Ian
and Suzie were both veterinarians from Canada, with Ian being the photographer
of the duo, with many photo donations made to the wonderful Internet Bird
Collection! Unfortunately a cold front
had moved in the previous Friday, and the weather hadn’t improved by Monday
with the threat of rain, so we opted to go road-birding along Brushline Road
for the morning.
The
birds were smarter than we were: we
heard a lot of things to start with from the thornscrub (Green Jays and a
Bewick’s Wren were the first to get logged), but they all wanted to stay hidden
and sheltered. Eventually a few Lark
Sparrows showed themselves, and an Orange-crowned Warbler hopped around,
actually showing his orange crown! Suzie
spotted a Cardinal and Pyrrhuloxia feeding side by side along the edge of the
road, and a Loggerhead Shrike posed on a wire, allowing for some pictures! We (or I, anyway) even deigned to photograph
the Red-winged Blackbirds gathering in the vegetation along the road, showing
off their epaulets to each other with each grating song! Couch’s Kingbirds were pretty cooperative, as
was a single Kiskadee (they were being noisy in the distance).
Brushline Road
Couch's Kingbird
Red-winged Blackbird
Loggerhead Shrike
Things
picked up a little after crossing SR 186, not only because the habitat was a
little better but the rain was letting up.
By a miracle a Verdin sat right up and called for the longest time, and
more Pyrrhuloxias posed on the wires and in the bushes. Suzie asked about what mammals might be
around, and I mentioned the exotic Nilgai; about then we actually saw a large
undulate cross the road way ahead of us, but to be honest I couldn’t tell if it
was a deer or Nilgai (the females look smaller and daintier to me, especially
at that distance). She also spotted what
we thought were calves in the scrub, but turned out to be a large herd of feral
hogs!
Verdin
A little over-exposed, but you can see his yellow head...
Cardinal holding his mouth funny...
Female Pyrrhuloxia
Showing off her punk "doo"...
Her mate singing away (©2019 Ian Barker)
One of many Couch's Kingbirds (©2019 Ian Barker)
Something
was going on with law enforcement/first responders in the distance, as we heard
many sirens, and even a helicopter flew overhead (quite low, actually; interestingly
the Caracara that Ian was trying to shoot didn’t seem too bothered by it)! A Harris’ Hawk was quite cooperative, unlike
the Savannah Sparrows that popped up… We
heard a distant Bobwhite, then later saw a lone bird by the side of the road way up yonder. Even the Mockingbirds were exciting for my
charges, as they don’t get those in their neck of the woods! A big surprise for me was a Clay-colored
Thrush at the La Sal del Rey trailhead parking area! Turkeys gobbled in the distance but never
showed themselves…
Harris' Hawk
After moving to a more natural setting...
A
few more photo ops presented themselves as we made the right jog at the north
end of Brushline: a Ladder-backed
Woodpecker sat on a wire then made her way to a mesquite where she made us work
to get shots! Ian was able to grab a
Golden-fronted Woodpecker on a pole, and another Caracara posed for pics, but
in general things were rather skittish (Ian said more than once, “If he flies,
he flies…” J). We
had to turn around about that time (before we encountered that pet Emu, to
which Suzie commented that they really don’t make very good pets… J), but on the way
back we almost ran over a Roadrunner!
Male Pyrrhuloxia
Caracara
Lark Sparrow
Golden-fronted Woodpecker (©2019 Ian Barker)
A male Ladder-backed Woodpecker surveys the scene from a wire while his mate (below) works on a mesquite...
(©2019 Ian Barker)
Heading down FM 493 we picked up a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher for the day,
and wrapped up with a modest total of 47 species; not bad, considering the
weather! Bird List:
Northern
Bobwhite
Wild
Turkey Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Greater Roadrunner
Killdeer
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Harris's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Eastern Phoebe
Great Kiskadee
Couch's Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
House Wren
Bewick's Wren
Cactus Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Clay-colored Thrush
Curve-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Cassin's Sparrow
Olive Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Western Meadowlark
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Pyrrhuloxia
House Sparrow
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