Birding Planet Ranch Road

With the recent return of the Nutting's Flycatcher, the Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge and Planet Ranch Road in particular are once again getting attention from the birding world.

Map of the western portion of the refuge

On the map above, note the location of the visitor center, a good place to stop in for information.  It's also a good place to scan the Bill Williams Delta, also known as the Bill Williams Arm of Lake Havasu.  Just down the road east of the headquarters, marked in both directions by brown binoculars signs, is the entrance to Planet Ranch Road.

Sonoran desert and cottonwood/willow/mesquite riparian come together on the Bill Williams River.  This photo was taken just after the gate on Planet Ranch Rd.

 Some caveats.  Note that asking a GPS to point you to Planet Ranch Road is not likely to be useful--I've heard stories of people turning up in random locations in Parker, and also being pointed to the other end of Planet Ranch Road, a long drive through the desert to a section of the river that is privately owned and not accessible.  The road once ran all the way from Lake Havasu to Planet Ranch, but was washed out in floods several years ago.  Many maps still show it as it was, but it now ends in a gate at the red triangle shown on the map above.

A person walking along the edge of the forest anywhere along Planet Ranch Road is likely to encounter flagging, some of which marks trails entering the forest.  I can't stress enough the importance of staying off these trails.  Researchers create and use them for a variety of projects on the refuge.  The flagging comes in many colors depending on the project, year, and type of trail.  The trails crisscross and backtrack, some lead into ponds or river channels, and many are disused and being reclaimed by the forest.  Sometimes the flagging just ends.  Navigating these trails requires a knowledge of the flagging systems, a detailed and updated map, and a good handheld GPS unit and compass (not to mention a willingness to crouch, squeeze, climb, bellycrawl, wade, and be scratched up).  Recently, hikers entered the trail system at Mosquito Flats, and eventually became hopelessly lost.  They managed to find a spot with cell reception and called the Sheriff's department.  The Sheriff's department flagged their way along the trails, got lost, but eventually (miraculously) found the hikers on the other side of the river, dehydrated but otherwise okay.  Don't try to hike the trails.

There's a trail in there somewhere

Sorry for the doom and gloom, but I had to get that out of the way.  So, what is the best way to bird Planet Ranch Road?  The road winds through desert hills, cutting through interesting rock formations and running by washes and canyons.  All of this makes for great exploring, and the dense mesquite edge of the riparian interface can always be good birding.  In my opinion, the best place to bird along the road is Mosquito Flats.  Of course, this happens to be where the Nutting's Flycatcher is.  This is the only place where the riparian abuts the road, and the mesquite edge even crosses the road.  Birds to be found here regularly include species of cottonwood/willow riparian, mesquite bosques, and Sonoran desert.  Rarities that have been found here include Northern Parula, Black-and-white Warbler, Hutton's Vireo, Painted Bunting, Gray Vireo, Winter Wren, and Broad-billed Hummingbird.

Birding along the road, you may run across a binoculars sign underneath a double power pole, indicating a nature trail.  More than once I've overheard people saying "Hey, this isn't a trail!"  It is just a short trail that cuts through the thick mesquite and reaches into the forest, where it ends at one of those research trails I mentioned.  Still, even though it is short, it's worth checking out.

Check out this short jaunt into the forest

So, how about a hike?  I mentioned that the road ends in a gate, but the track continues for miles, ending around the Cougar Point area.  Park at the gate, make sure to pack some water, and explore.  In places the forest is very dense, but in other spots the river channels are very open, and an adventurous hiker can wander to a variety of areas.  Generally, the track is the most direct way to access the best habitat (there are usually tire tracks to follow from ATVs used by the refuge).  Be aware that this hike requires a chilly wade from about December through May, when the river is flowing.

The end of the road

Biologists wading in the river

 After a little more than a mile, the road crosses the river and forks.  The left fork runs through some very nice riparian habitat and passes through the old Kohen Ranch.  There isn't much left of the ranch except for overgrown Bermuda grass fields being invaded by mesquite.  The refuge is working on mesquite restoration in the area, and the resulting brushy mesquite bosque is wonderful habitat for sparrows in the winter.  If you can find the right fork running alongside the river, it passes into more open habitat with some spectacular scenery.  It ends after another mile or so around Cougar Point.

The river crossing just before Kohen Ranch

Bermuda grass fields at Kohen Ranch

Scenery between Kohen Ranch and Cougar Point

What season is best to bird the area?  I recommend late April or early May, when many of the breeders have returned but spring migrants are common, sometimes in large numbers.  Summer can be great birding, with a good variety of breeding species, some of which are amazingly abundant (especially Song Sparrow, Yellow Warbler, and Yellow-breasted Chat).  Black Rails and Elf Owls are some of the more sought-after breeders.  Black Rails will call at night and, sometimes, all day.  Listen for them at Mosquito Flats.  Elf Owls are common in the area--go out on a spring night and keep an ear out, and you will be sure to hear them.  Just remember that they are at the edge of their range here, so please don't disturb them or play tapes.  Remember that summers are hot in the desert, so it's best to be out early and back to the car by 10-11.  Fall is more subdued than spring, but can carry surprises of its own, such as the Northern Saw-Whet Owl found at Kohen Ranch this fall.  Winter is more hit-or-miss, with some stretches seemingly birdless until you happen upon a flock, which will typically include many Yellow-rumped Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets.  No matter which time of year you visit, be sure to bring plenty of water.  Allow plenty of time for exploration and enjoy this beautiful and unique area!

ANOTHER Lesser Black-backed Gull

November 30th, after a lovely day rediscovering the now-returned Nutting's Flycatcher, hiking in the Bill Williams, and finding my La Paz County Winter Wren, I thought I had used up all my birding karma for a little while.  Still, when I pulled into the refuge headquarters to scan the Bill Williams Delta, a not insignificant part of me was hoping that the Lesser Black-backed Gull would show up (click the link for more on LBBG identification).  So while I was sitting in the car starting a BirdLog checklist and I happened to put my binoculars on a brown gull that looked awfully white-rumped, I wasted no time grabbing camera and scope, jumping out of the car and setting up to scan.  I quickly got the scope on a brown gull, but was disappointed to see just another California Gull.  Used to disappointment after three solid days doing nothing but looking for that LBBG, I sighed and scanned on.  Then immediately got on another brown gull, this one with a white rump and white-based tail with a contrasting black band.  The Lesser Black-backed Gull!!

Long wings, masked appearance and white tail with black band.

To say that I was excited to see this bird would be something of an understatement.  Not that it wasn't fun birding around Havasu for three days and finding some other rarities and all, but I kind of ran myself ragged looking for that bird in Lake Havasu City.  I chased and missed the first state record, as well, a bird near Phoenix in 2006.  So after snapping some photos, I laughed and danced a jig and I'm sure some refuge visitors wondered what was going on with the lunatic with the scope and camera.

Fishing with Ring-billed Gulls

Soon, David had arrived from Havasu.  The bird had flown to nearby Havasu Springs, so we drove over and found it loafing on a beach.  David, being the real photographer between us, had taken control of his camera and got some much better shots.  It was he who first wondered whether it might be a different bird.  I had noticed that it seemed much whiter than in John's photos, but I didn't think much of it.  Now much closer to the bird, I checked it out in the scope, and sure enough, it was messier-looking than John's bird, without those nice clean edgings on the mantle feathers.  It was a single feather, though, that finally convinced us that it was a different bird.  In the flight shots above, note an obvious missing primary on the left wing.  One of David's photos shows that this feather isn't missing altogether, but is actually growing in, and it's more than four days along.

Narrower tertial edgings and messier scapulars and wing coverts than the Lake Havasu City bird

Better photo showing how white the plumage is.  Photo by David Vander Pluym

White plumage streaked with brown, masked face.  Photo by David Vander Pluym

The magical photo showing the primary growing in!  Photo by David Vander Pluym

Exciting times here on the river!

The Nutting's Flycatcher is back!

Just after 8:00 this morning, after about 15 minutes of birding, I was walking down the road at Mosquito Flats in Bill Williams River NWR, planning out my post to the listserv about the continued absence of the Nutting's Flycatcher.  Of course it was at that moment that I heard that singular "WHEEP!"  I didn't think I had missed it so much, but that sound brought a huge smile to my face. It's back!

The flycatcher is behaving much the same way it did last year.  It called infrequently and was difficult to pin down, but once I located it foraging next to the road, it gave me some great looks.  Photos and sound recordings below from this morning.

"Miss me?"

 

Eating a mantid.  Check out the cinnamon secondaries!

Short, stout bill, bright yellow belly, cinnamon secondaries, and a greenish back are all good field marks.

The Bill Williams River NWR is about halfway between Parker and Lake Havasu City.  You can get to the flycatcher from Highway 95.  Take Planet Ranch Rd east from the highway (between the refuge headquarters and the Bill Williams bridge) and drive to mile marker 2, where cliffs rise on the east side of the road and riparian vegetation borders the left side.  Also check out the map.

Guest Blogger: Tips for Birding Havasu

Now that we're into mid-November, things are really begin to pick up here on Lake Havasu.  It's a prime time for birding the LCRV, and now is also the time for visitors to check out the area.  Below, David Vander Pluym steps in as a guest blogger to provide some tips for birding Lake Havasu and other large reservoirs!  Also, be sure to check out the links on the right side bar for useful websites for visitors.

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November and December are prime times to bird Lake Havasu with waterfowl migration under way. With all three species of scoters as well as a Red-throated Loon and the now regular large numbers of Greater Scaup and smaller number of Barrow’s Goldeneyes having arrived for the winter it’s a great time to be out and looking! One of the main questions we are asked is how do you find these birds? Given that the majorities of birders in Arizona live away from large reservoirs and are not used to identifying birds at such a distance this is a very understandable question. Below I will try to offer some tips and guidance for looking for birds on the lake.

First and foremost, be aware that compared to sewage treatment plants and places like Willcox, Lake Havasu is huge; you are often trying to identify birds that are a mile away or more. To give everyone some perspectives here are some distances starting with the Bill Williams arm. From the NWR HQ the nearest reed island is ~.45 miles away while the distant end of the buoy line is roughly .7 miles away. To put this in perspective Lake Cochise at its longest point is only .4 miles long! Scanning the main body of Lake Havasu the birds are often more distant. Scanning from the red and white lighthouse on Pittsburgh Pt. the ferry boat that crosses the lake, at its closest point is ~1.35 miles away! At the north end the lake is still about a mile across. Added to this even in winter heat haze can be a problem, making seeing a bird a mile away difficult, let alone identifying one. Generally when the sun is most intense it is best to skip the main body of the lake.

Now for some tips, number one of which is to bring a good scope. As I mentioned the distances are great and having a good scope certainly helps. If you don’t have a great scope, that’s ok, but you should be prepared to let some birds go as being simply too far away to identify as well as knowing you might miss something. You can also help with some of the distances by checking multiple locations, as some may be closer to an interesting bird than others.  For example, in the Bill Williams arm it is often helpful to walk the CAP peninsula to get closer to some of the distant flocks of diving ducks.

Second and equally important is patience. There can be a lot of birds around and it can take time to go through them all. The birds often move around a lot, feeding flocks will form, boats will flush birds, or they may just decide another spot is better. Waiting around will give you the chance to spot something that has finally moved out from its hidden cove. It is easy to spend a couple hours on a good day scanning from one spot. This also can help with changing your perspective on the size of birds. If you are used to seeing birds up close it takes a while to relearn field marks that are useful on distant birds. Because of the distance involved, it isn’t uncommon to think you have come across a rare grebe because it looks huge compared to the Common Loon behind it, only to realize it is a Pied-billed Grebe that is a quarter or even a half mile closer than the loon!

Be sure and study up ahead of time knowing what field marks are useful at a distance to help you spot the birds. Things like knowing that Red-throated Loons are about the same length as a Western/Clark’s Grebe, while a Pacific Loon is slightly bigger is the type of knowledge useful for trying to figure out what that distant loon is. Finally knowing what birds are expected and where can be helpful. There is now an invasive mussel in Lake Havasu and it is particularly common in the Bill Williams Arm. Because of this, species like Barrow’s Goldeneye and scoters are most likely there. Does this mean that you shouldn’t look for them elsewhere? Of course not, scoters can be found below Parker Dam or on the main body of Lake Havasu. However for time spent scanning, I have seen far more scoters in the Bill Williams Arm than all other areas of Lake Havasu combined. A final note on scaup, because of the mussel Greater Scaup have increased astronomically in certain areas. They are now the expected species in the Bill Williams Arm and around Pittsburgh Pt and it can often be difficult to find a Lesser Scaup at these locations when they are not actively migrating. Lesser is still the more common species around Parker Dam and in the shallow weedy waters of the north end of Lake Havasu. 

I hope these couple of tips will help out on your next visit to Lake Havasu!

-David Vander Pluym

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Now I'd be interested in hearing what kind of specific information and tips would be most helpful to visitors and readers.  Share your problems, experiences, questions, etc. in the comments!

Early Fall Birding

It feels a little weird to call it "fall birding" on July 1st, but with temperatures spiking over 115 recently*, it is much more pleasant to think of fall than summer.  Besides, as I have written before, something is always moving in the LCRV, and a few species begin to migrate south by mid-June, which is when the last of the spring migrants pass us by.

*Temperature range for today's outing: low 66; high 110

Today's birding trip with David to the Blythe area had many purposes.  Primary among those was just to get out birding, as I haven't had much chance lately.  Then there were the cuckoos, the shady forest birds known to be inhabiting the restoration sites in the Blythe area, representing potential ticks in La Paz and Riverside Counties.  Not to mention, of course, that they are all-around cool birds.  Finally, as always, there were migrants to track, and potential vagrants to find!

Today started where every good birding trip starts, 3:00 a.m.*  The plan was roughly to work out way south through western sites, then back north through eastern sites.  We started at Palo Verde Ecological Reserve (PVER), one of the Bureau of Reclamation's excellent riparian restoration sites.  It is particularly interesting being located in California, since most restoration sites (as well as remaining riparian habitat) fall in Arizona.  Along with Picacho State Recreation Area, PVER has some of the best landbird habitat along the California side of the lower Colorado River.

*I do not stand by this statement.

Dawn at PVER.  Tiny Bigfoot at the edge of the trees in the distance is a cuckoo researcher.

Breeding season at PVER.  Park in the parking area and you will be greeted by the cacophony of calls typical of an active Red-winged Blackbird colony.  Birds are abundant here, although most are blackbirds, cowbirds, and doves.  Several countersinging Blue Grosbeaks provided an easy Riverside County tick for me, but we were there for the cuckoos.  Sauntering along the road pictured above, it was not long before we heard the series of knocking calls typical of Yellow-billed Cuckoo.  Success!  Icing on the cake were flyby Long-billed Curlews and a single Whimbrel, and a female Indigo Bunting on our way out.

Today's INBU at PVER looked much like this one, but less thoughtful.

After a quick stop to check on a small heron colony and ogle fledgling Great Egrets, we were off to our next cuckoo stop, Cibola Valley Conservation Area!  I was glad to explore a plot I surveyed in 2011 that seemed great for cuckoos.  It took a bit of walking, but we finally heard a slow knocking, quickly answered by another bird hidden in the willows.  While walking out, we heard another bird knocking to itself.

Our next stop was at a most intriguing place, a Birding Site Without a Name in Imperial County, CA.  This is one of the earliest restoration plots along the river, and its character is very different from its younger siblings.  Dead and half-alive cottonwoods stand along the levee road adjacent to the river for the long stretch of this site, while healthier, bigger cottonwoods share the other side of the road with a mixture of Eucalyptus, Athel tamarisk, mesquite, and palo verde.  The site is narrow but long, with farm fields on the other side.  David and I birded this area once before, but approached from the farm field side and found it difficult and unsatisfying to bird.  Today, we discovered the access from the Levee Rd near CVCA, and were excited to see this habitat was not only very nice for migrating birds, but also very easy to bird.

"Palo Verde--Old Restoration Site"

The site is reminiscent of Parker Oasis on a grander scale.  I can imagine this spot being very good birding in winter or fall, but it could really have some amazing birding in spring, when birds gravitate to trees along the river as they work their way north.  Today, it was hot by the time we reached this spot, and birds had gotten quiet.  Still, I was surprised to pick up two Imperial County birds, Brown-crested Flycatcher and Lucy's Warbler!

Now on to fall migration.  La Paz County doesn't have a lot of shorebirding spots, but what it has is quality.  No mediocre sewage treatment plants around here.  The three main sites are the Parker Valley (pretty good), the Bill Williams Delta (great, as long as there are veg mats for the birds to loaf on), and Hart Mine Marsh (solid gold!).  Once the day had gotten too hot for landbirding, we cranked up the AC and rode on to Hart Mine Marsh.

Hart Mine Marsh, home to shorebirds, herons, rails and many other marsh fowl

Most of our notable birds here turned out to be ducks, which are likely oversummering birds.  In addition to the expected Mallards and Ruddy Ducks, there were Gadwall, Cinnamon Teal, a Northern Shoveler, and a Redhead.  Fall migrants were numerous: an avocet, a Greater Yellowlegs, 2 Willets, 3 Marbled Godwits, a Least Sandpiper, and 2 Caspian Terns.  Two Snowy Plovers were good to see, although we don't know whether these were early migrants or potential (failed?) breeders.  This was my first real taste of fall migration this season!  Still, the highlight here was an unusual short-tailed bird that crossed the road in front of us...

Photo of a (different) bobcat by David Vander Pluym

After this fine morning it was time to head home, but since the Parker Valley lies between Blythe and Lake Havasu City, there was still more birding to do.  Several flooded fields in the area hosted gobs of Cattle Egrets and White-faced Ibis along with a few Long-billed Curlews and Marbled Godwits.  We made a thorough check of the Twelvemile Slough Rookery, which includes nesting Cattle and Snowy Egrets and White-faced Ibis.  None of these are common nesting birds in the LCRV, and this may be the only active nesting location for Cattle Egret and White-faced Ibis.  All the more exciting to come here and count 950 Cattle Egret and 50 White-faced Ibis nests!  The Cattle Egrets were particularly exciting, most nests holding two near-fledging chicks at varying stages of awkwardness.

Cattle Egret awaiting its next meal

Each pair of white specks represents a Cattle Egret nest

Despite temperatures creeping into triple digits at this point, we decided to make a quick stop at 'Ahakhav Tribal Preserve to check on the Tropical Kingbirds.  This pair returned to the same spot where they raised two chicks last year, and had already been found nest-building in May.  More recently, incidentally, the pair at Pintail Slough returned to their territory as well.  Since we hadn't had any recent news on the 'Ahakhav birds, we wanted to find out how they were doing.  Long story short:  three chicks in a nest!

Tropical Kingbird broods its chicks

Next, our requisite shorebirding stop in the Parker Strip: Emerald Cove sewage ponds.  The habitat looks nice, but there was not a lot around today.  One surprise was a pure-looking drake Mexican Duck that stood out from all the other brown male Mallards in eclipse plumage.  Not only was he darker overall, but the clincher was his tail: medium brown, not white.

Finally, we had to make one last stop at the Bill Williams Delta, premier Arizona birding location for Just About Everything. Of course, it's not such a happening place in early July, but we did see two Black and three Caspian Terns and three Eared Grebes as well as the continuing Neotropic Cormorant.  As I said earlier, it is a very attractive place to shorebirds when there are vast veg mats for the birds to loaf and gather on.  Even before the summer bloom of these mats, though, we found shorebirds trying to use the available space:  40 Marbled Godwits were crammed onto a small spit of rocks jutting into the water, and the Caspian Terns were repeatedly trying to land among them (without success)!

Today was filled with some wild temperature extremes (44 degrees difference!), great birds, exciting migration, good food (burritos from Ruperto's in Parker), good company, and all you expect from a birding trip.  When all is said and done, I just have to say it was good to get outside.

Spring Migration Birding

With temperatures creeping above 100 in the past week, those of us along the river here were happy to hear that a front was coming through, bringing possible rain and highs in the 80s.  Of course, there is always a potential for a front like this to drop migrants and make for good birding.

In general, spring migration has been fairly slow along the Bill Williams River this spring.  I've had most of the expected species (including my FOS Hermit Warbler yesterday), but numbers have been fairly low.  My high count of Wilson's Warbler for a survey, for example, is only 15.  Western Flycatchers have been moving through in small numbers, as well.  With reports of dozens of migrants around Yuma and Blythe, we've been eagerly anticipating some real numbers coming through.  With overcast skies yesterday and anticipation of a temperature drop, there was hope for a good day of birding soon (predicted by radar this morning by Tim Schreckengost).

This morning, David and I met Tom Johnson for a morning of birding on Lake Havasu.  We started at the north end viewpoint (which Tom has renamed Cape Havasu, a name I find very fitting), but the wind was gusting so hard it was difficult to stand on top of the hill, let alone set up a scope!  We estimated the swarms of Tree Swallows (2000) and headed to Rotary Park, hoping it would be more sheltered.  There wasn't much on the beach at the park, but the wind turned to rain so we were able to amble around the park and look at (soggy) migrant Passerines.  It was a good thing we did, as there were plenty of birds to see, including an estimated 60 Wilson's Warblers.

With some signs of movement in Lake Havasu City, we decided to head down to the Bill Williams Delta to look for waterbirds.  The Delta was slow, but we did have some lingering Greater Scaup and the continuing male Surf Scoter.  Before long, the rain stopped, and we felt inspired to continue further south.

After the customary stop at Ruperto's in Parker, we arrived at 'Ahakhav Tribal Preserve.  We checked out the park area, typically the best spot at the preserve for migrants, and were not disappointed.  A good variety of migrants was present, including about 11 Empids and eight species of warblers (about 60 were Wilson's and 15 were Nashville).  As we were walking out of the park I stopped to look at a hummingbird, and immediately called David and Tom to check it out, as I knew from its buffy underparts that it was something good.  At first I thought it was a Broad-tailed Hummingbird, but was not disappointed when I realized it was a Calliope Hummingbird!  A county bird for David and I, which Rosenberg et al. list as rare and irregular in the LCRV.  Naturally, it flew away as soon as I called out "Calliope", and was not cooperative in allowing more good looks.  Eventually, while it was skulking in a big mesquite, David got a look at it sitting next to another small hummingbird--amazingly, it was another Calliope!  We all got looks at both birds, and 'Ahakhav lived up to its reputation as a magnet for rare birds.  Check out the eBird list for our full bird count.

Calliope Hummingbirds (note difference in throat patterns).  Photos by Tom Johnson.

On our way north, we passed by Parker Oasis, and at first were thinking of passing it by.  David decided to stop briefly just to see if there were birds around, and good thing he did!  As soon as we pulled in, we saw dozens of warblers flying between trees.  After 45 minutes picking through warblers and other migrants, we estimated there were 150 Audubon's Warblers and 100 Wilson's Warblers in this small patch of habitat!  Six species of flycatcher and of swallows, nine species of warbler and others.  No rarities, but it was an exhilarating stop with migration in full swing!  Check out the eBird list here.

We then birded our way north along the California side, not running into any more huge numbers but finding decent numbers of migrants at Quail Hollow and good shorebird habitat (but low diversity) at Emerald Cove.

With this weekend's upcoming AZFO Expedition to the Big Sandy Wash and several more weeks of surveying in the Bill Williams ahead of us, I'm excited to see what will happen next!

Nutting's Flycatcher

By now, the Bill Williams Nutting's Flycatcher is anything but news.  In the first week or two after its discovery, it was fun to see the bird mentioned in blog posts, Facebook feeds, and websites.  Now, more than five weeks later, I still enjoy being out there with people seeing it for the first time, and generally hearing from visitors.  One of my favorite stories that I've heard of the bird was from Joe Kahl, a biologist on the Lower Colorado River.  He was checking in to a hotel in Lake Havasu City, staying the night for some local bat research.  He only heard about the Nutting's when a clerk at the hotel asked him, "Are you here for the rare bird?"  It's a great thing for birders to be able to see a new species, but even better when locals learn that said bird brings in tourist dollars!  More recently, the Nutting's has even been featured in the local newspaper.

 The Discovery

The discovery of this bird took a lot of luck.  Since I was working on my Mohave County Big Year, David and I decided to do a day hike in the Bill Williams River riparian area on December 18.  We entered at what field biologists call the Cross-River Trail, which is the only point in the riparian where you enter Mohave County almost immediately (usually it takes at least a half-hour trek).  Soon after entering the forest, we found ourselves among a mixed flock of birds.  David started pishing, and then we heard this weird call.  We puzzled over it for a few minutes, eventually agreeing that it sounded like a Myiarchus flycatcher.  The only Myiarchus around, though, is Ash-throated Flycatcher, and this didn't sound like one.  We puzzled some more, until David finally said what we were both thinking: "Maybe it's a Nutting's."  I should add here that Nutting's Flycatcher is always on our minds when we enter the Bill Williams riparian area, after one was recorded there in fall of 2008.

I got out my iPhone and flipped through every bird sound on it, but there was no Nutting's Flycatcher.  We tried to find the bird, but it was invisible among the cottonwoods.  Eventually it moved away from the trail, and we were left to wonder.  We continued our hike, four hours of winding through the trail system on the river.  As we arrived back at the road further west of our entry point, the mystery call came up again.  Nutting's Flycatcher seemed like the best possibility.  We went back to where we had heard the bird, and we did hear a single, distant call, but couldn't get through the dense mesquite to where it had called from.

So it was back home for the day, and straight to xeno-canto.  It took some digging through all the songs of Nutting's Flycatcher, but eventually I came across a recording of the single, long "wheep!"  I turned to David and said, "That was it.  It was a Nutting's."  Just to be sure, I went through the pages for other species, and Great Crested Flycatcher gave me pause.  A similar call, similar quality, but it seemed disyllabic, whereas the Bill Williams bird gave a call that was rising, but distinctly monosyllabic.  Clearly, though, we needed to be there the next day, better prepared for what was out there.

Armed with recordings, we arrived the next morning (December 19) to find a silent forest.  It took about an hour of wandering and listening before David's sharp ears picked up a "wheep".  We hurried toward the source of the call, playing "wheep"s back at it and confirming that they sounded identical.  We began to get frustrated, though, when the bird didn't come in to the recordings.  It was only after David and I split up, and I crouched in a thick stand of black tamarisk trunks and played the song, that I heard a short, burry response, and the bird popped up in front of me.  It was a glorious thing!  Right there at eye level, with a tiny bill and lemon-yellow belly, it struck me how much it looked like a Dusky-capped Flycatcher.  After a moment, it flew over my head and flew toward the stream bank behind me.  The significance of this hit me quickly.  We understood that stream bank to be the county line, so it was possible that the bird had just flown from La Paz into Mohave County.  I hurried back to the stream bank and waited with David, and after a few seconds the bird popped up in the brush on the La Paz side, giving short, burry "wheep" calls in response to the tape.  I felt my heart skip a beat as the bird took wing, crossing over our heads and into a willow just on the Mohave side of the stream bank.  Now we had ample time to study the bird, to take photos and recordings, and to marvel at how this Mexican species could turn up on this river again.

We eventually dragged ourselves away from the bird to get the word out.  We ran into Refuge volunteers Bobby and Wayne Paintner on our way to the Headquarters, and told them of the bird.  We made excited phone calls from a rare point of cell reception at the Headquarters, then visited Refuge Ecologist Kathleen Blair to tell her all about it.  Over the next few days, we went out several times with friends to see the bird.  At first there were surprisingly few visitors.  Then calls and emails started coming in, and positive reports continued while David and I were in California from late December into early January.  Planet Ranch Road has now seen hundreds of visitors, and I still find birders there every time I visit.  The Nutting's was even the last new species seen by John Vanderpoel in his recent Big Year.  A near-constant stream of friends has been coming to see the bird as well.  As much as I enjoy seeing and finding rare birds, it is a whole other dimension of birding to be able to share something exciting with fellow birders.

How I Spent My Spring

To say I had a busy spring would be an impressive understatement!  I continued my part-time job with the City of Lake Havasu, but caved to my desire to get out in the field by working for the Great Basin Bird Observatory.  The GBBO is doing work for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which is doing a lot of work creating and monitoring habitat on the LCRV.  The main part of this work that I've been involved in is the Multi-Species Conservation Plan (MSCP), through which the Bureau monitors certain focal species that are not federally listed.  Those that are listed or candidates - Yuma Clapper Rail, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Southwestern Willow Flycatcher - are covered by species-specific projects.  The Bureau has done a lot of great work with the MSCP and gathered an impressive amount of data.  The technical reports are available online here, a very interesting resource.

The project I helped with this spring was aimed at quantifying the use of different riparian habitats by breeding birds, especially MSCP covered species - Gilded Flicker, Gila Woodpecker, Yellow Warbler, Bell's Vireo, Summer Tanager, and Vermilion Flycatcher.  Essentially, we were surveying 400m x 400m (ish) plots, recording migrants and mapping every breeding bird we could locate in a morning.  The plots were randomly selected, falling from Laughlin to Yuma, and up the Bill Williams River almost to Alamo Dam.  I won't go over the protocols and study design in detail here - you can read about it in the 2009 report.

Since I was also working for the city, I was working a bit less than the others on the project, but I was still plenty busy.  I surveyed one site twice a week, another site once a week, and several sites only twice over the season.  The twice a week site was my "extreme intensive" at 'Ahakhav Tribal Preserve.  I was pleased as punch to visit that site 16 times over the field season!  Since it's a habitat creation site, it's easy to walk around and find nests, and it is also full of birds.  The Vermilion Flycatchers and Lawrence's Goldfinches breeding there were especially fun to watch.  The site I visited once a week was actually immediately adjacent to the hill we scan the north end of Lake Havasu from, which we call "Lehman Hill".  The hill is the southern boundary of the plot, which extends north about a kilometer in a dense tamarisk/mesquite stringer with patches of arrowweed and some big willows.  The breeders weren't as interesting, but the site was great for migrants.  Since the site ran along the shore of the lake, I surveyed it by kayak several times.

Ahakhav, great spot to spend two days a week

Vermilion Flycatcher babies!

Kayaking the north end

My other surveys were mainly in La Paz County.  Several were in Cibola NWR, one was in Mosquito Flats on the Bill Will, and one was up the Bill Will at Lincoln Ranch, about six miles downstream from the Alamo Dam.  One fell in San Bernardino County near Needles, and I also surveyed the Island STP in Lake Havasu City.

Lincoln Ranch Rd

Lincoln Ranch

Just for fun, I put together this summary of spring migration on the LCRV.  This only includes regular migrants, not rarities.  I also omitted any species for which I didn't get a good sense of their migratory patterns - for example, I missed the arrival of Lucy's Warblers and saw my FOS long after many had arrived.  This only includes my sightings, so it is by no means a complete summary of migrants this spring.  To read about rarities and overall sightings, we'll have to wait for AZFO's spring Seasonal Report.

This being a 12-page word document, I thought I'd stick it behind a cut...

Long-tailed Duck

On February 28 of this year, refuge volunteer Jan Richmond spotted a drake Long-tailed Duck near the Bill Williams River NWR headquarters.  This is a rare bird in Arizona, a "Sketch Details" species found mainly on the Colorado River.  I was very pleased that this guy hung around long enough for others to see it - partly because it's such a beautiful bird, and partly because it was a new species for me for Mohave County!

I went out to the Refuge HQ this morning for a bit of birding.  The Long-tailed Duck was much closer today than it was when I saw it before, swimming contentedly in La Paz County, in the CAP inlet.  I got a few low-quality images, which I doctored up a little bit by darkening them.

 

I can't say I fully understand the complex molt strategy of this species, but this guy appears to be pretty squarely in his "winter" plumage.  The short tail feathers, however, suggest a young bird - maybe a third-year?

Spring Around the Corner

I have to admit, late February around here is starting to taste like a flat soda.  Several of the local rarities continue, but there don't seem to be many new birds moving into the area.  While there has been some notable gull movement, they just seem to be leaving - without new birds coming in.  Birding is getting rather predictable.  Caught in the late-winter doldrums, the best we can do is keep monitoring the wintering birds, see how long the rarities will stick, and watch out for new migrants.  While doing just that this weekend, it was refreshing to see some signs of spring.

Starting at Rotary Park on Sunday, David and I found that gull numbers were down, and none of the eleven California Gulls I saw on Friday remained on the beach.  Starting the day off on a bright note, though, we saw our FOS White-winged Dove.  This was a surprise, since this species does not typically arrive until mid-March!

It didn't want its picture taken.

As we headed north to Havasu NWR, we noted large numbers of Tree Swallows foraging over the road.  Within the past week, we've seen Tree Swallow numbers skyrocket.  At Pintail Slough, we enjoyed the increase in bird activity that comes after a rain, though we didn't have any rare species.  A couple of Violet-green Swallows were good to see, indicating the beginning of their spring migration.  With the exception of a few sightings of single individuals in early Feb, this weekend was the first real movement of this species we've seen this year.  This is actually a late arrival, as Violet-greens should show up around the first week of February.  Another spring migrant, a singing Ash-throated Flycatcher, was right on time.  This was a county year bird for me, as was a flyover flock of White-faced Ibis.  After a bit of walking, we discovered a few swarms of Neuropterans.  Freshly molted adults were emerging en masse.  Surprisingly few birds were taking advantage of this easy food source, though I suspect all the swallows foraging over the road were doing just that.

Pintail Slough - leafy cottonwoods and storm clouds

We ended our Sunday birding around Bullhead City, where we saw the continuing Mew Gull twice.  While we were driving through Bullhead City in the mid-afternoon, we briefly saw it fly over the car.  Around 6 p.m., it showed up at Katherine Landing and loafed with the Ring-billed Gulls.  Alas, the Thayer's Gull seen earlier in the week did not show up.  It was interesting to note that numbers of California Gulls were way, way down, with only a handful of individuals seen.  Herring Gulls were absent altogether.  We did see five Horned Grebes on Lake Mohave, and three Wood Ducks in the area.  A male Red-breasted Merganser was unusual for this time of year, and another county year bird.

One of two males in the bread line at Katherine Landing

Monday was spent around the Bill Williams Delta.  We checked out Mosquito Flats, a beautiful stretch of riparian forest with complex structure and very little tamarisk.  The cottonwoods are fully leafed out, humming with the constant buzz of bees, and ready for migrant warblers.  The warblers, of course, are not migrating yet, and the birding was a little slow.  Fortunately there were other distractions.

 Cool fungus

Crayfish - an invasive species.  I managed to trap this one under my boot so we could get a better look at it.

Tent caterpillars were everywhere!

Most of the trees are fully leafed out.

We headed for the Bill Williams Delta, one of the best birding spots in the region.  There are almost always rare species to be found at this spot, and it is always exciting to bird, as it seems to offer more turnover than other places.  Some of the continuing rarities were Greater Scaup, Barrow's Goldeneye, and Black Scoter.  Almost all of the scaup, a flock of 230, were fairly close to our viewpoint, allowing us to get an accurate count and search for Lesser Scaup (none found).  The two female Black Scoters were with the scaup, as usual, and we counted eight Barrow's Goldeneyes, a new high count for us this winter.

Next, we headed for Parker Dam.  The birds there have been particularly predictable this winter, but we want to catch any changes as soon as they happen.  Lately, we have made it part of our routine to check Take-Off Point next to the dam.  Though it has been very quiet this winter, there had been sightings of the Yellow-billed Loon from there, and we have been checking for the bird (unsuccessfully) whenever we're at the dam.  To our surprise, on this particular check, there it was!  Along with five Common Loons, the Yellow-billed was in the Bill Williams Arm - in Mohave County!  An excellent county bird (year bird #149) for David and I, though one can't help but wonder - why does this bird bother to fly back and forth over Parker Dam?

A weekend of late February birding had the effect of getting us excited about April.  With so much habitat to cover, who knows what will turn up during migration!