Monday, November 26th, off to south Texas to look for the Hook-Billed Kite again. We got about a block when I asked, 'why go for a bird that is rarely seen, when the rosy finches in New Mexico were seen yesterday?' So we angled northwest across Texas into New Mexico. That night we stayed in a Motel 6, of course, in Santa Rosa. My favorite I-40 restaurant, the Silver Moon Cafe, was just across Route 66. I recommend the blue corn chicken enchiladas. Lovely!
Not so early the next morning, we started for Sandia Crest, northeast of Albuquerque. Is that spelled right? From 5000 to 10000 feet in 20 miles. Another beautiful spot John's big year has brought him to. We met some other birders on the way up and up there. At the top, there is a restaurant/gift shop with feeders on the deck. You can watch the rosy-finches from inside while sipping hot chocolate or eating the even hotter chili! All three species appeared while we were there. They would come in double digit numbers briefly then take off for an hour. The only one that 'counted' for John, was the Black Rosy-Finch. It was a life bird for both of us, and number 678 for John's big year! Turns out the facility will close for the month of December, so we were wise to go there when we did. There are plans to put a feeder down by the lower parking lot. You need to check before you go.
Back down to the I-40, turn south on the I-25, stop by Bosque del Apache for a snow goose/sandhill crane fix. You have got to visit there in the winter. It is a natural wonder. Tonight, Lordsburg! Have you seen the movie 'Stagecoach'? Tomorrow, we will try for the Baird's Sparrow in San Rafael Grasslands AZ. It hasn't been reported lately. :-( We will try for the Black-Capped Gnatcatcher again too. If he doesn't get it, John may have to call on Melody Kehl again. Did I spell that right? Good night!
Showing posts with label Melody Kehl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Melody Kehl. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Argh or not
Like Jason and the Argonauts, we seek the Golden Fleece.
A couple who are also doing a big year blogged about seeing a Baird's Sparrow along State Line Road near Portal. Saturday, October 8th, we drove slowly up and down the road, sifting through hundreds of sparrows. We saw Black-Throated, White-Crowned, Savannah, Vesper, Brewer's and Grasshopper. One Grasshopper Sparrow sat on the wire for a long time letting John take a bunch of pictures. Too bad it didn't have a necklace.
Argh!
We had messed up the location of the next spot we were going to check for the sparrow. It wasn't the La Cienega Grasslands, but the San Rafael Grasslands, which were well off our route. We didn't have enough time to go there that day.
Argh!
We decided to go to Florida Canyon to look for the Black-Capped Gnatcatcher. John remembered the spot described on NARBA, next to the gate to the research center, but I didn't believe him, so we spent most of the time along the creek. Didn't see a gnatcatcher until I turned around and scared it out of a bush. Birds like to sneak up behind you. The bird dashed across the trail and back again and disappeared, probably went back to hanging around the gate.
Argh!
The light was gone so we retreated to a hotel. Early Sunday morning, we went to Montosa Canyon where Melody Kehl had reported a BC Gnatcatcher on NARBA. As we drove in, we flushed a nightjar off the road, little argh. I saw the BC Gnatcatcher on our last visit to Montosa. I had a clear view of the graduated white tail. Unfortunately, John was about 10 feet away at the time. Gnatcatchers don't pose. We saw no gnatcatchers of any species this time.
Argh!
John was feeling the pull of home so we did not visit the San Rafael Grasslands. The sparrow spends the winter there. We might get it later. A Blue-Footed Booby had been seen at the Salton Sea, on the way home! Great! We drove up and down the dike near Obsidian Butte. There were hundreds of pelicans and cormorants. The booby could have been hiding amongst them. A young man with a good scope didn't find it either.
Argh!
The young man did show us a Barn Owl sleeping in a palm tree at the visitor center. He is doing a casual big year in the lower 48. His total is pretty good so we encouraged him to turn in his list at the end of the year. A couple of Burrowing Owls along the road bid us farewell. It is painful not to get any new birds, but if it was too easy, it wouldn't be such a thrill to finally succeed.
A couple who are also doing a big year blogged about seeing a Baird's Sparrow along State Line Road near Portal. Saturday, October 8th, we drove slowly up and down the road, sifting through hundreds of sparrows. We saw Black-Throated, White-Crowned, Savannah, Vesper, Brewer's and Grasshopper. One Grasshopper Sparrow sat on the wire for a long time letting John take a bunch of pictures. Too bad it didn't have a necklace.
Argh!
We had messed up the location of the next spot we were going to check for the sparrow. It wasn't the La Cienega Grasslands, but the San Rafael Grasslands, which were well off our route. We didn't have enough time to go there that day.
Argh!
We decided to go to Florida Canyon to look for the Black-Capped Gnatcatcher. John remembered the spot described on NARBA, next to the gate to the research center, but I didn't believe him, so we spent most of the time along the creek. Didn't see a gnatcatcher until I turned around and scared it out of a bush. Birds like to sneak up behind you. The bird dashed across the trail and back again and disappeared, probably went back to hanging around the gate.
Argh!
The light was gone so we retreated to a hotel. Early Sunday morning, we went to Montosa Canyon where Melody Kehl had reported a BC Gnatcatcher on NARBA. As we drove in, we flushed a nightjar off the road, little argh. I saw the BC Gnatcatcher on our last visit to Montosa. I had a clear view of the graduated white tail. Unfortunately, John was about 10 feet away at the time. Gnatcatchers don't pose. We saw no gnatcatchers of any species this time.
Argh!
John was feeling the pull of home so we did not visit the San Rafael Grasslands. The sparrow spends the winter there. We might get it later. A Blue-Footed Booby had been seen at the Salton Sea, on the way home! Great! We drove up and down the dike near Obsidian Butte. There were hundreds of pelicans and cormorants. The booby could have been hiding amongst them. A young man with a good scope didn't find it either.
Argh!
The young man did show us a Barn Owl sleeping in a palm tree at the visitor center. He is doing a casual big year in the lower 48. His total is pretty good so we encouraged him to turn in his list at the end of the year. A couple of Burrowing Owls along the road bid us farewell. It is painful not to get any new birds, but if it was too easy, it wouldn't be such a thrill to finally succeed.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Home is the hunter
Actually, John has been home awhile. After two months on the road, he needed to recharge his batteries, literally and figuratively.
Turning back the calendar to July 1st, John birded again with Melody Kehl in Arizona. A great birder is like a Melody (sorry, couldn't resist). She helped John see or hear, Gilded Flicker, Rufous-Winged Sparrow, Varied Bunting, Buff-Bellied Flycatcher, Olive Warbler, Greater Peewee, Hepatic Tanager, Cordilleran Flycatcher and Red-Faced Warbler. That brought his total for the year to 575.
Buff-Bellied Flycatcher was a bird we first saw in 1971 in the south end of the Huachucas. Using our newly acquired Lane Guide, we hit all the hotspots and ran into the same birders everywhere. Birding wasn't quite as mainstream then. Before NARBA and ebird, rare birds were found by word of mouth. We heard about the BBFL at Mile High (no more) where we saw nine species of hummingbirds in one day. We also visited Madera Canyon, the picnic table, the Patton's, the Spofford's (also no more) in Portal, South Cave Creek, Rustler Park and practically every other place to bird around there. It was a wonderful trip.
For the second half of his big year, John is targeting fall migration, pelagics, and accidentals.
Turning back the calendar to July 1st, John birded again with Melody Kehl in Arizona. A great birder is like a Melody (sorry, couldn't resist). She helped John see or hear, Gilded Flicker, Rufous-Winged Sparrow, Varied Bunting, Buff-Bellied Flycatcher, Olive Warbler, Greater Peewee, Hepatic Tanager, Cordilleran Flycatcher and Red-Faced Warbler. That brought his total for the year to 575.
Buff-Bellied Flycatcher was a bird we first saw in 1971 in the south end of the Huachucas. Using our newly acquired Lane Guide, we hit all the hotspots and ran into the same birders everywhere. Birding wasn't quite as mainstream then. Before NARBA and ebird, rare birds were found by word of mouth. We heard about the BBFL at Mile High (no more) where we saw nine species of hummingbirds in one day. We also visited Madera Canyon, the picnic table, the Patton's, the Spofford's (also no more) in Portal, South Cave Creek, Rustler Park and practically every other place to bird around there. It was a wonderful trip.
For the second half of his big year, John is targeting fall migration, pelagics, and accidentals.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Expert advice
Friday, June 29th, John found Yellow-Eyed Junco and Black-Throated-Gray Warbler on his own. At 3 PM he met with Melody Kehl and two others for the trek into California Gulch. With her expert help, John added Botteri's Sparrow, Cassin's Kingbird, the target Five-Striped Sparrow, Brown-Crested Flycatcher, cool rattler pictures, Northern Bearded Tyrannulet, Dusky-Capped Flycatcher, Montezuma Quail, Elf Owl and Western Screech Owl. Nine new birds all due to Melody. Saturday, John, by himself, got good pictures of the Gray Hawk, Thick-Billed Kingbird, and Elegant Trogon. Sunday, he meets with Melody at 5 AM to go up Mt Kimbell just north of Tucson. Early to bed, early to rise, is the mantra of birders.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Fire and Ice
I flew over Colorado Monday, June 25th, and could see scattered patches of snow still on the ridges of the Rockies through the smoke. The sky as far as I could see looked like someone had brushed it with dirty water colors. A layer of smoke was in the stratosphere all the way to Missouri. The news this Friday is that the fires have eased somewhat. A tragedy.
Meanwhile, John was in the Dakotas seeing Chestnut-Collared Longspur and Dickcissal, Lark Bunting and Vesper Sparrow. Then he drove down through eastern Colorado mostly seeing pronghorns and burrowing owls. Wednesday night he stayed in Grants, New Mexico. A few years ago, we discovered a closed campground just north and east of Grants that had a wonderful variety of mountain birds. This year it was open but not as many birds to see, so Thursday morning, John drove up higher to a fire lookout and saw Red Crossbills, Clark's Nutcracker and got his first good picture of a Harris's Hawk.
Thursday afternoon, John went into Aravaipa Canyon. One of the joys for him in his big year, has been visiting wonderful natural areas. A plethora of peccaries crossed the road, including really young ones.
The saguaros were covered with fruit and birds, Lucy's Warblers, Hooded Orioles, Phainopeplas, Gilded Flickers, Gila and Ladder-Backed Woodpeckers. Purple Martins were nesting in some of the woodpecker holes. The reported Black Hawk would have been a life bird for John, if he had seen it. Drat! Of course, as we were driving on I 10 a few years ago, two immatures cartwheeled by the car and I saw them but John didn't.
John estimates that his big year total is around 550, not many new birds in all his wanderings. Today, June 29th, he goes into California Gulch with Melody Kehl.
Meanwhile, John was in the Dakotas seeing Chestnut-Collared Longspur and Dickcissal, Lark Bunting and Vesper Sparrow. Then he drove down through eastern Colorado mostly seeing pronghorns and burrowing owls. Wednesday night he stayed in Grants, New Mexico. A few years ago, we discovered a closed campground just north and east of Grants that had a wonderful variety of mountain birds. This year it was open but not as many birds to see, so Thursday morning, John drove up higher to a fire lookout and saw Red Crossbills, Clark's Nutcracker and got his first good picture of a Harris's Hawk.
Thursday afternoon, John went into Aravaipa Canyon. One of the joys for him in his big year, has been visiting wonderful natural areas. A plethora of peccaries crossed the road, including really young ones.
The saguaros were covered with fruit and birds, Lucy's Warblers, Hooded Orioles, Phainopeplas, Gilded Flickers, Gila and Ladder-Backed Woodpeckers. Purple Martins were nesting in some of the woodpecker holes. The reported Black Hawk would have been a life bird for John, if he had seen it. Drat! Of course, as we were driving on I 10 a few years ago, two immatures cartwheeled by the car and I saw them but John didn't.
John estimates that his big year total is around 550, not many new birds in all his wanderings. Today, June 29th, he goes into California Gulch with Melody Kehl.
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