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SCHOLARSHIP REPORTS 2005

2005 ABA Young Birder Track Report (Tucson, AZ)

20-22 July 2005

By Kai Reed, age 14

This summer, I was able to attend the first Young Birders' Track ever held within the main ABA convention in Tucson, Arizona. This event was a great program that let young birders meet each other, and establish friendships that may last for the rest of our lives. It is not only the young birders that we meet, but also many of our role models are there, and are happy to teach us more about the birds that we love.

Once again, the ABA put together an amazing group of leaders that would take us birding during the three-day event. Their expertise would help us to see many of the southeastern Arizona specialties. To top it off, they threw in a couple of identification workshops to help us identify the birds that we would see in the field. These factors made this convention one of my most memorable birding experiences.

Painted Bunting. Photo by Kai Reed.

On the first day, we went down a long, extremely bumpy dirt road to California Gulch, home to one of the most northern breeding pairs of Five-striped Sparrows. Also in the gulch were Gray Hawk, Painted and Varied Bunting, Purple Martin, and Blue Grosbeak, to name a few. Here we were encouraged by Louise Zemaitis, and Michael O'Brien (our two leaders) to take notes on the birds that we saw. We not only watched birds, but also observed many species of butterflies and reptiles. Even though the temperatures climbed to over one hundred degrees, it was still a very enjoyable day. On the way back to the hotel, we saw that we were not the only ones seeking relief from the afternoon heat – a Greater Roadrunner was hiding under a small shrub to stay out of the sun!

On day two, we went to Mount Lemmon. We were accompanied by Steve Howell and Jon Dunn, making it four leaders for ten kids! Because of the elevation, Mount Lemmon was a nice break from the sweltering heat of the desert, and also a change in habitat. Up at this elevation was coniferous forest instead of mesquite. The birds were also completely different. Some of the highlights were Olive and Red-faced Warbler, Yellow-eyed Junco, and Band-tailed Pigeon. At one point in the day, we came upon a group of warblers calling angrily. Our first thought was that an owl was in the area, but we were unable to locate one. Even so, we were able to get amazing looks at male Red-faced Warblers. On the way up the mountain, we observed many clouds of flying ants. We hoped that if we stood around long enough, we would see birds feasting on the ants. Unfortunately, we were not treated to this spectacle, but were forced to be happy with looking through the scope at ants, and marveling at their sheer numbers.

After this trip, we returned to our hotel, and were treated to two great workshops by Jon Dunn, Louise Zemaitis, and Michael O'Brien. Jon Dunn taught a workshop on the identification of North American flycatchers. This would come in very handy, for some of the flycatchers of Arizona are quite confusing. Louise Zemaitis and Michael O'Brien's workshop was on field sketching and observation. We drew birds from slides, drew up mock field observation pages, and discussed observation techniques.

"Berylificient" Hummingbird. Photo by Kai Reed.

The last trip, and my personal favorite, was the trip to the Huachuca Mountains. Here we visited Carr and Miller Canyons. At Carr, we observed the elusive Buff-breasted Flycatcher feeding in the tall pines. We also saw and heard a Greater Pewee, Grace's Warbler, and Black-throated Gray Warbler. On the way up, we were treated to a Blue-throated Hummingbird that was attracted to our van's brake lights. It would alternate between hovering in front of the lights and flying back to the edge of the wood, from where we could study it quite closely. After Carr, we headed to Miller Canyon to see some hummingbirds. We were lucky enough to see ten species including White-eared, Calliope, Magnificent, and the rare Magnificent × Berylline hybrid. While we were here, we were able to study most of the species, and learn to separate them from one another.

As we were leaving, we observed the non-avian highlight of the trip, two Black-tailed Rattlesnakes, fighting! The fight was more of a dance then a fight. It started with the two snakes winding around each other, in an effort to size each other up, to see if the fight would be worth the effort. Then they would try to pin their opponent to the ground. We watched for about twenty minutes, before the loser sulked away into the underbrush.

Finally, I would like to thank the American Birding Association for making this experience possible. If it was not for the ABA's generous scholarship, I probably would not have been able to attend this year's Convention. I would also like to thank the ABA for giving young birders like me such great opportunities to learn about birds, and to meet other birders the same age as me. Where I live, young birders are few and far between, I only know of three, and I hardly ever bird with them, so it is nice to bird with someone that is not three times my age. So once again, I would like to thank the ABA for being so instrumental in fanning the flames in young talent, because one day we will be the ones who are leading the trips, and running the projects, and we will have you to thank for it.

These young birders attended the camps/events they report on with the help of ABA scholarships.