May 29
There was one particular species we wanted to while in the area. The desert scrub of yucca and mesquite was favored habitat for Bendire’s Thrasher. Not a showy bird, the Bendire’s looked similar to the more common Curve-billed Thrasher. By eBird reports, the best location was long, straight and dusty Stateline Road where the yuccas were now blooming. We drove 6 miles (9.6K) east out of Portal to the New Mexico border and stopped at the intersection. Camera still in my pack, who knew we would see the bird atop a nearby shrub almost before the car was turned off! At close proximity, the short, almost straight bill was distinctive after seeing a number of the Curve-billed variety. Naturally, by the time we could react, the bird was gone, probably its own reaction to the frenzied commotion in the car. We stayed and searched and drove the road for almost two hours, wanting a picture to document our find but without luck. I did find a singing Scaled Quail for a consolation photo.
After breakfast and some internet access at the Portal store, we wanted to stretch our legs on the South Fork trail which really is the continuation of South Fork Road. Right off, we found a calling Elegant Trogon, our first sighting of the trip. Other birds were fairly common species. We had another Cooper’s Hawk, some Hermit Thrushes and a Grace’s Warbler I chased through the sycamores, trying in vain for a photo. Old friends Plumbeous Vireos, Bushtits, Black-headed Grosbeaks, White-breasted Nuthatches, Acorn Woodpeckers were all there, no one species in abundance.
Somewhere, somehow, I’d misplaced my Tilley hat. To look in the most likely location, we drove to the Southwest Research Station but didn’t find it there. At the time, we had no other idea as to where to look, so we returned to South Fork road, walking and birding. Birds were similar to species on the trail, though our first bird, at the small bridge, was a Black Phoebe. More singing Trogons were found, Painted Redstarts, Canyon Wrens, a Blue-throated Hummingbird, Wood-Pewees, a Scott’s Oriole and more. The road was gravel and, in this dry season, dusty from the occasional passing vehicle but the late morning walk was very pleasant.
In this relaxed frame of mind, I happened to remember having my hat at Dave Jasper’s house. After dropping Liz off at the campsite, I drove the short distance to Dave’s and found my hat under a small rock on the picnic table. On the inside of the Tilley hat is a small pocket that I used to keep a copy of my passport for when we traveled internationally in December of 2016. Recovery of the hat was a great relief.
Rejoining Liz at the campsite, I was fortunate to look up at the same time that a band of pigeons flew over, one lighting atop a dead branch. They would likely be the only Band-tailed Pigeons for our time in Arizona.
After some time at the Portal store, we found ourselves once again at Dave Jasper’s active yard for a short while, talking with Dave. I hadn’t mentioned that we were seeing a few clouds today with a 20% chance of raining the forecast. We experienced what Dave called the “swamp cooler” effect where rain trying to reach the earth in fact evaporates on the way down, cooling the air but never wetting the ground. That afternoon, we were able to feel that cool air sitting at the picnic table in his yard. If the normal 6% humidity went up, we couldn’t tell.
Still bugging us however, was the missed Bendire’s photo so off we went in the late afternoon to Stateline Road, trolling for thrashers. Miles later, at Willow Tank, where the Bendire’s was also possible, we circled the water, finding two White-faced Ibis for the trip list and our second Loggerhead Shrike. American Coots and Mallards were the only other water birds. In migration, this is supposedly quite the hotspot. There were also Red-winged Blackbirds, Blue Grosbeaks, Gambel’s Quail, Barn Swallows and a few other common birds. One Curve-billed Thrasher had us briefly excited. In our mind, the day and the search for the Bendire’s was pretty much over so we hit Stateline Road with purpose, though without completely losing our optimism. It was at the intersection of Gin and Stateline that we slid to a halt, backed up and were both able to snap a few quick pics of a Bendire’s Thrasher perched on a fence post.
We couldn’t hope for a better finish to the day but we tried anyway. Based on a hot tip, we did go out later and check out a hole in a sycamore for a Whiskered Screech-Owl that never appeared.