Friday, January 5
After arriving at our accommodation the night before in Sedona, I was well rested and eager to get out. While waiting to get ready, I logged onto ZC for the first time since leaving home and got the shock of the year when I found ZTL was going global! I'd have a lot of updates to add once I got back home.
We went up the Oak Creek Canyon, where the north end was still covered in snow. We backtracked and stopped at the Bootlegger Picnic Area. I walked down to the creek, and the first thing I saw was some sort of sandpiper-like bird being flushed out from behind some boulders and landing in the creek. Lo and behold, it was one of my most wanted North American birds ever, the
American Dipper! What followed is probably one of my favorite birding experiences, watching the very cooperative little puffball bounce around the creek, occasionally diving in the cool stream of water. It was spectacular to witness this little waterbird of mountain creeks bob and dip around. It was a pleasant surprise and the highlight of the trip; I knew it was a possible species but certainly didn't expect to see it the first time I walked down to a mountain creek. My father certainly got a kick out my enthusiasm for the bird; I was ecstatic.
Through the crystal-clear water, I also saw some
Gila Trout, a vulnerable species endemic to the southwest. Shortly after the dipper flew off farther down the creek, I noticed a tiny bird flitting in between the rocks on the other side of the creek. It would only be visible for a split second before diving back into the crevices. It also had quite the distinctive call. Could it be - yes! Finally, after waiting a while for the tiny bird to stop out in the open long enough for me to take a picture, I saw the distinctive white throat -
Canyon Wren, a species I'd hoped to see but wasn't expecting.
We continued south down Oak Creek Canyon, stopping across from the visitor center. A
Great Blue Heron sat at a small fork in the creek, and a little way down to its right, bobbing around the creek, flitting for food, was - another dipper? To be honest, I was a bit disappointed. I was so happy to see the dipper because I thought it wasn't really a guaranteed bird, but here I was, 2/2 it seemed. This was a different bird too, streaked and everything, must've been a female. Wait, are female dippers streaked? This one looks a lot like a waterthrush, and behaves like one too, but that couldn't be possible. Those really shouldn't be found here. I should probably snap a few photos just in case, is what I thought to myself.
I then followed a very difficult to photograph squirrel, which after seeing a lack of ear tufts, turned out to be an
Arizona Gray Squirrel, not an Aberts like I had expected. The 'female dipper' turned out to be a
Louisiana Waterthrush, of course I'd get that in Arizona instead of Illinois, because why not? Very cool bird, the only winter record on ebird for Coconino Co.
Back at the house in Sedona, I had a lovely trio of western lifers, the
Phainopepla being especially cool (And a nice surprise as I wasn't sure I'd get this one). We then headed toward the page springs and bubbling ponds fish hatcheries. Page springs had another surprising eastern warbler rarity, while bubbling ponds had a pair of spectacular
Vermilion Flycatchers. Really lovely birds with such saturated coloration.
At Red Rock State Park, the feeders were very productive, with
Lesser Goldfinch,
Bridled Titmouse, and a visiting
Bewick's Wren being highlights. I really liked the pattern of the titmice in particular. Walking the trails, there was an impressive
Mule Deer buck, although there wasn't much else after except for Spotted Towhee. I also had started to feel a bit under the weather. I hoped the scratchy throat I'd felt the morning before hadn't caught up to me. On the way out, a pair of
Western Bluebirds caught my eye, and a wonderfully colored
Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay was the last bird seen of the day, further down the road.
Mammals
Across from the Oak Creek Canyon Visitor Center, Coconino Co. AZ
4. Arizona Gray Squirrel (Sciurus arizonensis) (Lifer)
Red Rock State Park, Yavapai Co. AZ
5. Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus)
Birds
Bootlegger Picnic Area, Oak Creek Canyon, Coconino Co.
59. Red-Breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)
60. American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus) (Lifer)
61. Canyon Wren (Catherpes mexicanus) (Lifer)
Across from the Oak Creek Canyon Visitor Center, Coconino Co.
62. Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
63. Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla) (Lifer)
Accommodation in Sedona, Yavapai Co.
64. Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) (Lifer)
65. Juniper Titmouse (Baeolophus ridgwayi) (Lifer)
66. Phainopepla (Phainopepla nitens) (Lifer)
Page Springs Fish Hatchery, Yavapai Co.
67. Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia)
68. Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans)
Bubbling Ponds Fish Hatchery, Yavapai Co.
69. Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus) (Lifer)
70. Pied-Billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)
71. Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)
Red Rock State Park, Yavapai Co.
72. Bridled Titmouse (Baeolophus wollweberi) (Lifer)
73. Bewick’s Wren (Thryomanes bewickii) (Lifer)
74. Say’s Phoebe (Sayornis saya)
75. Red Winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
76. Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) (Lifer)
Upper Red Rock Loop Rd. Yavapai Co.
77. Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma woodhouseii) (Lifer)
Fish
Note- these are questionable, as trout
are commonly stocked fish with hatcheries all around. For what it is worth, the areas I saw them in were no-fishing zones.
1. Gila Trout (Oncorhynchus gilae) (Lifer)
2. Brown Trout (Salmo trutta) (Lister)
Inverts
From Jan 1st in Illinois
1. Rathke’s woodlouse (Trachelipus rathkii)
From Jan 4th at Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix
2. Longhorn crazy ant (Paratrechina longicornis) (Lifer)
Later that night at the house, my thermometer read 102 degrees Fahrenheit. I went to bed early, wondering how I'd manage the below freezing temperatures of the south rim the next morning.
