Saturday, November 29, 2014

Cruisin' the Flats

We're pushing into December, which means when one isn't participating in a TGC Challenge Challenge Challenge Challenge, one is likely chasing down some remaining Year Birds, if not vagrant-hunting, and making sure such lists are respectable enough that any other voyeuristic birders snooping on eBird won't look at one's paltry numbers and laugh. Magill Weber, Chris Rohrer, and I teamed up on the Santa Cruz Flats in Pinal County (annoying close to Maricopa County) for such list buffering and generally good birding on Black Friday. At this terribly dusty and rewardingly birdy expanse of agricultural land, the lines are short but there are still some bargains for Year Birders. Our morning started with roadside Meadowlarks and checking tamarisk groves for owls or other vagrants. 



One of the Santa Cruz specialty birds, for reasons I don't quite understand other than habit and learned behavior in a small population, is Mountain Plover. This declining species doesn't turn up reliably in much else of the state, except for Yuma. They're a fickle bunch and often skittish (as was the case yesterday), but still a damn fine bird.



While making our rounds though the agr. land and sod farms beloved of the Mountain Plovers and many raptors, we also recorded many of the expected liminal grassland species, some of which were belated Year Birds for Magill and myself.



There were also Burrowing Owls, which I see probably every month out of the year and of which I shall never tire, nor will anyone else who's heart is not as black as coal (from smoking or something).


The other main attraction of the Santa Cruz flats is its resident and wintering population of Crested Caracaras. This bird turns up sometimes in the agr. land of western Maricopa County, and also in southeast Arizona, but nowhere as reliably or in as large of numbers as in this dusty valley. Three weeks ago I passed through this area with an out-of-state birder and we recorded 5 Caracaras and no Plovers. This time around we had 6 Plovers and a whopping 26+ Caracaras.



Fun fact: Caracaras are often thought of as Vultures, but they're actually more closely related to Tanagers than Vultures. This is science. Vulture or Falcon or Parrot or whatever, they are cool birds. This cannot be denied, even if they don't have talons.


Our count exceeded two dozen individuals, conservatively, which was the highest number I'd ever encountered in a single trip. A majority of those birds we counted were also immature/1st year birds, seemingly eager to strut their stuff at the Caracara wintering grounds.


We didn't have Texas-style good looks, but some of the immature birds stayed far closer to the road than I had the pleasure of observing here before, and this proximity made for the day's highlights.


The glorious long weekend is still progressing on its merry course, and there is time enough for more birding. As the year winds down one has to make some tough decisions with that scarcity of time, to go for more year birds? vagrants? sparrows? Probably sparrows. Always choose sparrows.

16 comments:

  1. Taken for Granted Challenge challenge. Shame on you, teach!

    Nice job on the caracaras. Can't even imagine a life where Burrowing Owls are seen every month. That's just gluttonous.

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    1. He's doing field work Jen;)

      Awesome day out with you. I still am glowing after that amazing Caracara show! I've never seen them that close before on the Flats. Pretty epic stuff.

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    2. Cheers Chris, that was a great day. Missing a Black-throated Blue without knowing it stings a bit, but we'll have a date of destiny with that bird eventually.

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    3. Party Don't Stop Jen,

      I know the TGC is your thing, your baby, an aspect of your stardom, and you have copyrights on it. In fact, by calling it the TGC challenge instead of just the TGC I avoided 2 different lawsuits.
      I stand by it. Sometimes we have to allow for grammatical redundancies to improve the overall flow and informative aspect of a sentence, especially when previous information is assumed but not necessarily known by the reader.
      For example, when using the acronym PIN and saying, "I need to put in my PIN number" we're being redundant.

      At any rate, I've made some changes that will hopefully bring you satisfaction.

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    4. I am indeed satisfied, thank you sir.

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    5. This has been pleasant, and professional : ::curt nod:: :

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  2. Those Caracaras are pretty rad, all the more so in such numbers and in such close proximity!

    What is it about those sparrows? I just ditched plans to look for such boreal greats as Spruce Grouse and Black-backed Woodpeckers to go see a sparrow. It's nuts.

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    1. That is a bit nuts...but hey those boreal birds aren't going anywhere for the next few months. Good sparrowing J Wall!

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  3. Greetings from Dubai! Really enjoyed going through your blog. Have a great week ahead! Will be back soon...

    Shantana

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    1. Thanks Nature Stopper, lookin' forward to your readership.

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  4. Now talk about crush'in caracaras! Awesome photos and post! That LARB is one good looking bird, it would be awesome to photograph one singing in breeding plumage!

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    1. For sure! Alas that such an opportunity is so few and far between in AZ.

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  5. Nice shots and write-up, Laurence! That looks like a fun morning out in the field. Great Caracara shots!!! Hmmmm.....was grouchy Greg sleeping in and did he not notice you corralling around this time?

    "Didn't I talk to you last week and tell you to get lost?"

    "I don't know".

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    1. No grouchy Greg this time--we mostly stuck to an area nearer Greene Reservoir Road, and good thing we did! Still. I miss ol' Greg, should pay him a visit soon...

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  6. Laurence, I had no idea that Caracaras do not have talons. Is that for real? And sorry, I do NOT see any resemblance to Tanagers! However, it sounds like you had a fun time and I am so glad you finally met Mr. Rohrer! I only wish I was there to meet you too! Keep up the good birding!

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  7. Can't pass up on those Black Friday Birds. I unfortunately did, and a camera, too. Alas. Love the owls though!

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