The Tasty Pinecone

 

"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!", shouted the Cliff Chipmunk as he slammed his staff down onto the rock. 

So I parked my car and walked around him:)  But he was right.  The road behind him was not passable at all. Too much ice!  So I went on foot into the quiet forest of snow and pinecone. 

Another voice called out from the Ponderosa Pines.  It was the Olive Warbler!

There she hopped around screaming her scratchy, "Teacher teacher teacher!" call.  Yes, I know! I'm a teacher!

After she left, the woods went silent again.  

Until I heard a pine cone drop.  

One of the Abert's Squirrels said aloud, "It's not me!"

The Cliff Chipmunk just told me to keep moving along. 

In the sunlight, the snow turned to water and filled the creeks.  But in the shadows of the mountain, the snow remained. 

More silence until another pinecone fell. I looked up and saw Mr. Abert's having lunch. 

Then.  Breaking the silence, a high pitched "zzzt" sliced through the cold air.  Recognizing the call, my eyes scanned the lichen covered bark until I spied the movement of a camouflaged back. It was that of the Brown Creeper.

A Pine Siskin called out for me and said "hi". 

As I left the snowy trail, I found snow people enjoying the nearby ski lift. 

What a perfect day to go birding up on Mt. Lemmon!

There is still snow up on the mountain and plenty of pinecones for the critters to munch on. Until next time.........

Come Rain; Come Shine

Apples=Fall!  These apples had a shower thanks to Mother Nature.

This past week was one for the records in Arizona.  Hurricane Odile came and poured lots of wonderful rain around Arizona.  Southeastern Arizona was hit the hardest with some areas receiving over 4 inches!  Rivers and washes overflowed near cities like Sierra Vista and Patagonia essentially shutting down most of our access routes into their wildlife areas.  Thankfully Tucson was spared the nasty stuff.  However, we did have rain almost every day in different parts of the Old Pueblo last week.  The moisture has since stayed around our area and it really has been nice.

We've been on the road since the beginning of September and this past weekend was one for relaxing and enjoying the bird feeders up at my friends' cabin on Mt. Lemmon.  It's close to Tucson and completely in its own world.   They have birds like Red-breasted Nuthatches, Steller's Jays, Yellow-eyed Juncos, Mountain Chickadees and other colorful characters coming to their feeders.  So I loaded up their feeders with a book in hand, breathed in the pine scented air, got in my pj's, watched the rain come down and had my camera ready. And all in that order:)

A wet Abert's Squirrel ponders if there are any nuts to be found

The home life at El Presidio has been difficult due to a neighbor with severe mental issues verbally attacking residents. Not only is he a danger to himself but to those around him. As HOA President(someone has to do it), I get to deal with it all. Anyhow, he has been very aggressive with many of my fellow neighbors.  They, of course, have injunctions against him. While dealing with one of his outbursts, the police and our poor neighbors, I saw this migrating Pacific-slope Flycatcher move through our garden!  What are the chances?!  I quickly grabbed my camera when the drama was over and snapped off a couple shots before this new yard bird disappeared!  Unbelievable!  Perhaps a message from Mother Nature reminding me that this too shall pass?

Pacific-slope Flycatcher happens to pass by during a serious conversation!  Yes it was awkward to say "Excuse me.  I need to get this picture."

So when my wonderful friend's offered me their cabin for the weekend, it was a no brainer!

And thus began my studies for the weekend.  Warbler migration is happening all around us and so I went to the top of Mt. Lemmon to get better photo documentation of Hermit Warblers.  They currently are migrating down along the Pacific Coast regions back into Mexico and Central America. Every spring and fall some will pass through Southern Arizona within our Sky Islands. 

Townsend's Warbler

Meanwhile, the Townsend's Warbler crosses over from the state of California and the North during the same time period as they head to their wintering grounds both in Arizona, Mexico and Central America.   They not only cross paths but have also been known to crossbreed! Hybrids are possible between these two warbler species!

Juvenile Hermit Warbler-I'm thinking female because there are no black markings on the throat and the underside is whitish overall

It was a relaxing weekend.  I didn't have to go far to study my target birds.  Plus I had a wildlife party at the cabin. Pygmy Nuthatches were out of control!  They were not afraid of me at all. 

Pygmy Nuthatch

I sat reading my book while 16 of these little birds clung to the large cylinder feeders. Then I noticed that one of the Pygmy Nuthatches got inside the feeder!  I helped the little bugger out with assistance from his friends.  They sat around me watching as I opened the feeder up so that he could get out.  These days I feel like I have a stronger connection to the birds than I do with people! I wish someone had been there to witness the event. It was a Snow White moment as I sang.... "♪♪Aaaaaaahahaaaaa..♫..aaaahahaaaaa♪♪!"  To be honest, my best work usually happens when I'm alone on these treks. 

An Abert's Squirrel and Steller's Jay at odds.

I arrived to the rainy and wet mountain top and all of my energy just drained from my body once the cool temps hit me.  I miss the cool temps. The cabin had been quiet, but I made some calls to attract the local Steller's Jays.  They came quickly as I set up my peanut feeders. Steller's Jays will also inadvertently signal to other birds that there is food nearby. Or at least that has been my observation from visiting the cabin over the past 10 years.  Quickly enough, I had birds at the feeders.  Below is a photo of the views I had from the cabin windows.  It was quite the contrast from the hot desert floor below where it was sunny and in the 90's! All thanks to tropical depression Odile!

Soon the desert will be safe again to explore.  Right now, it's full of baby snakes, reptiles and bugs! Herper heaven!  I am a snake charmer(not by choice) and want to avoid contact with the scaled variety. My issue?  Accidentally stepping on the poor things while I'm scanning the trees and sky! Over the past several years I've had many encounters.  Take for example this Green Rat Snake.  I almost stepped on the poor bugger thanks to a very vocal Hepatic Tanager.  Then I discovered it was a Herper's dream to find one of these.  Apparently they are hard to find! So we kept the location secret from the Sith Herpers who would illegally poach the area for this gem.

 The heat and humidity are still too much to endure after being out in the desert for about 20 minutes, but the weather is cooling down each day.  Here is a photo taken from my work place of the Santa Catalina mountains covered by the tropical remains of Odile.  Summerhaven is up there and covered by the dense clouds!

For my plant friends.  In the forefront are the gorgeous Ironwood trees.  The purple bushes are Texas Ranger and our course, the large cactus is our very own Saguaro Cactus.  Yeah....Arizona has it all!

This past weekend was another successful study.  Sometimes birders will become frustrated with poor observations of a life bird.  Sometimes we only get a brief glance of our life bird before it disappears for good.  So I'm thankful that the Hermit Warblers played nice this weekend.  Here are some other common players found around the town of Summerhaven. And haven it was!

Top to bottom and left to right

Hermit Warbler; Yellow-eyed Junco

Wilson's Warbler; Mountain Chickadee

Pygmy Nuthatch; Pine Siskin

Steller's Jay; Townsend's Warbler

Mountain Chickadee

Thanks for tuning into Las Aventuras each week! For more birds from around the world check out Wild Bird Wednesday!

It's A Dry Heat

Yellow-eyed Junco collects nesting materials

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!

The Chuparosa Challenge-Tales From Abroad

Let's start off with the Magnificent Hummer.    Again, everytime I go out on my quests, people ooo and ahhh at this particular hummingbird:)  Today's adventure takes us to the top of Mt. Lemmon near Ski Valley.  I was searching for the Broad Tailed Hummer. 

So I followed this tame raven to the Iron Door tavern after a long hike in the woods.  This raven was raised by humans after the fires and is one of two that you'll find around this place.  They are very healthy and happy:) One of the hummingbirds that has eluded me has been the Broad Tailed Hummingbird.

I don't know why because they are quite common.  But I've been discovering that each canyon, each mountain top sports different hummingbirds and that has been a really interesting observation about these little adventures.  Case in point.  I started noticing a different type of female hummingbird in the woods.  I do not joke when I say they hover right in front of me.  I start noticing different sounds, different flight patterns and different patterns on the gorget.   That's when I knew I was in the right spot.   It's hard to describe the noise or flight patterns of a hummer.  But if you recognize their vocalizations, you'll notice the variety of sounds that they can make. 

But let's examine the female first.  In the pic above, you might notice the "striping" on the gorget.  There's also a little brown/yellow on the side of the wing.  This tipped me off that I was dealing with a different female hummer from the rest that I have observed on my trips.

The male Broad Tailed Hummingbird looks a lot like the Ruby Throated Hummingbird back east.  It's gorget will appear dark or black when it's not "flashing":)  What do I mean by this?  Look at the pic below of the Magnificent Hummer.  Notice how the gorget(throat) shines a blue color?  When it's not the pretty blue color, it's a dark black color.  So I was hoping that the male Broad Tailed Hummer would "flash" for me.   The results were incredible.  During this shoot, I was able to go alone and focus on the photography bit without having to entertain people.

There were warning signs that something was "going down".  Their territorial calls come first and then the swoop and attack.  The male Broad Tailed hummer would usually chase off the Magnificent.  The females would come in first and then.....

......I would wait:)  And wait:) And wait......:)

My first shot was by accident.  Here is the very quick male Broad Billed Hummer.  He wasn't really into the feeders on this day so I had to locate where he was perching.  And that is where I'd get the best pictures.

Here(below) we can see the BT flashing his gorget.  Pretty little hummer.

Many of you have wondered how big some of these birds get.  I needed perspective and here is a simple branch with the BT on it.  You can see how small these tiny birds are.  And as a photographer, I love this series of pictures.

The key is listening for their chirps and whirrrrrs.  I was able to locate the male easily by tracking his flight patterns and keeping my ears open.

I was just amazed how territorial this little guy was with the male Magnificent Hummers.  They're much larger.  How does this little guy get away with chasing the big guys off?:)

And I saved my favorite picture for the last part of this post today.  If you go out and search for hummers, remember there are 2 "Broad" titled hummingbirds.  I often, in my excitement, mix their names up.  There is the Broad Billed Hummer which is an incredible blue color and orange bill and then there is this guy below....the Broad Tailed Hummer.  My search continues.  I've had some difficulty with the monsoon rains creating terrible road conditions on the canyon roads.  Many of the roads are muddy and not accessible by car.   I'll be sticking to paved roads for now and hopefully I'll find some of the more elusive hummers out there.  Stay tuned for more.... PS. Warren I have a stats post coming up for you with the list, etc of hummingbirds spotted including where I found them.