birding in Southeastern Arizona. 

It was quite possibly the best birding weekend I've ever had.  Jacob and I managed to actually see every rare or uncommon Mexican species known to exist in Southeast Arizona at the time! 

I never expect to have luck like that again any time soon. 

Anyway, til next time, Happy Birding! 

Whirlwind birding Pt 2: The rarest of the rare, section 2: tracking down the rarest nightjar in the country

After leaving Paton's house, we hopped it down to the Huachuca Mountains. 

The Huachucas have some of the best birding in Southern Arizona. They also had 3 birds that we were looking for.  Our first stop was at Beatty's guest ranch where we sat at the hummingbird feeders. Our target bird? Berylline Hummingbird.  The only one known to exist in the USA at the time.  We sat at the feeders for half an hour with no luck. Then, Tom Beatty Jr told us about a Flame-colored Tanager that had been reported farther up the canyon. We walked down the hill, across the canyon and up to the gate. We were just about to enter, when Tom yelled "Berylline's up!"  We ran back across the canyon and up the hill to the feeders. 5 minutes later, the bird came in again. It was a life bird for both of us! 

While we were sitting at the feeders, the bird that makes Beatty's famous also came in: 

This is one of 4 known White-eared Hummingbirds currently present in the USA. The population estimate is under 10 individuals throughout the USA. 

After seeing the Berylline, we hiked up Miller canyon looking for the Tanager.  This was the only Tanager we saw: 

A very beautiful male Hepatic Tanager.  Jacob and I figured out that if you crossed Summer Tanager and Hepatic Tanager, the only logical mixed name would be "Satanic Tanager."   

We figured on Satanic because if you cross "u" and "e", you get an "a" sound and Satatic Tanager doesn't sound good. Therefore it has to be Satanic Tanager. Cool eh? 

Our next stop was for one species Mary Jo's feeders at Ash canyon where were in and out in less than 2 minutes. We walked in and sat down and a female Lucifer Hummingbird flew in for a minute and then left. Being on a tight schedule, we also got up and left.  I don't normally like "twitching" birds but that one was necessary since it was only a year bird and nothing more. 

Having a little extra time, we headed to the San Pedro house where we picked up Say's Phoebe and Tropical Kingbird.  A check for the resident Barn Owl revealed that it wasn't home, and we couldn't stay and wait for it.  Having nothing else to look for in the Huachucas, we hopped on the road, headed to the famous California Gulch. Home of our both rarest sparrow and our rarest nightjar.  

After dinner in Nogales (The city that is home to the only US interstate highway that has mileages written in Kilometers instead of Miles) We arrived at California Gulch shortly after 7:30pm.  

We drove into the gulch and parked in the small parking lot next to another car (found out later it was Stuart Healy with some clients). As we pulled in, we could hear the nightjar calling from just up the hill. We walked up the hill and stood for a second to pinpoint it. I said "it should be right about here." and turned on the spot light at the same time. The bird was sitting in a bush a few feet off the ground, in plain view. You could see the Buff-collar without binoculars. The bird stayed for only a few seconds before it flew, but we managed to get spectacular views of it.  We turned right back around and drove out before it was properly dark.  On the way out, we hit the really steep hill. The hill had a lot of gravel on it which made it slippery. We made it almost to the top before the gravel took over and the wheels started spinning. Despite some fancy maneuvering, the car would not go any farther.  Jacob put it in 1st gear to no avail. The car was stuck.  I told Jacob to go push and hopped in the drivers seat. I know a few tricks for slick slopes. I backed the car slowly downhill (in the dark mind you) until it was slightly flatter and the put the car in 1st gear. Then I gunned it all the way up, zig-zagging 
as I did so to create more friction. Even so, I just barely made it over the crest of the hill, leaving Jacob in cloud of fine rock dust.  I hopped out and called to him so he could find his way out. The dust was so fine and thick that you couldn't see in front of your nose. 

Since the gulch is full of illegals, drug smugglers and crazy white guys at night, we spent the night in the nearby town of Arivaca where we picked up Cactus Wren as our 108th species of the day. 

We awoke at 4:30 on Sunday morning and drove back into the gulch. This time a bit farther than the Nightjar spot.  At the highest point of the road, we found two Five-striped Sparrows, just 8 feet down the hill:

The birds posed only for a second and then headed downhill.  Instead of driving to the Mexican border, we turned around and drove out again. This time, I drove and I put the car in 1st gear the entire way. We made it out unscathed. 

To be continued in Pt 3 of Whirlwind birding: Nogales to Phoenix, chasing a 9 lifer weekend.

Til next time, Happy Birding! 

A Whirlwind Birding tour of southeastern Arizona. (Pt 1:Of Rufous-capped Warblers and Black-capped Gnatsnatchers)

Picture this: 

Two Bird-crazed teenagers driving around southern Arizona in a red '99 Ford Taurus, drinking Rootbeer, eating Nutter-butters, listening to Taylor Swift and seeing the rarest and best birds that southern Arizona has to offer.  

Set? good, because this really happened. 

My friend Jacob Cooper and I did exactly that this past weekend.  

Jacob told me that he was off work for the weekend so we decided to do a Whirlwind tour of southeast Arizona to see the Mexican rarities. All of them. 

We met on Friday afternoon at the desert museum in Tucson and, after dropping off Jacob's truck with a friend, we hopped into my little red '99 Ford Taurus and headed south to our first stop. Florida wash.  

We arrived at the wash about an hour before sunset and hiked up to the dam and the now famous Sycamore tree.  Our quarry?  exactly half of the entire population of Rufous-capped Warblers currently known to be present in the USA. 

As we hiked past the dam, Jacob heard the telltale chipping call of the warbler. Coming over a rise, he practically stepped on the bird. It was sitting right in the middle of the trail. As it flew out to a fallen tree, I managed to get on my first lifer of the trip. We both ended up getting spectacular looks at America's rarest warbler: 

As we watched the bird flutter down to the stream to drink and bathe, another bird flew up next to it and started singing. We were now looking at a confirmed pair of Rufous-capped Warblers!  Two of only 4 known individuals present in the ABA area. 

Feeling elated after the spectacular looks and photos, we headed back down the wash.  When we got back to the Ocotillo and scrub, Jacob heard a squeaky, gnatcatcher-like sound coming from the hill above us. Sure enough, there in the Ocotillo, about 30 yds above us, was a Black-capped Gnatcatcher! My second lifer of the trip. 

Our next stop was nearby Madera Canyon. We arrived as the sun was setting and drove straight to Madera Kubo. As we watched the feeders, a male White-eared Hummingbird flew down to the back feeder for a drink. This was only the 3rd of this rarest of ABA area nesting Hummingbirds that I had ever seen. As Jacob was watching the male, I spotted another Hummingbird at another feeder that appeared to have a dark patch through it's eye.  A second later, it clicked. This was a female White-eared Hummingbird! I quickly got Jacob onto the bird and both of us watched as the male came by and courted the female.  

We headed back to the car. Jubilant after seeing half of the known population of White-eared Hummingbirds in the ABA area.  

A quick stop at Proctor Rd added Botteri's Sparrow and Rufous-winged Sparrow to our trip list. As we headed back to the car in the quickly darkening light, a Poorwill called from the nearby hillside and a Lesser Nighthawk flew over. 

It was the end to a spectacular first day of birding in beautiful Southeast Arizona. 

As we drove on to Patagonia to stay the night, we wondered what else the weekend would bring. 

Coming soon, Pt 2 of Whirlwind birding: The rarest of the rare.