Sunday, January 22, 2012

Warbler Envy at Rio Salado

I've had warbler envy lately. The definite focus in Arizona is the wintering waterfowl, but now I find myself yearning for those flighty tweety birds too. One can always count on the Orange-Crowned and Yellow-Rumped Warblers in Phoenix in the winter, but to diversify one's sightings beyond there requires some work.

I had stopped off at the Glendale Recharge ponds on Saturday in  the vain hope of seeing a reported pair of American Redstarts. While I did have a nice time looking and conversing with other birders there, we all struck out on the birds themselves.

Next I decided to check out the Rio Salado Audubon center that's in south-central Phoenix. I had visited this center in the summer and seen some Wilson's Warblers, along with some Green-Tailed Towhees, but hadn't been overly impressed. There had been recent reports on the AZ listervs though of Black-and-White Warblers, Myrtle Warblers, a Summer Tanager, and some Redhead Ducks--all new birds for me--at the center now, which was more than enough motivation for me to get outdoors instead of grading papers.

While I did not see any of the above species, I did get some good looks at Common Yellowthroat, Marsh Wrens, Kinglets, and Lincoln's Sparrows. My photographic nemesis the Common Yellowthroat continued to elude my camera. At one point I thought the curse might end, but then a large loud family passed by making as much noise as possible, and all of the birds flushed. Arrgh.

I did see a male Black-Throated Grey Warbler from far away, the first male of the species I've seen, so it was still a pretty good outing, even with the heavy clouds.


Here's the namesake black throat, which is not actually visible on the female.


Like most Warblers, he stuck around for all of 3 seconds, and then took off.


Here is a more aesthetically pleasing shot of the female Black-Throated Grey I saw this summer at the Gilbert Water Ranch. Note the non-black throat.

12 comments:

  1. The last photo of the Black-throated Grey (without a black throat) is exceptional!!!

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    1. Thank you Tammy. Every once in a while the stars align.

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  2. Enjoyed meeting you on Saturday...was so hoping you had spied out those redstarts...dang! Love these photos however...any warbler caught in a photo is a great shot so far as I'm concerned...appreciate the close-up looks...:)

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    1. If only those Redstarts were upstarts...Thanks for stopping by Janet

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  3. I get warbler envy too Laurence, they are just so difficult to photograph because they move so fast and usually they stay hidden. Love the Black-throated Gray Warbler image!

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    1. Yes I do not have a very good keep/trash ratio of warbler photos, but I do like how, depending to an extent on the species and location, they generally tolerate a closer approach. Otherwise it'd be darn near impossible to photograph them.

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  4. Fantastic captures of some tough to photo birds. I also really can't wait to start finding more warblers this spring.

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    1. I hear that. What it usually your first spring Warbler?

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  5. Nice variety of sightings, and great job capturing those elusive warblers!

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  6. Love your photos! I still don't have a Black-throated Grey...

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    1. Maybe you guys have already reached your threshold of awesome birds there in Florida? I'm sure you'll have one soon; I'm looking forward to those photos!

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