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Birds & Bikes (The Birdless Edition): Part 1 of 3

Posted in Travel, tagged Brewer's Blackbird, Cackling Goose, Greater Roadrunner, Mexican Duck, Red-shafted Flicker, Spotted Towhee, White-crowned Sparrow, Wood Duck on April 4, 2022| Leave a Comment »

My friend, David, and I have shared a few adventures consisting of his bicycle riding and my birding. It’s been fun, so we are always alert to more opportunities, but David is naive about the distribution and seasonality of birds. He thinks that there are lots of birds everywhere all the time. When he suggested Utah in March for the Skinny Tire Festival, I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I wouldn’t see many birds. But, such a trip would hopefully allow me to make some progress towards my geographic goal of 50 birds in 50 states and I would see some spectacular scenery.

It’s difficult to fly to Moab, which has only one flight a day, so we decided to meet in Albuquerque. I would drive there, David would fly, and then we would drive to Moab together. I started from Florida on March 6 and just drove for the first couple of days. It got more interesting in Texas. I headed towards Lubbock where a Mexican Duck, a species that I still needed for my life list, was being seen regularly. Shortly before I got there, I saw a pond with Canada Geese on the side of the road. Surprisingly, I still needed the goose for my Texas list, so I stopped and spent some time in little Post City Park. The Canada Goose and a pair of Bufflehead brought my Texas list to 285. Quite a few Brewer’s Blackbirds drank and bathed with the geese and ducks.

It was late when I got into Lubbock and I went straight to my hotel. The following morning, I went to Leroy Elmore Park to look for the Mexican Duck. Like many city parks, there were lots of domestic mallards and geese and all the waterfowl seemed habituated to humans. I was just taking my time surveying the variety of ducks when suddenly there he was – the handsome male Mexican Duck. It was one of the easiest lifers ever! You may think that he looks like a female Mallard, and Mexican Duck was previously considered a subspecies of Mallard, but it was accepted as a full species a few years ago. One of the most obvious physical differences is the dull yellowish bill, but there are other differences in appearance as well as genetic differences.

Cackling Geese at Leroy Elmore Park were a bonus. I have seen them many times before in other states, but they were new for Texas.

Next on my itinerary was Los Poblanos Open Space in Albuquerque the next day, March 10, before I picked up David at the airport. I had hoped for a second lifer, Western Screech-Owl, which had been reported by many birders until a few days before my arrival. I repeatedly checked all the boxes where he had been seen by others, but there was no sign of the owl. The most entertaining birds that I found where three Greater Roadrunners. One of them caught a House Mouse and ran around with it while making soft mewing sounds.

I finally gave up on the owl and went to Rio Grande Nature Center State Park to wait for David’s arrival. I immediately loved this pretty park. It had more vegetation than I’d seen since I had left the southeast and it had bird feeders! Some birders prefer to see birds in a more natural environment, but I want to see them up close. I enjoyed the White-crowned Sparrows, Red-shafted Flicker, Spotted Towhee, and others at the feeder area and the Wood Ducks in the lake. A ranger told me that there were porcupines in trees on one of the longer trails, but I didn’t have time that day. I remembered Burt’s words “Always leave something for next time.”

David’s flights had gone smoothly and he arrived on time. We loaded his bike into the car and headed towards Bloomfield, New Mexico, where we would spend the night. The next morning as we were loading the car, David found a Turkey Vulture. It doesn’t sound very notable, but it was flagged by eBird as “rare” and required documentation. We were both puzzled, but quickly discovered that it was just a few days earlier than usual. Traveling always reminds you that “location, location, location” doesn’t just apply to real estate. Location (and time of year) are two big determinants of what birds to expect at any given time and place.

As soon as we started driving north the scenery changed just as I’d hoped. This was David’s first trip west since he was too young to remember. I was thrilled that he was getting a nice introduction to the American West.

We enjoyed our drive to Moab, Utah, where the Skinny Tire Festival would begin the next day. Stay turned for Part 2.

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Southern California Spring

Posted in Travel for Birding, tagged American Pipit, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, Birding, Birds, Black-crowned Night-Heron, California, California Patch, Covington Park, Desert Cottontail, Eared Grebe, Phainopepla, San Jacinto Wildlife Area, White-crowned Sparrow on May 12, 2015| 1 Comment »

California Patch

When my friend Myrna asked me to visit her in her new California home, of course I said “yes”. I had birded Southern California in April a couple of years ago, so I didn’t expect many new birds. It would be fun just to see Myrna and explore her new part of the country together. I flew to Palm Springs on March 31 and we checked out her Sun City Palm Desert neighborhood that afternoon. The lakes were still covered with ducks and coots. The ducks included American Wigeon, Ring-necked and Ruddy Ducks, Mallard, and a single male Red-breasted Merganser. Evidently, the merganser was a bit unusual for this location as it required quite a few emails messages with the eBird reviewer to convince him of our sighting.

Myrna and I found the Black-crowned Night-Herons more interesting. First, we found this cooperative juvenile.

Black-crowned Night-Heron (juvenile)

A couple of days later, we found the first summer bird and the adult in the photos below. It’s a very common bird, but it was fun to compare the three different plumages.

Black-crowned Night-Heron (first summer)

Black-crowned Night-Heron (adult plumage)

On our first full day, we went to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park . Myrna had been there two weeks before my visit and witnessed the spectacle of wildflowers, White-lined Sphinx Moth caterpillars, and hundreds of migrating Swainson’s Hawks feeding on the caterpillars. But, in the California desert, all life depends upon the unpredictable seasonal rains. Alas, there had not been recent rain when I arrived, so we saw no caterpillars nor Swainson’s Hawks and few wildflowers. Regardless, we had a wonderful day exploring the gorgeous desert.

White-lined Sphinx Moth caterpillar

Our favorite birds that day were Rock Wrens. We’re pretty sure that they were building a nest in the crevice in these rocks. I had a very difficult time taking photographs in the bright desert sun, but if you look closely, you can see a wren on top of the left rock. In the same very dry desert area with the wrens, we also found a Black-throated Gray Warbler, Brewer’s Sparrows, and the ever-present White-crowned Sparrows.

We walked the trail to Pena Spring, also dry desert, and found a Phainopepla, Cactus Wren, more Brewer’s Sparrows, and the most orange House Finch that either of us had ever seen.

Myrna at the Pena Spring trailhead

The Anza-Borrego Visitor Center is a little oasis where we were pleased to get great looks at Nashville, Orange-crowned, and Yellow-rumped Warblers.

We took it easy the next day and stayed close to Myrna’s home. On Friday, we had another big day at San Jacinto Wildlife Area, a 19,000 acre site with 9,000 acres of restored wetlands. As expected, the water brings in the birds and this was the birdiest place that we visited. Most were common western birds, with Eared Grebe in breeding plumage a highlight.

Eared Grebe

We also enjoyed close looks at a very cooperative American Pipit.

American Pipit

Myrna saved the best for last and on Saturday we visited Big Morongo Canyon Preserve and Covington Park. These parks consist of both desert and woods, but most of the birds that we saw were in the wooded areas. A pair of Vermillion Flycatchers thrilled all the birders in the park that day. We were just as happy to see a pair of Phainopeplas cavorting in the trees. Lesser and Lawrence’s Goldfinches presented themselves for comparison as well as Hooded and Bullock’s Orioles. Three species of hummingbirds charmed us – Costa’s, Anna’s, and Black-chinned. These parks are also home to both Ladder-backed and Nuttall’s Woodpeckers and we were told that many of the birds there were hybrids. And, here, we finally got our Swainson’s Hawk.

Phainopepla pair. Photo by Larry Noelker.

Back at Myrna’s, most of the ducks and coots had left, but the Verdins and White-crowned Sparrows in Myrna’s yard were a constant delight. These White-crowned Sparrows are the Gambel’s subspecies, different from the birds that we normally see in the east. Note the pale lores on Myrna’s bird.

White-crowned Sparrow (Gambell's subspecies) on Myrna's feeder

White-crowned Sparrow (Gambell’s) on Myrna’s feeder

In four and a half days, we had seen 85 species of birds and Southern California habitat ranging from desert to oasis to mountain forest to wetlands. Myrna and I had a wonderful visit and fun exploring this beautiful part of the country that she now calls home.