A Little Spring Cleaning

Friend Khanh and Robert come to visit family.  Together we explore the beautiful Sabino Canyon

This time of year brings everyone together in the desert.  We are always in transit.  Well, I was always in transit never quite allowing myself to become stationary for too long.  These past several months have allowed me to enjoy wildlife watching with old and new friends alike. Observing their reactions through their eyes for the first time is exciting. 

Pyrrhuloxia

After everything that had happened last year with family and friends and my own health issues, I have found myself more comfortable being comfortable in my own shoes.  After shedding the last vestiges of negativity at my work, I have found joy again in my job.  I had to step away from it all to see clearly why a simple change was necessary for my sanity. Negative people try and pull you into their own misery and negative space. We don't get to choose who our co-workers are, but we can modify certain practices in our routine to avoid that negative contamination of the mind.

I finally made that change this year. Like buying a new car, my new room makes me happy each day I enter it. It's a magical space that's far away from the drama of others. After 20 years at the same job, it was time for a change in setting. Examine the pic above.  Travel and language are the centers of decor.  Birds decorate the walls.  Fresh flowers bring in the natural element.  Cats give it a whimsy.  The upside down umbrella is a message to all that EVERYONE is welcome in my room(leave the negativity at the door).  And the table is for playing cards after their work is done.  Bird cards are given at the table.  Lunch can also be eaten there.  Not featured is the tea and coffee pot to the side. Lighting is key, dim the lights to cut the bright harsh glare. Soft jazz or classical music plays in the background. A new teacher said it was like an apartment in my room.  It has a fridge and microwave. And a couch. Yes. It's a safe zone for kids to speak their minds.  I have found my center again in teaching.  This time around, I am very protective of who I allow into that bubble. I remember my days in my kindergarten classroom fondly. It was also an amazing classroom full of nooks and crannies. I've never forgotten how comfortable I felt as a student in that classroom. As another spring season arrives, I am thankful to be alive and appreciative for all that renews me. 

Nature is powerful.  Standing by a cold mountain stream in the canyon renews my faith in people. In a world full of toxicity, it is so vital to spend time with friends in these places and get through these terrible times. Like the classroom, nature can heal the mind and body. I love my fellow winter birding friends.  We spend a great day outdoors together.  Then share a meal later. That's what it's all about.  House chores can wait. 

Gambel's Quail

All the signs point towards spring.  A male Rufous-winged Sparrow sings in a tree.  Khanh follows the bird for a beautiful close up. 

Khanh photographs a singing male Rufous-winged Sparrow.  Listen to the bird's song in the video below.

Maybe it's weird.  But it's fun watching people observe our Arizona birds. 

I always have to remind them to look at their surroundings.  It's not every day you get to see the clouds meander in and out of the Catalina mountains. 

The beauty of the Santa Catalina mountain and our gorgeous Sonoran desert.  The large cactus is called a Saguaro.  The one in the middle is over a hundred years old. 

Or watch a beautiful White-throated Swift dive in and out of a canyon catching bugs.  

White-throated Swift

Or search for a Grasshopper Sparrow on an overcast day. 

I see these Snow Geese at a local park and wonder how long they'll stay.  I begin to see spring arrivals.  The temperatures warm up.  Gardens begin to awaken from their slumber.  

Snow Geese

 Birds like the Northern Cardinal begin to call in my neighborhood. 

From left to right.  Pine Siskin, Northern Cardinal, White-crowned Sparrow

 The muffled cries of "NO HOPE!" are heard inside nearby trees emanating from the secretive Inca Doves.

Inca Dove

 In Tucson, their numbers are few.  So when I get a glance of this species, I let my eyes linger a little longer. Everyone else around the state laughs at Tucson birders for getting excited over an Incan Dove.  But I think if they didn't have them at their feeders, they'd understand why we enjoy these birds so much.  They were once common here.  I remember having them at my feeders in the 90's.  They were even my favorite doves back when there were many!

Windows of time are all we really have anymore.  I watch the Sandhill Cranes for the last time during the winter season and think, "Wow.  Another winter has come and gone. Where has the time gone?"  

John photographs a couple thousand Sandhill Cranes

 I take a couple out to Sweetwater Wetlands who have seen Yellow-headed Blackbirds in small groups.  But they had never seen thousands of Yellow-headed Blackbirds flock together over our heads at sunset.  There's magic in this.  

Yellow-headed Blackbird

A yearly burn at the wetlands exposes a Black-crowned Night Heron having a "light" dinner.  Frog legs are on the menu. 

Black-crowned Night Heron

And on my way to work, I see a Turkey Vulture on a pole in my neighborhood.  This is a true sign that spring has arrived. Vultures, hawks and falcons are on the move north.  Turkey Vultures are not common in my neighborhood so I get excited seeing one up close. It's a bird both ugly and beautiful at the same time and a welcome visitor to the yard!

Turkey Vulture

Over the next several weeks, we go into full spring mode in Southeastern Arizona exploring hummingbirds, raising money for charity, investigating the Sedona area, and reporting on our annual Arizona birds and blooms.  As the year warms up, we'll be getting into some hotter locations including a trek to Mexico and Panama.  Until next time.....

The USS Betty White

My shuttle, the USS Betty White in her native habitat.  I'll admit it, I'm a little too in love with my car but it has made for the best birding vehicle ever.

OH how I love my Betty White. She makes everything better. This past weekend we went on a mission with Tucson Audubon to save the Chestnut-collared Longspurs in the scenic grasslands known as San Rafael.

The guardian angel of the grasslands, the White-tailed Kite of the early morning

We do these counts every year to protect the habitat for this species of declining longspurs.  In fact, the grassland species on a whole have had the largest impact with declining numbers due to loss of habitat.  So it's important to protect these spaces for birds.

The USS Betty White is a survey vessel used for research and saving birds

I love the grasslands.  And I especially love any sparrow or sparrow-like bird. 

It's challenging and requires a little know-how but our collective experience helped us find quite a few of them. 

The team listens carefully for longspurs, makes note of the grass that they are in and searches for any movement

It's hard not to notice some of the other beautiful birds that winter in the grasslands like the White-tailed Kite below.

When the world seems like it's falling apart, I only need to stroll in the open air of the grasslands to forget all of it.

As we walk towards the cattle tanks, we hear the high "tribble tribble" of the longspurs as they prepare to fly.

Chestnut-collared Longspurs are amazing.

As they flush from the grasses, the longspurs fly in a popcorn pattern zipping here and there every second they are up in the air.  This is one of the most challenging bird species to capture in photos.  They are secretive and fast when discovered.

Most people just see little brown dots vanishing into the grasses. 

Maureen is a pro and was a lot of fun to work with

To make a great day, you need great birders.  And we had it all.  The worst part of looking forward to something is that it also ends before you know it. To say that I was on a high would be an understatement. Grasslands, friends(new and old), Betty White, the target bird and fantastic weather made the event fly by like...well....the longspurs.

Sure they are sparrow-like and brown but they are fascinating birds. To not have these birds around in the winter would break my heart.  They belong here.  It's why we do these surveys. 

To find wintering AZ longspurs, you'll need your ears, some good grassland habitat and cattle tanks/ponds.  And a little luck😉

It's an incredible experience and one that every birder should celebrate.

After our "work" was done, me and the Betty headed over to Paton's to do some birding there.

White-crowned Sparrow

It was super active and the birds put on a good show. 
 

Canyon Towhee

Especially the Cedar Waxwings!

Cedar Waxwings

As always, I'd like to thank Ms. Jennie Macfarland for leading up this survey and inviting me and the USS Betty White to explore strange new grasslands and seek out all things longspur.

Richard, Minnow and Jennie

We ended our birding at Patagonia Lake State Park for a quick scan of birds.  We did see a Common Loon.  That was fun.

AZ birding is the best. Until next time......

The Legacy Challenge

Little Blue Heron

It's no lie.  I am pretty much done birding in Arizona for now.  It's too hot.  The mornings are great but I'm taking them back and sleeping in again like I used to do several years ago:)

Now hold on.  It doesn't mean I've given up birds.  Far from the truth.  I just chased an easy state bird, the Little Blue Heron up in Phoenix last weekend. It was a beautiful morning out. At one point, it was just me and Little Blue at one of the ponds before the birders realized where s/he had gone.  Then s/he flew at the sight of the little kid birder making aggressive moves along the shore to get that perfect photo. And that was my cue to go home.  By that time, it was hot. 

Lark Sparrow

And it has been hot forever since.  So I began working on my bird feeders and water features at home.  My neighbor and I both put our huge fountain together in the center of the courtyard to prepare for the hot and dry month of June. This is the best month to observe wildlife because they come from all over to get a drink from scarce watering holes around the desert. The feature is up and running and birds are nesting all over the place in the oak trees.  Our Rock Squirrel has found our courtyard as an appropriate place to live. 

 I like having the little one around.  Most people hate squirrels at their feeders, but I don't.  I've waited 10 years to have one visit our yard.  S/he burrowed under our water fountain and lives the life.  In Midtown, there's very little in the way of wildlife(besides birds and feral cats)

Dark-lored White-crowned Sparrow

With finals happening now, and after all the public school mayhem, it's time to settle down and research.  And watch my bird feeders.  I actually enjoy it.  I get to see all the mischief happening around the property between the Curve-billed Thrashers, rare midtown Cactus Wrens, Abert's Towhees and nesting Brown-crested Flycatchers and Broad-billed Hummingbirds. They rely on me to provide them with fresh water and food:) Every year they come back to me. On an excellent day, I will have 24 species of bird come to my yard. 

male Hepatic Tanager on Mt. Lemmon.  If this guy came to my feeder, I'd crap myself. 

Solitary confinement is what I have been craving the most.  It's always an honor to be asked to events for organizations.  But after all the public outings are said and done, there is nothing I love better than the quiet solitude of home. 

I have been out in the garden more.  I am working on paint colors and a bird house project for my Lucy's Warblers next year.  I know House Finches will nest in some of those boxes, but honestly, I don't care.  When you walk around El Presidio, it's full of bird song and butterflies.  We even have lizards and geckos. 

On Mother's Day, we had a get together.  As a Spanish teacher, I needed to understand better the properties of a good chocolate mole from Mexico.  It's a sauce that goes over chicken normally.  So we assembled the team and the Aribabi crew got together and made this time consuming mole.  

I was in charge of the chili peppers which act as a base for the sauce. Jim was in charge of the special ingredients that went with the chili base.  And Mary Ann made sure we followed the directions. 

For once, it was nice making dinner for Kathy who usually makes all of our meals for us while we're down in Mexico during our counts and mammal tracking.  

However, we had to watch Jim because he slipped in several more chocolate disks to the mole:)

I'm proud of the work we did.  It's definitely a full morning of work with maybe some prep the night before. It tasted amazing and went down well with Jim's awesome margarita concoctions . 

During the week with my students, I was exhausted.  I'd work and go home to sleep.  This is the way of the final exam schedule at my school.  Meanwhile, all of my friends are in the Midwest for the Biggest Year.  This is an event I'll never be able to attend thanks to finals:)  By the time I retire, I'll have found all the North American Warblers I need and not have to participate in this event.  

Pine Siskin

Instead, I've been preparing for several major trips. One begins next weekend.  This year, I have been very interested in Mexico and connecting the dots.  I love the Sonoran desert very much and have wanted to do a study in San Carlos for years.  The last time I was there was back in 96. 

So many good memories.  I remember a perfect moment from that trip.  After a beautiful day at the beach at our friend's condo, we sat watching TV enjoying a beautiful Mexican sunset.  No worries.  No stress.  Just existing in the moment. 

It will be nice to revisit this area again.  It's 6 hours south of Tucson near the ocean village of Guaymas where Mexico truly begins and the border culture begins to fade away. 

My "work" will include an area count around the ocean front. Margaritas will be the main meal:)

This weekend we headed down to Nogales, an hour south of Tucson for a medication run.  Or as I like to call it, a drug run!  Medication is half to a third of the cost of what it runs in the US.  Many seniors can't afford the rising costs of medical bills here in the US because of their limited budgets.  Yes, the US is a disaster right now.  Thankfully, Mexico is nearby and we can get prescriptions at a normal price.  Then we stopped at La Roca for lunch.  Yum!

I've already droned on too long, but recent events have again made me pause and reflect.  Last week, I lost another former birding mentor, Bernie. I wrote about him 2 years ago in this post while we searched for his last warbler in North America.  He lived an amazing life and protected important lands from industrial development. At first I was sad that he wouldn't be there when I went home to visit, but then I thought about how lucky I was to have gotten the chance to work with Bernie over the years.  He was brilliant with his conservation work. His bird banding projects were genius. I remember Bernie sharing with me a story about banding Chimney Swifts! 

Our final time together would happen during our Hermit Warbler search. It was an honor to have had the chance to take him out one last time to find life birds in Southern Arizona. I worked with Winnie, the cranky Park Ranger.  I banded owls with Bernie. And I was a student of Doc Sontag. Doc is the last of this holy trio.  Without these people, Two Rivers and Manitowoc would have developed precious land along the Lake Michigan Shoreline.  They made a difference. Today, birders and nature lovers alike visit my hometown in mass numbers to visit these important natural spaces.  Places like Woodland Dunes, Point Beach State Forest and the Manitowoc Impoundment are protected thanks to the dedication and leadership of these amazing people.  Bernie leaves a great legacy behind. 

Lance-tailed Manakin

 What will our legacies be? Spanish was always my passion, but it lead me to the birds. This next month will be my birding anniversary.  It's when I accepted the label "birder" into my life.  Several Manakins on Coiba island "sparked" my passion for birds.  And for the better, it has changed my life forever.  Like many of us, we have gone through periods in our lives when we look back at our past reflections and wonder how we ever thought or acted the ways we did. I changed. And I am focused now. At a recent photo shoot I did for Altrusa, a group that fights illiteracy around the world, the spokeswoman reminded her members that the work they did was incredibly important. "Your legacy will come from the work you do everyday.  Do not take that for granted. You are valuable."

I remember sitting on that island in the Pacific Ocean all alone, away from the modern world thinking about the great adventures ahead.  At first, they were clueless treks into the unknown.  But I had to start somewhere.  That guy in the pic above was so naive and innocent.  However, it was a pivotal moment in my life that I will never forget. 

On the eve of this celebration, I will be heading to Trinidad and Tobago this June to research and observe new birds.  My goal this year is to reach 1000 life birds.  This island trek will be the first big mission to complete that task.  I'm hoping to observe such birds as the endangered Trinidad piping guan, oilbird, honeycreepers and the national bird of Trinidad, the Scarlet Ibis. But it's the Manakins, that I hope to observe in great detail.  Bernie, my Grandma, Melissa, and all those who have passed remind me to seize the moment and discover. Until next time.....