March 16th, 2014: Thrasher Spot

           eBird is a fantastic resource for birders. If you aren't familiar with it, eBird is an online database where people can submit their sightings of birds at a given location. Accessible to anyone, it's extremely handy for when you're planning a trip and have a set of target species. As I stated in my previous post, Le Conte's Thrasher was a big target for both of us, but we didn't exactly have a spot specifically for that species. So as we were grabbing lunch at Subway, Kyle was searching for reliable locations for this species, and as he searched on eBird, he came across a hotspot entitled "The Thrasher Spot". Naturally, we were greatly intrigued, and decided to see what species to expect there. We were astonished to find that this location boasted 5 different species of thrasher! This is exceptional because thrashers are usually adapted to a certain type of habitat and it is uncommon to have more than one different species in a certain area. So we were blown away when we saw that there are 5 different species that frequent this location. Obviously, we had to go.

          "The Thrasher Spot" was located about 30-45 minutes outside of Phoenix, AZ. Yes, our Spring Break Trip brought us all the way to Arizona, something I was unsure about doing at first, but something I would have greatly regretted not doing, looking back now. So we drove for approximately 2 hours, and we finally arrived at the famed "Thrasher Spot". We were surprised to find that this was merely a field with some sage and coyote brush spread around. We didn't know whether or not we were at the right spot, but according to eBird, this was it. So we got our scopes, bins and cameras, stepped over the broken barbed-wire fence, and began our search for the thrashers.

           It was unpleasantly quiet, the kind of quiet that kills your hope of seeing any birds (you birders know what I'm talking about). The slight breeze kept us cool under the scorching Arizona sun. I made sure to lather my Vermilion Flycatcher tattoo in sunscreen to prevent it from burning, which would in turn cause it to fade. We slowly started noticing more and more species: a Verdin, a Gambel's Quail, and heard-only Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Though all wonderful species, we had already seen these species earlier in the day, so we didn't want to spend too much time looking at these birds, and missing out on a thrasher.

          More and more walking led us further into the field. Finally, the walking paid off when we were rewarded with a calling thrasher. We scanned the area, and Kyle spotted the bird, put the scope on it, and granted me a view of my lifer Sage Thrasher, a long overdue species for me!

Sage Thrasher

        Resembling more a mockingbird, the Sage Thrasher is adapted to expansive sage fields where it scours for invertebrates to eat. This field did have many sage plants, which made this spot ideal for this species.

        I then started scanning the field with my own scope, in hopes of lucking upon another thrasher species. I was then rewarded with another lifer! Not a thrasher, but a Horned Lark! Now, I know what a lot of you birders are thinking: "How is Horned Lark a lifer for Cédric! That's outrageous, I see huge flocks of them in fields all the time!" Well if that is the case, you're most likely inland where flocks of these are common, but I can't say I've birded inland counties as much as the coastal counties, where they aren't as regular, bordering on rare. 

Horned Lark

         I scanned some more and I then noticed a thrasher-like bird perched atop a bush. It was very distant (I had zoom on the 60x power, the most my zoom will go). The wind shaking both my scope and the bush it was perched on only made identification that much more difficult. But then, both the scope and bush ceased swaying, and I discovered I had been looking at a Le Conte's Thrasher this whole time! I immediately got Kyle on it, and we both appreciated the mutual lifer. Unfortunately, due to the microscopic aperture and the less-than-great lighting, I couldn't obtain a shot of the lifer.

         It then flew off, and we continued birding. A Curve-billed Thrasher, a species neither of us had seen since Camp Chiricahua, called and hopped along the path in front of us. It was nice seeing this bird again, especially since it had been two years since our last view of it. After this bird, the birding started slowing down a bit. They all seemed to have stopped calling, which made it quite troublesome for us to locate any. However, as we were about to leave, we halted when we heard another thrasher calling. It sounded different, unlike any thrasher we had heard earlier in the day. We turned around, and saw a thrasher species perched atop a tall mesquite bush. We got our scopes on it, and thoroughly studied the bird. After a good twenty minutes of scrutinizing it, we were able to conclude that this bird was our lifer Bendire's Thrasher!

Bendire's Thrasher

       Although superficially similar to a Curve-billed Thrasher, this bird shows more spots on the breast, a relatively bigger head and its bill is not as decurved as would a Curve-billed. This is a species we both missed at Camp Chiricahua, so we were psyched to have found this bird. What made this bird that much more special, is that we were about to leave, and we very well could have left without seeing this lifer.

      "The Thrasher Spot" certainly did not disappoint, as we left with 4 out of the 5 different species: Curve-billed, Sage, Le Conte's and Bendire's. Add a lifer Horned Lark, and this spot was certainly the highlight of our first day of Spring Break.