The Planet Covid 19

Painted Lady

During this first true week of the pandemic in Arizona, I have seen great acts of kindness balanced with great acts of rudeness.  I have seen things written and said that are hateful on both sides. A divided nation.  Angry millennials telling the boomers that they deserve what they get and that essentially this disease is the "boomer remover". Here's the thing. Whether I agree or not with this older generation, I still love many of them. My parents are boomers.  Some of my best friends are boomers.  If anything happened to them, I'd be sad.  If anything happened to anyone close to me, I'd be sad. We are a divided nation with divided generations and a virus that doesn't care who you are. It's a scary time.  I look back at my life and just scratch my head.  So much has happened, but never have I had this experience! Home is my headquarters. Kinda....:)

Anna's Hummingbird

I have drawn deeper into myself this past week calling upon nature to heal.  And so have many other people; sometimes dangerously too close to one another.  Everyone says get out in nature, but people think, at least here, that if they are in nature and in close proximity that they won't be affected. Wrong!  As a birder, I know secret spaces where I can have a whole canyon to myself or a patch of grassland free of humanity.  It's really not as easy as you think.  Now that children have no school, they are off the leashes and some parents are letting them scare off the wildlife!

Common Black Hawk

The Tubac Hawk Watch was called off several days ago because many birders were congregating there to watch the amazing hawk show.  I did well and socially distanced myself from the crowds.  But some birders were jokingly doing high fives with their elbows and then hugged.  It's very human and beautiful.  And we forget.  "Certainly, he or she doesn't have the Covid(Corvid to birders) 19 virus.", we think. And let's face it.  Much of the birding crowd is over 60.  One infected person and BOOM! Gone. Wiped out. I'd hate to see that happen.  The hawk watch was shutdown by the town of Tubac.  Now secretly,in fear of fines or arrest, we walk the trails and look up at the skies in solitude pretending we're not looking for hawks in the sky above Tubac:) Hide the binos!

I've been personally connecting with spaces.  And friends in town.  This past weekend, we hiked 2 miles into the quiet Willow Canyon of the super crazy and busy Mt. Lemmon.  The snow on the road kept vehicles from driving into the canyon and that was a clue for us to explore.  We had snow and a beautiful running stream without human people screaming and shouting around us.  Perfection.  

female Cassin's Finch

Along the riparian corridors, clouds pose as jellyfish in the sky. 

A Common Black Hawk flies above our heads and we smile.  Migration is inspiration.  

The moon is a wonder in the daylight. 

Spring flowers bloom in the thousands.  The Anna's Hummingbird comes to feed in his territory. 

I look across the pond of a local preserve and observe Great Egrets hunting for fish.  Desert Bluebells and California Poppies begin their dazzling shows here. 

A Black-tailed Gnatcatcher dances around several wildflowers and gleans insects from the foliage. 

I go during the off times at a popular wetlands in Tucson and quietly observe everything around me.  The warblers are back!

Birds carry on as a serious pandemic takes hold in many countries. 

Common Gallinule

I scan the reeds and notice that one of the reeds is looking back at me. 

American Bittern

I drive out to a far away place for a rare bird.  I drive through miles and miles of wildflowers blanketing the Sonoran desert. It's the quiet that I need now. I need time to think. We are in the eye of a storm.  The crazy is about to begin and virus takes hold of the West.  Tonight, Pima County had its first Coronavirus death. 

I've seen people pay it forward.  We've witnessed someone giving the last loaf of bread to an elderly man who cried.  Someone at our produce market paid for 50 people to get food to their families. I almost had a tear in my eye until I saw an old granny vaping and blowing the vape in our directions.  Everyone around her was like, "What the hell lady?"  Social distancing was not happening.  

Northern Beardless Tyrannulet

And hey! I'm okay with ordering food every night to help support local restaurants.  That might be the worst silver lining ever:)  

Lucy's Warbler

Have hope.  Be safe.  Be smart.  And be kind to each other. Below is a video that made me laugh.  But warning....there is language. Until next time.....

Con Ti Partiro

Open the door Chris.  Step outside.  Breathe. Think. What do we do now?  I get into my car and drive.  

White-nosed Coati

The world seems to stretch on forever.  My eyes strain to see what is on the far horizon. 

Golden-crowned Kinglet

When will it end? How could I be so callous? How could I ever think such things? She has trusted us to be there and protect her. Throw yourself into your work.  Find birds. Don't think about it. 

Somewhere in between, my eyes get all blurry. A pause in life. Between the trails and work space, she brightened our day with purrs and cuddles. She helped us cook dinner.  She waited by the door when we got home. And she always reminded us when it was time for a little snack. 

Brown Creeper

It's the present that keeps me at bay.  It's the heart that takes over and the end that I must face. But I don't want to. It isn't fair. 

Bushtit

No amount of love, kisses or hugs can stop the inevitable outcome. What can we do to stop her painful cries?  Either way, we lose what is most precious to us.  Prolong her suffering? Or humanely end it? 

Cassin's Finch

I can't sleep.  And at the same time, I don't want to get up. Sometimes I pray that she has passed in her sleep so that she won't suffer anymore. She can't breath.  Every moment causes her physical pain.  She doesn't eat.  And her golden eyes lock with mine. Please don't leave us.  Please stay forever.  

Vermilion Flycatcher

Our memories begin to flash back over her life as we wait in the doctor's office with her.  How did we get here?  We did everything right.  And still, here we are. 

She is,for us, the purest form of love and trust that we have experienced as a family.

No amount of birding can fill up this void in my heart.  We said our goodbyes.  The worst word in this world.  But we were there with her as we said our final words. 

It is said that if a goodbye hurts, it is because we loved a lot, and that it is a price worth paying. 

We will always love you Cassie.  You made our lives so much richer for being here. 

Discover Gila County!

Parker Creek in the Sierra Ancha Mountains

Exploration.  Study. And new Arizonan ground to cover.  This weekend, I attended an AZFO conference in a very unexplored area of Arizona.....Gila County! 

Brown Trout are found in a stream fed pool

Mountains, like the Pinals(specifically Pinal Peak), had some of the best birding.  Here we were able to observe Band-tailed Pigeons(difficult to get pictures of!), Cassin's Finches, a Lewis's Woodpecker, Sage Thrasher, and a strange covey of Gambel's Quail!

The camera shy Band-tailed Pigeon finally poses on Pinal Peak

While attending the conference in Miami, Arizona, birders from around the state and country had the opportunity to meet each other.  Lectures included Gray Hawk diet and expansion, the differences between the fairly new Sagebrush and Bell's Sparrow split, the Desert Purple Martin, global warming and warbler migration, etc.

White-tailed Deer watch us through the branches as Gordon and I search for elusive birds

While I didn't find any new birds for the year (or life birds), I did gain A LOT of information about the birds found around the state of Arizona.  Our visits marked new areas for ebirders in the state.  Bird populations around Gila County are relatively unknown.  While ornithologists know what birds can be found in the area, there isn't much birding data entered for this Arizona county.  So we explored the rough roads and along the way we discovered wonderful flora and fauna.

Jones Water Campground

On this trek, I went with my birding bud and friend Gordon Karre.  I really appreciate the times we get to bird together as they are few and far between.  Each birder has a mission.  Our mission this weekend wasn't necessarily finding new birds but exploring new and unknown areas.

Empress Leila butterfly

The conference was rather large this year which suggests that this birding addiction is catching on.  There were birders of all ages and that was encouraging!

Ground Beetle-Pasimachus  A special thank you to Doug Taron for helping me ID my bugs better

The participants also came from a wide variety of backgrounds ranging from photographers and artists to professors and wildlife specialists.  So on our outings, we had lots of knowledgeable people who knew their plants, bugs, lizards, birds and what to do when a sick bird was found like this Great Horned Owl below.  

The team came together and secured the owl for transportation. 

If you live around the Phoenix area and find an injured bird or animal, contact Liberty Wildlife at 480-998-5550.  

Check out the talons on this GHOW!

I'm hoping this bird makes a full recovery.  So send out your positive thoughts and well wishes for this poor owl.

Photography was "meh" when it came to the birds this weekend:)  I put together this collage highlighting several of our interesting finds.  From top to bottom and left to right.  
Band-tailed Pigeon, playful Common Ravens
Red-naped Sapsucker, Brewer's Blackbird, Brown Creeper
Turkey Vulture, male Cassin's Finch 

Alligator Lizard

I'll be back on the road again next week searching for new North American year and life birds.  Birding is a science.  It's an art.  It requires quite a bit of dedication.  It can be social. But most of all, birding for me is something quite special. I never take any of my treks for granted. Every moment matters. Many of our common birds face an uphill battle in the years to come.  Extinction will continue as our carbon emissions rise and the world's human population explodes across the globe.  Humans are using up water resources and spreading over land that is utilized by our planet's wildlife. Compound that with poisons used in agricultural fields and traffic deaths for low flying birds/crossing mammals and it doesn't paint a pretty picture. Many of these critters are getting "squeezed" out of their habitats by us.

The artist Narca Moore-Craig gets up close and personal with her amazing discovery of the Alligator Lizard

My mission will be to continue my studies with organizations like Audubon, Ebird and AZFO(Arizona Field Ornithologists).  We live in a very complicated world.  With opportunities like the ones presented this past weekend, we can help explore these "new" wild areas and contribute our knowledge for the better protection and conservation of these areas.

Gila Country offers wonderful vistas and lots of great Arizona wildlife viewing!

 For more about birds from around the world, check out Wild Bird Wednesday. 

An agave stalk

Below is an overview of the Workman Creek Falls in the Sierra Ancha mountains.   Our trek into Gila County was fantastic!

The Study of Birds

Birding is more than just looking at birds.  There are so many facets to this "hobby" or passion of ours.  We sometimes will play the part of explorer or detective.  Obviously observation plays a big role in all of this.  The more we do it; the better we become.  As time progresses, we grow individually and as a group collecting data for organizations like Audubon, AZFO, or Cornell University(aka Ebird).  On the outing to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon last weekend, our focus was on nesting birds.  However, as many of us discovered, there was a lot more happening than just nesting activity.  

The first part of the journey began with our beautiful California Condors.  They are still very much endangered due to lead poisoning.  This, many times, happens when hunters use lead bullets instead of the copper ones. The lead spreads through the carcass that is left behind.  At that point, scavengers will feast on those remains.  Currently, the state of California has banned the use of lead, but Arizona and Utah have not. Therefore, Condors still face this threat.  They are all tagged and checked each year.  Often, several condors must undergo a detoxification process. Sadly, some will lose the battle.  Hunters, for the most part, are responsible, but the lead poisoning continues which indicates that some may not be playing by the rules. One would think Arizona would move forward adopting a ban on lead similar to the one in California. My friend Ranger Gaelyn, the Geogypsy at the North Rim wrote in a comment, "In AZ, and now in UT, game & fish works on hunter education with 80-90% voluntary compliance. The lead problem may not be exclusively from hunters either.". Thanks Gaelyn for the info! If we can figure out the lead issue, these birds could make a strong comeback. Other issues that Condors face....Golden Eagles, coyotes and power lines. 

On our outing, we tallied 5 CONDORS!  As mentioned previously, all the condors are tagged.  Each Condor was ID'd via the internet.  There are places, like the Peregrine Fund, that helped me ID the backgrounds on each of these birds.  The lettered Condors indicate that they were captive bred at the Portland Zoo. The websites also gave me the age, when they were released and how they were raised.  For example, L3(above) was raised by a foster parent Condor while 53(below) was raised by a hand puppet:)  It sounds funny, but it's true.  Sometimes the Condors are raised by their biological parents in captivity or in a few cases.... the wild!  This is great news for the Condors as their range is SLOWLY spreading into new areas.  In fact, Utah has reported their first condor chick in the wild! Congrats!

Our main study revolved around nesting birds. There was quite a bit of bug collection going on everywhere we turned.   

Western Bluebird

 Bluebirds, like other birds in the area, also nest in the cavities of trees.

There were several stretches of burned trees along the North Rim. Now to the human eye, burned areas look like a stain on the landscape, but on closer inspection, we found that many woodpeckers and sapsuckers used these burned areas for nesting like this Williamson's Sapsucker below.  

Williamson's Sapsucker(male)

We also made yet another discovery while on the trails.  This unfortunate Common Poorwill may have been hit by an oncoming vehicle.   It is a difficult bird to see at night.  Like most nightjars, it prefers to sit along dirt roads near shrubs and flies the evening skies capturing insects for a meal.  However, the team was allowed a closer inspection of this normally difficult-to-see bird.  I always imagined the bird to have rough feathers, but when we touched them, they were amazingly soft.  

Common Poorwill

 We also discovered that there were warblers favoring certain trees.  We commonly found the Virginia's Warbler feeding on blooming New Mexican Locust trees. 

Virginia's Warbler

 Finally, we were able to really study the differences between Cassin's and House Finches.  The Rim was full of Cassin's Finches and were rather easy to find around water sources. 

Cassin's Finch

For me, the detailed study of birds has become a passion.  The only time it isn't a passion is when it's too hot outside:)  I help when I can, but I am constantly exploring new areas.  But one day, I will be forced to sit down.  And if that happens, I'll probably begin painting the birds I have seen in this lifetime.

Black-throated Gray Warbler

It's one experience to observe a lifebird for the first time; it's another to see it repeatedly and truly understand the bird's habits. 

The adventure continues......

Lesser Goldfinch

For more birds from around our world, check out Wild Bird Wednesday.