Don't Fence Me In

A warm gray day awaits me this morning. “The warm before the storm” as the saying goes. While the yard is full of birds, the burrowing owl is nowhere to be seen. We hurry through our morning preparations and head for Saguaro National Park East; I with my new binoculars and Gus with his new Nikon D80 SLR. We soon discover we are beset by what I’ve decided to call the three W’s: Warm Winter Weekend. That means the parks are full of winter weekenders drawn out by the warm weather. The parking lots are full, the streets are full, the trails are full, and the birds are all hiding! We only saw 12 species at Saguaro East, so we left and decided to try Agua Caliente Park.

Agua Caliente is a true desert Oasis on the northeast side of Tucson. Due to the year-round spring, palm trees grow in profusion and the birds there are a mixture of the typical desert species and various waterfowl. We were able to see Gila woodpeckers, cactus wrens and a roadrunner in the same place as a blue heron, American Widgeons, ring-necked ducks and Northern pintails. But Agua Caliente is full of people, kids, and dogs. We take a few shots but decide to leave. I’ve recorded 19 species here.

We spend the afternoon at home, then take a walk just before sunset. There is still no sign of the owl. Perhaps he has moved on. Still, I was hoping I would see him for more than just a day, and I was really hoping that Gus would be able to take a photograph of him. Instead, I convince Gus to come to the desert and see the wash with me. We cross the street and pass between the houses. I am getting excited, for Gus has never come out to the wash with me. I am eager to show it to him. This is where Liz and I picked all the prickly pears for our jelly last summer. This is where I saw the Gila monster I tell him. And then I stop dumbfounded. Stretching across the trail that leads to the wash is a brand new barbed wire fence!

I don’t know what to think. My heart fills with many emotions. I’m disappointed and angry. “NO!” I cry. “NO! They can’t do this! When did they do this!” My mind races as if this is incomprehensible. How can there be a fence here?

I know I don’t own this land, but easy access to the desert and the wash is one of the reasons I like living here. It never occurred to me that I would be fenced out of it. I felt like this was my special place where I could flee civilization and be alone with the birds, the bugs and the lizards. Now what will I do?

Gus and I head for the upper trail along the backs of the houses. Here we can see into everyone’s backyards and they can see us. Some yards have dogs that bark furiously at us—not a peaceful walk by any means and certainly not conducive to wildlife watching. Finally we are past the houses at the end of the cul-de-sac and I am pleased to see that so far there is not a fence here. But I fear it will come one day. For now I will have to access the wash from this location and it will require some scrambling down the steep bank.

Gus and I head up a trail along the top of the wash. By now the sun is setting and the sky is aflame with color. The thin blanket of clouds reflects the sinking fire. It seems every 10 seconds the colors change. In the west it is as if the Golden Fleece has been hung in the sky. Then, as the sun sinks lower, it throws color and light across the sky till we are surrounded with shades of pink, lavender, gold, and blue. Mt. Fagan catches a bit of the rosy hue and blushes with warmth. Saguaros appear as sentinels silhouetted against the sky. Looking through the branches of a creosote bush towards the west looks like a black filigree screen in front of a blazing fire. It is a burning bush in the desert and God is speaking in the wind.

All around us the soft voice of the desert whispers. Here we are past the fences and human habitation. Here the desert is open and inviting. Here it is calling us to wildness and freedom. I need this wildness, this open space, not only for my feet, but for my heart and mind also. I don’t like barriers. I can’t be contained. I must fling my soul into the sky and see where it lands. Perhaps that is one reason why I like birds so much. To a bird, a fence is but another thing to fly over or perch on. A bird is not contained by a fence or a block wall and I want to plead with the universe, “Don’t fence me in! Give my heart wings and let my spirit soar.”

Evening Owl

I’ve named the owl Piper because it lives in the pipe. The best info from Audubon says to leave it be and let nature teach it not to nest in drainage pipes. So, I will enjoy my owl as long as I can. I saw Piper again tonight while walking the dog and I tried once again to snap a picture. This is the best I could get with this camera. Hopefully Piper will still be there in the morning when Gus can snap a shot with his new Nikon D80.

We had a beautiful sunset tonight, and my little camera had no trouble capturing the beauty of the desert sky in winter. It was 73 today and it will be in the low 70’s again tomorrow but then a “winter” storm comes in and the temperature will drop to the 50’s with rain expected on Sunday.

Burrowing Owl Confirmed

There is no longer any doubt that I have seen a burrowing owl. I decided to look in the drainage pipe in the wash this morning and sure enough, there he was. The pictures are poor quality because I’m still using my Coolpix digital and I didn’t want to get too close and disturb the bird. I have yet to learn how to use the new camera but hopefully Gus and I will be able to capture a better photo sometime this weekend. My biggest concern is that when it rains that wash will fill up and wash the poor bird out. I have contacted Tucson Audubon about this and am waiting for a reply. We are expecting a good rain on Sunday. Still, I am so thrilled to have a burrowing owl living in the wash next to my house!

Two Birding Incidents

It’s warmer but grayer here today as a storm rolls in. The curved-billed thrasher has become a regular visitor to the suet and seed cakes. This afternoon the Gila woodpeckers were back and I was able to observe an interesting behavior.

There were four Gilas scattered about on the suet and rock wall. While one Gila fed at the suet, two crept along the wall behind. One Gila apparently didn’t want the other on his wall. He puffed himself up like a body builder inflating his muscles. His head went up, his neck puffed out along with his chest, and then he started swinging his head from side to side in a threatening manner as he advanced towards the other Gila woodpecker. When he got too close for comfort, the other Gila flew off! It was amazing behavior to observe. Meanwhile, the other two Gilas were gobbling up the suet and the seed cakes, to they made out just fine.

Then, this evening at dusk I went outside to get one of the hummingbird feeders to clean and change the nectar. As I stepped out the door in the gray light a feathered shadow flew over my head from off my rooftop. Gus and some friends had spotted an owl on the fence around the wash on Christmas Eve, so I knew it had to be the owl. I grabbed my binoculars from inside the house and walked over to the east wall to see if I could spot and identify this owl. I barely got to the wall and was starting to lift my binoculars when the owl landed right on the blocks not 3 feet from me! We both looked at each other startled, then the owl lifted up on silent wings. It hovered there a moment, then flew off to the wash on the north side of the house. I hurried over there and saw it on the ground behind a Palo Verde tree, but by the time I repositioned myself to see past the tree and lift my binoculars, it was gone, along with what was left of the light.

From the flash of a moment when I saw the bird I saw that it had long legs, a speckled coat, round head-no ear tufts, and big eyes. It was larger than a robin, more the size of a flicker but chunkier. It had a short tail. I want to see an elf owl, but this bird was just too large for that. After consulting 3 bird guides and numerous online resources I can only assume it was a burrowing owl. For size, location and habitat, my choices are really limited. I am thrilled that I have an owl living in the wash beyond my house!

Buenos Aries NWR Part One: Arivaca Cienega

One of the last things we did last year was visit the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. We waited until we were sure Gus’ new SLR digital camera he ordered for Christmas wasn’t coming. We had hoped it would be here so he could take pictures and I could watch birds, but alas, it didn’t arrive in time, and we went anyways. My little Nikon Coolpix7600 would just have to do. All the photos seen in this Blog so far have been taken with it. I like to take it birding because it fits neatly in my pants pocket, though I hate the delay when taking pictures and it really isn’t powerful enough to zoom in on distant birds.

However, I did have my new Vortex 8x42 Diamondback Binoculars to try out. We bought these on Friday from the Tucson Audubon. I had brought Gus there to see some Leupold’s compact binoculars I have my eyes on, but at half the price and nearly as good optics, I chose these for now. Perhaps later I will but the Leupold’s. I am gradually working my way up in quality of binoculars. Until now I have had 2 pairs of Bushnell binoculars, my most recent being 8x40, but with a focal length of only 15 ft I couldn’t watch birds that were closer than that, and frequently they are! My new Diamondbacks focus at only 4.5 feet!

On Sunday, December 30, 2007 we loaded up the car with food, water and clothing. Gus filled the gas tank the day before. While we had never been to the wildlife refuge before, I read enough about it on the internet to know I needed to be prepared for everything. This is a remote area of the country and the chances of finding food or fuel were even more remote!

After days of what for Tucson was cold, this day was not only sunny, but warm. Gus wore shorts and a t-shirt while I opted for layers with light-weight pants, a t-shirt, and a long-sleeved thermal over that. As the day wore on it proved to be a good choice.

We drove south on I-19 through Green Valley and exited at the Arivaca and Amado exit. A right turn off the exit and a right at the T brought us between the Longhorn Grille and the Cow Palace. We’ve eaten at the Cow Palace before where many famous people are suppose to have eaten, including that most famous cowboy, John Wayne. A left turn here gets you onto Arivaca road and on your way to the refuge.

Arivaca road is a winding two-lane road through desert scrub and mesquite bosque. Old ranches hide in the scrub lands. Sometimes we see horses and cattle, sometimes nothing more than scrub and birds. One of the first birds we see is a roadrunner as it scurries across the road. On numerous phone poles throughout the day we see red-tailed hawks. As the road winds along the contours of the land change. Suddenly over the hill a great peak like some chiseled stone monument appears over the rolling slopes of a grassy hill. It spikes into the blue vault above, then disappears as we descend into another dip in the road. Eventually it appears for good towering over what we soon learn is the Alter Valley. The peak is called Baboquivari Peak and is sacred to the Tohono O’odom people.

We finally round a corner at the edge of Arivaca and see the first sign of the Buenos Aries National Wildlife Refuge. We decide to pull into the parking lot of a place known as the Arivaca Cienega. It’s only later that we discover this is a good choice. Though only a small part of the refuge, it is one of the best places to go birding since it has grasslands, mesquite bosque, Arivaca creek, which actually has water in it, and a marshland, complete with cattails and rushes! A few tall cottonwoods tower over the grasslands, but the first bird we see is a ladder-back woodpecker pounding away at a mesquite tree right near the parking lot. I pull my little camera out to take a picture, but the photo doesn’t come out very well and I discard it. While we are standing there looking at the bird another person comes up with the exact camera and lens that Gus is eagerly waiting for, so he gets to see what it will look like. I think he got a good shot of the bird!

We wander down the cement sidewalk as it winds through the bosque. In the shade of the thicket a barrel cactus is growing, leaning towards the sun. In the twisted twigs of some scrub I hear a sound and focus in on a Bewick's wren! The next bird I see in the same area is a white-crowned sparrow. We are nearing the edge of the trees and the sun is beating down. I remove my thermal shirt and tie it around my waist. Overhead a red-tailed hawk circles lazily in the sky.

We continue down the path to a fork. We decide to take the right fork for we see someone looking into the crown of a towering cottonwood. From high in the tree we hear the squeaking scolding of a flicker, but which kind? The flash of red under its wings identifies it as a northern flicker. What’s it so upset about? A great-horned owl roosting on a cross branch. Gus really wishes he had his camera now!

Then we hear another raucous noise from atop the tree. To my great surprise there is a lone starling chortling away. Is he mad at the owl or the flicker, or is he just singing his joy to the world? Perhaps he is calling for his buddies, but no one is showing up. We left him squawking away and continued down the trail.

The path here crosses a marshy meadow. A boardwalk has been built across it to prevent damage to habitat as well as shoes. We stop almost immediately when we see a bird silhouetted on a weed. A quick look reveals a loggerhead shrike with his bandit-like mask watching over the field. Though he is quite near the boardwalk he doesn’t fly away as we pass silently by.

At the far side of the meadow we turn right up a small hill to an observation platform. A meadowlark flies up before us and disappears into the tall grasses over the hill. At the top of this knoll the platform looks out over the marshland. Though I don’t see any birds at first, I soon hear a coot which enables me to find it. In the brush near my feet some bird is scratching about in the debris but all I see are olive-green sides and yellow undertail coverts. I never get a glimpse of the head, but wonder if it is a common yellowthroat. As I turn to look back over the meadow I see a raptor perched on a fence post. I am hoping for a gray hawk, which would be a new life bird for me. They are suppose to be in this area, but this bird is big and brown and when it flies up I see the white rump patch of a northern harrier. We watch its beautiful flight over the meadow where it disappears beyond the treeline.

Glancing back over the meadow I see another hawk perched at the very top of the tall cotton wood tree where the owl roosts. This hawk is different than any I’ve seen before, yet it’s not gray. It’s brown with a patterned face, streaky breast and white at the base of its tail. It appears to be smaller than a red-tail or a harrier. I don’t have my bird guide with me, but I write down notes in my note book and take a mental picture.

We head back down the path to continue around the loop trail. Now the path enters a shady forested area with a marshy area to the left and a wooded and brushy hillside to the right. This spot is bursting with birdlife. I can barely count fast enough as a red-winged blackbird, white-crowned sparrows, green-tailed towhees, and cardinals appear. A Pyrrhuloxia flies across the path. Then, a covey of Gambel’s quail startle up before us. In the leaves on the hillside I hear a sound and watch as twigs and weeds move. I focus in and laugh when some rodent’s head pokes out a burrow. It has the end of a dried weedstalk in its mouth and it is trying desperately to pull the thing into its hole, but the weed is still firmly rooted to the ground, and for the moment the plant is winning over the animal! I have no idea what creature I am seeing. If I was in New England I would guess at a small woodchuck, but this is the desert southwest and it must be something else: a ground squirrel perhaps? Or maybe a muskrat. We are still close to the water, but most muskrats I know build lodges like beaver. I realize I still have so much to learn.

As we continue down around the loop Gus comments on how quiet and peaceful it is here. The path wanders in and out of the trees and alongside the creek. Eventually I do see what looks like a beaver lodge, only smaller. There is no dam and no ponding, so it must be something else that built the lodge. Farther around the bend we cross a couple of wooden bridges where song sparrows pick along the muddy creek bank. We stop just as we are about to emerge from the trees for there before us stand six mule deer. There appears to be two does with four fawns. They watch us casually, then three cross the boardwalk and pass into the meadow we just looped around and three head off in the other direction. Who can explain the thinking of a deer? We are just pleased to see them on this sunny day in late December.

I am keeping a lookout for a green kingfisher, which I have been told has been seen in this area, but all I see is a kestrel in another tall cottonwood tree. This tree stands near the creek where the water has collected in a deep pool. Other trees surround this spot and all have dropped their leaves on the banks and in the water. The damp smell of moist earth and rotting plant life drifts up and scents the air. It is a pleasant, familiar scent, reminding me of New England and streams in the forest there. A rustle in the nearby grasses causes me to turn. Here we see canyon towhees flitting in and out of the brush. More white-crowned sparrows fly up and back into cover again.

As we round another corner we walk into sunlight once again. He we meet a couple who warn us of a rattlesnake ahead on the trail. We walk cautiously forward and sure enough, a menacing rattle is heard. We pause and watch as the snake slithers out onto he warm cement sidewalk which starts up again at this very point. The snake is brown and tan and about 3 to 4 feet long. Its tail kinks upwards into bands of black and gray rattles, which the animal is vigorously shaking to warn us to keep our distance. We stay at least 15 feet away as it slithers across the path, but when I move to get a better angle for a photograph it stops and coils up as if to strike. Though I am quite far away, I pause until the snake no longer feels threatened. Gus and I watch as it finally slithers off into the grass and brush beside the path. We hurry by with pounding hearts back to the parking lot. It has been a thrilling day so far and we have yet to drive through Arivaca to the main part of the refuge.

When we return to our vehicle, I consult my bird guides—Sibley’s and Kaufman and find that the hawk I saw atop the tall cottonwood may have been a juvenile Gray Hawk. The color, location, habitat and behavior all fit. I’m fairly sure I have a new life bird. As we leave the parking lot and head west I see another hawk perched atop another tree. I make Gus pullover so I can identify it, but once the car stops it flies off before I can be sure of what I’m looking at. Time to get back on the road again.

In all I recorded 26 species at this segment of the refuge, though I know there were many more birds that I could not identify. These are the ones I am sure of with 2 questionable:

1. American Kestrel
2. Bewick’s wren
3. Black Phoebe
4. Canyon towhee
5. Cardinal
6.Common yellowthroat(?)
7. Coot
8. European Starling
9. Gambel’s quail
10. Gray hawk (?)
11. Gila Woodpecker
12. Great-horned owl
13. Green-tailed towhee
14.Ladder-backed woodpecker
15. Loggerhead shrike
16. Mourning dove
17. Northern flicker
18. Northern harrier
19. Pyrrhuloxia
20. Red-tailed hawk
21. Red-winged blackbird
22. Ruby-crowned kinglet
23. Says’ Phoebe
24. Song sparrow
25. Western meadowlark
26.White-crowned sparrow

First Bird

In reading other Birding Blogs today I came to realize that I sorely neglected to note my first bird of 2008! At first I thought it might be a house finch, as that bird is most common around my yard, but under further consideration I think it may have been a Costa’s hummingbird. I base this on the fact that the first thing I do in the morning is open my kitchen shades and the first one I open is over the kitchen sink, which is nearest my teapot. On this window hangs my nectar feeder and almost every morning when I open the shade there is a hummingbird drinking its morning nectar. So, to all you other birders out there, I am claiming a Costa’s hummingbird as my first bird of 2008. However, as soon as I opened the patio curtain I saw house finches, lesser goldfinches, mourning doves and house sparrows. Throughout the rest of the day we were visited by Stumpy, the cactus wren, rock wrens, Curved-billed thrashers (which ate from the suet even though Gus was out there grilling hotdogs), Gila woodpeckers, and the ever amusing and amazing roadrunner. It should be a fine year for birding in 2008!

A New Year in the Old West

It’s a new year in the old west but apparently the old ways have not changed completely. I almost laughed when I heard a news report on New Year’s Eve reminding people that they could no longer go outside at midnight and shoot their guns into the air in celebration of the New Year. Apparently this ban just went into affect 7 years ago after a young girl was hit in the head by a bullet fired from 3 miles away! In spite of the warning and the law, two other houses had stray bullets come through the roof this New Year’s day. One bullet grazed the cheek of a small boy as he slept in his bed! I'm not laughing now. This is one old way that needs to fall by the wayside!

The New Year has come in with a roar of rushing wind. It struck about 5 a.m. on New Year’s Day and has been blowing steadily since. Yesterday morning I awoke to Christmas wrapping paper blowing about in my yard and in the wash next to the house. While today would be our normal trash day, it won’t be picked up until tomorrow due to the holiday. Still, people have put their barrels out and garbage is being blown all over the neighborhood and the desert. It’s not a pretty sight!

Fewer and fewer crickets are coming into my house, but they are still here. I thought they would disappear with the cold, but no. Last night I found one in the kitchen sink. I have also found them in the washing machine and the bath tub. I should let the birds into my house! They are doing a good job outside. Yesterday I saw Stumpy, the stub-tailed cactus wren, hunting down insects near my front door as well as in the back yard. The roadrunner was back also, running along the top of the block wall in the back yard. His sharp eyes were constantly on the lookout. He must have seen something tasty in the neighbor's yard for he hopped over the wall and was lost to my sight. Today I have seen the rock wrens numerous times as they search for insects. They bob and hop about the yard, around the gas grill and on the patio searching for dinner. Sometimes they serenade me from the wall or the rooftop with their shrill whistle and musical trill. I have quite a troop of birds here working to keep my yard insect free.

I live on the lands of the old west where cowboys and Indians once roamed. The Native Americans are still here with their reservations and their casinos. In the stores and restaurants you are quite likely to see genuine cowboys in full cowboy get-up, minus the six-shooter of course. We even have people ride through the neighborhood on horseback, and to drive into town we drive through open range with Texas longhorns crossing the street sometimes. I haven’t even bothered to count the number of cattle guards I have to cross to get to and from home. I remember being so impressed by seeing a real cattle guard for the first time when we moved to Idaho 20 years ago. Now I just take them for granted. It’s not something you would see in New England, however. They are just further evidence of the remnants of the Old West.