Road Trip

This Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay isn't stupid.  The bird is waiting for a handout in the tourist heavy Garden of the Gods

I love the idea of road trips, but as I'm getting older, I don't have the patience to sit for 11 hours in a vehicle like I used to. That is the amount of time it takes to get from Tucson to Colorado Springs IF you don't make long stops. And how can a birder pass up such fantastic birding hotspots like Bosque Del Apache?!  I like to meander to my final destination spot. 

Orion is a human beaver hybrid

I agreed to do the trek because I wanted to see our family and because I didn't want Micheal driving alone during the holidays.  It's a dangerous drive between the border of New Mexico and Colorado.  We've had so many issues going through the Raton Pass.  Between a serious tire blow out to the pass becoming slippery due to an icy storm passing through the area, we've had our share of mishaps.  This trip would be no different.  A rock fell off a cliff and hit a car knocking the car off the highway.  The other car driving behind that car ran over the huge rock and blew their tires out.  The rock pieces?  Well those flew onto my windshield cracking my front window! We dodged a bullet and I called my insurance to have the crack fixed.  Thankfully no one was hurt, but unfortunately both cars were in bad shape. 

During a stroll in a nearby cemetery, I enjoy watching Fox Squirrels chase each other around the grounds. 

I like to take things slow and I needed to take a break.  My body has been healing and I didn't want to overdo it.  So there were two requirements.  If I took my car Betty to Colorado, we needed to stay an evening in Socorro, close to Bosque El Apache.  I needed that moment when the sun began to set and the birds began to fly over our heads to put myself together. No matter how many times I see it, it never gets old. The video below is just one moment from a long one I had while watching the miracle of Sandhill Cranes and other waterfowl fly over my head. 

The following morning we left Socorro for Colorado Springs, but we stopped in Pecos, New Mexico for breakfast.  And at this cozy restaurant, we saw the most beautiful holiday tree.  I sat sipping my coffee next to the fire trying to memorize all the details of that gorgeous tree. Those are the moments from a road trip that I enjoy.  

Sometimes I'd love to shrink myself and get lost in the majesty of a holiday tree like Chip and Dale did in that Christmas special so many decades ago.

As we headed north towards the Colorado border, we began to see Black-billed Magpies, a sign that we were getting closer. 

Black-billed Magpie

We arrived at a nice time in the Colorado Springs area.  It was still light out.  Never drive into or out of this city at night.  There are many elk and deer along the way.  And had we been driving through the Raton area at night, I would have never seen that rock fall onto the pass. I have never experienced near death experiences like the one we had during our wedding when our tire blew out at night while trying to get home.  A man with a hook for a hand came and towed Micheal's car to his place to pick "some things up".  He proceeded to get into a fight with his girlfriend and then left his trailer.  Once inside his tow truck during that LOOOOONG drive to Trinidad, he began telling us about how Trinidad was the transgender capital of the world. Where was he going with that story? In fact, where am I going with this story? Once we got to Trinidad, a tire shop tried to sell us huge tires because Micheal's car was foreign and they didn't have his tires. Our only spare was not going to get us home as it was 8 hours away. I walked all over that small town the following morning finding the only two foreign tires that would fit his car for that long drive home. 26 bucks!  That's all it cost. Had we gone with the bigger tires, we would have paid around 400 dollars and had vehicle damage!  As you can imagine, it probably explains why I am not a big fan of the Raton Pass and I'm traumatized for life. 

Poor Bee Bee.  She's not a lap dog at all. 

Once we arrived into the Colorado Springs area, we had a nice visit with the family. And while there wasn't anything new in the birding category for me to find, I finally got to observe not one or two Cackling Geese but thousands! In Arizona, they are rare. But in the Springs area, they were everywhere!  Many years ago, I created several Ebird Hotspots in that city so I felt like it was my duty to do a count around those three local parks. And that is where I discovered my Cackling Geese.  

A Cackling Goose comes in for a landing

Just when I thought there was nothing new to discover, I was reminded again about how wrong I can be.  I assumed all the geese were Canada Geese, but while out in the field, I was getting a Cackling Goose vibe. Surely, Cackling Geese were rare for Colorado.  When I went back to the in laws, I got on my computer and looked up the data and discovered that Cackling Geese(Richardson's subspecies) wintered in the Colorado Springs area!  So cool!

An easy ID for this Cackling Goose, a white line at the base of the short neck, dark back, short bill, square head makes it perfect for the Richardson's subspecies. 

I went back the next day at the same time and studied the various subspecies really well.  It was the first time that I was able to really get close and observe field marks. It's not always obvious.  How does one tell the difference between the Taverner's subspecies from a "Lesser" Canada Goose!?!  It's not easy.  But the bill is usually the first field mark we have to look at.  And that's not always a great one to use.  A Taverner's bill isn't as small and triangular like the other subspecies of Cackling Geese.  But it's not quite as long as the Lesser Canada Goose either. 

Cackling Geese are easy to pick out when next to their larger relatives, the Canada Goose.  This Richardson's subspecies is about a third of the size of the related Canada Goose

I spent so much time studying them that I forgot about the time. I went in the morning and the next thing I knew, it was lunch time!  I had told Gordon before our road trip that Colorado birding this time of year is pretty uneventful.  And I was wrong in a good way. It's not Arizona birding but it's fun.  Plus I got to add American Tree Sparrow to my 2020 year list!

The Richardson's Cackling Goose is the main subspecies to winter in Colorado.  It is possible to find Taverner's mixed in with this group.  Source: Utah Birds

We took nature walks during the early afternoon.  It would be cool to cold depending on wind gusts. And daylight was a premium.  It was a constant battle to get any birding done because the sunrise was late and due to the shadow of the mountain, the sun set early. 

There's a great place to bird near Colorado Springs in the town of Fountain.  It's a lovely preserve that goes along a river.  During our walk we discovered that beavers had been busy.  We also had a Great Horned Owl fly out from the trees over our heads.  

My nephew Orion finds an old wasp's nest. I spy my first-of-the-year(FOY) American Robin. 

American Robin

There are places that we always seem to go visit when we're in Colorado Springs like the Fountain Creek Regional Park, Pike's Peak, and of course, the amazing Garden of the Gods. 

Now I've taken you all there once or twice before, but it's impossible not to enjoy these spaces over and over again. 

I personally like the gift shop there.  They have affordable art to hang on your walls and a fun restaurant where you can enjoy the beautiful outside.  And it was there, I added my first 2020 Townsend's Solitaire!

We had a lovely time.  It seems to speed up when we are there.  I also noticed my pain was gone for most of our visit.  Strange but it was a nice break from my side aches. 

Honestly, I don't know what this year will bring.  I've left much of it open.  I have visitors coming to go birding with me and I am really looking forward to spending some great time outdoors showing them my beautiful part of the world. If and I mean IF, this body gets back on track, I am organizing treks to Florida, the Darien Gap in Panama, and on the big island of Hawaii (or O'ahu). For now, I look forward to peaceful weekends with my cats in the catio, a nice stroll close to home, and doing some work in my garden. Until next time....

Data Gaps

Black Squirrel

 During my research, I utilize several methods to find birds. Obviously I use Ebird to help track down recent sightings, but I also do a lot of reading on habitat and range using guides and the internet. Arizona is Ebirded to death.  The professionals will tell you that it's not true as there are some large gaps in the state that don't have many reports.  This is true.  But if you are like most people wanting to bird the state, you'll fly into Phoenix or Tucson and have no issues finding all of our hotspots with recent reports from those areas.

Black-capped Chickadee

This is not true for many places like, for example, Colorado or Wisconsin. Heading into Colorado was hit or miss.  I wrote down all the major and potential lifebirds to be found. However there were gaps in the data. Or in other words, there wasn't any data on certain areas at all!  If there was data, it was years old.  I had the same issue in Guatemala and Mexico. So on these trips, I had to bridge the gaps with my own experience.  For my Colorado trip, I had about 5 or 6 life birds to find.  My brother-in-law is leaving for Kuwait hence the trek north.  Everyone likes to be outdoors and so we hiked our way through the many beautiful spaces of Colorado Springs.

One of the first things I wanted to do was get the Black-billed Magpie with my camera.  This is a very common bird in Colorado Springs.  I have a post on them from long ago but I was just learning how to use my camera.  One of the places we went to bird was Sondermann Park.  It had several birds on my target list which included an Eastern Kingbird.  This is a beautiful trail along a stream full of birds!  While I dipped on the Eastern Kingbird reported there, I picked up a life bird I wasn't expecting. 

Black-billed Magpie

The Olive-sided Flycatcher!!!  Yes!  It just sat on the branch and said to us, "Here I am.  Take as many pics as you want!"  And I did.  If this had been the only life bird I found for the day, I would have been happy.  But as luck would have it, more birds would pop up along this trail.

Olive-sided Flycatcher

But since it's a life bird and a first for the blog, here are some close-ups of the flycatcher.  They are found in Arizona.  Some of them are in trickier spots to find around the state.  Some of them are too far to chase. And they do pop in Tucson during migration, but I kept dipping on this bird.  When we found this handsome bird, everyone moved on to find more.  Pat understands the word, "life bird" and is constantly trying to aide in my quest to find them.  So when I said "life bird", Pat stood with me longer to observe the bird while the others moved further down the trail.  But what we didn't realize was that there was going to be a cluster of activity along the stream's edge.

It was hard to take my eyes off of this bird, but when someone said, "Blue Jay!", I was forced to move.

But not without spotting the first of the year Downy Woodpecker!  Hairy Woodpeckers are common in Arizona.  The Downy is much harder to find, but in Colorado Springs, they dominate the landscape.  In fact, we saw many Downy Woodpeckers, Williamson's Sapsuckers, and Northern Flickers.  I think Colorado Springs is the headquarters for Northern Flickers:)

Downy Woodpecker

Finally!  As a child growing up in Wisconsin, I had seen many birds but I couldn't trace the dates when I saw them so decades later, I discovered my first common Blue Jay that most people see.  And it was awesome.  Technically, another lifebird in molt:)

Blue Jay

Another fun place to bird is Garden of the Gods.  It's popular among the tourists and overall, just a nice place to hike.

Garden of the Gods

This area is a hotspot for Western Scrub-Jays and Magpies.  There are lots of beautiful Aspen trees and red rock formations.

Western Scrub Jay

One last note.  I have learned to balance the birding bit by birding in local areas around the neighborhoods of family and friends.  Another spot that was not really birded well was Quail Lake which was 5 minutes from our place. So I jumped in the car and did a quick walk around the lake and discovered.......

Quail Lake in Colorado Springs

Several juvenile Common Grackles.  Another life bird!  I heard the "grackle" sound and watched them for quite a bit of time to make sure I was actually seeing a Common Grackle and not a Red-winged Blackbird or Great-tailed Grackle or Brewer's Blackbird:)  These birds were mixed in with Red-winged Blackbirds. It was really gray and cloudy making the black on the bird tricky.  But to ID Common Grackles, I looked for the yellow eyes(check), their vocalizations(check) and a variation in color from the bluish head and darker body(check).  In the pics, it's hard to see that bluish sheen on the head because of the lighting.

Common Grackle

We had a nice trip and visit.  I have more photos from several other places coming up.  And hopefully I will have added more data to Ebird that will be useful.  Recently, four of my lists that I marked as a Hotspot for Ebird in Colorado Springs were accepted. That never would have happened in Arizona. Hopefully other Ebirders will visit and bird these beautiful parks and trails.

Keep your eyes open for the hummingbird moth below during summer and early fall:)  Rumor has it that snow has fallen over there!

White-lined Sphinx Moth

They were all over!

Dear blogger friends, I will be visiting soon.  I'm on vacation right now and will be back next week. There is a lot more to report, but for now I hope all of you are enjoying fall....or spring wherever you may be.  All my best.  More soon.....
I'm linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday.  So many amazing birds out there!

Deer Season

Shooting.  Killing.  Hunting.  They've got to be some of the scariest words for deer.  In Wisconsin and around our country, people are cocking a gun and taking aim!  This post was inspired in various ways as you'll see today:)

Well one.  It's about the deer.  On my birding/wildlife adventures, I came upon many deer from around the country.  Mule, Whitetail, Coues, Pronghorn(not a deer...but like a deer:)......and they are all so beautiful.

I'm not against hunting at all.  My family hunts in Wisconsin and eat the meat.  In places like this state, it's important to keep the population from bursting into the millions.  Currently there are over a million deer in Wisconsin.  Deer cause many deadly car crashes. Or maybe that last sentence should read....humans cause many deer to die.  Either way, it's dangerous.   And in cold winters, deer can die from starvation.   Therefore, I always think it's important to allow for some hunting to happen in certain places.

I tried to hunt with my relatives when I was younger but didn't enjoy it.  But don't think I don't understand the thrill of a hunter.  As a photographer, there is a definite adrenaline rush that I get everytime I find an animal or bird. And in many ways, pushing the button on my camera is a lot like pulling the trigger of a gun......except I'm not killing anything:)

Many birders have stories about getting caught up in a hunting area while looking for birds.  It's only then that they realize hunting season has begun.  And quickly many pray to the gods that no one shoots them while searching for that Snow Bunting.  There's a lot of scary(and funny) stories out there about getting caught up in an area that's open to hunting.  So to my birder and wildlife friends.....be careful!

Almost anywhere I went, I would discover deer.  Sometimes they would run.  Sometimes we would just stare at each other.

So to the deer out there, I wish them the best of luck.  I believe that the wildlife know when hunting season begins because many of them migrate to areas where hunters can't enter.  They're no dummies:)

In fact, earlier this year I reported that Nuclear Power plants around the country note a higher percentage of wildlife around their reactors when hunting season begins.  If a human enters these secure borders, they are shot....not the deer or bear.

The best part of wildlife photography is that I've gotten really stealthy and can sneak up on some animals.  My body afterwards feels it when I get home.  I push my muscles to the limit sometimes bending and crouching around trees and bushes.

The pics below made me burst out laughing.  In Colorado Springs, this buck stood still.  He just froze.  But I saw him and told everyone to freeze.  My 4 year old nephew and I caught the deer with our eyes.  He's good to take out into the field:)

But everyone had a good laugh including the homeowner of this place.  She was walking out to her car and found the new "lawn decorations":)  We were across the street staring at these beautiful animals.

So venison.  In Wisconsin, people hunt and garden and hunt and fish and garden.  I was the little hobbit that enjoyed gardening with my Grandparents.  I didn't like hunting or fishing because that was disgusting....especially if the food had that "gamey" taste to it.

But I was educated by my very crafty brother-in-law.  He is a hunter and fisherman.  And he's an amazing cook who knows how to prepare meats like venison etc. 

One time I came home from school and was super hungry.  I raided their fridge and had myself two helpings of lasagna.  Little did I know that it contained venison!!!  Had I known I wouldn't have eaten any of it.  But thankfully I was given a second chance to try it out.  At first I was disgusted with myself for having eaten it, but I also helped myself to their food.....so it was my fault in the first place.  When they found out, they had a great laugh because they know how I am when it comes to fish and wild meat.

The secret to getting rid of that "game" taste?  Use half hamburger meat with half venison!  Did you know that venison is better for you and leaner?

I love my veggies and don't eat too much meat but is it bad that I love chicken or turkey?:)  Plus I love deer very much.  So I wish both sides luck this year.  Hunters may you feed your families.  Deer may you find sanctuary and safety away from the orange ones. And birders, may you not get shot or run over by either.  Please research before going out into the woods wherever you are!  So what's your take on deer hunting?  Love it?  Hate it?

And to everyone out there.  May your holiday season begin on a good note!  More tomorrow....