Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Uno, Dos, Tres Rios!

It's been a whirlwind of busy these last couple weeks. With school drawing to close and evaluations due, there's been little time to tend the bird blog, which is no fair at all. Being unable to post for a while, I now have a serious backlog of photos, all of which were taken at Tres Rios. I've cooed about the biodiversity at Tres Rios many times before, and as I've been reviewing these photos, it's really been driven home that, perhaps on par with the Gilbert Water Ranch, the Tres Rios wetlands are one of the best diverse birding spots in the Phoenix metropolitan area.

Tres Rios has the normal panoply of riparian birds. Green Herons, Blue Herons, Big Herons, Small Herons, Bittern Herons, Black-Crowned Herons, and even Big White Herons, which we here in Arizona call Great Egrets, can all be found along the Tres Rios marshes.


The Great Blue Herons are definitely the most numerous. They have roosting colonies set up all throughout the 3 mile Tres Rios stretch, and often stare down, condescendingly, upon the puny mortals walking below. In fact, sometimes they resemble the American Gothic painting with their stern and serious poses. 


The water works at Tres Rios are predictably flanked by cottonwood trees. These shady bastions are very welcome perches for other large birds and raptors that stay and endure the summer heat. This Red-Tailed Hawk would not endure my presence though, and took off immediately. To be fair, I've been told time and again that it's rude to stare. With birds, it's just so darn tempting...


Bald Eagles, Peregrine Falcons, Harris's Hawks, Kestrels, and Cooper's Hawks can all turn up in the canopies, and there are often surprises too. About three weeks ago I came across this pair of Great Horned Owl chicks. They were each sitting in separate cottonwoods, neither of which had a nest nearby. They didn't move while I was around, so they still trusted in their camouflage better than their flying skills. 


This second chick weirded me out a little bit. Look hard at his face. His beak looks more like a koala bear nose, and some of the feathers on his face form a creepy little smile. He looked like he was contemplating all the different and delicious ways he would capture and eat me when he gets a little bit bigger.

I feel like I left a little piece of my soul lying somewhere, out there in the wilderness where I looked into this evil owl's eyes. We take great risks as birders, greater than any lion-tamer or shark-wrestler or active volcano-bungee jumper that I've ever met.


This past Friday I returned to Tres Rios with Pops and we saw three different Great Horned Owls flying around. At first I thought one was a Short-Eared Owl, since it's tufts were very small and it wasn't big enough to be a full-sized Great Horned. Soon we realized that these smaller Owls were the fledglings, now spreading their wings and beginning to terrorize the terrestrial population.


Like any successful restaurant, bar, or birding site, Tres Rios has its regulars, and plenty of them. However, its reputation extends pretty far, and lots of other summer residents and migratory birds come in for a visit during the spring. The regular birds are a foundation for great birding, but the excitement of migrants and other unusual visitors really keeps the birders coming back.

Let me know if I'm off here, but I'm pretty sure this super yellow nine inch bird is a Brown-Crested Flycatcher. (*Editor's note* Apparently I was way off here, and this is, in fact, also a Dusky-Capped Flycatcher) When Maria and I arrived at this spot, his perch was first being used by a Dusky-capped Flycatcher. As soon as the Dusky-capped flew off this Brown-Crsted flew in, as if he had been waiting his turn for some time. He must've been disappointed, because he only stayed for a minute and then also departed. His spot was immediately taken by a Mourning Dove, and at that point we moved on.



This spring I've also seen Tropical Kingbirds, Western Kingbirds, Willow Flycatchers, Cordilleran, Pacific-Slope, and Western Wood Pewees. It's been great to have so many different Flycatchers around, and not just because they keep the insect populations under control.



Other summer residents include Lucy's Warblers, along with Bullock's and Hooded Orioles. It is one of the less discussed phenomena of the birding world that Lucy's Warblers have the ability to make their features blurry, much like Sasquatch. Unlike Sasquatch, they can still be diagnostically identified by the grey body and little plum spots on their head and rump.



Then there are birds like this Indigo Bunting. This was my first confirmed sighting of these magnificent birds, and it was quite a surprise. Lazuli Buntings are a fairly common site at the preserve. Like some of the warblers, they're mostly moving up north. I have no idea what this Indigo Bunting is planning. The bird books don't show them as migrating through or residing in much of Arizona, but that's not a lot to go on these days. The Cornell website shows them as summer residents, but I haven't seen them anywhere else in central Arizona nor heard any other reports--and this bird is a real head-turner. Whatever he decides to do, it doesn't matter to me. When you look this good, you do whatever you want.



Unusual birds like the Indigo Bunting still make for an easy identification, but Pops and I have had a few mystery sightings at Tres Rios too. The swampy scrub grass draws in a lot of the little brown jobs. Song Sparrows are always in concert, and Lark, Lincoln, Vesper, and Brewer's Sparrows often join the cacophony. Soon after seeing the owl fledglings on Friday, Pops and I heard the distinct song of a Cassin's Sparrow somewhere in the ruff. We couldn't get a clear visual, but there were a few other Sparrows around--not necessarily the ones singing--that weren't easily identifiable either.

Here is the ambiguous culprit of the Cassin's song. This is a rare, rufous-morph of Cassin's Sparrow, which is already an unusual bird to find in the Phoenix area. It's a drab bird but still a pretty exciting find.


I'm pretty set on the ID of this last bird. It's a Pygmy Ostrich yes?


To visit Tres Rios is to treat oneself to a bricolage of birds, a feathered frenzy, a glamourous gallimaufry, a singing smorgasbord, a musical mélange. I highly recommend it. 

22 comments:

  1. I just HAVE to visit Tres Rios - what a wonderful assortment. Visited Gilbert Water Ranch 4/1/11 and had a great time and got wonderful images, even thought it did hit 100 that day:)

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    1. I agree Cynthia! Burrower's Row is right next to Tres Rios too. I've never left with site with less than 50 species seen, even as it's begun to heat up. You'll have to let me know next time you're in Phoenix with a little bird-time : )

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  2. Pygmy Ostrich! Love it! Congrats on the bunting- that is one awesome bird. I would not trust that serial killer owl child. It's like chucky meets the joker meets an adorable owl. Pure horror.

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    1. Thanks Jen. When that Owl grows up...I might have to start looking for a new birding spot.

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  3. Wow..what a great place to bird. Super shots! Will have to put that on our list of places to visit.

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    1. Thanks dAwN. If you're ever in Phoenix, it's definitely a great place to bird. Of course, I don't know if Tres Rios itself merits a trip down, but hey maybe as a stop on your way to southeast AZ? Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

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  4. Early in the year I declared that this would be my Year of the Sparrow, after which I would be full to the brim with sparrow expertise, obnoxiously and condescendingly dropping sparrow knowledge on the unsuspecting masses. This has not yet come to fruition. Run those photos by me again on December 31!

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    1. Nicholas, I appreciate you taking this great task upon yourself. From what I've read, the last man who tried to become a Sparrow expert went mad and ate his own ears only 7 months into the year-long undertaking. I wish you all the luck and a pair of protective earmuffs.

      I'm sure I'll have many more problems for you to solve by year's end. For this tricky guy, I believe it is a Rufous-winged Sparrow. I was skeptical of this diagnosis at first, but none of the other alternatives would be any more likely, and visually make less sense.

      Thanks nonetheless. Let me know if you have any epiphanies!

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  5. Have I told you that you are a great writer?! Your pics and stories are top notch. Yes.....oh yes....the "Brown Jobs" really drive me nuts. The sparrows especially. This summer I'm going to a lecture on these birds. Before birding, I had no idea that there were so many of them around....out in the field, I'd see a variation of one....and then I'd head to an expert who would then explain that's the Shatner Sparrow...note the hair piece on top. What??!!!! I'm learning. Great spotting of the owlets. That's pretty cool stuff right there. The Indigo Bunting is spotted often here in this area. Nice post.

    Several personal notes. We just finished up here today. I celebrate tonight by cleaning up my garden. Tomorrow, I have a conference in the morning and then I'm off to bird for the first time since last week. And I plan on doing it everyday until I have to go back to work again!! I'm going to try and make it down to Miller Canyon in the Huachucas. 3 different hummers, an owl, elegant trogon have been spotted and I'm on the hunt! I'm going to kick off the vacation with a bang...

    And lastly, my gods has the hummingbird feeder been exhausting! That's all I do now....make hummer juice in the kitchen and fill that sucker up every couple of days! Between the woodpecker, verdin, finches, doves and hummers, I'm feeling a little abused. The Verdins are no problem but the Gila just swings that sucker and drinks! We have two feeders and one takes longer to empty. My last remaining Grandparent makes hummingbird juice a little higher in sugar content and swears by it....but she also makes her Bloody Marys mostly vodka....so it makes sense. She's up in Wisconsin and has the magic touch with the hummers...the Ruby Throated. In a village of about 500, she's the talk of the town with her hummer whispering:) I think she's spiking the punch:) Enjoy the end of the week. I'm really excited for both of us. This summer is going to be a birder's paradise. But we still need to get chores done or our spouses will kick us out of the house!:)

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    1. Thanks Chris. I really appreciate your comments. I wouldn’t be nearly as diligent (not that I am that diligent anyway) with my posts if I didn’t have great folks reading them.

      I’ve heard about all that awesome stuff down in Miller Canyon. I’d definitely be down there if I were in town. Good luck with those pursuits. Trogon is still at the top of my list, and any of those southeast AZ hummingbirds would be a sweet bonus.

      I’m feeling the same exhilaration as you Chris, in that we now finally have some open weeks, even months, ahead of us. As you said, can’t neglect other duties and loves, but man it’s a great feeling. I’m looking forward to your Wisconsin posts, and I know the frustration with those feeders, especially when the woodpeckers just force their way in (in my experiences it’s been Flickers). I do not know much about feeders, namely if there are some other hummer feeders that are woodpecker-proof. At least they don’t attract squirrels too.

      Have you tried feeding hummingbirds by hand? Apparently with a little bit of dye (red works best) and some patience, you can sit in your hard, hands cupping the nectar, and they’ll come to you.

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    2. I've seen that!!! Part of me thinks that it's wrong to feed hummers from your hand....but honestly.....that would be really cool! Several of the hummers are very friendly with me at our gardens. In fact, we hang out together while I work outside....very dedicated and territorial birds....but there is also some intelligence there as well. It's one of my favorite things about hummers. I may try to do it down the road. Right now, I have a garden to repair and make shine...there was NADA here!! Just gravel....very little life. Today if you come on the property, it's like a party everyday! I have a lot more work to do, but I am placing a lot of butterfly and bird plants around the gardens and it's a payoff to see that they are hits with the birds. I honestly just sit behind my window somedays and watch all the birds come to visit. I wake up around 6 to hundreds of birds singing. By 9 they are off to the other feeder on the property....but it's a great way to get your day started! I also look forward to your fun this summer. I have some more birding posts coming up again.

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    3. I know what you mean, there's something that feels a little bit cheap and overbearing about feeding from hand. That being said, the birds certainly don't seem to mind, and I don't think it's really forming bad habits for them or any dependencies that don't already develop from feeders. It would be pretty cool. I have determined that I don't have the necessary patience for it, but as you said, maybe in the future...

      Good luck with the garden. Stay cool out there

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    4. Epic fail today. Seriously, what was I thinking? I tried to bird in the middle of the afternoon in Madera Canyon and there were birds around but it was too hot. I don't know what I was thinking.....I got some shots but it's all stuff I've done before and nothing original. Plus I missed the Blue Grosbeak!! I saw it on the feeder but didn't get the camera out quick enough. And do you guys have haze up in Phoenix? It's really bad down here. It's from that fire in New Mexico. Tomorrow I was supposed to go up to Mt. Lemmon but those plans fell through....ugh!! It's okay, but the heat is pretty bad and even the mornings aren't very nice. I seriously don't know how the birds do it around here. Amazing to think that they can endure this heat.

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    5. Sorry to hear Chris. I must confess, I'm not in Arizona right now. My wife and I fled to heat for a little while. We're up in Pennsylvania for a bit. I heard it got way up in the 100s again this week too. Way to tough it out even if you didn't get the shots. At least there's not shortage of light. It's consistently overcast here.

      I don't know about haze in Phoenix. If there is any, it'd be mild stuff from pollution/driving not so much the fires, which are farther away. I don't know how the birds cope either. I guess they can shake their throats and raise their feathers and such, unlike us people, but yeah I think they're better adapted than we are. Although I'm looking forward to being able to say I birded in 120 degree heat this summer, I'm not looking forward to returning to the heat itself.

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    6. Sorry to hear Chris. I must confess, I'm not in Arizona right now. My wife and I fled to heat for a little while. We're up in Pennsylvania for a bit. I heard it got way up in the 100s again this week too. Way to tough it out even if you didn't get the shots. At least there's not shortage of light. It's consistently overcast here.

      I don't know about haze in Phoenix. If there is any, it'd be mild stuff from pollution/driving not so much the fires, which are farther away. I don't know how the birds cope either. I guess they can shake their throats and raise their feathers and such, unlike us people, but yeah I think they're better adapted than we are. Although I'm looking forward to being able to say I birded in 120 degree heat this summer, I'm not looking forward to returning to the heat itself.

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    7. You have the right idea. I'm leaving for Wisconsin tomorrow. Hey!! If you're still there, see if you can snap that Ruby Throated Hummer.....they aren't down here in Arizona at all....the only hummer that everyone else thinks is rather boring:) There aren't any boring hummers:)

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  6. Ok Laurence, I'll take the bait.

    The flycatcher above looks like a Dusky-capped to me...small bill, very dark brown on the head, dark gray throat and breast, lots of yellow. I am fairly confident about this.

    The sparrow, on the other hand, is baffling...I have not seen one like it. The typical Rufous-winged is much brighter with a bicolored bill...perhaps this is a young one, in between the plumages of a streaky juvenile and a full adult?

    Congrats on lifering ANOTHER facemelting blue bird!

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    1. Thanks for biting Seagull, I was hoping I'd snag ya.

      What through me off about the Flycatcher was that it scared away a smaller Flycatcher that I had been thinking as Dusky-capped. That being said, going on size alone is about the worst field mark for identifying, so I'll defer to you there and do some editing.

      That Sparrow is still baffling. I'm still leaning towards Rufous-winged, though several people have said Rufous-Crowned now too. Between the two birds it seems more like a Rufous-Winged to me, even though it's not a great match for either species. I'm just glad it wasn't something totally obvious and fool-making.

      The blue birds just keep coming. Next up, Blue Jay? It'd be pretty rad to see one of those perch on a saguaro, perhaps for the first time ever.

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  7. A great post & images Laurance. I hope that you will get an ID on your sparrow, I'm afraid I am no help with it!

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    1. Thanks Mia. The jury is hung on that Sparrow, but it was still a fun challenge.

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  8. What a great post with lots of photos and birds! I envy your Indigo Bunting sighting! Nice find, I have seen them at Mesquite Wash, so I know they can occur in this area as migrants. On to the sparrow photos. Might just be my imagination but both photos give me an impression of juveniles as they appear to be small and not very plump. But that is by no means the true facts. I am not convinced of a Rufous-winged or a Rufous-crowned. Bill appears to be too dark and also too long for a Rufous-winged. RW's should have a short bill and they should have blackish streaks from the bill to the eye and on the malar stipe under the eye. Petersen's Guide to Western Birds mentions "double black whiskers". Habitat is not quite right for RW as well. According to eBird, there are no recordings of RW in Maricopa County and none this far north in Arizona, more of a southern AZ specialty. But I also realize birds don't read maps either. Also not convinced of a Rufous-crowned either. I think that should have a more distinct white eye ring. Quite frankly, I am not sure what it is, but if it is a juvenile, then that just makes it harder to ID. I have 4 guides and one guide specifically on sparrows, so I will continue to read up on them to see if I can get an idea.

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    1. Thanks Gordon. You've really put the work in on these Sparrows!

      My longest thought was Rufous-winged, but as you say that'd be really really unprecedented for the area and it doesn't quite fit. It looks even less like a Rufous-Crowned than a Rufous-Winged to me, but that's not very helpful either. I think you are right about them being juveniles, and it's much more difficult to find and cross-reference juveniles sparrows photos. I wonder if hybrid is a possibility too?

      At any rate, I appreciate the help. Of course, this bird was totally silent the whole time I was watching.

      Good birding to ya this weekend Gordon!

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