Rush Hour

Maybe I'm not the only one.  Before any major trip, I have a hard time sleeping.  Will I find my target birds?  What if it rains? How do I balance my time between family, friends and birds??!!!  It's never any easy thing to negotiate.

Cochise Lake in Willcox

I'll put hours into planning and research. It's truly detective work.  Birding during the trips is quite relaxing and enjoyable, but my problem is keeping track of time when I'm outdoors.  I love being outside so much.  Before birds, I thought time moved quickly.  Now by adding birds into my life, everything moves faster!!!

Scaled Quail

As I write this, it's the end of monsoon.  I cannot go outdoors without heatstroke or being attacked by mosquitoes.  I NEED to be outdoors.  My life from 9 to 5 is difficult.  If I don't get outside, everything becomes chaotic and I become anxious.  After work, I go home, eat, read and go to bed early because there is nothing else I can do. My job is stressful and I have found nature counters the stress and makes it bearable.  I look forward to the freezing cold temps in my vest and beanie. Soon.  Very soon.

Northern Cardinal

To occupy my mind until temps cool down, I plan areas to bird both inside and outside of the state.  They of course are within budget but have an agenda.  Birding with others is fun, but you can't always count on them.  Each birder has their own agenda. Ultimately, it's a personal journey that many times has to be done alone.

Roses at a friend's house

There are many things that can influence a birding party. Some compete.  Some chase and twitch.   For some, money dictates the outing.  For others, it's about their comfort zone and safety.  And for others, it's about the social aspect surrounding the birds.  All of these things factor into my own life. I love the restaurants and experiences that go along with it all.

Variegated Fritillary 

Going out into the field is like an addiction.  We were in New Mexico at Caballo Lake State Park and looked up to find White American Pelicans gracefully in flight.  Above the grassy desert along a stream, we found these incredible birds in flight......and time stopped.  WOW!  It was hot and sunny and these birds gently spun around like a school of fish in water. And we did arrive late to Colorado Springs because of this stop, but it was worth it.  I remembered, "It's not about the destination, it's about the journey."  If you think New Mexico is for the birds, you are correct.  Take an exit off of their interstate system and you'll discover the incredible beauty of this state.

American White Pelicans!

When I step back from it all....from the competitive nature of people....or that personal need to get that perfect and sometimes unattainable ID photo of a lifebird......when I step back from it all......I can relax like I did when I first began birding not so long ago.

New Mexico landscape-reminds me of the Lone Ranger

The Sky Is A Flutter

Variegated Fritillary

In 2008 on the Amazon river, we saw many butterflies puddling along the clay shores.  Fast forward to the future and Southern Arizona during the summer of 2012 and we saw the same exact thing happening here on our roads.  There were so many magical butterflies around us.  This truly has been the year of the butterfly.

I write this post on Saturday after the weekend I took these pictures and wish I could have filmed the activity.  My friend Jen and I pulled the car over and took a closer look......there were literally hundreds of them puddling along the road. Big ones, small ones, blue ones, orange ones......

Sulphur butterflies graced the skies but so did many many others.   If you look around the yellow ones closer, you'll see several other kinds of flutters.

While our exotic Butterfly Magic house is about to open on the first of October, I'd like to recommend Mother Nature's show going on right now.  It's free and won't cost you a penny.  These shots were taken on the Patagonia Sonoita trail.

And where there are butterflies and moths, you'll find loads of caterpillars of all kinds. This Wooly Bear was all over the place on our hikes.  We had to be careful not to step on them.

And now for the good pics.  Incoming!!!!  If you look closely at the shot, you'll notice a fight for the flower.  Do you see the little beetles on the flower? 

Variegated Fritillary

The sky was very very active.  Everywhere you turned we found butterflies and much like the hummingbirds, it was hard to figure out where to point the camera.  These images capture the beauty, but what you don't see or feel during this shoot are the chiggers biting me up and down my legs.  It has been a super wet summer here and life is very active.

In fact on this early morning while I write this post, I'm debating whether or not I should just let myself heal more.  The issue? My other half actually has the day off today.  This may be a day for the Phoenix Aquarium as the rain has caused severe flooding alerts.  Last night a wash filled too quickly and carried a car off.  The husband survived with a broked pelvis as he hung on for life for hours while his wife didn't make it out of the car in time.  Sadly, she was carried away with her vehicle where she drowned. That was here in Tucson by Avra Valley road.  And in Phoenix a technician was caught in the middle of a raging wash.  He went to the top of his heavy utility vehicle and was stranded for hours until he was finally rescued.

So this rain has been serious business with Flood Advisories throughout much of the weekend and into the next couple of days.  It's cloudy outside.  I fed the birds.  Need to do pruning but the mosquitoes are out of this world.  But on this trip last weekend, after our hike here, we went wine tasting in Sonoita.  Not a word Gaelyn:) Does wine count as a snack?:) And I bought a bottle of wine with my friend Jen.  We think we may actually read and crack that bottle open today and just chill instead of run around the grasslands and "desert" we live in today.  But the PROBLEM???  With massive weather systems like this.....

......comes random butterfly making and they sure do like it because it was happening all over.  We have had Giant Swallowtails all over our property laying eggs right now.  The butterflies live for about 2 weeks and then die.  I found one dead on the courtyard and felt really sad because we had been watching this one lay eggs all over my kumquats and tangerine bushes.  It was like Charlotte's Web. Okay but I just got off topic....back to the rainy weather.....

Big storms from the south in Mexico bring cool shorebirds to our desert and today I may end up going to the Sweetlands looking for that Sabine Gull and other tropical birds.  This year in Arizona we've seen the Purple Gallinule and Roseate Bill!!!  Such beautiful rarities from places like Florida and other tropical nations.

My point is, if I even have one, that as much as I'd like to sit on my duff and do nothing, there is so much out there right now to be seen that if I did sit here all day, I'd be missing out and feel guilty because this isn't going to last forever as it is like a treasure grove of discoveries.  How's that for a run on sentence?

The desert is dangerous, exciting and full of wonder......and full of bugs right now.  This is the high time to watch butterflies here.  We have so many in Southern Arizona.  So if you come to visit during September, remember your bug spray and get ready for some incredible finds.