Endless Days; Sleepless Nights

Before I begin with this week's chapter, I'd like to mention that blogger is having issues with pictures.  I wasn't sure I was going to post this week.  And I'm not the only one with the prohibited sign for several pics.  It appears my cell phone, scenic/people shots were blocked but my camera photos were not. So you'll see my wildlife discoveries from this past week. Blogger is aware of the problem and they are working on the issue.  Now let's get started with this week. 

Heermann's Gull makes a day appearance at a local pond in Pima County

Are you feeling like the title of this blog post? Everyone asks, "How are you doing?"  I don't know.  Everything is an endless haze.  Even the birding is mundane.  Ohhhh, I like the walks with friends or alone, but it feels like I've been there and done that over and over again.  I run the race but it feels robotic and empty.  I am very close to throwing in the towel and grabbing my keys and laptop while taking my work with me along the coast. 

I like this gray and detailed throne of the Greater Pewee.  They are all vocalizing right now which is absolutely beautiful

I still enjoy the birds, but it's not the same as researching a new area full of new challenges.  I have my projects.  And they look good.  I wake up.  Read emails.  Go for a walk and pick up new birds for the year in Pima County. Sometimes I walk.  Sometimes I drive.  I come home.  Check emails.  Work on the house project, putting ceiling tiles up.  Then I go outside and water my garden and feed my birds.  I watch TV for an hour and respond to students.  Then I go to bed and do it all over again. Just like everyone else reading this.  I don't even know what day it is unless I am given a task. 

Bushtits feed along a creek on Mt. Lemmon

Rarities show up.  I chase and snap a pic.  Tucson Audubon had me do a count around Reid Park which was fun.  Finally I felt like I had a real task for the day!

Anna's Hummingbird monitors my count at Reid Park

A zip code next to ours is now a new hotspot in the city for the Covid-19 virus.  I'm wondering if another nursing home was hit.  This virus is taking out these retirement communities!  And as you may or may not know, Arizona is one of the top retirement states in the US.  So while I was doing my count at Reid Park(that's in the area), I was very careful keeping my distance from people.  A police officer monitored the park for social distancing. 

Zebra-tailed Lizard

Some golf courses are vacant which is awesome!  I can now walk to the ponds where there's usually something amazing hiding in the reeds, like the Solitary Sandpiper below. 

A really cool Solitary Sandpiper hides in the reeds on a vacant golf course.

Everyone checks the few and random watering holes around town hoping for something rare to show up.  It's our highlight for the day.

OMG!  Yappy Black-necked Stilts warn me to stay back, even though there's a fence between us and that I'm some distance away from the fence.  Good gods!

Mental health is important, but this caged bird is ready to fly.  While the cases continue to rise in the US, people are beginning to lose their minds and protest.  Not saying I'd do this, but if I had covid, I'd go to the protests wearing a red hat wrapped in an American flag coughing all over everyone. My best advice is to stay away from people everywhere.  Stick to the birds. These are interesting times for sure.  Stay well and hope you are finding things to keep your minds active, like birding:)  Until next time.....

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Sometimes it goes beyond the birds.

Zebra-tailed Lizard

It's a bunch of things.  It's people.  It's new places that weren't always open to birding before.  It's new information.  And it's about spending time with other birders.

This past weekend, birders from all over Arizona (and beyond) got together for AZFO's(Arizona Field Ornithologists) conference in Ajo, Arizona.

Phainopepla

Several of us met in Los Alamos Canyon inside of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.  For several years, this remote place was shut down to the outside world due to safety concerns along the border.  Recently, the park has opened back up again and it was time for us to explore.

The waters inside the canyon flowed thanks to a recent rain storm.  It was a rare sight.

Townsend's Solitaire

The canyon was green and lush.

Life was evident everywhere.  Check out the tadpole video from Alamo Canyon.

While there weren't any new birds to discover, it was still just fun to explore.  It was a new hotspot.

Inside the canyon, we observed thousands of tadpoles feeding in the stream.  Damselflies and other insects were breeding like crazy.

Breeding Desert Firetails

Underbirded areas are fun because there's always a potential to find something good!

We came across Townsend's Solitaires, Black-throated Sparrows and many other birds.

the Familiar Bluet

At the end of our hike, I had the privilege of having dinner with Janet Witzeman, one of the authors of the Birds of Phoenix and Maricopa County.  I was able to contribute to her book and it was great meeting her for the first time.

She is one of the great Arizona bird pioneers of our time and has made so many contributions over the years. And because of her work, she won a lifetime achievement award from AZFO. 

Organ Pipe was a blast.  We even took the time to bird a quirky little spring known as Quitobaquito.

Wilson's Snipe

It is the only place you can find the VERY endemic Quitobaquito Pupfish in Arizona as they only live in this tiny pond.

Sometimes it's all about the fish.  Not often.  Just sometimes:)

This once mining town, almost a ghost town now, is a great place to stay if you are planning on spending some time in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.  It's a HUGE place to explore and one of the few places in the state to find Ferruginous Pygmy-Owls.

Until next time......

Las Aventuras: Birds and Blooms 2017

Pomegranate.  The most expensive fruit out there and yet it grows all over the city.  So many people let this fruit go to waste.  Why?  It's too messy and stains outfits. 

I sat down this past week and began reading one of my favorite blogs, Ragged Robin's Nature Notes. While I was reading about her fun at an English garden, I began to think....which is clearly a dangerous thing for me to be doing these days:) Basically, Caroline inspired me to get off my butt and do a little local arboretum fun of my own. 

So without further ado, here's Tucson's very own Birds and Blooms 2017 edition!  Here's a little preamble before I get started.  1. If you love plant collections and desert birds, there are three places you need to visit in Tucson. The Tucson Botanical Gardens, Tohono Chul Park and my favorite, the Desert Museum.  Today we visit Tohono Chul Park.  2. Since I'm still waiting for my 500 mm lens, I have chosen to use my 55 mm lens(which I've never used before).  And that was the challenge.  So here goes.....

One of the best times to visit Tucson and Southern Arizona is during our spring months.  April really is perfection. However this year, we've seemed to skip from winter straight into summer.  For people living in Tucson, our gardens can be a sanctuary for many of our living desert creatures.  If you come from the green belt of the US, you may feel helpless and frustrated by your desert landscaping skills.  Don't worry.  You can still have a lush and beautiful desert backyard sans the grass and high water bills!

First off, I recommend visiting the three places mentioned above as they give great ideas about planning your backyard.  AND!  Each of these places offers really fun courses on Tucson gardening!  So let me start with the first thing on my mind. Shade.  

A nest......

Creating shade in our desert community is a MUST.  It can save you money on that air conditioning bill, create a space to read and have coffee in the morning OR just make things 10-20 degrees cooler in your yard.  For wildlife, it's a sanctuary.  I looked up into the canopy of this Texas Ebony Tree and whom did I spy?

A Cooper's Nest

A very silent Cooper's Hawk.  Tip number 2.  Plant ONLY things that grow in the desert!  Here we live in the Sonoran Desert which means we have SO much to choose from!  I believe we are the lushest(is that a word?) desert of the world.  So, place plants that will attract butterflies and birds into your yard.  This Baja Fairy Duster below is attractive to both hummingbirds and butterflies.  Plant a Hackberry Tree and hope to discover one day a rare Rufous-backed Robin in your yard during the winter months!

Marine Blue butterfly on the Baja Fairy Duster

And for potted plants?  Go for it.  Buy crazy colored pots(or not) for your seasonal plants.  Many Tucsonans choose herbs like lavender and basil.  They do great in our hot summer climate. 

Lavender!

 Keep the pots close to the hose so that they are easy to water.  If you are on the outskirts of town, wire mesh is needed to keep Javelina, Deer and other critters from munching on your plants.....unless of course, you don't mind:)

Recently, I spoke with several birders who created a yard just for shade and the critters.  Cathy Skow, who recently had the rare Golden-crowned Sparrow in her yard, strategically placed several key plants in her viewing line.  How did she know what to plant?  As a birder who needed ideas, she went to the one place in town that has many birds, the Sweetwater Wetlands.  There she found several key plants like the saltbush that attracts a lot of smaller birds like sparrows and warblers.  She liked what she saw and put the plant into her yard. Brilliant!  And guess what?  That's where the Golden-crowned Sparrow liked to hang out with its White-crowned Sparrow friends.  

I love color and I love pots and I love bird baths and I love tile.  We live in Tucson.  Make it colorful.  So sure, we don't have grass and that's okay.  We also don't have to mow lawns!  Make  your gardens come alive with practical things that will add color and structure to your space.  I have wind chimes and a sun catcher.  I also am addicted to cobalt blue pots.  Have fun.  The more color you add; the better. And for carpeting the desert floor with green?  Why not try agaves and other succulents like aloe and put them in clusters?  They really make a space pop!

I use my pots for my tropical cacti and succulents.  Also note.  There's a Verdin on top of one of the plants.  This lens was challenging!!!

The more I travel to other habitats outside of the Sonoran desert; the more I realize how much I love cacti.  Also, cacti in the spring will add color.  But most of all, it adds structure and character.  

I like cacti because it also adds a security benefit around our home.  It keeps the meth addicts off our property.  When you live in the city, you always have to think about protecting your home.  A nice wall of prickly vegetation will do the job:)

Water features are also nice as they add sound and attract lots of birds!  Water features can be easy.  You can do electric or use solar panels!

In the pic below, two Lesser Goldfinches come in for a quick drink and then fly off. 

Many desert gardeners like to make an informal trail around their garden.  

You can build piles of rocks into areas for lizards to hide and live. In Tucson, we have lots of them during our warm and hot months.  

Desert Spiny Tail

Some still like the living Ocotillo fences.  This was popular many years ago.  Today, the fad has kind of faded:)  Instead, plant the entire Ocotillo and watch the blossoms attract various species of hummingbirds and bees. 

A forest of Cholla cactus can be deadly for trespassers or......

......a nesting ground for your Cactus Wrens and Curve-billed Thrashers. 

The beautiful Cactus Wren

It's amazing that these birds don't stab themselves in and out of their nests.  I guess it's another good reason why they have feathers:)

I thought about my own garden while I did this trek today.  My garden that I began 7 years ago continues evolving.  The large plants have grown and now must be pruned back from structures.  They have also created shade. 

The shade has changed what I can grow under the canopy of the trees.  I haven't done that part of my garden yet.  

Zebra-tailed Lizard

I hate watering plants now so it's all native stuff.  The vegetation that needs constant watering is gone.  

Our water fountains are great except that one needs to be constantly cleaned and maintained.  I don't like that anymore so I just maintain my solar run bird bath. 

I have made my yard a better place for lots of birds.

When I came home today after my trek to the Tohono Chul Park, I felt motivated to work in the 90+ degrees.  And interesting enough....

My female Broad-billed Hummingbird let me know that she was nesting once again in the same spot as last year.  She rebuilt the nest from last year and again has chosen my garden to be her home. It's an honor!

And when I started attracting new birds and critters into my yard, I knew I had done something right.  The only problem?  I'm older and lack the motivation to begin phase 2 of the project:)  But each year, I add something new and over time that adds up. 

A note about Ragged Robin's Nature Notes😉Caroline writes from England about so many things related to nature.  She's part birder, part historian, part garden explorer and a lover of all things wonderful.  She especially likes moths. At the end of many of her treks, she'll finish with a wonderful dessert.  Sometimes I imagine having dessert and tea with her.  And maybe someday we will! Anyhow, check her blog out.  It's a perfect way to get your morning going. Until next time.....