Mike in the Wild

Driving forty-five-minutes to find a single bird might seem like a fool's errand, especially when your target is residing in a vast one hundred-acre park.  Of course when the site is the city of Gilbert's Riparian Preserve at the Water Ranch you're guaranteed to see an impressive variety of other avian wildlife, especially migratory water fowl.  So the trip is always worth your while.  But it was the roseate spoonbill that was in my sights last week, and I'm happy to say I found him.  The spoonbill is a coastal bird, common in the United States along the Gulf of Mexico in Texas and Florida.  The juvenile that appeared in the middle of land-locked Arizona may have flown in from a closer location, somewhere along the Sea of Cortez or the western coast of Mexico where the bird is also a resident.  Vagrants are not unusual in many species of birds.  After all, they have the ability to fly, so they can often easily travel great distances if successful ...

Everyone knows I like to write about the ducks visiting Arizona's waterways during the winter.  Most of these birds are escaping the colder temperatures of their summer breeding ranges far away in northern latitudes.  One species I've seen regularly this season is the green-winged teal.   While I've not observed any in my Phoenix neighborhood, I have encountered flocks of them at two locations in the state.   The first teals I saw were the several individuals wintering at the Riparian Preserve in the city of Gilbert's Water Ranch complex in early January.  And on a quick stop at Watson Lake in Prescott this past February I observed what appeared to be a larger flock of more than a dozen.    They're not the easiest birds to photograph for a couple of reasons: they're always on the water and they're wary of human spectators.   So with my new 400mm sized Tamron lens attached to my Canon, I was anxious to return to Gilbert and get...

Birds of prey, or raptors, are probably the most exciting birds to see in the wild.  It's not uncommon to see them majestically soaring in the sky or regally perched on a utility pole.  Most of them are stealthy hunters, frequently using the element of surprise in swift pursuit of a meal.  But the peregrine falcon hunts at an especially high speed, sometimes up to 200 mph, making it the fastest animal on Earth. The red-tailed hawk, Cooper's hawk, Harris' hawk, osprey, bald eagle,  prairie falcon, American kestrel and peregrine falcon seem to make up the majority of the many raptors that call the Phoenix area a year-round home.  While I've regularly encountered and photographed the first seven of these eight birds on my outdoor forays, the last has until now eluded me.  On a recent birding expedition to Gilbert's Water Ranch I was amazed by the vast number of northern shovelers on the riparian preserve's ponds.  I've regularly encountered this seaso...