Each And Every Day

A Northern Flicker feeds from a Hackberry Tree

With my professional lens back in hand, it was back on the trails trying to recapture pics of birds I had seen last weekend. 

It's hunting season and Micheal is letting this Mule Deer to hide better

 However, we mixed it up a bit and stopped over at the Empire Gulch to see just how badly this past summer's fire damage had been. 

Loggerhead Shrike

 As with any fast spreading fire, it twirls and whirls around vegetation.  Some spaces are left unscathed while others are torched to the ground. It looks like the wintering birds don't mind.

A patch of towering Arizona Cottonwoods still stands, defiant of the fire

  Let me show you an example.  Here is a photo of the Empire Gulch before the fire a couple years ago during our yearly fundraising event(below).

It was a shaded forest.  After the fire, the sunlight has infiltrated the canopy of the riparian area

 The Empire Gulch is/was a migrant trap for many birds.  This is the "after photo" of the same magical space that is now changed. 

This ancient and magical Arizona Cottonwood is gone.  Even certain trees hold our hearts from over the years.  It was sad to see this beautiful tree gone.

This fire, caused by a border patrol agent target practicing during the driest part of the season, caused a massive grassland fire that destroyed homes and the very important Empire Gulch.  While wildfire is important to reinvigorate an area like the grasslands, it can also be devastating to riparian areas.  Unfortunately, this area will take years to return to its former glory.  And not all of the riparian area was affected (which is a good thing).  However, several of the HUGE and unique Arizona Cottonwoods are gone.  So while the grasslands truly benefited from the fire, the riparian area will take years to recover. Each of these habitats attract different birds. This gulch is important to our breeding summer birds like the Gray and Zone-tailed Hawks.

The mega rare Couch's Kingbird still hangs out at one of Tucson's local parks

 Back in town, I had to go back and get better photo documentation of the visiting Couch's Kingbird. 

Wilson's Snipe

 And also photos of one of my favorite species of bird, the Wilson's Snipe. They are beautiful shorebirds that often stay hidden in the grasses and mud clumps, but for some reason, these two birds didn't seem to mind being out in the open. 

Love is in the air between the two behind Micheal. They were the sweetest couple. 

We also explored a new place to catch a bite which is truly a wonderful piece of Americana. Micheal didn't want to go because it's a truck stop.  For years, people have been telling me about this place so finally, we made a stop at the Triple T Truck Stop at Omar's Hi-Way Chef Restaurant.  It. Was. Awesome.  If you're into people watching, this is the place. The food was great and cheap. And the service was fantastic.  

juvenile male Northern Pintail

I'm staying close to home so that I can spend more time with our Cassie.  And well, each day presents a new challenge.

I wish everyone celebrating Thanksgiving in and out of the US a wonderful start to the holiday season.
Until next time.....

Tactical Alert

My weekly observations at Reid Park includes watching people watch birds.

Recently, I had to send my professional lens into the shop again because it locked up on me during our Wood Thrush journey.  So I sent the lens out of town for a fixin' and stayed close to home for some tactical training. 

My favorite habitat in Arizona, the grasslands.  And my favorite group of birds, the sparrows!

Tucson birders have pretty much all stayed in town this past weekend(which is uncommon).  A friend contacted me and asked if I wanted to do some birding in town.  I got the vibe that we were all doing the same thing and our plan went something like this, "We want to find something rare.  We don't care what it is.  But let's challenge ourselves and see if we can find something cool around town."

Magical and breathtaking, the open spaces of our Arizona grasslands make me feel alive

So that was our challenge. For the most part, it was unspoken but everyone who was doing a big year in Pima County decided that this was the weekend that something good was going to show up.  And I have to say we did great. 

Sheri, Jennifer and Peggy observe some great sparrows.

Before we did our big challenge, I had some friends come to town who needed help finding a Baird's Sparrow.  Easy.  

We sit at a water tank whispering and watching birds come to take a sip.  This Savannah Sparrow is thirsty....and wary!

We scanned the cattle tanks and along fence lines for our sparrows and had a great time observing some beautiful birds. 

Western Meadowlark

Around the Sonoita and Patagonia areas, we found several Baird's Sparrows, an American Bittern and a small flock of Chestnut-collared Longspurs.  

Patagonia Lake

It was a fun day out with Jennifer, Peggy and Sheri as we searched for all kinds of birds.  

Jennifer and Sheri are enjoying the butterfly show

So that was my fun birding.  Then came the tactical birding.  And again, the WHOLE week was set up to find something rare at our local parks and watering holes. Lens or no lens, the challenge was on!

Northern Cardinal at the Patagonia State Park feeders

It was a very good week full of surprises.  We had Cackling Geese, Red-breasted Mergansers everywhere, and something even more rare and special, a Couch's Kingbird. 

A Couch's Kingbird is a bird that might be seen in southern Texas but more commonly observed in Mexico. And here's how this chase organically evolved in Tucson.  One day I went to bird at Ft. Lowell Park.  I spotted Red Crossbills crunching away on pine cones. They were a nice find and I posted my sightings.  Then Melissa Williams went to find them the next day.  In the process of birding the park, she found an unusual out-of-place kingbird.

She posted on Facebook that she thought it was a little late for a Tropical Kingbird to be in Tucson.  And she was right. The next day, the Tucson birding crew all met up in one of those rare gatherings.  For a long while, we all worked together to figure out Melissa's bird and at the end of taking audio samples and photos, we concluded that her bird was a very special and rare Couch's Kingbird, a first record for Pima County!  This is not an easy bird to ID.  It looks a lot like our Tropical Kingbird:) If the bird calls, the ID is a snap.  Luckily for all of us, this kingbird made the "kip" calls.

Couch's Kingbird

 While all of this was going on, we were dealing with our poor Cassie.  She became very sick and was having a hard time breathing.  Afraid that we'd lose her, we took her to the ER.  I'm glad we did because we would have lost her.  She has a genetic disease known as Congestive Heart Failure. She is only 10 years old and hopefully with the meds, she'll be with us a little longer. I can say that her health has improved and her appetite has returned.  All critters have my heart.  They are my kryptonite.  She has health insurance which is better than our own! We still have a few more doctor appointments and we're hoping that she'll make a full recovery. 

Soon my professional lens will back and I will be preparing for some arctic cold temps in the North.  Until next time....

That Sinking Feeling

Northern Bobwhite hanging out in some of my favorite kinds of plants...Agaves and Mother-In-Laws Tongue(or at least a variety of it)

During the week, I had been looking forward to the day trip to El Ocote. There were some very special birds in this area that I had wanted to observe better.  Apparently, there was a huge sinkhole full of nesting Green Parakeets and a pair of Bat Falcons hanging out in this huge crater sized locale. 

The minute we arrived into this area, my heart began to beat quickly.  Was that a Northern Bobwhite I heard?!!!  I scrambled out of the van and was astounded by several of these ground birds casually singing out in the open.  This was a bird I thought I would never see and yet here, this "black headed" subspecies hung out singing its' "BOBWHITE!" song. Things were already looking pretty good.  So many birds were calling from different areas that I didn't know where to begin.  

Boat-tailed Flycatcher

Meanwhile back in the van, our birding group began to drop like flies.  Sometime during dinner the night before, the participants ate or drank something deadly. It literally created a massive $*^t storm. We got up for the trek early in the morning and my beloved Helen, in her most British and polite way, told us that she would not be joining us.  It got Helen!  Meanwhile on the other day trips, the plague began to hit and take out many of the birders in their vans. One man couldn't control himself and ran into the bushes.  Another man crumpled to the ground because he lost his strength.  And yet another, fell madly ill and passed out in the back for the entire trek.  What was going on?! Everything after Wednesday night changed the energy of our tours for the rest of the week.  

Fine-lined Hairstreak, Arawacus sito. Thank you Doug Taron for the ID This butterfly is CRAZY. The "tentacles" at the end of this butterfly kept moving and I thought there was something wrong with the butterfly, but it's a distraction mechanism!!!!!  The head is actually opposite and "moving tentacles" are a distraction for predators.  EPIC BUTTERFLY!

Martin was with us again on the trip and we set out to explore this AMAZING place! I really liked hanging out with this guy. Both of us had the same ideas about where we should focus our attentions.  My life bird at 600 was the Green Parakeet and I still didn't have any decent photo documentation.  But here in the sinkhole, I had an opportunity to see several thousand of them!  Their voices echoed from within the rock walls. 

Couch's Kingbird

I did not have enough time in this location so I had to really pick and choose the birds I wanted to see. If I had the time?  I would have rented a room in one of their stone cabins and spent a week there.  I would have eaten at the restaurant and studied the ancient markings on the inside of the sinkhole's walls. But I only had a couple hours. So time was ticking again. Black-headed Saltator or view the mass of parakeets around the sinkhole?  The sinkhole won.  Thousands of these birds live there and at dawn they create quite the spectacle as they spiral out of the hole. 

The Elf, Microtia elva

I ran up the stairs and stood at the edge looking down.  It was something special. 

"Sinkhole of Parrots" 

While waiting for a flock of Green Parakeets to rise from the pit, I watched an Altamira Oriole hang out in the subtropical vegetation. 

Streak-backed Oriole

Then it began.  The rise. A choir of squawking parakeets circled from below the pit slowly rising in a swirl until they were eye level with our birding scopes and cameras. 

Green Parakeets

Their brilliant green made a dramatic statement against the muted rock face.  

A little abstract bird art.  I was feeling a bit creative in this magical location

Eventually the birds would land and we would get to see them better. 

I felt guilty so I returned back to the van and checked up on our fallen.  Two were feeling better, but the other was out stone cold. Please let him be sleeping. 

Holcosus chaitzami, Taxa Teiidae, Sauria or common name Chaitzam's Ameiva/Not much is known about this lizard

When we arrived back to our hotel that day, we were greeted by lots of unpleasant stories.  One person was escorted to his room because he could not walk.  I heard some people calling it a case of the "turista" while others declared it to be "Montezuma's Revenge."  Either way, I felt terrible for the group.  I also discovered that Helen had returned back home to Britain:(  I never got to say good-bye to her.  Dinner that night was reduced to half and would continue to diminish by Friday night.  For many, their last supper would be spent elsewhere. 

I could not afford to get sick.  These last two days were my biggest days yet.  I had never birded the Pacific lowland habitat and it was the single biggest highlight for me besides this trek to El Ocote.  So I'm already organizing a future trek to these areas again with a trip to Palenque and Belize in mind.  As for the sick? Well I'm happy to report that everyone is feeling better again.  Stay tuned for more....