thebirderspost

Tuesday was our day to wait for the mobile propane people to come by and fill our tanks.  But at 4:30 AM (temperature was just below freezing outside) – I awoke feeling cold!  Our trailer was cooling down rapidly and the electric heat pumps don’t work when it is so cold – ergo no propane!  So out came the toaster, door open & a continuing series of “toastings” to help warm things up!  We cuddled the kitties under the covers, dressed in our warm clothes and waited until the sun came up when it gets warm enough to start the electric heaters.  By about 9:30 we were all toasty (no pun intended) and no longer needed the propane.  However, we took our empty tanks next door to another RV park to get filled up (didn’t wait for the mobile propane truck).  The fellow who filled them (from Vulcan, AB!) told us that the indicators don’t usually work in the cold…so what’s the point, eh?  Anyway, lesson learned, no harm done.

Thursday we went into Tucson to the Saguaro National Park (west side) & visited the “Living Desert Museum” – which is like a zoo, basically.  Here are some of Bill’s photos (hence the title about cheating).  First we enjoyed the different species of cacti – Yucca, Prickly Pear, Organ Pipe, Boojum (w/ 2 small Saguaros beside it) & Totem (w/ Pipe Organ and a Saguaro).  The last 2 taken w/ my phone, since Bill wasn’t that interested in them and I thought they were way cool.

Here is a pretty butterfly (don’t know what kind).

There were some great mammals.  We couldn’t resist this series (& there are many more) of this magnificent Mountain Lion (rescued by the museum at 4 months). 

They remind us so much of our own cats.

Sometimes they remind us of our dogs – a beautiful Grey Fox.

Captive birds are harder to accept (since I don’t even like people keeping things like parrots in cages)!  But they are all rescues and would have died otherwise.  American Kestrel and a very common bird here and at home – a small raptor, only 9″ long with 22″ wingspan.

This Stellar’s Jay was very accustomed to people & posed very close for his photo to be taken.

The hummingbirds have their own house.  This is an Anna’s, showing iridescence on a female’s back as well as the red gorget (throat patch) & head on a male.

This Costa’s has a purple gorget.

Having witnessed the free-flight of a Red-tailed Hawk last year in the “Raptor Free” demonstration, we attended the one for this year also.  Little did we know what birds would have us in awe!

First a Gray Hawk (just 17″ with 34″ wingspan).

Then a Barn Owl.

A Peregrine Falcon can’t be trained to a glove, but can be coaxed into a “false prey”.  Boy they are fast – fastest animal on the planet when they go into a stoop (dive) – 240 MPH.

The stunning finale was a family of 6 Harris’ Hawks (Kathryn – these are for you!).

Bill did manage to photograph a couple of truly wild birds also – one of the prettiest wrens in NA – Cactus.

And a Curve-billed Thrasher, sitting on the fence.

As usual the Prairie Dog display left us laughing – talk about anthropomorphic (must be drying their nail polish)!

Hope you didn’t mind the tour thru the museum.  More later!

We’ve had some inclement weather, but did a little shopping (a keyboard for my iPad, which makes emails so much easier) & a few other things.  Great to have the rain – it is so dry here.  Bill also had some work to do also.  When we finally got a break we drove up into Montosa Canyon (on the recommendation of the man from Paton’s bird feeders).  We didn’t find many birds, though we got a couple of new ones for the list, but it was a beautiful drive past the Whipple Observatory.

Saturday we drove under the highway to Arivaca & walked the Buenos Aires Conservation area.  On the way we observed a (murder?) group of ravens flying overhead.  We assumed the black thing we saw in the tree as we drove closer, was another, but it was a Crested Caracara!  No photo – driving!  At the park, we were sorely disappointed that all the water is gone!  Even the little pond which held ducks & herons – plus a Green Kingfisher last year – is totally dry.  At least we had a quick look at one of favourites – the Green-tailed Towhee!

Further along is the headquarters of the park, which “they say” contains 3 different quails, including the elusive Masked Bobwhite – which we didn’t see last year either!  (Correct:  we didn’t see a single one this year either.)  As a matter of fact there wasn’t much bird life at all!  We sat on an overlook having lunch & didn’t see a single bird for an hour!  However, we did see this female N. Harrier perched low for a photo on our way out.

There was also a close view of a very common bird – both here and at home, male House Finch.

There were several Loggerhead Shrikes in the area, but none would cooperate for a photo.  I always think of them as “robbers”, since they have a black mask.  They eat other small birds, lizards & large insects.  We finally got this guy to stay long enough for a quick shot.

On the way out at least we saw a Red-tailed Hawk – which are very common everywhere in AZ (& common at home during the summer).  He really showed off his red tail.

Sunday we drove up to Madera Canyon (not to find the warbler this time).  What a fun day it was!  Lot of birds, including a Wild Turkey displaying!  What the heck is going on here (our friend Moe can vouch for this same display among some Ruffed Grouse at his place in Birch Hills, SK over the course of his Xmas bird count!).  Their iridescent feathers are awfully pretty for such an ugly face!

Especially for Veronica, we include this Mexican Jay.  They congregate in groups & are very noisy (V – is this typical of Mexicans?)

This little Bridled Titmouse flits about so quickly it is very difficult indeed to photograph.  Finally got this one.

A pair of White-breasted Nuthatches took advantage of feeders most of the time we were there.  They are also pretty, noisy birds.

Last year we spent a whole day driving up Mt. Lemmon NE of Tucson to find Yellow-eyed Juncos.  Little did we know they are here also.  Here’s one now!

Last bird before heading for home was an Arizona Woodpecker (female, without red on the head) which we love, being such a rare BROWN woodpecker.

We were thrilled to find the Magnificent Woodpecker again at the feeder up the hill (which our buddy Alex photographed last time).  Not a great shot, but a confirmation for the record, nonetheless (face buried in food!).

Then we spied a Hepatic Tanager – such pretty colouring.  We knew one was “taken” by a Cooper’s Hawk last year, & hoped it wasn’t the only one!

This little House Wren isn’t very special, but is hard to catch in a still moment, small & busy!

Monday we drove back to Patagonia Lake (only a hour from here), to try for the trogon again.  We didn’t see it, but had some other nice views.  This is what the end of the lake looks like where we found the Great Egret.

Yesterday Bill took that cute photo of a House Wren (which had stopped long enough to be caught!).  Well, today he got 2 kinds of wrens:  again the House – but also Bewick’s (with the stripe through the eye).  This is a coup because neither of them seem to stop moving!

Sitting in almost the same place as last time was the Great Horned Owl, sleeping in his tree.

Found a male Ladder-backed Woodpecker who posed for a couple of photos.  The first shows why he has this name – the next shows his front!

Now I had to include a shot taken with my phone – the reason is so everyone can see what Bill totes around in his attempts to get these photos.  The whole rig weighs 12 pounds & even though it is on a strap with padding on the shoulder, after 3 or 4 hours, it seems to weigh 50 pounds!

I am so proud of him because he was even able to get a couple of shots of one of my favourite birds, White-throated Swifts.  Like their name, they are extremely swift & zoom around.  Imagine trying to lift that heavy lens to shoot a moving target like that!  Here are couple he managed somehow to get!  My hero!

High today was about 9 C, but nice and sunny.  What fun!  I think that’s enough for this post for now – lots of photos!

One last trip down Harshaw Road to look for quail this morning – but no luck.  The people in the twin Airstream/truck combo (Bill is also his name by the way – another coincidence) asked a friend of theirs about finding the quail.  This person is a PhD Ornithologist & he said Harshaw Road is the place.  Not this time – but we’ll keep trying – they are in other locations also!  All we found was more lovely scenery, so here are a few photos for your enjoyment.

What a lovely day for a walk at The Nature Conservancy.  We wanted to see if any new birds had arrived – the answer was “not really”, but Bill finally had a look at a male Lazuli Bunting – he is so pretty in turquoise, rust & white.

A last stop at Paton’s yard to check the feeders.  A Gila Woodpecker.

Some Gambel’s Quail showed up – always in a group – but here’s a lovely male.

Our constant companions wherever we go in AZ in seem to be White-crowned Sparrows.

Now here’s a challenge for any birders out there – what are these little sparrows in the grass?

That’s it – Lark Sparrows!  Such a wonderful stay at Patagonia.  The quiet RV park where we got the dumplings from Xing (Mike’s wife) – had the excitement of an RV fire (without any damage to ourselves) – found a twin outfit to ours – & generally enjoyed our stay immensely.  We will come again if we’re this way!

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Sunday we arrived in Amado – to our chosen site “72” where we felt we would get better WiFi reception (it is good!).  Getting settled & shopping for groceries took all day.  Monday we got out to Madera Canyon.  We met up with a young man, Alex from New Jersey, who was also looking for the Rufous-crowned Warbler.  We had no luck with that, but found a few more species for our list (now at 116).  Here are 2 shots of a Rock Wren (the 2nd one on the rock is especially for Alex, since this was a LIFER for him, & he wanted a rock wren on a rock!).  The other is a Ladder-backed Woodpecker, female, on a yucca seed pod.

We added Wild Turkeys at the feeders at the Madera Canyon Gift Shop & also what we’re pretty sure is a Magnificent Hummingbird at another nearby feeder.  This photo is Alex’s.

We hope to spend more time with Alex, if his schedule allows.  He is heading home Sunday.  Wednesday is a working day for Bill & laundry for me.

Before leaving the park this morning, we found a pair of Cassin’s Kingbirds (for the 3rd day) perched in the top of the trees nearby.  Bill was able to get another photo.

Went to the lake This morning – gathered 8 new species, so finally have over 100 – 105 actually!  We stopped at the visitor center first to find out where the Blue-footed Booby was to be found, but it is closed Tues. & Wed.  A woman at the store in Patagonia told us that there really is one there (we were sceptical that it was reported by a good enough birder, since they shouldn’t be here – but sure enough!).  So we’ll come back for it.  On the way into the visitor center I saw something my friend JB also found the other day – a crested barrel cactus!  I was jealous & have been looking for one since he saw his.  And that is a TENT pitched to the left – wooh, brave souls!

We have just about seen the complete list of “recent sightings” given out by the center, but still missing a few.  Saw a far-off Greater Egret, a Green Heron just taking off, finally identified a Neotropic Cormorant (though we knew they were there somewhere with the Double-crested), had a quick glimpse of a Greater Roadrunner running through the brush, finally identified another dove – Common Ground Dove, followed & got a quick shot of a Northern Goshawk (not good enough for the blog, just helped us identify it), got a couple more ducks for the list – Canvassback & Green-winged Teal, and finally spied a Golden Eagle high in the sky above the lake (too high to photograph).  Our old friend the Great Blue Heron came very close this time – wanted his “head shot” I guess.

There was some pretty grass among the rocks at the top of the hill where we were looking for the Booby.

The cats are doing well.  Last night however, Tyrian started meowing & meowing when we were in bed reading – I finally got up because he wouldn’t settle down.  I came into the front where his bed is & petted & reassured him, but he still wouldn’t settle.  I felt something cold at the side of my foot – & realized water was running across the floor!  The boys had a little tussle earlier & obviously spilled their water bowl.  That smart Tyrian was letting me know!  Good work boy!

Thursday we went to the lake again, but couldn’t find the trogon.  It was actually very quiet both bird wise & people wise – day before US Thanksgiving.  We found out the Booby was seen the end of August – meaning it is extremely unlikely to still be here – likely gone off to the Sea of Cortez.

We did find a kill site – something (maybe a bobcat or mountain lion) killed a Wild Turkey.  I collected a few tail & wing feathers.  I guess people are not the only ones eating turkey on thanksgiving!

In the afternoon Bill was working & an amazing thing happened.  Another Airstream pulled into the RV park (now that’s not so amazing) – but the stunner was that they had the exact same truck as we did!  Holy Mackerel!  Here are the twins (they’re from Texas & have the unit on the left – we’re on the right).

Bill spoke to them later & had a great laugh about this coincidence.  They are retired immigration lawyers & RV full-time.

Awhile later Mike dropped by with a plate covered with tinfoil.  His wonderful Chinese wife’s speciality is dumplings – so he had a bunch for us to try!  They were absolutely amazing – beautifully formed (& it is an art) as well as delicious.  What a wonderful thing to do – we are very thankful this US Thanksgiving day!

Friday walked the Nature Conservancy for maybe the last time.  Added Lazuli Bunting to the list & got a photo of a Lesser Goldfinch.  Nothing else new.

It was a gorgeous day with low wind, sunny skies & high around 20 C.  Bill took many tree photos.

On the way home we pass a field where a few longhorn steers reside & we see them a lot.  They’re great lookin’ critters & I couldn’t resist having Bill take a couple shots.

This guy, however, objected to his doing this & charged the fence (flimsy, barbed wire), snorting & spewing mucous all over!  It was a bit of a scary moment I must say!

We have only 2 more days here, then off to Amado Sunday!  Hope we can find a Montezuma Quail tomorrow!

We had a very exciting day yesterday!  First, in the morning we trotted off to Patagonia Lake with our high rubber boots on (since it had poured rain the last couple of days.  It was cool, but when the sun broke through the clouds, warmed up considerably.  High was around 15 C.  Here are a couple of dramatic photos of the clouds.

The campground was a little quieter than usual for a Sunday – probably due to the weather.  All that moisture & sure enough we saw quite a few of these.

There was lots of bird activity & I was lucky to spot this shape high in the trees (since I was looking for bird shapes – specifically a Trogon!).  Great Horned Owl.

Ran into a flock of mixed species which included Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Black-throated Gray Warblers, Bridled Titmice (mouses? Moe?) different woodpeckers, including this Ladder-backed Woodpecker.

Lots of flycatchers including one of our favourites – Black Phoebe.  Also a close relative, the Says Phoebe (Jackie these are for you!)

Along the edge of the lake we found a not-so-shy (as we’re used to) Great Blue Heron – such a lovely bird!

We saw a few other birders out & about, likely hunting for the Trogon.  Two guys with big lenses (not as big as Bill’s – HA!), don’t know if they found it.  But we DID – YAY!  It was very active flycatching high in the trees, not sitting still for long, so not a very good shot – just one for the record.  We had a couple more quick views, but it didn’t stay nearby.

After we got back, Bill watched some football on TV – his Dallas Cowboys won – and the Roughriders won the Grey Cup – YAHOO!

About 4 PM a new RV arrived in the park (from California) & situated itself up near the road – as it happened a very lucky thing!  A fire started behind its fridge (found this out later on).  Here are a few shots of this motor home going up – since it took awhile for the local (probably volunteer) fire-fighters to arrive.  You can see the edge of our Airstream in the foreground.  There were a couple of explosions, so we got the cats out & put them in the truck & moved the truck back – hoped like hell it didn’t move towards us!

Photos above taken with my iPhone – so not the greatest, but you can see the progression here.  This one below was taken this morning by Bill from the road, back towards the park, showing the Airstream just on the left.  Thank God it wasn’t windy, that no trees caught fire & that it didn’t burn the power lines!  Luckily these people (who had kids) had family & friends nearby, who took them in & helped them get sorted out.

Apparently another RV caught fire a couple of years ago, next to the road & burned down Mike’s RV sign & also the power lines, so they had no power!  Found this out this morning from Mike, who owns the park.

We have written “extra fire extinguisher” on the grocery list!  That’s enough for now – certainly enough excitement!

A short post this time – just for this news.

Thursday we walked the Nature Conservancy lands & found out our darling little Western Screech Owl was killed – likely by another owl, and likely a Spotted Owl.  The caretakers noticed all the feathers on the ground near his roosting spot – then noticed the Spotted Owl not far away.  A Spotted Owl is much rarer than the screech owl, so that’s quite exciting, but sadly, it likely won’t hang around here to be seen.  The screech owl was quite a draw for birders at this place over the last few years.  The actual spot where one could see his roosting spot was marked with a blue flag, so people could stand in the perfect spot & look up.  That will now have to be removed.  Mother Nature can be cruel but it’s all a matter of perspective.  Boohoo anyway!

The caretakers were walking their cat, Georgie (named after Curious George) – who would love to get off the leash & hunt birds!  However, they told her in no uncertain terms that this is an animal sanctuary & no hunting is allowed by visitors!

They have a few bird feeders located at the checkin area here, including this one with a hovering Anna’s Hummingbird.  Anna’s seems to be the only hummer around for now but more will arrive later in the winter.

Here is a common sight while out walking the paths through the woods & along Sonoita Creek.

We stopped at Paton’s to check the bird feeders, but all was quiet there.  However, across the road in the top of some trees we found ANOTHER LIFER – Cassin’s Kingbird!  Bill had his camera in the car, so got it out for a few shots.  Here’s one, for the record.

One last little photo of a plain little bird we see quite a few of – it had such a curious expression – a Lincoln’s Sparrow (Jane – here I go singing that song!).

Today may be the last of the nice weather for a few days.  It is supposed to rain tomorrow & the next day & be at least 10 degrees cooler (highs around 11 C) – so we have really enjoyed how nice it’s been so far.  AZ needs the rain desperately, so I hope it pours!  We’re going into Nogales to do some shopping Friday.

Another memorable dining experience the other night – of all things PIZZA!  (Check out “Velvet Elvis Pizza” in Patagonia on Yelp!).  Also a most memorable margarita – made with hibiscus essence & lime – Yum!

We had a lovely walk Sunday at Patagonia Lake with a sighting of a Black-throated gray Warbler – which was lovely.  However, one of my hilites was watching a number of birds have a bath in the same little spot in the stream – first a Yellow-rumped Warbler – then about 6 Ruby-crowned Kinglets.  They all took turns & sometimes flew off if they felt threatened.  It was soooo cuuuute!  (Basically I love watching any bird whatsoever have a bath!)

Monday we drove down Harshaw Rd (on which our RV park resides) since it has been reported as one of the best places to find a Montezuma Quail.  I’m still after my first sighting & Bill would love to have a better look than what he had last year (head only!).  A very quiet road & lots of bird life along the way but nothing new.  It was however, such a beautiful morning & here are some photos Bill took of the fall colours.

We stopped in at Paton’s feeders on the way back, but not much new to report.  We did however, find out that Paton’s has been sold to a group of 3 wildlife interests (Victor Emanuel, Amer. Birding Assoc. & Tucson Wildlife Assoc. I believe) – & will be taken over in February.  Luckily for all us birders, it will remain as it is & George will stay as caretaker.  Hooray!  George told us that his sighting of a Montezuma Quail was at the Harshaw graveyard.  So in the evening we drove back up the same road we’d done in the morning.  Bill got his tree photo with the sun on it this time.

In the same field we found Rapunzel’s tower – her window clearly visible, though we couldn’t see her hair dangling down.

Harshaw townsite does not exist any more, but the graveyard is active & there are lotgs of graves with artificial flowers & it looks well-tended.  However, no quails were in sight!

Next morning we drove out to Patagonia Lake & searched again for the Trogon.  No luck but another of my favourite sightings:

Can you tell what this is?  Here it is again, maybe a little more identifiable this time?

(Chipping Sparrow!)  What a hoot eh?!

We also had a LIFER – VIRGINIA RAIL!  Not only did we see it, but Bill got a photo.  Isn’t it an interesting bird?

We also had another sighting of the Black-throated Gray Warbler, but this time (as you can see) Bill was toting his camera with big lens, so here’s just a record shot of it.  If you look closely, you’ll see that he also has a little yellow dot in front of his eye.

No Trogon was sighted this trip, but it was a beautiful day for a walk.  A little cooler this morning (frost on our thermometer which is sitting on our picnic table).  Apparently we’re in for some cooler weather & rain in the next day or 2.  Boy, they could really use some rain here!

Wednesday – Mostly sunny – high 22 C.  We drove south toward the Mexico border through the San Rafiel Valley.  A fairly cloudy sky this morning with some nice formations.

It is a vast grassland area with mostly cattle ranches but sports many grassland bird species.  We found 7 new species today, but nothing we hadn’t seen before.

Our loop route took us up through a mountainous region with rough gravel roads.  Border patrol vehicles were the order of the day – must’ve seen a dozen or more, including a canine unit.  We went through Harshaw, so we stopped again at the graveyard – alas, no Montezuma Quails in sight.

We’ve been in Patagonia a week now & the weather has been perfect mid-to-high-20’s for highs & sunny.  We’ve walked the Nature Conservancy lands nearby & visited Paton’s yard where all the bird feeders are.  We’ve seen quite a few of our favourites but are unlikely to find any lifers easily this year, since we’ll be in many of the same places.  But you never know!

While walking the Nature Conservancy lands we had a wonderful sighting, just as the man who volunteers for 6 months to live there & open the gate Wed-Sun was telling us:  he saw a pair of bobcats mating the other day near the large cottonwood trees across the field.  We looked over, and there was one of the bobcats!  Pretty far away, but very exciting nonetheless.

AZ is suffering a drought right now & the creek which runs through this property is just a trickle compared to last year when we were here.  Perhaps some rain in the next month or so will help – hope so!  We did find the resident Western Screech Owl sunning himself in his nest cavity.

On Thursday we made a shopping trip into Nogales (which is nearly on the border w/ Mexico) where we stocked up on groceries, etc.  One of my best purchases is a new pair of black sneakers which are nearly impossible to find in Calgary – but I got ’em at JC Penny’s – yay!  Bill also bought new sneakers.  We decided to eat out when we got back & found an Italian place of all things!  It had really nice write-ups in “Yelp”.  It’s called “Cose Buone” (good things) & indeed they were!  We were the only couple in there, the owner, Gene Greigo, having opened just for us!  It was a memorable meal – maybe in my top 10 of all time!  The music was crooners, etc. (Buble, Krall, Sinatra, King Cole, Vaughn, etc.) which we love.  Four course set menu w/ choice of main:

1) A thin crouton each – 1/2 w/ black olive tapenade, 1/2 gorgonzola spread + 5 tiny green olives

A small loaf of crusty sourdough bread on the side!

2) mesclun salad w/ small red pickled cherry pepper stuffed w/ tuna mousse

3) bruscetta w/ amazing tomatoes + marinated butter beans

4) cheese stuffed spinach tortellini in slightly spicy broth (Bill’s favourite)

5) we both chose chicken marsala w/ sautéed fresh spinach for our main (there were leftovers & Gene sent them home for our lunch the next day!).

Wish I’d taken some photos of the food!  (Next time!)  Does this remind anyone of my letters home from Australia?  Seems all I wrote about back then (40 yrs ago) was food (sigh)!

We had some clouds & high winds yesterday & it caused a beautiful sunset.  Here’s a view from our “patio” (the cement pad beside our trailer.

It is another clear, sunny day today and I thought you’d like to see the setting we’re in with only a couple of other RV’s in this place right now.

Hopefully more walks & birds soon!

Here it is fall 2013 & there are newsworthy items to report   before we continue with bird reports here in AZ.

Last April we made a quick trip to Tucson to pick up our new 28′ Airstream trailer.  This was done in a week, so very quick – unfortunately it precipitated more vehicle changes.  The huge SUV which we bought to tow the thing – well, it towed it fine – but the gas tank was so small we had to fill up every 3 hours or so!  This is not easy towing a long trailer, since most gas stations cannot accommodate this – so there was lots of shouting at each other as we tried to find a suitable place to stop.  Thus, we have acquired a new Truck!  Our dear cousin Wilf Parsons owns the Cyress Motors Ford dealership in Maple Creek (& Swift Current) SK – so we bought this beauty (Ford F250 diesel) – as well as another smaller car to toot around Calgary (Ford Fusion).

We were able to take a spring vacation to SK, visiting our friend Don in Broadview as well as a few weeks at Waskesiu & a quick visit with Moe & Marg.  All went well with our new Airstream & we couldn’t be more pleased with it!

Bill worked like a dog (so much for semi-retirement) since we returned near the end of June – while I spent lots of time with Mom.  She, Brian & I had a couple of jaunts – one to Primo’s on Vancouver Island (a gathering of the Larson side cousins):

…and one to Toronto to celebrate Aunty Betty Robson’s 90th birthday – such a blast!

Our plan to leave Nov. 1st from Canada presumed we would escape before the snow flew – unfortunately this was not the case.  Here is the view from our balcony a few days before we left:

Nonetheless, we headed off Nov. 30th, encountering more snow along the way.  Here is what showed up in the morning when we awoke in Brigham City UT:

Onward we carried visiting Kathryn & Suzi in Sedona near their abode.  We had a lovely meal & watched the sun go down on the picturesque red rocks viewed from the restaurant window (no photo of those unfortunately – but I have the beautiful girls!).

When we arrived in Cottonwood (near Sedona) our temperature was 21 C – YAY!  It had been single digits for most of the trek south to that point.  We are now in Patagonia, near Nogales & the Mexican border.  Highs are in the mid to high 20’s.

Our old cats once again have adapted to this gypsy lifestyle – although Tyrian is nearly completely blind (15 years old) & Sasha can still see a bit (he’s 13).  They are blind because of an antibiotic when they were sick – not a hereditary condition.  They are still pretty, we think:

All the previous photos are taken by me (Lois) with either my iPhone or iPad, hence not the greatest quality.  Just for the record.  Hopefully we’ll have some “real” photos from Bill soon!  Stay tuned.

It looked like things were going to end the way they started – and if you’ve read from the beginning, you’ll know what we mean! That sucker of a motor home went out kicking & screaming, just like she came in!

Our last evening out we ate at our favourite Mexican restaurant in Benson “Mi Casa” & had an excellent meal & a very enjoyable time bantering with the husband who is the waiter (the wife does all the cooking). A very tiny place with great food. When we returned to our RV we noticed the rental car was making a “click” like we’d picked up a stone – NO – it was a huge bolt. So next morning (luckily it stayed inflated) we drove to a tire place & had it fixed ($12, so no biggie).

Good thing we took 2 days to sort & pack. We didn’t get into Tucson until after lunch, then found out the government has put new restrictions in place to prevent us selling our “Canadian” RV (though built in the US) to the dealership here. Basically it took a whole 24 hours before we could get away, which was about 2 PM, Friday Mar. 29th. Just spend time sitting in the hotel room waiting for a phone call to say we could sign the papers and go. Got as far as Wickenburg, passing Hassayampa River Preserve where our SK birding buds just recently visited (can hardly wait to hear what they saw!). Just north of Helena we stopped to change drivers – and found a MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD! So one more species to add to our total. Got back to Calgary around 1 PM Monday. Now to sell the car & wait for a return trip to pick up our Airstream trailer in Tucson the end of April!

That’s it for now. May do another blog next winter! Happy Spring everyone!