A blogger friend moved back to Tucson. I was nervous because we never met in person but I was excited. A friend to bird with.....I mean....really really bird. Today I am excited to present a week long event of our journeys over a two week period into the Sonoran desert and grasslands of Southern Arizona.
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| Northern Mockingbird at El Presidio to start my day off:) |
If you don't know Kathie from
Kathie's Birds, stop over and check out her site. It was an awesome cool and windy morning. A first after so many days of nasty hot weather.
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| At the entrance to Agua Caliente Park on a cloudy morning |
Now going with friends or people who aren't interested in birding isn't quite the same. A little light of excitement went on when I discovered Kathie's blogs several years ago. I have observed that most married couples bird. I have Pat and while it's fun to travel together and share the experiences; I only get a couple hours of light birding and photography because a certain someone gets antsy after awhile:) And I do get that.
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| Turkey Vulture |
But then Kathie moved back to Tucson. We were meeting for the first time and it was a first for me because you never know who's writing the blogs sometimes. Was she a killer secretly writing about birds? And did she think the same about me? But we met and it was so much fun from the start. There is a focus to her and a committment to birds that I really appreciate. The best part? Hanging out and searching every branch, listening to every chirp, tweet and whada da la da da da! with a new friend.
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| Lesser Goldfinch on a windy morning |
Or the fact that we could have a conversation but be okay with a sudden burst of feather activity and forget what we were talking about......most people get irritated by that "birder eye". It's where we chat with someone and the conversation is interrupted by a bird flying over. I have tried so hard to keep focused with non-birders but it doesn't always work.
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| Slider Turtle |
On this day, we took a simple trip to Agua Caliente park. And I discovered two lifebirds thanks to Kathie. You'll see them below. She also kept accurate accounts of the birds we saw and made "old" birds I've already seen and captured on film relevant again. And I learned about the power of EBIRD and how we can help our birds with our data collection.
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| Gila Woodpecker |
What I liked a lot about birding with Kathie was how we serve as a team better. She is much more advanced a birder than I am but I am a quick study. I am a bit camera crazy and have to watch out for not being rude with "making the shot". But if anything else, I'll be Kathie's bodyguard on the trek:)
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| Small Breadfruit growing wild on this former ranch |
Over the next several days, we'll take you on an incredible journey throughout Southern Arizona. I promise not to disappoint. Some were extremely difficult to find.
We spent hours doing some really excellent observations. We had our sun caps, bug spray, sunblock, jackets/vests(fall is here now and the mornings are wonderful!), charged batteries for our cameras, checklists, food, water, and a full gas tank to drive to the locations.
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| Green Tailed Towhee |
And as for Towhees. Just how many of them are there? I spotted two by myself over the year....Aberts and the Spotted. But with Kathy, I discovered the Green Tailed and Canyon Towhees within a matter of 2 weeks!
It just took her wisdom and knowledge to find them .
This was such a strange bird to see with its "Red Mohawk".
Below is a shot of the breadfruit in the tree. I have seen a
breadfruit tree in Panama and it is huge. So this was a similiar type plant growing in the desert. So I made a plant discovery first!
The second lifebird was this shadowy shot of the Bewick's Wren.
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| Bewick's Wren |
During the course of this write, Kathie and I have been super busy with our own lives. We've had some fun and exciting moments on the trails. And not all of them relate to birds, but I'll let her tell those stories. Hey, birding is like Indiana Jones sometimes.....
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| Horse Lubber |
Today I spied two birds and one new human blogger. Stay tuned for more.....
Posts
Two elements kept my thoughts together. Kathie. And "Bob". He is always at Sweetwater on Sunday nights with his baseball cap and checklist. Two people who have the observation skills of a Red Tail Hawk hunting prey. We got stuck at the recharge ponds because of the high amount of bird/duck activity. It was incredible but unfortuneatly, the sun is setting earlier and earlier and the time for camera documentation began to dwindle. And before we knew it, the sun had set.
The sky was darkened not only by the fading light but by the flights of hundreds of Yellow Headed Blackbirds, ducks, and other birds. So much life. So much power and beauty.
As it grew quiet, the sacred Great Horned Owl flew with its HUGE wingspan across the dark night sky. Quiet. And breathtaking. And for the first time, a Green Heron magically appeared out of a tree and it would mark my first photo documentation of this bird. But even more special were the Lesser Nighthawks that flew above our heads. The Black Capped Night Heron began its ascent over the wetlands. And "Bob" reported that we passed a Diamond Backed Rattlesnake. That would have been incredible to spot but Kathie was happy we hadn't:) And throughout the hushed and darkened skies of Sweetwater, the sparrows and songbirds huddled together and sang their nighttime music safely together in the bushes.
Never had I stayed so late at this place that I like to bird. The wild things roam here during this time and one must keep their eyes open for snakes, Coyotes, a Mountain Lion, Bobcats, etc. As we left the place, I felt recharged and happy that we were able to spot so many incredible night birds. Which of course means only one thing.......I have to investigate more on this birding at night bit:) My Monday began calm and relaxed with lingering thoughts of the Great Horned Owl in flight..........
Here's another song that I've been listening to in my car. This song is close to my heart and relates to a someone I know. If I had seen this video 5 years ago, I would have thought that this would happen to other people, but indeed this scenario had played out in someone I knew in my world. Part of this blog is about the journey and documentation of all things which includes the background experience of a trip. Those things that are on the back of our mind while we hike and look for birds and other wildlife.
