White Mountains

I spent a few days with Melanie, my ex-wife, and her dog Katie, attending a dog show in Pinetop. While I was there I managed quite a bit of birding and had a few nice highlights.

June 3rd:
On the way north we stopped at The Shores by the Gila River just north of Globe. This is an excellent piece of riparian habitat. Melanie spotted this rather swish Black-necked Gartersnake. We arrived in Lakeside-Pinetop and took a trip to nearby Jacques Marsh, a man-made wetland full of wildlife. I saw my first ever Muskrat amongst other interesting things.

June 5th:
I took off early and tried my luck with Dusky Grouse at Green’s Peak. This mountain top stands at 10,133 feet and despite being over 90F in Pinetop, there were still a couple of patches of snow lingering in shaded places. The weather was very pleasant though and I had a great morning. I couldn’t find any grouse but the consolation prize was just as good – a fine American Three-toed Woodpecker which gave me great views just below the summit. I explored South Fork and headed to Greer to look for American Dipper. Unfortunately I had unwittingly chosen “Greer Day 2010” which drew a significant crowd. I couldn’t find a stretch of river that didn’t have people paddling around in. I don’t know where the dippers were but they stayed hidden, not surprisingly.

June 6th:
I hung around Lake of the Woods in Pinetop and got some decent photos of Cordilleran Flycatcher. Ospreys were catching fish and Mountain Chickadees had newly fledged young. I tried Jacques Marsh again later but it was very hot and nothing much was moving.

June 7th:
Melanie and I walked Katie around the Big Springs Environmental Area which is a gorgeous mix of spring-fed marsh, open meadow and pine forest. The Mallards, American Coots and Pied-billed Grebe all had young, and the Yellow-headed Blackbirds were dazzling. On the way back to Tucson we stopped at Jones Water, another really top notch stretch of easily-accessible roadside riparian habitat which supported a huge variety of birds, including Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Indigo Bunting, Yellow-breasted Chat, Bushtit and much more. A great way to end the trip!