Solitude In A World Of Chaos

This female Bobcat joined me in m my hike with her offspring behind. 

So much noise everywhere.  Have you ever tried to find a place where there wasn't any noise?  No construction.  No planes flying overhead.  No children screaming in the background. No TV or radio. NO TRAFFIC!  Just silence? 

A surprise Cassin's Vireo

Over the past couple weeks, I tried finding those spaces.  It was difficult.  But on one particular walk, I had a whole wetlands to myself. Free of human noise. Finally. I touched the bark of the willow and listened to the Marsh Wren rattle off his morse code to another bird in the reeds. A Song Sparrow shouted out his melodious sing song to a curious female. The signs of spring are upon us again. I stop to absorb everything around me.  Not just the birds. 

A Red-tailed Hawk takes flight at sunset

It's the birds I know best, but I had an amazing experience that made me geek out on the trails. 

Cats! As I crossed a path, I discovered a Bobcat doing what cats do best....cleaning herself. What I didn't know was that there were two of them!  Her offspring came out from behind a bush near me!

Like the deer with Celeste several weeks ago, or the Greater Roadrunner, or the Javelina, here I was again joined on the trails by one of Mother Nature's coolest feline species, the Bobcat.  I wasn't frightened.  They were close and moved towards me.  There wasn't any malintent.  One of the bobcats was talking to me like my cats do when I'm home.  It made me laugh. I understand "cat" well.  One time many many years ago, back in the 90's, I stumbled upon a Mountain Lion in the alley while I was taking the trash out in the early morning. Again, I laughed and said in a nervous voice, "Hello kitty." I then proceeded to slowly walk back inside the house never leaving my eyes off that huge cat.  Her body language wasn't threatening, but she was wild and it's better to be safe than sorry:)

I was like a giddy kid in a toy store.  It was the best way to start my Saturday!  Body language is everything in the animal world.  And there is a thing about getting too close to a wild animal.  The cats strolled along the path with me for about 20 minutes before they went off to take a nap.  Amazing!

Black-chinned Sparrow almost completes my sparrow set for the year in Pima County

It's those moments that center me.  They are intoxicating addictions and one of the reasons why I love my mornings!  It's the discovery.  The connections to nature.  And my happy place. 

Dark-eyed Junco

Next, I went to Mt. Lemmon.  The mountain was FULL of tourists. So when that happens, I usually go to the trails along the mountain. Most tourists never see the real beauty of this mountain because they're so focused on buying a cookie at the top of a mountain!  Anyway, a hiker walked past me and said there weren't any birds in the forest and that it was quiet.  Had she not been conversing with her friend, she might have heard their little chips.  They were all there.  I pished further up the trail and woke up the little birds.  Suddenly we were surrounded by kinglets, chickadees, and all three species of our Arizona nuthatches!  And in a first for that location(for me), 2 turkeys popped out of the forest to see what was going on.  My owls were still there.  And all was good.  Just doing my yearly check up.  

Mexican Jay

Mexican Jays surrounded us and casually foraged around the trail.  

This life is not easy.  It certainly seemed easier when I was younger, but as I age, the weight of the world seems to get heavier.  On Friday night, the day before my birding, I set a trap to catch drug dealers on our property. Living in midtown is wonderful, but it also comes with a few negatives. No one messes with my sanctuary.  I alerted my neighbors and called the police ahead of time knowing that it takes them forever to arrive at the scene.  And on that same Friday night, those drug dealers were shoe'd off the property for good:)  Nature walk was back on again for Saturday morning.

Sunset with our local Snow Goose

And then the worst news of all. I found out a former student had taken his life.  I couldn't attend the service, but I found out he was buried in a cemetery where I bird. After work, I went to the freshly dug site and sat on the bench.  There were birds. So many Vermilion Flycatchers around. I try to make sense of it all. That cemetery never had a personal connection for me. Now, I'll never look at it the same way. He better be ready for birds visiting his grave.  There were several empty bird feeders hanging there in a tree.  So now every time I go, I'll be bringing bird seed to place at his site. I've worked with thousands of students over the years.  When something like this happens to one of them, it's like I somehow failed them.  And I know deep down I can't save all of them.  It's just hard remembering their happy faces in class knowing that their adventures ended way too early.   

Working with the public takes its toll on a person. I wouldn't have it any other way except maybe be outside more:)  In my late thirties, I discovered the world of birding.  Almost 10 years later, my understanding of the natural world gets stronger.  In times of stress or loss, I am thankful it's there away from all the chaos.  And in that solitude I am reborn.

Our cat, Aurora, is in decline health wise.  There's nothing we can do except make her comfortable and happy.  She is 15 years old and I believe has a cancer that's slowly taking its time.  She can still jump and she can still eat.  So we give her all the extra love while we still can. 

Until next time.....

Overcast Days

The sun attempts to break the heavy cloud cover caused by Hurricane Rosa

Rain happens for most people all the time.  But for those of us who live in the desert, it's a wondrous event full of heavy water droplets and epic scenery. 

a curious Greater White-fronted Goose

I stood out in my desert last night and let the wind blow through my hair.  It has been awhile since I had goosebumps from a cool night wind against my skin.  

This young kiddo was so happy feeding the ducks and geese.  Little does he realize how special two of those geese are

I watched the people around me breath of sigh of relief.  There was a lot of laughing and fun happening around the park.  These dark gray skies had every Tucsonan taking walks or jogs around our city neighborhoods.  During the hot times of the day, we stay locked up behind our windows away from the deadly rays of the sun.  Then at night, like vampires, we go out when it is less hot.  But autumn has arrived. Gone are the 90's, 100's and 110+ degree temps. 

The resident Snow Goose of Lakeside Park

The plants soak up the much needed rain and almost fluoresce a brilliant green.  It is during this time that rare birds fly through various spots around the state.  Birders search high and low to find some random gems. As Hurricane Rosa broke apart, we all kept our eyes towards the sky. Would we find a Magnificent Frigatebird or random sea bird flying around our desert skies?  These are the days birders love the most.  Finding something rare. 

I went to my go-to-spot during times like these and found a large gull.  At first I thought it had been a California Gull until I got closer and discovered how big this bird was!  I got a little more excited.  I posted the gull on the FB page and people were calling it a Lesser Black-backed Gull. That bird was not on my radar. Chris Benesh joined the fun and we went through all the "maybes" on this gull.  Could we rule out Western Gull?  And all the others in that size range?  The answer in short was yes.  It just took a little patience. 

a rare juvenile Herring Gull makes a stop in Tucson

I am not scared of gull ID at all anymore.  They are really fun birds. Chris had me raise my hands up in the air to get the bird to fly so that we could pinpoint the under wings and see that rump and tail! I learn new things from this man every time we run into each other.  By the end of our observation, he was leaning towards Herring Gull.  I went home and dug through my ID pics and the ones I took of the bird and found the gull was indeed a first winter Herring. 

one of the ponds of Agua Caliente Park

For the past several weeks, I've been on a role just goofing around nearby bird areas finding cool things for my birder peeps.  Now I'm not bragging but ok, I am a little:)  I found these rarities on my own and helped other birders add a tick to their Pima or Santa Cruz County lists.  It's the least I can do for all their amazing sightings. While the Herring Gull wasn't a state bird for me, it was a county tick.  It's been some time since there's been a Herring Gull here in Tucson. 

Two -striped Mermiria

 There are still a few butterflies around the area but now the grasshoppers, katydids, and mermirias have taken over as the most numerous insect:)

It'll be hard to go birding around here now that I've begun cooking like a monster.  I go get my 70 pounds a veggies religiously every Saturday morning.  Afterwards, I get super excited and begin to process the vegetables.  I can. I freeze.  And I bring vegetables to life!  I process all the squash, tomatoes and everything else right away. 

From top to bottom and left to right. Homemade spaghetti sauce, butternut squash soup, a yellow squash medley, and freezing the extra yellow squash left over for a later time.
A lot of time is spent on boiling tomatoes(to easily remove the skins), chopping up vegetables and sauteing onions and mushrooms

 For example, with butternut squash, I steamed it all up during the summer and then pureed it all for the freezer.  This weekend, I pulled out that frozen ziploc bag of goodies and began prepping a soup with it.  I don't follow any recipes, but I've eaten so much food in my life, I can tell which ingredients go where.  So I cooked up a storm.  I canned homemade spaghetti sauce, prepped a potato/veggie casserole and made my butternut squash soup.  It was a hit with my friends. I'm in love with my kitchen again and it feels so good. Creating healthy dishes feels absolutely wonderful! And there is nothing quite like the taste of fresh.  

Next week, I'm back on the road to try and find some lifers in Wisconsin.  But honestly, it's about being with family and friends......and the cool autumn air. Until next time.....

¡Qué Locura!

A Raccoon is exposed!

These past few weeks have been a crazy time for me.  I've been out with family, friends and clients while trying to maintain my sanity at work.  And I found myself too tired to write. 

Twilight at Columbus Park in Tucson

My only personal birding happened after work for several days along the Santa Cruz river corridor in Tucson with the hope that I would spot at least one Common Black Hawk for my Pima County list. They are coming through the area right now in good numbers. Best time to see them is in the morning and late afternoon when they take off/land. No luck yet but I still hold hope. 

Sora

Meanwhile they did their yearly burn at the Sweetwater Wetlands. After the burn, it's an excellent time to spot birds like the Virginia Rail or Sora. And maybe a racoon. Or two. Or three....:)

And honestly.  I have been more into the hiking around our mountains.  It isn't uncommon to do a 5 or 10 mile hike on the weekend.  The views are stunning!

Viewing the beautiful riparian area of Madera Canyon from the trails above

So while out on some of those trails, I did some guiding for people looking for some rare birds.  I've seen the birds many times below, but my guests have not so it was all about them getting the nice shots.  And that's how it has been for me.  It's more about the search lately and not about getting the best pic.

Rare birds are everywhere.  You just need to know where to look.  Left to Right, Cassin's Finch, Painted Redstart, Elegant Trogon, Rufous Hummingbird, Steller's Jay, Rufous-backed Robin, Sinaloa Wren, Lincoln's Sparrow, juvenile Bald Eagle

I enjoy seeing the smiles as they discover their first lifers.

A vocal Canyon Wren

At another level, I'm planning for a very tricky adventure in a few days.  Normally chasing birds isn't too difficult on your own, but there are a few locations around the world that require me to be careful and hire help. 

Pied-billed Grebe

I look forward to the challenges ahead.  It has turned out to be a year of unexpected surprises.  While it has been "slow" for the state list, it has been, so far, a solid regular year for visitors to find some of Arizona's specialty birds.

Snow Goose

I monitor parks, hawk migration, etc and I keep finding cool birds that are rare for those locations which has been exciting.

Red-tailed Hawk

My life has been changing.  My transition from education into the birding world has been flawless and maybe a little ahead of schedule.  I am ready to be a full time guide but I can't. Not yet. The early days of birding were so much fun.  While birding is still fun, it has turned into theory and detective work which ultimately has changed the free spirited nature of the activity. To stay on top of my game and help others, I have to research out in the field.  And some birds I know better than others.

Broad-billed Hummingbird

I find that I am exhausted much of the time by living two completely different lives. Mondays are my worst days because I don't recharge on Sunday like I should.  I feel the most alive when I am on the trails.  Then when I'm in the real world, I feel like a robot living a life of routine.  Maybe that's what has kept me grounded.

Mexican Jay

Either way, it's not a complaint. Today, so many options have unexpectedly opened up for me and I can say that I am now ready to "be the change I wish to see in this world." It has, however, taken me several years to get to this point in my life.

Wild Turkey

I continue monitoring and researching critically endangered birds around the world.  Some are making a comeback.  Others are not.  This weekend, I found out that the White-backed Vulture below used in a raptor education program at the Arizona Renaissance Faire is needed for an important breeding program in the US. Their numbers in the wild have plummeted this year to alarming numbers.  Seeing a wild bird is an incredible thing.  To see it at a show in an educational setting is cool, but it's not the same thing.  And to know that a rescued bird in this educational setting was recalled back for an emergency repopulation attempt makes me sad. The good news is that this vulture has successfully nested with his mate this year.

White-backed Vulture taken back in 2013

Finally, this week, I had a smile.  Apparently I have been sharing a lot of my anger towards vaping and drugs on campus.  Several students put this poster together and gave me a smile.  Maybe they are listening.  I hope they are listening. I may be hard on them, but I want what's best for them because I care.

What is Juuling?  It's another way of vaping nicotine or marijuana.

I'll be on the road this Friday and will hopefully have some exciting news for you all when I get back from my trip.  There is a certain sparrow I am looking for....and it's endangered. Until next time.....

The Devil Is In The Details

Birding friend, Scott Olmstead, had the weekend off. We planned a specific study on sparrows that most birders try to avoid.  Enter the Sage Sparrow.

Ferruginous Hawk-one of my favorite hawks

I would say that this is one of THE most difficult groups of sparrows in the state to ID.

A Sage Sparrow is difficult to ID in bad lighting or where the field marks cannot be seen

Scott wanted a good study session.  The Bell's Sparrow would be a lifer for him.  And I love sparrows. So the challenge was on!

So we got in the car and headed to the best place in the state for Bell's Sparrows, Robbin's Butte. And there we did our detailed study.  Scott is analytical and very good about observation.  We scoured the property and found two nice loose flocks of "Sage Sparrows".  It was SUPER enjoyable.  This is not a birding trek for a lot of people, but sparrows are my favorites.....even more so than owls!  GASP!  It was fun being with someone who also found them fascinating. 

A Bell's Sparrow-a dark malar and fairly non-streaky mantle is good for Bell's

The differences are so minute with this group of Sage Sparrows that it requires extreme patience and observation.  Several years ago, they were split and a birder's nightmare began. You can compare both species above and below.  Can you see the differences?:)  If you can't, don't stress.  Most birders have to work for this tick.  The Bell's Sparrow above has a darker malar than its head. While the more common Sagebrush Sparrow is uniformly gray in malar and head.  But there's more!

Sagebrush Sparrow-uniformly gray in malar and head-streaky back mantle

The two birds have different "mantles" (the triangular patch behind the head that connects the neck and back:)  Lighting can be an issue here in AZ so it's important to confirm the 2nd field mark, the mantle.  The Sagebrush Sparrow has heavy streaking on the mantle, but the Bell's Sparrow has very light to no streaking on the back.  Anyhow, I'm proud of the "work" we did here.  It was absolutely thrilling. Here is our list from that day. Scott added a lifer, and we were on to our next locations.  These were all new for him and it was exciting to show him around the Buckeye/Glendale area......which is not really my territory.  So kudos to my friends Gordon and Magill who have shown me their preferred routes to this great birding destination. 

Maybe a Cackling Goose but the neck was really long!  I'm still stuck on the ID of this bird.

We weren't done though.  We had more difficult birds to ID.  Scott just didn't know it yet:)  We stopped in Avondale, at a location known for its wintering Cackling Geese.  It was fun watching Scott sort through these much smaller Canada looking geese. To be honest, it was hard for me. In Arizona, we don't just get one subspecies of Cackling Goose, we can get two or three! In AZ, it's tricky business.

The Cackling Goose is a smaller bird with a thicker neck.  On one subspecies, the bill is small and triangular.  But not all subspecies are the same.  This Cackler looks to be of the Richardson's subspecies. Birders have to be very careful separating Cackling Geese from the smaller subspecies of Canada Geese.

Not all birds are tricky to identify though.  Most were a welcome reprieve from our difficult ID challenges. But how does a birder ID these tricky birds successfully?  Lots of study from bird guides, online sources, conferences and observations in the field with experts can help greatly. It's a combination from all of them that ultimately make you a better birder in general.

American White Pelican

Currently, Tucson and Phoenix are home to many wintering Snow Geese.  But we always have to carefully look and make sure we don't have a Ross's Goose in the bunch.

Snow Goose at Lakeside Park

Greater Scaups are rare to Arizona.  More common are the Lesser Scaups.  But it isn't uncommon to find a rare Greater Scaup in our local watering areas during the winter months. Does that make sense?:) It just takes a little patience and recognition of the field marks. 

A mystery scaup at Kennedy Lake

A Redhead eyes me warily as if to say, What are you up to Mister?

Redhead at Reid Park

In my searches, I find more Snow Geese.

The Blue Molt Snow Goose of Columbus Park

A Pied-billed Grebe surfaces for a second before disappearing into the water in search of food.

Pied-billed Grebe

Then I spot a juvenile Snow Goose!  This winter, they seem to be everywhere in Tucson.

It has been a good month so far in that it has been full of amazing finds for the state. We both finally saw the Black-throated Green Warbler in Phoenix.  Later, we chased a rare Lapland Longspur.  And then with friend Magill, we conquered the Short-eared Owl.

My first state record of the Black-throated Green Warbler in AZ

 I currently am working on the details for more journeys into the unknown.  Some of it is scary as I retrace my past and discover (or rediscover) new birds. 

Black-throated Gray Warbler

The journey ahead will be interesting.  That much is certain.  Until next time.....