The hikes have been grueling lately. With desert heat and rarities popping up left and right, it has made the birding a true challenge. Which bird should I chase first? Many of the birds are in difficult or remote locations!
Violet-green Swallow
For all the "hits" I get on my target birds, there are also the misses. Aztec Thrush, Berryline Hummingbird, Rose-throated Becard, Slate-throated Redstart. All misses because of time. Only one would be a lifebird. And when I dip on a bird like I did with the Aztec Thrush, it burns bad. Timing. It all comes down to the timing. When you don't have the time, you appreciate every minute you have more. My life is one long schedule. It's pretty awesome, but like everyone else reading this blog, we have lives outside our hobby that require us to be present:) It will just make the story sweeter when I do finally see these birds in Arizona:)
Black-throated Gray Warbler
I'll hike miles to find a new bird. But with time constraints, it makes waiting around for a bird difficult. Had I only waited 10 minutes, I would have seen the bird!!! BUT NO. We had to head back down the mountain to get home. It's a terrible feeling. I got into my car and couldn't talk for awhile. I got a text from a friend who told me that the bird popped out as we were heading back down the trail.
Gordon spots an Hepatic Tanager. In the distance, a wildfire burns near Young, Arizona.
Time was ticking and my window for the Aztec Thrush closed. No more Southern Arizona birding for awhile. On our last days in Arizona, I birded with Gordon(above) once more on Mt. Ord.
The heat was an astounding 117 degrees in the desert!! I use this reliable kitty weather forecast for help. So we had to climb the mountains for some reprieve. But not by much. It still was pretty hot up there!
It's amazing how birds can even survive these extreme temps!
Hutton's Vireo
Like good Arizona birders, we pack lots of water. Some it is frozen while the rest is chilled. The body MUST stay cool in the extreme heat! We also went early and left the house by 5 AM. Although, you can get up at 4 AM to start!!! But that's way TOO early! Or is it?
Hepatic Tanager
We track water sources. Cattle tanks. Mountain streams, etc etc to find birds. During the Arizona summer, birds will feed before the sun rises(the 4:30 AM time period), hang out in the shade during the sunny and hot times of the day and stay near any water sources that may be around the area. Visiting birders need to take care and do the same!
We find plenty of wildlife resting in the shaded areas. We also take advantage of these areas along the road staying out of the intense sun. As we do, we spot several deer casually crossing the road ahead of us.
It is also completely acceptable to sit at public bird feeders and search for rarities:) Especially after the 10 AM time period.
Lucifer Hummingbird
Sometimes I will chase ONE bird for 30 minutes in the sun. I am confident about where these birds are hanging out. Otherwise, I wouldn't go and get them. So I get my pic and run back to my air conditioned car:) Take for example the Tropical Kingbird below. It is currently nesting in its' typical spot at the Sweetwater Wetlands. Easy.
Tropical Kingbird
There are even easier ones to snag. Park and bird! There is nothing wrong with birding from your car. This American White Pelican decided to hang out at Lakeside Park for a few days before taking flight.
American White Pelican from the Utah area(note green tag)
And around the same time, a Least Tern returned to the same spot. I think it's the same one that I discovered here a year ago. The migration dates were almost exactly the same. Note the times I used "same" in this paragraph:)
Least Tern
But when it gets too hot, it's time to head up to the higher elevations. Early mornings are still the best as they provide cooler temps.
House Wren
While the canyons are still dark, you'll hear the owls finish up their last calls.
Brown Creeper
Of course you have to do some hiking to see some of this stuff, but WOW!
And then an owl calls. It's like a dream come true. WHOA! And the crowd goes wild!
In the shadows, lurks a Northern Pygmy Owl
With so much hiking going on, it was time to just rest and get ready for the cooler temps. June is the BEST month to leave Tucson or Phoenix. It's hot and the rare bird alert is fairly quiet during this month. Where do we go? North:) Or West, to the beaches of San Diego.
It's hard to get up when you have such cute cats around you purring nearby.
My blog series will once again focus on a new birding area outside of Arizona. It can be cool, rainy.......and GREEN!
Until then, I'm going to do as this male Anna's Hummingbird is doing.....hanging out in the shade! Birds will often "pant" to exhale the hot temps in the body through evaporation of moisture along their mouth, throat and lungs. In other words, they stay cool.
A HOT male Anna's Hummingbird hanging out in the shade on a 117 degree day!
Stay tuned for our next adventure. Gordon will be joining me on an epic journey into one of the most beautiful states of the US.....Wisconsin. So get your bug spray on and pull out those cheesehead hats! Until next time!
June has arrived here in the Sonoran Desert. And it is hot hot hot! Birders get up at 4:30 AM to start their day! They can bird "comfortably" for a few hours before being forced to return home. The retired birder gets up early and birds. Then they take an afternoon nap:) For me, I am trapped inside my house during the day because of all the projects/conferences/appointments going on. However, I still try to bird up on the mountain for some cooler temps and even cooler birds when I get the chance.
Just a couple weeks ago, we lost yet another hiker on a popular trail in Phoenix. The cause? Not enough water to stay hydrated. He passed out and never woke up. These sad stories are always difficult to hear. For us desert rats, they are important reminders to carry lots of water. Of course, no one should be hiking in the deadly afternoon sun for so many reasons. So what's a birder/hiker to do? Go early. Let someone know where you're going. Or go with others. Bring lots of water or a camel pack. Wear a hat and sunscreen.
Painted Redstart
So I went hiking up on the cooler Mt. Lemmon because I despise the heat. I followed several trails near the UA space observatories. At one point, I sat down observing the birds calling around me.
House Wren
In one location, I sat near a puddle of water in the woods. Here warblers and thrushes came down for a drink.
Red-faced Warbler
As of late, I haven't been able to really do any serious birding because of various projects. El Presidio needed a parking lot makeover. And so I supervised the project and funding. After it was done, it looked so beautiful that I didn't want to park on it at all:)
El Presidio gets a little TLC
As a reward for surviving the late morning temps with the parking lot crew, I quickly took a break and drove to a local park to find a rare Canada Goose. These birds are common everywhere but Tucson:)
So I quickly walked and sweat my way in 111 degree temps to find this one bird. It took 15 minutes and then it was back in my car.
Canada Goose at Columbus Park
When I become antsy, I sit down, edit photos and watch my feeders from the windows.
American Robin
I've been playing around with a different photo program on an Apple computer to enhance the details of the pics better.
Hermit Thrush has quite the appetite
But even that gets to be a little too stationary for me.
On the quiet trail, I looked down upon the Tucson valley. I could almost feel the heat from where I stood. There was no escaping it. One day later, we headed into the hotter city of Phoenix for Comicon.
I love art! This is an Effie impersonation utilizing a sweet butterfly design from the Hunger Games movie!
I had a difficult time staying inside buildings surrounded by thousands of people. It was a little too much. To ease my mind, I looked for things that were nature inspired.
And I found lots of interesting things that included wildlife into their designs. We had a great time, but I still needed to bird a little. There have been sporadic reports over the years about two Mute Swans hanging out at a cemetery. We escaped the massive crowds and braved the 114 degree temps. People like to say that in our desert, we have a dry heat. Yeaaaaah:) It's still hot and we still sweat....creating humidity:) So we found the swans without any issues, but the bugs were terrible around the grassy areas. That outing lasted 20 minutes.
Mute Swan
So what do most desert people do during our driest and hottest month in Arizona? We take trips to cooler places like San Diego, Flagstaff, Pinetop, attend any convention or event that has lots of air conditioning etc etc.
My brother Matt(in a Batman outfit he made from scratch!) with Deathstroke and Bane
Star Wars action!
Richard Dean Anderson from Macgyver and Stargate SG-1
A very special epic and COOL trip is about to happen this upcoming weekend. More to come from Las Aventuras next week. For now, stay in the shade and drink plenty of fluids. And thanks for stopping by! Check out other birds from around the world at Wild Bird Wednesday!
A retreat into Never Neverland. A place that is both majestic and in constant weather flux, Lake Atitlan made for a cool getaway into the steep mountain sides. We didn't need a stair master at our place since it was already naturally built into our hostel. We climbed hundreds of stairs everyday.
The lake waters continue to rise submerging older structures beneath her depths. It was very bizarre to witness. Along the shores, it had the appearance of guarding lost ancient civilizations.
Grayish Saltator
We visited several areas around Lake Atitlan and searched for wildlife. Every morning a boat would come to pick us up from our pier and take us to the various spots around the lake.
Taken at the Lake Atitlan Wildlife Refuge
Storms would roll in and there were times it was dangerous to be out on that lake. Atitlan would appear calm and smooth until monsoon storms came crashing down all around us at various times of the day. The mists covered the lakes and everything changed quickly. One evening I was trapped out in the storm without a life vest. I clung to the rope as rain poured down on me. We watched as lightning struck the lake. There is nothing like this type of experience to make you realize how small and unimportant you are in the whole scheme of things.
And yet, life can be quite thrilling at times. This over packed boat of passengers was the last launch for the evening. Had we missed it, we would have waited until morning to head back to our hostel.
Orange-billed Nightingale Thrush
There are always unexpected twists while traveling around Mexico and Central America. Patience is the key word and remember that nothing is ever on time. They may say seven, but what they really mean to say is nine:) As a birder, I had to be okay giving up that control a bit while we explored on our own.
Lake Atitlan at sunset
Our searches were fun and we did find new birds almost everyday. Several birds had become common for me and I was able to label them on the spot.
Gray Silky-flycatcher
For many of us, our lives run on a routine. I eventually missed those things we take for granted everyday. For example, I have my sugar out at home for my coffee and hummingbird nectar, but in Guatemala if you left the sugar packets out, the ants would attack from out of nowhere. Some of you may not know this but in Guatemala, you are not supposed to flush your toilet paper in the toilet. It goes into the garbage next to the toilet. It's those little things.......
Yet with these views, who cares!
Tropical Pewee
Some days were cloudy. Some days were sunny. So we took advantage when we could.
I don't often enjoy drinking, but we had such amazing drinks in Guatemala! I hate the taste of beer and yet if you put a dark ale with spicy tomato juice, I'm happy! Micheladas. I missed them so much that when I got home, I made a few while writing several of these posts! So good....
There is a waterfall behind me and I was playing around with my cell phone. We were the only ones walking around the canopy of the rain forest. It was actually a fun walk around Reserva Atitlan.
And of course by our hostel, we had narrow paths that went around the lake. Some cities were safe to visit while others were out of the question. If you visit, ask your hotel, etc where it's safe to go. There are still people who are robbed on parts of these paths.
Brown-backed Solitaire
Here are two lifebirds that I had to look at closely. I noticed that they were just slightly different from several other birds that looked appearance-wise very similar.
Boat-billed Flycatcher
The Mayans rule this part of the world. We were subject to their rules. Never call a Mayan a Guatemalan. They fought brutal years against the Guatemalan regime and won their cause. Today they still speak their own Mayan dialects around the lake and cling fiercely to their ways. They barely tolerate the tourists.
Deforestation continues around this area. It was my final trip here as I will never be returning back in this lifetime again. I hope the Mayans and others understand the need for conservation. It's what has brought millions of people here over the years. But the forests are diminishing by farmers cutting further and further into the mountain sides. I remember what I saw in 2006. So much has changed in 7 years.
Bushtit
Humanity is slowly creeping into more and more habitat and affecting our wild friends. Below are images that I found interesting. A House wren(below) finds a home within human structures.
House Wren
Humans will paint their colorful birds on sides of building. But if they aren't careful, those images will be a faded memory of what was.
And I am reminded that I am getting older. All those straps around my body never used to be there. They are life support to help me exist in this type of climate. They contain water, anti-bug weaponry, money packs, a camera.......and yes, it did take its toll on me.
My final thoughts are below. As your host and Spanish instructor, here is a lesson I learned while on this trip;)
Posts
