FIELD TRIP REVIEW - COON & CHERRY CREEKS, SUNDAY, MAY, 2003

By Richard Kaiser

I always enjoy traveling and exploring a previously unvisited area of our state, especially for birdwatching.  Coon and Cherry Creeks, offered as a Maricopa Audubon Society trip, was new to me.  Our leader, Michael Plagens, was familiar with this area as he has birded here extensively and this was his Breeding Bird Atlas area.  These creeks form lovely riparian spots in the Tonto National Forest on the border of the Sierra Ancha Wilderness, north of Globe, in an otherwise standard Sonoran Desert landscape.

I arrived in the Coon Creek area with Michael and Daniela Yellan at sunset.  As we set up camp, we heard Northern Cardinal, Cassin’s Kingbird, and Lucy’s Warbler.  Perhaps one of the best birds of our weekend trip was heard after dinner.  We pursued the call of an owl, it’s identification eluding us.  Walking along the road, we followed the consistent call, and finally were successful in shining lights on an Elf Owl.

We began soon after dawn on Sunday morning and our birding group gradually increased to twelve.  For the first half of the morning, we walked along the same road where we had heard and seen the Elf Owl.  We also walked along a trail on the other side of Coon Creek.  The bird sightings were very good and included Bell’s Vireo, Gila Woodpecker, Hooded Oriole, Ash-throated Flycatcher, and Phainopepla.  Mourning Doves were abundant throughout our day of birding.  A kettle of Turkey Vultures soaring overhead at one time included one Zone-tailed Hawk.  A few rather common species were seen by only a few or one member(s) of our group:  Black-throated Sparrow, Northern Mockingbird, White-winged Dove, Lesser Goldfinch, and Curve-billed Thrasher.  A few more species on our day’s list were only heard, often by only one person:  Verdin, Hutton’s Vireo, Inca Dove (surprising for this area), and Cactus Wren.  Warblers were rather common, and it was nice to see a beautiful Townsend’s Warbler, Wilson’s Warblers with their black caps, numerous Yellow Warblers, as well as a Black-throated Gray Warbler.  A few Yellow-rumped Warblers, and the common desert species, Lucy’s Warbler were also seen.  Color was prevalent from many Summer Tanagers (males and females), one male Hepatic Tanager, and even a brief sighting of a Western Tanager that passed through.  Some of us, including myself, had probably our best views ever of a Brown-crested Flycatcher, and the “olive-sided flycatcher” that we painstakingly identified as Western Wood-Pewee, kept on being seen (and questioned) throughout the day.  Obviously, it was hard for us to leave this very birdy and lovely area, but Michael had promised us another good birding spot further up the road.

This second area was another beautiful and shady riparian spot.  We parked along a road paralleling Cherry Creek. Michael had warned participants in advance that we would do some wading through water.  With little reluctance and a rolling up of our pants, our group traipsed through some marshy ground and the creek, until we realized we needed a clearer—and quieter—view of the area for birdwatching.  We were rewarded with excellent views of Common Black-Hawks soaring and perching on rocks.  Common Ravens also soared overhead.  A few White-throated Swifts were identified in flight over the cliffs.  But unfortunately, the area had changed since Michael had last visited this stretch of the Creek, and we ran into an impenetratable property fence, which caused us to turn around.  But we were still happy from our hawk sightings, as well as admiring the variety of rocks that we walked over, and spotting several funnel spider webs.  Back at our vehicles, we had a nice lunch, which was capped off by an unusual, excellent view of a Yellow-breasted Chat!

Only five of us, including Michael and I, decided to continue on along the road for a little more birdwatching.  Two more stops, again not far from water, provided some fun bird activity.  The two most interesting species were numerous Vermilion Flycatchers (males and females showing courting behavior and carrying nesting material), and another Yellow-breasted Chat.  We were excited to also spot a Black-headed Grosbeak.  In the area, other birds seen or heard were Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Yellow Warbler, Western Kingbird, and House Finch.

My trip list, for all species heard and seen, was 49.  More importantly, this trip showed me a beautiful area to camp, birdwatch, and admire, especially during spring migration!

IF FISH COULD FLY (OR A FISH STORY)

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an opportunity to reintroduce native Sonoran suckers and roundtail chub. APS is decommissioning its Irving power plant and by Dec. 31, 2004, full flow will be restored to Fossil Creek. Efforts to control invasive species may include erecting barriers downstream and removing exotics currently in the creek.

Experiments to restore natural river conditions on the Colorado failed to benefit native species. Indeed, unless the Glen Canyon Dam is breached, the Colorado will continue to receive cold, clear water suitable for introduced trout but an anathema to native species adapted to turbulent, sediment laden flow. 

Several recent federal decisions provide hope. In mid-June, the, 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that the federal Bureau of Reclamation must consider the effect on endangered species when it releases water from its reservoirs. This was a hollow victory for the Rio Grande silvery minnow as the BoR continues to allocate water, leaving the Rio Grande to dry. Anger that the court would favor fish over people is misdirected. The issue is how the west is going to manage its finite supply of water while experiencing inexorable growth. In July, the BoR cut 9%, or 90 billion gallons, of Colorado River water to California’s Imperial Irrigation District, citing waste. Also in July, a 9^th Circuit U.S.Court of Appeals judge ruled that the Forest Service failed to consider and protect 57 river segments (750 miles) listed in the 1993 

Report identifying eligible Wild and Scenic Rivers in Arizona. By withholding or delaying WSRA consideration, the FS failed to prevent potentially destructive activities that would jeopardize future WSRA designation. While the case is under further review, the FS must give the rivers proper attention in any management decisions.

Native fish are indicators of a healthy ecosystem. They provide prey for riparian species such as Zone-tailed hawks and Common Blackhawks. Studying how desert pupfish withstand temperature extremes from 25 -115 degrees, or how topminnows avoid skin cancer and tolerate high salinity can benefit humans. If they could fly, there would be leagues of people advocating on their behalf. Being relegated subsurface, it takes a measure of blind ethics to restore them to their rightful place in our world.

For years I’ve intended to replace that stained glass bass with something more appropriate, but it is a difficult task. Removing the obstacles to our native fish survival is a seemingly insurmountable challenge that can only be met with coordinated effort and a desire by the public to save our native fauna. If recovery strategies fail, we may well witness the extinction of our endemic fish species. 

PHAINOPEPLA

By Jim Burns

What is the only North American bird known to nest in two completely different habitats in the same season?  Phainopepla, Phainopepla nitens, is another of Arizona’s special species, species found only here or more easily here than in any other state, that answers a fascinating birding trivia question.

If you’ve birded the mesquite bosques of our low deserts this summer, you may have noticed that the “Black Cardinals” abundant there in the spring are now conspicuous by their absence.  In the deserts of Arizona and California Phainopeplas are early spring nesters, their breeding timed to coincide with the peak of the mistletoe berry crop and the first insect hatches of the year.

When the deserts begin to heat up in late spring, our Arizona birds move up into oak/chaparral foothills and raise a second brood.  In California this desert species moves westward over the coast ranges for a second breeding season in cooler, damper habitat.  These seasonal movements also occur in Baja and Northern Mexico.

“Black Cardinals” are easy to spot not only because of their unique long tailed, crested profile and the males’ striking plumage, but also because of their foraging and courtship habits.  They will typically tee up on the very tops of trees, flashing out for passing insects in flycatcher fashion, and males will perform display fights, high above their territories, consisting of circles and erratic zigzags which often end in aerial chases after the females.

The Phainopepla nest is a small, neat cup of twigs and leaves held together by spider webbing and animal hair.  It is built exclusively by the male.  During the initial nesting season it is usually in mesquite or in a clump of mistletoe in a mesquite.  

Mistletoe and mesquite have a parasitical relationship, and in the mesquite bosques  Phainopeplas and mistletoe have a commensal one.  Mistletoe berries pass quickly through the birds’ digestive systems and form a sticky excrement which attaches the plant’s seeds to the trees where the birds perch, continuing the cycle of mistletoe parasitism on the mesquites.

Phainopeplas are monogamous, and though both parents incubate the two to three eggs per nesting, the male pulls most of this duty during daylight hours.  Both parents feed the nestlings, crushed berries and tiny insects forming the bulk of the diet.  As to be expected of a species that catches insects on the wing, Phainopeplas have broad bills with prominent rictal bristles, and they are also often seen hover-plucking berries from trees.

In winter into spring this species is easy to find along the lower Colorado River and in the desert areas of our Tonto National Forest, particularly in the extensive mesquite bosques along the Salt and Verde Rivers.  In summer look in riparian areas at higher elevations such as Oak Creek in central Arizona or Sonoita Creek in the southeast.  Phainopeplas often nest in loose colonies and travel in loose flocks.  At the height of the drought in June of 2002 I hiked up Sonoita Creek from the mesquite bosques of Patagonia Lake State Park almost to the Circle Z property line without seeing a single Phainopepla.  As I rounded the final bend I came upon twenty some birds of this species, males, females, and young of the first breeding, flycatching over the creek in a feeding frenzy which lasted over an hour.  Then entire flock departed together, off to find the next hatching or the next fruiting trees, nomadic until provident habitat was found for the second nesting season.