Micheal and I both work as a team. We enjoy exploring and scouting new areas together. And sometimes we work alone. I am constantly following up on information for this blog to keep it fresh and original. I couldn't do some of this blog without his help as you'll see today.
Brown-headed Cowbirds on Mule Deer
On our way back home to Tucson, we drove through New Mexico which is a really great place to explore. One of our favorite places to visit is Bosque Del Apache. We usually do a loop around the entire area on our way home. Afterwards, we'll get a bite to eat in the nearby town of San Antonio at the Owl Bar and Cafe. It's a unique place full of interesting locals.
Personally, I like the restaurant for it's dark booths and green chile hamburgers. Bosque can get warm and rather sunny during the summer making the "Owl" a good spot to cool off and let the eyes adjust to the darkness......and weird looking biker people. It's a hoot:)
Red-winged Blackbird
Once we got back home, Micheal had to work and I needed to get the garden area cleaned up. I've been promising for weeks now to do an update from the El Presidio Gardens. This is something I can only do now when I'm not working my regular job.
El Presidio Courtyard
I'm happy to report that many of the plants I put into and around the courtyard are doing well. June is usually the worst month as it is hot and dry, but this year the plants seem to be doing very well because they have finally established themselves. Around the fountain, we've placed bird and butterfly friendly plants that require very little water.
My side garden
This month our peaches will be ready to pick. We also have three species of hummingbirds nesting around our property right now which is pretty cool.
The fruit garden
I had two days off before attending a week long conference. As I'm starting the week inside a classroom, I get word that there are some recently fledged Western Screech-Owls in someone's backyard. But I cannot leave. So I sent Micheal off on a mission to go get the footage and take the data on these owls. They are by no means rare, but they can be tricky to find. Normally, a person will just hear them in the night making their ball bouncing call.
Western Screech-Owls
I go over the rules with Micheal about reporting owls on ebird. He knows them well, but we always review our target birds and how "sensitive" we need to be when reporting a special bird. "Make sure you move the marker away from the sighting and hide the report." Unfortunately, there are people out there who will cross the lines to get photos of owls at any cost (which includes the owl's safety). So owl reports in our home are always hidden from the public eye.
We also discuss keeping an appropriate distance from the owls while taking photos. He did a great job and had a fun day out. So I am very grateful that he followed up on this very special bird.
Finally, I miss my cats so much while we're out on our longer treks. So it's always wonderful to see our feline friends waiting for us when we get home. Nova, below, is a rescued feral cat that we captured at our home. Today, she is a pampered and neurotic kitty who constantly requires our attention:) In fact, all of our cats are rescued. Not only do we save bird lives by keeping our cats indoors; we help these cats live longer and healthier lives. Feral cats make great house cats, BUT you have to capture them when they are kittens.
Nova is happy to have us home
Now that I'm back home and finishing up with this conference, I'm getting ready for a bigger trek. Life definitely is not boring:) It's good to be home for a week and hide inside of our little home from the nasty heat.
Callie prefers a lasagna dish over her fluffy cat bed
Every day is an adventure if we make it one. We owe it to ourselves to smile and explore each and every day. Even during my conference, I found happy moments during the day. You can choose to drive through an area OR STOP and explore a bit. I have found that it's not always about getting from A to Z. It's about exploring all the letters in between that makes my day more interesting.
At a cool ramada in New Mexico during a lunch break
Rarely does something as epic as a first ever mega rare bird come along and pull the entire US birding community together as quickly as the Rufous-necked Wood Rail did a few days ago. And it would happen 6 hours away(5 if you push it) from Tucson in the beautiful Bosque Del Apache Wildlife Refuge of New Mexico.
Red-tail Hawk nesting
Twitchers, people who chase these mega-rare birds, fly and drive from all over the country to find these rare gems. People doing Big Years join together and rush to the scene to get the "tick" that will possibly give them the edge in the competition. I wanted to experience this event (and possibly see this bird). But to drive all of this in one day and be back by the next day.......well that's something quite different.
Green Heron
This past week the bird has been spotted around the Marsh Loop basking and playing in the sun for hours. Birders spy upon the bird with their scopes and binoculars. The Rufous-neck Wood Rail performed several dances, a couple of songs and taught me a lesson I won't quickly forget.
Western Sandpipers
This bird, common to tropical and subtropical conditions, found its way into New Mexico. It is a US first and driving birders mad! For several days this past week, it has been out in full sight, but as we'd find out quickly, our luck would run out. We left early in the morning from Tucson and arrived at 12:45. And what's the line birders hate to hear the most? Oh yeah....."You just missed it!" But my ears could still hear it. It was still there. And I heard it fly through the reeds away from us. Then far away from us.......
Least Bittern
We spent over 6 hours with many birders searching the reeds. North. South. East. West. Nothing. Wait???!!! Is that a Least Bittern out in the open? Why yes it was!!! A lifebird. I would get distracted by these little surprises and forget about the time. But back to this bird. I've been doing this long enough to get "feelings in my gut". When the bird stopped calling from a far distance, I knew that the honeymoon was over for many of us. I spent a week hemming and hawing over going to this place. Each day the reports would come in with positive observations and I felt drawn to this event. Not drawn.....more like pulled. Eventually, I convinced myself to go with Pat. If I didn't try, I'd regret staying home for what will probably be the biggest show of the year for many birders.
Western Sandpiper-note Rufous-y Colors and patches on wings
And yet I learned a lot about the people behind "twitching". They are addicted to the hunt. One woman said that it was a "bad carbon footprint" to chase rare birds. Another said that she had a disease. I asked her if she was sick. She responded yes......"Sick in the head for chasing birds." Another told me a story about how he left to chase this bird in the middle of a family event. Yet another older woman drove alone from a far away place to find this one single bird out in the middle of nowhere. One man came from work and had a head piece that spoke directly into his head. No scope. No binoculars. Fancy clothes and a head piece. The stories went on and on like this. I discovered a whole new level of birders that I hadn't met before. True dedication.
Least Sandpiper-note yellow legs. Also the smallest of sandpipers
There was one stylish lady with a cowboy hat from Southern Arizona who made me smile on our hot and muggy hunt. She was fun to pass the time with as we waited and listened for "the bird". She had been everywhere during her life. And by no means was she finished! I really liked her. Overall, the experience was a bit overwhelming. Like any community, there are those who are cocky, hilarious, smug, humble, etc. This crowd had them all. They rattled off refuges and wildlife preserves from all around the world. They were world birders.......like me. But not me because they must have had a little money:)
While waiting for this bird, I became antsy and dehydrated. There were so many other things flying around us that captured my attention. How in the world did I stand in one place for 6 and half hours???!!!!! Well the Least Bittern was one of the reasons:)
Desert Spiny Lizard
I began to walk. Pat went to the car and saw a bird that looked like a cross between a turkey and peacock. My brain began racing. What in tarnation was Pat saying??? Big as a turkey.....but not. Like a Peacock.....but not. I pulled up my data and discovered that this peacock may be in fact a "Ring-necked Pheasant"!!! And there were coati, deer, snakes and other critters out there! Why was I wasting my time on this boardwalk??!!!
Monarch Butterfly
The people waited and waited. The sun became brighter and brighter.....hotter. Muggier. The mosquitoes became very bad.
That was it. I walked from the boardwalk and.......got lost in the world around me. I am not a Twitcher. Yes I chase birds but I will not twitch again. And yet....:) Seriously, the whole reason why I bird is because I love the hiking and wildlife photography.
Western Meadowlark
And when I did this, things became clear. No more. I'll hopefully one day see this bird down in Mexico or Central America, but for now, I will not miss out on what is PRESENT.
And that's how we found our Ring-necked Pheasant.
People are currently finding the Rufous-necked Wood Rail from the same location at the Marsh Loop area of Bosque Del Apache. It was a no show last night and this morning, but as of this write, it's back! There are lots of happy birders out there.
Eventually we ate at this place near Socorro
For the latest information on rare birds around the US, the ABA Rare Bird page can be found on Facebook. The ABA Listserv is a also a great place to find out what's going on in your area. I put the video down below from when it was first discovered by Matt Daw. Finding Least Bitterns out in the open is amazing. But having it photobombed by a rare bird? Well now that's epic. More coming up.......
Welcome to the 2013 New Year! I will be publishing once a week from my work in the garden, travel, and around the world this year. Today's post focuses on my target bird, the Snow Geese of Bosque Del Apache, New Mexico.
Now unfortuneatly, I didn't know much about New Mexico other than the highway known as 25. It is a long and boring drive from Tucson up to Colorado. It does get a little more interesting landscape-wise towards the northern part of the state....except for the radio stations. Pardon the expression when I say, "It was god awful!" Bring music with you unless you like this stuff. Part of the challenge was to find the beauty of New Mexico. So like I always do, I planned and planned our way up to Colorado carefully and stopped along the way in southern New Mexico. What we found was EVERYTHING but boring!
So instead of driving through the state making a snap judgement, we spent several nights there. It was an incredible discovery full of amazing wildlife. I will be going back again. I have several blogger friends in New Mexico and I still can't imagine landscaping or gardening there as it was very very cold! But I got a better sense of what plants do well in the environment and felt like it wouldn't be difficult creating a garden space in this part of the country. While before, I just saw a couple trees and really didn't know much more than that.....I was especially impressed with a prickly pear cactus that could withstand freezing temps! So David, I can relate to your work better:) It really does get cold in this high desert area.
But I followed my motto. "Step out your door and look!" We went to film the Snow Geese of New Mexico and film them we did! Thousands and thousands of them. Like snow in the sky or snow on the fields, these geese did not disappoint at all. It was a lifebird for me and I take the lifebirds seriously the first time around. I try to get as much observation time in as I can. I observe their sounds, movements, etc.
And I try to do the best photography that I can. Now there are lifebirds that just fly by and pose for two seconds.....that is very challenging. Or they're out of range from my camera like the many Bald Eagles on this trip!! Thankfully the Snow Geese were so much more cooperative. We raced in the darkness to watch sunrise at Bosque Del Apache. This is the time when thousands and thousands of Snow Geese will rise from their huddled slumber and fly to open water to begin their day. They move from the fields to the water. In fact, while driving in, we saw what looked like snow all along the fields. It was the geese and it proved their name lived up to their description.
As a birder, I knew that there was another kind of goose similar to the Snow Goose. It's known as the Ross's Goose. They can also breed together and make hybrids! The difference? Look at the head shot above at the Snow Goose. Notice the smile on the bill? That is typical of a Snow Goose. The Ross's Goose has a shorter bill sans the "smile". Some birders call it a sweeter and cuter look. I call it tricky birding because in those thousands of Snow Geese, there are several hiding. Being that this would also be a lifebird for me, I searched long and hard for them. While I didn't count them in the thousands, I did capture them on my camera in the hundreds.
If you're a birder and your partner is not, this is a great outing to share together as it is a spectacular show. Also present in the thousands are the the Sandhill Cranes. See you next week with another report. Until then, here's a video I took with my IPHONE on the trip.
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