Sorting Algorithms

I can travel anywhere in the world and fall in love.  But there's something extra special about my state of Arizona.  I love it here.  I really really do. 

Sure.  I've taken a hit in pay for living here.  And sure Arizona ranks at the bottom in teacher pay and education.  The politicians here are made up by mostly savage greedy and uncaring people, but there is a glimmer of hope that things are changing. Our #RedforEd movement worked.  Kyrsten Sinema won and will be our first female democratic senator in Arizona. Katie Hobbs is Arizona's secretary of state. And Kathy Hoffman will watch over our public schools as the new state superintendent of public instruction. We can breathe a sigh of relief.  Maybe now, we will begin progress and get our schools to where they need to be.  Before, special interest people who owned charter schools were in control and they were bleeding monies from the public school sector!  That has been stopped.  For now.  We still have a ways to go!

I didn't move here for those reasons though.  I moved here because I feel a connection to the Sonoran desert, the grasslands, the Mexican people and specifically for the beauty and quirky nature of Tucson.  There is something that makes me feel happy here.  And no matter where I go, I miss my southeastern Arizona world. 

We did my Bisbee birding loop trek this weekend which encompasses the Whitewater Draw, Bisbee and the San Pedro House outside of Sierra Vista.  I was feeling craney and wanted to spend some time with the gathering Sandhill Cranes of the Whitewater Draw.  So Micheal and I took a road trip to the Draw.  

Then Micheal asked, "Are we going to eat in Bisbee?"  Of course!  We tried a new place that I had scouted out last year while on a fabulous student trip.  I'm sorry I didn't take many pics in the town of Bisbee but if you visit us here in Arizona, you really need to check this place out.  It was BUSY!

We spent the late morning/early afternoon with the cranes.  You can watch these birds for hours.  At the right time of day, they put on quite a show.  Many photographers go to the "Draw" to capture the cranes in action.  It's a great place during winter for waterfowl and 10's of thousands of wintering cranes.  More importantly, you can find the near threatened Bendire's Thrashers in this location on Bagsby road into the Whitewater Draw.

I needed this weekend to try and figure it all out.  Watching these birds while doing some relaxing birding helped me organize difficult ideas. 

Since our place has been painted (and now paid for), I'm ready for the next home project.  I've been working out in the garden putting in hummingbird plants and feeders.  Our next big scale project is the AZ outdoor room.  It will be great to open windows and not worry about the cats getting out.  

Juggling the birding adventures and home improvement projects are no easy task.  And yet they have to get done.  I mean, they don't, but I'm not one to sit and wait for something to get done.  The only way to get it done is to do it yourself.  The whole project costs about $3,300 dollars and will be worth every penny.  I'll feel safer, have an extra area for secured storage and an open room for the cats to enjoy being outside but not outside:)

A sleepy Screechy

Sometimes when I get stuck, I just go birding and let my thoughts sort themselves out.  And like these Sandhill Cranes that never crash into each other, travel and home improvement can also line themselves together to achieve the bigger picture. 

Everything eventually sorts itself out.  The chaos of this world can be overwhelming at times. 

I just need to remember to breathe and enjoy the moment. 

This week's photography took place at the Whitewater Draw near Bisbee and the San Pedro House along the San Pedro River near Sierra Vista. 

Greater Pewee

The special bird of the week is this lovely Greater Pewee that has been hanging out at Reid Park near our place. 

Winter has arrived.  There are so many options out there.  Where to go next?

Western Whiptail Lizard

Until next time.....

Swiftly Passing By

 I spent a whole week debating what I would do....chase birds or just relax and bird a favorite hotspot.  There are more birds I need to find but they are simply too far out of range to observe properly within the short amount of time given.  Everything now points to California but I only had the weekend for birding.  And I didn't want to be on the road driving for most of it. 

Sparrow love.....Vesper Sparrow

When I am conflicted with direction, I know what I must do.  Bird the Whitewater Draw.  I think it has to be one of my absolute places to visit.  The location feels like I'm back in the Great Lakes region again.  It's a pretty special place. 

Now if we took the mountains out of the shot above, this could be a wetlands somewhere in central Wisconsin. During the winter months, this place becomes a hotspot for many birders as thousands of Sandhill Cranes congregate these waters and surrounding farmer's fields. As one might imagine, lots of waterfowl also hang out here. 

It's a little too soon for all of these birds, but we did have one large flock of Cinnamon Teal hiding out in the reeds.  We did a little walk around the area and flushed over 60 of these ducks!

It's still warm and it's still wet in Southern Arizona.  Another storm passed through our area from the Pacific Northwest and it pushed down several more migrating Vaux's Swifts. 

Vaux's Swifts are pudgy swifts with short tails that breed between Southern Alaska and central California during the summer.  As they head back to Central and South America, several will pass through Arizona. Many times, this bird can be seen riding the winds in front of major storms around watering holes.  In my case, Hurricane Odile helped me locate one around the Sweetwater Wetlands. This year has been a very good year for many birders in Southern Arizona with all of our monsoon storm activity. 

There were lots of brown and gray birds from our adventures.  From top to bottom and left to right.  
Merlin, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Red-tailed Hawk
Loggerhead Shrike, Killdeer, Mississippi Kite
Common ground-dove, female Lazuli Bunting, Vaux's Swift

Perhaps the most significant part of this trek was observing migrating swallows as they gather in great numbers heading south.  The highlight of our day is captured below on this fence line. Swallows tend to be tricky birds to capture on camera.  And it's rare having 3 different swallows sit still long enough for a picture. As I've stated in previous posts, a lot of birders have a hard time id'ing swallows above them because they fly so fast.  On this trek, they surrounded us in great numbers.  We stood inside their cloud amazed by their acrobatics.  There were lots of bugs....including chiggers.

L to R- Bank Swallow, Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow

The bug life increases with heat and moisture.  This Great Swallowtail below found our citrus trees at El Presidio, laid the eggs and is now in the final stages of butterfly life. A bit like Charlotte's web. 

Giant Swallowtail

There is a birding loop I make if we go to the Whitewater Draw.  We drive through Benson and Tombstone and count birds along the way.  Once we arrive at the Whitewater Draw near McNeal, we spend a good portion of our time birding.  At around lunch time, we head over to Bisbee for break and then head over to the San Pedro House near the San Pedro river for an afternoon of birding there. Then it's visiting our relatives in Sierra Vista and back home in Tucson. 

And Arizona sunsets are always amazing.  If you haven't birded Arizona, you're missing out.  Over the next several weeks, my journeys will take me to Globe, Colorado and a return back to California.  And the adventure continues.....

For more fascinating finds, check out Wild Bird Wednesday!

In The Thick Of It

Sometimes people are surrounded, enshrouded, wrapped or blanketed by nature. Sometimes we go to see them specifically in the thousands.  And sometimes the thousands cover us unexpectedly.....

.......and while humans are distracted, a Coati eyes up a photographer's car, smells the crackers in the front seat of the open car door and...........

........the photographer becomes overwhelmed with emotion as thousands of Yellow-headed blackbirds flock around him.  Everyone stops in their tracks, pulls out their cell phones.......and watch the spectacular show Mother Nature is providing.  All of it.....unexpected.  A birder watches non-birders enjoy the beauty of it all and it makes him smile.  Would this moment spark somebody into birding?

These moments don't always last long. Sometimes only a few minutes.

He knows that he must act quickly, but his fingers aren't quick enough.  He fumbles the toggles and gets the lens ready for manual focus.

And sometimes, it's an epic fail as the photographer gets caught up in simply.....observing.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, the Coati gets closer to the photographer's car.  He crosses onto human sidewalks, jumps up effortlessly from the rocks onto the cement and approaches the open car door.

Cranes land.  Blackbirds deafen humanity's ears.

And the Coati has gotten too close.  The photographer slowly moves to his vehicle and shuts the door.  His buddy also sees the Coati moving closer to her and she doesn't know whether to flee or keep snapping pictures:)  Eventually, he gets too close and she backs away:)  And then the Coati disappears into the forest again with his friends.

Meanwhile the photographer scares up ducks by accident and almost has a heart attack.

When these moments come to pass, he is always grateful to have experienced them.

January is coming to a close.  As we get closer to the end, I'll reveal more big adventures from our Big January. Stay tuned for more!

                                          

Stop to Smell the....

Hooded Skunk on the Proctor Trail near Madera Canyon

I never forget that while on our little adventures to look up every now and again at the epic landscapes around us.  Today’s post is about watching where we step and noticing the “bigger picture”.

Willcox Lake

Part of the fun from birding comes from the great eats and hikes along the way.  And the views are to die for!

Bisbee, AZ

Most of the time, it's quiet.  No planes.  No cars. No people!  Just the wind blowing through grasslands.

The Whitewater Draw-Male Northern Harrier

There are moments of pure perfection as the sun sets or rises.

It's  during those moments I smile and think about how magical this trek continues to be.

Agua Caliente Park, Tucson

Along the way, I have faced cold and hot temps, blowing dust, whipping frigid winds, and some close wildlife encounters.

But the views keep me coming back.  As do the birds:)

Lakeside Park, Tucson with Great Egret

We inspect every blade of grass, hilltop, treetop, river, lake, and rock.  Movement catches our eyes and we spot a coyote(below).

And then there are moments of lazy birding around foreign feeders.  White-crowned sparrows and a Pyrrhuloxia dazzle the eyes.

San Pedro House near Sierra Vista

Sometimes the birds take you to secret hidden places most people don't know about.....like the waterfalls of the Santa Cruz river.

Santa Cruz River on a cold day

A solitary tree against the backdrop of snow covered mountains energizes the soul.  What lies beyond that next canyon? Or mountain range?

Friends make everything better.  A hot cup of coffee with Ms. Kathie Brown makes the outing even more special.

The birds surround us. Again. No cars. No planes.  No people.  Just nature.

And not all is perfection when there are factors that push the human limits.

Sometimes people get dragged along for the ride:) They enjoy the spectacles for brief moments before saying, "Enough is enough!"

And of course, I have to watch where I step.  This little guy almost sprayed me while I was taking his pic.  Instead, he sprayed a rude family with a dog!  As I walked back to my car, I heard the scream and then....oooh no!!!  Kharma.  Always pay attention to your surroundings.  And if you bring a dog that is going to bite people, you probably should leave them home.

This last photo warmed my heart while we were at Reid Park and it is one of two pictures from this post that are my favorites. I have always been an observer since I was a kid.  And for the first time in my life, I am seeing things clearly.

Reid Park, Tucson