thebirderspost

Wednesday, February 19th:  Bill worked most of the day until he was ready to send off what he’d done.  We drove to the store to find a sign which said “NO WIFI”!!!  We were shocked!  When we asked at the store, the man said someone had downloaded something inappropriate and they were being sued because of it, and the WiFi would turned off indefinitely!!  There is no cell phone coverage in this area, although some are able to find a hot spot about 5 miles up the road (not us) otherwise it’s about an hour and a half away!  This makes communication through WiFi nearly an essential.  So we planned to go into town in the morning to send off his work.  In the morning we stopped at the store first and saw the signs were gone – and sure enough WiFi was back!  Whew! So we took a little drive to the main junction to see if we would have cell phone service – NO, so it will be nearly a 4-hr round trip to place or receive phone calls!  We are however, pretty glad to have our WiFi back. Friday we set out for the SW part of the park to see Santa Elena canyon.  We noticed how many wildflowers are in bloom.  None of the prickly pear cacti yet, but there are lots of yuccas blooming, which must promise excellent nutrients for birds and insects.  Also along the side of the road are lupins, in bunches, starting and stopping, everywhere we drive. The Ocotill0 are coming into bloom and we know it heralds the arrival of hummingbirds (and butterflies), which thrive on its nectar.  For most of the year they look like gray sticks stuck into the ground (very prickly also), but come spring they bloom with reddish flowers, which turn yellow as they age.  Sometimes, if conditions are right, all the stems are covered in little green leaves from top to bottom – haven’t seen any of those this year. We also saw a small family of javelinas (also called collared peccaries), assumedly mom, pop and kid.  Too fast for a photo.  Found a Great Horned Owl in a tree in one of the campgrounds, but didn’t want to disturb it for a photo.. Our most exciting bird of the day was a covey of about 20 Scaled Quail.  We photographed them 2 yrs ago in TX, but nice to see them again (too fast for a photo this year).  For anyone who hasn’t seen one, here’s a photo taken off the web: The scenery is beautiful in the Chisos Mtns, and I especially liked the mule’s ears formation. Here are the mountains, then Santa Elena Canyon.  Apparently when they first discovered the canyon it in the early 1900’s, rangers sent an unmanned boat down the river to see how it would come out – all there was left were splinters at the end.  They did eventually travel down on rafts several years later, but had to do a portage at a rock slide.  Saturday we went into town to get groceries – a 2 hour drive.  I was able to phone Mom, which made me pretty happy.  I feel sort of cut off from civilization what with no phone coverage – and limited WiFi.  We saw a couple more groups of javelina’s (first 8 then 2) along the road today. Sunday we joined the organized birding walk a few hundred yards down the road from our campground.  We didn’t stay with them as it was for beginning birders.   Bill finally got a shot of the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and I had to add this Pyrrhuloxia because it was such a great “action” shot. We also got a chance to photograph a Rock Wren – it blends so well into its environment – in both rocks and grassland. We did, however, ask the ranger “Cookie” a couple of questions and told her about the Gray Catbird we saw in the bushes – as well as the Black-throated Gray Warbler.  As we were leaving she came hurrying over to tell us she had just heard the Gray Hawk!  We re-parked, got out and heard it also!  We will come back down and I’m sure find it before we leave.  One of her participants had also found a Verdin Nest.  We’ve never seen one before.  It’s an egg-shaped object about 5″ long, with a hole in one end and a little overhang over the hole.  If you stick your finger in the hole, there’s a little lip before the softly-lined interior can be felt.  Ingenious! Here’s the Black-throated Gray Warbler – just a record shot (showing his throat). Last bird of the day was an Inca Dove, which was roosting in a tree.  Can’t resist these pretties! A full day outing Monday to travel the east river road.  Stopped first at the hot springs to see what birds would be around.  Lots of Rock Wrens singing – must be several pairs in the area.  Found some lovely lily-like flowers with many stamens – couldn’t find out what they were on google (not knowledgeable enough I guess). Found a Black Phoebe which had adopted a ruined Cliff Swallow nest near the river. Well, we won’t do that trip again – what a road!  It’s only 1-lane (if you can call it a lane), rough gravel with washes every mile or so.  Took all Bill’s patience to drive that road all day!  It was however, wonderful to see the desert in bloom like this.  Carpeted in flowers – short cream ones, taller white ones (that start out pinky-mauve and smell slightly like wolf willow, sweet and spicy), small and large yellow composites (daisy-like flowers), blue lupins, small purple and bright pink flowers.  Although it’s called the “river road” it only touches the river in a couple of places. The only new birds for the area were a Phainopepla, which we hadn’t seen for quite awhile (we love ’em) and a Western Bluebird.  Here are a few shots along the way. Tuesday was a work day for Bill – plus laundry for me.  The weather is changing from always being in the high 20’s to low 30’s to about 16C for a high and scattered showers.  Not only that, it rained overnight and the wind howled!  When we went in to send Bill’s work, the WiFi was down again.  Being so isolated isn’t fun and we’re feeling withdrawal symptoms.  We plan to leave tomorrow for Alpine (for a couple of days), then on to Carlsbad. Later in the day it warmed up, the clouds broke apart and the wind died down.  We went for a last little walk where the cottonwoods meet the river and the desert.  We saw an unusual menage a trios:  Turkey Vulture with 2 Chihuahuan Ravens! (Couldn’t get all 3 at once in the photo, so 2 separate).   All the birds are enjoying the break in the weather for a last ditch search for food before roosting for the night.  Here also is a line of White-winged Doves roosting. Since Bill went to the trouble of compiling a list for the park, here it is (only birders will want to look!): 1. Pied-billedGreme 2. Great  blue Heron 3. Mallard 4. American Kestrel 5. Northern Harrier 6. Greater Roadrunner 7. Mourning Dove 8. White-winged Dove 9. Eurasian Collared Dove 10. AmericanCoot 11. Green Kingfisher 12. Golden-fronted Woodpecker 13. Ladder-backed Woodpecker 14. Northern Flicker 15. Western Wood Pewee 16. Says Phoebe 17. Eastern Phoebe 18. Vermillion Flycatcher 19. Ash-throated Flycatcher 20. Loggerhead Shrike 21. Common Raven 22. Chihuahuan Raven 23. Northern Rough-winged Swallow 24. Bushtit 25. Verden 26. Curve-billedThrasher 27. Black-throated Sparrow 28. Brewer’s Sparrow 29. Baird’s Sparrow 30. White-crowned Sparrow (of course) 31. Lincoln Sparrow 32. Song Sparrow 33. Scaled Quail 34. Golden Eagle 35. Great-horned Owl 36. Phainopepla 37. Dark-eyed Junco 38. House Sparrow 39. Western Meaddowlark 40. Red-winged Blackbird 41. Common Grackle 42. Great-tailed Grackle 43. House Finch 44. Lesser Goldfinch 45. CommonYellowthroat 45. Marsh Wren 46. Cactus Wren 47. Rock Wren 48. Canyon Wren 49. Ruby-crowned Kinglet 50. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 51. Western Bluebird 51. American Robin 52. American Pipit 53. Yellow-Rumped Warbler 54. Orange-crowned Warbler 55. Black-throated Gray Warbler 56. Northern Cardinal 57. Pyrrhuloxia 58. Painted Bunting (female only) 59. Canyon Towhee 60. Inca Dove 61. Gray Hawk 62. Gray Catbirrd 63. Turkey Vulture 64. Red-tailed Hawk 65. Black Phoebe Tomorrow on to the Davis Mountains to look, once again, for a Montezuma Quail!  Cross fingers!

Yup – here we are in TX!  Drove all day Thursday – a little further than we planned (which was to stop in Van Horn).  Alpine is a bigger town with a better grocery store (population 6000 compared to 2000 in Van Horn). We stayed here 2 years ago and made a couple of trips to Big Bend – hence the reason we wanted to return!  There are no groceries in Big Bend, so a week’s worth is needed.

The Lost Alaskan RV Resort in Alpine is almost full – different than we’ve experienced so far in our trip.  Temp’s in the mid 20’s for highs, rather than low 20’s.  Decided to stay 2 days here because (3 guesses) – Bill has more work!  WiFi is a bit limited in Big Bend and no phone service (well, a 5-mile trip down the road).  So got all done he can then on to BB Saturday.

Temp yesterday was 28 C for a high – today 29 but here we are in the campground for 2 weeks!  We arrived into this new campground beside the Rio Grande River – to towering cliffs, trees not only in bud, but leaves grown about half size and temps 30C!  First bird we saw was a Vermillion Flycatcher right across from our campsite.  (I think you all have seen enough photos of it!)

We walked the Nature Trail as soon as we were settled because we were excited to be here and hoping to see a new bird or 2.  Matter of fact, we found 2 new birds right away:  Green Kingfisher and Northern Rough-winged Swallow.  What an awe inspiring location – we love it!

Before any birds, we saw fish in the water.  Bill identifies them as perch.

There were lots of snapping turtles on any protrusion above the water.

When we walked up above the river into the hills, we found flowers in bloom.

Bill didn’t tell me about this story, but he was watching this Mexican cowboy across the river, trying to get his burro to come along with his horse and 2 dogs!

Back down to the river, there were a number of grackles on a snag – both Common and Great-tailed together!

Sunday we got up a bit earlier than usual to walk the nature trail because it’s going to be another scorcher – high of 40C – yikes. Thank goodness for 2 air conditioning systems in the trailer!

At the ponds, we had a beautiful view of a sleepy Great Blue Heron up in a tree.

On the way in, at the campground which doesn’t have full hookups, we found a female Greater Roadrunner.  I have no idea what she was doing all fluffed up on the post (showing off?).

There are elaborate bridges built through this watery area and we heard Common Yellowthroat singing as well as Marsh Wrens – again saw the pair of sleeping Pied-billed Grebes.  The dead logs and snags make lovely patterns on still water.

On down the road to a trail which borders the river then over to the holding ponds.  Lots of Yellow-rumped Warblers, too fast to photograph, but found another new bird for this year’s list, Golden-fronted Woodpecker.

Finally found our Eastern Phoebe (which we’d tried to find at Empire Gulch in AZ) – much easier here but no photo yet!

Also identified this Ash-throated Flycatcher – such pretty rust on its wing and buffy yellow belly!

That’s 6 new birds for the list in  2 short outings! Hooray!

Monday we headed back to the main visitor centre and noticed the “Mexican” smog hanging in the hills.  Quite attractive for such a noxious substance.

Then on to Boot Canyon to look for the Colima Warbler.  It has a range from Mexico which extends into S. TX and it nests here.  It is a 3-mile hike uphill and quite rigorous.  We decided to go part way (about a mile) to see the lay of the land and decide if we’d like to do it again at the end of our stay.  The warbler doesn’t usually show up until sometime in March and it’s mid-Felb now.  Saw some nice sights nonetheless, but no new birds.

Tuesday was a walk in Bouquillas Crossing/Canyon.  It was a beautiful morning – cool before the heat set in.  Unfortunately there was “singing man” to contend with.  Found out later, his name is Victor and they don’t have a problem with him.  However, we cut our visit short.  Not that his voice isn’t okay, just that he followed along with us – we weren’t happy.

We saw a beautiful Agave in bloom!  I didn’t think there would be any large cactus blooming, but here it is!

Also enjoyed these prickly pears with the red spines – as well as these unusual red stick-like plants with the knobs on them.

It’s a deep, narrow canyon with high cliffs.  We saw and heard a couple of Canyon Wrens singing but no photos (Bill only brought his small “scenery” camera.  We shall come again and bring one of the bird cameras.

Having such a wonderful time here – only a month and a bit to go!

Poor Billy – now with a deadline pending, he is working all day!  We arrived at Rusty’s RV Ranch Thursday, but their WiFi is pretty minimal, so working is difficultt.  Sporadic emails & iffy internet connection.  Apparently they’re “working on it” with some new equipment, etc.  Time will tell.

We were, however, welcomed by a couple of real characters – these huge farm geese – and they honk, honk, honk whenever anyone comes anywhere near them.  Hilarious.  Apparently they often sleep in the spot we’re in now which has a great view of the west side of the Chiricahua Mtns, next to a little pond.

I will be birding at the pond, since I won’t be going anywhere with Bill very soon!

Well, it was quicker than either he or I thought – Saturday afternoon we got out for a little drive into Portal to see what we could find.  We’re here about a month earlier than last year, so no Painted Redstart nor any hummingbirds.  Just the huge contingent of Acorn Woodpeckers, which they feed in a couple of spots on town.  Caught this guy looking!

Also visited Cave Creek road and took a little walk where we found  one of the beautiful brown Arizona Woodpeckers (we love ’em).  Can’t yet get a male with his red spot on the head, but even females are pretty.

Added a Red-naped Sapsucker.

It is a  beautiful canyon, surrounded by stunning rock formations.

Sunday we got a whole day out – yay!  Back to town to try to call an Elf Owl – which our friend Don had answer to a recorded call last year  – no luck however.  Here are a couple of shots of the post office & library in Portal.  It is a very tiny town (maybe a couple of hundred people?)

We are also working valiantly to find a Montezuma’s Quail.  Here is the one we see regularly above the entrance to the birder’s yard in Portal.

No more new birds at the feeders in town, so up to the top of the mountains to visit the George Davis house.  This woman has been feeding birds in her yard and compiling data for each year – for 15 years!  This is where we found a new bird for our list – Juniper Titmouse.  Just a record shot.

Further up the mountain we searched once again in vain – for a Mexican Chickadee.  No luck, but another new bird for the list – Hairy Woodpecker.

Also found a very large flocks of Wild Turkeys – just caught the tail end of them as they ran up the mountain – must’ve been over 20 of them.

We came across flocks and flocks or juncos, and the woman from the feeder house said to be sure to check them out carefully, because sometimes there is one lone Mexican Chickadee among them…alas, no luck.

Back down the mountain we stopped at another feeder yard where we got some special photos for Moe:  male Northern Cardinal, male Pyrrhuloxia and female N. Cardinal.  This will no doubt help him with future identification!

Couldn’t resist this Green-tailed Towhee – one of our favourites – as well as a shot of a Canyon Towhee displaying his breast spot.

This was a full day’s outing and we surely enjoyed it.  Tomorrow Bill will need to go over his work once again, so a bit of laundry and housecleaning.

Monday a short outing along the state line road to the pond where we saw longspurs last year.  Also checking for Bendire’s Thrasher, but no luck in either case.  It was just great to be out!  Back for more work for Bill.  Tuesday more work for Bill plus a conference call.  More laundry and cleaning (starting to sound like a broken record).  We can’t make phone calls from here (no AT&T coverage – only Verison), so Bill has had to borrow the RV phone for his calls.

Wednesday another outing before another conference call.  Up the road past Portal up Cave Creek road for a walk.  Nearly freezing this morning (high predicted 20 and sunny).  Once the sun comes up it heats up quickly and this is what it looks like from the bottom of the canyon.

It took some sun to get the birds moving!  Got a few shots, including, at last, the male Arizona Woodpecker, Red-naped Sapsucker and one of the many varieties of Dark-eyed Junco – this one with a lovely rufous back.

Here is one for Don – a quiz.  We know you will be able to do it Don!

We leave Thursday for Van Horn, TX – then on to Big Bend National Park the next day for 2 weeks.  Probably no cell phone coverage here either – and limited WiFi again!

Saturday, Feb. 1st arrived in Willcox (just 1 1/2 hours NE of where we were).  Cooler with showers in the area and windy!  Arrived around noon, set up in a mostly vacant campground, then headed off for a little birding to a couple of nearby spots (golf course was one).  We can hear cranes from our RV park and when we got to the golf course and a little birding area with ponds, we saw them high in the sky (presumably heading back to Whitewater Draw for the night).  Found a lone Snow Goose at one pond, but not much else except a few ducks.  However, the drama was all around us.

We had wish more rain would have fallen – but just a few scattered showers around the area – not the drought here that California is experiencing however.

Sunday we headed to Cochise Stronghold – an area where the famous Apache Indian Chief holed up with his men during the early 1900’s.  It is a very pretty area, and even had quite a few nice birds.  Our first chance to photograph a Greater Roadrunner, up in a tree.  Contrary to popular thinking, they can and do fly and often sit in trees or shrubs (even fenceposts).

Cochise Stronghold is located in the Dragoon Mountains which contain picturesque rock formations.

There are some great wooded areas with campgrounds and Western Bluebirds were in abundance.  Couldn’t get a really good shot, but here’s a male in a bit of shadow – followed by a Townsend’s Solidaire, mostly in shadow also.

We circled Willcox Dry Lake (which has just a couple of ponds left) and walked into one of the viewing areas, but too many heat waves to see much.  There are lots of crops grown on this flat land, irrigated by Whitewater Wash (much to our displeasure).  We looked for a Mountain Plover, but no luck.  Lots of Mourning Doves around, some flocks close to 50 or so.

After our little walk into the viewing area (where we saw absolutely nothing except deer, javelina and coyote tracks) we spied 2 of these love birds, just like at SPRA!

Back to watch the Superbowl – Denver lost – I mean an embarrassment!  Oh well, apparently Seattle is also one of Bill’s teams he roots for, so all was not lost (who knows???).

Monday off to Douglas near the Mexican border with a last stop at Whitewater Draw.  There were some interesting clouds forming in the east.

Here are the last shots from Whitewater Draw – our favourite little Vermillion Flycatcher plus a shot of the Snow Geese in the air.

On to Douglas, which turned out to be a bust – except for finding another pair of my favourite runners to take home!  Then on to Sierra Vista to pick up our envelope from Jane with our new credit cards – good they arrived before we leave for the next spot (too far away to go back).  Then a last walk at the SPRA.  We were very happy to add another new species to our list – a male Yellowthroat!  No photo however, too far away.  We also got a shot of a relatively rare bird which looks just like a Northern Flicker:  Gilded Flicker.  His head is brown and his breast patch is more oval shaped than his northern neighbour.

Here are the last 2 scenery photos from SPRA:

Here’s a shot (though Bill complained it isn’t his best work, since they didn’t stay long enough for him to get them both in focus) – I insisted, since they are the 2 sweeties which appear at the top of this blog – Inca Doves.  They are pretty small for doves, just a bit over 8″ long from beak to tail.

Tuesday we headed for Chiricahua National Monument – our favourite mountains in AZ.  A quick stop at the golf course, produced 7 Am. White Pelicans – surely a sign of spring (headed for Calgary maybe?).

It was a cold morning and we found snow as we got closer to the mountains.  Found out the road to the top would be closed until noon for the snow plow to do his work!  So we took a little walk along the creek at the bottom.  Found lots of birds  – mostly Chipping Sparrows.  Here is a tree full of them trying to get warm in the sun – then a closeup of a single individual.

On the way back we spied a bird high in a dead tree – eventually identified a Kestrel – looking right at us (probably waiting to get one of those delicious little Chipping Sparrows!)

A couple of snow shots and the a few of the interesting rock formations.

A Mourning Dove was sunning itself on a fence line – waiting for its portrait.

On the way home, we stopped again at the golf course where we found another sure sign that spring is coming!  17 Long-billed Curlews!  These are quite big birds and I think have the longest bill-to-body ratio of any other bird in NA (or close to it at least).

A Song Sparrow was glowing in the sun, so we couldn’t resist a quick shot of him.

For those who are interested, here is the list from the “path” around our last site in Sierra Vista:

1. Gambel’s Quail
2. American Kestrel
3. Merlin
4. Rock Pigeon
5. Eurasian Collared Dove
6. Mourning Dove
7. Anna’s Hummingbird
8. Gila Woodpecker
9. Ladder-backed Woodpecker
10. Loggerhead Shrike
11. Hutton’s Vireo
12. Common Raven
13. Verdin
14. Cactus Wren
15. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
16. Northern Mockingbird
17. Curve-billed Thrasher
18. Yellow-rumped Warbler
19. Canyon Towhee
20. Chipping Sparrow
21. Black-throated Sparrow
22. White-crowned Sparrow
23. Northern Cardinal
24. Pyrrhuloxia
25. Great-tailed Grackle
26. Common Grackle
27. House Finch
28. Lesser Goldfinch
29. House Sparrow
30. Lark Sparrow
31. Say’s Phoebe

On to Portal, hoping for a few more spring migrants!

Walked the north side of SPRA where we find the exact same species as on the other side, but fewer people walking around.  The usual huge array of sparrows dominates both the grassland and water’s edge.  Here are a few of them:  Vesper, Black-throated, and ?? (we have no idea what it is) and Abert’s Towhee with the little black face.

Also a flycatching Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

Here are some scenes.

We leave this area in a few days, so are trying to make the most of every place nearby.

East to Las Cienegas National Wildlife Refuge not too far from our first stop in Patagonia.  An Eastern Phoebe was reported there, which would give us the full complement of 3 types of phoebes for the trip.  It is a grassland area, very prairie-like and we saw lots of sparrows, a Horned Lark and 1 Meadowlark (not sure if eastern or western).  The only bird which posed long enough for a photo was a Loggerhead Shrike.

The scenery was wide open prairie, which we love so much.

We eventually arrived at Empire Gulch where the phoebe was reported.  It is a riparian area with large cottonwoods (like at SPRA) and we noticed that some of the trees are breaking into flower – THE FIRST BUDS OF SPRING!  We could hear bees buzzing up in the tree tops and we found a few birds we haven’t seen for awhile (no photos) like Bridled Titmouse!  We never found the phoebe, but really enjoyed the walk along the water.  Also saw a purple flowering vine which grew low to the ground – I believe it is called periwinkle.  Bill didn’t carry his camera, since it was just a short walk.

Monday we walked the usual SPRA area but found a new bird which we knew was seen there regularly, a Green Heron.

The usual huge number of sparrows showed up and we thought it might be interesting (since I think many people think they all look about the same) to show a shrub which held a giant and a midget: White-crowned and Brewer’s Sparrows.  The large one is actually on a twig behind the smaller one, so no false perspective involved here!

There are lots of Yucca’s around, which often make us look for birds among the seed pods (they look like birds, especially if there are only 1 or 2 left on the stalk).  Here is a Bewick’s Wren hidden among the pods.

We love this area and here is maybe the last photo from it.

Back to Bisbee today – and with Bill feeling 100% we stopped to photograph the town.  It was established in 1880 as a copper, gold and silver mining town.  The mine is no longer active, but mine tours are available.  Ironically, there is a yellow warning sign which reads: “SCENIC VIEW 1/2 MILE” – and here is what you see:

The old part of town, however, is extremely picturesque.

We drove on to Whitewater Draw once again, to try to find the Ruddy Ground-doves.  Another one was seen at an RV park on the way which we also visited.  No luck on either one!  However, many more cranes today.  Again, the sound of their plaintive calls echoed all around us and I thought of my friend Ann – who is no longer in this world.  I felt her presence and got a bit teary.

We spied the usual suspects here, but got a few bird shots:  Great Egret flying, Killdeer (with his little buddy the Lesser Sandpiper), immature male Vermillion Flycatcher, Loggerhead Shrike sitting nicely for his photo again and the most common sparrow we see everywhere we go – whether in campground, countryside or city – White-crowned Sparrow.

Thursday we returned to Las Cienegas hoping to find that elusive phoebe – no luck.  But we took a photo of the FIRST BUDS OF SPRING high in the trees (with the bees buzzing, etc.).

Also managed to capture one of those purple flowers on the vines which covered the ground – Big Periwinkle.

An active little Ruby-crowned Kinglet was the only bird who stayed near long enough for a photo – and we just didn’t bother with the Black or Say’s Phoebes – both of which were around and available.

A couple of shots on the way home, then that’s it for the day – and for this location!

It’s on to Willcox on Saturday, with a day of work tomorrow.

Yup my poor Billy Boy – felt he was getting a little cold early last week but by Thursday, he was flat in bed all day.  Then all day Friday and Saturday.  A terrible cough and cold had taken him down.  Then Saturday I felt like I was coming down with something – headache, stomach cramps and lethargy.  But Sunday I felt much better – thank goodness, because if the cook goes down – who knows what will happen!

On Friday I took a little walk around the path and added another species to our list – Lark Sparrow – so we now have 30 in this RV park.

Sunday – yay!  Billy Boy is up and at ’em!  He was up yesterday, but all we did was grocery shopping.  Oh, he watched the final 2 games of the NFL season, pre-SuperBowl.  His team – Denver – won its round.  He said it was a very weird game between Seattle and San Francisco – with some terrible refereeing.  He’s rooting for Denver in the Super Bowl!

Monday, we went out late in the morning for a walk.  The weather couldn’t have been more gorgeous  – no wind and high 21C.  We drove through Tombstone (a bit of a tourist mecca if you like that sort of thing – fake gunfights, etc.) then back to the SPRA further north of where we’re camped.  A short walk was all he could manage – and only 2 birds to show for it (nothing new) but it was great to be out on a day like this.  No photos.

Tuessday we just went “next door” (about a mile down the road) to SPRA for a short walk.  Bill forgot his kleenex, so while he waited on the path, I went back to the car to get it.  He photographed this little rodent while I was gone.  Not sure if it’s a yellow-nosed cotton rat, like we saw at Mary Jo’s, but it was about that size.

The number of different species of sparrows in that flat, scrub area before the river is quite remarkable – we’ve counted 16!!  Nothing new today, but it was great to be out walking in this glorious weather.  Meanwhile, back at the grounds around the centre, we saw another pair of these pretties, which we have to enter here for Moe (or Ron or Guy!):

High in one of the beautiful cottonwoods was a pair of lovebirds.  Now, maybe few will think of them as looking the part, but they mate for life & these two were definitely whispering sweet nothings in each other’s ears.  They have a huge variety of voices and what we heard was definitely sweet!

Wednesday we thought we’d try Hunter Canyon.  Rufous-capped Warblers have been seen there, about a mile and a half from the end of the road.  We’d never been there, so not sure what to expect.  Unfortunately, there is a place just a way up the road where people can target shoot, so we had the sound of gunfire accompanying us most of the day (gotta love the NRA).  It was a rigorous climb up an old creek bed, high in the hills.  What great views we had of the surrounding plains and mountains, but no photos.  Bill had his new lens but no polarizing filter, so nothing turned out to his satisfaction.  We had a small mishap, me trying to help him across a particularly steep embankment, where he let go of my hand and I went flying back onto the rocks.  Didn’t hurt myself on the rocks, but my binoc’s hit me on the chin and I now have a nice little bruise.

Friday we finally made it back to Ramsey Canyon – where we’d planned to go when Bill got sick.  It was quite a cool day and a bit of high cloud, but what a beautiful place.  We added 2 new birds to our list, of which got only one photo:  Brown Creeper (can you see him – he matches the tree bark so well, just his little light under-chin and eye stripe sets him off here).

Way up the mountainside we spied the king of the forest (better known as the 8-point buck we found guarding his harem last time).  Below him, one of his harem.

Also found a Hermit Thrush, which are extremely common seemingly, everywhere we go!

There are other types of wildlife around also.

Here are a few scenic photos.

Near the end of our walk we looked closely into the creek and found one of those little bugs which walk on water (water striders I think).  His feet make such interesting indentations in the water that they cast little ovate shadows on the bottom!

With 2 new species today, our count is now at 161.  Probably won’t make it to 200 this year, but we’ll see.

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ON A SOMBRE NOTE:  my friend, Ann Gallie, passed away early  Wednesday morning, the 22nd, after a heroic battle with cancer.  She’s the one who I mentioned in my last post could mimic the cries of the Sandhill Cranes.  I will miss her – and the world has lost one of its most special people.

Wow, it’s been so lovely here this year.  Last year was the coldest winter in 50 years and I’ve overheard locals exclaiming about what a beautiful January it is!  Highs are in the high teens or around 20 – lows around freezing or a bit above.  Perfect!

Okay – a report on the haircuts – SUCCESS!  My hairdresser, Jackie,  said “pick someone with the most experience you can find” and I did (33 yrs).  I can still make a pony tail & she didn’t cut more than 1 1/4″.  Bill’s stylist had 15 yrs. experience and he almost felt like it was done by his Gina at home!  So all good.

Saturday we drove to Ramsey Canyon and took a walk.  It is a very pretty setting along a creek, but quiet for birds now (a bit early in the season for all the hummingbirds which visit in the spring).  I did however, have my first glimpse of a Painted Redstart, but Bill didn’t even get to see it.  I know we’ll find one later to photograph.  The beautiful arbutus trees (I think) along the banks of the stream have such lovely skin!  And cast interesting shadows.

There were lots of deer – including a couple of young bucks.  One 8-pointer (I think)  successfully chased the other away!  Here is a very young buck with only 2 tiny prongs starting to grow – lying down for his photo.  He posed no threat to the other bucks!

Came across a log at the side of the path which had such an unusual growth on it – looked like an ear!

Sunday we took a quick walk around the property and have added a couple of species to add to our total – now 29!  Here are some of the regulars.  The first one seen was a little Anna’s Hummingbird – this just a record shot, facing away from us.

Next our handsome sparrow sitting on a cholla  (Black-throated).

Canyon Towhees are abundant, usually digging on the ground under the scrub.  Found this guy (or gal) out in the open for a minute.

Now a bunch of red-accented birds:  House Finch, Northern Cardinal and Pyrhulloxia.

Interestingly, our friend Ron from Saskatoon, sent us a photo of a Cardinal which someone took in AZ, asking what it was.  HA!  It sure did open a can or worms!  What we thought was an easy ID (female  Cardinal), received references to other bird books, etc. to dispute our take.  Just decided to add that photo below the others – whaddya think?  Oh – we birders have so much fun!

A Curve-billed Thrasher sat still while we got closer and closer – hence this lovely photo.

I have been looking for a vireo since we arrived in November – ask Bill – I mention it all the time.  I say “maybe we’ll see a vireo today”!  Of course any vireo would do, but thought it would likely be Hutton’s.  Well, sure enough, finally found one in the tree just as we turned back to the trailer.  A record shot.

We then headed to Staples to fax a document to Brian in hopes of getting Bill’s smaller-sized lens (so he doesn’t have to carry his big sucker any more!).  Billy then watched football the rest of the day.

Last week we went out to dinner at “Outside Inn” where we enjoyed a delicious meal.  It reminded me of Bill’s new adventure into flavours – blue cheese!  When we were in Amado, we ate at their restaurant a couple of times and the salad bar had a creamy blue cheese dressing which was delicious.  Bill ate it every time and loved it!  When we ate at the Inn, he chose a salad with a vinaigrette which had crumbled blue cheese on top and loved it!  Who knew?  He and brother Brian are known as the fussy eaters in the family, but I think Brian has ventured much further afield in his tastes than Bill at this point.  But we chalk up a point for Billy this time!

Our neighbours in the RV park dropped us a card from Willcox (where we move to at the end of the month) announcing “Wings over Willcox” – a bird festival Jan. 15-18.  Written on the back was “Whitewater Draw” and “Sandhill Cranes”.  We went there last year, but the water was so low, we thought it would eventually dry up and threaten the wintering grounds of the cranes and geese.  Bill wrote an email to AZ Game Fish and Wildlife, asking about the groundwater in the area.  They basically gave him the run-around, passed him from one person to the next, and didn’t say too much.  However, we found the ponds much fuller this year – hooray.

Before we entered the path to Whitewater Draw, we stopped at the farmhouse at the turnoff where we saw Lark Buntings last year – lo and behold!  There they were again!  Sometimes a birder gets lucky like that – it’s what keeps us coming back and back to the same place in hopes of seeing the same thing we saw one other time!

Sandhill Cranes usually winter here by the tens-of-thousands, along with several thousand geese (mostly Snow), some ducks and shorebirds.  The cranes make me think of my friend Ann Gallie who is struggling mightily with cancer right now.  When she visited a few years ago she did a wonderful impression of the call of the cranes.  Their songs filled the air the whole time we were there – it was beautiful!  I think of her whenever I hear them now.  Happily there are so many cranes, we couldn’t see the geese very well.  But we found at least Snow  and Greater White-fronted.  Here are a couple of crane photos.

One of our goals was to find the Ruddy Ground Doves which have been reported here.  It is a pretty big place, so not really sure where to look – but instead of Ruddy – we found Common!  We have a suspicion that someone mis-identified them, but don’t know for sure.  Here is a Common Ground Dove.

We also added a few shorebirds, including Least Sandpiper and Long-billed Dowichers (as usual they have their ultra-long bills buried out of view).

A Red-tailed Hawk thought it was hidden from view – perched high up where it could see prey below.

Saw our beautiful Vermillion Flycatcher, but didn’t get a decent photo – but here’s the female.

On the way out we got a photo of a Meadowlark.  All we’ve seen so far are Eastern – we hoped for a Western, but no luck.  Here it is, especially for Tarie, although it doesn’t look quite as festive as usual in the spring, without it’s bright yellow breast, nor does it sing the same song!

We drove through Bisbee on the way home.  It is the town mentioned in the Joanna Brady mystery series, which I’ve always enjoyed.  J.A. Jance brings southern AZ alive in her descriptions and it’s fun to actually be here in the area.  Bisbee is a very special old town with historical buildings, some are Art Deco.  If Billy wasn’t so sick I think we may have taken a few photos of the town. Poor thing is suffering with a cough which has made his ribs sore. This morning he slept until 10 AM (having gone to bed at 9 PM last night).  He’s back there again right now after lunch.

Our trip to Ramsey Canyon will be delayed, however, I shall post this now.

We arrived Jan. 2 in Sierra Vista in time to get our trailer set up and for Bill to have a business conference call (ACK!).  Poor thing, he has quite a lot of work to do over the next couple of weeks, so birding will get short shrift.  He promised me when we arrived here that we’d go out for dinner to our favourite little Mexican restaurant in Benson (stayed in Benson last year).  Unfortunately, after nearly an hour’s drive, it was closed due to “no workers” (ACK!).  Drove back to SV & found a Mexican restaurant there, but slow service and food didn’t compare.  We will phone next time!

We did go for a little walk Friday around the path which circumnavigates our RV/condo park.  Found 21 species!  That’s quite a lot for such a small space, and hopefully bodes well for when we can get over to San Pedro Riparian Area (SPRA) (riparian means located along a stream).  The Gambel’s Quails were hilarious, since they “talk” to each other from the underbrush, but are hardly visible, except every now & then.  And sometimes a whole row of them run across the path like they’re being chased by a devil!  HA HA!  (Pretty cute actually.)

Tuesday we finally went for a walk at the SPRA.  Such a perfect day with sunny skies, high 18 C & almost no wind.  Nothing unusual here this time.  Being a month earlier than when we were here last year makes a difference as to what we may see of course.  We did have a quick glimpse of a Belted Kingfisher – but are hoping to see a Green Kingfisher, which has been seen here lately.  There are tons of different sparrow species in the low grass between the centre & the big trees along the creek.  We counted at least 10 different species!  No bird photos, just a couple of reflections in the creek.

Wednesday we visited Mary Jo at the Ash Canyon B&B.  She has built a water feature which is new and the birds haven’t quite gotten used to it yet – but I’m sure it will be a great draw.  We spent most of the morning sitting in her comfy chairs chatting to her and watching the action around her yard.  Lincoln Sparrows don’t usually appear in flocks, and I guess we found out why.  When 2 showed up there was a fight!  Here’s the lone one, then the fight!

Then there were some nice views of some of the regulars.  Here are a bevy of red beauties (House Finches).

A handsome Acorn Woodpecker.

His cousin, the Ladder-backed Woodpecker.

Another cousin, Northern Flicker, so common at home.  His red moustache shows up as a nice compliment to the hummingbird feeder behind him.

Fort Huachuca (along with Tubac) has been graced with a visit by a Sinaloa Wren.  Unfortunately when we tried to get into the Fort, they refused me entry.  We had even phoned the duty officer who thought all I needed was 2 pieces of ID – but once they found out I was Canadian (and look as suspicious as I do with binoculars, etc.) – you can imagine!   Drat, I say!  A regular visitor to the B&B is a Bewick’s Wren.

A very large contingent of noisy Mexican Jays dominate the yard.  But my, they sure are pretty (eh, Veronica?)!

At one point there were a number of loud alarm calls from more than just the jays!  A young killer flew into a nearby tree – Cooper’s Hawk.

There are other non-winged visitors as well.  Luckily Mary-Jo knew what these little rodents are – Yellow-nosed Cotton Rats (a member of the pack-rat family, they stole a whole container of pall point pens one time, and stowed them in a nest behind her fridge on the porch!)

She also gets visited by a deer.  The fawn hung back, but the doe knew well how to get seeds from the feeder!

What a nice place.  Certainly worth another visit before we leave at the end of the month!

Thursday we visited the north part of SPRA.  It was very busy with many different varieties of birds but Bill only brought his small camera because it was cloudy.  Nevertheless, I feel compelled to include this photo of the most handsome of all the sparrows in NA – Black-throated.  Isn’t he something?

Friday we’re getting our hair cut.  This year we are not going to take a chance by using a beauty school, so hopefully it will work out okay.  Will let you know in the next posting.

Only another week and a bit to the end of the year.  Will we find a lifer before it’s over?  If not – better luck next year!

Sunday it was a cold morning but sunny, after a couple days of rain, clouds and cool temps.  High today 12 C, so we set out about 9 AM for Tubac to look once again for the wren.  We were thrilled with our first view this year of a Vermillion Flycatcher glowing in the trees.

We spent over an hour along the area where the wren has been seen (and heard singing!) – but no luck this time.  We had a nice view of a Verdin today – where it wasn’t stretched a bit out of proportion, like the last shot.  Not often do you see the little reddish shoulder patch.

There was actually quite a bit of activity today, so we enjoyed searching through a myriad of birds to see if we could find the wren.  Even saw a Bewick’s Wren which looks very much like the Sinaloa – but no luck.  On our way out a lovely Kestrel sat for its photo.

We then drove to Santa Gertrudis Lane, which often has lots of activity.  We found Rufous-winged Sparrows and got a shot of one this time.

Another favourite is the Green-tailed Towhee.  This time we have 2 shots:  the first showing his head and face; the second showing his green tail (if anyone had any doubts).

Monday we had to go grocery shopping, so headed for Madera Canyon (specifically Florida) to see if we could get any better shots of the warbler.  It was -2C and very frosty when we headed out – had to scrape the truck windows – but promised to be sunny and high of 19C!  

We found a rather shy species perched low in the bushes.  Don, this one’s for you – Bill says if you can identify it, we’ll take you birding in the spring!  (We’re pretty sure you can!)

We had no luck this time but had a lovely view of a Cooper’s Hawk just ahead of us above the trail on the way out.  He sat for quite awhile as we approached, so got a fairly close shot.  They aren’t usually so cooperative and I love the Prickly Pear cactus beside him (or her).

As we left, we searched the sides of the road for Montezuma’s – saw a Greater Roadrunner but couldn’t get a photo.  The only guy who sat for us was a Loggerhead Shrike.

Christmas was another beautiful day, but Bill did some work.  We had his favourite for breakfast – biscuits & syrup (not gravy) with bacon.  A rare treat!  Then we watched Alastair Sim’s “A Christmas Carol”.  I cried several times, as usual.  Dinner was ham & scalloped potatoes – then Jimmy Stewart’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” (more tears).  All in all a lovely day filled with the Christmas spirit!

No more birding this year, but my friend Rosemary, inspired me to post the following, since she didn’t realize mistletoe grew in America.  It’s everywhere (many different types I think), but here’s   some in a tree, then a bit closer.  Taken with my phone – hence poor quality.

And so, 2013 ends with a kiss!  HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone who reads this blog!

Saturday we walked the river trail in Tubac which we haven’t done before.  Pretty quiet bird-wise, but Bill spotted a Bobcat!  Such a lovely day to be out walking with a high in the low 20’s and sunny!

Sunday we planned to use Alex’s strategy to find the Rufous-capped Warbler.  Get to Florida Canyon before the sun shines on it (that’s not very early – 8 AM is well before the sun hits), find a place near the stream where we could sit on our stools and wait.  We sat for 2 hours and a group of Brits passed by, who were also looking – then a local fellow.  It wasn’t more than half an hour that the Brits came backand said they’d seen the warbler only 100 yards or so up the trail.  We packed up our stuff and walked on.  The local guy was taking photos of them and beckoned us to join in.  When we first saw them (there were 2!) they were too close for Bill’s big lens – so he had to detach the 800 lens to insert his close-up attachment.  Many photo ops were missed in this interval!  Bill is not so happy with these but at least it is a record.  (Our friend from NJ, Alex’s photos, are better!)  Here is Bill’s record:

Pretty cute eh?!

Here are 3 other photos I wanted to include, though they were all at feeder stations along Madera Canyon:  a House Finch looking very pretty.

Another shot of the Magnificent Hummingbird without his bill buried in his food (yeah, it’s a bit indistinct with the dark patch behind it!).

Nice one of the Bridled Titmouse, showing his bridle.

Monday we walked along the Anza Trail south of the bridge in Tubac (which is only a 10 minute drive away) to see if we could spot the Sinaloa Wren which has been seen here for awhile.  It is a Mexican species which has only been seen a handful of times in the USA – in AZ only.  No luck, even though we stood there with another birder for about an hour and a half!  We only spotted a few other birds along the way but here’s an Orange-Crowned Warbler peeking out from behind a tree trunk.

Tuesday we visited Saguaro National Park – east side.  I just love these cacti – they make me smile and think anthropomorphic thoughts all the time – HA HA!  Here are a few of Bill’s scenery shots.  See if you can think of a caption for each one!

I found the sign from last year explaining the special “crested” saguaro.  The photo following it is part of the sign – but the next is an actual cristate saguaro we found (looks like an unhappy girl with curly hair – oops, more anthropomorphism!)

There were quite a few cyclists along the 9-mile circle route – however, we didn’t see any serious mishaps – perhaps they all pay attention to this sign at the start of the circuit.

We had a couple of birds pose nicely for us this time.  A Curve-billed Thrasher, who sang & sang (is somewhat of a mimic and has a most beautiful song!).  He’s so pretty sitting in a purple staghorn cactus.

A Norhtern. Mockingbird reminded me of our time in TX 2 years ago, because we often had one singing outside our trailer near Mission.

Here’s a female Phainopepla with her red eye glowing.

Tuesday we returned to the west side of Saguaro NP to watch the Raptor Free flights – both morning and afternoon.  In this morning’s group were some different birds than last time.  A Prairie Falcon first, three different views.

Great-horned Owl.  Look at those giant furry feet hanging onto that little stick!

The largest of the hawks in NA – Ferruginous Hawk.  So named for “ferrous” or iron – which of course when exposed to water, turns to rust.

Of course we found a few free-flying birds as well, including a Verdin.  A gray bird with pale belly and yellow head.  That’s some position eh!

This cheeky Cactus Wren was displaying for his mate and really making a demonstration out of it with verbals as well as physical displays (fan tailing, puffing up, etc).  Cheeky devil.

We again visited the hummingbird display.  This time Bill caught a lovely male Anna’s in all his glory.

We paid another visit to a favourite area where we finally got a couple of shots of the Bobcat not sleeping (barely).

And the Ocelot, of whom we’ve been able to see just the top of his head.  Such beautiful markings.

In the afternoon we again visited the Raptor Free flights – and it was a hot one with temps around 28 C.  The same species were on display as the previous time in the  afternoon.  Here are some new ones of the Gray Hawk, Barn Owl and a couple of the Harris’ Hawk.  The group of 6 Harris’ which not only come when prompted by staff with food, also hunt.  They were successful and caught some type of bird.  However, only the dominant female ate it.  The females are about 1/3 again as large as the males and are quick to display dominance with a feigned fight (no one is usually hurt in these tussles).  This fellow only got a wing, but displays “mantling” – spreading wings and tail to surround his prey.  He’s atop a Saguaro.

 There are a few animals which live amongst the captive animals like this lizard (sorry, not up on my species names!).

Or this basking squirrel (again sorry I don’t know what kind).

On Thursday we drove out Ruby Road, just north of Nogales (close to the Mexican border) to look for Montezuma’s again along with Five-striped Sparrows.  Of course we got neither, but found a Red-naped Sapsucker and a Pyrrhuloxia at Pena Blanca Lake.  The photo of the tree following the Pyrrhuloxia shows how sapsuckers do their work – see the small holes all in a row near the bottom of the picture?  That’s how they get the sap to run.

We did find our Canyon Wren (no photo – by the time Bill got his camera it was gone).  It was a beautiful drive high in the hills.

On the way home we stopped for pizza at the Italian Peasant in Tubac.  They make DELICIOUS thin-crust pizza.  We ordered a small for me (mushroom & basil) large for Bill (salami, Italian sausage & bacon) – however, they mixed up the sizes and I got the huge one, Bill the small.  So they made another large for Bill and we brought it home (along with 2/3 of my huge one (18″) .  Maybe you can see how large these pizzas are from the size of the box (which is almost 20″ a size). ( That’s Tyrian up on the top of the sofa & Bill’s hand to show scale.)  We’ve been eating leftover pizza for breakfast & lunch for a couple of days now.  Here’s a great hint for re-heating pizza to enjoy a crisp crust:  Microwave until warm, as usual – then put in a dry, stick-free frypan, shake around until bottom is toasty!  A great hint from our waitress!

Here is a shot of the Santa Rita Mtns which are east of us, and visible from our site every day.  They were very dramatic with the clouds & rain – as well as a bit of snow on the upper elevations).  We’ve had some beautiful sunrises & sunsets (no photos yet).

I meant to post this earlier, but we were too busy birding.  A very Merry Christmas to everyone!

Love from Lois & Bill XXOO