My Reflection

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

After our exciting day out looking for the special Mexican rarities, I took a bus out of Mexico City to my village Chiautempan, Tlaxcala. It had been 9 years since the last visit. It had been too long.

Nashville Warbler

At this point in the trek, I had two objectives.  1) See my dear family and 2) add data lacking in ebird to the Tlaxcala area.  It was here that I was back again doing my solo work. This kind of work has the most meaning for me. 

30 years ago and today

Before I was a birder, I was an explorer.  As a child growing up in Wisconsin, I had always felt the strong pull towards Mexico and the Southwest of the US.  Nearly 30 years ago, I began my journey into unknown worlds and met a woman who would change my life forever. I had been lost, not understanding my purpose in life.  When I met her, everything about my world changed. 

Year after year, I would visit this extended family.  I felt spiritually connected to them ever since our first days together.  I was their "güero" and they were my Mexican family.  They asked me what took me so long to return and visit.  And I couldn't answer their questions right away.  I bought a house, got married, began birding and had family obligations in Wisconsin.  There's simply not enough time in this life to do everything.  

But when I was home in Tlaxcala again, I felt at peace and happy.  Writing these things makes me tear up.  I feel emotions when I am here in this sacred place.  Every time I arrive to my small little town, I choose to walk the streets alone to my Mom's house so that I can breathe the air, watch the people and hear the Spanish.

Our first night together

We have all changed getting older, but what hasn't changed is the love that is expressed to one another in this family.  I am lucky to have two wonderful families.  Dreams lead me to this sacred town as a young man looking for his place in this world.  He was so innocent and naive then. 

Rare in Arizona but very common in Mexico, the Rufous-backed Robin

As we get older, life changes. Now I am a birder. There was barely any data in my town from ebird.  So I pieced together data and mapped out areas to bird.  Together we explored these areas as a family.  It was very personal and special. 

Vegetables......

Between meals and coffees, I sought areas that held birds of interest while collecting data for ebird.  My research and exploration paid off and I was able to add good data to the area about several theories I had. 

My lifer, the skulky Blue Mockingbird

Sometimes I went alone for a detailed study.  And for others, I explored with my family.  They discovered that several areas were quite active.  The lagoons of Acuitlapilco were alive with life. 

The once active volcano of Malinche.  The forests are magical and untouched!

Over the several days there, my awesome sister set up a special trek into the forests on the dormant volcano Malinche with a crew of people. I was able to access a restricted part of the volcano and do a bird survey there. There will be a special post on that trek. 

Cattle Egret at sunset

The heart of all things is family.  I love Mexico. Everything happens for a reason. If we listen to our hearts, we'll accomplish anything. It's okay to be afraid of the unknown. Twice now I have been in the deep parts of Mexico over the past 6 months.  And twice now I have been given insight. I was just a young teenager when I first came to Tlaxcala. I was a kid about to graduate from high school. In Cabo, I saw a reflection of my younger self on board a ship. During this trip, I saw my youngest self staring back at me. Perhaps a sign from something greater, I was meant to see my past mirrored right before my very eyes. 

What a special night with everyone

During this very special night, several high schoolers from the Midwest of the US were invited to our pozole dinner.  There was a young man, in the lower left side of the pic below, who was staying with one of the family's relatives for a homestay.  I looked into his lost eyes with that wide innocent smile and saw myself from 30 years ago sitting on that couch. The poor soul didn't understand a word of Spanish and it was at that moment that I had realized that I had come a long way in my journey. Was I really that innocent?  That young? I was so open to learning and like a sponge, I was ready to absorb every bit of life experience.

Happy moments for a very special night

Perhaps, Mexico is, in a sense, my church. This place makes me feel an abundance of emotion. Our trip to Cabo in October had the same affect on me. Even shopping for vegetables makes me happy. I feel LIFE pulse through my body here.  Why?  How is that possible?

Black-headed Grosbeaks are a permanent resident in Central Mexico

And on this trip, I found purpose.  I could make a difference here and give back to Mexico as the country had done for me. I could help educate and protect the birds of this area while teaching the public about wildlife conservation. It was a strong feeling. So much work needs to be done here and I could be that change. It's not something I can do overnight but I saw opportunity. 

White-collared Seedeater(Cinnamon-bellied subspecies)

I can't wait another 9 years to visit.  That was too long.  I feel like I have lived here in another lifetime and living and breathing in this region of Mexico is like slipping into a comfortable pair of shoes. 

Tlaxcala holds a place in my heart.  The birding here held meaning. On our last day, we headed up to the magical Malinche for one last familial trek. If you visit Tlaxcala, here are several reports from several key and excellent birding hotspots. 
For the Jardín Botánico de Tizatlán, click here and here.
For the Laguna de Acuitlapilco, click here.   
For the Tlaxcalan Zoo, click here. 

The Sage Sea

There are some places where the landscapes overshadow the birds.  A very specific and endemic bird lives around the town of Gunnison.  It is a special place for us both and it's one of the few places I don't mind dipping on the Gunnison Sage-Grouse.  Only because it means I get to come back again. And again. And again. 

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Little did we know, our time for finding new birds was over.  After Utah, it was just exploring, hiking and really just loving our road trip.  Whatever we saw was a gift.  After the extremely hot temps of Utah, Arizona, California and Nevada over the past several weeks, it was refreshing to be in the cold and misty town of Gunnison, Colorado. 

I love the grasslands of Southern Arizona so much that when we came to Gunnison two years ago, we fell in love with the landscape. Somehow, when I stand in the miles of grasses, I forget all the problems of the world.  It's like the wind carries all of life's burdens and blows them away.  I had that same feeling in Gunnison among the sea of sage.  When it rained, the sage gave off this most fragrant smell. And we hiked miles and miles within the sage forest.  At one point, I really think I had two of the sage-grouse fly up and bank sharply behind my back.  I caught 7 seconds of these birds before they disappeared.  I'm not counting them until I have much better looks.  I want pictures!

Sneak attack from a curious llama!  This character seriously came out of nowhere!

So I helped make some important markers for ebird since Gunnison is not well mapped out nor ebirded often.  I know this bird's habitat well.  We even went to visit the lek that they visit in April and May. Overall, we spent 3 days in this location walking through sage-grouse habitat.  These secretive birds hang low in the sage brush and feed from these plants in fall and winter.  The weather in Gunnison was unpredictable. It rained off and on each day.  The important part was that it didn't snow like it did last time! 

These dirt roads are long and wind around many rock outcroppings. Just to give you the magnitude of this overwhelmingly beautiful landscape, I put Micheal's car into the pic.

Somewhere in that vast sea of sage are about a thousand sage-grouse:)

The grayish green color of the sage becomes a blue-green during a rain event.  There are rivers and streams in these areas where Aspen grown.  And from within these little corners, Mountain Bluebirds, Red-tailed Hawks, Dark-eyed Juncos and other birds fly. 

Townsend's Solitaire on a cloudy day.

It was a relaxing outing full of fresh air and fall color.  During our personal journey, we made Gunnison our own special place. 

In the small courthouse of Gunnison, we filled out our paperwork for a wedding license.  After 11 years together, it was time.  

When we left the building, it felt strange.  A good strange but still....strange.  I can't explain this emotion, but after many years of being treated like a second class citizen, it felt wonderful to be recognized as a citizen with full legal rights.  It was a moment we'll never forget. 

And that is why dipping on THIS grouse is okay.  It means we get to keep coming back to this place of serene beauty over and over again. 

Our trip into Colorado would bring with it friends and family, happiness and an unexpected farewell.  But with the good and the bad, there will always be birds!

The Little Bitty Birds

Painted Redstart

Today's post is fun and incredibly awesome.  There were many lifebirds here for me and during my stay at the Birder's B & B in Portal, AZ I was able to drink coffee, read my book and bird!!!  Many people ask if it's worth spending your money on birding places and my answer is "YES!"  

Black-throated Gray Warbler 

While my hikes were productive, much of my finds happened outside of my cabin door!  There's nothing better than to have birds surrounding you at all times because you never know who will drop in.  These were some special finds......like the Blue-throated Hummingbird.

Blue-throated Hummingbird

Granted the lighting here isn't great here but I was so close!!!  I wasn't expecting this hummingbird around but apparently 2 pairs nest all year round here.

Hammond's Flycatcher

Of course during the quiet of my reading, a lot of these little birds would fly right up to the running water.

Hermit Thrush

I discovered over my 3 days here that the warbler and small bird invasion happened during the hours of 8:00 AM til 9:00 AM.  Well this was the best viewing that I had all day of these birds and it's one of the few times they would come out into the open for me to capture on film.

But it was incredible.  The Warbler Invasion was awesome.  I've heard about this happening in other places but never had I witnessed it in person.  Not only did the warblers come in great numbers but so did lots of Sparrows, Bridled Titmouse, Painted Redstart(also considered a warbler), Flycatchers, and hummers!  It was like a small bird party.

I sat smiling in the cool temps of Portal drinking wonderful coffee and reading a great book.

Chipping Sparrow

My personal thrills for this day were the Black-throated Gray Warbler and Painted Redstarts!  I think I jumped out of my seat.

They had been reported at Sweetwater in Tucson but I wasn't having any luck finding them.  Plus I wasn't even sure I'd know one if I saw it.  Then in Portal, I saw the tiny flying skunk in the sky:)  And I knew I had found myself a new lifebird. 

And while all of this was going on up in the canopy of the trees, I was watching the sidelines. Lots of fun action happening from previous birds I had already seen.....but they're still cool to watch:)

Ruby Crowned Kinglet

Most interesting was the display that the Blue-throats were putting on around the property. 

And here we see some fancy flight work going on.   While I was having a conversation with one of the owners, I was taking pictures:)  Fascinating stuff here.

This Blue-throat looks like a young one as he was a smaller male compared to the rest.

The difficult part about the warbler invasion came from the huge variety of warblers that were out there.  And I know I missed a lot more.  But I did witness my last lifebird below.  Not only was my stay at the Bed and Breakfast relaxing; it was also rewarding.  It truly was a birding oasis and that's what I love about these places.  When you're not hiking, you can still relax in a rocking chair with a cup of coffee and watch birds.  More tomorrow....

Townsend's Warbler