Squeezed in a quick tour of Sedona Wastewater before rushing around to tie up loose ends prior to my Provence journey tomorrow. Glad I did.
Dipping and skimming across the surface of the big pond was a gorgeous Forster's Tern, a lifer and a very good bird for Yavapai County.
Two other birds for the location, as well: Ash-throated Flycatcher and Cassin's Kingbird.
Now. Off to see what you've got in the Old World. Reports to follow.
At the end of our Big Day, we had an owl fly-by at twilight. It was biggish, so our first thought was Great Horned. But we all noticed it wasn't that big and the flight pattern (on a windless night) was wrong. Great Horneds also tend to prefer habitat lower in elevation. Only one out of four of us got a wing feather detail, and the conclusion was: Long-eared Owl.
Now. Long-eared would be a lifer for me. But all I got was relative size, flight pattern and habitat. No plumage details or vocalization. There's not much else it could have been, and confirmation came from the one in our group who did get the wing crescents.
So the question I pose to you all is: do I tick it off on my life list or not? What are your criteria for that? What would you do?
Well, this was the weekend for our local Audubon Society chapter's Bird-A-Thon, set to coincide with Int'l Migratory Bird Day. This is a fund-raiser, wherein teams up to four compete to see who can see the most species of birds between Mingus Mountain and the San Francisco Peaks. Folks who don't bird pledge per species and we help pay for education and outreach.
Funny team names are de rigeur. As "The Sounds of One Rail Clapping" last year, we cleaned up, with 129 species. This year, as The Raven Lunatics, we aimed to hit 150.
Following the meticulously devised plan of John P, we began at 5:30 in the Beaver Creek area. Stops at Red Tank Draw, the Beaver Creek campground and Bell's Trail produced most of the expected species, including important gets we weren't likely to find elsewhere: Cactus Wren, Black-throated Sparrow and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher among them. One miss was Black-chinned Sparrow but we did get the day's only Brewer's Sparrow.
Continuing in the Verde Valley, we dropped by the Montezuma Well picnic area. The come-to-Jesus bird would have been Yellow-billed Cuckoo. No dice there, but Tom L got a look at a Hermit Warbler, the only one we'd see.
Page Springs Fish Hatchery was next. A Common Black-hawk lifted off a snag, and got harrassed by a Vermillion Flycatcher. With Virginia Rail being the only other good bird, we were beginning to worry about the lack of "Oh Wow" migrants. Especially after our quick stop at another cattle tank didn't produce.
Time to go upcanyon (Oak Creek Canyon, that is). Stopped at a new location for most of us, the Rainbow Trout Farm. It and an adjunct facility, Living Springs Camp, are built around natural artesian springs. Our hoped-for was Rose-breasted Grosbeak. No dice, but we picked up a very unusual bird for that area that I had turned up in earlier scouting: Bronzed Cowbird. After a quick stop at West Fork to tick Acorn Woodpecker, we pulled into Cave Springs for a deeper look. This is a site that can be magic. But today, it was simply frustrating. Out and up to the rim.
Flagstaff's Kachina Wetlands was next. Picked up much of the waterfowl, including Blue-winged Teal, and swallows we needed, but shorebirds were scarce: a couple of Spotted Sandpipers and a lone Long-billed Dowitcher.
Next, the mountain lakes. Lake Mary gave us Osprey, Western Grebe and a few other duck species. Mormon Lake, however, that sported hundreds upon hundreds of waterfowl and waders a week earlier, was virtually empty. A distant American Avocet, Horned Lark and Western Meadowlark on the overlooks, and that was about it. Ashurst Lake gave us Bald Eagle and Mountain Bluebird.
Heading back to town, it still seemed we were in migrant flux and it was a little disspiriting.
Rio de Flag turned up our only Green-tailed Towhee and, on a slow empid day, Dusky Flycatcher. The dad-burn Lewis' Woodpecker didn't show up at his nest, but we caught him, as well as a Eurasian Collared-dove, on snags in town, heading for the SF Peaks.
I always prefer ending, rather than beginning, on a high note. And one of our favorite spots, the Leroux Burn, didn't disappoint, giving the lie to current thinking about the detrimental effects of fire. In short order, we had nailed Downy and Three-toed Woodpeckers, Olive Warbler, Pygmy Nuthatch, Band-tailed Pigeon, Brown Creeper and Olive-sided Flycatcher -- all, except for the pygmies and creeper, tricky birds.
Heading higher, we caught the sounds of Red-breasted Nuthatch, Mountain Chickadee, and Hermit Thrush. Then, just as light was about to fade, a short burst of song led us to a lovely female Williamson's Sapsucker.
Now it was owl time. As twilight deepened, we had a fly-by that we all instantly thought was Great Horned. But the flight pattern was wrong, it was too small, and John P just managed to catch wing details: Long-eared Owl! Our only "Oh Wow" species of the day.
Though it took much more work than the previous week, we did finally hear Northern Saw-whet and Flammulated Owls, theorizing that they're more vocal when the moon's out.
We've spent the last two days discussing a couple of sightings/hearings, and have landed on a number we're all comfortable with: 142. And it's funny. While this seems pretty strong, we're now convinced the next number to shoot for is 160. This is after we've reviewed our misses:
Ridiculous Misses: Pied-billed Grebe, Anna's Hummingbird, Painted Redstart, Canyon Wren.
Coulda Maybe Shoulda Gotten: Double-crested Cormorant, Snowy Egret, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, White-faced Ibis, Wood Duck, Common Merganser, Northern Shoveler, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Golden Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Common Moorhen, Western and Least Sandpiper, Ring-billed Gull, Common Snipe, Inca Dove, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Loggerhead Shrike, Greater Roadrunner, Pinyon Jay, Purple Martin, Townsend's Solitaire, Crissal Thrasher, American Pipit, Townsend's Warbler, Red-faced Warbler, Hutton's Vireo, Savannah Sparrow, and Lincoln's Sparrow.
On A Perfect Day: Clark's Grebe, Great Egret, Lesser Scaup, Prarie Falcon, Semi-palmated Plover, Black-necked Stilt, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, Wilson's Phalarope, Franklin's Gull, White-winged Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Lesser Nighthawk, Red-naped Sapsucker, Hammond's Flycatcher, Gray Vireo, Clark's Nutcracker, Bank Swallow, American Dipper, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Hepatic Tanager, Black-chinned Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark, and Red Crossbill.
So, actually, on a perfect day with every star lined up, 200 is not out of the question, because I didn't even include the Hail Maries. It would be, I think, once in a lifetime, and it's going to be a lot of fun trying.