2024’s Top Ten
March 14—Finally, after several fruitless trips over the years specifically for this species, I saw and photographed a male Ruffed Grouse in Minnesota’s legendary Sax-Zim Bog. It was my first photographs ever of this relatively common bird, a true nemesis despite several lifetime sightings.
April 10—Just as I noticed a male American Kestrel plucking some hapless small bird atop a Giant Saguaro, I glimpsed another bird flying into the scene. As I held the shutter button down, the male mantled its prey and a female kestrel swooped in, talons extended, trying to steal breakfast. Three birds in one frame, always lucky.
May 10—Coming around a large Creosote bush on the Tonto, I was stunned to find the Greater Roadrunner I was trying to follow locked into combat with a beautiful California King Snake. It took half an hour from the initial capture to down-the-hatch as my head exploded and the camera rolled, the scene only twenty yards in front of me.
May 25—A pair of Gila Woodpeckers nested in our driveway Giant Saguaro for only the second time in twenty years. It was great fun watching and documenting the parents bringing insects and fruit to the nestlings over a period of several weeks.
June 12—Good research led to timing a trip to central Michigan just right to find two nesting pairs of Kirtland’s Warblers, well into the species’ two decade comeback from near extinction. Recency bias says this may be the most beautiful of our warblers.
August 24—A Lucy’s Warbler drinking at our front fountain proved to be not only the first but, ultimately, our only new yard bird for 2024. Certainly not as exciting or as beautiful as Kirtland’s, but welcome none the less for its unusual, cavity nesting lifestyle.
September 11—I was able to photograph the first Northern Waterthrush, a migrant of course, that I had seen since slide film days, though oddly enough I have had many opportunities over the years for Louisiana Waterthrush, both in state and out of state.
October 3—Merlin has long been one of my least photographed raptors so I was ecstatic when a friend told me about one on the Salt River, and it became an “appointment” bird, showing up on the same snag at the same time for a week. This became my third signature photo experience of the year, documenting it catching dragonflies on the wing, then devouring them so close they were identifiable to species.
October 10—This was the first time I found the Yellow-throated Warbler that famously hung out in a Scottsdale city park for several days. It was not the first I had recorded for Arizona, but I captured better images than I had of it in its Eastern range.
October 15—Like many birders I was delighted for the opportunity to see the Yellow Grosbeak which spent several days at Boyce Thompson Arboretum, an immature bird apparently in post-breeding season dispersal. For me this Lifer closed out another year of spectacular birding with many unique and unexpected photo ops.
Memories, of great birds, great friends, and great experiences, are the currency of a birding life. Certainly this annual look back is the easiest and most fun column I write every year. I wish all of you a wonderful birding 2025. For me it will be difficult to top 2024, but know that I’m looking forward to trying.