Ramsey Canyon Reverie

When you drive the road to Ramsey Canyon…

you leave the desert behind,

a cool green forest awaits you,

and with it, the forest birds,

Here the Painted Redstart waits to flash you with its tail,

Here the robin makes its home

among silvery Sycamore trees

with trunks like bleached white bones,

Water tumbles down the canyon it what seems to be a miracle in this dry place,

it gathers in a little pool,

and though it is spring,

the dry leaves of autumn still gather like rust along the ground.

A small foot bridge leads to a small glen,

a place filled with wispy memories

and ghosts from the past, evidence

of man’s attempt to tame this wild land.

Here the Bushtits gather to feed,

Here the black-throated Gray Warbler sings,

(after all it is spring)

and the first Black-chinned hummingbird of the year,

feeds on nectar, manmade but sweet and tempting,

and easy after a long migratory flight,

while farther down the trail…

a gray squirrel nibbles on tree flowers.

When you drive up this road, it’s not a Dead End…it’s only the beginning!

Chris Rohrer coaxed me out of the house one weekend in March to search for birds in Sierra Vista. While I had been to Ramsey Canyon before, I had never been to Ash Canyon or Miller Canyon. Gus happened to have a car rally this day, so it all worked out. We started our morning at Ramsey Canyon and after breakfast we worked our way around to the other two canyons. It was another long but fun day and we saw lots of birds, including a few Life Birds! One of the highlights for me at Ramsey was seeing the bushtits, a species I had only seen one time before years ago in Gardner Canyon near Sonoita on the slopes of the Santa Ritas. More posts to come! (I’m trying to catch up!)

Birds seen in Ramsey Canyon on March 23, 2013 (Start at 8:30 AM; 2:55 hours; 1 mile)

1. Magnificent hummingbird
2. Broad-billed Hummingbird
3. Black-chinned Hummingbird
4. Anna’s Hummingbird
5. Acorn Woodpecker
6. Ladder-backed woodpecker
7. Arizona Woodpecker
8. Hutton’s vireo
9. Mexican Jay
10. Common Raven
11. Bridled Titmouse
12. Bushtit
13. White-breasted nuthatch
14. Brown creeper
15. Bewick’s Wren
16. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
17. American Robin
18. Orange-crowned Warbler
19. Yellow-rumped Warbler
20. Black-throared Gray Warbler
21. Painted Redstart
22. Lesser Goldfinch

Note: Ramsey Canyon is owned and operated by the Nature Conservancy. There is a small fee to enter. It is also an eBird Hotspot.