Monday, May 14, 2012

Birding the Arizona Beach

It seems like spring only lasted for a couple weeks, and now we're already into summer. Perhaps that explains the recent beach posts on lots of birding websites. As the sun climbs higher and stays longer in the sky, we start to pine for the breezy shores and salty air. Chris Rohrer over at Las Aventuras, Gordon Karre over at Birding Adventures, and Seagull Steve at BB&B have all had some excellent recent posts revolving around beach birding, and they've got me yearning for the shore. Alas, central Phoenix is a far cry from the Pacific Ocean, but to try and keep myself sane these last few weeks, I shall endeavor to deceive!

These accounts and photos are from the Glendale Recharge Ponds, a bleak, ugly place in northwest Phoenix that offers surprisingly good birding around the holding lakes. This is my place for shoreline birding. So take a whiff of saltwater, hold some seashells to your ears, close your eyes, and pretend you're now at the beach (don't really close your eyes; then you wouldn't be able to read the post).....


So, here we are at the beach. It must be low tide, for there are no waves and the water is rather shallow. Thinking little of the low water level in the ocean or the faint smell of distant sewage, we unfold our rickety beach chairs, stick an umbrella in the ground, and soak in the scenery.


Upon closer inspection, we see that the shoreline is dotted with Semi-palmated Plovers, an uncommon bird in Arizona but a predictable sighting for us here on the Pacific coast...



While the Plovers scurry around the tide pools, we notice some shadows from above. Looking up, we see some Cliff Swallows catching bugs with exceeding delight.


They dip and turn and bank with impressive agility. Clearly, this a bird designed to fly and fly, to spend its life in the sky.


A larger, lumpier shadow moves across the beach. Again looking up, we see an American Avocet coming in to land. Beautiful and graceful though these birds are, they do not look so comfortable in the air. The upturned beak makes perfect sense for skimming through the shallow mud and muck, but now makes the Avocet look like it crashed into a window.


There's a lot of traffic in the sky today. Several Caspian Terns fly overhead, reveling in the knowledge that they're one of the largest and sleekest aviators in these skies.


This too, would be an unusual and exciting sighting in Arizona, but since we're on the Pacific Coast we won't get too energized...


We've been studying the sky for a while now and our necks begin to hurt. After reaching for a cool beverage and leaning back in our creaky chairs, we again scan the shoreline for adventurous peeps, such as this Spotted Sandpiper popping in and out along the rocky wharf.


The Spotted Sandpiper seems determined to keep its feet dry, but eventually the allure of tasty treasures draws him into the water. Come to think of it, that sounds pretty good!



As we make the short walk down the beach, a startling cry echos from the right. Of course! It is a Killdeer, the common and noisy Plover near and dear to our hearts. He's standing along a rocky outcropping, blending in very nicely. Since this is the Pacific beach and not an Arizona sewage pond, we marvel at this unusual and refreshing sighting!


Ahh...a quick dip, some picnic lunching, some more cold beverages and it's time to pass out. What a lovely trip to the beach this was!

10 comments:

  1. Ha, awesome. Avocets do kind of look like they smashed into a window, huh... Never realized. Hope you built some nice sandcastles at the beach!

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    1. Ah, if only we had sand there...

      I hope your trip is rounding out nicely. What's your total species seen, including both new and old birds? I tried to make a guess, but now cannot remember.

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  2. Great perspective of the beach in the desert! Got some great photos there as well. The Cliff Swallows in flight are awesome, I know how tough it is to capture any swallow in flight. Also love the Killdeer shot, ♥ the red in the eye and you had to be pretty close to capture the red. Great post!

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    1. Cheers Gordon. These are the first presentable Swallow shots I've gotten (of in-flight swallows). It's hardly a substitute for the real thing, but sometimes the Recharge Ponds are enough to keep one going...just a little bit longer.

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  3. So many Killdeer around my house here in Iowa. They are the noisiest birds, even at night. Great photos, though!

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    1. Thanks Moe. Killdeer are pretty, but almost up there with Grackles and Starlings for me in terms of annoying birds. Their raucous calls drive me nuts and they seem to follow me around screeching and screeching. letting ever other bird in the vicinity know to take off. Ah well, if it were easy it wouldn't be any fun...

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  4. You always have me laughing.....and even more so knowing the kind of heat you've had to endure. I'm a total lame birder.....I've been going into the canyons now for the cooler temps....AND I almost stepped on a stupid rattlesnake while looking for warblers. Refreshing beverages sound so good anytime of the day...and I need to start getting a recharge pack full of water because I got light headed the other day. I was outside for 3 hours and totally not aware of the time. However, I felt like I was at the beach with all your amazing catches.....love the Avocet....great in flight moment. And isn't it amazing that we could find sea birds in the desert??!!!! I still am puzzled by it all. Hope you had a good Tuesday.

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    1. Hey Chris, if you're braving rattlesnakes it sounds like you're pretty committed! I've still never encountered one of those in the wild.

      It is truly puzzling to see Terns and Plover in west Phoenix, but hey I'll take it! We're birding in a truly marvelous state and I do my best to make the most of it.

      As always, I'm looking forward to your posts Chris. Thanks.

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  5. I'm not the photographer in the family, but I can imagine how difficult it is to capture swallow shots that good. Gold star!

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    1. Nicholas, your imagination is a wonderful place. Thanks for the star.
      They say, "Shoot for the strs, and then land on the moon."

      I'm glad I landed amongst the astros : )

      Thanks for stopping by and commenting master Martens.

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