WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Evening Birding 5/23/2011

I took the evening to get outside and relax, so I decided to go birding near Hidden Beaches for a little over two hours and totaled 24 species in a scrub shrub habitat along with a few sandbars on the Lower Colorado River. Highlights for the evening were 7 American Avocets, 2 Lucy's Warblers, 2 Black-tailed Gnatcatchers, a flyover Vaux's Swift, 2 flyover Snowy Egrets, and flyover 3 White-faced Ibis'.

American Avocet

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

Foraging Abert's Towhee

Today I was surveying for Southwestern Willow Flycatchers on a restoration site along the Lower Colorado River in Arizona. On almost every transect I was surveying on, I would come across 2 or 3 Abert's Towhees foraging in the leaf litter. Here are a few photos of one bird that I could get close enough to for a few decent shots.

Lower Colorado River and Imperial NWR

I spent the week surveying for Willow Flycatchers on the Lower Colorado River near Imperial National Wildlife Refuge. On the refuge, we found some pretty sweet birds including American Avocet, Long-billed Dowitcher, and Vermillion Flycatcher. Also, we have been seeing Eared Grebes, White-faced Ibis' and Great and Snowy Egrets daily on the refuge. While on the river, we came across five Long-billed Curlews and a couple of Black-necked Stilts on a sandbar. At one of the sites, I observed a Canyon Towhee, which is not reported in the area very often and is uncommon, along with two Brewer's Sparrows. As we were leaving the refuge to drive to our other field house, we observed a Brown-crested Flycatcher perched on a Saguaro cactus right outside the bunkhouse.

American Avocets!

White-faced Ibis'

Long-billed Dowitchers

Pied-billed Grebe and young!

Eared Grebe

Snowy Egret

Vermillion Flycatcher

 Stay tuned for an update on my 300 life bird. I'm at 296 right now, so it should be within the next week! Hopefully....

Warblers in the sandy scrub shrub habitat

I had the chance to do a little birding close to the house this morning before the heat settled in. The habitat was comprised of mostly sand for soil and tamarisk and mesquite for vegetation.I ended up tallying 24 species with the most abundant being Wilson's Warbler. Yellow Warblers were also present as well as a lone Townsend's Warbler, which was a lifer for me! I ended with two Warbling Vireos and two Black-tailed Gnatcatchers as well! I only need 15 more species to hit 300 for my life list! I'm hoping to reach that within the next week!

Wilson's Warbler

Townsend's Warbler

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher