Grand Canyon - 28.8.15

 

Cedar Waxwing

 

Western Tanager

 

Western Wood Peewee

 

 

California Condor

 

A few of the group chose to get up at silly o'clock and walk part way down into the canyon but the 2 of us opted for a more leisurely day. We got dropped off at the visitor centre and as soon as we turned the corner a small group of birds took flight and landed in a small tree. I lifted my bins and there in front of me were 8 Cedar Waxwing! Always a great start to the day. We then caught the shuttle bus up to the start of the southern rim walk. The walk was about 3 miles to where we wanted to go and of course during the walk I had one or two looks at the birdlife! 2 Pink-Sided Junco got things rolling along with 4 Western Scrub Jay and 2 Pygmy Nuthatch. I then saw a movement ahead of me and out popped a BEWICK'S WREN. 3 more Zone-Tailed Hawk circled over before a Hairy Woodpecker called loudly from the other side of the road. As I was watching 3 Bushtit and a female Black-Chinned Humming bird I was alerted to some hirundines overhead and after a few seconds I picked up 6 VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW as they headed west along the south rim. We carried on our walk and I noted the following along the way. Mountain Chickadee, 6 Western Bluebird, Juniper Titmouse and a White-Breasted Nuthatch. We then arrived at Hopi Point where a couple of years earlier my mum had been lucky enough to have a California Condor fly over. So with this info I put my bag in the shade and waited. I then waited some more until 3 hours had passed! The wait wasn't too bad as in that time I had seen a female Western Tanager, Rock Wren, 10 White-Throated Swift, Red-Breasted Nuthatch, Northern Flicker and 2 WESTERN WOOD PEEWEE. With no sign of any condors we headed back to the visitor centre. I had wanted to go to the condor talk by a ranger but after spending so long not seeing one I just wanted to head back to the hotel. Plus we couldn't find where the talk was! We got off the shuttle bus and bumped into two of the group who were going to the talk and thy showed us on the map where it was. Right where we had just left! With this we joined them and arrived just after it had started. About 5 minutes in a lady asked do condors fly that high? I looked round to see an enormous bird of prey flying in towards us! I stood up and got it in my bins and shouted It Is A Condor!! Surprisingly only a few people got up to watch it but then it swung round out of view behind a building. While watching it the ranger said as you're up you can help me out. She gave me the end of a tape measure and pulled it to show how big the wingspan was while I had my bins in the other hand trying watch the bird. According to Phillip from our group it was hilarious to watch! We settled back to the talk but just then the bird returned in front of us circled and landed on a rock just off from where we were sat. I and a few others then gave up on the talk and took in the view of this ugly giant! My first CALIFORNIA CONDOR. A couple of mammal ticks were seen too with Mountain Longhorn and a cracking male Elk on the drive out.

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!!

Horeshoe Bend To Monument Valley - 26.8.15

Horseshoe Bend

 

We started off the day at the spectacular Horseshoe Bend. Whilst taking in the view I also picked up a Rock Wren, Loggerhead Shrike, 4 Turkey Vulture and a Peregrine.

 

White-Breasted Nuthatch

 

The next stop was the Navajo Monument reserve and its amazing caves. We didn't have too long here so we quickly walked the length of the boardwalk out to view across a valley. There built into a large cave/hole in the side of the cliff face were a number of dirt built buildings which the Navajo tribe used to live in. After taking in the views Carey headed off for the loo and to eat her lunch while I took a slow walk back to see what birds were around! The first birds I came across reminded me of our Long-Tailed Tit in the way a small group would move while constantly calling. But our here they were a group of 6 BUSHTIT! I watched them till they flew off and quickly got onto a showy White-Headed Nuthatch. A bit further along the path 2 hummingbirds flew by chasing each other. Thankfully they stopped long enough for me to get a look at them through the bins and ID them as my first BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD.

A fuel stop in the town of Kayenta allowed a leg stretch and got me another lifer when a BAND-TAILED PIGEON flew in and landed on a fence post.

The Storm!

 

Rainbow!

 

 

 

Don't try to do a panoramic photo when a car drives past!

 

 

 

 

Traditional Dance Before Dinner

 

Our destination for today was Monument Valley and dinner with the Navajos. All was going well until we were about 20 miles from the visitor centre when I noticed in the distance a ominous storm cloud! As the miles passed the storm grew bigger and grew closer to us! We arrived and parked up and coming right for us was a huge thunderstorm that had all the hallmarks of a tornado producing storm cell! It had a shelf cloud at the front and a wall cloud at the back but unfortunately it didn't produce the hoped for tornado which would have been another box ticked on my bucket list! In the end it just chucked it down with rain as we were having a look around the gift shop! It did however produce a lovely rainbow which angled itself perfectly with one of the monuments. This storm was one of many to hit us that day and typically for us our dinner was in the middle of nowhere only reached by another open top metal box truck! Again we got wet and were waiting to be hit by a bolt of lightning but by the time we arrived at an amazing cavern with a hole in the roof and our guide gave us a traditional song it had dried up and a great evening was had by all including a delicious Taco!

Bryce To Lake Powell + Antelope Canyon - 25.8.15

The Ex-MacGillivray's Warbler

 

After a good sleep and not so good breakfast we got our bags and walked outside to the van. While waiting for the others I walked over to view the small lake opposite the hotel but all I could find on it were 10 American Coot! I wandered back to the van and still waiting for the stragglers I looked over to something on the ground under one of the hotel windows. On closer inspection I found it was a MacGillivray's Warbler! I was seriously tempted to sneak it on board and attempt to get it home as it'd be a great addition to my small stuffed birds collection! Unfortunately we had a few more days to go and without any kind of refrigeration it would have started to smell! Such a shame as it's the only one of its species I've seen!

We were on the road again and as we passed through the town of Muddy Creek I looked out the window and there in a grassy field were 7 WILD TURKEY! I was hoping to see them but wasn't holding out much hope!

Barn Used In Outlaw Jose Wales!

 

 Our first stop was in Kanab,UT where we were dropped off to look around a film set prop collection shop as the driver went to get fuel. Here I had a Hairy Woodpecker fly in and land on a telegraph pole and a House Finch.

Lake Powell

 

Praying Mantis

 

We eventually arrived at Lake Powell which is a man made lake used for the creation of electricity through a rather large dam. The coastline of the lake is longer than the coast of both east and west coasts of USA put together! But before that we stopped off for lunch and as I came out of the loo I nearly trod on a Praying Mantis! After rescuing it out of the way I realised it'd have been kinder to tread on it as its head was hanging off most likely the after effects of mating with a female? This was the first one I'd come across. Bird wise 7 Mourning Dove and 15 Great-Tailed Grackle was the total and on this enormous lake all I could muster up were 3 Mallard!

Antelope Canyon

 

Either the face of a Lion or turn your head to the left and see a Heart!

 

After a few people had had a swim in the lake we set off for Antelope Canyon. Before our journey there we watched a native Indian doing a hoop dance which was pretty impressive albeit in a dis-used fuel station! We then climbed aboard our open top, metal framed tour truck and headed towards the canyon. It was reached by driving up a dried up river bed which kicked up a bit of sand. Luckily we had been warned and were all wearing rather fetching bandanas over our faces! Another guide then lead us through the sandstone canyon that over the years had been sculpted into amazing shapes by wind and water erosion. Every now and then we stopped as she told us to look at this bit here as it was the shape of something ranging from a person to one of the monuments in monument valley. At one stop she showed us a pile of sand that was about 4ft high. Apparently that's where the floor was 3 weeks previously but after a flash flood 4ft of sand was washed out! She insisted that we'd be fine so long as it didn't rain. Walking on a bit further we came across a GREAT HORNED OWL. They breed in the canyon and we saw at least 3 empty nests. That was a nice surprise! We reached the far end of the canyon and were confronted by dark grey skies and thunder and lightning! After the mention of flash floods we beat a hasty retreat back to the van but no sooner had we set off the wind picked up to gale force and the rain fell. Stopping to open and lock the main gate was a bit hairy as the sand we had kicked up from the van was now racing towards us faster than we could drive! We made it out onto the main road to see we were surrounded by storms of both rain and sand. After a worrying drive in what was basically an open metal cage we arrived back to the companies base and went next door for dinner covered in sand! Slightly scary but strangely fun at the same time! And after watching the you tube videos we were told about regarding the flash flooding I certainly wouldn't want to have been there if it happened!

Zion NP + Bryce Canyon - 24.8.15

Black-Chinned Hummingbird

 

Before we left we had to go and get some food for the day and luckily for me the shop next to the food store had 3 hummingbird feeders. Even better was the fact that at least 5 Black-Chinned Hummingbirds were busily feeding including a stunning male. We were soon on the road again and at a quick stop near the exit of the park I jammed in on a SPOTTED TOWHEE as it flew over and landed in a bush and even had a brief sing! 3 Killdeer and a Magpie were the highlights from the van before we hit Bryce. Another quick loo stop produced 2 Turkey Vulture, Great Blue Heron, Clark's Nutcracker and 2 male American Kestrel along with another Coyote.

 

Utah Prairie Dog

 

 

Pygmy Nuthatch

 

 

Hoodoos

 

Chipmunk

 

 

On entering Bryce Canyon we briefly pulled over to get a look at a couple of rare Utah Prairie Dogs doing what they do best. Being nosey! We parked up and went to get our first look over the canyon and the breath taking Hoodoos. The amazing pillars of orangey red rocks of different shapes and sizes were quite something. Zooming past the viewpoint was a White-Throated Swift but it was soon time again to make a choice of which walk we wanted to do as some of the group had chosen to go horseback riding. As I'm allergic to horses I wandered off and quickly found 4 Western Bluebird, American Robin, 3 House Finch, 3 Clark's Nutcracker, 2 Audubon's Warbler, Mountain Chickadee and a Crossbill. Once they had set off the rest of us decided to stick together and do the moderate walk but no sooner had we started we had lost of the group but despite heading back to look for her there was no sign and then to make matters worse a thunderstorm hit as we were heading down the sloped path making it a bit slippery. Thankfully it soon stopped and dried out and out popped the birds including a lovely couple of WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, a juvenile Rock Nuthatch and the first of 12 PYGMY NUTHATCH. After the walk we sat down and cooled off and I noted Red-Breasted Nuthatch, Red-Tailed Hawk and my first ever Pink-Sided race of Slate-Coloured Junco.

Zion NP - 23.8.15

Large Wasp sp

 

Waterfall (honestly!)

 

Juvenile Western Bluebird

 

Male Lesser Goldfinch

 

Chipping Sparrow

 

Today was another hot one as parts of the park were very secluded and in direct sun. It was also pretty quiet bird wise. 2 Steller's Jay let the world know they were there with their raucous call. Soon after I came across a couple of Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher. These were followed by the first lifer of the day when I picked out a movement at the top of a small tree and out popped 2 JUNIPER TITMOUSE. After visiting the emerald pools and seeing a small Canyon Tree Frog we needed cooling down with a large ice cream at the visitor centre! Whilst eating it I picked up a couple of lifers in the shape of 3 WESTERN BLUEBIRD and 4+ CHIPPING SPARROW. Once I'd finished eating I went for a closer look and managed a couple of pics and it was while getting the photos 2 small finches flew down close by and I was pleased to see a pair of LESSER GOLDFINCH. 6+ White-Throated Swift were at the very top of one the cliffs and as I'd noticed on the drive into the park a couple of hummingbird feeders I decided to walk back to the lodgings. This was a good idea as on one of the feeders I found 3 female/juv BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD!