As Broad As It's Long

Every weekend brings a new challenge.  The question is, "What bird will it be?"

Water flows in every wash around Southern Arizona

This weekend, Gordon attempted to help friend Joe find his nemesis bird, the Elegant Trogon. I joined up with them to see if we could do the impossible. Several weeks ago I posted our finds at Patagonia Lake.  Unfortunately, we were not able to relocate the male this time.  Our theory is that the bird is now in a more remote area around the lake away from the birding trail. 

a rare Winter Wren at Patagonia Lake

So we headed to the remote Florida Canyon of the Santa Rita mountains.  There had been a female Trogon recently reported....but we missed the window.  Trogons can be very tricky.  They are active in the morning and later take a siesta somewhere in the deep shadows during the afternoon. 

A Black-capped Gnatcatcher-a bird people from all over the US come to find

 While most of the country is still freezing, Arizona is enjoying warmer than average temps.  On our day out, the temps went from a cold 32 degrees in the morning to a warm 80 by mid afternoon.  While that sounds nice for most people, I'm not most people. I get enough heat from our summer months to last me the year. It would be nice to have a longer and cooler winter this year:)

The beautiful and remote Florida Canyon

In the photo above, you'll see the space between the riparian corridor and desert scrub.  It's a natural border that can attract two different groups of birds.  Those from the desert and those who require trees and water. 

An Orange-crowned Warbler

 As the day progressed, I switched from my pants to shorts. I did the same with my shoes but forgot that my "shorts" shoes didn't have any grips on them!

The moon over Florida Canyon

 The snow melt from the mountains has every wash flowing right now in the Santa Rita mountains. It's really quite beautiful. 

the Inca Dove of the Santa Rita Lodge in Madera Canyon

 Normally, the streams flow with a slow and steady trickle. But not on this day! We crossed several ice cold streams balancing ourselves on the rocks while trying to keep our equipment dry from the splashing water.  I did well for the most part until a rock gave out from under my foot......and then it was SPLUNK!  

the dam at Florida is flowing

We hiked up the canyon wall, or at least Gordon and Joe did.  I hiked up the steep trail realizing after the fact that I didn't have any grips on my shoes!  So I naturally let them go ahead of me.  Me on the other hand?  Well I slowly inched my way down.....until I slipped and fell on my padded rear! This was also the same place that my friend Kathie almost fell.  So if you go to Florida Canyon, home of the rare Rufous-capped Warblers and Black-capped Gnatcatchers, bring lots of water, good hiking shoes and a friend.  It's remote!

Wild Turkey(the tom)

 I continued on my own the following day looking for a rare Brown Thrasher.  I did find the bird but it's a skulker and these were the looks I had of it(below).  This is birding.  Sometimes you have incredible views and sometimes you have views like the ones below or worse!

a skulky Brown Thrasher

As I was attempting rare bird number 2, I ran into a group of Javelina blocking me on the trail.  One of them made the attack posture and I said, "That's ok."  I slowly headed back to my car and called it a day.  Laundry needed to get done. 

Javelina stop me in my tracks.

There are so many choices right now in the state of Arizona that a birder has to pick and choose their battles.  Watch the incredible flight of the wintering Sandhill Cranes at Wilcox Lake or find a rare Sprague's Pipit in the ag fields of the Santa Cruz Flats.  So many choices.  So many birds.

Bridled Titmouse

 Arizona is a big place.  Where will our adventures take us next week?  Until next time.....

The Emerald Green and Sapphire Blue

With such views, people often forget where they are standing.  Is it the Caribbean sea?  Or is it Central America?  There are times when I think I finally understand why warblers migrate to the US during the summer.  Wisconsin, during the summer, is humid and rainy. There's lots of forest area for nesting. No different from Costa Rica or Panama. 

Winter Wren

Almost embarrassing to admit but I hadn't ever seen a Winter Wren before.  So I spent an afternoon on this one species in a dark wet forest. Just to give you a "real" picture of what I was working with here, I've included the actual lighting of this forest. Personally, I think this photo below is much more magical and true to form.  When one speaks of a perfect moment, this is what I envision.  An emerald green background, a calling wren, no one around and a magical birding moment.  Perfection.  

When I finally located a Winter Wren calling, I observed the bird for about an hour absorbing the call and behavior. I watched the bird move from one patch to another. Photography is sometimes about prediction.  I saw a spot that was good for this bird to perch and the gamble paid off. It's naturally mousy, fast and difficult to see!

We hiked through a lot of forest.  Sometimes we had little people on the trails with us. 

And sometimes I was alone with no one around for miles.  I had an entire forest to myself!   Well, and the deer:)

One of the places I monitored nearby home was at a preserve known as Woodland Dunes.  In fact, much of my work was done here while I was home for the last week. It's quite a large area and unfortunately, I did not have the time to cover it all.  

White-throated Sparrow

I did, however, find several rare nesting birds in this area.  There is nothing more beautiful than the song of the White-throated Sparrow.  During my hike for the Winter Wren, I came upon 3 of these sparrows in the forest.  As one sang, his melodic voice carried over other bird song. The song was both haunting and beautiful at the same time.  I write haunting because I also imagine a serial killer coming along the trail to take me out.  And I imagine that it's the last bird song I'll hear.  Of course none of that happened.  If you haven't figured it out yet, I would like you all to know that I have a VERY healthy and active imagination.  The only blood spilled on this day was from the mosquito activity on my legs. 

Osprey

I did some other work at the "Dunes" with director Jim Nickelbine.  One day we took the pontoon out and surveyed nesting Sedge Wrens, Ospreys and Bald Eagles. That was a fun and relaxing way to bird.  Plus the company was wonderful. 

Cindy Lupin and husband were just a few of the characters I kept bumping into while birding.  They were really nice people and her hubby made a delicious apple pie!

 I met up with my owling mentor Bernie and his wife for lunch.  The Lupins brought the pie and invited me to have a piece with them.  That is the beauty of Wisconsin birding right there.  People mix food, socializing and birds together.  That's what birding is all about!  There are some great conversations that come from it all!  I learn so much from everyone on the trails.  

Bernie trained us several years ago about banding owls.  He joked and called me the paparazzi:)  Maybe he wasn't joking....:)  In any case, this guy is the main reason why the Woodland Dunes exists.  Today it's home to hundreds of species and becoming an international destination for birders.  He is retired now but his legacy lives on.  This guy is another major player in the Two Rivers/Manitowoc area for preserving important lands.  With a lot of work and I'm sure stress, he saved the Dunes from becoming a factory wasteland.

During our conversation, I find out that at least 12 or 13 warbler species nest in the Woodland Dunes area. That is amazing considering that some of them should be nesting further north.  But for years, these warblers have relied on the Woodland Dunes as their preferred nesting area.  I also found out that Bernie needs a Hermit Warbler. I invited him down to go chase this warbler and I think it will happen!! It's the least I can do for all the stuff he's taught me. So after lunch, it was back into the woods to try and find another one of those sneaky warblers. 

Mourning Warbler

Sure enough.  There were Mourning Warblers.

Ovenbird

And the loud, yet secretive, Ovenbirds. There were lots of them! They are also considered warblers.  

Pine Warbler

And by the gods, if there weren't Pine Warblers.  Somehow, these warblers flew under my radar!  Now I know.  I dipped on two other warblers, the Canada and Hooded Warblers.  They aren't supposed to nest in the area but they do.  They are not as common, but they are there.  It just means I'll look for them again when I'm home during the summer. 

So many of you are probably thinking, Where is Gordon?  Well, he's coming up.  We spent several months putting this bird expedition together and I have been organizing those photos and blogs into a coherent line of thoughtful writing:)  I was home alone for a week after Gordon left so that I could spend time with the family.  It worked out really well.  Anyhow, there are some funny tales to be told.  A post titled, The Kingsguard, is by far the most memorable experience this year.  Stay tuned.  There's lots more reporting and storytelling to do from the beautiful state of Wisconsin.  Until next time.....

To the Canadians out there, hope you had a wonderful Canada Day! And for the US readers, Happy 4th tomorrow! Be safe and remember to be careful where you shoot those fireworks:) Arizona, let's keep the fires down to a minimum. Like 0 minimum:) We're just about done putting out the ones started in June!