Phoenix Zoo

On the way from the Botanical Gradens to the airport, we stopped in at Papago Park to check out the large pond at the entrance to Phoenix Zoo. There were a lot fewer water birds than I had hoped, but we still spent a pleasant hour lazing by the water.

One of the nice things about the site was that the birds were very used to people and so many of them came right up to where we were. This enabled me to get some close photos of Ring-necked Ducks ...

and this Northern Shoveler.

Non-water birds were scarce - after all, it was now early afternoon. However, I spotted a Common Yellowthroat, a Gila Woodpecker, a couple of Cactus Wrens and, of course, many Great-tailed Grackles and House Sparrows.

This Black Phoebe, catching flies from a nearby branch, was our goodbye bird.

So that was our winter trip west. It provided some good birding, even though I missed some birds I'd really hoped to see, such as Burrowing Owls in Oakland and Phainopepla in Phoenix. As well as the Long-eared Owl lifer, the trip added 38 birds to my year list, taking the latter to 129 species.

California: American Wigeon, Northern Shoveler, Greater Scaup, Surf Scoter, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Ruddy Duck, Horned Grebe, Western Grebe, Clark’s Grebe, Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, Willet, Least Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitcher, Western Gull, Herring Gull, Western Meadowlark, Brown Pelican, Golden-crowned Sparrow

Arizona: Canada Goose, Common Merganser, Ring-necked Duck, Black-crowned Night Heron, Gambel’s Quail, Greater Roadrunner, Anna’s Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Black Phoebe, Verdin, Cactus Wren, Curve-billed Thrasher, Abert’s Towhee, Black-throated Sparrow, Gila Woodpecker, Rock Wren, Lesser Goldfinch, Common Yellowthroat