A Perfect Moment

This post (and an upcoming one) have been difficult for me to write. I'll do my best to try and capture my thoughts with the words behind those special and very sad moments. The write today was inspired by the healing power of nature and family.  I guess after many years of silence, it's time that this tale was told. I'd like to share with you all a story about a kid I once knew.  Like most people I know, he has changed over time.

As a boy, he grew up wondering what the world was like outside of his small town.  He had BIG ideas about what he'd do with his life. Maybe he'd become a teacher?  A park ranger? Or a weather man! 

As he grew older in that small town, he became aware that he was different from other people.  Much of his thoughts were kept hidden and secret because he didn't want to be hurt by others. And even though he tried to avoid confrontation, he was spit on, laughed at, and beat up several times for being different.  Unfortunately, he'd take his anger out on his siblings. His parents didn't know how to speak to him because he shut them out. There was no one he could turn to for help because they would all try to fix him with their religion. And he didn't need fixing. The science fiction show known as Star Trek was his escape. He eventually left his small town and pursued his dreams. It was safer that way. Over time, he developed a tough skin.  And there was a growing anger towards people and organizations who supported hate and ignorance. After living a life in hiding, it was time to fight back with words and actions. There was no turning back.

He went on to live an amazing life. Free from the trappings of a small community, he was able to form his own opinions and attitudes about the world. He got a job at a place where he could make a difference. Or at least challenge their thinking about the bigger world.  And maybe make them laugh or smile once and awhile. But it was always a safe zone. He also became a secret guardian for all those who were different. And he watched over them making sure that they wouldn't be bullied or hurt like he had been during his childhood. Sometimes he made a difference. And other times, he would lose one of his students to drugs or suicide.  These events hurt him the most because he felt that he had somehow failed them. With age and experience, the man realized he couldn't save every student. And over time, societal attitudes began to change and his important role was no longer as important. 

In his personal life, he met someone and settled down. Over the passage of time, he watched each of his siblings get married. He was so happy for them. And even though he was the oldest and had been in a relationship for a decade, it didn't matter.  He couldn't get married. But then things changed.

His partner wanted an official ceremony. So after much thought, it was decided that their union would happen outdoors and surrounded by family.  At first it was going to be somewhere far far away.  But when he thought it over more, it made him sad to think that his parents could not attend. Therefore, it had to be closer to home. What did both of these people want more than anything else in the world?  Their families present.  And so began the plan to unite nature and family together.

The families arrived from different states and rented cabins where they all spent a week together away from WIFI and work.  It was a rare event and not something experienced since the man's youth.

On the day of the wedding, it began to snow.  There they stood, married by the man's brother-in-law and surrounded by his entire family.  In a moment shared with his wonderful friend, they watched an elk dance in the freshly falling snow.  It was the most perfect moment.  A tear rolled down his face.  This was the spot. There the elk, family and birds watched as the couple made their vows. Instead of rice or bird seed being thrown up into the air, Mother Nature provided the crowd with snowballs.

Normally this man cringed at the idea of showing any emotion, but during the ceremony, he felt so happy. And loved. It was like a warm blanket on a cold winter day. A perfect moment.

People told him that getting married was a life changing event.  He just didn't want to believe it.  Maybe it was his defense mechanism that he developed as a child to protect himself from getting hurt by others. For whatever the reason, he was so happily wrong about it all. He felt whole again. No one could have planned for this magical ceremony. The snow. The elk. His father muttered, "An act of God."  The man simply replied, "Mother Nature." The two would never openly agree with each other on the matter but in their minds, they knew that they were both correct. Others froze their toes off and said, "Brrrrrrr."

Life is full of surprises.  And this world is still an amazing place.  AND BIG!  But none of it compares to the great big love of my family and friends. I'd like to thank my parents for being outstanding people. I don't know where I would be today without their love and support. To my siblings and their spouses, my nephews and nieces, to Charlee, to Mat and Linda for putting together a special ceremony, to Mitch and Rachel, to Kathy and to Deborah. Your last days with us will not be forgotten. I'll be writing about her in the next post. It was an emotional roller coaster ride for all of us. I'd also like to thank Kathie Brown for being with me during this special time. I now understand the meaning behind the "Maid of Honor" or "Best Man".  She is an amazing friend and I am so thankful she was there to help me process my emotions. While we were out on the trails, I realized how much I missed birding with her. Sometimes we "disappeared" together onto the trails to sneak in some birding time. Behind every new bird or critter or landscape, there is a heart that beats behind this experience called life. And it is good. 

All With The Family

The Matthew-Reeser's Bird Sanctuary

Another October flew by much too quickly. I was joined by my dear friend Kathie and family members for the Big Event in Estes Park, Colorado.

Mountain Chickadee

While there, we celebrated several days of birding, shopping and exploration.

Estes Park is a smaller town situated at the borders of the majestic Rocky Mountain National Park.

My sister and her daughter at Rocky Mountain National Park

While we were there, we soaked up as much wilderness as we could.

Kathie and Jared watch the children climb the now rocky Alluvial Fan

At our cabins, we created a bird sanctuary.  My family would laugh at us from their cabin patio.  Why?  Well, Ms. Kathie, Micheal and myself picked up a lot of bird seed and wood.  We'd sit around the fireplace and watch birds.  We had hundreds of them come and visit our cabin.  And all we had to do was just sit and watch them from the living room window:)

Black-billed Magpie

The evenings were wonderful.  Everyone sat around the large outdoor ramada sharing stories and drinks together.

As is tradition, my family puts together a dance for the big day.  Our wonderful dance was a mix of popular science fiction movie tunes and finished off with a childhood favorite, "Xanadu!"

Pic courtesy of Kathie Brown.  Awesome shot of everyone!

At times it was windy. Or snowy.  Or rainy.  But always COLD!

A cold Steller's Jay

We birded one of my favorite spots in Estes Park which happens to be near their golf course.  

Clifford goes on assignment for a class project

 The locale is known as the Matthew-Reeser's Bird Sanctuary.  Most of the bird life is found along a wooded corridor next to a fast moving stream.  I suspected American Dippers hung out at this location, but I had "dipped" several times on this bird in June.  Persistence(and timing) paid off. 

Classic American Dipper shot

And it wasn't just a far away glance.  Both, Kathie and myself, were able to watch two of these birds nearby our trail.

And along the way, we stopped looking at the birds and just enjoyed family and fall.

But then a Steller's Jay would steal the show:)

Here is a video of our American Dipper encounter.  If you are a lover of everything wildlife, I highly recommend Estes Park.  More to come from this amazing locale.......

                                  

Las Aventuras: Across America

I woke up on the New Year's Day both happy and sad.  It was over. How can a year fly by so quickly?!  That part is still hard to get over.  What an amazing journey it has been!  But I am also happy to stop the doubled efforts of chasing birds I have already seen.   My purpose for last year's event was to load up on my North American birds.  Here are some fun facts from my journeys to California, New Mexico, Colorado, Florida, the New England states, and of course, Arizona. 

Pied-billed Grebe

I began the year with a Pied-billed Grebe in southern California and ended the year with a rare(for AZ) Red-necked Grebe.  In the US, I found 468 species of birds.  For North America, I found 476 birds.  I've been doing some work down in Mexico again and it will be my focus this year.  I am surrounded by bird ID books from these regions!  As of now in the US, I rank 62 for the 2014 year.  Some birders haven't entered all their lists into ebird yet so it could slightly alter the ranking.  But I have secured myself within the top 100 for the year and achieved my goal set back in January. In the state of Arizona, I ranked number 2 thanks in part to all the birds found in the state and for this reason, it kept me on top of their list. 

But those are just numbers.  The true purpose of my birding is to live the birding adventure and find as many of our world's birds as I can before I visit the green pastures:) Or sadly, before they disappear. My current life list stands at 586.  And it's hard!  It was so easy a few years back adding birds to the list.  Now, it takes a lot of planning and good use of my time. With the night studies, my full-time job, a partner and regular life duties, I was able to add 127 life birds to the list in 2014.  Not a bad haul. 

What were the highlights?  Each place was special and so much fun.  But let's look at the bird discoveries......

The most exciting camping trek?  
There is no doubt at all here on this one. Although our Greer trip comes close! It was our AZFO camping trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  Here we did a survey of nesting birds around the area.  We had an amazing crew, did some rough camping, and worked incredibly well together.  Everyone still talks about that trip up there.   I hope to join my AZFO group again this year as we explore Organ National Monument down by the border.  

The North Rim of the Grand Canyon

The most frustrating experience?
I think Kathie Brown can vouch for this one.  The Bicknell's Thrush.  I will say this about the Mt. Washington Auto Road.  It sucks.  Beautiful scenery but full of cars and annoying people. And the entrance fee is overpriced. This bird was the trickiest to sort out with the constant traffic. My ears are VERY important when locating birds and this trek was very difficult thanks to all the noise pollution. I still have a bad taste in my mouth about the experience.  I remember how quiet and uncomfortable I made everyone feel in the car by my quiet anger.  I am not proud of that moment, but I was determined. There were many thrushes in the area which also made listening to the Bicknell's call a challenge.  We did manage to spot a couple of the BITH.  However, I will never go on that road again.

The gorgeous mountains of New England

The craziest experience?
We went for the Atlantic Puffin along Maine's coast on very rough waters.  This is where Kathie and Micheal lost it!  The rocking of the waves were too much for them. The Audubon guide was hit left and right during his presentation with ice cold ocean water!  For me, I felt like a giant dancer capturing all the amazing terns, puffins and guillemots around the Eastern Egg Island while the ship rocked back and forth. 

Eastern Egg Island

The most sacred of moments?
Whispering to the Florida Scrub-Jay.  In a magical moment, the captain of the jays flew to the top of my hat and kept lookout while his company flew all around me to feed on the ground.

Florida Scrub-Jay

Best couple activity?
Camping on the Channel Islands for the Island Scrub-Jay!  There we watched migrating whales, tiny foxes and orcas around our island while spending a couple nights on Santa Cruz Island. 

Strangest bird?
The Upland Sandpiper.  The call alone was cool!

Upland Sandpiper

Rarest sighting?
A Snowy Owl in Kennebunkport, Maine in the middle of summer!

Snowy Owl

Best study sessions?
The AZFO fall get together in Globe and grassland sparrow banding with Dr. Janet Ruth. 

Janet releases a Savannah Sparrow

Most epic moment?
While observing Lesser Nighthawks, a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher flew past me at sunset.  I couldn't believe my eyes!  And it was all experienced alone after a really bad day at work.  This bird made me forget it all. 

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Most painful?
While observing the endangered Piping Plover on Bunche Beach, FL, I was attacked by thousands of chiggers.  I suffered an entire month after a trip to that beach.  

Piping Plover

Most studied birds?
The Montezuma Quail and Bell's Sparrow.

Montezuma Quail

Favorite place to bird?
The grasslands of Southern Arizona

The bitter dip?
The Gunnison sage-grouse!  I'll find you!  The weather was NOT cooperative on this day!

Most overlooked place to bird?
New Mexico!  For those people who say there is nothing there, I challenge you to look again.  WOW!  Plus best food stops this year!  Green chiles......

Most scenic?
Road trek up to Gunnison, CO!  WOWSA!

The worst decision?
Perhaps not the greatest place to bird. One team member discovered a man shooting up in the bushes. All of us had seen the bird in other parts of the country but we wanted it on our Arizona list:) It would have required us to hike a wash full of broken glass, used needles and possibly encountering other nasty things. We decided to leave the area for safety issues.  However, we knew the birds were hiding in that wash. And so we dipped on this bird.  Later in the year on our way to Gunnison, we passed through that same area sans the visit to what I now label "Drug User's Wash" and found the bird around a housing area.  Much safer!

Black-billed Magpie

And finally.  Favorite bird of the year?
The Rhinoceros Auklet.  

I'd like to thank all the people involved this year with Las Aventuras.  The treks have been amazing and without the people, many of the adventures would have been lonely ones. 

When I think about birding in Central and South America, and of course, Mexico, my heart beats a little faster.  It's why I do what I do in the real world. It has taken me to the most amazing and breathtaking places on this planet.  This year, my goal is to explore Mexico again, do a pelagic and spend time with my family back in Wisconsin.  And then there is our wedding at Rocky Mountain National Park this next year. Will I find a White-tailed Ptarmigan while I say, "I do.....love birding."?:)  Or will I get myself into trouble under the eyes of Mother Nature for trying to bird and marry at the same time?  Only time will tell:)  Happy New Year to you all!  

This year's photo album

Birds, birds, birds......check out the amazing Wild Bird Wednesday collection from around the world each.....Wednesday:)

Paint The Wind

As the year begins to wind down, we head into the heart of autumn.  Today we take you to the southwestern regions of Colorado state to search for the beautiful Black-billed Magpie. 

Earlier this year, we, the band of birders, tried to find this bird in the 4 Corners region within the reservation town of Teec Nos Pos.  Unfortunately, we were unable to locate the birds, but on this epic road trip, we finally discovered at least one hanging out around the town. 

Spotted Towhee

Once we quickly located the bird(8 minutes!), we were off to Gunnison, Colorado for one of the most scenic autumn treks ever. Highway 50 right now is gorgeous!

The weather went from sun to rain to snow! What is a journey without a little adventure? 

Along the way, we stopped at watering holes and snapped pics of not only the birds but the amazing fall colors.  The brightly colored leaves swirled all around us as we inspected each site for that rare bird.

Mountain Bluebird

When life gets a bit....well....crazy, a road trip always seems to do the trick:)

Most of the birds in Colorado have already been seen this year in various parts of the country.  We were hoping to spot the endangered Gunnison's sage-grouse, but the weather had other plans.  However the addition of the Black-billed Magpie to the year list was great. 

Black-billed Magpie

Hunting season has begun and the hunters were out in FULL force.  The deer, pronghorn and elk kept their distances. While high up on a sage hillside, we noticed dark clouds approaching us. 

We were unsuccessful in our attempts to locate this grouse, but I now have a better understanding of their habitat.  However, having past experiences with a storm like the one approaching made us depart earlier than expected.

With our elevation and cold temps, I knew we weren't looking at rain in the forecast...... 

We high tailed it off the dirt roads before they became impassable and turned into mud and ice.  

The surreal autumn colors were blanketed by frost. There were several moments in whiteout conditions that had me at the edge of my seat. Winter had come.

We made it down the mountain and thankfully had an uneventful trip to Colorado Springs.  

Black-billed Magpie

Magpies still made their presence known and we really had fun observing these beauties.  They were very numerous and in most of my ebird reports while in Colorado. 

Our journey continues.  Check out the video below made from my cell phone over this past year.  It shows a bit of the Hwy 50 magic. 

Update on the owl from last week's post.  The bird is doing well and healing. It had a fractured humerus(the bone that attaches the wing to the body).  The appetite has come back and things are looking up. For more about birds from around the world, check out Wild Bird Wednesday.