Seeds of Promise

Northern Beardless Tyrannulet

Reconnecting with birds already seen 10 times over, he patiently waits. Birds are amazing and he spies them easily now knowing exactly where they can all be seen. At least in Arizona. 

However, this explorer is at times impatient.  He knows he cannot sit at home and wait.  He must continue observing the same birds over and over again until they are ingrained into his mind.  This makes him a better birder.  A stronger birder. 

He observes with friends to keep it fresh. For some, it's their first time seeing many of these amazing creatures.  And it feels good. The educator within him comes out and it feels natural.   

He abides his time waiting for the seeds of promise.  Each night is a study session.  Tropical birds, habitats and places unknown.  These things swirl about in his dreams.  Something new.  Something exciting. 

Eastern Meadowlark(Lillian's Subspecies)

A life's journey is ahead.  Each year, he focuses on areas around Central America, Mexico and of course, the rest of North America. 

Plumbeous Vireo

Ticking and listing away, he discovers that there are many difficult challenges ahead.

Barn Swallow

Quite honestly, it's not about the tick or the check for him.  All birds are amazing.  Even the everyday kinds. But challenges are fun and he's all about pushing the envelope.  After birding the same areas over and over again, the birder is ready for a delicious challenge.

Marla imagining life at Empire Ranch

For now, this birder must strengthen his skills if he's going to succeed. When the time comes to discover a new species, he must be prepared! It's like practicing for a marathon or preparing for a food competition.  Soon his skills will be tested.  {end of narrative}

Texan Crescent (Anathassa texana)

Always strange to write in the 3rd person voice but I was feeling creative.  Lately, I have been anxious about a great many things.  One of those things happens to be a major trip that is scheduled for this summer.  I'm going to be surrounded by a wonderful team of birders. I am excited about the trek with my birding bud, but I am working on getting my reflexes ready with the camera. I also know this is going to be mentally exhausting. Rain forest birds are fast and usually in the shadows before one can get a shot of them.  Not good for photography! This is an opportunity to work with an amazing crew and possibly add on 200 new life birds!  So what's the concern? Excellent birders=quick spotting and onto the next bird.  I'm a "stop-and-watch-the-bird-for-awhile" kinda guy.  So I don't know what to expect. I can keep up with the group but I've never done this before.  On my treks, I usually stay one week in one area to study the habitat and surrounding areas both day and night.  My results are usually top notch.  This time around it's a different habitat for each day!! Now that's exciting but also overwhelming. In some cases from those evening studies, it's a one shot thing which doesn't leave much room for screwing up:) For now, I'm practicing practicing practicing for the weeks ahead!

Sonoita Creek

Today's post features photos from the Empire Ranch in the Cienagas Grasslands near Sonoita and the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve in Patagonia, Arizona. A special thank you goes out to Doug Taron(entomology) and Karina Hilliard(herpes)for the butterfly and last post's lizard ID. Also featured in this week's post is my partner-in-crime from work.

We had a fun day observing Gray Hawks in flight. Lots of gray birds in this post:) Until next time.....

The Discovery Trail

At Empire Ranch, Kathie and I found a gate.  A rusty brown gate.  It called our names.  And we entered searching for birds.

Fire Ants

While doing so, we faced massive amounts of insects on the trail.  If you're not careful where you step, you may find yourself badly damaged after thousands of fire ant bites.  So we avoided these patches while exploring the area.

Leopard Frog Protection House

In fact, this trail was really all about the insects.  The deafening sounds of the Cicada actually hurt our ears and blocked out any bird sounds.  But holy cow were the butterflies active in this field of wildflowers!

Common Checkered Skipper

I never tire of the Queen butterfly below and I apologize for constantly taking pics of them.  But I've added a butterfly "lifer" and new addition to Las Aventuras above.  This summer I captured the Checkered White Butterfly on camera.  Now we can also see the Common Checkered Skipper!

Queen Butterfly

So this monster Cicada flew into view.  All I can tell you is that these insects were sooooo LOUD!!!

Cicada

And as for the birds?  Well we saw the Say's Phoebe.  But Kathie knew a better spot to find birds and would we find some incredible things!  Stay tuned more from our adventures in the grasslands near Sonoita.

Say's Phoebe

Empire Ranch

Kestrel

In search of a bathroom before our trek, we explored a new spot at the Empire Ranch.  Old buildings stood near a strip of forested land.  As we got close to the buildings on the gravel road, Kathie and I noticed lots of bird activity.  What would we find flying around this area?

Kestrel

Well there were lots of birds to see, but it was amazing to find quite a bit of activity happening around this old property.

I jumped out to find a Barn Owl or two but this Northern Red Shafted Flicker(below) caught my attention with its amazing red wings while in flight.  This is one hot bird!  Look at the design.  I didn't get it in flight  but that was pretty spectacular as well.

Northern Red Shafted Flicker

Huge kingbird activity on this day.  Kathie had her notebook and wrote things down.  I had my camera and shot billions of pics.  The difference? She documents and I snap:)

Kingbird Action!

And while around the property of old buildings, we stopped at several and it was cool.  But we also kept our eyes out for snakes inside the abandoned buildings.

Imagine redoing a property like this and making home in a beautiful grassland area.  I'd love to have lots of money to do things like this.  There is a lot of work that would have to be done to restore these buildings and old ranch but it's still nice to dream:)

I don't know why I love this light fixture so much but I do.  I think it reminds me of the old glass that my grandparents used to have in their homes.  Before my Grandmother passed away, she told me that she wanted me to have her china.   It sits back home waiting for me to bring it back to Arizona.  There is a train ride in my future to collect these antiques.

So while this house was abandoned, we both explored all the little nooks and crannies around the property and took a break from the heat.

Eventually we made it outside and did more walking around watching all the bird action going on.  And there was lots to see.

The problem is that I didn't know where to point the camera.  There was action on the ground, air and on the buildings.  And not all of it birds.

Canyon Towhee

There were these brilliant flashing red grasshoppers.....the large Lubbers all about.  Really quite beautiful.

Horse Lubber Grasshopper

So there are two special shoots that happened that I felt needed their own posts coming in the next several days.  One relates to nesting Barn Swallows(pretty amazing) and the Sonoran Pronghorn.  You won't want to miss these as Kathie and I continue our journey through the incredible grasslands of Cienagas near Sonoita.  More tomorrow....