BIRDING TO THE EDG

So there I was standing on the north rim of the Grand Canyon with my father and five others ready to hike rim to rim in one of the largest holes in the world. Not much on my back except my Nikon EDG binoculars, a Camelbak, a backpack, and some granola bars. For those hikers out there I would strongly recommend using a Camelbak (particularly the 100 ounce pack). I regret not using one before, but my father insisted that it was the very tool that was missing from my gear. He was right! Not having to take your pack on and off all day to get water saves a huge amount of energy. Hikes like this one are the types where you need to save every ounce of energy you have. Take a look at the Camelbak link above to get more info.

It was cold, foggy, and rainy to start, but ironically that weather held for most of the day. I prayed it wouldn't rain since I left my good rain jacket at home. We dodged a bullet there only having periodic sprinkles throughout the day. We had bits and pieces of sun, but not enough to drain our energy completely. On our initial descent it was very birdy with Black-headed Grosbeaks and MacGillvary's Warblers singing their heads off in the secondary riparian growth on the side walls of the canyon. Ten minutes into the hike, "BAM," a Black-headed Grosbeak pops up on a bush really showing his burnt orange feathers and white wing patches. I knew this was going to be a good day.

The Ponderosa Pines that graced the beginning of our hike were filled with singing Grace's Warblers, Audubon's Warblers, and Dark-eyed Juncos. The male Audubon's Warbler above sang a series of ringing whistles that speed up and drown into a quavering whistle at the end. So gorgeous! They occupy all layers of the forest and are constantly giving their harsh "Whit," call-note when not singing. Male Audubon's Warblers have yellow throats, rumps, and flanks accompanied by a gorgeous black breast and eye spectacles. The females are just a drab version of this. You often enough will see these birds hawking (flying out off the branch to catch flying insects) to catch their insects that make up a large portion of their diet.


The common sparrow known as the Dark-eyed Junco followed our every step through the pine forest along with the Yellow-rumped "Audubon's" Warblers. This subspecies known as "Gray-headed" Junco breeds in the Colorado Rockies and into Arizona. Marked with a bright red back, yellowish bill, and dark lores these birds dive in and out of the understory until one of the boys decides to sing. At this point the junco will perch high on a Ponderosa and sing ringing te-te-te-te-te-te-te-te or give a "chup" call. The white outer tail feathers are very evident when the bird flys off and spreads its tail out. This one was very cooperative. Perhaps due to the fact I was a silent as I could be to creep closely and get the photo.

The hike was 23 miles from start to finish! There was plenty to photograph, but we had a strict schedule to keep. Birds like the MacGillvary's Warblers and Spotted Towhees had to be ignored by camera since it sometimes takes a while to get them out of the bush. Nevertheless, listening to their songs along the way was killer!



Once we dropped down to the base of the canyon some boggy areas popped up and then all the sudden "Quick-Three-Beers," sounded off. The famous mnemonic device for the Olive-sided Flycatcher. Not the best photograph, but certainly enough to ID the bird. These flycatchers perch extremely high on Spruce or Douglas-fir trees to distribute their song making photography a pain in the rear. Notice the tall body structure, split breast, and peaked head. Almost like a torpedo standing tall. They breed in the Rockies up into and across Canada. Olive-sides prefer moist bogs usually accompanied with some of the worst swarms of mosquitoes you have ever experienced. Not that day however!


Yellow Warblers like the one above were all over the riparian sections along the rivers singing Sweet-swee-swee teeeeooo! Notice the rufous breast streaks and the huge black eye. We also had American Dippers and Black Phoebes along the streams flying around.

On the final ascent, we stopped at the three mile rest house on the south rim and over my head comes a California Condor with large white wing patches and a massive wing span. Truly a remarkable success story. I spoke with a gentleman tracking one of the birds and he stated that the population was up to about 70 birds in the canyon which is a great improvement from when they all had to be extracted from the wild to avoid extinction. Check out this link about California Condors to learn more!

This was one of the most amazing days hiking and birding I have ever spent and I appreciate you all letting me share my story of the Grand Canyon. Good birding to all and thanks for reading!

As a proud member of the Nikon Birding team team I wanted to post this for all to use. Check out the great adventure that has been planned below. I encourage everyone who reads to sign-up and try to win.

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A group of Colorado birders heading to the SE part of the state on Friday called in to report a good push of migrants coming through. Most likely due to the low pressure system with rain/cold weather that Mother Nature brought us. All of that was code for, "Get out into the field on Saturday!" Nevertheless, I was up at 5 am on Saturday heading to a place called Last Chance, Colorado. I really hoped not, but was willing to take the chance! Basically this place is just a rest area with some dilapidated buildings around the periphery. The vegetation is thick and involves a nice little pond. When I arrived there I was the only one and the birds were singing loud. I first noticed a pair of Brown Thrashers singing like crazy. Then a Hermit Thrush popped out. then a Northern Waterthrush escaped into the brush from the stagnant pond. It was dark as heck where the waterthrush was hanging out, but the amount of light my Nikon EDG binocular afforded me allowed me to view all the finer details and even the difference in coloration on the flanks. Lots of Common Grackles and Northern Mockingbirds were harassing anything that came into the tops of the trees except the plethora of Orange-crowned Warblers bouncging around.

I became a little frustrated due to the lack of super-interesting warblers. I really thought this place would be a gold mine already. I headed across the street to the back of some old house to see what was bouncing around. There wasn't much except a lot of House Finches until I heard a real sharp, high-pitched chip note. It reminded me of something I've heard in the past. I walked toward a row of junipers and was elated to see a male Hooded Warbler pop out. This bird breeds in the southeast United States but some overshoot their breeding grounds with irregularity into Colorado. This was a social one and he let me photograph him for about ten minutes. There is no other warbler that looks like this one. You could make a case for Kentucky Warbler but the male's black is limited to the auriculars and the cap, but shows a strong yellow supercilium (eyeline). Female Hoodies would be without the large black throat patch and duller black on the crown. I was pumped! I called Bill Schmoker shortly thereafter to report the rest of the birds I had seen.


There were a bunch of these Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers bouncing around in the underbrush accompanying the Ruby-crowned Kinglets. This particular bird above is a lady Gnatcatcher judging by the lack of black the male would have on the lores and supraloral area. Look at that beautiful, crisp eye-ring to boot!



Ibis can be troubling to most, but this time of year usually is the easiest time to ID these suckers.
However, sometimes you need to say, "Unidentified," if there is no real conclusive evidence of either White-faced or Glossy. In breeding plumage, White-faced Ibis will have red eyes, red legs, and reddish lores. Whereas the Glossy Ibis has dark eyes, dark lores, and dark legs except for reddish joints. Immature birds are mush more difficult. Glossy babies have non-descrip, dark everything. Immature White-faced retain some reddish hue to the lores, but this can usually only be seen with close views and decent light. We refer to young Ibis as, "dark ibis," and sometimes they cannot be identified. Once the Glossy ibis starts to mature a bit they will eventually develop a blueish border around the face whereas the White-faced will develop a whitish bordering. Like anything else this takes practice. Glossies are restricted mainly to the southeast United States for breeding and the White-faced breeds on western plains but they both wander off into unknown territories. This is why it is super important to take a look at all the Ibis in a particular flock to see if there are any suspects.


Just another shot I wanted to share with y'all. A nice Double-crested Cormorant buzzed my head while flying over. Notice the orange gular patch and the thick body on the bird. Neotropic Cormorant would be the most likely comparison and Neotrops have a longer tail, thinner body, and the gular patch is smaller and comes to a point behind the chin whereas the Double-crested's gular patch is squared off.

All these photos were taken with a Nikon D200 and a 300mm F4 Nikkor lens in eastern Colorado. Birding was great on Saturday and I cannot wait to get out again. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more springtime birding stories!