Montana & Wyoming - Part 1

The June 2010 Avian Adventures tour to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks followed a rather different itinerary from previous visits. In the past we have flown to Denver and included Rocky Mountain National Park or started in Salt Lake City and visited various sites in Utah. This time instead we flew to Billings, Montana and spent a couple of days birding in that area before heading down through Yellowstone and finishing up in Jackson Hole. With overnight stays in Cooke City and West Yellowstone as well as Billings, this tour, billed as "Wild West Birding in Grand Teton & Yellowstone", should really include Montana in its title.

Local birder, Phil McBride, was our guide as we explored the farmland and grassy prairies out to the west of Billings and visited several sites mostly along the Yellowstone River which flows through the southeast part of the town. Phil’s knowledge of the area was invaluable.

Western Meadowlarks, Horned Larks, Western Kingbirds and Vesper Sparrows were numerous along the roadside fences as we made our way out towards the small town of Rapelje. Other grassland species seen included Upland Sandpipers, Lark Buntings and Chestnut-collared Longspurs. Ferruginous Hawks were the most frequently found raptors and, in common with at least three Bald Eagles, they seemed to be exploiting the ‘convenience food’ offered by countless Black-tailed Prairie Dogs. Several Burrowing Owls were ‘tenants’ in one of the Prairie Dog towns. A small pond provided a selection of common duck species plus about twenty Wilson’s Phalaropes and a handful of American Avocets.

Horned Lark

Western Meadowlark

Juvenile Burrowing Owl

Western Kingbird

Upland Sandpiper

Rapelje with a population of just over 100 people is best known for an annual mountain bike race that is held there but the town’s Stockman Café also seems to be the only place for miles around where you can get lunch, which we did.

Other sites visited included Itch-Kep-Pe Park in Columbus, Two Moon Park in Billings, Pictograph Cave State Park and one that the locals apparently refer to just as 56th Street Pond. Some of the highlights among the many birds seen were American Redstarts, Yellow-breasted Chats, Cedar Waxwings, Lazuli Buntings, Western Wood-Pewees and the first of many Sandhill Cranes of the tour.

Pictograph Cave State Park

Cedar Waxwing

Yellow-breasted Chat

Western Wood-Pewee

Throughout our time in the Billings area it was hard not to be aware of the scenic, snow-covered Beartooth Mountains to the southwest. When we left Billings, heading for Cooke City, we went via Red Lodge and then took the famous Beartooth Highway that crosses these mountains, a road that has been described as the most beautiful drive in the Lower 48 States. It is 64 miles from Red Lodge to Cooke City and at roughly the halfway point the Beartooth Pass reaches its highest point at 10,974 feet. Birds at this altitude are few but American Pipits are reasonably common and Black Rosy-Finches are regular.

Beartooth Highway

American Pipit

Beartooth Mountains

From Cooke City, our base for the next three nights, it is just four miles to the Northeast Entrance to Yellowstone National Park…

Wildfire in the Chiricahuas

We're sure that everyone who has joined us on our many tours in south-east Arizona will share our concern at news of the serious fire that is currently threatening Cave Creek Canyon and the surrounding area - an area that includes the Southwestern Research Station and quite a number of homes. The fire is currently burning on lands administered by the Coronado National Forest within the Chiricahua Wilderness approximately five miles south of the town of Portal.

The Horseshoe Fire, as it is being called, was first reported on 26th May and is currently affecting about 1800 acres. It is thought to have been started by illegal immigrants crossing the nearby border from Mexico. More than 750 firefighters are involved in the containment operation which is currently estimated to take at least two weeks.

Regular news about the fire is being reported to the birding community by local residents Helen Snyder and Narca Moore-Craig. For more information, see the Portal-Rodeo community website or Narca's blog.

Portal, AZ

On Safari in Northern Tanzania

This year's Avian Adventures tour in Tanzania followed the now familiar itinerary that includes Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. Familiar it might be but it’s an absolutely wonderful area and once again we had a great tour with plenty of birds and huge numbers of mammals. Without any doubt this is one of the world's top wildlife destinations.

If I were write about it in detail I would probably have to repeat much of what I wrote last year so this time I will keep it brief and just share a few photographs.

White-headed Buffalo-Weaver - a common species in Tarangire and the Serengeti.

Black-faced Sandgrouse - regularly found in pairs along the roadside in Tarangire.

Lilac-breasted Roller - very common but always popular.

African Spoonbills - there were hundreds at Lake Manyara. Maybe one day we'll find one in the Algarve!

This Lion did his best to frighten us...

...but he obviously had other more important things to do!

Capped Wheatear - numerous along the road through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

Zebras head-resting

Mwanza Flat-headed Agama - the field guide says they are 'quite wary...and often reluctant to allow humans to approach closely'. This one was very much an exception - an impressive beast! They are reported to have become popular as pets because of their resemblance to Spider-Man.

Auditioning for a place in Trafalgar Square? Rocky outcrops like this one are popular resting places for Lions.

Rufous-naped Lark - particularly common in the Serengeti, singing from bushes and termite mounds, but what a monotonous song.

A personal favourite - Double-banded Courser

Long-crested Eagle - if only all raptors were so obliging and easy to identify!

White-backed Vulture - the commonest of the vultures...

...and Lappet-faced, the largest

Little Bee-eater - widespread and usually seen in pairs. In the Ngorongoro highlands we also saw the similar but much larger Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater.

Rufous-crowned Roller - somewhat eclipsed by its much more numerous and brightly-coloured cousin.

Bateleur - another easy to identify raptor. The name "Bateleur" is French for "tight-rope walker", referring to the bird’s characteristic habit of tipping the ends of its wings when flying, as if to keep its balance.

Serval Cat - our attention was drawn to this one in the Serengeti by several very alarmed and noisy Helmeted Guineafowl. Servals hunt in the long grass and can be difficult to see, so we were pleased the next day when we came across another one in Ngorongoro Crater.

Ngorongoro Crater seen from the rim, some 600 metres above.

Tacazze Sunbird - a garden bird at the Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge.

White-naped Raven - this is a seriously big bird - check out that huge bill!

One of the very approachable Yellow-billed Kites that frequent the Ngoitokitok picnic site in Ngorongoro Crater.

There was more water in the Crater this year than I've seen before and as a result more wetland birds. Ducks included Cape Teal, Hottentot Teal and these Red-billed Teal.

We watched for several minutes as this Black-headed Heron wrestled with a snake and was finally able to swallow it.

If only Great Bustards were as approachable as Kori Bustards!

Cheetahs were hard to find this year but eventually we had close-up views.

Finally, a sunset! Huge old baobab trees like this one are a feature of Tarangire.

Once again thanks go to our local driver/guide, Peter Loishiye Laizer and Roy Safaris for their contributions to making our birding safari the undoubted success that it was.

Arizona

I'm just back from Arizona, my 17th visit to my favourite 'Grand Canyon State'. It was another tour for Avian Adventures and followed the now familiar itinerary: Tucson, Portal, Sierra Vista, Green Valley, Sedona and then the Grand Canyon itself.

What made this trip different was the weather! This must have been the coldest late-April in Arizona in living memory. There was really late snow and as it began to melt, rivers and creeks were flowing that I've only been used to seeing completely dry! To give an example of how cold it was, the temperature in Sierra Vista on 30th April reached a high of only 57° F when the average for this date is 80° F. You might think that 57° isn't really cold but it was so unexpected and what made it worse was the wind, really strong wind that on one or two days made birding extremely difficult. Fortunately, we also had several more typical baking-hot Arizona days.

With the spring being late some of the migrant birds were hard to find but there weren't too many surprises and the total bird list fell only just short of 200 species. There was only one of these that I hadn't seen before in Arizona: Red-necked Phalarope - two birds at Sweetwater Wetlands. The total included 11 different hummingbirds and 'Flameboy', the unpaired male Flame-coloured Tanager that has returned for the eighth consecutive year to Madera Canyon.

'Flameboy' on his favourite feeder

Broad-billed Hummingbird - common in the Huachucas and elsewhere

Greater Roadrunner - 'Beep, Beep'

Desert Spiny Lizard - one of several reptiles seen

Great Horned Owl - seen here on its usual perch at Whitewater Draw

The Grand Canyon - one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World

Zone-tailed Hawk - a Turkey Vulture mimic

California Condor - re-introduced to Arizona - a face only a mother could love

Painted Redstart - always on the move

American Robin - according to the IOC the only Turdus to remain a Robin.
Maybe it should be called North American Lawn Thrush

Gambel's Quail - flying the flag

Spotted Owl - one of the Miller Canyon birds

Mexican Duck - soon the be a separate species?

Western Tanager - heading for the jelly jar

Photo practice

To say that I’m dangerous with a camera is an understatement so when our friend (and professional photographer) Ray Tipper suggested a trip to Spain to photograph Red-knobbed (Crested) Coots in breeding plumage I thought I’d tag along and just watch the birds. But with Peter in Arizona and his Canon 10D and 300mm lens here, it was the perfect opportunity for me to at least try and take a photograph that (a) contained the intended subject and (b) was even slightly in focus – a tall order indeed!

We arrived at the Marismas del Odiel just about an hour after leaving Tavira. The sun was shining but the biting northerly wind soon had us donning our fleeces. Our target was spotted as soon as we left the car and we quickly set up our gear. We spent a very pleasant few hours waiting for the Coot to come close enough for us to photograph it, which it did several times, but only briefly, and it was never still. Ray photographed flyover Pallid Swifts, Spoonbills and Purple Herons and we watched a male Montagu’s Harrier as it quartered the nearby saltpans putting up flocks of small waders. We could see Greater Flamingos, mostly adults, feeding in a more distant pan and at least two Great Reed Warblers were singing close by but alas it was too windy for them to sit high in the reeds and sing.

The Coot didn’t come as close as I would have liked and the gusty wind caused some problems but I think I got a passable shot.