Take "Power" to Birds: A Potpourri of Gilbert Birds

Power Road in Gilbert, Arizona is just blocks from my daughter's home. On my second morning of birding during a recent trip to Gilbert it dawned on me that I could take Power Road north to Guadalupe for the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch or take Power Road south to Chandler Heights for Veteran's Oasis Park. In other words, I could "take Power" to some great birding spots. Following Power Road farther north leads to Bush Highway and some of my other favorite birding locations along the Salt River. Going to the green space park in my daughter's neighborhood also produced a few nice bird encounters.

You can read about and see the images of Black-and-white Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Costa's Hummingbird, Peach-faced Lovebirds, and Inca Doves in the posts preceding this one. I'll wrap up the posts covering my recent trip to Gilbert with this one. Here's a potpourri of birds I didn't share in my previous posts.

From the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch...

Female Ring-necked Duck Gilbert, AZ

Male Verdin Gilbert, AZ

Snowy Egret Gilbert, AZ

Black-crowned Night Heron Gilbert, AZ

Least Sandpiper Gilbert, AZ

Long-billed Dowitcher Gilbert, AZ

This pair of Black-necked Stilts was doing their courting dance when I captured this image.

Breeding Black-necked Stilt Gilbert, AZ

Black-necked Stilt Gilbert, AZ

Curve-billed Thrasher Gilbert, AZ

A close look at the eye of this ordinary Curve-billed Thrasher reveals a few interesting details, including a look at all three eyelids--the upper and lower eyelids along with the horizontally-oriented nictitating membrane that is partially covering the eye. Its the transparent lid that cleans and protects the eye. The edge of the membrane is the dark horizontal line on the left side of the eye.

Curve-billed Thrasher Showing All Three Eyelids (upper, lower, and the horizontally-oriented nictitating membrane) Gilbert, AZ

Neotropic Cormorant Gilbert, AZ

Great Egret Gilbert, AZ

Northern Mockingbird Gilbert, AZ

Male Gila Woodpecker at Sunrise Gilbert, AZ

From the Park Near My Daughter's Home...

My three-year-old grandson, Graham, and I walked out the front door of his home one afternoon and flushed a Cooper's Hawk from the tree. It landed in a nearby tree so I went back into the house and retrieved my camera. I missed getting an image because it flew as soon as I lifted the lens. However, I soon heard a warbling song and looked in the tree above me to spot my first Townsend's Warbler of the new year.

Townsend's Warbler Gilbert, AZ

A Greater Roadrunner passed through the park as Graham and I were about to dig what he called "deep, dark holes" in the sandbox.

Greater Roadrunner Gilbert, AZ

Greater Roadrunner Gilbert, AZ

I tried and tried to get some images of the nice salmon color beneath the wings of a Northern Flicker in the park, but it was not cooperating. Sometimes hiding behind branches...

Norther Flicker (red-shafted) Gilbert, AZ

And sometimes...

Northern Flicker Gilbert, AZ

Female Gila Woodpecker Gilbert, AZ

From Veteran's Oasis Park...

Common Gallinule Gilbert, AZ

American Coot Gilbert, AZ

Anna's Hummingbird Gilbert, AZ

Red-winged Blackbird Gilbert, AZ

A Burrowing Owl in a burrow, of course. These guys are at their burrow nearly every time I visit Veteran's Oasis Park.

Burrowing Owl Gilbert, AZ

Great Egret Gilbert, AZ

Flapping, Scratching, and Stretching on Sandy Pond

There is a small community pond located near my place of work. It is one of many community/urban fisheries managed by the Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) in Utah. This particular pond is called Sandy Urban Fishery, but many local birders refer to it as Sandy Pond. I sometimes visit the pond during my lunch hour to see what birds are on or around the water. Because water in this pond is circulated it generally remains open despite freezing temperatures during winter months. Consequently, it draws birds year round. The DWR stocks many of the community ponds with fish on a regular basis so it is not unusual to see Herons, Pelicans, Cormorants, Gulls, Ducks, Osprey, and more, depending on the season, on or around the ponds.

During a couple of visits in recent days I've noticed a great deal of flapping, scratching, and stretching on and around the pond. The Redhead below appears to be attempting to balance himself and walk on water.

Flapping Redhead on Sandy Pond Sandy, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

That didn't quite work so he decided to scratch his head over the failed attempt. Or could he be tapping on his head to adjust his equilibrium?

Scratching Redhead on Sandy Pond Sandy, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

A shrug of the shoulders seems to bring a little relief to the tension he must be feeling now that he realizes he's being photographed for a crazy birder's blog post.

Shrugging Redhead on Sandy Pond Sandy, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

We have a Great Blue Heron, sporting a funky hairdo, that can almost always be found at the pond. It will either be standing on the small island in the middle of the pond, perched on a fence, or down by the Jordan River across the street from the pond.

Stretching Great Blue Heron Adult (white crown) at Sandy Pond Sandy, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Scratching Great Blue Heron at Sandy Pond in Sandy, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

A lone California Gull was flying circles around the pond and made a few passes around my position on the bank and the small floating dock from which I photographed the scratching Heron.

Flapping California Gull at Sandy Pond Sandy, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Below is a flapping female Redhead. It flew by quickly on a rather cloudy day so the lighting was a challenge in terms of capturing motion, but I thought it would make a good comparison to the female Lesser Scaup that did a fly-by today while the sun was doing a better job of lighting the subjects.

Female Redhead Flying Over Sandy Pond in Sandy, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Female Lesser Scaup at Sandy Pond Sandy, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)
Very similar to female Greater Scaup (uncommon in Utah) and female Redhead and Ring-necked Ducks. Female Scaups do not have the eye ring seen on female Redhead and Ring-necked Ducks. Flight feathers are more white than Redhead and Ring-necked Ducks, which appear more grayish.

Female Lesser Scaup at Sandy Pond Sandy, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)
Very similar to female Greater Scaup (uncommon in Utah) and female Redhead and Ring-necked Ducks. Female Scaups do not have the eye ring seen on female Redhead and Ring-necked Ducks. Flight feathers are more white than Redhead and Ring-necked Ducks, which appear more grayish.

I love the raptors so I have to include a scratching and stretching Merlin that was recently at the pond to do a little hunting.

Scratching Merlin at Sandy Pond Sandy, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Stretching Merlin at Sandy Pond Sandy, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)