Great Western trip summary

From September 4^th-17^th, 2012, my Dad and I (and our dog Eva) did a ~4,530 mile roadtrip from Heber, Arizona up through Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, a sliver of Idaho (at night), Washington, Oregon, and California. On our way through northeastern Arizona at the beginning of the trip we stopped at the Hubbell Trading Post in Ganado, which I posted sighting details about in a previous post. On the way back into Arizona we only stopped briefly in the Williams area where we had typical forest birds. Most of the trip was sight-seeing interspersed with birding, so many potential birding areas were bypassed since we were really just trying to sample several areas we had never been to before on a two week trip and had lots of driving in between sites. However, I still managed a decent list of 152 bird species with two lifers on the trip, YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIE and OAK TITMOUSE in California. I did have a jaeger species near Gold Coast, OR that went unidentified that would have been a lifer too (my first jaeger ever). Non-avian highlights from the trip included a family of MOOSE and a large herd of BISON at Grand Tetons, BISON and ELK at Yellowstone National Park, several MOUNTAIN GOATS and a BIGHORN SHEEP at Glacier National Park, an OLYMPIC MARMOT and BLACK-TAILED (MULE) DEER at Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park, 1-2 GRAY WHALES at Boiler Bay State Wayside in Oregon, and HARBOR SEALS, STELLER’S SEA LIONS, CALIFORNIA SEA LIONS, NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEALS, GREEN SEA ANEMONES, PURPLE SEA URCHINS, a CHITON species, and OCHRE SEA STARS (starfish) at several locations along the Pacific Coast (Washington to California). Rather than write a long narrative about the trip, I’ve instead included below the general list of locations visited in each state followed by the entire list of birds on the trip with the state abbreviations in parentheses following each species (states/locations where each species was found) and additional notes for a few species. Email me if you want further details about birds, places, etc.

**Arizona (Ganado/Hubbell Trading Post, Williams)

**western Colorado (including Denny Lake Park in Cortez, Cayton Campground in the San Juan Mtns., between Montrose and Grand Junction, and between Loma and Rangely)

**northeastern Utah (including area between Jensen and Flaming Gorge Reservoir)

**western Wyoming (including Duck Creek Wildlife Area near Pinedale, the National Elk Refuge near Jackson, Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks)

**western Montana (including Big Sky area, between Butte and Missoula, Polson-Flathead Lake area, and Glacier National Park)

**Washington (including rangeland west of Spokane, Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascades, Ocean Shores/Grays Harbor and Oyhut Wildlife Area, Quinault Rainforest/Kalaloch Beach/Hurricane Ridge at Olympic National Park, Willapa National Wildlife Refuge, and Seaview Beach)

**Oregon coastline (including Ecola State Park, D River Wayside, Boiler Bay State Wayside, Oregon Coast Aquarium/Newport area, Tahkenitch Campground south of Florence, Sunset Bay State Park, Simpson Reef overlook, Cape Arago overlook, beach near Gold Coast)

**northern half of California (including Redwoods National Park and Humboldt-Redwoods State Park, coastline north of Westport, a little bit of the central valley including rest area near Turlock, Sequoia National Monument and Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks)

Common Loon (WY, CA)

Pacific Loon (WA, OR, CA)

Red-throated Loon (OR, CA; 80+ birds at coastal overlook n. of Westport, CA)

Sooty Shearwater (WA, OR; thousands migrating by coast in morning at several spots)

Trumpeter Swan (WY: National Elk Refuge near Jackson)

Canada Goose (CO, WY, MT, WA, OR)

Mallard (CO, WY, MT, WA)

Northern Pintail (WA)

American Wigeon (WY)

Green-winged Teal (WA)

Ring-necked Duck (WY)

Harlequin Duck (OR)

Surf Scoter (WA, OR)

White-winged Scoter (OR)

Hooded Merganser (WA)

Common Merganser (CO, WY, MT, WA)

American White Pelican (UT)

Brown Pelican (WA, OR, CA)

Double-crested Cormorant (CO, WY, MT, WA, OR, CA)

Pelagic Cormorant (WA, OR, CA)

Brandt's Cormorant (OR, CA)

Great Blue Heron (CO, MT, WA, OR)

Great Egret (CA)

Cattle Egret (CA)

Red-necked Grebe (OR, CA)

Pied-billed Grebe (CO)

Western Grebe (WA, CA)

Turkey Vulture (AZ, WY, MT, WA, OR, CA)

Northern Harrier (WY, MT, WA)

White-tailed Kite (CA)

Sharp-shinned Hawk (MT, WA)

Cooper's Hawk (CA)

Red-shouldered Hawk (OR, CA; WA: Lake Quinault--Sibely’s shows them rare that far north)

Swainson's Hawk (WY, WA)

Red-tailed Hawk (CO, WY, MT, WA, CA)

Golden Eagle (CO, UT, WY, MT)

Bald Eagle (WY, WA)

Osprey (CO, WY, MT, WA, CA)

American Kestrel (AZ, CO, WY, MT, CA)

Prairie Falcon (MT, WA)

Peregrine Falcon (WY, WA, OR)

Dusky Grouse (WY)

Wild Turkey (UT)

Sandhill Crane (WY)

Semipalmated Plover (WA)

Killdeer (WA)

Black Oystercatcher (OR, CA)

Greater Yellowlegs (WA)

Whimbrel (WA)

Black Turnstone (WA, OR)

Sanderling (WA)

Pectoral Sandpiper (WA)

Baird's Sandpiper (WA)

Western Sandpiper (WA)

Long-billed Dowitcher (WA)

Short-billed Dowitcher (WA)

Ring-billed Gull (WA)

California Gull (WA)

Glaucous-winged Gull (WA, OR)

Western Gull (WA, OR, CA)

Heermann's Gull (WA, OR, CA)

Common Murre (WA, OR, CA)

Pigeon Guillemot (WA, OR, CA)

Mourning Dove (CO, WY, WA, CA)

Eurasian Collared-Dove (AZ, CO, MT, CA)

Rock Pigeon (CO, MT, WA, OR, CA)

Band-tailed Pigeon (WA, CA)

Great Horned Owl (CO)

Vaux's Swift (CA)

White-throated Swift (CA)

Black-chinned Hummingbird (AZ, CO)

Rufous Hummingbird (UT)

Belted Kingfisher (CO, WY, OR)

Acorn Woodpecker (CA)

Williamson's Sapsucker (MT)

Hairy Woodpecker (WY)

White-headed Woodpecker (CA)

Northern Flicker (CO, WY, WA, OR, CA)

Pileated Woodpecker (WA)

Western Wood-Pewee (AZ)

Willow Flycatcher (AZ)

Black Phoebe (CA)

Loggerhead Shrike (MT)

Warbling Vireo (AZ)

Steller's Jay (CO, MT, WA, OR, CA)

Western Scrub-Jay (CA)

Gray Jay (CO, WY, WA)

Pinyon Jay (AZ, CO)

Clark's Nutcracker (CO, WY)

Black-billed Magpie (CO, WY, MT, WA)

Yellow-billed Magpie (CA)

Common Raven (AZ, CO, UT, WY, MT, WA, OR, CA)

American Crow (CO, MT, WA, OR, CA)

Northwestern Crow (WA)

Horned Lark (WY)

Violet-green Swallow (CO)

Barn Swallow (CO, UT, WY, WA, CA)

Bushtit (CA)

Oak Titmouse (CA)

Black-capped Chickadee (UT, WY, MT, OR)

Mountain Chickadee (AZ, CO, WY, MT, CA)

Chestnut-backed Chickadee (WA, OR, CA)

Red-breasted Nuthatch (WY, MT, WA, OR, CA)

Pygmy Nuthatch (AZ, MT)

Brown Creeper (CO, OR, CA)

Bewick's Wren (AZ, WA, CA)

House Wren (AZ)

Pacific Wren (WA, OR, CA)

Rock Wren (CO)

American Dipper (WY)

Wrentit (OR)

Golden-crowned Kinglet (CO, MT, WA, OR, CA)

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (CO, WY)

Mountain Bluebird (CO, WY)

Varied Thrush (WA)

American Robin (CO, WY, MT, WA, OR, CA)

European Starling (CO, MT, WA, OR, CA)

Cedar Waxwing (WY, MT, WA, OR)

Orange-crowned Warbler (AZ)

Yellow Warbler (AZ, WY)

Yellow-rumped Warbler (CO, WY, MT, WA, CA)

MacGillivray's Warbler (AZ)

Common Yellowthroat (CO, WY)

Wilson's Warbler (CO, WY, MT)

Yellow-breasted Chat (AZ)

Western Tanager (AZ, CO)

Spotted Towhee (WA, CA)

Green-tailed Towhee (AZ, WY)

Brewer’s Sparrow (AZ, WY)

Chipping Sparrow (AZ, WY)

Savannah Sparrow (WY, WA)

Vesper Sparrow (WY)

White-crowned Sparrow (CO, WA, OR)

Song Sparrow (WY, WA, OR, CA)

Lincoln's Sparrow (WA, CA)

Dark-eyed Junco (CO, WY, MT, WA, CA)

Blue Grosbeak (AZ, CO)

Lazuli Bunting (AZ)

Western Meadowlark (CA)

Brown-headed Cowbird (WA)

Yellow-headed Blackbird (WY, WA)

Red-winged Blackbird (CO, WA)

Brewer's Blackbird (CO, WY, WA, OR, CA)

Evening Grosbeak (WA)

Purple Finch (WA, CA)

Cassin's Finch (WY)

House Finch (AZ, CO)

Red Crossbill (AZ, WA, OR

Pine Siskin (CO, WY, WA, OR

Lesser Goldfinch (AZ, CA)

American Goldfinch (WY, WA, OR, CA; ~200 birds n. of Westport, CA)

House Sparrow (AZ, CO, UT, WY, MT, WA, OR, CA)

TX birds: 200 species!

Between December 17, 2011 and January 6, 2012, we saw exactly 200 species of birds within the state of Texas. Areas where we birded included the Mercer Arboretum, Spring (n. side of Houston), Shiro (between Huntsville and College Station), Sam Houston National Forest, Lake Conroe, Highlands Reservoir, Anahuac NWR, High Island/Bolivar Peninsula, Highways 59 and 77 between Houston and Harlingen, South Padre Island, Estero Llano Grande State Park, Laguna Atascosa NWR, Frontera Audubon Thicket, Brooks Co. rest area, Junction, and South Llano River State Park. I had 5 lifers (new species): Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Smith's Longspur, Common Pauraque, Crimson-collared Grosbeak, and Golden-crowned Warbler. Below is the full list of the 200 species we saw:

Greater White-fronted Goose

Snow Goose

Mallard

Mottled Duck

Gadwall

Northern Pintail

American Wigeon

Northern Shoveler

Cinnamon Teal

Blue-winged Teal

Green-winged Teal

Canvasback

Redhead

Ring-necked Duck

Greater Scaup

Lesser Scaup

Bufflehead

Red-breasted Merganser

Ruddy Duck

Pied-billed Grebe

Least Grebe

American White Pelican

Brown Pelican

Double-crested Cormorant

Neotropic Cormorant

Anhinga

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Reddish Egret

Tricolored Heron

Little Blue Heron

Cattle Egret

Black-crowned Night-Heron

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

White Ibis

White-faced Ibis

Roseate Spoonbill

Turkey Vulture

Black Vulture

Northern Harrier

White-tailed Kite

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Cooper’s Hawk

Harris’s Hawk

Gray Hawk

Red-shouldered Hawk

White-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Ferruginous Hawk

Bald Eagle

Osprey

Crested Caracara

Merlin

American Kestrel

Peregrine Falcon

Plain Chachalaca

Common Moorhen

American Coot

Clapper Rail

Sandhill Crane

Black-bellied Plover

Snowy Plover

Killdeer

American Avocet

Black-necked Stilt

Greater Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

Willet

Spotted Sandpiper

Long-billed Curlew

Ruddy Turnstone

Sanderling

Dunlin

Western Sandpiper

Least Sandpiper

Long-billed Dowitcher

Short-billed Dowitcher

Wilson’s Snipe

Laughing Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Herring Gull

Caspian Tern

Royal Tern

Forster’s Tern

Gull-billed Tern

Black Skimmer

Mourning Dove

White-winged Dove

Eurasian Collared-Dove

White-tipped Dove

Inca Dove

Common Ground-Dove

Rock Pigeon

Greater Roadrunner

Barn Owl

Barred Owl

Common Pauraque

Buff-bellied Hummingbird

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Belted Kingfisher

Ringed Kingfisher

Green Kingfisher

Lewis’s Woodpecker

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Downy Woodpecker

Red-cockaded Woodpecker

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Northern “Yellow-shafted” Flicker

Pileated Woodpecker

Eastern Phoebe

Say’s Phoebe

Vermilion Flycatcher

Tropical Kingbird

Great Kiskadee

Loggerhead Shrike

White-eyed Vireo

Blue-headed Vireo

Blue Jay

Western Scrub-Jay

Green Jay

Common Raven

Chihuahuan Raven

American Crow

Cave Swallow

Tufted Titmouse

Black-crested Titmouse

Carolina Chickadee

Verdin

Brown-headed Nuthatch

Brown Creeper

Carolina Wren

Bewick’s Wren

House Wren

Winter Wren

Sedge Wren

Marsh Wren

Rock Wren

Canyon Wren

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Mountain Bluebird

Western Bluebird

Eastern Bluebird

American Robin

Hermit Thrush

Northern Mockingbird

Brown Thrasher

Long-billed Thrasher

Curve-billed Thrasher

European Starling

American Pipit

Cedar Waxwing

Orange-crowned Warbler

Yellow-rumped “Myrtle” Warbler

Pine Warbler

Black-and-White Warbler

Ovenbird

Common Yellowthroat

Golden-crowned Warbler

Summer Tanager

Pyrrhuloxia

Northern Cardinal

Crimson-collared Grosbeak

Spotted Towhee

Rufous-crowned Sparrow

Black-throated Sparrow

Field Sparrow

Chipping Sparrow

Seaside Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Vesper Sparrow

Lark Sparrow

Harris’s Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Fox Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Lincoln’s Sparrow

Swamp Sparrow

Dark-eyed “Slate-colored” Junco

Smith’s Longspur

Lapland Longspur

Western Meadowlark

Eastern Meadowlark

Brown-headed Cowbird

Red-winged Blackbird

Brewer’s Blackbird

Boat-tailed Grackle

Great-tailed Grackle

Altamira Oriole

House Finch

Pine Siskin

Lesser Goldfinch

American Goldfinch

House Sparrow

OCC winter wonderland

12/4/2011
Today I went down to Oak Creek Canyon and Red Tank Draw below the Rim to help him study plants in preparation for his plant taxonomy final. Entering into the top of Oak Creek Canyon, we found the already picturesque scenery that much more gorgeous with fresh snowfall from the storm that hit the area the last few days. In the upper parts of the canyon the snow depth was at least 6 inches deep, probably more in spots. We ended up walking around Cave Springs and Encinoso campgrounds, with a brief stop at Grasshopper Point. Afterwards we made it over to Red Tank Draw while we had ~30-45 minutes of daylight remaining. At the draw there was only tiny patches of snow remaining below some trees, hinting that this was probably the lower elevational limit of the snowfall. Some nice fall color was still present along the draw, with the velvet ashes and Arizona sycamores giving off pumpkin-orange colors next to the golden yellow hues of the cottonwood leaves. Not too much in the way of wildlife, although we found that a likely-raccoon had created yellow snow below a cottonwood at Cave Springs and we watched a Sharp-shinned Hawk swoop after a Black Phoebe at Red Tank Draw. We also had a pair of Belted Kingfishers along Oak Creek and several Western Bluebirds were foraging on Phoradendron mistletoe berries at Encinoso. A nice day to go out botanizing!

Snow-covered Douglas-firs at the top of OCC:

Old orchard at Cave Springs campground:

Encinoso picnic area:

Jesse identifying a New Mexico locust (Robinia neomexicana):

View from Grasshopper Point:

Remaining snow below a netleaf hackberry (Celtis reticulata, or C. laevigata) at Red Tank Draw:

Lingering fall colors at Red Tank Draw, left to right: Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii), velvet ash (Fraxinus velutina), and Arizona sycamore (Platanus wrightii):

velvet ash:

Arizona sycamore leaves in reflecting pool:

cattail (Typha latifolia):

The silhouetted big mass in the cottonwood below is a Cooper's Hawk nest (it was active this past spring):

Hiking down the Rim (day after Thanksgiving)

My mom and I did our annual day-after-Thanksgiving hike at a new place along the Mogollon Rim, the huge escarpment that bisects central Arizona east-west. We dropped off my car at the parking lot at the confluence of Horton and Tonto Creeks below the Rim, and had my dad drive us up in my parents' vehicle above the Rim to drop us off at the intersection of the Rim Rd. (FR 300) and FR 76. This forest road goes down the top of Promontory Butte, a large section that juts out from the Rim. On the drive over we had awesome views of fog and low clouds across the landscape below the Rim, stopping to take photographs at the Military Sinkhole overlook. For the hike we did not have a topo map, just a very simple USFS map of trails along the Rim. Supposedly, the Promontory Trail starts at the end of FR 76B and goes down to the Highline Trail, the east-west trail that traverses ~50 miles of foothills immediately below the Rim. Last year when we did a loop of Horton Creek, Highline, and Derrick trails we saw the lower trailhead for Promontory Butte along the Highline just west of the turnoff for the Derrick Trail. After walking the couple of miles down FR 76 and 76B, we reached the edge of the Rim, but did not see any signs or rock cairns marking the trailhead. We searched the edge of Promontory Butte ~1/4 mile east and west of where FR 76B petered out unsuccessfully.

Realizing we needed to get down somehow, we began looking for the easiest way to descend the steep dropoff of this escarpment. At first we had been eyeing a rocky chute near where the forest road ended, but as we were checking it out we started hearing some loud crashing around in the brush below this point by some animal(s). Based on how loud the noise was, we suspected it was either elk crashing through the vegetation or a bear knocking over rocks in search of food (later on in the day we found fairly fresh tracks of at least two bears, so there was a very good chance that what we heard were the bears). At the time thinking it a bad idea to take that route due to its steepness and the possibility of running straight into a bear, we went a little east of this point and found a much easier slope. The slope was by no means 'easy' to travel down though, as there were lots of spine-covered buckbrush (Ceanothus fendleri) shrubs, loose rocks and soil, and huge fallen logs to deal with. The going was slow and most of the way we had to slide down on our butts and heels to avoid toppling over given that we were top-heavy with full daypacks. We eventually found the Highline Trail and thought that the scenery looked familiar, and so naturally thought that we had come out between the Derrick and Horton Creek segments that we had seen last year. We thought that we would be able to get to Horton Springs and take the Horton Creek trail back to our car as we had originally intended. HOWEVER, we had come down on the Highline Trail much further east than we had thought and traveled a couple of miles before coming to the Derrick Trail at around 3:00pm. From this point it would be either 3 miles down the Derrick Trail to our car, or ~6 miles if we continued across to Horton Springs and took that trail back. Given that we had only a couple hours of daylight left and our knees already were aching from descending the Rim, we decided to take the Derrick Trail. We got to our car just before dusk and just as we were about to get in the car, we heard the single-double tap call notes of a Pacific Wren (formerly 'western' form of the Winter Wren) along the creek below the parking lot. We had hoped to find this bird had we made it across to Horton Spring, so it was fitting that this was to be our last bird of the day! Altogether we figured that we must have done at least 8 or 9 miles on the hike. A great way to work off the fat from Turkey Day! Pics from the hike below:

Views from Rim-overlook at Military Sinkhole vista:

Views of the start of FR 76 at the dropoff point:

Starting off we came across a small flock of birds, mostly containing Red-breasted Nuthatches:

Habitat throughout the hike varied from mixed conifer and ponderosa pine forest with some aspens above the Rim, to pine-evergreen oak forest and chaparral below the Rim. The slope of the Rim had lots of beargrass (Nolina microcarpa), Gambel oaks (Quercus gambelii), and Fendler's buckbrush (Ceanothus fendleri). The ungulates in the area must be happy with the choices for forage, since the understory of the forest here had really nice patches of Arizona fescue (Festuca arizonica). In the mixed conifer forest above the Rim along FR 76 we were amazed to see lots of southwestern white pines (Pinus strobiformis) among the firs and aspens:

More habitat views along FR 76 and 76B:

Despite the recent cold temperatures and snow that late fall has brought to the area, some flowers from summer are shouting "I ain't dead yet!", such as this aster (Machaeranthera sp.):

Cool hollowed-out Gambel oak:

The edge of Promontory Butte on the Mogollon Rim:

At the top edge of the Rim, we saw several evergreen oaks that I think might have been canyon live oaks (Quercus chrysolepis), although some oaks are hard to tell since they hybridize with each other and can show intermediate phenological characteristics of two species. The first photo might be a hybrid cross between Q. chrysolepis and Dunn/Palmer's oak (Q. dunnii, or Q. palmeri):

...and an oak I thought looked more like a Q. dunnii / Q. palmeri:

The 'easiest' way down (it's a lot more difficult than it appears):

Agave collecting pine cones:

Oak with hollow at base of it where it appears a small mammal has been stashing acorns:

Upon reaching the Highline Trail, we notice fairly fresh tracks of at least two black bears in the mud on the trail. Based on the size differential between the fore-paw prints that we saw, there was an adult and a young one. Here are shots of both the fore- and hind-paw prints, with my foot for size comparison:

The stretch of the Highline Trail we came out on after descending the Promontory Butte:

Bigtooth maples (Acer grandidentatum) in a drainage that the Highline Trail crosses:

Huge snag above the trail:

Fall colors of a geranium (Geranium sp.):

Manzanitas (Arctostaphylos sp.) along Highline and Derrick Trails:

wavyleaf oak (Quercus undulata, or Q. gambelii X turbinella)??:

Views from the Derrick Trail. The forest here has been thinned quite a bit in recent years in the effort to prevent high intensity fires, which is evident in some of the photos below:

Here is a recording of the Pacific Wren calling at the confluence of Horton and Tonto Creeks at the end of our hike. The call note of this species has been described as being tonally similar to that of a Wilson's Warbler, but delivered with single and double tap notes strung together: