Dear Birders:

I am new to Arizona, having moved in in September, so I don't
entirely know what is common and what isn't, but the birds I see
outside my window fascinate me (even the ones I can clearly
identify), and if anyone has time to chat with a novice, I would be
delighted to hear from you.

On my most exciting day so far, three dozen robins were battling over
the juniper bushes across the street, while a nearby tree had a small
woodpecker (acorn?) and small yellow birds that may have been Lesser
Goldfinch. All the birds suddenly scattered, and a bald eagle soared
by within close view.

What with the quail and ravens and so on, this seems like a very
exciting place for birders.

If I should have posted this in Chat, rather than Messages, please
let me know. I am new to chat groups.

Dear Birders:

I am new to Arizona, having moved in in September, so I don't
entirely know what is common and what isn't, but the birds I see
outside my window fascinate me (even the ones I can clearly
identify), and if anyone has time to chat with a novice, I would be
delighted to hear from you.

On my most exciting day so far, three dozen robins were battling over
the juniper bushes across the street, while a nearby tree had a small
woodpecker (acorn?) and small yellow birds that may have been Lesser
Goldfinch. All the birds suddenly scattered, and a bald eagle soared
by within close view.

What with the quail and ravens and so on, this seems like a very
exciting place for birders.

If I should have posted this in Chat, rather than Messages, please
let me know. I am new to chat groups.

Best wishes,

Faren Miller

I have seen Black-billed Magpies at Teec nos Pos before - I wonder what brings them down there? They are, btw Pica hudsonia now, for those who haven't seen the split (Pica pica is now the Magpie of Europe).

Chuck LaRue and I spent three days looping the Hopi and Navajo nations;

The only rarities seen were 2 Black-capped Chickadees at Teec Nos Pos and
many Black-billed Magpies including 7 @ Many Farms Lake.

Chuck LaRue and I spent three days looping the Hopi and Navajo nations;

A large Russian Olive crop held many birds at the widely dispersed wet
spots of the region. Many robins, bluebirds and blackbirds were noted in a
near constant state of feeding/digesting. The olives seem to constitute the
entire food supply up there - almost the only birds that weren't eating
olives were hunting the birds eating the olives! Something to think about
when cursing the olive thickets that rapidly are overtaking Arizona's
waterways...

We saw almost every regularly occurring hawk , including Merlin (prairie
and taiga races), N. Goshawk, Cooper's, Sharp-shinned, Red-tailed,
Ferruginous, Rough-legged hawks, Prairie Falcon, Am. Kestrel, Golden and
Bald eagles, N Harrier (males).

Apparently high hawk populations between the peaks and Cameron - with a
hawk on just about every other pole - represented the bulk of the hawk
sightings.

The only rarities seen were 2 Black-capped Chickadees at Teec Nos Pos and
many Black-billed Magpies including 7 @ Many Farms Lake.

Excellent close range views of Red Fox and Kit Fox were nice
mammal-sighting bonuses.

Roger

For the record NAAS opposes the trade because the proposed 1000-unit Verde
Valley Ranch residential and golf course development by Phelps Dodge is
immediately upstream of the marsh and will drain all its runoff through the
marsh. Since the marsh has a series of warm water springs as its origin,
the development cannot avoid polluting this unique environment unless they
route runoff away from the marsh. This option was never really explored and
rejected as too costly.

Explain what impact opposing the trade will have on the development. Is the land trade seen as essential to a successful development?

At 12:30 pm on 12/31/00:

A very likely Rough-legged Hawk on HY 89a, ¼ mile west of Robert Rd. A very
white bird very similar to the one on pg 109 of Clark & Wheeler's
Photographic Guide.

When looking at it I thought it was a Ferruginous. After retiring home and
checking C & W the well defined narrow dark tail band convinced me that it
was a very light phase Rough-leg.

A happy New Year to you all,

Jim

From today's "Verde Independent" Clarkdale mayor Andy Vircsik says

" My feeling is that if Phelps Dodge gets their money it doesn't matter
what happens..." He explained that various environmental groups such as the
Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club and Audubon Society could purchase the
Peck's Lake property from Phelps Dodge. He says "That will work because
Phelps Dodge only wants their money. It's a mining company dealing with
stock owners. The stock owners don't care if they own houses as long as
they get their money."

An invitation? An overture? Has anyone talked to Vircsik directly?

Doug
*******************************************
Doug Von Gausig
Moderator
<http://www.egroups.com/group/noazbirding>Northern Arizona Birders e-Mail Group
********************************************

I added a new bird to my "Wal Mart" list today! As I approached the front
of the store, a small crowd of people were peering under at the parked
shopping carts. I thought they were looking at the Brown-headed Cowbirds
and Brewer's Blackbirds that are always there, but when I got up to them,
it was a Greater Roadrunner sitting on the bottoms of the baskets! He let
people get to within a few feet of him before he'd shopped enough and ran
off - a new one for me!

Later today I noticed 6 Common Ravens sitting in a pecan tree down near CTS
Office Supply, so I turned around and parked under them to see what was
going on. They were eating - you guessed it - pecans! A Raven would reach
up and snag a pecan from it's open husk, then hold it against the branch
with his feet while he hammered and pried away at it with his beak until it
was open enough to get at the meat. I was impressed that his beak was
strong enough to crack open a pecan, but it was fairly effortless.

Doug
***************************************
Doug Von Gausig
Digitally Recorded Birds Sounds at:
http://naturesongs.com/birds.html
Clarkdale, Central Arizona, USA
34°46.34N 112°03.25W
e-mail: dougvg@...
***************************************

For the record NAAS opposes the trade because the proposed 1000-unit Verde
Valley Ranch residential and golf course development by Phelps Dodge is
immediately upstream of the marsh and will drain all its runoff through the
marsh. Since the marsh has a series of warm water springs as its origin,
the development cannot avoid polluting this unique environment unless they
route runoff away from the marsh. This option was never really explored and
rejected as too costly.

For those of you not up to speed on the proposed land trade between Phelps
Dodge and BLM;

This trade has been in the works for a few years now, mostly unopposed. It
is an administrative land trade (which while far from perfect at least
provides for nominal public oversight and conformance with national
Environmental Policy act requirements) that will, if approved, exchange
Tavasci Marsh and part of Packard Ranch (at the confluence of Sycamore Cyn
and the Verde River) - total of about 480 acres - for about 4000 acres of
fresh land near Safford AZ, which will then be strip-mined for copper.
Someone correct me if I have the numbers wrong.

I was in recent conversation with Janine Blaeloch about the status of this
trade. She says "I got a reminder from my friend Brian Segee at
Center for Biological Diversity that we are still awaiting the FEIS
[Environmental Impact report] and that the BLM has not offered a firm date
for its issuance..."

Janine is Director of Western Land Exchange - a watchdog group trying to
reform the fairly corrupt process in which public lands are traded to
corporate interests in an often lop-sided deal - more at www.westlx.org

I believe an public comment period will ensue after that report is issued -
NAAS opposes the trade - but usually with land trades it is basically
already a slam dunk by the time the public comment period opens and the
comment period is lip service to a deal already inked.

For the record NAAS opposes the trade because the proposed 1000-unit Verde
Valley Ranch residential and golf course development by Phelps Dodge is
immediately upstream of the marsh and will drain all its runoff through the
marsh. Since the marsh has a series of warm water springs as its origin,
the development cannot avoid polluting this unique environment unless they
route runoff away from the marsh. This option was never really explored and
rejected as too costly.

More at http://verdevalleyranch.com/index.html

Roger

Roger's remarks about Meadowlarks has prompted me to be a little more
observant of my feeder birds.

The primary birds at my feeder are in order of quantity seen are G Quail,
D-E Junco, W-C Sparrow, M Dove, W Scrub Jay, Chipping Sparrow, Canyon
Towhee, Spotted towhee, and Meadowlark.

The only squabbling I have observed is between two Spotted Towhees. These
squabbles, so far, have resulted in one of the two being driven off. Every
thing else just walks peacefully around eating seed and drinking water.

Jim
At 07:45 PM 12/25/00 -0700, you wrote:
>Watching the birds at my feeder today, and seeing an aspect of Western
>Meadowlark behavior I really haven't had the chance to note before.
>
>I spread a seed mix (containing peanuts in shell, black sunflower, cracked
>corn and millet) on the ground and some on the feeder. The scrubbies are
>used to coming in with the first wave, and bossing the sparrows around
>handily as they rape the food supply and carry off all the good stuff
>promptly. True to form they cache it close at hand (sometimes as close as
>the base of the feeder, which seems pretty pointless) before dashing back
>to get the rest.
>
>Lately a few WEMEs have been coming for some of the seed (sunflower as far
>as I can tell). They of course won't venture up onto the feeder, but remain
>rooted to the ground. However, I never realized just how pugnacious they
>are. I suppose in daily life they would seldom have much interaction with
>scrub-jays, but they sure don't take any crap from them in my yard.
>
>Repeatedly, when a scrub-jay came close to where the WEME was feeding an
>immediate posture change resulted. The WEME hunched lower, fluffed out his
>feathers (standard threat posture) spread his tail feathers and then lunged
>at the WESJ, which promptly bailed out. The WEME repeated this with
>Gambel's Quail and Mourning Dove, though in both those cases posture alone
>was enough to keep the offender moving along.
>
>Anyone else seeing feeder violence?
>
>
>
>To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>noazbirding-unsubscribe@egroups.com
>
>
>
>

Only heard a few of the highlights;

3 N Pygmy Owls   Bull Pen
Dusky Flycatcher Bull Pen
Hutton's Vireo   Black Bridge
Cassin's Finch   Montezuma Well
2 N Mockingbird  Rimrock

Hooded Merganser  L Montezuma CW  (not seen today)

As with the other Verde counts, water birds were sparse, and this is
apparently not much of a year for extra-limitals. Sparrows in particular
are simply absent; with very few Chipping and no Brewers at all being
sighted, no Larks, Vesper, Savannah...

Compare with last years count at http://www.nazas.org/1999CBC.htm.

How is the Prescott area?


Roger

Doug Von Gausig wrote:

 At 10:02 PM 12/26/00, Christie wrote:
 

After checking Sibley I am
pretty sure it must have been a Kriders.  First ID'd it as a Ferrug, seeing a
broad white band with small amount of color the last two or three distal inches
on the tail.  When it got closer, it was definitely an RT, but tail was mostly
white with about 2 inches of red in the tail.  What I can't remember is how
light it was underneath, but had a light head.

My first impression of the hawk in Cottonwood was also Krider's, but Wheeler & Clark show the ventral "arm" to be white and mine was black. W&C do show a "Rufous Morph" that is also very close to what I saw, except that mine had a dark terminal margin on the tail.

Mine had no dark whatsoever in tail.  It looked like large white band, 4 to 5 inches, about 2 inch red band, and light terminal band.  Haven't had time to check W&C.

After checking Sibley I am
pretty sure it must have been a Kriders.  First ID'd it as a Ferrug, seeing a
broad white band with small amount of color the last two or three distal inches
on the tail.  When it got closer, it was definitely an RT, but tail was mostly
white with about 2 inches of red in the tail.  What I can't remember is how
light it was underneath, but had a light head.

kiwi@... wrote:

> A dark morph bird also frequents the Cornville grasslands adjacent to Verde
> Santa Fe golf course. Even though that's only 3 miles or so from Dead Horse
> (and less to Cottonwood) I would think its a second bird. Home ranges for
> red-tails are usually less than a mile and a half.
>

Since you all are mentioning all these exotic RTs, I'll have to mention one I
saw down
Salt Mine Road while releasing 3 rehabbed RTs.  After checking Sibley I am
pretty sure it must have been a Kriders.  First ID'd it as a Ferrug, seeing a
broad white band with small amount of color the last two or three distal inches
on the tail.  When it got closer, it was definitely an RT, but tail was mostly
white with about 2 inches of red in the tail.  What I can't remember is how
light it was underneath, but had a light head.

Christie

Christie Van Cleve
Sedona

As a sidebar; a large column of ravens was on Tissaw Rd this afternoon
soaring in a tight spiral. The last time I witnessed a similar event out
there I found three Bald Eagles and a red-tail close by - leading me to
speculate a hunter had dumped a large animal carcass out there...

Doug said:

>The thing is that this gives us a chance to keep track of a single
>individual in the area (assuming he's not just passing through) - so keep
>your eyes peeled for this guy and report him when you see him!


A dark morph bird also frequents the Cornville grasslands adjacent to Verde
Santa Fe golf course. Even though that's only 3 miles or so from Dead Horse
(and less to Cottonwood) I would think its a second bird. Home ranges for
red-tails are usually less than a mile and a half.

As a sidebar; a large column of ravens was on Tissaw Rd this afternoon
soaring in a tight spiral. The last time I witnessed a similar event out
there I found three Bald Eagles and a red-tail close by - leading me to
speculate a hunter had dumped a large animal carcass out there...

Your bird sounds like a classic Red-tail to me, any buteo with a reddish
tail top, in my book, is a Red-tail Hawk.

Your bird sounds like a classic Red-tail to me, any buteo with a reddish
tail top, in my book, is a Red-tail Hawk.

At 04:41 PM 12/26/00 -0700, you wrote:
> At 04:37 PM 12/26/00, you wrote:
> Had a Rough-leg out in Chino Valley on November 28. It was an easy bird
> with a white tail and well defined wide dark terminal band and very well
> defined dark windows on the underside of the wings.
>
> Jim
>
> My Red-tail had a dark terminal margin (just the narrowest of lines along
>the outer edge of primaries, secondaries and retrices). The tail was light,
>but not white, and the top was definite rust.
>
> Doug
> *************************************** Doug Von Gausig Digitally Recorded
>Birds Sounds at: http://naturesongs.com/birds.html Clarkdale, Central
>Arizona, USA 34°46.34N 112°03.25W e-mail: dougvg@...
>***************************************
>      eGroups Sponsor
>  To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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>
>

Had a Rough-leg out in Chino Valley on November 28. It was an easy bird
with a white tail and well defined wide dark terminal band and very well
defined dark windows on the underside of the wings.

Jim

Had a Rough-leg out in Chino Valley on November 28. It was an easy bird
with a white tail and well defined wide dark terminal band and very well
defined dark windows on the underside of the wings.

Jim


At 03:42 PM 12/26/00 -0700, you wrote:
>At 3:00 pm 12/26/00 soaring over downtown Cottonwood was an adult
>dark-morph Red-tail - sure looked like a Rough-leg, but the top of the tail
>was definitely reddish. Wasn't there a Rough-leg seen on the Jerome CBC?
>Could it have been this RTHA? Anyone else seen this RTHA/RLHA in the
>Cottonwood area? He was very very dark, the undersides of the arms were
>black, the primaries and secondaries almost white with a sharp black margin
>all around - the underside of the tail was also light with a black margin,
>but the top was rusty.
>
>Doug
>*****************************************
>Doug Von Gausig
>http://www.naturesongs.com
>Digitally Recorded Sounds from Nature
>Specializing in Bird Sounds
>*****************************************
>
>
>
>To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>noazbirding-unsubscribe@egroups.com
>
>
>
>

At 3:00 pm 12/26/00 soaring over downtown Cottonwood was an adult
dark-morph Red-tail - sure looked like a Rough-leg, but the top of the tail
was definitely reddish. Wasn't there a Rough-leg seen on the Jerome CBC?
Could it have been this RTHA? Anyone else seen this RTHA/RLHA in the
Cottonwood area? He was very very dark, the undersides of the arms were
black, the primaries and secondaries almost white with a sharp black margin
all around - the underside of the tail was also light with a black margin,
but the top was rusty.

Doug
*****************************************
Doug Von Gausig
http://www.naturesongs.com
Digitally Recorded Sounds from Nature
Specializing in Bird Sounds
*****************************************

We are expanding the scope of the new e-mail group to issues of general
interest to the members of the Northern Arizona and Prescott Audubon
Societies and the general birding public in Central and Northern Arizona.

We'd like to see this become an efficient forum for the discussion of
conservation issues that affect all of the Northern half of Arizona, bird
sightings, trends and announcements of events. We see this as supplementing
and synergistic to our web pages and think it can really speed up
responsiveness. It will probably supplant the sightings page, as the
posting logs will be available to the general public and can fulfill the
same function as the sightings page.

Doug
****************************
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Moderator
<http://www.egroups.com/group/noazbirding>Northern Arizona Birders' e-Mail
<http://www.egroups.com/group/noazbirding>Group

at the WESJ, which promptly bailed out. The WEME repeated this with
Gambel's Quail and Mourning Dove, though in both those cases posture alone
was enough to keep the offender moving along.

Anyone else seeing feeder violence?


eGroups Sponsor

To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
noazbirding-unsubscribe@egroups.com

Watching the birds at my feeder today, and seeing an aspect of Western
Meadowlark behavior I really haven't had the chance to note before.

I spread a seed mix (containing peanuts in shell, black sunflower, cracked
corn and millet) on the ground and some on the feeder. The scrubbies are
used to coming in with the first wave, and bossing the sparrows around
handily as they rape the food supply and carry off all the good stuff
promptly. True to form they cache it close at hand (sometimes as close as
the base of the feeder, which seems pretty pointless) before dashing back
to get the rest.

Lately a few WEMEs have been coming for some of the seed (sunflower as far
as I can tell). They of course won't venture up onto the feeder, but remain
rooted to the ground. However, I never realized just how pugnacious they
are. I suppose in daily life they would seldom have much interaction with
scrub-jays, but they sure don't take any crap from them in my yard.

Repeatedly, when a scrub-jay came close to where the WEME was feeding an
immediate posture change resulted. The WEME hunched lower, fluffed out his
feathers (standard threat posture) spread his tail feathers and then lunged
at the WESJ, which promptly bailed out. The WEME repeated this with
Gambel's Quail and Mourning Dove, though in both those cases posture alone
was enough to keep the offender moving along.

Anyone else seeing feeder violence?

As we opened stockings this Christmas morning in Sedona,  I looked out at
the berry-laden pyracantha bushes and saw them teeming with thrushes! A
flock of American Robins, 2 Townsend's Solitaires, a Hermit Thrush and
several Western Bluebirds decorated our yard!

Merry Christmas to all Northern Arizona birders and a very birdy New Year!

Doug
****************************
Doug Von Gausig
Moderator
<http://www.egroups.com/group/noazbirding>Northern Arizona Birders'
e-Mail<http://www.egroups.com/group/noazbirding> Group

So far the local CBCs have been a little droll, as far as I have been able
to determine.

Nothing sensational has turned up so far - in fact while spp numbers are
only off a little, overall numbers will be (I think) substantially down.
Everyone's best guess is no food, since the weather has been, after an
initial cold snap, mild overall.

Most of the early montane visitors seem to have kept going south, with the
exception of Hermit Thrushes and Townsend's Solitaires which are
everywhere. Fruit supplies won't last much longer.

A Lawrence's Goldfinch that was reported in Cottonwood is perhaps the best
bird so far.The usual few Dusky and Vermilion Flycatchers and Phainopepla,
and a few mockingbirds were expected on the Sedona count, although a
Painted Redstart was not. A Rough-legged hawk reported at Dead Horse Ranch
S.P. would be exceptional - though I can't imagine what habitat could keep
it around there.

Lets hope Camp Verde pulls something out of the hat! if anyone would like
to join in - it's on 12/27 and several good areas, including Bull Pen
Ranch, are scarcely covered.



Roger

Welcome to the Northern Arizona Birding e-mail list. In order to post to
this group, you need only send e-mail to: noazbirding@egroups.com .

The purpose of this moderated group is to report unusual bird sightings,
observations and other related news and happenings in the area served by
the Northern Arizona and Prescott Audubon Societies. This area includes
northern and central Arizona.

Posts are encouraged which announce the sighting of an unusual bird species
in the area, describe significant events relating to birds or the
environment, and which are of general interest to the members of the
Prescott and Northern Arizona Audubon Societies.

Membership in the list is not restricted to members of the Audubon Societies.

Please help us make this an active and interesting list by reporting your
sightings, observations and other items of interest to us all. Thanks for
joining!

Doug
********************************
Doug Von Gausig
Naturesongs.com
Digital Sounds from Nature
http://www.naturesongs.com
********************************