The Good-bye Chronicles: Chapter 9. Carpe Diem/Texas Canyon

Texas Canyon 8-1-10

It is Gus’ last weekend here with me. We have been taking care of last minute details for the past two days. The company Gus works for has every other Friday off so we spent Friday and Saturday doing errands. We bought him some new clothes, had his truck repaired, cleaned out his closet, got rid of old clothes and shoes. By Saturday night we were beat.

We both woke up early this Sunday morning around 6 a.m. It is a cool gray morning, cool enough to jump in the hot tub, so we get into our suits and climb in to the steaming water and let the bubbles roar! The hot tub is only a few steps out our bedroom door. We just bought it this year a couple of months ago. We were finally settling down and investing in our lives here. Two weeks after we bought it the lay-offs started. Now here we are enjoying every moment in it that we can. Having the hot tub has really made living here feel like we are on a permanent vacation.

We sit in the bubbling water and watch the birds watch us. They fly to the feeders to feed and land in the nearby trees that we planted. The hummingbirds fly over our heads to the feeders on the windows. We laugh at their antics as they battle each other for food. Two Costa’s hummingbirds face off in a beak to beak battle as they ascend in a frantic spiral which ends with one flying off and the other in hot pursuit. I love my life here! In the sky above the wash the purple martins fly and twitter joyously. I think they sound like one of the happiest birds around. It seems to me they revel in the feeling of the wind beneath their wings!

As we sit here in the hot tub watching birds I start to think of the few chores we still have left to do. Gus was going to hang a mirror for me and fix a leaky faucet. But this is our last free day together and I start to formulate a plan. I pose the idea to Gus. What if instead of fixing the sink and cleaning out the rest of your closet we just take off for the day? We can drive to Graham and Greenlee counties to see what we can see and go count birds. He thinks about it for about five seconds and then agrees. We both think it will be good to get away from all the moving stress, so we quickly shower, eat breakfast, pack up the car and head east on I-10.

Graham and Greenlee counties are two of the least birded counties in all of Arizona. In fact, only 5 people have submitted bird counts from Greenlee County. I counted birds one time in Graham County last year when we drove up there late one afternoon in the autumn just so I could say I had been there. I only counted birds in the town and at a couple of spots along the roadside. We didn’t have much time and darkness was falling as we drove out of town for the 2 hour ride home. On that visit I counted 8 species of birds. Now I am hoping to add to that total, plus add another whole county onto my list. I have never been to Greenlee County so I have no idea what to expect.

Greenlee County is on the eastern border of Arizona running vertically along the border with New Mexico. It is not an easy county to access from where I live. There are few roads into it and when I googled directions to get to a town called Alpine it actually suggested a route through Lordsburg, New Mexico and up through the Gila Mountains. It said it would take 4 hours! Well, we don’t have time for that today, but we can get into the southernmost tip of Greenlee county by traveling through Safford and so we head east through Cochise County.

Our first stop is at Texas Canyon, a rocky rest area along I-10. This is one of those places we have passed by every time we head east and we always say, “We need to stop there someday!” Well, today is the day. Who knows when another “someday” will come? We pull into the rest area and park.

Huge boulders are strewn around the landscape. They are piled into mountains on both sides of the road. They tower above us in the picnic area and we see other tourists climbing about and taking pictures.

I can hear a few birds as we open the car doors but to my disappointment I see that most of the rocks are fenced off. You can look but don’t touch. I gaze across the boulder strewn field through a tall chain link fence. It makes it difficult to take photographs but there are a few spots where one can aim over the fence and get a decent shot. Gus and I both have our cameras so we are both taking pictures, though I am more interested in birds. I hear some chatter from beyond the fence and spot a scrub jay in the brush.

Overhead a few barn swallows swoop and a few land on the roof antenna of the caretaker’s house. Along the parking lot I find some house sparrows and one western kingbird. Over the open desert turkey vultures ride thermals on great dark wings.

As I walk along the fence line I find a sign posted warning that this area contains poisonous snakes and insects. I am suddenly made conscious of my feet clad only in sandals, poor protection from this type of hazard. I now watch wear I place each step and head back to the car.

It was fun to stop here and see what I could see, but this is only Cochise County and Gus and I are both ready to continue our trek east to my real goal of counting birds in Graham and Greenlee counties, but I am glad that we finally stopped to see Texas Canyon! (See links and info below)

My World Tuesday 

Birds seen:

Location: Texas Canyon Rest Area
Observation date: 8/1/10
Notes: Stopped here to look a rocks and count birds on our way to Graham and Greenlee counties.
Number of species: 9
Turkey Vulture 3
Gila Woodpecker 1
Western Kingbird 1
Western Scrub-Jay (Woodhouse's) 1
Barn Swallow 5
Northern Mockingbird 1
Canyon Towhee 1
House Finch 3
House Sparrow 4
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Update: after Reading Gaelyn’s comment I went out and did some research and discovered that most of Texas Canyon is owned by either the Amerind Foundation or the Triangle T Guest Ranch. The Triangle T also has RV spaces for rent. You can find information about Texas Canyon by clicking on these links:

• Texas Canyon
• Triangle T Ranch
• Amerind Foundation
• Cochise Stronghold
• eHow Texas Canyon

The Good-Bye Chronicles Chapter 7: Sweetwater Wetlands

 Solitary Sandpiper and Least Sandpipers on eastern mudflats 7-22-10

It is two days after we have an answer when I meet Donna Simonettie at Sweetwater Wetlands. She has come to town for a concert and we agree to meet here to go birding. Sweetwater is a place I learned about when I first did my Important Bird Area Training almost 3 years ago now. It is one of my favorite places in the Tucson area to go birding and I always come away with a rather large list of birds. An oasis in the desert, Sweetwater attracts all kinds of birds from the typical desert favorites to the exotic tropical species. It is a manmade wetlands formed from treated wastewater. One never knows what they will find here.

 Cliff Swallows on reeds 7-22-10

I meet Donna in the parking lot and we grab our gear and head for the trail. The air hangs heavy and humid and soon a light shower is falling. I head back to the car to grab a plastic bag to cover my camera with.  I do not think the shower will last long, but any amount of water on my camera is not good. We head for the path once again and right off the bat we are seeing birds. Swallows fill the sky as we cross the bridge over the manmade creek. Purple matins are mixed in with the swallows and Donna informs me this is a life bird for her. 

 Desert Spiny Lizard on wall 7-22-10

I told Donna about our planned move when she first arrived, but now we are lost in the birds of this wetland. I keep telling her that there are not many birds here today.  It seems so quiet.  The birds are quiet, but they are here. With cameras at the ready and binoculars in hand, we scan the ponds, the trees and the reeds. We watch the sky for birds. Some sort of rodent scurries along the path and disappears into the reeds. Off to the east we scan the drainage ponds for birds.  Here we find killdeer, sandpipers and black-necked stilts.  There are more birds than we can positively identify for some small sandpipers are far across on the mudflats  and neither of us has a spotting scope, so we do the best we can with our bins and cameras and wait to enlarge blurry pictures at home.  Some birds we just have to let go, but we do get a good look at a solitary sandpiper that is close by as well as a spotted sandpiper and a couple of Leasts.

 Who’s hiding here?

We catch the flight of a Harris Hawk overhead circling on dark wings with chestnut shoulders. We see the characteristic white tail coverts as the bird flies overhead.  I know that a family of Harris Hawks nests nearby and this is a reliable place to see them. Then Donna spots a Kestrel and we add that species to our list. The brief rain shower stopped awhile ago and now the sun is out turning all the cool moisture to hot steam.  I feel its affects and cling to the edge of the trail where I can stay in the shade of willows and cottonwoods. I see a shape like a stump up in a willow and train my binoculars on it.  Is is a bird? I call Donna to have a look and we both wonder and hope that we are seeing a bittern, but it turns out to be a juvenile Green Heron trying to blend in with the branch. It keeps a wary eye on us as we pass by, then flies farther across the pond for refuge.

 Common Moorhen 7-22-10

In the winter there are so many ducks here in these ponds but for today we are only seeing mallards with a few ruddy ducks, a pied-billed grebe and a couple of teals.  There are usually more birds than this I say as we walk on.

 Greater Earless Lizard 7-22-10

There are no lack of lizards, however, and we have seen several kinds, including desert spiny lizards, zebra tails, a greater earless lizard, and a possible tiger whiptail.

 Ruddy Duck and Neotropic Cormorant 7-22-10

In the farthest ponds we find great egrets, more mallards, a few neotropic cormorants and some green-winged teals. We have been here for a couple of hours now and my list is getting longer. We have been seeing kingbirds and we are wondering, are any of these Tropical Kingbirds? We find a western kingbird at the far edge of the wetlands near the open desert and a large wash. Across the street we see the Rogers Road wastewater treatment plant and there on the fence is a Cassin’s Kingbird with its dark gray head and white throat. We follow the paths back into the interior of the ponds where we see 3 other kingbirds perched at various heights on a cottonwood tree.

 Tropical Kingbird 7-22-10

They are all silent in the heat of the day but they are not shy and we are both able to snap away. Our photos reveal the typical notched tail, brighter yellow breast and the faint mask of the tropical kingbird.  This is a life bird for Donna and we stand there enjoying the moment.  I am remembering that I saw my first one here last year and this is only my second sighting of this species. Last year they we flying about chattering away. This calm bird is so different from the behavior I observed last year, but I am beginning to think these kingbirds have more sense than me! The sun has risen higher and with it the temperature and the humidity!  I feel like I am melting! Donna and I make our way to the gazebo where we sit in the shade and talk and watch birds. I am starting to realize that I have filled several pages of my notebook.  I wonder how many species we have seen after all.  After telling Donna all morning long that there are not many birds here today we end up with a list of 48 species of birds! Not bad for 3 1/2 hours of birding!

We say good-bye at the parking lot, not knowing when or if we will see each other again.  I first met Donna just a couple of months ago when we went birding together in Portal.  Donna is like Dawn and Jeff Fine and I.  We can bird all day long without getting tired, but today the heat and humidity have gotten to me.  I am ready to get in my car and go home. I drive away from Sweetwater with so many sweet memories of birding here with friends and by myself. My heart if brimming with thankfulness for ever moving here and finding this magical place.

Who hatched from these eggs? We found them along one of the paths. They were soft and leathery, a sweet gift of nature that we both enjoyed seeing. If you have any idea, please tell me!

Location: Sweetwater Wetlands
Observation date: 7/22/10
Notes: Birding w/Donna Simonetti. Cloudy with a light sprinkle when we first arrived, then the sun came out and it got hot and humid. We walked the entire perimeter of the ponds.
Number of species: 49
Mallard 65
Green-winged Teal (American) 2 smaller than mallard; small,dark bill; mottled cinnamon brown; green wing bar
Ruddy Duck 8
Gambel's Quail 1
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Neotropic Cormorant 3
Great Egret 2
Green Heron 1 gray back, streaked neck
Turkey Vulture 1
Harris's Hawk 3
American Kestrel 1
Common Moorhen 6
American Coot 12
Killdeer 8
Black-necked Stilt 20
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Western Sandpiper 3
Least Sandpiper 3
Eurasian Collared-Dove 1
White-winged Dove 30
Mourning Dove 7
Black-chinned Hummingbird 2
hummingbird sp. 1
Gila Woodpecker 6
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1
Black Phoebe 3
Ash-throated Flycatcher 1
Brown-crested Flycatcher 1
Tropical Kingbird 3 notched tail
Cassin's Kingbird 1 dark gray head and back, white cheek/throat square tail with pale tip. No white side tail feathers
Western Kingbird 1 pale yellow belly,white side tail feathers at farthest end of ponds near open desert and wash
Bell's Vireo 1
Purple Martin (Desert) 2
Barn Swallow 6
Cliff Swallow 14
Cactus Wren 2
Curve-billed Thrasher (Western) 2
Yellow Warbler 2
Common Yellowthroat 6 heard all over and saw 1 singing from branch of tree over pond
Abert's Towhee 3
Song Sparrow 1
Western Tanager 2
Red-winged Blackbird 35
Great-tailed Grackle 30
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
House Finch 6
Lesser Goldfinch 1
House Sparrow 1

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Greater Roadrunner 1 (I saw this bird while I was waiting for Donna to arrive)

Birding Connecticut: Comstock Bridge

(Today's Photography Courtesy of Kathie with the Nikon D80; 70 to 300mm lens, as always, click on photos to enlarge for best viewing.)

Comstock Covered Bridge is located on Rt. 16 just west of Colchester center. Built in 1791, it spans the Salmon River.

In 1936 it was repaired by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It has been repaired once again recently but whomever did it made a bad job of it. Huge rusted metal beams run along both sides of the bridge to stabilize it. Long metal bolts were then drilled through the wooden beams of the bridge and into the steel girders. Because these girders run the length of the bridge and onto the banks it would be easy for people to climb out on them. The solution? Let's make this once picturesque bridge even uglier by putting wire cages at both ends of the girders! There, that solved that problem. While no one can hurt themselves now, neither will anyone want to photograph this bridge except to show everyone else how the job was botched!

This flock of barn swallows doesn't seem to mind one bit. They are having as much fun watching me as I am having watching them. The swallows are sitting on wires across the street from the bridge. It is in these same trees where I saw the American Redstarts.

The Salmon River flowing beneath Rt. 16. On the other side of this bridge and across from the Comstock Covered Bridge is Salmon River State Park. (Click on the links to see pictures of the bridge prior to the steel girders being added. This is the way I remember it.) As a child I knew it as a fun place to swim as well as a place where my Grandfather went fishing. Now I am exploring these old haunts as new places to bird. For today I will keep to this side of the river.

A song sparrow catches a moth in the grass near the bridge.

Then it hops up on a fence post to sing about its breakfast!

My son, Alex walks along the rivers edge.

We cross the wooden bridge and head around this bend of the river.

A great blue heron flies in and lands among the rocks...

...but I am distracted by the sounds of Cedar Waxwings in the trees overhead. I observe them hunting insects over the water in a flock. I have never witnessed this behavior before. It is new to me. I thought they only ate berries, but these birds are acting like flycatchers flying out from the trees, grabbing an insect and then returning to their perches.

This little chipping sparrow bids us good-bye as we head back home to Gramma's house.

View of the bridge with the steel girders running along side. Notice the chain link fence at the end near the bank.

Birds Seen today:

Location: Comstock Bridge
Observation date: 7/9/08
Notes: With Alex. Sunny, warm, light breeze. Cedar waxwings hunting insects
over river.
Number of species: 14

Common Merganser 1
Great Blue
Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
Barn Swallow 6
Black-capped Chickadee 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
American Robin 6
Cedar Waxwing 8
American Redstart 2
Chipping Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 1
American Goldfinch 2