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

Birding is my Disneyland - and My Little Big Year

Birding at the Glendale Recharge Ponds is like being a kid going to Disneyland for the very first time - and you want to go there again and again and...



Semipalimated Plover

Last Sunday it was back to the Glendale Recharge Ponds, my favorite birding place - and I FINALLY found the reported Semipalimated Plover!  I think I smiled for hours on end :)  

I'll let the photos do most of the talking this time, but want to mention that I decided to add another tab to my blog titled: 2016 Birding at Glendale Recharge Ponds.  In short, I'm sharing My Little Big Year adventure and that section explains more - if you're interested.     

Red-winged Blackbird Display

The Red-winged Blackbird is in hubby's top five (mine too) and he was pretty stoked to see over 100 of them all singing to him.

Red-winged Blackbird in field

Black-necked Stilt and Wilson's Phalarope

 

The Black-necked Stilts were plentiful and this one hung out with a Wilson's Phalarope.

 



Great Horned Owl - Peek-a-boo!

The young Great Horned Owl and I had fun playing peek-a-boo.

Snowy Egrets

The wind picked up pretty good as you can tell by the Snowy Egrets wild hairdo.

Western and Least Sandpipers

There were more Western Sandpipers than I had seen before, and of course tons of Least Sandpipers.

Wilson's Phalarope

Happy to see the ongoing Wilson's Phalaropes (8 this time) - and were riding the waves.

Long-billed Dowitchers

Gorgeous breeding plumage on these Long-billed dowitchers who were busy foraging.

Birds at the Glendale Recharge Ponds

There were a variety of species as usual, which is one reason I love this place.  In this not so great shot are just a few of the species seen that day:  American Coots, Neotropic & Double-crested Cormorants, Cinnamon Teals, Eared Grebes, Ruddy Ducks, Northern Shovelers and Snowy Egrets. 

If given the choice between Disneyland or birding, I would choose birding every single time.  In fact, if I had the ability to bird daily, I would.  Okay, maybe every other day... nope, daily for sure.  I tell hubby all the time: birding gives me wings - and I'm flying high!

Peace and happy birding!
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

Anna's Hummingbird - Sarg

Anna's Hummingbird - Sarg

I have a ton more photos of the birds we've seen lately at the Glendale Recharge Ponds, but I want to share a couple (of the hundred or so) that I have of this adorable guy.  We call him Sarg - he's the territorial male Anna's Hummingbird that lives in our backyard.

Sarg, like other hummers, is very territorial and has claimed all five of the feeders along the back patio as his own private diner.  He chases off any other hummer that visits and on occasion there have been little duels.  At first it was rather humorous, but then I got concerned for the others.  However, after reading more about hummingbirds I found out that's how they are.  Once they have a consistent food source, they stake their claim.  Also around breeding season their like that. 

Sarg is always on the lookout - Anna's Hummingbird

So I thought I would outsmart him.  Last weekend Mark and I bought another feed and pole and put it on the other side of the house in front of my studio window, near the Texas Ebony tree where the Costa's Hummingbird has been hanging out.  I stayed out back to see what would happen.  Well, the sweet tiny Costa's hummer had his own private diner for about, oh, five minutes and then I'll be darn!  That little stinker Sarg hovered over the house, spotted the new feeder and dove over there.  He cracks me up!

And on a side note, these are two of my best photos so far.  Yes, I'm still working hard on my photographer skills... but I really love these shots!

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

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

The Bird that Stole My Heart

Gambel's Quail (male) on our block fence

So you may be wondering how my love for birds began.  Come on, humor me okay? 

Living in Arizona, particularly the desert regions of the southwest, the Gambel's Quail (Callipepla gambelii) are practically everywhere.  They are literally throughout many neighborhoods and can be seen on rooftops, block fences, yards, trees, and in other habitats.  While driving through neighborhoods we're always cautious of this as they cross the street one by one - and we always stop for them and other wildlife.

One thing that stands out in my mind of how I fell in love with this gorgeous bird is their bond for one another as they mate for life.  The male reminds me of a gentlemen, like my hubby actually.  The male stands guard and protects his mate and young.  It is undeniably beautiful to watch. 

Anyway, a few years ago I bought a quail seed block and put it in the backyard.  That not only brought more quail, but also several other birds.  So I bought a bird feeder and, well, goes without saying but our backyard soon became a little bird sanctuary.



Mr. & Mrs. Gambel's Quail and a peek-a-boo Mourning Dove

One day I looked out back to see a covey of quail (covey is a flock of 20 or more - we've had over 25 at one time!) boy was that ever exciting.  Then there was the day I'll never forget... adorable tiny baby quails in our backyard!  Oh my goodness, I fell in love all over again!  From that day forward, I began watching all the birds that came into our backyard, bought a Bird of Arizona Field Guide book and it grew from there.

Even though I've loved the Gambel's Quail for as long as I can remember, and see them on a daily basis, I still get a warm fuzzy feeling as if it were the first time.  Kind of makes me giddy actually.

Peace and happy birding!
Rocki