Birds and Other Nature Sightings

     Late Tuesday I saw reports that a chestnut-collared longspur was discovered in Cape May, NJ.  My only familiarity with this species is that it is a Midwest prairie song bird, thus rare for New Jersey.  I also know that there are four different longspurs in the United States and only one, the Lapland longspur , is occasionally seen in New Jersey.  When accepted early next year by the NJ Bird Records Committee, it will only be the fourth record for the state.   I have not been chasing birds for a while.  I do kind of regret not going to Forsythe NWR in Atlantic county earlier this year to see the lark bunting that showed up there.  That bird fit my recently self-imposed protocol for chasing a bird.  I decided that it must be a life bird and one I most likely will not be looking for in its normal range anytime in my future plans.  It would have to be more of a once in a lifetime bird, as opposed to a new life bird.  This lo...

    After visiting the Grand Canyon we spent the remainder of our trip in and around Sedona.  The rest of our itinerary consisted of daily hikes and a jeep tour.  The scenery around Sedona is absolutely stunning.  Red rock formations abound and beg you to climb them.  The younger members of our group hiked everyday and some of those hikes were quite challenging, like the Devil’s Bridge trail and Cathedral Rock trail.  I commend them for their stamina and youthful enthusiasm.  I joined them on the Devil’s Bridge climb, but after that I chose the more moderate or easier trails with the elder members of the group. Some of the picturesque scenery of Sedona, Arizona.   © S. Weiss It was at the Devil’s Bridge hike that I picked up my second life bird, a Crissal thrasher .  I heard the bird calling/singing along the trail, but could not get eyes on it.  I hesitated to list it since I wasn’t 100% sure it was that such thrasher.  B...

     When we planned our trip months ago, a day trip to the Grand Canyon was built into the group itinerary.  About half the party had never been there before.  I visited it during my only other time in Arizona and thought it was a must see at least once in one’s lifetime.  The initial experience of visually seeing the sheer depth and breadth of the canyon cannot be truly appreciated unless you actually stand at one of the rims and gaze across this natural wonder.  I had no issue with seeing this magnificent vista again, albeit I had an ulterior motive for going again.  I wanted to see some birds that I missed the last time.   California condor , pinyon jay and Clark’s nutcracker were on my wish list. Our trip to the Grand Canyon was nearly put on ice the week before we even left for Arizona.  The north rim of the park was already closed to due wildfires earlier in the year and now the federal government had shut down (I will keep poli...

     My wife and I were the first of the group to head north to Sedona.  We extended the normally two-hour drive by enjoying the scenery on the drive north.  The desert landscape was dotted with speckled mountains and somewhat anthropomorphic saguaro cacti standing tall and majestic.  As we drove north the elevation continued to rise and the temperature began to lower.  Along the way, the landscape gradually changed.  The mountains increased and reddened, the saguaros gave way to smaller prickly pear cacti, and juniper and ponderosa pine trees became more prominent.  Left, the view along Arizona Highway 17 heading out of the Phoenix area.  Right, prickly pear cacti that replaced the Saguaro cacti as we proceeded north in higher elevations.   © S. Weiss Unfortunately, there were not many pull offs along the highway for visitors like us to stop and admire what we don’t see back home.  We eventually came upon a designated scenic v...

     Last week I went on an extended family trip to Arizona.  It was only my second visit to the Grand Canyon State.  Most of the trip was spent in beautiful Sedona, with a day at the Grand Canyon and about a day and a half in Mesa.  There were 11 of us in the party and there was an itinerary of which I agreed to follow.  My birding was, as usual during these getaways, mostly incidental with a few sneak away treks.  All in all, though, I managed to see 63 bird species; 19 of these were year birds.  Of the year birds, three were also life birds.  I also saw two life subspecies of birds and some other interesting creatures from the desert state. As I usually do, I scouted the local eBird checklists for the area leading up to the trip and made a wish list of bird species I would like to find.  Some of these were what I thought would be likely to see and the rest ranging up to if I’m lucky to see .  My three new birds fell somewhe...