Big January Participants
Larry Brownstone Birding Blog 2010 Total: 101!
Robert Mortensen Amivor Birding Blog 2010 Total: 66
Ruth Body, Soul, and Spirit 2010 Total: 56
Katnell 2010 Total: 15
Bird Couple 2010 Total: 116!
The Early Birder 2010 Total: 99
Sycamore Canyon Looking north towards Mt. Lemmon 11-4-09
Saguaro Loop Trailhead 11-4-09
Mt.Fagan with Desert Scrub 11-4-09
Cholla skeleton 11-4-09
Mistletoe in a palo verde tree 11-4-09
Fairy duster fluff 11-4-09
Mourning dove 11-4-09
Swarm in Sycamore Canyon 11-4-09
Saguaro Loop trail 11-4-09
Bees? 11-4-09
Steps down into the wash. 11-4-09
Mt. Wrightston and the Santa Ritas 11-4-09
Looking West on Trico Rd 7-24-09
Birdwatching at Inwood Hill 6-21-09 by Chris
The trials of Inwood Hill wind through a deciduous forest. Tulip trees, oaks and maples are mixed with mulberry and cherry trees. In places the paths are wet with crushed berries as well as the recent rain. We capture views of the rivers as we walk the paved trail. A flash of brilliants orange flies by and we fine a Baltimore oriole in the tree canopy. I feel as if I am walking through an emerald forest with a world of birds around me.
We follow the path beneath a bridge that crosses beneath the the southbound lanes of the Henry Hudson Parkway. It emerges in the median divider where flowers, trees and ivy grow. We find the iron lampposts of another era rusting in the woods. Moss and mushrooms are everywhere in this transitional world. As we enter the tunnel beneath the northbound lanes of the highway a surprise waits for us. Someone has started a mosaic of tiles and bottles and broken things on the tunnel walls. I am fond of saying that "birds are everywhere," but here in New York city, so is art. Like the bird nest in the forest, these silent pieces of human life stand witness to the human spirit and the desire to create and express. Did the person who created this want it to be seen? Is it a work in progress or is it done? Is the artist still around, or has the the artist moved on to new territories like the birds.
Forest Floor by Chris 6-21-09
High Line Trail Photo by Tony 6-20-09It is sunny, muggy, and warm as we drive south on the Merritt Parkway Friday. The air inside the car is full of conversation flying back and forth between my youngest brother and I. It has been over 10 years since I have been to New York City. Last time I was here the World Trade Center was here also and my two youngest children were in middle school. Now Chris and I fill the time with our plans for the weekend as the greenery rolls by out the windows. As always I am scanning the sides of the highway for birds and I luck out by seeing a lone female turkey in one spot and a family of geese in another.
Once in the city it takes a while to find a parking space for the car but soon we are unloaded and out the door, headed for Central Park. I am surprised by the tree-lined street as we walk a half a block to Central Park West. Before we even entered the park a blue jay swoops overhead and lands in the upper story of a nearby tree. The park is alive with people and birds. The birds are the common kind. We see pigeons, of course, and house sparrows, along with starlings and robins. In the lake we see mallards, in The Ramble Chris spots a red-bellied woodpecker. I spot a distant pair of flickers flying with their white rumps exposed in flight. A male cardinal scolds a cat on a leash while in the same tree a common grackle looks on warily. Muddy paths are everywhere, evident of the recent rains. We walk on in our meandering way, following whatever inner whim calls to us. The time is passing quickly and we head home to prepare for our evening commitments.
The night falls soft and cool around us. People pass by in the street. A girl in a black dress with a red flower in her hair flashes a smile at me. I’m in the vibrant heart of the city with good friends and family around. I’m in the vibrant heart of the city, pulsing with vibrant life.
Night passes slowly with shadows dancing on the ceiling. Outside the open window the city noises punctuate my attempt at sleep. The night is restless within me. I awake at dawn to bird song and roll over and try to sleep. The sound of a bird like an untrained phoebe weaves in and out of my dreams. In the mornings the eastern phoebe will repeat his rapid call, phee-BEE, phee-BEE, phee-BEE. But whatever this bird is, it only says, “...phee, ...phee, ...phee.”
After breakfast we take the subway to the newly opened High Line Trail. Developed by the City of New York, the High Line is an elevated trail that runs from Washington and Gansevoort to 10th Ave. and 19th Street. All along the way grasses, flowers and tree are growing. Overhead I see barn swallows fly. With a view down to the Hudson River, I spot a cormorant on the pier. It is a rainy day and I’m dressed in my usual rain gear. However, my camouflage rain poncho does not hide me in the city, but rather I stick out like Roseate spoonbill in the boreal forest would. The variety of birds I see is limited, but I am happy with each one I see. They are all new for my New York City list that I am only starting to build.
The rest of the day remains rainy. We wander through art galleries in Chelsea and dine in an Italian restaurant for lunch. We choose a table outside under an awning with rain drizzling soft music in our ears.
These are the birds I have seen in New York City so far:
Kathiesbirds photo by Tony 6-20-09
Volcanic Rock and clear skys 4-14-09 by Kathiesbirds
Clouds roll in 4-14-09 by Kathiesbirds 
High Peaks tower over me 4-14-09
Saguaro Slopes 4-14-09
Dust storm across the highway 4-14-09
Prickly Pear Blossom 4-14-09 
Looking back down the trail 4-14-09 
View to the southeast 4-14-09 
View to the northeast 4-14-09 
The secret pool 4-14-09
Who's in the bush? 4-14-09 
Patience pays off 4-14-09 
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher by Kathie Brown 4-14-09
Good-bye! Blogger's Notes: all of today's Photography is by Kathie Brown with the Nikon D80 and the 70-300 mm lens. The historical information in today's post was gleaned from the Picacho Peak website and Wikipedia, as well as from my own experience of being there. To read more about Picacho Peak visit the Picacho Peak website as well as the Picacho Peak History Page. Wikipedia's Picacho Peak entry has an excellent photo of the Cival War re-enactment. I hope this post encourages you to stop and visit Picacho Peak if you are ever in the area!
House Finch and White-crowned sparrow 4-12-09
On Easter morning, just as the sun rose, I decided to take a look out the back door. To my utter amazement a Hooded Oriole was drinking form the nectar feeder. I was going to go back to bed, but instead I grabbed my camera and watched birds for the next hour. I tried all day to get a shot of this oriole, but this was the best one I got. I show this not to show the bird, but to show what a challenge photographing birds is. However, my early morning bird watching did pay off when I looked out the den window and discovered the bird below.
House Wren in my yard 4-12-09 
The Path Home-one of my favorite views of Sycamore Canyon 8-8-08
My World is Sycamore Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains of Southern Arizona. I have only to step out my door on a chill January morning with my new friends Carolyn and Daniel. We hike up the mountainside trying to find the path down into the canyon. Steep cliffs and cactus greet us everywhere. A stiff wind blows through our bones. A pair of Red-tail hawks fly up from below the cliff as I search for the path we need to take. Finally I find it and we head down, down, down into the gravelly wash.
Daniel and Carolyn have recently completed their training to be volunteer naturalists at Sabino Canyon. Down in the wash Daniel points out to me this twig of a mesquite tree that's been girdled by an insect. Though it looks like someone has neatly cut it, an insect actually did this. It lays its eggs in the cut on top where the sap no longer runs. Soon the larvae will hatch and eat their way through until the thin branch drops to the ground as if cut with pruning shears.
Though we are looking for birds there are signs of insect life all around us. A preying mantis egg case glows golden in the early morning light. Though it appears dry, it is really a promise of spring time, with new life growing inside.
They perform a black ballet in a sea of blue and fly off over the rim and out of sight.
Another egg case hangs on a twig peppered with holes from a wasp. She has laid her eggs on this food source for her young. No preying mantises will emerge from this egg case in the spring. I do not know when the wasps will appear. All is life, death and beauty out here in the desert.
We turn north down the wash with silver sand beneath our feet. Down here in the Canyon we are somewhat protected from the biting wind. The sun has risen higher now and finally starts to warm us. It has coaxed the birds out also and the verdins sing from the trees. Sparrows flit about furtively and dive out of sight before we can identify them. We find a few Brewer's sparrows, and I hear the black-throats sing. A pair of canyon towhees pops up on a bush for one brief moment, then ducks for cover again. Beyond them a Pyrrhuloxia appears back-lit by the rising sun. When it flies to a different bush the sunlight bathes its feathers in light revealing the red eye mask and stubby beak.
And in a silver teddy bear cholla two cactus wren nests wait for springtime warmth and romance.
Daniel and Carolyn ask me if I know how to tell a Teddy Bear cholla from the other varieties. Daniel demonstrates by removing the sheath from a cactus spine. "Doesn't that hurt," I ask? But Daniel says no. Then he explains that the silvery spines of the cholla cactus are really modified leaves. They help to shade and cool the plant as well as protect it from damage. You can actually grasp the pointed end and slip it off the spine as easily as removing a satin glove. The hard inner spine is left behind, but the sheath is soft as silk. Their flaxen color reflects the sun's harsh rays away from the tender flesh, thus cooling the cactus. So, if you see a silvery cactus shining like silken fuzz in the desert you know it is a Teddy bear cholla.
