Around the Yard in Sycamore Canyon

Male Cardinal 6-22-10

The quail block attracts more than just quail…

Mourning dove and White-winged dove 6-18-10

  Antelope Ground Squirrel 6-22-10

Cardinal and House sparrow 6-22-10

 Hungry Pyrrhuloxia 6-23-10

 

Here is one solution to my ant problem.  I put a saucer of water beneath the feeder so that when the Gila Woodpeckers land on it and it drips, not only is the nectar diluted but the water is also so deep that the ants drown in it.  So far it seems to be working. That’s a Costa’s hummingbird coming in for a drink in the photo.

My Pomegranate tree has grown like a big weed!  It was full of blossoms and now it is bursting with the ripening fruit. The birds seem to love it as well. Soon all the desert will be bursting with ripening prickly pears.  I think I may have to make jelly again this year!

A few wispy clouds float by over the top of Mount Fagan to tempt and tease us, but the dew temperature needs to rise and the wind needs to change directions before the Monsoon will bring us sweet relief.

My World: Saguaro National Park East

Catalina Mountains as seen from the Javalina Picnic area 11-15-09

Driving away from Agua Caliente Park the warm autumn sun bathes my car in sunlight. I drive into town to purchase my lunch then head east to Saguaro National Park’s Rincon unit. Saguaro National Park is divided into 2 separate sections with the Tucson Mountain region on the west and the Rincon Mountain unit on the east. Tucson lies in the great bowl between these two mountain ranges, a hub of activity surrounded by quiet nature.

Though the western section of Saguaro National Park is the most visited the eastern park is larger and more peaceful to me. I drive here now with my lunch and take the turn to the Javalina Picnic Area which is located to the south and west of the 8 mile loop road. I have spent all morning with Celeste and her husband in Agua Caliente Park in Northeast Tucson. It is such a beautiful day that I am not ready yet to go inside. With Gus at home watching football I have his blessing to stay out and enjoy myself.

Antelope ground squirrel 11-15-09

I am no sooner seated at a picnic table before the little creatures start to emerge. First an antelope ground squirrel scurries up. It looks at me inquisitively testing to see if I will offer it a bite to eat, but I do not. Not only is it against park rules, but I do not want this little creature to come to depend on humans for its existence. Shortly after the ground squirrel makes its appearance a cactus wren hops by. It twists and turns and investigates before moving off into the brush once again. Hmmn, I think perhaps these little guys have been fed by someone before me!

Black-throated sparrow 11-15-09

Soon I hear the chatter and calls of some Gambel's quail. They walk so close to me that I can almost reach out and touch them. No one harms the critters here and you can tell they have pretty much lost their fear of man. Oh that the world could always be like this! As golden sunlight bathes the desert in its warm light I hear the silvery sound of a black-throated sparrow as it flits up onto a nearby rock. I love these pretty little birds with their black caps and white eye stripes. I love their bell-like voices that flutter over the desert. This little bird seems to be alone today as it flies to a nearby bush, then disappears into its habitat.

Rufous-winged sparrow 11-15-09

All around me is warmth and sunshine and peaceful solitude. With my lunch finished I pack away the remnants, then wander the hillside searching for birds. Two little rufous-winged sparrows hop out of the brush searching the packed earth for food. I watch their little hops in the dirt. I see their small bodies casting long shadows over gravel. Everything is a bit distorted and over dramatized in this late autumn light.

Before me the rocks glow with autumn-colored lichen forming beadwork on its surface.

Even the sharp spines of teddy bear cholla glisten in this dazzling light.

Western view from the rocks above the Javalina Picnic Area 11-15-09

A gentle breeze riffles my hair blowing stands into my eyes. I search the cliffs and mountains ridges around me. I search the sky for motion, but all is still and quiet. So quiet!

The Javalina Picnic Area sits down in a bit of its own bowl. I find it is a good place to bird because usually you can just sit here and the birds will come to you. It is in this location that I saw my first and only black-chinned sparrow. Here I have seen rocks wrens and kestrels, cardinals and hawks. I am walking the rocky rim of the bowl when I see a flash of red down the slope below me and on the other side of the picnic area. I do not even guess that it is a bird. The patch of red is too large. Since I am walking, I catch the glimpse between bushes and cactus. I stop and look through an opening and I see a woman sitting in a chair facing west. The sinking sun has flooded her face with light and she seems so peaceful there. I do not want to stop and stare. I assume she does not want company, so I change directions and walk on. I feel like I have found some bird in its nest. Her location is a secret that I will not divulge. I leave her to her solitude and walk on.

I have spent the whole day outside by now and it is getting late. From the high rocks on the south I stand and gaze to the western horizon which blazes with a cool white light. Deep shadows fall long and dark across the picnic area. I find my way to the car and drive out of the park. My day in the sun and fresh air has left me feeling so mellow. I do not want to hurry home. I do not want this feeling to fade just yet. I decide to take the long road home and so I turn south on Old Spanish Trail and drive the black asphalt ribbon before me. I can’t help but wonder as I drive if this is the way that other people feel when they are high or they have a buzz on from drinking. I have never understood the need for drinking or for drugs. I have always found that nature alone gives me the only “high” I need. But this high has one benefit beyond the artificially induced state of alcohol or drugs, there are no bad side effects, and no hangover the next day. As I turn south on Pistol Hill road the sun sinks below the horizon and I point my car towards home. It has been a very good day in MY World.

To see more amazing places in the world click on the link above.

On a personal note: I am so sorry I have been absent for so long. As many of you know, I have a son in the military who recently moved to a new base. He and his wife are expecting a new baby any day and I just found out yesterday that they absolutley NOthing for the new baby. Nothing! and I mean Nothing! Diane was able to go to a thrift shop and buy some used baby clothes yesterday. They have a crib on order, but they are so new to this base. They have no friends and no family and no one to do a baby shower for them. I spent the last 2 days shopping and sending off boxes. The baby will be here soon. I will let you know when she arrives. It is very hard to be this far away right now. I would go there, but I have my other son and grandchildren flying in from Maine for 3 weeks. Much as I would like to, I cannot be everywhere at once. So send up a small prayer for a soilder and his wife and a new baby about to enter this troubled world. And in case you haven't noticed, I am not very good at keeping up on Facebook! I am not shunning anyone, I just would rather blog first and Facebook later if I have time!

Hints of Springtime In Sabino Canyon

The alarm rang in the pitch black of a moonless morning at 4:30 a.m. One of the cats jumped up on the bed to investigate if I was really going to get up. It jumped down as I rolled out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Today is the day I volunteer to at Sabino Canyon for Tucson Audubon’s Important Bird Area, or IBA Survey. Sabino Canyon is about an hour north of me and we have to start the survey within a half an hour of sunrise. Since we hike a mile into the canyon and then do the survey on the hike back, I have to get up this early to arrive on time. I hurry about making my tea and some oatmeal. I feed the cats and move laundry around. Bonnie decides she needs to barf on the tile floor in the hallway, so I hurry to clean that up. Since today is trash day I take the bag outside into a black silk night. It’s so dark I have to turn a light on so I can see my way back to the front door, but once around the corner of the garage a light breeze caresses my face and I pause in all this hectic hurry to gaze upwards at the star-studded sky.

The drive to Sabino canyon is long. Though I am early the traffic is already thick on the roads. As I pull into the parking lot the sky is turning to gray. A desert cotton tail nibbles on greenery near the visitor center where I wait for Jean and Peggy. Any day that starts off with a cute little bunny will be a good day.

We start our hike up the tram road. Already we are seeing cactus wrens, curved-billed thrashers, and phainopeplas. The sun starts to rise between the canyon walls. Saguaros are silhouetted along the ridgeline. Then a sunbeam breaks through flooding the canyon with light.

Down in a gully three white-tailed deer grazed without fear.

Along the roadway we see cardinals and a canyon towhee. Usually shy and secretive, this one hopped up on a twig and posed for me.

So did this male and female cardinal!

I can hear the roar of the creek below me in the canyon. Up here on the road the sunlight is hitting and the birds are starting to sing, but when we get down into the canyon it’s still in shadow.

We count no birds at all at our first stop for a point count. Usually we do a Transect Survey which for us is a one mile walk in one direction counting all the birds within 100 meters of our trail. But, every now and then we have to do Point Count Surveys. This involves five stops along the way where we stand at one point and count birds for 10 minutes. Then we move down the trail to the next point and do it again. In between we don’t count birds, though I do my own personal count for eBrid.

We climb over rocks and we trek through sand. We duck through brush as we head downstream. Peggy finds a raccoon track in the soft creek sand. I keep hoping to see a coati but so far, no luck. Then we find an ant lion trap, a conical indent in the sand where, if an insect wanders in it has a hard time getting out and usually the ant lion gobbles up the victim before it can escape. Along the creek the willows drop their shaggy bark. Some branches have fine green leaves and yellow catkins in flower and along with the cottonwoods’ new lime green leaves it gives the impression of a green mist along the treetops. One willow is such bloom the branches were humming with drunken bees. A Morning Cloak butterfly joins them sipping nectar far at the top out of reach of my camera. I gaze at its dark brown wings edged in cream through my binoculars. Its head is buried deep in the tree’s flowers, hidden from sight.

A ruby-crowned kinglet comes to check us out, then, uncharacteristically deices it needs to preen right in front of us. These busy little birds are often so hard to photograph simply because they are in constant motion, but today I was able to snap of 10 to 12 good shots!


We finish out point counts just south of the Sabino creek dam. I see the old road washed out from previous flooding. The creek cascades over the cracked cement and meanders on its way in a gentle fashion today. At our last stop we see the most birds, including a broad-billed hummingbird and a ladder-backed woodpecker, but it is on our walk back to the parking lot that we make our best discovery. I am constantly scanning the trees, brush, cacti and skies for motion. Suddenly I see something gray moving in the thick tangle of a mesquite. Gazing through my binoculars I’m delighted to discover a nesting pair of phainopeplas! The male flies out to a tree near a saguaro, but the female sits on the nest rearranging the twigs to better suit her taste. Her silky gray body blends perfectly with the mesquite bark. If it weren’t for her red eyes, she would disappear completely with her camouflage.


Jean has taught me an interesting thing about phainopeplas. One of their favorite foods is mistletoe berries. The phainopeplas eat the sticky red berries and excrete them onto the trees they use as perches. Since the birds tend to go back to the same perches frequently and since the seeds are still sticky when they are excreted, they stick to the tree branches in clumps until the mistletoe can take root on the branch and start its parasitic cycle all over again!

While I had seen the clumps of mistletoe hanging from trees in the desert I had never yet seen the ripe berries. Today we finally found some, as well as the seed clumps clinging to a branch.

All along the trail we see spring wildflowers blooming. Miniature lupine pokes up its blue spikes no more than 10 inches high. After having lived in Maine where the lupine can top five feet tall, this new variety amazes me. I suppose it doesn’t have time to get that tall here. It’s never wet enough or cold enough! Still, the bluish-purple blossoms have a delicate beauty.

We see yellow primrose along the trail, globe mallow and Mexican poppies, but it is not warm enough yet for them to be open. A few more hours of sun will coax their petal wide, but for now we only see their tightly wrapped buds pointing skyward. We see other flowers in bloom that we don’t know the name of, but we enjoy their beauty nonetheless.

An antelope ground squirrel gazes at us from atop a rock, then hurries away as we pass by. We stop to check out the Cooper’s hawk nest in a tall cottonwood tree a bit off the trail, and then continue on our way to the parking lot. It’s almost noontime and I’m tired and hungry as I drive back home to Sycamore canyon. As I head up the road with my head full of today’s birding expedition I suddenly notice a large black bird with its wings held in a “V” gliding over the desert. I was wondering when they would return! It’s my first sighting of a turkey vulture here in Sycamore Canyon this year. Now I know that spring is almost upon us! And then, as I round the bend onto my road I see a patch of bright orange on the side of the road. I pull over and park the car and clamber out with my camera to capture the beauty of Mexican poppies growing wild right here in Sycamore Canyon. As if that is not enough to finish off my day, a lovely jewel green insect flies right into the orange cup just in time for me to snap this picture!