Gypsy again. The way I began. And the way I'll continue from this point forward.
Always in the shadows learning, but now wearing my invisible cloak for good.
What once was unknown is now known. What once was new is worn. End of the line.
5 years doesn't seem like a long time ago. But it has changed me in ways I never imagined. Now I join "the others" who also have vanished from the public spotlight. Africa, Australia, Fiji, Cape Verde, the Arctic, Argentina.........
Lincoln's Sparrow
I slowly move closer to a 1000 new species. It is difficult. When I see others with a total of 8000 or 9000 bird species, I am overwhelmed. That is an incredible accomplishment.
Belted Kingfisher
In October, I will say my good-byes to the AZ crowd one last time. I am grateful for all the friendships and will maintain the ones I have. For now, it's time to take a step back from their community.
Gray Hawk
Time to save money and plan for bigger treks. Time to train our future generations about saving our planet's species. About protecting habitat. About making better decisions when it comes to our environment. And move forward.
A woman once told me as a beginning birder, "The first two years are the most exciting because everything is new. But then the game gets harder." During my 4 years as a birder, it was all thrilling. Then, during this 5th year, I felt a shift happen. The game has gotten harder and my patience shorter.
Sage Thrasher in Box Canyon
While I am here in Tucson, I will enjoy the birds. I will save the $$ and then on my time off, I will fly.
Common Poorwill at Saguaro National Park
But the crazy Arizona chases are done. I crave solitude. No more calculated chasing. Because that isn't birding. It's playing a game. And I'm not playing this game anymore. I just exploded after being surrounded by all the bird politics (and the who's bird was rarer crap.) I felt I had lost control creatively over something that I love. Something that was once very much my own. I have taken it back again and it feels good.
As you'll see, Las Aventuras is heading out for some fun along the ocean in a few short weeks. I'm looking forward to birding alone for awhile. As the weather cools down, the epic birding will start to take off! So many stories to tell over the next several weeks....so stay tuned for more:)
We wandered further North into the state of Utah searching for the Chukar. This bird originally hails from Pakistan but was introduced into the US as a game bird. The bird prefers rocky and arid landscape which was exactly the reason why we had to go to Utah.
Helping us find this bird was none other than Mia McPherson. She is one of the best wildlife photographers out there. And it turns out that she's also a wonderful person to get to know! Our main target was the exploration of Antelope Island State Park near Salt Lake City. It's located within the glassy waters of the Great Salt Lake.
Thousands of American Avocets hang out near the causeway
As we scanned the causeway onto the island, we saw thousands of birds covering the patchy stretches of water around the Great Salt Lake. Today that "lake" is disappearing due to drought conditions and water usage. Waterless piers that once held skimmers are now void of any traffic. Hopefully, Utah will benefit from the wet El Niño winter pattern that has begun to take hold for many of the Western states.
Western Meadowlark near the empty piers
And yet, there are still areas that have larger patches of water. It's strangely a beautiful sight to see. There were so many water birds around this island that I forgot we were exploring a drier area of the US.
Phalaropes fly over our heads from out of nowhere!
Once on the island, I kept my eyes and ears open for the Chukar.
Several moments later, I heard "different" birds making an unusual chatty sound nearby the visitor center. My eyes focused on the various rock outcroppings and boulders in the area. And then......
......it happened! I saw Chukars sitting on top of rocks. And not just one or two but MANY! I quietly walked down the path and turned the corner of a large boulder. As I did, a pair of Chukars faced me only several feet away. And in that moment of quiet, we watched each other carefully.
Chukar
Antelope Island is truly a magical space that doesn't feel anything at all like Utah. Or maybe it does feel like Utah? I don't know. I haven't visited enough of Utah to make a judgement, but I can tell you that I loved it. I highly recommend this state park for a visit. There were RV's parked in their camping areas and I was a bit envious that people were able to spend several nights on this island.
Sage Thrasher
The golden light of the Utah sun made for wonderful photo opportunities. A pair of Sage Thrashers popped up on greasewood for some lovely views.
Horned Lark
While Mia navigated around the island, we were always careful to keep an eye open for the many bison walking around the roads and paths.
We stopped along the way investigating unusual habitat on the island. At this particular stop(below), Mia showed us an older Black-billed Magpie nest. This dome creation is a piece of art!
At one point, I had my window open and almost fell asleep. I was SO relaxed. The urban sprawl of Salt Lake City stopped at the the entrance to the causeway. And the island was a sanctuary of peaceful thoughts.
The golden browns of the landscape can make bird spotting a challenge. Take for example this Wilson's Snipe below. Mia spotted the bird along a riparian area and it took me several minutes to find her snipe!!! It was only a couple feet away from my face! Camouflage!
Wilson's Snipe
Our adventures in Utah would continue one more day.
I'd like to thank Mia for her friendship and also for her time showing us around the natural spaces of Salt Lake City. I will never forget this trip out to Antelope Island.
On our final voyage into Utah, there was one other bird I so badly needed to find. Stay tuned for more......
Pima County, Arizona is an amazing place to bird. It's one of the birdiest areas of the US! Thanks to our mountain, canyon, grassland and desert habitat, it's home to so many wonderful critters.
Yesterday was an important day for me as I hit the 300 species mark in Pima County. A rare Least Tern flew into Sweetwater Wetlands helping me achieve this unintended goal. The highest species count for Pima County is 445 birds. Here is a look back at some of the gems discovered around Tucson and surrounding areas.
Black-capped Gnatcatcher on Proctor Road Pima County has a special group of birds that most birders need on their lists. Eventually they have to make their way to Southern Arizona:) It's amazing how many people just care about getting these birds on their US list. And then there is that ABA list! If they aren't on the ABA list, it's not important. I don't get that thinking. I understand it, but I'm not the kind of person that likes having someone tell me whether or not a bird "counts". All birds matter! Either way, these two birds are countable and very much desired! I had seen both of these birds in other countries first. Later, I added them onto my US list.
Rufous-capped Warbler at Florida Canyon
Articles have been written on both of the Black-capped Gnatcatchers and Rufous-capped Warblers. Thanks to global warming, these birds are beginning to expand their range.
Sage Thrasher It's always a treat to find birds migrating through our various areas like the Sage Thrasher(above). A central to lower US state bird, the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, erased my terrible day woes last year as it flew right past me at Sweetwater Wetlands! It perched on a branch for a few moments reminding me that work is just work. Life is more important. While work is important, it doesn't define who I am. I am more.
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher I think I can speak for most birders this year on these birds below. Trumpeter Swans flew into the Sweetwater Wetlands shocking the local birding establishments! People wet their pants and dropped whatever they were doing and ran to Sweetwater! I'm serious. I'm going to write something here that speaks volumes about us. We could be in the most serious conversations. Maybe we are signing divorce papers, attending a funeral, etc. But mention a rare bird and watch your birder friends secretly slip out the door:) These incredible swans stuck around for the day allowing many birders to join together on this unofficial holiday. They were one day wonders! And I would say that these two swans have been the best birds so far in Pima County this year.
Trumpeter Swans at Sweetwater Another excellent bird for us this year has been the Heerman's Gull. There have been several sightings over the past several months! This is a pretty cool gull and a bird I hadn't thought I'd add to my Pima list anytime soon! They are found along the coasts of Southern California and Mexico. It's a pretty sexy gull and an easy ID for people who aren't great with gull ID.
Heerman's Gull
One of my favorite birds is the Common Loon. Never in a million years when I first started birding did I think Tucson could have visiting Loons. As a young child growing up around Wisconsin and Minnesota, I remember their magical calls. An all-time favorite movie, On Golden Pond, always comes to mind when I see one of these majestic birds.
Common Loon
So here's a weird one. The Black Scoter. On a cloudy and rainy day, a massive storm front delivered a Black Scoter to the Old Pueblo! There, for several months in a random deep pond, a female scoter hung out. An ocean bird in the desert!
Black Scoter Other shockers included this Juvenile Tricolored Heron on a golf course.
juvenile Tricolored Heron Or this random Whimbrel in the middle of the desert. And just for fun, it hung out with a Long-billed Curlew to mess with birders:)
Whimbrel Other birds, like this Barn Owl, are sometimes hard to come by! What a treat to have seen one here within the Tucson limits! Again I don't advertise their locations as there are a few photographers who who will cross unethical lines. Since when is a picture more important than the welfare of our birds? One of the tenants of a good birder is to never intentionally disturb a bird out in the field. If I see them eating or nesting, I keep my distance. I have met several birders/photographers in the field who bait their birds(i.e. hawks, etc) for a better photo. Or they cut a branch down to get that "annoying" thing out of the way.....for a better photo. This is unethical. And that is why this particular Barn Owl left the tree. Thanks to some crazy owl fanatic who decided to cut down a couple branches, this Barn Owl didn't return to that spot.
Barn Owl at Sweetwater Mt. Lemmon is a prime location for finding nesting Red-faced and Olive Warblers during our summer months!
Red-faced Warbler
Once birders believed that Elegant Trogons(below) could not be found in Pima County. Then last year, the infamous Florida Canyon sported a pair. And they were in Pima County. This year they are still there!
During my beginning days as a birder, I went to see the visiting Brown Pelican during our monsoon at a nearby park. I was hot and sweaty, but I sure enjoyed viewing this pelican. During monsoon, it's common to have a Brown Pelican or two blown into the deserts. Many times they are rescued and taken back to San Diego, CA. A small few have remained and can be found up around the Phoenix area. Pelicans in the desert.
Brown Pelican
Finally, several years ago, a Groove-billed Ani came to the Sweetwater Wetlands and got me excited. I love Spanish and the tropics! Nothing says tropical like an Ani! I fell in love with this bird so much, I went back several times to observe it. This is one of my top ten favorite birds...for now:) The Audubon guide who discovered this bird flipped out! And this bird put Tucson on the US map for a week!
Groove-billed Ani
As you can see, birding within your own area can be fun and exciting. It's a challenge like everything else, but all these
birds add up over time. Have you tried birding within your own county? If so, what were some of the cool birds you've discovered?
Black-bellied Whistling Duck
I have several key trips planned this year that
will hopefully propel me towards the 800 life bird mark. In June, I
celebrate my 4th year as a birder. This life journey continues to
change me forever. We'll be heading out of Arizona to several states
this summer while also traveling to Southern Mexico.
On a whim, I followed a theory and discovered a 2nd tern on my own in the city of Tucson! That was a bonus! Here it is flying about at Lakeside Park. Pretty cool!
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