"Birding at a historical site??!!! You're really off your rocker
Ms.Kathie Brown!" Birds and an old mission? How can that be possible? Plus fresh tortillas and beans? This is too good to be true. A little history with our birding was exactly what was in store for us this day as we struck gold at the Tumacacori historical site.
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| Hammond's Flycatcher |
There is an incredible hiking trail known as the
De Anza trail that passes along the mission and a river. My slow brain put two and two together and smiled. Oh yes. This was indeed bird rich. I love history. I love birds. And I love nice weather with good food. This would indeed be a great day. Along the way, we'd get some really great birds.
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| Rufous-winged Sparrow |
The problem with me is that I get distracted easily with wonderful photo opportunities. I found myself snapping shots left and right of the mission. I had surprisingly never been to this place before but it was indeed full of great historical importance, design and nature.
So we both got lost a bit in our thoughts as we explored all the nooks and crannies of the mission.
I became a teacher because of this stuff. This wonderful crappy old stuff. Well warm weather, yummy food, Mexican parties, gardening, Spanish, bla bla bla also helped:) But needless to say, this was right up my alley. And they were serving hot food out in the beautiful Mexican courtyard. Have you ever had fresh fresh tortillas? The place even had orchards!!!!
While we were out in the courtyard, Lark Sparrows were getting sips from the fountain!!! No way. Cardinals, Wrens, Phoebes, Warblers.........all in the courtyard! It blew my mind!
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| Lark Sparrow |
The Bewick's Wren FINALLY gave me excellent views. This wren is a tricky one to capture for the camera!
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| Bewick's Wren |
Lifebirds are tricky. But I train my ear to their sounds. I heard the call clearly and it snapped my attention directly towards the bird. Lifebird means focusing all my energy on a good shot! The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher!!!! YES!!! Another new bird!
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| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher |
Tumacacori is located south of Tucson off of Interstate 19 towards Mexico. It's easy to visit plus it's near the artsy city of Tubac. It's a great way to spend the day with friends, birders OR both:) Stay tuned for more....
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| Lark Sparrows |
Sounds fabulous! What a great time you had!
ReplyDeletethe tortillas would have done me in. i'd have camped out in the courtyard and let the birds come to me. :)
ReplyDeleteMiałeś podwójną korzyść. Widziałeś historyczne miejsce i ptaki. To wspaniałe. Pozdrawiam.
ReplyDeleteYou had a double benefit. Did you see the historical place and birds. It's great. Yours.
Ha! Nice!
ReplyDeleteI was there just this last weekend as a part of a trip around Sonoita!
Very cool. We saw some of the same birds, probably even some of the same individuals : )
I saw you had lots of wine!!! Love that area:) Glad you guys had fun! I am still amazed at how many birds can be found at this historic site. It was like a 2 for one!
DeleteWow, I love the bird on your header - gorgeous. These images are fabulous. Never had a tortilla before.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a wonderful time! Very nice photos Chris.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderous adventure!!!!! WOW!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteA perfect blend. There is Nothing better than a fresh hand-slapped tortilla. Well, maybe a lifer.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful place, the buildings, the history, the sun and the birds and good food too. I am really sorry I missed this place when I was visiting Tucson a few years ago, I got as close as Tubac though. I'll put it on my list for next time.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful place Chris. I am particularly impressed with the picture of the wren, they can be fidgety little devils! The tortillas sound pretty good too.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great place to visit - history and birds equals irresistible combination :) Well done on the new birds and some lovely phots :)
ReplyDeleteI see what you mean about the Bewick's Wren being well camouflaged Chris, well done on spotting it. You do have some very beautiful small birds over your way and have fun finding them..
ReplyDeleteWow... Thanks for the tour of the mission. I would love to see more pictures of that place. It looks so interesting.
ReplyDeleteI'm from Alabama, and well, my reaction to this post was pure Alabama...I said "Dadgum his hide...he went to Tumacacori!" :-) No offense intended. I'll tell you why I had this reaction. :-) Years ago, when I moved our daughter out here, she met and fell in love with a local boy. The resulting family (our daughter, sil and grandson) are the reason we moved here ourselves a year and a half ago. But, they weren't married at first, and when plans for the wedding started to take shape, Tumacacori won hands down. I even sent them a $100. deposit to use the mission for the wedding (there's no electricity of course so it would have been so rustic and historic!) her wedding gown is even Spanish in style. It would have been BEAUTIFUL! And, that's the problem...it WOULD have been! They separated for three years, and our daughter and grandson came to live near us in Virginia. Then, later, they worked things out and got back together. And, well, the wedding plans had lost their umph by that time. They decided to go to Vegas, and that's where they got married. The wedding gown never got used. (I still haven't sold it and need to) The downpayment on Tumacacori was lost. The romance of a wedding there has always stuck in my craw, though my daughter was certainly beautiful in her shorter wedding dress. But we didn't even go to the wedding. I flew out here to watch our grandson. And, we have never been to see Tumacacori...even though we have been living in this area now for the last year and a half. We keep saying we are going to go. I had so hoped to post pictures of it, and you beat me to it! :-) But, that's OK...I'm not really mad. For one thing, your focus was on birds, and even though I love photographing birds, my camera makes it very hard for me to be very successful in that regard. So, my focus will be different. It will be interesting to compare the two "views." I'm actually glad you went. It put a burr in my saddle to get there! :-)
ReplyDeleteOh my!!! Emotional attachment with some...not so good memories:) I can relate as there are several places like that for me in my life:) I won't go to them because of bad voodoo:) But I have to tell you.....that wedding sounded very nice:) Such a beautiful place. Hope you're having a good weekend:) Chris
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