The hikes have been grueling lately. With desert heat and rarities popping up left and right, it has made the birding a true challenge. Which bird should I chase first? Many of the birds are in difficult or remote locations!
Violet-green Swallow
For all the "hits" I get on my target birds, there are also the misses. Aztec Thrush, Berryline Hummingbird, Rose-throated Becard, Slate-throated Redstart. All misses because of time. Only one would be a lifebird. And when I dip on a bird like I did with the Aztec Thrush, it burns bad. Timing. It all comes down to the timing. When you don't have the time, you appreciate every minute you have more. My life is one long schedule. It's pretty awesome, but like everyone else reading this blog, we have lives outside our hobby that require us to be present:) It will just make the story sweeter when I do finally see these birds in Arizona:)
Black-throated Gray Warbler
I'll hike miles to find a new bird. But with time constraints, it makes waiting around for a bird difficult. Had I only waited 10 minutes, I would have seen the bird!!! BUT NO. We had to head back down the mountain to get home. It's a terrible feeling. I got into my car and couldn't talk for awhile. I got a text from a friend who told me that the bird popped out as we were heading back down the trail.
Gordon spots an Hepatic Tanager. In the distance, a wildfire burns near Young, Arizona.
Time was ticking and my window for the Aztec Thrush closed. No more Southern Arizona birding for awhile. On our last days in Arizona, I birded with Gordon(above) once more on Mt. Ord.
The heat was an astounding 117 degrees in the desert!! I use this reliable kitty weather forecast for help. So we had to climb the mountains for some reprieve. But not by much. It still was pretty hot up there!
It's amazing how birds can even survive these extreme temps!
Hutton's Vireo
Like good Arizona birders, we pack lots of water. Some it is frozen while the rest is chilled. The body MUST stay cool in the extreme heat! We also went early and left the house by 5 AM. Although, you can get up at 4 AM to start!!! But that's way TOO early! Or is it?
Hepatic Tanager
We track water sources. Cattle tanks. Mountain streams, etc etc to find birds. During the Arizona summer, birds will feed before the sun rises(the 4:30 AM time period), hang out in the shade during the sunny and hot times of the day and stay near any water sources that may be around the area. Visiting birders need to take care and do the same!
We find plenty of wildlife resting in the shaded areas. We also take advantage of these areas along the road staying out of the intense sun. As we do, we spot several deer casually crossing the road ahead of us.
It is also completely acceptable to sit at public bird feeders and search for rarities:) Especially after the 10 AM time period.
Lucifer Hummingbird
Sometimes I will chase ONE bird for 30 minutes in the sun. I am confident about where these birds are hanging out. Otherwise, I wouldn't go and get them. So I get my pic and run back to my air conditioned car:) Take for example the Tropical Kingbird below. It is currently nesting in its' typical spot at the Sweetwater Wetlands. Easy.
Tropical Kingbird
There are even easier ones to snag. Park and bird! There is nothing wrong with birding from your car. This American White Pelican decided to hang out at Lakeside Park for a few days before taking flight.
American White Pelican from the Utah area(note green tag)
And around the same time, a Least Tern returned to the same spot. I think it's the same one that I discovered here a year ago. The migration dates were almost exactly the same. Note the times I used "same" in this paragraph:)
Least Tern
But when it gets too hot, it's time to head up to the higher elevations. Early mornings are still the best as they provide cooler temps.
House Wren
While the canyons are still dark, you'll hear the owls finish up their last calls.
Brown Creeper
Of course you have to do some hiking to see some of this stuff, but WOW!
And then an owl calls. It's like a dream come true. WHOA! And the crowd goes wild!
In the shadows, lurks a Northern Pygmy Owl
With so much hiking going on, it was time to just rest and get ready for the cooler temps. June is the BEST month to leave Tucson or Phoenix. It's hot and the rare bird alert is fairly quiet during this month. Where do we go? North:) Or West, to the beaches of San Diego.
It's hard to get up when you have such cute cats around you purring nearby.
My blog series will once again focus on a new birding area outside of Arizona. It can be cool, rainy.......and GREEN!
Until then, I'm going to do as this male Anna's Hummingbird is doing.....hanging out in the shade! Birds will often "pant" to exhale the hot temps in the body through evaporation of moisture along their mouth, throat and lungs. In other words, they stay cool.
A HOT male Anna's Hummingbird hanging out in the shade on a 117 degree day!
Stay tuned for our next adventure. Gordon will be joining me on an epic journey into one of the most beautiful states of the US.....Wisconsin. So get your bug spray on and pull out those cheesehead hats! Until next time!
Eventually all good things must come to an end. With one day left and physical exhaustion finally catching up with me, we decided to dedicate our lives to creating a new hotspot for Tuxtla Gutierrez. And find those blasted parrots flying around our hotel!
Tropical Kingbird
For days, we observed possibly hundreds of these birds flying from our hotel to the park across the street. There were at least two species that kept squawking over our heads as we slipped our hotel card into the door. It drove us nuts! By the time we'd get back, the sun would be setting or we'd be exhausted from our daily treks out into the field. We'd see their shadows fly above our heads and try to find the field marks with our binos. So after our tour, the hunt began. And we walked our neighborhood and scoured every building and tree out there. Here's what we discovered.
Caña Hueca Park
There was indeed a park next to our hotel. It was safe for us to carry our cameras, at least during the day. This park was a place for people to mainly exercise. But from within it, there were a great number of bird species flying around! To make it even more enticing, a canal flowed through a part of the area attracting several water birds like Snowy Egrets and Neotropical Cormorants. When I looked on ebird, I realized that this park was not an ebird hotspot. It's within a green area of the city and a perfect spot for local and visiting/migrating birds. The park is known as Caña Hueca.
juvenile Social Flycatchers
Around the park area, we visited several shopping centers to observe which birds intermingled among the humans. It was a bit strange for shoppers to watch us snap photos of birds in the parking garage area:) Beyond caring anymore:)
Grey-breasted Martin
Anyhow, back to the parking garage. I saw a bunch of these swallows flying into the shade and I thought they were Northern Rough-winged Swallows. Thanks to Michael Retter, he said, "HEY! Those are Grey-breasted Martins!" Mother of pearls, he is right. I have only seen this species once in Antigua, Guatemala. Instinctively, I knew I had to take a picture of this bird. But I had Northern Rough-winged Swallow in my brain.....not a Martin:) Thank you Michael for catching the ID!
The park itself is lovely for people who love to run. They had this soft padding throughout the area and I have to admit that I didn't mind walking on it:)
Along the way, we found our parrots in large numbers around the park feeding on the various fruit trees.
There were several times when a large seed or fruit almost knocked me out! White-fronted Parrots hid everywhere in the foliage. Sometimes they could be seen out in the open. AND they were ALWAYS heard:)
Groove-billed Ani
We had several Groove-billed Ani hanging out in the trees! And then there were Scrub Euphonias darting around the branches. Some even hung out at our hotel!
Scrub Euphonia
The place was amazing! We had 27 species in this park alone! It just proves that you don't have to go far sometimes to find amazing birds.
Looks just like the leaves
Parrots and Parakeets have always been a fascination for me. To be honest, I hate their chatter. Their squawking hurts my ears too much BUT I love everything else about them. They are social. They are highly entertaining in the wild once you spot them. And they have a VERY set routine. They get up early in the morning and make a lot of noise to wake up the hotel birders. No need for an alarm. Then they head over to the park or Marriott hotel and feed off the trees around the property. By 5:00 PM, it's time to head back to their "sleep" area and snuggle in together on top of the Marriott hotel roof or other man made structures. By observing their daily routine, we were able to track them to their food sources and get great pics.
Green Parakeets
It is my hope that this park will become a hotspot for future birders visiting Tuxtla Gutierrez. There aren't many hotspots at all within the city and yet I know the city is full of surprises. If people ebirded like they did in Tucson, I can only imagine what would be found! I wouldn't mind living there for a year and exploring the various watering holes, etc around town.
Green Salsa Chilaquiles
Every chapter in our life must close. And for me, this trip to Mexico was healing. I still had a torrid love affair with chilaquiles. Perhaps the best breakfast or hangover cure out there. But I was so sad. I wasn't ready to go home. I sat looking at my food not wanting to eat. Because it meant that once I ate it, I would not have a decent plate of chilaquiles for a LONG time after. So I took a picture. It's refried black beans, green or red salsa over fried tortilla strips with shredded chicken and topped with delicious Mexican cheese that just screams, "OH YEAH!" And so on my last bite, my affair ended. Oh love can be so cruel!
But then something perked me up. A cow. The cow is a symbol of my Wisconsin roots. It reminded me of where I grew up. The coffee was Mexican and I remembered why I pursued Spanish as my passion. When I mixed the two together, I remembered why I chose Tucson as my home. I will be back Mexico. I have missed you.
On our flight into Mexico City, we flew over the volcano known as Popocateptl near the beautiful colonial city of Puebla. I suffered from a bit of nostalgia. I hiked those mountains. I lived there. I became "me" there. While I saw many birds on this wonderful trip, I couldn't help but think of all of my human experiences in this country. While the guided tours were awesome (as were the people), I won't do them again. Part of the reason I love to bird abroad so much is that I get to know the local people in the area. And that comes from my Spanish training. It enriches the whole experience. Plus when I find a bird, I earn it. No one found it but ME. And that's a life bird earned in my book. I know there will be times when I need to call on someone for help. The Nava's Wren is a perfect example of THE bird I could not find on my own. This trip was amazing and it better defined who I am as a birder. For that I am grateful. And to people like Laurie Foss and Michael Retter(and everyone else!) who put this trip together, THANK YOU! It was flawless. You guys did a great job!
A Giant Swallowtail greets me on my return home to Tucson. This butterfly was laying eggs on my citrus plants in our garden. We all live in an amazing world!
As Las Aventuras leaves the neotropical world behind, we return back to Madera Canyon and begin the third chapter of "Americano". Until next time friends.........
Today we glimpse the rare and exciting island of Coiba. For many people, this island is too expensive or too difficult to reach. But for us, this wild untouched piece of the world was the most exciting part of our Panama visit. One of the last remaining groups of Scarlet Macaws live on this island of Panama. For action birders, this is definitely worth your time and money. It's a difficult ride into this marine corridor for some and even more difficult for people who have physical limitations getting on and off a boat. And I have to admit, the mud was pretty bad on some of the hills preventing me from rising to the top. At one point, I almost stepped near Tito...a Saltwater Croc!
It was cloudy and grey most of the time, but the wildlife was abundant and EVERYWHERE! And if you want to see all of this incredible life, you'll need to pack excellent footwear. Water shoes for going in and out of boats. Flip flops for the brief and cold shower. Strong spiked boots to climb the muddy paths. Maybe even rubber boots? It was muddy! Because I didn't have the good boots, I was limited to where I could walk on the island.
Coiba Island from our boat
Like something out of the Lost World, the island was covered in vines and forest. Some of the most amazing life can be found here....which includes a special kind of Howler Monkey and algae that may cure cancer....both endemic to this island.
A Ringed Kingfisher on Coiba Island
At night, we would have a lovely dinner together along the beach where we would watch this Kingfisher look for things swimming along the shore. Sit. Watch. Fly. Swoop Down. Grab. And do it all over again. It was one of the many things to observe along the beach. We swam keeping our eyes open for the singular crocs floating like logs in the ocean. Thankfully they're territorial and don't congregate in great numbers around certain areas. There is a secret river that flows through the island which is difficult to reach full of them. A study continues on this interesting reptile.
A weird pic of me but I am loving the hike. The sounds are incredible in this primary rainforest. And this pic below!!! Why didn't I post this number last year?? Oh I could kick myself. The reason? I thought it was boring.
Tropical Kingbird
That's why it was nice digging through the albums again and posting the things that I thought, at the time, were rubbish. And it would be here that my work would get notice. A Brazillian Professor will be publishing some of my work from this island in a book about UNESCO sites around the world in January. Excited? Oh yes!
There were beautiful untouched views everywhere. This island is protected and studied by the Smithsonian Institute. If you go during the right time of year, you'll see whales. I searched and searched and searched.....one of my life's goals is to photograph this amazing creature. But as for sea turtles? Wow!! Everywhere.
Capuchin Monkey
Again, here is a shot that would have been clear with my current camera. It was blurred so I never posted it. It's the Capuchin monkey. They had no problem throwing mangos at our building and waking us up:) We'd come outside and they'd quickly run into the tree tops. I tracked this guy and had this shot until he spotted me and quickly disappeared:)
On top of Coiba Island overlooking the ocean
And check out this view!!! That little clearing is where we stayed. Note the 3 tiny islands in the distance. They are great for scuba diving! Again this whole area is protected as a marine corridor. Beginning from the bird islands from the Mexican waters down to the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador. This corridor is studied for whale and sea turtle migration, but sharks, etc are also studied.
For now I leave you with a cheesy pic and two mini vids from our adventures to Coiba Island. More tomorrow.....
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