Navajo County: strange thrasher, etc.

11/23/08
This morning at my family's place in Heber we had a SLATE-COLORED JUNCO coming to our fountain. The other three wintering forms of Dark-eyed Junco were in the yard too (Oregon, Pink-sided, Gray-headed). We also had an obscene number of starlings (~15!). Eurasian Collared-Doves are becoming more common here, with 7+ in the yard. Yesterday (11/22) my parents saw an adult BALD EAGLE soaring over our yard.

At Zeniff Rd. (north-south route between SR377 and SR277 near Dry Lake and Snowflake pulp mill), my mother and I had a few good birds:
Red-tailed Hawk (1)
American Kestrel (1)
Mourning Dove
Northern Flicker (5+, including 1 YELLOW-SHAFTED [or intergrade--did not get a look at its face, only saw color of wings])
Say's Phoebe (1)
Loggerhead Shrike (2)
Common Raven
Horned Lark (300+--swarms going across the valley)
Western Bluebird
Mountain Bluebird
*thrasher sp. (see below)
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Western Meadowlark
AMERICAN GOLDFINCH (40+)
Pine Siskin (15+--it seemed a little odd to see them in an agricultural setting; they were feeding on sunflower stalks with the goldfinches)
House Finch

*While birding the ag. fields and rows of poplars lining the fields, we saw a thrasher fly up to the top of a juniper across from the fields. After a while it then flew into the poplars before taking off across the field. The bird had the plumage of a Sage Thrasher, but its bill was extremely curved (i.e. Crissal curved). I have posted a few photos below. Is the bill on this bird the result of a birth defect or would it be even remotely possible that it could be some sort of hybrid? I'm really not sure what to make of this one. Its overall shape/size seemed slightly larger than a typical Sage (more like one of the other thrasher spp.). Its behavior seemed more like a Sage though, with it being more out in the open perched on top of a juniper.

Any thoughts???

At the wastewater ponds along Golf Course Rd. in Holbrook we saw the following birds:
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Bufflehead (1 female)
COMMON GOLDENEYE (3 females--our FOS)
American Coot
Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher (1)

At the reservoir behind Hidden Cove Golf Course in Holbrook (at the end of Golf Course Rd.), we saw:
Eared Grebe (6+)
Mallard
Green-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
American Wigeon
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Ruddy Duck
Red-tailed Hawk
American Coot
Say's Phoebe (2)
Loggerhead Shrike (2)
Bewick's Wren (2)
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow

At the tree farm next to the reservoir, we saw:
falcon sp. (1)
[Greater Roadrunner "X" shaped tracks on the road]
Bewick's Wren (1)
Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher (2)
American Pipit (2+)
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Western Meadowlark

It seems like its getting a little late for the gnatcatchers to still be around in northern AZ, but then again this fall has had pretty mild temperatures up here.

Good birding!!!
Eric Hough
erh36@nau.edu

Another shot of the freak thrasher:

One more shot of the odd thrasher: