Cowgirls!

Celeste and I astride our horses on December 23, 2013.

Besides our love of birds and nature, Celeste and I also share a love of horses. Last year I took my daughter on a horseback ride through Saguaro National Park as one of her Christmas presents. This year I invited Celeste to join me and we both did this as a Christmas present to ourselves. By now we both knew I would be moving at the end of January, so this made a nice memory for both of us.

Celeste's Horse is named Shooter while mine is named Soldier.

They were both well behaved horses and just look at Celeste holding those reins like a pro! Not bad for a Brit!

Off we go!

 

 

 

 

 

Many Thanks to Dominic, Celeste’s husband, who ran behind us in the desert and took all these pictures!

“Happy Trails to you…until we meet again!”

 Click this link to see-Scenes from last year’s trail ride.

Ramsey Canyon Surprises

 Sycamore Tree in Ramsey Canyon 9-26-2013

On a sunny day late in September I took my friend, Celeste to Ramsey Canyon. She had never been there and I had not been in awhile. With temperatures still near 100F in Tucson, a trip to the cool canyon would be a pleasant relief. I always like to see the Sycamore shaded creek that tumbles out of the Huachuca Mountains and the birds and wildlife that it attracts. The broad-leafed sycamores remind me of the tall and wide-leafed maples of New England where I grew up.

We were hearing birds as soon as we parked the car. After paying our fee at the visitor center we headed up the shaded trail. Partway up we stopped to watch a collection of butterflies sipping moisture from the sandy path. We looked and listened for birds and found a couple of Ruby-crowned kinglets, Mexican jays, and Painted redstarts. The resident Wild turkeys made their appearance and wandered along the path next to us. Farther up the canyon we sat on a bench and watched and listened. It paid off when we found Bridled Titmice, a White-breasted Nuthatch and Hepatic Tanagers. As we started down the other side of the canyon we came upon a little pool where leopard frogs were making their recovery in the canyon.

Chiricahua Leopard Frog in green sludge pond.

 

 

Celeste was all smiles and she snapped pictures of the frog. As a former guide in Africa, Celeste loves all wildlife! Last year when I first moved back here to Tucson she and I went hiking in Madera Canyon where we encountered a black bear on the Proctor Road Trail. Instead of being afraid, she was overjoyed! Celeste is also a certified rattlesnake handler! Though small in stature, she has the heart and courage of a lion. When we are together we are a perfect match in our love of nature and our ability to be quiet and observe.

 

So it was that we were walking quietly down the trail when I saw two birds in a dead sang overhead. By now the sun had risen high in the clear blue sky, reflecting off the silvery bark of the dead trees. I almost could not believe my eyes when I saw the gray flycatcher with the little vest. It was my first observation of an Olive-sided Flycatcher since my return to Arizona and my first of this year. Celeste had never seen one, so it was a Life Bird for her. Olive-sided flycatcher live at high elevations and are most often identified by the appearance of what looks like a little gray vest. There is a close-up of the bird in the photo below. The interesting thing was that in the other side of the same tree was a Northern Beardless Tyrannulet!

 

 Olive-sided Flycatcher

 Northern Beardless Tyrannulet 9-26-13

I had recently seen my first Tyrannulet at Agua Caliente Park. I was surprised to see one again so soon and pleased that I was able to identify and show it Celeste, another Life Bird for her! It was only my second sighting and my first in Cochise County. If you look closely at the photo you can see its large pink bill, a feature that really stood out to me both time I saw this species.

Acorn Woodpeckers are common in the canyons of Southeast Arizona and we watched this pair alongside the trail for a few minutes. We were part way down the canyon when we started to cross the creek on a little wooden bridge. Before us an Arizona woodpecker clung to a tree. I was pointing it out to Celeste when another little bird caught my eye in some nearby willows. I was trying to focus in on the little Hutton’s Vireo when everything became a blur as Celeste started beating on my arm in excitement!

 Hutton’s Vireo in willows

As Celeste stood there open mouthed and speechless she pointed to an animal running down the hill towards the creek. She was too frozen with excitement to take a photo, so I raised my camera and snapped off a couple shots before the animal disappeared up the opposite bank and into the woods. Ever since I saw a White-nosed Coati in Madera Canyon with my friend Chris Rohrer she has wanted to see one. I have never seen one here before myself so it was quite a surprise and quite a thrill for us both. I now think of it as her coati!

 Celeste’s White-Nosed Coati

On the same bank where the coati ran by the flock of wild turkeys was settling in for an afternoon nap. This one poked its head up as if to ask what all the ruckus was about!

As we continued our walk down past the high rocky rims of the canyon I pondered all the birds we had seen. Most of them were the Arizona specialties that so many people travel to Southeast Arizona to see, and here we had seen them all in one morning! It was a quiet day at Ramsey Canyon with few visitors, so Celeste and I had the canyon mostly to ourselves.

 Spiny Lizard

As we walked back to the visitor's center we checked the scattered hummingbird feeders along the trail but did not see any hummingbirds hanging around. However, a few spiny lizards clung to the building as we walked by. We crossed through to the parking lot and sat at the lone picnic table in the middle of the parking lot to eat our lunch. while we munched and talked about the day’s events suddenly a sparrow landed on the nearby rope fence with a large insect in its bill! of course we both stopped eating and grabbed our binoculars and cameras. I could not believe my eyes when I saw the rufous cap and prominent eye ring of a Rufous-capped Sparrow! it soon became apparent that there was a pair of them and though it was late in the season they appeared to be feeding young as they took turns flying past us to a spot where these bees or wasps were near the building. they would fly past us, catch an insect, then fly back past us to the diagonal corner of the parking lot and disappear briefly before retuning to the task once again.

 Rufous-crowned Sparrow

 Coues White-tailed Deer

Our picnic lunch turned even more surprising when a Coues White-tailed Deer wander up out of the creek area and crossed in front of the visitor’s center to nibble on the mast scattered over the area. She stayed here the rest of the time and we did not disturb her as we packed up our picnic and got back into our car. By now it was late afternoon and we knew we should head home, but there was one more place I wanted to show Celeste, so we headed over to Ash Canyon where Mary Jo keeps bird feeders filled for birders to come and enjoy her birds. We paid the small $5.00 fee and sat and watched as hummingbirds buzzed around our heads. we searched and searched for the Lucifer’s Hummingbird, but never saw it.

It was so peaceful and relaxing to just sit and watch the birds and there were plenty of other species to see, so as the light dimmed to a gray-green we took it all in. After being there for about an hour, during which time Mary Jo came out to join us, we finally had to pack it in and say good-bye. It was a full day of birding and long after dark by the time we got back to Tucson, but well worth the trip which was full of surprises!

 

Birds seen with Celeste at Ramsey Canyon 9-26-13:

1. Wild Turkey
2. Whiskered Screech Owl-heard at the top of the canyon
3. Anna’s Hummingbird
4. Acorn Woodpecker
5. Arizona Woodpecker
6. Northern Flicker
7. Northern Beardless Tyrannulet
8. Olive-sided Flycatcher
9. Hutton’s Vireo
10. Mexican Jay
11. Common Raven
12. Bridled Titmouse
13. White-breasted Nuthatch
14. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
15. Painted Redstart
16. Rufous-crowned Sparrow
17. Hepatic Tanager
18. Lesser Goldfinch

 

Birds seen at Ash Canyon B&B 9-26-13

1. Turkey Vulture
2. White-winged Dove
3. mourning Dove
4. Magnificent Hummingbird
5. Black-chinned Hummingbird
6. Anna’s Hummingbird
7. Broad-billed Hummingbird
8. Rufous Hummingbird
9. Acorn Woodpecker
10. Ladder-backed Woodpecker
11. Gila Woodpecker
12. Northern Flicker
13. Mexican Jay
14. Common Raven
15. White-breasted Nuthatch
16. House Wren
17. Curve-billed thrasher
18. Canyon towhee
19. Pyrrhuloxia
20. Scott’s oriole
21. House Finch
22. Lesser Goldfinch

Rufous and magnificent Hummingbirds at Ash Canyon

The Fabulous Birds of Mount Lemmon

 Cordilleran Flycatcher at Palisades Visitor’s Center May 24, 2013

May 24, 2013: The heat is coming on early nowadays. I arise early as well and drive over to Celeste's house to pick her up. We are going on a birding adventure this morning but we must beat the heat if we want to see birds. It’s been a while since she has been up Mount Lemmon and she has never been up there just to bird, so off we go. By 7 AM we are standing at the Molina Vista overlook looking for birds.

At first all we find is a Rock Squirrel at Molina Vista Overlook

But then a Black-headed Grosbeak shows up.

Male Western Tanager at Molina Vista Overlook

We are both treated to wonderful views of several pairs of Western Tanagers. It is a lovely morning, still a bit cool but warming fast.  We are almost ready to head off to our next destination when something strange happens. A pick-up truck pulls into the parking area and an elderly woman yells out the window, “Are you seeing anything good?” I eagerly respond, “Yes! we just saw some Western Tanagers!” I am surprised by her response.

“Well, I don’t care about them! I’ve already got them on my list for this year.”

“Oh, well, I did hear some sort of flycatcher down in the canyon,” I reply.

“What kind,” she eagerly asks? “I’m not from around here. I need flycatchers!”

I am thinking that if she is not from around here that Western Tanagers should be wonderful! At this point she bolts from the truck and her male companion drives off to park it. I am a bit shocked by her rude behavior and the fact that she does not think Western Tanagers are wonderful. She walks towards us. She is a thin woman with disheveled looking short white hair. I am not sure if that is her style or she didn’t care to comb it when she got up. I tell her we have seen a black-headed grosbeak and some hummingbirds down the short, paved path, but she informs me that she cannot walk that far and she has no time to explain why. She just wants her flycatcher and she wants me to identify it for her. She also pumps me for information on where to find the nesting pair of Red-faced Warblers. Apparently she also needs them for her year list. I tell her I have heard they are up the road at Molina Basin. By now Celeste and I have both shot each other a look as we head back to the car. We wish her well on her hunt and we leave for Molina Basin just up the road. We want to get there before the rude woman.

Male Hooded Oriole at Molina Basin

I pull into the parking area and discover the basin is closed off except for the first parking lot. I park the car and roll down the windows because we can hear birds everywhere! We spot a male hooded oriole right off and we are both delighted! House Finches are calling, birds are flying overhead and singing from the trees. I have never been birding in this area so it is all new to me. As we are looking around suddenly Celeste points to my car. The male oriole is attacking his reflection in my side mirrors!

Celeste tells me of a time when a male red-winged Blackbird attacked the mirror of a car and got its foot stuck in-between the mirror and the edge and it was badly injured. she suggests we wrap the mirrors to protect the oriole and I agree. I open the car doors and take out my shirt and a small sweater. I toss one to Celeste and we wrap both mirrors, then lock up the car and head down the path.

Canyon Towhee at Molina Basin

I am happy to see the barricade that prevents cars from driving farther into the basin. You can still walk in, but apparently this camping area is closed for the summer and will reopen again in the fall. I am thinking that if the rude lady shows up she will not be able to go any farther than the first parking lot since she can’t walk very far. But I am soon to find out that she didn’t quite tell the truth. It’s already been a few hours since Celeste and I have been out and about. We find a shaded picnic table and decide to walk back to the car to get some drinks and snacks, then come back and sit in the shade and watch birds. On our way back to the car we see the lady’s truck. Then, shock of all shocks, she has passed the barrier and is walking our way! birds are calling all around us. She stops to ask me if I know bird calls. I tell her I don’t know many, why? Then she asks if I know that bird’s call. That one right there singing in the tree. “Oh, you mean the Bell’s Vireo,” I reply? “Yes! she exclaims triumphantly! I should have recognized that, she exclaims!”

Bewick’s Wren at Molina Basin

Celeste and I get our stuff from the car and walk back to our picnic table. By now the lady who cannot walk is climbing all over the hilly and rocky path and wandering up past the picnic table we have picked out to sit at. This is a good quarter of a mile from the parking lot. We give each other a look once again and head over to sit down. That’s when rude lady comes over and tell us that this looks like the area that someone described to her as being the location of the Red-faced Warbler. Then, she des the only polite thing of the whole day. She asks if we mind if she plays a recording to draw the bird out. I look at Celeste and she looks at me. we are both hoping the other one will reply. I hem and haw. I do not like when people play recordings over and over again and get the birds all excited and they waste their energy. I do not object when people use players judicially, but I actually prefer to find the birds on my own. That is part of the fun and the challenge of birding. I ask Celeste what she thinks and she says she really doesn't like it. so, the lady walks off.  after our snacks are done we walk back to the car to leave our bottles and lunch boxes behind. The woman is still looking for her birds while her male companion is sleeping in the shade in the truck.

Funnel Web in tree at Molina Basin

Before we leave Celeste and I walk back into the basin to do more exploring. we find white-throated swifts slicing the air above us. We find canyon towhees everywhere. In a nearby tree we find a pair of nesting Bewicks wrens. We hear a flycatcher calling from behind the restrooms and walk back there to discover a pair of Western Kingbirds. We are supremely happy. In a tree behind the restrooms Celeste’s points out the web of a funnel web spider spun perfectly into a knot hole on the tree. We both stop to admire its beauty. We walk a bit further down the paved road but the air is heating up and the vegetation has diminished. We are in blazing open sun so we turn back. We have probably seen all the birds we are going to see at this location, but we did not see the Red-faced Warbler.

Magnificent Hummingbird at Palisades Visitor’s Center

It is close to noon by the time we stop at the Palisades Visitor‘s Center. Celeste has never been here before either. We grab our gear and head straight for the deck on the side of the building where there is a hummingbird feeder set up. As we walk down the ramp a Broad-billed hummingbird whistles by. We find a shady place to sit, and then we wait. Soon a male Magnificent Hummingbird makes his appearance at the feeder. Then the female flies in. In a nearby tree a Cordilleran flycatcher winks at us. We are in birding heaven!

House Wren at Palisades Visitor’s Center

Soon a sweet little House Wren shows up and shows off! I watch its antics for ten minutes or more. A Broad-billed hummingbird lands on the feeder. Celeste sees a robin on a fallen tree trunk down the slope. Then, while I am distracted by the wren or the Cordilleran, Celeste whispers to me, “Kathie! Kathie! Look! Look!” I turn my head and focus my bins on the pine tree over the deck where the hummingbird feeder hangs and there, working its way through the branches, is a Red-faced warbler! Oh, it is so pretty and I am so busy looking at it that I forget to raise my camera. when I finally come to my sense and pick it up slowly and cautiously the bird sees me and takes off! Still, we both saw it! We both saw it without using any mechanical means to draw it in. It just revealed itself to us! Life Bird for us both!

House Wren clinging to windowsill at Palisades Visitor’s Center

House Wren at Palisades Visitor’s Center

House Wren at Palisades Visitor’s Center

A Yellow-eyed Junco at Palisades Visitor’s Center digs in the grass.

By now we are both hungry, so we head up the road to the cookie cottage for some pizza. It is the Friday before the Memorial day weekend and people are already coming up the mountain. It is lovely and cool up here at only 70 degrees while down in the valley it is nearing the 100 mark. amazingly there is only one young girl working the whole restaurant and she tells us it may be awhile before our pizza is ready. No worries. we purchase tea and a giant cookie to eat while we wait. After all, Celeste is English and it is time for our tea! I must confess that I am the one who wanted the cookie though. I was starving and 25 minutes or more to wait for pizza seemed like an eternity to me at the moment! We sat outside and watched birds while drinking our tea and waiting for our pizza to arrive. A wonderful Stellar’s jay entertained us in the tall pines overhead and a yellow-eyed junco walked around our feet while we sat at our table!

Mountain Chickadee at Marshall Gulch 5-24-13

after tea and pizza we headed down through the village to Marshall Gulch. Her a little creek tumbles along the tree lined street to the forest service parking area with picnic tables strewn all along the way. Most of these we already full of picnickers enjoying the lovely day. However, with people and kids playing and listening to music it didn’t make for very good birding at first until we found the trailhead behind the restroom. there, just a short distance up the trail, we found all kinds of birds, including a Mountain chickadee, and a huge flock of pine siskins feeding on cones overhead. We also saw a Hairy woodpecker, several Cordilleran flycatchers, and we heard a Hermit Thrush singing. By now we realized it was time to head back down the mountain. But before we did, we drove all the way to the top. We didn’t see many birds up there, but we did find a cute horned toad, and the views were spectacular, though a bit hazy from all the dust!

View from the top of Mount Lemmon over the Tucson Valley

Today has been a wonderful day birding with a wonderful friend. Anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis or knows me knows that I like to keep lists of all the birds I see and I get excited when I see a new bird or get a new species in anew county. I have lists of list, but they are the side pleasure. the main pleasure for me is being outside and seeing the birds. I am happy to see a Robin as much as a Red-faced Warbler. I just love the birds. And I love to count them.

•  Celestial Ramblings 
• My Backyard 

The Birds Went Up and I Went Down!

 Gambel’s Quail in Saguaro NP 3-27-13

March 27, 2013: Two days after our visit to Las Cienegas NCA Celeste and I decided to meet at the Javalina Picnic area of Saguaro National Park Rincon Mountain Unit. It is one of my favorite places to just relax and watch birds because you can sit at the picnic tables and the birds come so close. I arrived first but Celeste was not far behind, and while her husband went off hiking, she and I drank our tea and watched birds.

It wasn’t long before a few Gambel’s Quail came around and climbed up into the surrounding mesquite trees. We were not sure if they were gobbling up new green shoots or insects but they were so preoccupied with whatever they were eating that they hardly even noticed us!

A little antelope Ground Squirrel came around to investigate us as well.

Then Celeste noticed this butterfly! A Golden Headed Scallop Wing!

(Yes, she told me what kind it was! I am a birder; not a butterflier!)

After watching birds here for about an hour we decided to drive the short distance up the road to the freeman Homestead trail. It is a short and pleasant hike in Saguaro national Park with remnants of frontier homesteading. The trail winds down a dirt path to a wash below and I often find many birds along the way.  Celeste and I were engaged in conversation as we walked down the steep incline when suddenly my feet went out from underneath me and I went crashing down with bins, camera and fanny pack. My left leg collapsed under me and took the brunt of the fall, skinning my leg from knee to shin. My left hand went out to brace myself and it ended up with a deep bruise over half the palm area. Though my wrist was sore, amazingly I did not fracture it, but my left knee had a deep gash that was bleeding profusely.

American Kestrel on Saguaro 3-27-13

Fortunately I had cotton balls and Band-Aids in my fanny pack. I sat quietly for a few minutes to compose myself and catch my breath. My hand hurt worse than my knee at first and we needed to stop the bleeding. I come from a family of very stoic women who don’t like to make a scene or admit we are in pain, so I tired to downplay it all. I did not want this to ruin our day. After a few minutes and the application of the Band-Aid and a drink of water I got up on my feet again. I tried to figure out why I had fallen in the first place, for I had not tripped. A glance back at the trail revealed a small rock had broken underneath my shoe and set me slipping down onto the hard packed gravel which I could now see deeply imbedded in my skin! At this point it was almost as far to go back as to continue and I didn’t want Celeste to miss out on seeing the wash, so we continued down, with me holding my hand up. As you might imagine, I took very few photos after this.

But I couldn’t resist a shot of this hole in the cliff above the wash, which is what I brought Celeste here to see. Look closer…do you see what I see?

Can you see the Great Horned Owl inside?

We continued on through the wash watching for birds all the way. We heard Gambel’s Quail and Gila woodpeckers. We saw Cactus wrens, thrashers and flycatchers. The trail wound along the gravelling bottom of the wash, then tuned upwards to the canyon rim again. I think we were both hot, tired and thirsty when we got back to my car. I drove Celeste back to the picnic area to wait for her husband and headed home for a shower and a nap. They next morning I was at the doctor’s office first thing to get a tetanus shot since it had been almost exactly 10 years since I had my last one. The nurse practitioner looked at my wounds and did not even clean them out. She told me to leave them open and un-covered and to not use any antibiotic ointments. Since I do not like drugs, that was fine with me, but the deepest wound was still filled with debris and I was surprised she did not try to clean it. I took care of it myself but eventually it did get infected and I got quite sick. This knee injury laid me up for weeks as it slowly healed. I still have the scars and my knee doesn’t quite work the way it should. I may have to take it back to the doctors after all, but so far I have not let it keep me down and I have still been out birding as much as possible!

Gray Flycatcher at Saguaro NP Freeman Homestead Trail 3-27-13

When I was in high school chorus we learned an old folk song I like to sing. I think the name of it is, “Cotton Grows on White Oak Trees.” One line in the song goes:

“Down, down, down, down!

Slipped on a cowslip down in the meadow, feet went up and I went down! Fell in a hole right up to my middle! Hello Susan Brown!”

Well, you might as well say “Hello Kathie Brown” because these are the words that come to my mind whenever I fall, and they seemed appropriate for the title to this post, with a bit of creative license of course! In spite of the fall, we did get a good bird list. These are the birds we saw on the Freeman Homestead Trail that day:

1. Gambel’s Quail
2. Turkey Vulture
3. Red-tailed Hawk
4. Great-horned Owl
5. Costa's hummingbird
6. Gilded Flicker
7. Gila Woodpecker
8. American Kestrel
9. Gray Flycatcher
10. Common Raven
11. Verdin
12. Cactus Wren
13. Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
14. Northern Mockingbird
15. Curve-billed Thrasher
16. Lucy’s Warbler
17. Black-throated sparrow
18. House Finch
19. Lesser Goldfinch

Links:

• Celestial Ramblings
• My Backyard
• A Morning of Mixed Fortunes-Celeste’s post about this day
• Tea for Two at Las Cienegas-my previous post