My Winter Plumage

Between artistic and tactical birding, there has to be a balance.  This past weekend, the artistic and explorer side took over, but not without great "cost". 

A Gray Jay

Over the next several months, I have scheduled some very important journeys into various places.  Some will include new birds while others will just extend my knowledge of known birds.  

The Alpine level of Pike's Peak

My heart craved the frozen temps of Colorado and so we went.  After Cabo and the above average temps back home in Arizona, I needed to feel the sensation of being frozen.  I wanted to remember what the cold was like again. 

My nephew brought his Doritos with him and the package crinkled.  I heard a sound from the depths of the forests. A gray figure moved towards us. Then more. That's when I taught him about Gray Jays. I forgot my package of nuts in the car but we did have a few chips to hand out. Apparently this wasn't the first time these jays have heard such crinkling sounds:)

Doritos are bad choices for humans and Gray Jays.  Bring unsalted nuts and that'll get their attention. 

I was at the Alpine level again.  It was so nice to be there.  Everything was frozen around us and I felt at peace. When you endure the onslaught of hot temps on a daily basis, you CRAVE the cold. 

Here, the few year long species of birds danced around us in circles where they zeeted and chicka dee-dee-deed from inside of the trees. 

Mountain Chickadee

Meanwhile, back in Arizona, I was losing the tactical advantage.  Rare eastern vagrants decided to show up in mass numbers.  None of them were life birds but they would have been STATE birds for me. I missed 4 possible new birds for that state list! 

I had a good laugh.  It was bound to happen because it happens to every birder!  We make plans and then there we are.  Thankfully, the birds weren't once in a lifetime rare.  It just would have been nice to add a couple new birds onto that every expanding state list:)  But then again, I didn't entirely care either. I have to remind myself that birding isn't a competition.  It's why I took myself off that crazy top 100 hundred list.

Black-capped Chickadee

The Bob Ross in me had taken over.  I collected data for several hotspots that I had created for Ebird in Colorado several years ago and at one point, I just sat down on a wooden bench and smiled.  Life is awesome and about to get better.  And hanging out in this cold weather revitalized my energies.  Hot beef barley soup and hot coffee.  THAT is my habitat of choice. 

In this pic above, Quail Lake in Colorado Springs, I snapped this shot of the fall colors.  5 years ago I put this lake on the ebird map. It was just coming into its own.  It was bustling with a lot of energy.  And birds.

So I proudly wear my winter plumage as the season begins!  Until next time.....

Setting Goals

Mom and Dad with my nephew Orion

I am currently working on the 2014 birding season for next year. Meanwhile I'm finishing up the year beyond my expectations.  At the beginning of the 2013 year, I wanted to set out and find 150 life birds. Instead, I found over 200 new birds! Sometimes, I needed a  birder friend to call on for help:) Currently, I have seen 416 different species around the US, Mexico and Guatemala. My goals were met.

Pike's Peak

The limitations are always the same....money, time, and of course, a full time job.  I think I am getting better with balancing it all out, but I still find myself biting my nails when something new flies into the area that I can't chase while at work. However, the new year looks to be an exciting one. 

So I am scheduling various places to study around the US. The prairies, Hawaii and Alaska will have to wait....for now.

In many ways, it's rather strange.  The US for me has always been rather...meh!, but by putting the birds into the picture, it has changed my views on my country.  And it has opened my eyes to all the cool and wonderful National and State Parks!  Plus, being a birder, means you see things that most people never get to see.

Mountain Chickadee

In January, I will be working in the grasslands on several projects learning about sparrows.  In February, we head to Sandia Crest in New Mexico to find the 3 incredible Rosy Finches.  In March, I'm off to Florida to visit a friend and bird along the ocean and water areas.  In April, it's off to Rocky Point, Mexico for some fun around the coast. Then in June, I'll be heading off to Maine with Pat for a couple weeks to visit Kathie.  So for the first half of the year, it's going to be busy!  And of course, there will be budgeting:)

Pygmy Nuthatch

And in between there will be road trips from around the state of Arizona and perhaps beyond.

Me properly ID'ing a Yellow-rump Warbler

I'll be releasing two more posts from the 2013 season highlighting some of the fun and spectacular bird events that happened from around Guatemala, Arizona, Colorado and Wisconsin. 

As we close out this new year, I'd like to take the time and thank you all for following Las Aventuras.  Whether you just read, comment or both on the posts, you encourage me with your kind words of support.

Clark's Nutcracker

I am currently working on the prototype for my first "coffee table" book.  It was exciting to put together and review all the incredible things we've done over this year.  Have you done something similar? 

Luna supervises

So for now, I hope everyone isn't stressing out with the holiday craziness.  It will get done.  It always does:)  Just be careful driving out there.

I'll be closing off the year with 2 more posts and then I'll see you back next year several times a month.  We all tend to take a break from blogger in December anyway.

Western Bluebird

Most of the pics today were taken by the other member of the "Las Aventuras" team.....Micheal Ada.  I wasn't feeling up to photography on this day.  I just wanted to bird and relax:)  But I was still demanding:)  "Get that angle!"  "No!!!!  Aim and zoom on this one!"  Oh I can be a mess sometimes:)

Williamson's Sapsucker(male)

Setting goals for the new year relaxes my mind a bit.  It's all about pushing it to the next step whether it be at home or abroad. And remember......whether it be rain or snow this time of year.........

.....always wear strange non-matching-weather-smart clothing, carry a colorful umbrella on those cloudy gray days......

My nephews Liam and Sawyer

.....and make sure you share it with someone you love.  Until next next time....

That Confinement Box

Black-crowned Night Heron

I could write about the details.  Become mired in the facts. I learned early on while blogging that I didn't enjoy such things.  I figure I do enough of it every day.  The artist inside wants his blog to capture the magic of our world because quite frankly, the experiences are magical.

Pike's Peak

Everything is explained.  Everything needs an answer.  Everything must fit with this or that.  There is no in between. I get into a car and drive away from people and society.  The further I get, the more my mind relaxes and opens up to the possibilities.

Ladderback Woodpecker

I imagine standing in the grand vistas of the world.  The sunny bright arctic circle.  The snowy dark forests of Canada.  The Egyptian deserts. The Himalayan mountains. The Congolese rain forest.

Vermilion Flycatcher

I imagine that there are people wanting to be standing where I naturally explore. For them, it is also foreign. My foreign.  My familiar.  As a boy, I dreamed of these things.  In my twenties, everyday was different and crazy.  In my thirties, I paid for those twenties.  In my forties, I am alive again. I began to realize that there aren't as many days ahead of me as there are behind.  So I wake up every day with a quick pace similar to that of my youth. However....coffee first:)

Northern Waterthrush-Life bird!

National Geographic magazines exposed me, as a kid, to the world at large.  I read my Ranger Ricks, Arizona Highways, and National Geographics the minute they arrived in the mail.  I built a wooden airplane with my neighbor friend.  We knew it would fly and take us to foreign places.  I sat in the cockpit and imagined flying out of snow covered Wisconsin pastures over tropical waters watching whales breach the waves below.  Maybe I would discover the last dinosaur on Earth.  It was in Brazil hiding within the unexplored Amazon rain forest! (or so the article in my Ranger Rick stated)

Northern Mockingbird

I wanted to escape my hometown as a child.  My 8th grade year, I babysat for my cousins in Flagstaff, AZ.  I left the lakeshores of Wisconsin and discovered the mountains of Arizona. And I knew that I wanted to see the world.  But I had to follow the details.  Study. Work.  Earn my right to dream.

Verdin

Today I still have to study, work and earn my right to dream.  But it has become so much easier.  And it is reality.  I live a life of adventure.  There isn't a formula for this.  I had to feel it inside. And it took me over a decade to discover my inner child again. There is nothing worse than feeling dead from within. That feeling of mundane. What is that?  That's not life and it's certainly not how I want to live.

Head down I-10, take the exit to Tubac and turn right.....blah blah blah.  Boring. Instead, I think, "Head to the open air, away from society onto that beautiful river along the historical DeAnza trail. Follow history.  Follow your heart."   And discover what lies ahead.