Building the Life List is one of the reasons I love birding. There will always be species, somewhere, you've never seen. Sure, it's fun to compile the year list or the state list, when I travel, but it's the ABA Life List that gets me to new places, or, in the case of Southern Arizona, places I've been numerous times, but still managed to miss some birds along the way.
In this case, it was the Mexican Chickadee and the Juniper Titmouse. However, there were also some rare birds around too, including a Blue-footed Booby and a Sinaola Wren and I really wanted to see those as well. So after a bonus day in the Orlando area, after my work trip, I headed to Phoenix and drove right up to the Bill William's NWR Visitor's Center.
The lake is full of Western and Clark's Grebes, and lots of Common Goldeneyes. I had hoped to scope a Barrow's as I did last year, but no such luck. However, I was just there for the Booby and after about 2 hours of scoping every buoy, mudflat and bank, I finally found it, way over on the opposite side, about 200 yards away. Having seen the Brown Booby earlier this fall, I knew what I was looking at. Beak bigger than a cormorant with a kind of white, elongated oval belly. It was an exciting, if not a satisfactory look. I had hoped it would fly closer at some time, but never did. I had the scope at 65 power, so digiscoping wasn't even an option. The bird flew off after about a minute and that was it. I stayed until dark, along with another birder, but we couldn't refind it.
I had to head 5 hours down to Benson for the night, where I would begin birding the Chiricahua Mountains the next morning with the help of Melody Kehl. We started at 6:30 and spent a lot of time driving, but once up in the mountains, it took less than an hour for me to spot the Juniper Titmouse and Melody to find me a Mexican Chickadee. From there we drove back to Phoenix, where a Lewis's Woodpecker was waiting for me at Reid Park. When I first saw it, it flew from the park into a tree on the opposite side of the road, then went from tree to post for the half hour we watched it. The Lewis's Woodpecker is now one my new favorite birds. I had been in Arizona 24 hours by this point and I had added 4 Life birds, along with a handful that were new for the Arizona Life List and photos of birds I had not gotten a shot of in 4 trips to Arizona last year.
We finished with a trip to the sod fields for a Mountain Plover, along with a great photo of a Crissal Thrasher and Sagebrush Sparrow. Had we 100% identified what we thought was a Bell's Sparrow, the split of what had been the Sage Sparrow, I'd have counted another new species for the year.
After a very satisfying day of birding, Matt Brown, my guide for Tuesday morning had a lot to live up to, but he delivered in spades. I stayed at the Stagestop Inn, which feels like the kind of place Wyatt Earp had probably stayed in back in the day, and met Matt early the next morning. We started with looking for the elusive Montezuma Quail. We drove to what he felt was a good spot for it, and this year I really wanted to see one. Last year I heard them, but now it was time to see the bird. And we finally did. We heard them calling and finally flushed two of them out of the brush, and I got a great look at one as it flew over the ridge. I had finally seen a Montezuma Quail. They are no longer a mythical bird. Next year I hope to actually photograph one.
We continued on our way to try for a Mountain Bluebird, but as we were looking, we ran into Laurens Halsey, not to be confused with Lauran Harter, who is the woman who found the Nutting's Flycatcher at Bill Williams. Laurens had just come from hearing a second Sinaola Wren along the Juan Bautista De Anza Trail. The first one was off limits to me as it was in Fort Huachuca and it is off limits to anyone but American Nationals. So, this was indeed a gift from the Life List Gods. Laurens gave us great directions and off we went in search of a Code 5.
We got to the trail, parked, and walked the six tenths of a mile to the hydro polls. Matt had his GPS out and it was kind of like Geocaching. Just before we got to the spot, Matt saw a little brown bird in a bush. It was a Wren. We slowly approached and we both got a good look at it. Matt exclaimed, "I think that's it!" We got even better looks as it darted around the bushes. Yes, that was the Sinaola Wren. No stakeout, no waiting, just a bird in the bush being worth more than any two in the hand. And then it called. We had listed to its call on the walk up and new what to listen for. No doubt. The bird matched the description perfectly and spoke to us in its native tongue. We had the bird. My sixth Lifer of the trip and I wasn't quite done yet.
After seeing the bird fly across the path and land in a tree, Matt discovered the tree it had landed on had a nest. The Sinaola Wren was building a nest hoping to attract a made that would likely never come. Matt is probably the only person in the US to have seen this bird and its nests on multiple occasions in different locations. He found the first ever Sinaola Wren in the US, as well. Great Karma birding with Matt.
The next morning I had to head back to Phoenix, but stopped at Encanto Park for one more bird. It was the Rosy-faced Lovebird that I had missed the previous year. This time I arrived in a better location early in the morning, when they are most active and heard them from my car before I was even parked. Then I was treated to a veritable storm of Lovebirds. There was a huge flock of them coming in from parts unknown and landing in a fairly bare tree in the park. Lovely birds each and every one and my seventh Lifer of the trip, number 617 for the ABA Life List and my 20th Lifer of 2013, which as the modest goal I had set for myself this year.
I had just enough time to check out Boyce Thompson Arboretum for a Williamson's Sapsucker, but that was where my luck ended, as far as new birds went. However, I did see lots of great birds, including both Red-naped Sapsucker and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker a nd a few new birds for the Arizona List.
It was a great trip and yes I did drive about a thousand miles between Phoenix, Tucson and Patagonia, and other locals, but the birds were worth it. The Lifers were worth it and if I were not a "Lister" I'd have not gone out of my way to see so many new birds. And really, seeing birds, especially species you've never seen before, including those wonderful Code 4 and 5 birds, is what birding is all about. Seeing wonderful birds, everywhere you go and going to where the birds are is part of the adventure I love.
I am back home in Snowy Toronto now. Literally. Yesterday I found three Snowy Owls. One in Downsview Park and two in Col. Sam Smith Park. I love Snowy days, as long as I can look and not shovel.
I shall post photos later, but now I need to run. Life calling!
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