Wednesday, August 15, 2012

The Evening Dregs

We caught some brief thunderstorms last night, but otherwise it has been silly hot this week. I spent a lot of summer doing prep work and attending seminars; now school has started. Summer break is gone, but the heat is still here. It's very nice to be back to work in a meaningful way, but it has severely cut back my time outdoors, and I can feel my birding skills already starting to rust.  

I had not paid a visit to the long-favored Tres Rios site since last May and a return at the first opportunity beckoned me, even in an enervated state and on a school night. after all, birding in the evening is very relaxing; everything is calm and getting clamer. Time and light are against you, but there's a sort of cozy quality to everything you see and hear in the evening stupor. 

Alas, when I reached the Tres Rios site, it was closed! Not just regular closed to the public, but closed to everyone. They even took the time to move large boulders in front of certain access points, and the boulders refused to acknowledge my nifty orange permit to ingress. Digging a tunnel underneath the boulders was out of the questions, and I left all of my dynamite at home. Ugh. Evening birding opportunities come few and far between now, so after shaking a fist at fate, I decided to explore the adjacent farmland and see who was left in the dregs around Tres Rios, the muddy farmland around the beautiful preserve that sinks into the landscape like the gritty gunk at the bottom of a wine bottle.

Of course, before I fully exited the Tres Rios site, I paid a quick visit to Burrower's Row and greeted its quaint residents. The soy crops and alfalfa along Burrower's Row were recently harvested and the Owl numbers seemed to be down. They were also staying much farther away from the road than normal. It was sad to see the Row in a state of relative disarray, but if the owls have lived here for more than a year then they're probably used to it. They seemed to be enjoying the sunset just fine. 

"Dude...I'm totally dilating right now!"

It was very disappointing to make the drive out to Tres Rios and find it closed, but birding in the surrounding area did allow for some safari-style (that is, in-the-car) birding, which is pretty rad when it works. From the relative shade and concealment of my vehicle, I got to steal looks at all the evening diners of Farmington Glen. Red-winged Blackbirds crouched low and munched away. With the chores of singing, mating, and rearing young seemingly past them, they were all unusually quiet.


In the back of my mind, I was secretly hoping for a gem shorebird, something rare and conspicuous like the Upland Sandpipers that turned up in southeast Arizona today. No such luck in the rare shorebird department, so it fell to the White-faced Ibis and Lesser Yellowlegs to represent, and all-in-all they did the waders proud.

These Ibis were having a little preen-n'-gossip session, no doubt making quips about who would be too fat to fly south for winter (or too not fat? I guess it's kinda the other way around with birds).


The Yellowlegs were a bit more conspicuous, or at least they tried to be. They didn't blend in very well but that was fine with me. Usually I only see Yellowlegs in Arizona around nasty sewage ponds, so it was nice to find them within a greener, healthier-looking environment.



A single Black-bellied Whistling Duck was the highlight of the evening. He flew in from the now off-limits Tres Rios preserve with his Red-winged Blackbird sidekick.


After making their grand entrance, this dapper duo paused only for a minute before they realized that Tres Rios was, in fact, a much better spot than this slough, and they soon departed. Oh, to have flown after them...


Bird activity wasn't restricted just to the semi-flooded farmland. The telephone wires and fences were covered with Eurasian Collared Doves--probably the largest concentrations I've seen in Phoenix--and they certainly were acting like they owned the place.

"The Sun is setting on the White-winged Dove empire...mwuahahaha."

Across the street a forlorn American Kestrel cast heavy glances towards some shrubs, perhaps mourning the field mouse that got away.


I was surprised by how quickly the sun set, but, I am proud to say, unsurprised by its beauty. It may just be empty boasting, but the Arizona sun really knows how to make an exit. A gorgeous sunset is probably the best way to deliver the news that birding time is over. 


A few more trips around the valley can hopefully tide me over to Labor Day weekend, and a trip to the Salton Sea. The sun never sets on the Birding Empire.

14 comments:

  1. Very nice post Laurence, wonderful photos in the evening light.

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    1. Thanks Dan. Now new birds but a certain mystique to the evening is always nice.

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  2. Beautiful series of birds.. love your heavenly shots of the Arizona sunsets.

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  3. Beautiful!!! I HAVE to visit (maybe when its a tad cooler) :)

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  4. Your story and pics are comforting to me as well. I have been frustrated, angry, etc to not be able to get and do my birding or wildlife exploring. And for awhile it was really really depressing. It has cooled somewhat down here now for me to get out and enjoy it all again and it will for you as well. The rain has made things for us much better. And the birding is great. But for about 3 weeks in July things were hot and muggy here. Then school. Now that school is in full swing I do stop several times during the week to do some photography and birding around Sweetwater just to calm down. It's so relaxing. And this past weekend was exciting. I have some bird posts coming up....one tomorrow and another in a couple days. And there's more hummingbird stuff coming....so I've been pushing the body....the bug bites are nasty though:) Hang in there.

    Onto to the topic at hand. Why did they close that site down? And Burrower's Row? Has someone done something terrible to make it off limits for others? I sure hope not. That would be really sad as those owls are beautiful.

    As for the future. The weekend is almost upon us. Get in your car and go somewhere:) Doesn't matter where....just go. Let the chores go and drive. You'll feel better:) Plus you've got some great trips coming up and I can't wait to see what will turn up for you. I'm working on some things as well. Your blog is awesome and it's fun to see what you're seeing up in your area....and what you find down here that I can never seem to find:) Hope school started on a good note. Chris

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    1. Thanks Chris, your comment are always so thoughtful. I definitely know what you mean with the depression of a month-long exile for the outdoors, be it imposed by weather and/or work. It really does wear ya down.

      I'm not sure why Tres Rios is closed, if budget cuts have made it too expensive to maintain for now so they're just shutting it off to the public or if it's just temporary. I need to call the Game & Fish Dept. but haven't gotten around to it yet. Burrower's Row is a strip of land along some alfalfa fields just northwest of the Tres Rios site. I imagine that the recent harvest disturbed some of the birds, but I've gotta figure they're used to it if they've stayed for more than year. Hopefully everyone fledged beforehand. The Row isn't blocked off as such, the numbers were just down while I was there, and no one was near the dirt road to allow for closer shots. It was a balmy 115 too, so that's a fair deterrent.

      Likewise Chris, I hope you get out this weekend. My wife and I are moving into a new apartment so my birding time might be limited, but I'll fit something in. As always, I'm looking forward to your posts.

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  5. I hear ya on the back to school/lack of outdoors! I'm sorry to hear of the closing of the preserve...but glad you were able to find some great species on your drive, especially the Owls!! I had a good chuckle over this Ibis dialogue, too funny! The BBWD & RWBB make an interesting duo!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Tammy. Sometimes a birder has to make the most of what's there. Usually when I find myself frustrated by a depauperate area, it just means I'm not working hard enough to appreciate what's there.

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  6. Great post and photos. I love all the birds.

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  7. I am awesome at drive-birding. When kids come, you'll be doing lots of it! Great photos, too.

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    1. Hmmm...this makes me think there should be some sort off-road birding-by-vehicle race: first person to cross the finish line with the best overall time and number of species wins, or something.

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