Close Inspections

I found a magical fairy village in the middle of the woods!

August is a whole month of crazy.  Monsoon is in full swing and so is migration.  It's the one time of year when everything all comes together.  But the temps are brutal in the desert and surrounding areas. 

Enjoying the cool breeze of a monsoon storm in Sierra Vista along the San Pedro River

And it is during this time of year that I collect my data for migrating warblers, shorebirds and birds listed as endangered or in decline.  Did they nest?  Are there juveniles? Are there more or less of these birds coming through the area right now?  After chasing life birds in Chiapas, I just felt I needed to connect more with "my birds" and do quality study. 

The monsoon clouds build over Cochise Lake in Wilcox

While I love the grasslands, I'm not a huge fan of the chiggers and bugs.  Right around the first couple weeks of August, we hit the peak season of monsoon.  It's during this time of year we begin to see some early migrants passing through our area while also observing difficult birds, like the Cassin's Sparrow, out in the open doing their "larking display".  There isn't a certain date for this peak.  It's just something I feel out each year.  Each weekend during the month of August, I carefully pick the spots to do my studies.  In this post, we stopped at the Wilcox Lake for migrating shorebirds, Mt. Lemmon for warblers, St. David for nesting Yellow-billed Cuckoos, and my work site in Oro Valley(weekly patch study) for the nesting Purple Martins specific to our Sonoran Desert.  It has been a quality month of research and birding.  None of it is boring.  The hikes are incredible and the treks are some of the most scenic on this planet. 

Black-necked Stilts

We headed down to Wilcox and explored "Cochise Lake" first.  We picked up two Stilt Sandpipers, one Semipalmated Plover and Sandpiper.  While these birds were wonderful to spot, our best observation happened with a cranky Northern Mockingbird and Swainson's Hawk. 

A Northern Mockingbird chases a Swainson's Hawk off the post.  That takes some huevos. 

After awhile, we headed out because it looked like it was going to rain in the area.  

Black-tailed Jackalope Jackrabbit:)

I wanted to check up on our now fledged Mississippi Kites, Yellow-billed Cuckoos and Yellow-breasted Chats.  Along the way, we observed lots of great birds around the countryside. 

White-winged Dove perches on an Ocotillo

We'd stop and look and then move onto the next area. 

A male Northern Cardinal sits on top of a Saguaro.  Talk about a strange sight!

After a summer of chasing crazy new birds in Mexico, I was happy to just stand in MY world with MY birds and let them fly around me.  I know this world best.  Every habitat.  And almost every bird.  It's great.  They are my secrets.  My escape. It is very comforting to know that many made it back in one piece.

Gila Woodpeckers are LOVING the sugar water right now.  Sorry hummingbirds!

The Gila Woodpeckers fought the hummingbirds for nectar. 

Spiders hid on leaves.  And chats.....did a lot of chatting:)

Yellow-breasted Chat

I went to St. David and followed up on the Cuckoos and Kites.

A Yellow-billed Cuckoo flies over my head.  I have a special connection with this bird as it followed me around last year in the trees:)  And it was back again in the same area where we hung out for awhile watching each other.  

Thankfully, they were all there safe and sound.

Here's my friend who is still around

Currently the western variety of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo is in danger. It is listed as threatened and near the threshold of endangered. Tucson Audubon currently has surveys going on around their nesting areas in Southern Arizona.  They are collecting data about this declining species so that they can designate areas for their protection. "The loss and degradation of native riparian habitat throughout the western Yellow-billed Cuckoo's range has played a major role in the bird's decline"(source)

Back at my work site, I do a weekly survey of the birds found around the campus.  The Purple Martins were concerning for me because they are clear cutting major areas of desert next to the school and wash.  Normally, I see these birds before school is out but I hadn't seen them before summer break.  However, I was SO happy when I discovered this desert subspecies flying around the Saguaro cactus at the start of our new school year.

I don't know how they did it with all the chaos around them but they raised another wonderful family.  They had 3 young at the time but have now begun their migration.  I hope they return next year.  It's crazy how connected I have become with my local birds.

Black-crowned Night Heron

On a particularly hot day, I wanted to bird but not far from home.  So I went to my other regular patch at a nearby park to count the juvenile Black-crowned Night Herons.  The Herons have had a good year!  4 juveniles were seen on this 100+ degree evening.

The heat can be intense!  Thankfully warbler migration begins on top of Mt. Lemmon in August and this is where I'll finish my reporting.

Townsend's Warbler

It was hot in Tucson at around 113 degrees.  Mt. Lemmon was sunny with a slight breeze in the 80's.  This was a no brainer.

On this beautiful day, we had 11 of the 13 warbler species on the mountain.  The Wilson's, Townsend'ss and Hermit warblers were AMAZING!  It was a successful outing indeed!

Wilson's Warbler

Warblers are pretty cool birds.  Yes, they are difficult to see, but they are little gems that dance underneath the shadows of leaves. 

Hermit Warbler in flight

Overall, it has been a great month out and the data collected was a success.  I realize not all years will have such positive reports but this one was one of the best thanks to lots of wonderful rain.

Birding can be quite meaningful. With this collection of data, I become stronger and better at being not just a birder but a true citizen scientist.  

Over the next two weeks, we'll meet new friends on the trails.  Las Aventuras is about to begin Chapter 3 of "Americano".  Stay tuned for more friends:)

American Avocets

During this time of year, American Avocets dot the waterways around Arizona.  In Tucson and surrounding areas, they are more commonly seen during migration.  

The shots today were taken at Cochise Lake at Willcox.  Originally I went to find the Scaled Quail reported in the area.  I did find them....by accident.  But it was because I was trying to get clearer shots of the American Avocets.  Some birds are tricky to capture perfectly in full sun.  And with our bright blue Arizona skies, these birds can reflect some of that light causing the pic to blur.  But not today.

The camera used is a Nikkon D5200 DSLR.  The lens is the best kind as it can shoot long range or short range acting as two lens in one.  No switching needed for the wildlife shots.  It has a 28 to 300 mm lens range which will now allow me a fuller detailed pic.  A camera hood was added to the lens to block out the sun.  While I enjoy photography, I am now ready to push the limits and want that detail without any slight blur. You'll be seeing more of these shots coming up in future posts.

I had missed birding with Kathie and called her up one day to see if she was up for another birding trek.  I don't have to twist her arm for trips like these:) It was a beautiful day as we circled Cochise Lake in Willcox.

I tried different angles with movement, etc.  All the pics taken on this post today were used with the same lens!!!  It comes highly recommended for any wildlife photographer as one can pull back for the glorious landscape shots or focusing tightly on a subject further away.  Canon offers a lens similar to the Nikkon series and I'll be looking into that lens down the road.

In this last pic, we see American Avocets with two Lesser Yellowlegs.  This lens is amazing and has converted me:)  It's all about the lens with these cameras.  And of course, the costs prove that:) More coming up.....