Grand Canyon - 27.8.15

 

 

What a view!

 

We left our hotel in Kayenta and made our way to the Grand Canyon. The first bird of the day was a Loggerhead Shrike on a roadside fence post. The second Loggerhead Shrike was again by the side of the road near Tuba City. Things got a bit exciting just after we passed the town of Tonalea when I picked up a large raptor thermalling over an area of wasteland. Even before I'd lifted my bins it turned and with the sun on it a large white tail beamed out towards me. Once I'd got the bins on it it only confirmed my suspicions that it was indeed an adult BALD EAGLE! It was only then that I thought what the hell is a fish eating bird doing nowhere near water! A bit later I managed to get onto some Wifi and on checking google maps I found a small lake near where the bird was. A little while later a pit stop near Page saw just one bird make the notebook but what a bird it was! Sat on a fence post was a BENDIRE'S THRASHER! Unfortunately as soon as I got onto it it flew to a shrub and promptly disappeared. Why don't we get good birds like this on fence posts back home! The last stop before the canyon was in Cameron where 5 Great-Tailed Grackle were in the car park of the tacky souvenir shop!

Mountain Chickadee

 

 

After I popped the question!

 

After what seemed like ages we arrived at the Grand Canyon. We parked up and got our first look out over the huge hole in the planet. Certainly breath taking. The birds started being noted with an adult Green-Tailed Towhee, 6 Mountain Chickadee, Red-Tailed Hawk, 15+ Turkey Vulture, 4 Western Scrub Jay, White-Breasted Nuthatch, 2 hummingbird sp, Juvenile Yellow-Headed Blackbird and the highlight a cracking ZONE-TAILED HAWK. We then went to nearby Tusayan to get a take away pizza. While waiting for it to cook I saw 2 Pygmy Nuthatch and 4 Western Bluebird outside our hotel. We then took out pizza back to the canyon and ate it watching the sun go down. As the sun set I proposed to Carey and thankfully she said yes!!