Scottsdale Ranch Park 2nd Annual Thanksgiving Bird Count

Red-breasted Sapsucker at Scottsdale Ranch Park, Nov. 24, 2016
Photo by Peggy Thomas

  What a great way to start Thanksgiving day!  I thought the highlight of the Scottsdale Ranch Park 2nd Annual Thanksgiving Bird Count would be the Red-breasted Sapsucker and that the rest of the count would consist of the usual city park birds.  I was wrong.  There were a number of highlights on this count, starting with a Red-naped Sapsucker appearing in one of the mesquite trees near the tennis courts.

Red-naped Sapsucker at Scottsdale Ranch Park, Nov. 24, 2016

Greater Roadrunner at Scottsdale Ranch
Park, Nov. 24, 2016

Another Red-naped Sapsucker was seen later in a different area of the park.   A Greater Roadrunner made an appearance early in the morning, sunning himself in the parking lot.  A Bald Eagle was seen circling high above Lake Serena.  Another highlight of the count was running into a few great birders/photographers - Pete Moulton, and Mary and Jim Griffith, all hoping to get some shots of the Red-breasted Sapsucker, a continuing rarity. 

A gaggle of birders gathered at Scottsdale Ranch Park, Nov. 24, 2016

Says Phoebe at Scottsdale Ranch Park, Nov. 24, 2016

Scottsdale Ranch Park is very wheelchair friendly with sidewalks curving all around, and smooth grassy areas filled with a wide diversity of trees.  There were so many different tree types that I wished we had an arborist with us!  The Desert Garden area is a bit more challenging for someone using a wheelchair as the trail is sculpted to look like a long winding rattlesnake!  Very cool art but a bit bumpy.

Other surprises on the count included two Says Phoebe, a female Vermilion Flycatcher, two American Kestrels, and a creepy but cool tarantula hawk (a bug, not a bird).  The count was organized and led by Diana and Bill Herron.  To see the complete bird count go to eBird.

A far-away Yellow-rumped Warbler, 1 of 9 counted.

 A female Costas Hummingbird enjoying
the bottle-brush bush.

All photos by Peggy Thomas

 

Thank you Diana and Bill for a wonderful
Thanksgiving Bird Count full of surprises!

Wordless Wednesday

Photos taken by Arizona wildlife photographer Helmut Hussman, 

at the Salt River in the Tonto National Forest.  

Our Bald Eagles will be breeding soon, so remember that access to certain areas of the Salt River will be restricted starting Dec. 1st.  See Bald Eagle Management Program Seasonal Breeding Area Closures.

Wordless Wednesday

Photos by Arizona Wildlife Photographer Helmut Hussman, a.k.a. H5

Wordless Wednesday

Photos by Arizona Wildlife Photographer Helmut Hussman aka H5

Tempe Town Lake Aquatic Bird Survey 2012

Habitat area downstream from the new pedestrian bridge at Tempe Town Lake
Photo by Jeff Stemshorn

Last Saturday I and several great volunteers did the waterbird survey of Tempe Town Lake as part of the Arizona Game and Fish Department's "Phoenix Area Aquatic Bird Survey".


The day started out as bitter-cold, then eased into frigid-cold.  When the sun finally did appear, so did the high school percussion band and hundreds of demonstrators, marching the lake's perimeter!  It was amazing that any birds stayed around to be counted.  But my wonderful volunteers - birders from Desert Botanical Garden's Monday Morning Birdwalks - persisted and covered our entire area over the course of the day.  Our area included the habitat just downstream from the new pedestrian bridge, the entire lake, and the small marsh area near Curry and Miller Roads.  (A second team of birders from DBG surveyed the marsh at Tempe Marketplace - I will be posting their results soon!)

Volunteers Anita, Ethan, and Logan surveying the habitat downstream of the west
 dam at Tempe Town Lake, Jan. 21st, 2012. Photo by Jeff Stemshorn

The exciting bird sightings of the day were the Brown Pelican flying up and down the lake, the lone female Bufflehead at the small marsh north of the lake, and the adult Bald Eagle trying to steal fish from the Osprey!

Bald Eagle at Tempe Town Lake, Jan. 21st, 2012.  Photo by Jeff Stemshorn

We had a total of 24 species! (vs.last years 17)



Brown Pelican at Tempe Town Lake, Jan. 21st, 2012.
Photo by Jeff Stemshorn



Canvasbacks 4

Mallards 21

Northern Shovelers 26

Ring-necked Ducks 12

Ruddy Ducks 151

Buffleheads 1

Pied-billed Grebes 9

Eared Grebes 67

Western Grebes 37

Neotropic Cormorants 102

Double-crested Cormorants 55

Great Blue Herons 2

Great Egrets 14

Snowy Egrets 35

Green Herons 2

American Coots 63
Killdeer 7
Black-necked Stilts 6

Greater Yellowlegs 2

Least Sandpipers 7
Wilson's Snipe 1
Osprey 2

Bald Eagle 1

Brown Pelican 1

Total # birds counted : 629


Thank you Ann, Anita, Logan, Ethan, and Jeff for all of your hard work!  Next year let's rent a boat!!!

To see a slide show of the area surveyed, click on the image below:

This endeavor is part of the statewide Arizona Coordinated Bird Monitoring effort which is promoted by the Arizona Bird Conservation Initiative (ABCI). ABCI is a cooperative partnership of agencies, organizations, and individuals committed to the conservation of all birds and their habitats in Arizona.

If you are interested in volunteering for next year's count, contact Troy Corman at AZ Game and Fish Dept.

Troy Corman

Avian Monitoring Coordinator

tcorman@azgfd.gov

Nongame Branch

AZ Game and Fish Department

5000 W. Carefree Hwy.

Phoenix, Arizona 85086

Mogollon Rim

Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus)



Each guest cabin at Whispering Hope
Ranch is named after a bird, perfect!



Back in mid-August I had the good fortune to spend some time away from the valley of death, and bask in the cool pines of the Mogollon Rim (pronounced mō'gə-yōn').  I stayed with some folks from the Arizona Spinal Cord Injury Association at their annual summer retreat held at Whispering Hope Ranch, near Christopher Creek.  What an awesome place and an awesome group of people.  The Rufous Hummingbird above was one of many spotted on an early morning nature hike along the Rim Lakes Vista Trail.  I've never seen so many hummers in one spot before.  Mountain wildflowers were in full bloom, and the hummers flitted from blossom to blossom like bees.


 The Rim Lakes Vista Trail is likely the best wheelchair accessible trail in the whole state, providing gorgeous panoramic views of the Mogollon Rim.  Paved and mostly flat, near Woods Canyon Lake, it meanders for miles right along the rim.  For directions and details see Accessing Arizona's review of the trail here.

After enjoying the great views along the trail, we headed over to Woods Canyon Lake, hoping to see the pairs of Osprey fishing the lake.  Instead we were wowed by a large, loud, pair of Bald Eagle fledglings squawking away in the large pine tree towering over the lake's general store.  The store manager came out and informed us that mama eagle had been trying to teach the kids to fish, but they were resisting.  So they sat and cried for mom to come feed them, but  she held her ground and sat perched high atop a tall snag on the other side of the lake, calling them to fly over and hopefuly snag a fish for themselves along the way.

Bald Eagle juvenile at Woods Canyon Lake loudly squawking for mama eagle
to bring him breakfast.

Bald Eagle Nest Viewing Etiquette

Its nesting season for Bald Eagles in Arizona.  If you are lucky enough to encounter an active Bald Eagle's nest, please take some precautions.  Enjoy bald eagles from a distance, as they are very sensitive to human activity, so use binoculars or spotting scopes to get a closer look. A disturbance can cause nest abandonment, egg failure, a decrease in the ability to capture food, and early unsuccessful fledging. Disturbing bald eagles is against federal and state laws. If you encounter a nest on a reservation be advised that the tribal police patrol the area during the nesting season to keep folks from stopping. Stoppng along the roadside near the nest is an illegal activity and could be subject to tribal fines. Unless there is an emergancy, stopping along the roadway is not permitted. Bald Eagle Nest closures that are in place on Tonto National Forest have a minimum of 1000 ft. buffer around the nest tree for land access and 300 ft. for boat access.  Read more HERE 

Arizona Bald Eagle Nestwatch Program

Female Bald Eagle in southeastern Arizona.  Copyright 2011 Greg Joder

Follow birder/naturalist/photographer Greg Joder as he spends the next 4 months camped out in a remote area in southeastern Arizona working as a Nest Watcher for the Arizona Bald Eagle Nestwatch Program.  The program's goals are to protect the Bald Eagle nests, collect data, and educate the public. 

Greg's blog really gives you a great insight into what its like to be part of such a project.  Be sure to watch his video clips of the nestwatch site, you'll feel like you're right out their in the desert with him.  Stay tuned, the young are due to hatch late next week!

Visit Greg Joder's blog "My Earth" at http://gregjoder.wordpress.com/

View Greg Joder's Photos HERE

Happy 4th of July!

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

He's a 'human-socialized' bird accidentally raised by the people who rescued him - after being blown from a wild Louisiana nest in a storm as a baby in the late 1980s. Declared 'non-releasable' by federal and state wildlife authorities, he was trained by the AEF to perform educational free-flightdemonstrations at high profile public events.

The story of a Bald Eagle named "Challenger"...

He's the first Bald Eagle in U.S. History that learned to free-fly into stadiums, arenas and ballrooms during the singing of the Star Spangled Banner. The celebrity eagle has appeared at numerous major sporting events like the World Series, Pro-Bowl, All-Star game, BCS National Championship, Fiesta Bowl, Men's Final Four, etc.

Challenger has also flown before 4 U.S. Presidents!

His life story is told in a children's storybook titled 'Challenger, America 's Favorite Eagle.'

Turn on your speakers and click HERE or go to the American Eagle Foundation website HERE.