Gus

December 7, 2014: Today is Gus’ birthday. I’ve been married to this man for 37 years and I have never appreciated him more. He doesn’t like birthday cards and I can’t bake him a cake or buy him a present this year, because Thursday night as I was walking across the yard I heard my knee pop and my leg gave out. I managed to walk into the house just fine but as the night wore on my knee got worse and by morning I could not walk. Gus took me to the emergency room at 5:30 AM where they x-rayed my knee and told me I have arthritis. The doctor thinks I may have torn a ligament and I am currently hobbling around on crutches while we wait for my next doctor’s appointment.  This means I cannot fill my bird feeders. But, my husband has graciously taken up the task, even though I know it is more work than he wants to do. I have about 8 feeders in my yard, not counting suet feeders. One of them holds meal worms, which the chickadees just love. Of course, the woodpeckers love the suet and I am getting Downys, Hairys, and a single female Red-headed Woodpecker now.

I am sure that after today he thinks I am nuts, but he knows that if he doesn’t do it, I will be out in the snow with my crutches trying to do it myself! Still, one of my feeders really had him stumped, but he finally figured it out!

We are quite the pair, the two of us. And we have had lots of adventures together. Because of Gus, I have had the opportunity to travel all over the United States. This has allowed me to see so many birds in so many different places. Gus is not into birds like I am, but he does love nature and he does love adventure and he does love me. Gus use to love photography as well, and so, while I was photographing birds, he use to photograph whatever interested him. But a few years ago his vision started to deteriorate and he can no longer see the fine details enough to make photography fun for him. So, today’s post is a tribute to my husband and his patience with me and my birds. It is my way of thinking him. It is my online birthday card for him. Almost all the following photographs were taken by him when he could see better. It is his view of the world and of me. And yes, there are birds!

Phoenix January 2010

In January of 2010 Gus and I drove into Phoenix to see a performance of Riverdance, which was a Christmas Gift from my son and his wife. After the matinee we drove to the Rio Saludo Project just a few miles south where Gus and I took a walk and counted and photographed birds. I just realized I never posted these photos as my computer crashed at that time. These are Gus’ pictures from that day.

Me on the trail at the Rio Saludo Project along the Salt River

Coot Toes

Trail along the river

 

Tree trunks and grasses

 

Verdin 

Black and White Warbler

This is the one that got away from me. Gus kept telling me he saw a different warbler, but I ignored him, thinking it was yet another yellow-rumped warbler. It wasn’t until we offloaded his photos that I saw the bird he was talking about. By then it was too late and I missed my opportunity to see and record a Back and White Warbler in Maricopa County!

Double-crested Cormorants

 

The Salt River 

 

Oklahoma, March 2010 

Harris Sparrow

Bosque del Apache, NM March 2010 

 

 Great Blue Heron

Western Bluebird

 

Greater Roadrunner

 

 Great Blue Heron

Roosevelt Lake, AZ June 2010

 Looking through the bridge

Bridge over Roosevelt Lake

Cochise County, Arizona, August 2010 

 Texas Canyon

Lake Cochise sunset

 

 Lake Cochise

Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts, January 2011

 

 

 

The Salton Sea, November 2012

In November of 2012 Gus surprised me by planning a trip to the Salton Sea for Thanksgiving. We had just moved back to Tucson and I was looking forward to spending the holiday with our oldest son, but who could pass up a trip to the Salton Sea? Neither one of us knew what to expect, except we envisioned something a little more sophisticated. The Salton Sea is actually very remote and rural in a very depressed part of California. But oh, the BIRDS! There were so many and we had one of the best adventures of our lives! While I have posted my pictures and photos of this trip before, I just recently offloaded Gus’ pictures. All of these are his.

Me trying out my new spotting scope at the Salton Sea

 

 

 

 Too many birds to count!

Happy Birthday Gus!

He’s a wonderful grandpa!

 

…and an old Maine-iac!

 

He loves his old dog, Blossom.

 

And, we still have so many roads to travel…

…before we sail off into the sunset!

  Pelicans at the Salton Sea, November 23, 2012

GBBC Days 2 and 3

 Mt. Fagan 2-16-13

My quest for birds and birds lists took me all over the Tucson area during the Great Backyard Bird Count. On Saturday Gus took me for a drive to Corona de Tucson which is the small community I lived in when we lived here before. I counted birds for the Great Backyard Bird Count for those 3 years. I had to do at least one count here this time! In the end I submitted 6 bird lists from this area on this day. What surprised me was how few birds I actually saw! I spotted the most birds and got the biggest list from Harrison Road in Sycamore Canyon.

Curve-billed Thrasher on Harrison Rd. in Sycamore Canyon

GBBC Day 3

I started day three of the GBBC in Michael Perry Park after counting birds in my own yard first. I counted by yard birds at least twice a day during the GBBC. These are just a few of the birds seen there.

 Plumbeous Vireo in Michael Perry Park 2-17-13

I climbed the bleachers trying to get a good shot of this bird but it kept hiding on me! Most of the shots where of its butt, but I did get this one head shot! I found it in the pine trees near the playground between the basketball court and the baseball field. It was a pleasant surprise and a species I was thrilled to add to the GBBC!

 American Kestrel

 

 Greater Roadrunner

Question: Why did the Roadrunner cross the road?

Answer: So I could count him for the GBBC of course!

 

 

 

This is one of three violet-green swallows I found flying over a small wash that feeds into the much larger Pantano wash near the Stella Road Trailhead.

 Northern Mockingbird in the Pantano Wash of Michael Perry Park

While I was counting birds at Michael Perry Park, Gus was washing his car at home. Afterwards he took me for a drive to Agua Caliente Park where we walked around and counted more birds. the park was quite busy on this glorious Sunday afternoon with lots of picnickers and people with dogs. We walked around the lake and out beyond the Bosque but my list for this area was quite small. I used to see so many birds here when I lived here before but my last few visits here have been quite sparse in the bird department. Still, it’s one of my favorite places in Tucson.

 

 

Ring-necked Duck 2-17-13

 

Note: It’s my birthday today so Gus and I are off on an adventure but I will return and add the bird lists here later! Wednesday’s snow has all melted and the sun is shining once again. I did take a drive through Saguaro National park on Thursday and took lots of photos which I hope to share after I post about the last day of the GBBC, which is when I fell in love with Catalina State Park! And while you are waiting, if you like you can click over to Kathie’s Poet Tree to read my new poem, Run to the Wild Places.