Be the Roadrunner - an update on my Little Big Year

Greater Roadrunner

The past four months have been very exciting and rewarding, and I know there's more to come!  Actually, ever since I started birding just a few years ago my world changed - it gave me wings and I'm flying high.  Being out in nature discovering and learning about birds brings me so much joy that sometimes I feel like I'm about to burst.  Yes, I LOVE birding!

My Little Big Year at the Glendale Recharge Ponds is coming along better than I expected.  More seasoned birders would be well beyond where I'm at, but I'm very happy with what I've accomplished so for.  Besides, this isn't a competition with others - it's my own personal goal.  I talked about it briefly in a previous post and more info is in the tab titled "My Little Big Year - Birding GRP 2016", but I'll expand a little more here.

For non-birders who are wondering what the heck am I doing, and what is a "Big Year", here's the short version.  Obviously birders love birds, and we are constantly working on our Life List (basically a record of how many species seen in our lifetime).  A Big Year (BY) is simply an informal competition to identify the most species in a calendar year.  There are different types of BY's, but they're all done by geographical location.  For instance you can do a BY by country, state, county, hotspot, backyard, etc.  So for this year I chose the Glendale Recharge Ponds (GRP) - an excellent birding hotspot.

Because I'm not able to bird as much as I want (at this time), I set my little goal for 150 species, which is very doable at the GRP.  I hope to exceed that goal, but will be completely satisfied with whatever I end up with.  As of today, I have 107 species - only 43 more to go!  I won't be able to work on it hardly at all during the summer, so I'm trying to get in what I can until our lovely heat kicks in and then resume in the Fall.

Yesterday I saw the Greater Roadrunner (above pic) at the GRP, as well as many other species, plus two more lifers!  I love and admire this bird.  Do you know that the roadrunner can outrun a human? Wile E. Coyote never had a chance!  And if you're into this kind of thing (I am) the roadrunner symbolizes courage, strength and endurance.

Be the Roadrunner.

Peace and happy birding!
Rocki

It's my "tern" now - and a sad turn of events

Last Saturday while birding at the Glendale Recharge Ponds Mark & I ran into Tommy D and he told us there was a Forster's Tern in Pond 3.  Awesome!  At the time, we were on the east side of pond 1 making our way over to the north side so I could show Mark the Burrowing Owl, and then go up to the bike path to check out the riparian area.  After a pleasant conversation with Tommy and admiring the two bald eagles in a large tree, Mark & I continued on our path and veered over back to pond 3.  We looked and looked, but guess it wasn't our turn to see it - the tern was no where in sight.   

Over the rest of the weekend I received several eBird Rare Bird Alerts of the Forster's Tern at the Glendale Recharge Ponds.  I wanted to see that tern so bad, but wasn't able to get back up there at that time.  Monday morning came and there it was again.  Another alert email of the tern.  I decided to start in the studio earlier than usual and then head up there.  I'm only about 20 minutes away, so it was doable, considering what all I had on my plate for that day.

Back tracking a bit, I did get to see a tern on April 27th at the GRP - Caspian Tern (lifer).  There were actually 3 of those very large terns together flying between ponds 3 and 4.  The photo is not great, but the experience was pretty darn cool!

Caspian Tern - Glendale Recharge Ponds

Back to Monday.  While driving to the GRP all I could think about was finding that tern.  I only had an hour to spare that morning, so it wasn't going to be my usual scan and count.  When I arrived, there were 4 other vehicles there.  I parked on the west side of the parking bridge, got out, grabbed my gear, threw on my floppy hat and headed straight over to pond 3. 

I usually look down and over the bridge on both sides, but because I had tern on the brain and no time to spare, I didn't.  Thankfully, I didn't.  More about this after my quick morning birding. 

Arrived at pond 3 and spotted 3 Semipalimated Plovers.  Started scanning for the tern - nope.  Made my way down the path and ran into Steve, a fellow birder.  By this time there was another SEPL that joined the other 3 - awesome!  I asked if he seen the Forster's Tern - yep, earlier that morning in pond 3 and then it flew off towards the canal.  Of course it did.  Well, I wasn't giving up so we bid farewell and on my way I went.

I did see several species on my way, but I was on a mission.  I arrived to about the middle of pond 6 and started scanning.  No tern.  Maybe it just wasn't my turn to see it yet.  I then looked over in pond 1 which had very low water in spots when something caught my eye.  What a surprise - a Long-billed Curlew - a lifer for me!

Long-billed Curlew

While the rest of the photos are not that great either, I'm a birder first and an amateur photographer second - but I surely try.

Long-billed Curlew

He was all by himself in that section of the pond.  While keeping my eye on him, I would scan all about looking for the tern.  Still nothing.  Looked at the time and realized I was just about at my time limit, so I started back down the path and figured I would check pond 3 one more time before leaving.  I only took a few steps when...

There he was - the Forster's Tern - right above me!  I do believe I heard him say "it's your turn Rocki!"  Okay, so maybe that's not exactly what I heard, but it was close ;)

I went over my time limit a bit watching him fish, which was the coolest thing ever!  I'll let the following photos do most of the talking and pick up from there.

Fishing in the canal



spotted a meal while hovering

aerial acrobats

getting ready to plunge into the water

swoosh!

score!

I'm not sure which was more exciting - seeing the tern (lifer) or watching his acrobatic skills.  I think they both score a 10!  As much as I didn't want to leave, it was time for me to head back to the car and get home to finish my work.  I took about 40-50 steps when...

two Forster's Terns

Two of them at once flew past me!  Yep, it was my "tern" to see not only one, but TWO Forster's Terns.  I didn't blink.  I did a 180 to go see where they were headed.  They ended up fishing in the canal for a little bit and then flew off.  Kind of hard to see, but they are in the middle of the photo.  What a very cool experience!

Walking back to the car I could feel the huge smile on my face. I think it's permanent actually.  I was almost to the bridge when I noticed a few SRP employees hanging out there, no other cars but an older vehicle on the east side opposite of mine.  No other birders or anyone else, just me.  I put all my gear away then decided to sit in my car and enter my eBird checklist before I left.  I turned on the ac, grabbed my snack and began entering.  A few moments later two police vehicles and a fire truck pulled up.  Then a third police vehicle.  They all walked over to the east fence of the front entrance, looked down and I knew by the expression on their faces that it wasn't good.  I snapped the below pic and then called Mark.  A few moments later a police officer walked over to my car and needed to speak with me.  In short, this part was a lot of questions - which I basically knew nothing.

I won't go into all the details, but there was a sad thing that happened to someone (not caused by a crime, it was later told to me by a fellow birder who spoke with the victims family member that it was self-inflicted).  The body was directly under the bridge on the east side - opposite of where I was parked.  If you've never been to the GRP, the bridge is not a huge thing, its just a small parking area above the canal.  Behind where I'm parked is the entrance into the ponds.  Two more police vehicles pulled up (now a total of 5) which completely blocked me in.  After being interviewed by the police I was told to wait again, this time for the detectives to arrive.  I explained politely of course that I had no info at all as I was birding (had to explain what that was), but was told I had to wait since I was there when they arrived.  A few bystanders showed up and I called Mark to fill him in that I was still there.  The officer finally said I could leave and if the detectives had any questions they would call me. They guided me off the bridge between their cars then put up the yellow tape to block off the bridge.

I drove to the park at the end of the street, pulled in and sat there quietly.  I wasn't freaking out, just shaken and unnerved.  After a fun and exciting hour of birding with two cool lifers, it ended this way. Realizing that fellow birders go to the GRP, I posted brief info in the birding group so they would know that it was currently barricaded so that they wouldn't waste a trip.  I sat there a few more minutes to gather myself then drove home.  I understand the heartache of this tragedy, and my heart goes out to the victim and his family with hope they will be able to find peace. 

Originally I was going to leave this out, but it was part of my morning experience and I felt the need to share it.  Life is very precious, take care of those you love both near and far. 

Peace,
Rocki

Another GREAT birding day at the Glendale Recharge Ponds

Great Horned Owlet

Yesterday morning I went back out to the Glendale Recharge Ponds to hopefully see the Franklin's Gull that was on the eBird email alert (I love eBird!).  And I was bound and determined to find the Great Horned Owls that have also been reported.

I parked on the bridge and walked over to pond 4, which was still full of water as was pond 3 (1 & 6 had shallow water and 2 & 5 still dry as a bone).  Anyway, it was 9:00 am and I was just getting started when another birder walked up and we chatted for a bit.  I mentioned how I was looking for the Great Horned Owl and he directed me to where they were.  I was very thankful and then had to laugh at myself because I literally passed them by each time I was there! 

So I headed in that direction and sure enough, there were two owlets in the nest!  The adults were not present, most likely off getting breakfast for everyone.  I stood there in awe as this was the very first time seeing a Great Horned Owl in nature - a lifer!  To say I was giddy would be an understatement.  It was time to move on and find the Franklin's Gull.

Pair of Franklin's Gulls

I didn't find a Franklin's Gull... I found 2!  They were in pond 1 on the opposite side.  It was a bit of a stretch to get a quality shot with my Canon Powershot SX50, but at least I was able to get a few good enough shots to ID. (can hardly wait to get my DSLR... next year) 

Franklin's Gull



Another birder who joined in let me look through his scope (I don't carry mine when I'm on my own as it's too much for me to carry with everything else).  It was a beautiful sight - another lifer!

Wilson's Phalarope and American Coot

The continuing Wilson's Palaropes were in pond 4, but this time there were 7 (saw 4 on Saturday).  They are such busy birds and it was a pleasure to see them again. 

Red-winged Blackbird

Listening to the Red-winged Blackbirds upon arrival and throughout several areas of the recharge ponds is absolutely delightful.  This is my hubby's second favorite bird (Bald Eagle is his #1) and what made him fall in love with birding.

Great Egret

I spent 2 hours there and saw hundreds of birds that consisted of a variety of 41 species, which included 3 lifers: Great Horned Owl, Franklin's Gull and a Horned Lark.  Here's the rest of them:
Gadwall, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, Gambel's Quail, Pied-billed Grebe, Eared Grebe, Neotropic & Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Northern Harrier, American Coot, Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Wilson's Phalarope, Mourning Dove, Belted Kingfisher, American Kestrel, Black Phoebe, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Cliff Swallow, American Pipet, Red-winged Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, House Finch and House Sparrow.

This location is such a fun place to bird, but not during summer (for me at least) which seems to be creeping in.  Hopefully I can get a few more trips in before the heat kicks in.

Peace and happy birding!
Rocki

Wilson's Phalarope - Rare Bird at the Glendale Recharge Ponds

Wilson's Phalarope in breeding plumage

Yes, long time no blog.  I've simply been quite busy with work and trying to keep up with all my other social media sites, plus birding, and volunteering at a rescue & rehabilitation facility for wild and exotic birds... anyway, you get the idea. I'm going to try real hard to blog at least a couple times a month or more.  I have much to catch up on here.

Yesterday morning I went to the Glendale Recharge Ponds, one of my top favorite birding spots, and wasn't disappointed!  Besides many of my favorites, like the Bald Eagle (adult and juvenile), Killdeer, Northern Shoveler, Ruddy Ducks, Belted Kingfisher, Red-winged Blackbird (the list goes on) I also saw another rarity!  This location is known for rare birds and that is just one reason I love this place!

Above is the Wilson's Phalarope and I saw 4 of these rare birds.  They were absolutely gorgeous in their breeding plumage and enjoyable to watch.  This was another lifer for me!

Western Grebe Couple in breeding plumage

This adorable Western Grebe couple was also there looking so elegant in their breeding plumage.  Don't you just love their red eyes!

American Avocets in breeding plumage

And the American Avocets were another treat to watch.  When I was there last week I saw only 1, but yesterday there were several.  Among these beauties I also saw Western Sandpipers along side the Least Sandpipers, a couple Lesser Yellowlegs, 4 Ring-billed Gulls and many more. 

Mallard with his ducklings



The main highlights of the day was seeing the rare Wilson's Phalarope, watching the Bald Eagle soaring above pond 4, and watching the adorable Mallard family.  The ducklings were just way too cute!  Wish my photos came out better, but I was off my photo taking game.  I'm obviously not a professional photographer, but I do try my best.  Besides, my main objective here are the birds - great photos are a bonus. 

 

Peace and happy birding!

Rocki

Birding at the Glendale Recharge Ponds II

Black Phoebe

If you think you won't see a variety of birds at the Glendale Recharge Ponds, trust me you will.  Although the adorable Black Phoebe has reclaimed the area, don't worry - he'll let you pass.

Black-necked Stilt

The past two weekends Mark and I ventured out there in the early morning to do a little birding before the heat kicked in.  Watching the shorebirds enjoy the water made me want to jump in.  Okay, not really, but gosh I can hardly wait until it cools off here... makes me itch like crazy not birding.  Anyway, here's a few photos I took from both Saturday adventures there.  

Great Egret

This is the Great Egret that I was taking photos of when I noticed a large bird in the background in the dry area.  After closer inspection, I realized it was a falcon - which we later identified as a Peregrine Falcon.  You can see him and his parent in my previous post here.

Green Heron

 

This inconspicuous Green Heron tried to be sneaky and camouflage himself, but I found him.  Then he decided to have a stare down contest with me.  Not sure who won, but it was fun while it lasted.



Green Heron

 

To back up a little, we parked on the bridge near the riparian area.  I was eager to walk over to the basins, but decided to look into the riparian while getting our birding gear out.  There he was, standing tall and proud.  That was the first time I've seen this bird's neck all stretched out.  I've only seen him crouched, so it was a pretty cool sight! 

Killdeer

One of my favorite birds is the Killdeer.  They are entertaining, a joy to watch so cute!

Osprey

This is the same Osprey from my Eagle post.  He was such a massive sized bird and this shot does not do him justice, but it's okay. 

Snowy Egret

To some it up, in the two days we went (3 hours total) we identified 35 species, saw over 260 birds, and added 11 lifers.  Not too shabby for 3 hours of fun birding.

Looking forward to our Prescott trip in October, but in the meantime I still have more birding adventures to share.  And I'm sure we'll be making regular trips to the Glendale Recharge Ponds.

Peace and happy birding!
Rocki

Birding at the Glendale Recharge Ponds - Peregrine Falcon

Peregrine Falcon at the Glendale Recharge Ponds

Following up from my last post about our birding adventure at the Glendale Recharge Ponds, here's the Peregrine Falcon that we saw.  A lifer for us!

Peregrine Falcon at the Glendale Recharge Ponds

Okay, so I know they are raptors, but look at that adorable face!  More like those eyes - he's just too cute!  I'm just glad that this juvenile didn't have any prey with him.  I'm squeamish.  Big time!  So in other words, you'll never see any photos of birds with prey or the likes on here my blog, Flickr, Instagram, Twitter...

Peregrine Falcon at the Glendale Recharge Ponds

We stood there watching the juvenile for quite some time and then he took flight.  We followed his path and he landed close to another bird, which we later discovered was an adult Peregrine Falcon.  Perhaps mom or dad were teaching him how to hunt. 

Oh and please excuse the photo quality as they're not the best, but I'm sharing them anyway.  I'm a birder first and hobby photographer second.  However, I'm trying VERY hard in hopes of taking much better photos.  Lots and lots of practice.

Peregrine Falcons at the Glendale Recharge Ponds

I have several other photos of a variety of species that we saw over the past two weekends at this birding hotspot.  I'll share them as I can over the next couple weeks.  In October we're going on another birding adventure in Prescott.

Peace and happy birding!
Rocki

Bald Eagle - Birding at the Glendale Recharge Ponds

Bald Eagle at the Glendale Recharge Ponds

I have lots to blog about, but haven't had the extra time lately.  So for now I want to share something from our birding adventure on Saturday at the Glendale Recharge Ponds.  As you can see, we saw an amazing bird!

This was our second trip there - first time was last weekend in which we added 8 lifers!  Basin 5 was filled to the brim with a variety of species that day, but I'll go back to that adventure in another post.

Bald Eagle at the Glendale Recharge Ponds

We arrived at 7am and while it was a bit "cooler" than it has been, the sun was pretty bright and a bit harsh in the wide open area, making it a rather warm 1 1/2 hour morning.  Considering what all we saw, it was well worth the sweat.

This time we parked on the parking bridge by the riparian area.  We were actually the only ones there, besides bicyclists.  Basin 5 was quite full of water and was in the process of filling while we were there.  Basin 2 had a little water and basin 1 a little more.  The others were dry.

Bald Eagle at the Glendale Recharge Ponds

There were not nearly as many birds as last weekend, but plenty enough.  Added 3 more lifers, identified 19 species and saw over 140 birds. 

I must admit, the most exciting part of the morning was seeing the Bald Eagle!  While walking in between the long stretch of the basins towards basin 1, Mark spotted the eagle in flight heading into the basin.  We stopped in our tracks and watched.  He then flew up to the utility post and sat there.  We continued to walk closer to basin 1 and then all the way to the end where we just stood there admiring him.  And taking lots and lots of pictures.

Osprey at the Glendale Recharge Ponds

Last weekend we had many highlights, like the Osprey above.  Apologies for the poor quality, but this was a far off shot and I'm simply an amateur hobby photographer.  Anyway... no, he did not catch the duck.  He actually landed about 5 feet past to catch a fish.  Osprey's feed almost exclusively on fish.  It was an awesome sight!

To sum up the major highlight of this weekends birding adventure... it rocked!  I'll have more to share about both our trips to the Glendale Recharge Ponds as soon as I can.  This location is noted as a birding hotspot and indeed it is.

Peace and happy birding!
Rocki

Birding with My Canon

Canon Powershot SX50 HS

Over the past several years being a backyard birder, I didn't think I would want a camera other than the one on my phone (Samsung) or my old Canon point and shoot.  Needless to say, but some of (okay, most of) the backyard photos I did take of the birds are not pleasing to the eye.  Plus I didn't know where my love of birds was going to take me, so what I had at the time was good enough for me.

Time goes by, my love of birds grew (and continues), hubby fell in love with birds, we started going on our own birding adventures and decided a good camera would be a good investment.  Not only would we then have photos of the birds that we saw, but would help with identification as well, along with taking notes in our field journal. 

So the research began on what camera would be best for our birding in nature adventures.  We both enjoy taking photos (via point and shoot and our phones), neither one of us are professional photographers (obviously), it needed to be within our budget (until I win the lotto), a DSLR was out of the question (at this time anyway) and we wanted something more than just a P&S.  That led us to the camera that we bought at the end of May.

The Canon Powershot SX50 HS is considered a bridge camera.  It does much more than a standard P&S, but not as much as a DSLR.  For me, this was the perfect choice. 

I've been teaching myself all about this camera, its functions, photography... let me just say here that I've been doing so much reading and learning that my brain hurts - but I'm loving it!  Anyway, I want to get out of using auto mode completely (barely using that now as I'm loving AV mode) and I'm slowly getting there.  Oh and the zoom on this camera is absolutely amazing! 

Even though I'm still learning this camera and have much to learn about photography, I share my amateur photos on my Flickr, Instagram and Twitter accounts, and now here too.

I'd Rather Be Birding

I honestly do not mind constructive advise or any type of info regarding my not so perfect photos. 

Peace and happy birding!
Rocki

Tattooed Bird Nerds

Tattooed Birders:  Rocki and Bullwinkle

My lovely sis-n-love Tina, who is now blogging about their fun adventures (Southwest Travelers) inspired me to start blogging about our birding adventures.  I have a couple other blogs for my raw vegan recipes, my studio, and an old blog, but didn't think my birds would feel at home there ;)  So I'm dedicating this blog to birds, birding, nature adventures... you get the idea.

First let me give a brief intro (more about us in the About Me tab).



Bullwinkle spotted a birdie

Above is my best friend, love of my life, soulmate, fellow bird lover and adventure partner - aka my loving hubby Mark (Bullwinkle).  Mark is an accountant and a self-proclaimed geek/nerd.  We both used to ride motorcycles, but had to stop due to health reasons.  One of these days we hope to buy a trike, but it has to be able to hold our birding gear. 

We may not be your conventional birders, but we love birds all the same and are enjoying every aspect of birding.



Rocki spotted a pretty birdie too

We have a few tattoos.  Okay, more like I have 18 and Mark has... well, he has much less than I do (tee hee hee).  He's trying to catch up, but I keep telling him there's no way.

I know there are other birders with tattoos, so I'm not trying to say we're unique or abnormal (well, actually that's a whole other can of worms ;) but since we became "official" birders, it's fair to say that we are not of the "norm".  When we went on our first group bird walk in Prescott last month, nobody made us feel unwelcome or strange.  We had a blast of a time and I finally got to use my new bridge camera!  More about that in a future post.



Yep, that's me - Rocki.  Yep, I have pink hair.

This is me pretty much most of the time when I'm not in my birding attire.  No you're not seeing things, I'm wearing glasses - lol!  Yes, I have pink hair.  My gosh, tattoos and pink hair... and a birder! 

So, that's the very short version of Rocki & Bullwinkle - the Tattooed Bird Nerds.  I'll update the About Me page tomorrow as now it's time to switch gears and package up orders.

Peace and happy birding!
Rocki