Shorebirding in Arizona
(click on a photo to enlarge)
When we left the shores of the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean, I wondered if I should give away some of my books on waterbirds (gulls, waders, shorebirds). That would have been a big mistake! Little did I realize that many of the same birds that occur in Maryland might show up here. Not in large numbers, of course, but I’ve already discovered that the possibilities are real and have even picked up a few lifers (Sabine’s Gull and White-rumped Sandpiper)!
Our earliest encounter occurred one day in late April as we drove around the shores of Roper Lake (Roper Lake State Park) in Graham County. A small flock of Willets, looking tired from their journey from the south, stood placidly on the lakeshore. And no wonder — they could have flown here from as far south as South America and might still be heading as far north as the Canadian Maritime provinces!
Willet (Tringa semipalmata), breeding plumage
It took a while for a preening bird to show the bold white wing-stripe which extends across the base of primaries and we were never treated to the distinctive “pill, will, willet” call. However, a few weeks later, I was at the Benson Sewage Ponds (Benson) when a flock of 39 vocal Willets flew over and around the ponds accompanied by a cinnamon-winged Marble Godwit!
Just a few days later I visited Whitewater Draw WA in the Sulphur Springs Valley and found Least, Western, Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers as well as Lesser Yellowlegs, American Avocets and Black-necked Stilts. A flock of Wilson’s Phalaropes were spinning in circles on one of the ponds, a behavior of phalaropes that gives a clue to their identity.
Wilson’s Phalaropes (Phalaropus tricolor)
Wilson’s Phalaropes (Phalaropus tricolor), breeding plumage
Foraging along the muddy edges of the ponds were Long-billed Dowitchers, their bills probing the mud for aquatic invertebrates and insects. These breeding-plumaged birds had recently arrived from their wintering grounds in Mexico or the Gulf Coast and are heading anywhere from central Arizona or as far as Alaska to breed.
Long-billed Dowitchers (Limnodromuse scolopaceus)
A flock of glossy black White-faced Ibis landed on one of the ponds and began probing the mud for aquatic invertebrates and insects. They don’t really compete with the dowitchers for food because with their longer bills, they can probe deeper and reach food that the dowitchers can’t. Their longer legs allow them to probe in deeper water too. In just the right light you can see the multi-colored iridescence of their black feathers. White-faced Ibis spend their winters in Mexico.
White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi)
Another great shorebirding area in the Sulphur Springs Valley is the Willcox Playa, a giant dry lake bed that has only seasonal water. Lake Cochise, adjacent to the Twin Lakes Golf Course and part of the playa, is filled with reclaimed water and is attractive to passing migrant shorebirds in the spring and fall. Recent finds here have been Tricolored Heron, Semipalmated Sandpiper and White-rumped Sandpiper. Luckily I was able to see all of them but unfortunately no photos (none, that is, that I’d want anyone to see).
Lake Cochise
Nesting along the lakeshore are American Avocets. Avocets prefer to nest out in the open with little or no surrounding vegetation. They simply dig a scrape in the sand, which they might line it with a little vegetation, and lay their eggs. The heat can be blistering and avocets are known to wet their belly feathers with water to cool the eggs rather than sit on them to keep them warm! It’s good their young are precocial (can leave the nest shortly after hatching) or the heat would no doubt kill them.
American Avocet on nest
American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana)
You’d think I would be happy with all of the waterbirds I’ve been seeing here in Arizona but when the opportunity arose to visit northeast Florida, I didn’t have to think twice. I soon found myself on a plane heading east with visions of storks and spoonbills in my head.