The Fairy at Montosa Canyon

I find that the best things in life are most definitely free.  When it comes to this blog, experience has suggested that what works for Las Aventuras is the wildnerness walk.  It's one that isn't a preserve or rehabilitation center.  It's land that is untouched or maintained as a State or National Park.  I am NEVER let down by what I find on these photo shoots.  But this blog is one of a balancing act.  I dislike festivals or organized zoo events because of the limitation involved.  For example, Kartchner Caverns doesn't allow for photography or you to really touch or feel things properly.  Everything is spot cleaned perfect taking the dirty word "risk" from the other word known as "exploration".  And most often that spells "boring".  But many of my friends and family like these kinds of treks and it's a compromise.  And that's okay.   However on today's particular focus, you'll find nothing Las Vegas here.....lots of bug bites involved in our wild canyon areas.

This incredibily overlooked canyon, known as Montosa, is really an amazing gem secretly hidden in the Santa Rita mountains.  There is a very healthy ecosystem here.  Untouched and unspoiled(except for an observatory by the Smithsonian), this canyon is a premiere destination(and FREE!!) in the Santa Rita mountains.  It's not difficult to find but it is hidden and overshadowed by the much loved Madera Canyon.  I found some of the most incredible groves of healthy agave and ocotillo populations here.   I have suspected that ocotillo is on the losing side of human vs nature.  But here, I found miles and miles of these beautiful plants.  And it's because of these plants that I went on the hunt for the Plain Capped Starthroat Hummingbird.  It prefers the blooms of an agave over human hummingbird feeders.  Plus the Ocotillo blooms provide plenty for the hummers in this area.  I suffered many insect bites here.  But a healthy insect population is also another indicator of a healthy ecosystem.  And the bugs were just as cool as the birds flying around the area.

As I walked the rainy and dirt road towards the 1 mile marker and crossed two streams, a pair of cardinals guided me to this mysterious 1 mile marker that supposedly had 2 hummingbird feeders.  It was an early start at around 6:10 AM!  The Chuparosa Challenge is serious business.  However, I didn't expect to run into illegal activity on the trail.  It was probably the scariest thing I've had to deal with in awhile around the trails of Southern AZ.  You hear about it from other people but you don't expect to see it.  And then I did. The men saw me and grabbed their bags and backpacks running down one of the dangerous streams.  I had my camera slung over my shoulder.  But worse?  It wasn't the illegal aliens, it was the "coyote"(drug runner or human trafficker) that scared me.  He shot off in his van.  Me?  I jumped up onto a trail and hid behind bushes waiting for the coyote to turn around and speed down the road.....which he did.  I stayed hidden until I felt it was safe to come out.  I didn't know there were people around as I was by myself.

Euphorbiaceae (Spurge) or Mala Mujer-The entire plant is dotted with stinging hairs that can cause pain if touched. I thought about picking some up for the new school year to keep kids away from my desk(but of course that's illegal in more ways than one:). 

My heart was beating quickly and yet the nature was pretty amazing.  The cardinals were still there watching over me.  Maybe they were angels protecting me?  Birders everywhere probably groan at this idea:)  But hey, I'm writing the post so I can have fun with the interpretations.   I finally saw a few cars around the spot that I had hoped would exist.  I had gone one other time but didn't find the place.  I crossed two streams.  Shoes wet.  Outlook hopeful.

Around 10 birders sat in a nature forming bond on rocks waiting....and waiting.  The cardinals sat watching us from above.  It began to rain and we all huddled under the trees...waiting and waiting.....

Talk.  Slow and quiet at first began to get louder as the human observers began to get impatient.  One of the questions asked was, "Who fills these feeders everyday?"  They were above a stream and full when we arrived.  My answer here is that the Montosa Fairy comes to hang these two feeders up.  But the birders didn't believe me.  I was a whack job from that liberal Tucson with a camera.   All true:)

Most of the visitors were from outside of Tucson. Some drove hundreds or thousands of miles  just to have the opportunity to spot the Plain Capped Starthroat.   The experience brought a lot of interesting people together.  There was a couple from LA with a sense of humor.  They had come everyday to spot this hummer, but the wife eventually said,"Enough was enough." and they both called it quits on the search.  Their motivation?  One morning they had left and 5 minutes later, the Starthroat came to the feeders. Knowing this, it drove them mad. Then there was Gary.  An old pro collecting moths and other insects.  He set tents up at night collecting samples for the San Diego Zoo.  He was an amazing guy full of info.   Then there was a young lady from Blythe who was researching the Yellow Bill Cuckoo.  Two birder friends from Tucson came to search for the Starthroat.  And then there was the really cool retired man who has moved from the East coast with his wife to Tubac.  More would pop in and out of the pic.  Yet none would succeed in finding the Starthroat.

Check out this hummingbird feeder.  Again this is a simple feeder but I love the additional tubes to attract the hummers.  Penstemon and other tubular flowers are added to attract hummers that don't naturally use feeders like the Starthroat or Costa's hummingbird.

A male Juvenile Broad Billed hummingbird sits and takes a break from the rain showers around us.

Tiger Moth

And this is the Tiger Moth.  Gorgeous insect!

And so while the Plain Capped Starthroat never showed up, I enjoyed the visits with everyone and also the wonderful nature show around us.  It doesn't get much better than sitting under a tree during a rain storm listening to a stream run by us all.

This tunnel here was interesting.  The bug guy smeared orange soda and rotten banana to study the Black Witch moth.  For some reason the Black Witch moth can't get enough of this orange sugary beverage.

And there were a lot of bugs here.  I can't stress enough, "BRING BUG REPELLENT".  As for this write(a week later), I am still itching all over my body!  I just don't like wearing jeans.

We saw lots of hummers and it was fun.....especially the hike that followed afterwards.  I'll have two really fun photo shoots leaving the canyon for the next two days.  Really cool stuff.

And on my way out, I was rewarded with Two Tail Swallowtails puddling on the road near the creek.  What a treat!

Check out this much overlooked canyon near Madera.  You won't regret the hike:)

But do be aware of the things I mentioned above.  I wouldn't go at night unless you were with a group of people.  My run in happened early in the morning.  I was one of the first ones there.

Some parts of the road are paved while others are dirt.  If you are worried about riding on the dirt part, you can park at the observatory below.  There's a parking spot for hikers, runners, etc. in the lot known as Picnic area. From Tucson, head south on 19.  Pass Green Valley and exit on the first exit Canoa Rd.  There is a huge circle spin....spin around it and go underneath the underpass.  Then take a right on the frontage road.  Head 3 miles to Elephant Head road.  Take a left.  Head down this road crossing a wash with American flags.  You'll reach a road for the observatory.  Take a right on Mt. Hopkins road.  It's all paved.  Just keep going the 7 miles until you hit the observatory.  You can park in this area and then hike up the canyon along the road or drive to the 1 km marker on the right side past the cement stream crossing and park along side the road.    Lots to see here and worth your time and effort.

The space observatory with my car "Bea" Arthur.

I'm still out on the trek courtesy of blogger scheduling:) More tomorrow.....

Woodland Dunes Nature Center and Preserve

Several Owls found around the Dunes

People ask me, "Where do you come up with all of this stuff?"  I honestly don't know, but this is the stuff that's in my head everyday and I have to write about it.  One of the biggest challenges with a camera returning back to my hometown is looking at my little town with fresh eyes. For me it was boring to take pictures of things that I grew up around and honestly, if it bored me, I didn't give it the time.  I LOVE Tucson, but I didn't always appreciate my hometown of Two Rivers.  In fact, I hated the place, but today, I love to visit and spend some time. My writing series in Wisconsin will focus on some interesting topics and photo shoots.  I truly have come to peace with my hometown now and have accepted the people for who they are.  It wasn't an easy childhood growing up in a factory town, but it certainly wasn't terrible at all.  As a kid, I found myself wandering our nature reserves and attracted to the people who helped educate our town about nature.  Today my focus is on the magical reserve known as Woodland Dunes.  

Marsh water frozen

The day we ventured here with my new camera lense from Santa was probably the coldest of my entire year.  It was difficult taking these shots without my hands freezing off.  This is a birder's paradise, but because it was so cold, the birds were hiding in the grasses staying warm:) We did hear several deer off the various trails and that was fun:)

The dunes are a very special place and have been fiercely protected by many locals from industrial development.   The history is well documented and Woodland Dunes has been constantly attacked by town leaders to take over several areas of the reserve for their own use.  Well, what can I say personally about all of this?  Here's what happened.  Many people were not educated over the past decades as they were used to working in factories all their lives. Some didn't even have high school diplomas!  Hey it was the culture:) Why go to school if you could work in a factory and make a decent wage?  Many children followed their parent's footsteps and also worked in the factories.  It was a hard life.  I only did it for 4 summers and hated every bit of it.  If anything motivated me to get my degree in a college, it was working in a factory.  Repetitive.  Boring. And extremely DEPRESSING!  For people working in the factory, it was all they knew.  And me being a bit different from the gang made it even more difficult for acceptance.  I didn't understand the things people would say.  They all had opinions on everything from race, politics, the environment.....yet none of them had ever left the factory environment.  How could people live like this?

Don't worry.  You'll see my connections:).  In the 90's, the Free Trade Agreement was signed and that was the death of my hometown.  Factories were shutdown and many people lost their jobs.  This past year, Hamiltons shut their doors. But the city of Two Rivers and Manitowoc were pushing to have areas developed for MORE factory work even though factories were shutting down.  It was called the Industrial Park.  As a child, I grew up playing in a forest near the Woodland Dunes.  A creek ran through the area and we would build forts and teepees and have our wars with local children.  Once and awhile we'd scare a hiker or two.  The Industrial Park would destroy the creek along with our little forest full of deer and other critters.  I believe it now runs in a tunnel of pipes underground.  The city eyed the Woodland Dunes for development and considered it a "block" in their progress.  Several years later,after factories shutdown, buildings would sit empty on the lot that once was a forest.  Today, large crumbling empty buildings(like Mirro) around Manitowoc and Two Rivers dot the cityscape. And NOW the large Beer Facility is gone!!  Huge structures that were mini cities of their own!  Instead of fixing the infrastructure and the crumbling factory buildings, they are developing shopping centers along the highway corridors.  The vacant older buildings sit and rot all around......factories, shopping centers.....wasted area that was "developed" for bettering the city.  Destroy a forested area and build something new.

Cold temps and freezing temps made for a chilly morning.  Here is frost glazing this stream.

The cities lack the funding to take down these old eyesores because they don't have the money.  Why?  No jobs.  And on top of that, the foreclosure rate in my hometown is really high.  I recommend buying a home in Two Rivers or Manitowoc as it is a beautiful area and prices are a real steal.  Without the industries of past, people moved to other locations reducing tax monies collected.  Instead of a city growing, it became a city that was disappearing with only an older generation remaining.  Today many buildings are purchased from people in the Chicago and Milwaukee areas as summer homes. The numbers seem to be leveling off now and the decline doesn't appear too drastic. But what hasn't changed?  Wages have gone down in my hometown.  A lot of people are at or below the poverty level. And it's hard to watch.  People in the cities or towns will tell you that it's getting better.  Some won't.

So why this write?  Why this connection to the Woodland Dunes?  As the cities try to redefine who they are, several people believe that cutting and clearing natural areas is the right thing to do.  Instead of fixing up the older buildings, they are looking to other areas(forested, shoreline property) to "create" more work or build suburbs.  The city of Two Rivers destroyed a natural area around the Picnic Hill area known to have a lot of wildlife which included some endangered birds for a "housing project".  The developers could get away with it because Point Beach State forest was located across the street from the suburb of homes and their thinking was that this bird could go to the forest and do its' business.  However, the land is quite different.  The development was created on a prairie type area.  The state park is forest and shoreline....entirely different vegetation. 

Places like the Woodland Dunes and Point Beach State Forest are important for our cities and if we destroy these spaces, we will have wiped out some of the most pristine and natural areas of our city. Luckily, they are now protected by many environmental groups and the city won't be able to touch them.  I believe that these places will be the key to defining the lakeshore area and bring in future international revenue.  They already are popular destinations for many people!  Some battles are won and some are lost. But when we talk about the decline of the Amazon or other areas in this world, all we need to do is look in our own backyards. I have a big topic coming up in several days that I hope provokes some thought and opinions.

As I wrap up this particular write, I'd like to mention one other strange thing that has happened in our community. And this should probably have its' own write, but I don't have pics to go with it. Over the past years, the nuclear power plants have done two things for our communities....added jobs and protected miles and miles of shoreline property from development.  These "havens" are off limits to locals and all people which has allowed mass populations of flora and fauna to flourish in large numbers.  The power plants have cameras everywhere and will shoot to kill if a human comes near the area, and animals/birds have figured this out.  There have been unconfirmed reports of mountain lions, bobcats, bear and wolves returning to the area.  I'd love to have that job.....monitoring the woods at night.  Although I'd get fired for watching the wildlife instead of monitoring for a potential terrorist attack:)  Essentially these 2 large facilities have created a large island of land that is harboring natural populations that once existed around the lakeshore areas......and that makes me smile.

Now back to the Dunes.  Many people from around town, which include several members of my own family, believe that global warming is not happening yet there is no denying that over the span of decades in the Lakeshore area, we are seeing birds that normally migrate staying longer or all year round.  My own Grandma reported that the hummingbirds stayed until the end of October which was a first for her!! Birders are documenting all of this and find it quite fascinating.  If you'd like some really great sightings, head to the Manitowoc Zoo area and you'll see A LOT of birds around the river areas. But I also noticed the changes.  Perhaps people in my hometown would like global warming as it will reduce their winter:)  It's cold there.

Woodland Dunes is a great place to spot birds which include many owls.   In fact, in October the Woodland Dunes has an owl release program during the evening.  They band the birds and release.  The general public is invited.  It's a 1200 acre wildlife preserve.  It has 6 miles of public nature trails.  Two barrier free boardwalk trails.  There are also nature programs and workshops.  The trails are open from sun up to sun down and admission is free although donations are appreciated.

So while I didn't get to see many birds on this shoot, I did get a lot of great iconic shots around the dunes area.  If you are interested in visiting the Woodland Dunes Nature Center, call 920-793-4007.  It's located off Highway 310 right outside of Two Rivers. For more information, check out their website.  A special thank you to Bernie Brouchoud for the wonderful visit.  If you are in the Lakeshore area, check out this very special gem.

Okay, I lied:)  I got 1 shot of a cardinal:)