The Highs and Lows

The carpeted green valley below Kitt Peak

Lately, I've been focused on the job that pays for my health insurance.  The start of the new year for every teacher is a tricky one.  If you set the tone right during the first several weeks, the rest of the year is perfection when it comes to classroom management.  On top of the main job, I've also been working on our house project that includes lots and lots of planning.  And on the weekends, I eagerly escape to go birding with friends. 

a Canyon Wren plays hide and go seek with us

Gordon came down for the weekend and we decided to do fun birding in cooler settings.  Kitt Peak was new for Gordon and it was just a nice get away from the heat.  For the first time in a LONG time, we should have brought our sweatshirts!  It was cold!  What a wonderful thing!

Yarrow's Spiny Lizard

 In fact, this is the end of summer for us.  It's the height of insects and migrating birds and bats.  September is so GREEN and buggy!  This is the best time of year for butterflies.  The trails are full of them!

a stock photo from several years ago on Kitt Peak.  This is the area we covered birding

We headed south of Tucson towards Sells on the Indian Reservation.  There's a peak that has telescopes on it.  And that's where we birded the morning finding lots of fun birds.  

Mexican Jay

We found Mexican Jays collecting acorns from an oak tree. 

juvenile Mexican Jay

 Spotted Towees appeared to be marking territories for yet another nest.  

Spotted Towhee

Meanwhile butterflies stole the show. 

Bordered Patch Butterfly

Down below in the valley, the wildflower show was incredible.  The rains have been good to Southern Arizona and the oranges, blues, purples, reds, yellows and pinks are confirmation of a happy desert. 

Arizona Poppy

One area was thick with wildflowers.  A beautiful carpet made by nature. 

Trailing Windmills

 There was no shortage of bugs. I try to escape the chiggers and mosquitoes, but they somehow find me. 

Plains Lubber Grasshopper

 The heat finally ends our Saturday of birding fun.  Sunday comes and we were looking forward to exploring Reddington Pass.  This was another new area for Gordon, but as we exited our place, we hit a wall of heat and changed the plans. 

American Snout

We wanted an easy place to bird, get water, have a nice lunch and see fun things.  The Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum was the perfect fit.  While it's technically a "museum", it's much more than a building full of crap.  Here you can explore the wild spaces and see lots of real and wild critters that hang inside and outside of cages.  It's a great place to look for desert birds like the Cactus Wren or Gilded Flicker. 

Gordon and Micheal scour the Desert Museum property for butterflies, lizards, birds and other odd insects

Another unique species that lives on the grounds is an iguana that has survived decades on the property.  

San Esteban Island x Sonoran Spiny-tailed Iguana

Meanwhile we checked out the other critters hanging out around the riparian/desert corridor of the museum grounds.

male Bighorn Sheep struts his stuff

Eventually we made it to the aviary.  This year, I have spoken with many people about this subspecies of Northern Bobwhite below. The Masked Bobwhite is VERY rare and can only be found at the very close border of Mexico and Arizona on a few ranch lands.

the extinct-in-the-wild subspecies of Northern Bobwhite(Masked Quail)

They are breeding these birds to release in the wild, but even when we go to study them in the cages, they can be difficult to see!  So it was a real treat to find that this pair had mated....and had a chick!

I know it's a caged bird, but it's so rare in the wild that practically no one has seen these birds at all beyond a stuffed model on display for what used to live in the grasslands. To see them like this close up was spectacular. Over the years, I've seen only one in the aviary and she was always hiding.  Not on this day!

And that chick was adorable. 

After work, I'm exhausted.  The heat drains the life out of me. The mornings are lovely and it's really the only time to do any birding.  You get a 4 hour window and that's it.

Olive-sided Flycatcher

A lovely win for the week was an Olive-sided Flycatcher hanging out at my local patch that I monitor weekly.  And a very human downer happened when I misidentified a juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron for a super rare Yellow-crowned Night-Heron.  To be fair to myself, many others thought it was a juvi Yellow-crowned Night-Heron as well.

American Avocet

I got two minutes to look at the bird from a distance, snapped my shots and then had to wait until I got home to look at them.  Magill got home before I did and looked at the pics up close and said, "Nope.  This is a juvenile Black-crowned."  Our hearts sunk.  The ID is a tricky one, but next time I'll be looking at that bill better. 

Birding in Dateland and surrounding areas for shorebirds

The juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Heron has an all dark conical bill where the juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron can have some yellow in the bill. Oh well.  You win most and lose a few every once and awhile.

Black-crowned Night-Heron

We randomly explore the state and search for something fun to show up. I wouldn't do it alone as it's more fun birding with friends during this nasty and beautiful time of year. We motivate each other to bird during these trying times. Migration is upon us and every day, there is something just waiting to be found.  Will you find it?  Until next time.