Borderland birding

A couple of days ago, I visited the Arizona border with Mexico. To the west of Nogales, this wilderness area is heavily patrolled by border agents and some of the stories Rich Fray gave me about his encounters with immigrants there make the whole Mexico/US migration very real. Given that several canyons span the border, inevitably there is some good birding to be had with some species just creeping into these man made boundaries.

Montezuma Quail

To start the day off, there  were some Mexican Cliff Swallows nesting under a bridge near Rio Rico, and more Montezuma Quail action with a male in particular chilling out by the roadside in the early morning light as we headed on down towards Sycamore Canyon. There were also lots of Cassin's Kingbirds, Rufous-crowned and Lark Sparrows as well as a nice juvenile Grey Hawk.

juvenile Grey Hawk

Sycamore Canyon held some nice birds, in particular an Elegant Trogon that perched briefly along with usual bits such as Summer Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, Ash-throated and Brown-crested Flycatchers. However, the Mexican mega wasn't to be found and so we headed further west a little way to California Gulch, home of the Five-striped Sparrow. In the midday heat, there were still sparrows singing with at least half a dozen of them. Really nice looking birds, and much darker overall and larger than what I'd expected. Another quality bird for this trip...

Five-striped Sparrow

We headed further down the canyon, and three Purple Martins above us were of the desert subspecies hesperia - these birds nest in cacti and the females in particular are slightly different to nominate birds. There was also a Black-capped Gnatcatcher too, that showed well alongside a couple of Black-taileds in the steaming heat. After eventually leaving California Gulch, the rest of the afternoon was spent doing the loop back north through Arivaca and back onto the I-19. I eventually got some good views of Rufous-winged Sparrow, a new bird for me, while a couple of Yellow-billed Cuckoos and Lazuli Buntings were also noted. On the small pond at Amado, there was a single Tropical Kingbird sallying from the wires whilst unseasonal Ring-necked Ducks and Black-necked Grebes were noted too.

Another decent day in Arizona, and rounded off with a quick walk across the border in the evening to get some food. Thanks again to Rich for the hospitality and the birding.

The Chiricahuas deliver

On 28th July, I visited the Chiricahua Mountains in extreme southeastern Arizona; so much so that to get to them you have to go into New Mexico and then west back into AZ. Anyway, I'd heard mixed reports about the road up there and with a massive thunderstorm overnight I was a little nervy about getting up the apparently steep mountain road. I needn't have worried, as this was a life lesson - Americans are a lot more risk averse in general than me, and they haven't experienced the shite roads I've been used to driving in places like Egypt, Turkey and Morocco. So there was no problem and lots of birds, which started with this nice pair on the way up.

Montezuma Quails - pair by the roadside on the road up the Chiricahuas

Gamebirds aren't my cup of tea usually - non-migratory bits of feather that do admittedly taste decent - but Montezuma Quail is an absolute beauty. They've had perhaps their best year to date, so seeing these two and another male on the drive up the Chiricahuas would be rather unprecedented in any other year.

Mexican Chickadee - Barfoot Junction in the Chiricahua Mountains

And so I continued to the higher elevation pine belt where Mexican Chickadee breeds - this being the only accessible site in the US for this species (apparently they breed in NM on private, inaccessible montane areas too). It didn't take long to find one, and I was fortunate in locating this bird coming to its nest near Barfoot Junction. Heading back down the mountain - with the accompaniment of Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers squeaking away - it was time to visit Paradise. And though it was not what I'd envisage paradise to be in its entirety, The George Walker House feeders (owned by Jackie (and her two dogs)) was pretty nice. I'll do a separate post sometime on the 'feeder culture' of Arizona birding, but suffice to say you'd never get this hospitality in blighty. Anyway, the speciality here is Juniper Titmouse and after an hour or so a couple came down. The wait wasn't bad to be honest, what with stuff like Magnificent Hummingbird, Black-throated Grey Warbler, Bridled Titmouse and Black-headed Grosbeak all showing themselves.

Juniper Titmouse - a rather plain affair

Black-throated Grey Warbler - enjoying a wash at the George Walker House feeders

 The Jasper feeders in nearby Portal had some nice desert species showing themselves off, including Blue Grosbeak, Black-throated Sparrow and Cactus Wren.

Black-throated Sparrow - the archetypal North American desert sparrow

Driving west from the mountains, I stopped off at Cochise Lake for a wader fix where there were over a hundred Wilson's Phals and fifty or so Baird's Sands. And with the intention of getting to Rich Fray's place for the evening, I headed down through Sonoita to Patons in Patagonia - where the staked out Violet-crowned Hummingbirds duly obliged.

Violet-crowned Hummingbird - at the feeders at Patons

I'm now writing this having left Arizona for now, with all target species and more seen (got my gull fix this evening at the Salton Sea - plenty of Yellow-footeds!). Rich Fray was instrumental in doing this, and the re-branded Leicester Llama is now one of the dons of SE Arizona, with an amazing ability to charm the pants off the large numbers of mature birding women about in that neck of the woods. Cheers Rich for letting me kip around yours and showing me the ropes and birds of your adopted home... there'll be more on this soon.

Arizona - Madera and Miller Canyons

Two more bird filled days have gone by since the last update. I'm staying in Sierra Vista, a town in southeastern Arizona that sits east of the Huachucas and west of the Chiricahuas - both bird filled mountain ranges with specialities as well as good track records of bringing in Mexican vagrants.

So I started out yesterday morning going up Mount Lemmon at dawn and, in contrast to the day before, the place was in bright sunshine. Heading back up to Incinerator Ridge Road, within half an hour a nice Olive Warbler appeared in the top of the pines - much brighter than I'd thought too. Added to this were good numbers of Red-faced Warblers, Arizona Woodpecker and a Hepatic Tanager. And I was back down the mountain for breakfast before I headed south from Tucson to Madera Canyon.

Red-faced Warbler, Mount Lemmon July 2014

This place, Madera Canyon, is properly set up for birders - one road in, and loads of feeders all up the canyon. First stop was Santa Rita Lodge where for the last month or so, a Mexican vagrant hummingbird, Plain-capped Starthroat, has resided. I lucked out and on a couple of visits that I made throughout the day, it came in three times.

Plain-capped Starthroat, Madera Canyon July 2014

My hummingbird identification was a little bit rusty, but within an hour or two I'd got up to speed. Not the ideal way of doing things - seeing a vagrant before mastering common birds - but by the end of the day I was unsurprisingly outgunning some of the yanks. Broad-billed and Black-chinned were the commonest, and throw in the odd Rufous and Magnificent and that was the lot. Other birds around Santa Rita feeders included ten Wild Turkeys, Black-headed Grosbeaks, Western Tanager and copious amounts of Lesser Goldfinches and House Finches. Further up the canyon, opposite Madera Kubo, was this little chap poking its head out: -

Whiskered Screech-Owl, Madera Canyon July 2014

Higher up still, I took a walk about the canyon as I'd been tipped off about Elegant Trogons. With some perseverence, one shot through the canyon at point blank range but despite trying, I was unable to find it again. I hooked up with a sharp young birder from California, Tom, who'd driven overnight for the Starthroat and we both then headed into Florida Canyon. However, the two targets - Rufous-capped Warbler and Black-tailed Gnatcatcher weren't playing ball in the heat; a Montezuma Quail was heard, and there were more decent stuff like Varied and Lazuli Buntings, Blue Grosbeak, Summer and Western Tanagers. As dusk approached, and the Botteri's Sparrows stopped singing, I went to the Buff-collared Nightjar stakeout along Proctor Road - the bird started singing away and unsatisfactory shadows were seen. Mexican Whip-poor-will too proved tricky at the top of Madera Canyon late on, but perseverence did pay off.

Botteri's Sparrow, Madera Canyon July 2014

And so to today - and I'll make it quick as even writing this makes me feel shattered. To cut a long story short, I walked up Miller Canyon and got myself to the 'split rock' where the Mexican Spotted Owls hang about. It's pot luck whether they decide to roost by the path, and today wasn't one of those days. So, after scrambling about and going about things like a goat, I was absolutely elated to find one of the birds in their favoured area - partially obscured against the trunk of a conifer. The whole canyon was nice and birdy too, and having spent 6 hours in there I came out with a single Buff-breasted Flycatcher, a couple of Sulphur-bellied and lots of Dusky-capped and Cordilleran Flycatchers, Greater Pewee, Painted Redstart, Red-faced and Virginia's Warbler, Hutton's Vireos, Hermit Thrush and a flyby Goshawk.

And to end the day, I took a drive to St David where, by the monastery, I was able to locate a Mississippi Kite - a surprising bird to see this far west, in an isolated breeding area away from its main range.

Mississippi Kite, St David July 2014

The start of another summer - Arizona

Some of you will have noticed recently that my recent foreign trips have been heavily slanted towards the US. I haven't quite given up in the WP before you ask (I'll be leading a trip out to the Azores in late August), but it's nice to target an area with good birds, a wealth of info and easy travel. Those shit heaps like Mauritania and Egypt can wait til later.

So, anyway, I've found myself in Arizona - having flown into Las Vegas yesterday afternoon, I then drove to Phoenix. A dawn start at 'the thrasher spot' at the junction of Salome Highway and Baseline Road proved fruitful with at least a couple of Le Conte's Thrashers (thanks to Laurence Butler for the precise info), three Bendire's Thrashers and one Crissal Thrasher. Stuff like Gambel's Quail, Verdin and Black-tailed Gnatcatcher were all nice to see again too.

Le Conte's Thrasher, Arizona 25th July 2014

I'm not quite sure what posessed me to stop in at a small park in Phoenix, but the yanks breed their lovebirds pure unlike the French. All the dozen or so I saw looked like this...

Rosy-faced Lovebird, Arizona 25th July 2014

And then it was onto Mount Lemmon that rises above the city of Tucson (where I'm writing this from). You don't associate Arizona with rain, but when it does happen, blimey it's bad. Hail, some mud slides and crashing thunder. Perhaps that didn't help my quest for Olive Warbler that, despite trying til dusk, may have to wait until tomorrow or later into the trip. However, birding was decent enough with a few new birds for me including Red-faced Warblers (which were blinding but in bad light), Zone-tailed Hawk, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Greater Pewee and Yellow-eyed Junco. Loads of Pygmy Nuthatches and Mountain Chickadees too.

Yellow-eyed Junco, Arizona 25th July 2014

Good gulling in Rotherhithe

There really was no need to go anywhere today. Though I did toy with the idea of going to Cavenham to see the Black-winged Stilt family, I quickly sat back down and reviewed all the times I'd moaned about the raucous nature of the species and how little I actually look at them when they're slap bang in front of me abroad. So why bother driving a couple of hours? So I didn't.

But I did head to Crossness to see Ian M, back from Worcestershire for the day and wanting a quick walk around his ex-patch. Good to see him but the birding was suboptimal - 3 Yellow-legged Gulls, 5 Teal and a Common Sandpiper to be precise.


juvenile Mediterranean Gull, Rotherhithe 20th July 2014

Back in Rotherhithe, having done a load of household chores, I headed out to the river and got Karen to whack out a load of bread while I papped the gang. And, in between showers, a nice juvenile Mediterranean Gull showed up off Greenland Pier; the first of the year here. Added to that, there was also a brute of a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull bossing the show - along with the usual juvenile still on Greenland Dock along with 6 Common Terns, including 3 juveniles.

juvenile Yellow-legged Gull off Greenland Pier, Rotherhithe 20th July 2014 - different bird to the regular individual (that is still also present today)

What's the price of bread?

For some reason today, when I lobbed the bread bait out today, the question 'how much bloody cash must I have spent feeding gulls in my life?' went through my mind. I didn't get involved too much to work this out, but I guess it must have strayed into the low treble figures as the years and my autistic traits mount up.

And today the gulling did pay off in local terms. Rainham was a bit gash with tipping away from the foreshore so the tip face couldn't be seen, but a couple of Yellow-legged Gulls were about. No major haul though. Round to Crossness, having navigated the QEII bridge on the first Saturday of the school holidays, and things were better here - a nice juvenile Med Gull (well, 1st-winter strictly speaking as a couple of grey coverts were coming through) plus 3 juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls together on the foreshore. Wader action was limited to 4 Common Sandpipers and a Redshank, and 30 or so Swifts that zipped through were evidently heading south. A ringed Great Black-backed Gull on the mud had come from Denmark, where it had been ringed as a chick in June 2012 with this sighting being the first outside of there.

juvenile Yellow-legged Gull, Rotherhithe 19th July 2014

Back in Rotherhithe, there was a cracking juvenile Yellow-legged Gull again by the watersports centre on Greenland Dock that was ripe for papping. Also my earliest ever juvenile Common Gull here in London enjoyed the bread I chucked out into the Thames near my flat early evening.

juvenile Common Gull, Rotherhithe 19th July 2014

And while in Waitrose [edit: I don't normally shop here before anyone calls me 'the richest birder in Britain' again], two reduced loaves of bread were purchased - wholemeal (better for the gulls), 32 pence each. Hope the gulls enjoy their feast tomorrow.

Showy juvenile Yellow-legged Gull in Rotherhithe

Growing up in the Cheshire countryside I was used to Nuthatches, Treecreepers and breeding Spotted Flycatchers in my garden. Here in Rotherhithe, by my flat, it's Egyptian Geese, Ring-necked Parakeet and chuck in a few ducks and gulls too; that's your lot. And since Monday, a really showy juvenile Yellow-legged Gull has taken a liking to the area and of course I've been feeding it some nice wholemeal bread for supper.

juvenile Yellow-legged Gull Rotherhithe, London 9th July 2014

Although we're reaching the time when the first Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Herring Gulls will be leaving their nests here in London, they're often still dependent on their parents not to mention they look extremely fresh. Besides the tail pattern differences of course, this is quite a slight bird and once again these photos illustrate how the differences in posture and light change a bird's appearance. Photos are comprised from today and Monday.