Birding with tadoflamb 2017

[tadoflamb]

Day 4 near Paris, on Kentucky Lake in Tennessee.

The morning brought me a (@Colin would be very interested in knowing this) (#197) AMERICAN GOLDFINCH and a singing and gorgeous( #198) YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER.


Dad and I ditched the wives again for another trip to scour the woods of the wildlife refuge. Along the way we found a (#199) PILEATED WOODPECKER, and a (#200) PECTORAL SANDPIPER/ Slow walks along the trails were rewarded with (#201) PRAIRIE WARBLER, (#202) BROWN CREEPER (didn't I see one of those in AZ?) and a (#203) PROTHONOTARY WARBLER.

An (#204) EASTERN PHOEBE welcomed me back at the Visitor's Center allaying any doubts I had of previous identifications of Eastern Wood-Pewees of which they closely resemble.

 

[tadoflamb]

Day 5 near Paris, on Kentucky Lake in Tennessee.

On our last morning, not knowing what I could expect to see, the Lord offered me a (#205) RED-SHOULDERED HAWK sitting in the shallow waters of the lake. I also found three early (#206) PURPLE MARTINS as well as a pair of (#207) EASTERN KINGBIRDS.

But the bird of trip came serendipitously at the 11th hour while hanging around on the porch. Year bird (#208) and North American life bird #494 a YELLOW-THROATED VIREO made enough passes past the patio that even I was able to make a positive ID. More evidence of how much God really loves me.

 

[tadoflamb]

Time to catch up.

Year bird #209 was a female COSTA'S HUMMINGBIRD in my backyard the afternoon we got back from Paris, near Kentucky Lake in Tennessee.

 

[Mountain_Girl406]

We had a bald eagle in the yard today, but the weather wasn't great for picture taking. Next time !

 

[tadoflamb]

We had a bald eagle in the yard today, but the weather wasn't great for picture taking. Next time !

Never stopped me before. Year bird #195 at the Tennessee NWR in Tennessee.

 

[tadoflamb]

So, the Saturday before Easter I took a walk with the family up on the mountain at Rose Canyon Lake. I was looking for local specialties which I found in the bodily form of two (#210) Grace's Warbler and great looks at two species of empids, a pair of (#211) HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHERS AND (#212) a pair of impossibly cute and rare (#213) BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHERS.

A short walk in world famous Madera Canyon (among birders anyway) on Easter Sunday kicked up a lone female (#214) RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD as the only new year bird of the day.

The next morning surprised me with a (#215) BRONZED COWBIRD displaying on top of the telephone pole just outside my back yard and I spent an amazing 8 minutes in the field last weekend where I was able to pick up year bird (#216) a flock of 10 WILLETS at one of the local recharge basins.

Holy Week and the visit from my mother put me a little off pace. That can all be remedied with a few trips into the field, but one of my favorite canyons is closed because of nearby wild fires. We'll see how it goes.

 

[tadoflamb]

Here's a picture of a Mexican Jay I took on Easter.

 

[tadoflamb]

And here's an *ahem* Wild Turkey at the feeders at Santa Rita Lodge. I forgot my camera there on a bench, but a kind person turned it in to the gift shop.

 

[Shiloh Raven]

Never stopped me before. Year bird #195 at the Tennessee NWR in Tennessee.

View attachment 195301

Beautiful.

 

[tadoflamb]

Alright, Easter's over, mom's gone, nothing else to do but get up early and get back out in the field. Yesterday, I tried to go to one of my favorite spots, Florida Canyon, but the road is still closed thanks to a wildfire started by a Border Patrol agent exercising his 2nd amendment rights so, I opted for the next best thing and headed over to Madera Canyon in hopes of the same crowd of migrants and newly arrived summer residents.

I wasn't disappointed. I immediately was treated to several beautiful (#216) TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS AND (#217) WILSON'S WARBLERS as well as a nice collection of other colorful songbirds, (#218) WARBLING VIREO, (#219) SUMMER TANAGER, (#220) WESTERN TANAGER and (#221) HEPATIC TANAGER (#222)BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, as well as all three of the local Myarchus flycatchers (#223) ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, (#224) BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER and (#225) DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER.

I caught a lone (#226) WHITE-THROATED SWIFT while scanning the sky for raptors and a singing (#227) SCOTT'S ORIOLE provided a nice finish for the day. 40 species in all.

Sign In

 

[tadoflamb]

Here's year bird #221, Summer Tanager.

 

[tadoflamb]

And here's two of those Myarchus flycatchers I was talking about. Can you tell which is which?

 

[tadoflamb]

And here's a pic of one of those notoriously difficult to identify empidonax flycatchers. Any idea's on the ID of this little fellow?

 

[tadoflamb]

This morning I was at Sweetwater Wetlands at sunrise. Here's a little blurb about this urban treasure from the Tucson Audubon Society website.

Sweetwater Wetlands | Tucson Audubon Society

I had a great morning with new year birds being three (#228) WESTERN KINGBIRDS, a pair of (#229) BULLOCK'S ORIOLE'S, two not so solitary (#230) SOLITARY SANDPIPERS, and great looks at the elusive and hard to see (#231) VIRGINIA RAIL.

43 species identified in all.

A quick stop at another park looking for a grebe came up empty, but I did happen across year bird (#232) BARN SWALLOW, just as I arrived.

Here's a picture of Sweetwater this morning.

 

[tadoflamb]

A few pictures of the birds at Sweetwater this morning

Western Kingbird

Green Heron

Ruddy Duck

 

[tadoflamb]

A (#233) GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE popped his head over my fence yesterday.

I was wondering when and where I would find this bird.

Problem solved.

 

[tadoflamb]

One last photo from my trip to Tennessee. Here's a photo of a Red-shouldered Hawk I found on my last morning. This is the best look that I've ever had of this bird. He was getting mobbed by a pair of crows. I wonder if that's why he was sitting in the water.

 

[tadoflamb]

I'm depressed. I didn't get out in the field this weekend because I felt I had too much work to do. Meanwhile, a Common Crane (Eurasia) is near Flagstaf and a Blackpoll Warber (eastern US) is at Sweetwater.

To make myself feel better, I bought a new camera.

 

[Davidnic]

Lily has learned to look for a local hawk based on the warming sounds of other birds. She ran to the window and spotted it the ok there day. Her friend said...did you hear it. She said oh no the birds were far more concerned with where it was.

 

[tadoflamb]

The wildfire started by the Border Patrol agent shooting at exploding targets is out (48,000 acres) so the road to one of my favorite birding spots is open again. Today was my first opportunity to get back in there so I up and on the road at dawn.

The first year bird was the (#234) WESTERN-WOOD PEWEE. They were pretty prevalent throughout the canyon. (#235) GRAY HAWK was a 'heard only'. There's a nesting pair close to the bottom. Other niceties INCLUDED (#236) PACIFIC-SLOPE FLYCATCHER, (#237) HOODED ORIOLE, (#238) LAZULI BUNTING, (#239) RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW and a migrating (#240) SWAINSON'S THRUSH. The find of the day, however, was my target bird (#241) RUFOUS-CAPPED WARBLER. Common in Mexico, they used to be a rare visitor to Southern Arizona. Now there's a local population in Florida Canyon. There's a number of Mexican species that are extending their range northward.

Here's a couple of pictures of Florida Canyon.