Navajo County NAMC

Last Saturday (May 14, 2011) we counted birds for the North American Migration Count (NAMC) in Navajo County, which we have participated in for the last six years. This was my 5th year coordinating the count for Navajo County, organizing volunteers to count birds at different areas throughout the county. This year my family and I covered the Heber area, the Sitgreaves National Forest from Heber to Show Low (including FR86 in Black Canyon and Forest Rds. 487, 50, 107, and 300 a.k.a. "The Rim Rd."), Ricochet Ranch Rd. south of SR260, agricultural areas around Zeniff Rd., and Cottonwood Wash north of Clay Springs. This entire route, which involved 200+ miles of driving, encompassed habitat ranging from pockets of mixed conifer, ponderosa pine forest, Gambel oak and manzanita thickets, pinyon-juniper woodlands, riparian areas, and agricultural fields. As a result, we ended up with 94 species of birds. We added 5 species not found on previous counts in the county: Prairie Falcon, Flammulated Owl, Hermit Warbler, Painted Redstart, and Eastern Meadowlark. The Flammulated Owls were a first for us personally in the county and we lucked out with finding 7 individuals calling along the forest roads south of Heber, aided by the oddly calm conditions and moonlit sky (compared to the windy conditions experienced later that 24-hour period). Another highlight was finding a nesting pair of Long-eared Owls, which we started looking for when we heard the weird barking noises made by the female. We think the nest was in a rock ledge in the canyon wall, since we could not see any visible stick nest in the trees. Apparently this species does not make their own nests, but use old nests of raptors, ravens, or even woodrats. They are also a nomadic species and only nest in areas experiencing high rodent densities. Both birds eventually flushed and the female allowed for a great photo op:

At our place in Heber highlights included several Evening Grosbeaks, up to 60 Cedar Waxwings, and a flyover Peregrine Falcon in pursuit of a small flock of Mourning Doves. Here are some shots of the waxwings clustering around some of our birdbaths:

I'm still waiting to hear back from a couple of the teams that counted in Navajo County that day, but it looks like we had a pretty good spread this year. Other areas covered by folks included Navajo National Monument/Betatakin Canyon in the far north, Winslow and Holbrook along I-40, a sliver of Petrified Forest National Park, the Show Low-Pinetop-Lakeside area, and parts of the White Mountain Apache reservation below the Mogollon Rim.

Throughout our route, we came across other wildlife including white-tailed and mule deer, squirrels, rabbits, and a large gophersnake soaking up the sun on the Rim Rd. After photographing it, we tapped a stick behind it to try to get it to move off the road before someone would run over it (initially we thought we had run over it, but luckily it was unscathed that time). A beautiful creature:

In addition to the breeding behavior of the Long-eared Owls, we observed Dark-eyed Juncos copulating on our porch and making trips under our house where they nest every year and even found a partial egg shell of an American Robin down in Black Canyon. Nearby we watched the robins chasing Steller's Jays out of trees, presumably keeping them away from their nests (jays are notorious nest predators).

The wildflowers were abundant throughout the day at every stop we made for bird counting. Even when we were out owling in the Black Canyon area around midnight, we could see the glow of the golden peas in the moonlight. Here are various photos of the flowers:

golden pea (Thermopsis pinetorum, Family Fabaceae) in Black Canyon:

claret cup cactus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus, Family Cactaceae) above Cottonwood Wash:

mariposa lily species (Calochortus sp., either C. ambiguus or C. gunnisonii, Family Liliaceae) near Ricochet Ranch Rd.:

mules ears (Wyethia arizonica, Family Asteraceae) along the Rim Rd. and FR107:

antelope horns milkweed (Asclepias asperula, Family Asclepiadaceae) along Ricochet Ranch Rd., which smell amazing by the way!:

Cooper's goldflower (Hymenoxys cooperi, Family Asteraceae) along Ricochet Ranch Rd.:

slender woodland-star (Lithophragma tenellum, Family Saxifragaceae) in Black Canyon:

striped coral-root (Corallorhiza striata, Family Orchidaceae) in Black Canyon; flowers unopened (the plant is just emerging). These plants lack chlorophyll for photosynthesis, so are saprophytic (feed off decaying matter) to get food:

verbena species (Verbena sp., Family Verbenaceae) above Cottonwood Wash:

prairie smoke (Geum triflorum, Family Rosaceae) in Black Canyon:

fineleaf woollywhite (Hymenopappus filifolius, Family Asteraceae) along Ricochet Ranch Rd:

daisy/fleabane species (Erigeron sp., Family Asteraceae) on FR107:

Parry's agave (Agave parryi, Family Agavaceae, or F. Liliaceae) at Ricochet Ranch Rd.:

Beargrass, or sacahuista (Nolina microcarpa, Family Liliaceae) at Ricochet Ranch Rd.:

More shots of agaves and beargrass along Ricochet Ranch Rd., which along with gray oaks (Quercus grisea), are uncommon plants to find among the pinyon-juniper woodlands above the Mogollon Rim:

milkvetch species (Astragalus sp., Family Fabaceae) at Cottonwood Wash:

golden corydalis (Corydalis aurea, Family Fumariaceae) at Cottonwood Wash:

More views of Cottonwood Wash north of Clay Springs, which is dominated by narrowleaf cottonwoods (Populus angustifolia), New Mexico olives (Forestieria neomexicana), three-leaf sumac/skunkbush (Rhus trilobata), one-seed junipers (Juniperus monosperma), and Fremont barberry (Berberis fremontii):

Also at Cottonwood Wash were lots of cryptobiotic "soil crusts", fragile communities made up of mosses, fungi, green algae, cyanobacteria and/or lichens that can take hundreds of years to form and are important in nutrient cycling and erosion-prevention in soils:

We ended counting on FR107, which runs from the Deer Springs Lookout tower on FR300 (the Rim Rd.) five miles to SR260. This was a road we had never been down before and were surprised by how different the habitat looks here than other forest roads in the area. Most of the stretch was dominated by Gambel oak thickets and smaller ponderosa pines, with thickets of manzanita mixed in. The area had a lot of sandstone rock formations too. Although it's been almost a decade since the Rodeo-Chediski fire swept across the Rim, it seems like these oaks and pines might be the regeneration from an older fire based on their size and abundance. The whole family went back to explore more on FR107 the day after the count. Here are some photos of the habitat and la familia:

Along FR107 we found a herd of a dozen feral horses, which are remnants of stock released after the indian wars in the late 1800's and that are probably still released or escaped from Apache ranches on the reservation below the Rim:

That day after the count we looped back towards the 260 on FR146 which consists of a patchy burn in the ponderosa pine forest. Here is a burn shot and a couple of Dad and Eva resting in the shade:

Back at our place in Heber, I took various shots of Eva, some red-and-white columbines in our gardens, and some plateau lizards (Sceloporus tristichus) basking on the rocks: