Summer Catchup

As stated in my last post, I've done a little birding in wake of the Arizona trip. First, on the twenty-first of June, I went down to the park to feed some waterfowl and see what else was hanging around the ponds.

About a week later I went to the city's tree disposal and nabbed a few observations and pictures.

Rest of the Trip (Arizona 2025, Part 11)

The Muddy Creek Wetlands was one of the best stops of the trip. I saw my first several Cinnamon Teal and plenty of first birds for the trip, including Brewer's Blackbirds and a wary adult Sandhill Crane with its young. I would like to have spent more time at the wetlands, but the crane was not relaxing wherever I went along the backtrail, so I snapped a few quick photos of the main body of water then headed back for the car.

My last night on the road would be spent at the Rocky Point Campground in South Dakota. I got there as the sun was going down and people were loading their boats back onto their trailers. The campground was quite busy, so I was a little concerned how the noise would be overnight, but the noise issues would not be people-based.

Sometime in the middle of the night, a decent storm showed up, stirring some wind and rain, both of which bombarded me with noise and guaranteed another near-sleepless night. As soon as the sun started to show, I was up, birding, and eager to get home.

The drive home was smooth. The whole trip went well. So, before the trip, my goals were 25 lifers and 100 total species. I ended up one lifer short of 25 but crushed my total species goal with 163. I also shaded some states on my eBird map (Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming) and got a good break from my usual routines. Overall, it was a good trip. I don't have any other big birding plans for the summer but have done a little local birding which I'll add updates for some time in the near future (probably).

Rabbit Valley (Arizona 2025, Part 10)

After driving north through Arizona and Utah, I arrived at the Rabbit Valley Campgrounds near the western edge of Colorado. The area was extremely quiet. I saw maybe four sites occupied throughout the area I drove and hiked. I figured my chances for a good night's sleep were okay. I set up my tent and walked around a bit. It was a beautiful area. I saw lots of pronghorns--I think the first wild ones for me!

When it started getting dark, I headed back to my campsite and settled in for an early bedtime. I slept for a few hours right away but woke up sometime around midnight. In hindsight, I'm glad I did, because I was able to record some audio of a Common Poorwill (lifer!) and also get a nice look of the night.

After that, I wouldn't sleep much. A single Northern Mockingbird perched in a nearby tree seemed determined to keep me up as it sang the night away, rarely stopping its impressive repertoire. I laid in my sleeping bag until the tent began to glow with the first rays of sun, at which point I dressed and hit the trails around the campground.

I walked about 90 minutes and recorded a mostly modest checklist which included a few firsts of the trip (Mountain Bluebird, Bewick's Wren, Horned Lark) and a lifer! Until just now, I actually thought I had two lifers, but a closer look at the bird I first pegged as my first Pinyon Jay was actually the aforementioned bluebird. But the other lifer held up under scrutiny.

My first ever Prairie Falcon swooped past and away before I could get a decent shot 

The Way Back (Arizona 2025, Part 9)

My last day in Cottonwood was a day to rest and relax. On the last day of May, I started the drive north with stops in the Picture Canyon area by Flagstaff and the Recapture Reservoir in Utah.

The Tom Moody Trail didn't gift me any lifers, but I did see my first Pygmy Nuthatches and Western Bluebirds of the trip.

My plan for Utah was actually supposed to be the water treatment plant in Blanding, but I really wasn't sure of how to bird the spot based on the directions I had and really just wanted to keep moving. I ended up at the Recapture Reservoir because it was just a big, accessible body of water. I didn't see many bird but saw my first Rock Wren for the trip.

Return to Mingus Mountain (Arizona 2025, Part 8)

Last time I made it to Arizona, I spent a couple of days up in Mingus Mountain, and for this I was back for one day. The hope was to see some new warbler species, but I didn't have any luck on that front.

I started off at the Potato Patch Campground and continued around the mountaintop for a couple hours. The lifer I saw (or at least heard) was a pair of Gray Flycatcher.

Then I went to the parking area of the summit to use a port-a-potty and poke around the trail. There wasn't much to be seen or heard.

Lastly, I sat by Mingus Lake for a little over a half hour watching the Violet-Green Swallows and seeing a few other birds.