Big Lake is one of many lakes in the White Mountains of Arizona. It is a high altitude region and is most likely unaccessible in winter due to snow and rough roads. Content and images originally posted by robertmortensen
Reviews
robertmortensen's review
I took my young family for an overnight camping trip and birding took a lower priority. But I kept my binoculars and field guide with me at all times and I pulled the car over more than my family enjoyed. I was able to identify the following:
1. Double-crested Cormorant 2. Great Blue Heron 3. Gadwall (females) this is just a "probably" because they were hens. The white secondaries were visible, but no males around to confirm. 4. Common Merganser 5. Turkey Vulture 6. Red-tailed Hawk 7. Osprey 8. American Kestrel 9. American Coot 10. Gulls (in flight, so unable to specify, but based on geography and habitat, probably ring-billed) 11. Rock Dove 12. Mourning Dove 13. Black-chinned Hummingbird 14. Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Lifer for me! Noticeably larger than the other hummingbirds. I saw this one at the feeder right outside the park ranger's trailer. The Broad-tailed loved to chase off the black-chinned.) 15. Northern Flicker (red-shafted) 16. Hairy Woodpecker (lots of them all over camp) 17. Say's Phoebe 18. Kingbird (Cassin's or Western...didn't have a long enough look. Leaning towards Cassin's because of a darker gray head) 19. Stellar's Jay (regular visitor to our camp. Very beautiful color of blue!) 20. American Crow 21. Common Raven 22. Swallows (in flight, but leaning toward Barn Swallow due to buffy underparts) 23. Western Bluebird (lots of them...very pretty!) 24. American Robin 25. Northern Mockingbird 26. Northern Cardinal 27. Eastern Meadowlark (I got to spend a lot of time looking at this one. I was able to positively differentiate it from the Western. The Eastern is common to this area at this time of year. This guy had very striking strips on his crown and when he flew his tail was almost completely white. This was a lifer for me too!) 28. Brewer's Blackbird
The checklist for the Apache-Sitegreaves National Forest has a lot of species listed. These forests cover a lot of territory and has a huge range of altitude. Perhaps another season (and more focus on my part) would yield better results.
Pros
- Beautiful location!
Cons
- A lot of driving
- unless you're from the area
