The Good-bye Chronicles: Chapter 9. Carpe Diem/Greenlee County

Black-throated sparrow in Greenlee county 8-1-10 

Now, here is one of the hazards of my personality. As we blow past Wilcox and head north on route 191 I am starting to see so many birds along the roadway. I am so tempted to stop and when I discover that there are two state parks just south of Safford I want Gus to pull into them so we can count birds. But here is where he saves the day for he insists that we press on to Greenlee County first and then if we have time we can stop on our way back, so, on we go.

Route 191 takes a sharp turn east as we enter the town of Safford before turning north once again to Greenlee County. There are not a lot of towns on the map and this is the only road in this direction. Rolling hills covered in brush give way to distant mountains. I can still see ocotillo and prickly pear cactus scattered among the mountain grasses. The hills are getting steeper and closer together. We come to a junction of three highways. On eBird it is called Three Way. I see a rest area with signs for the Clifton Ranger Station. This looks like a promising place to count birds. As Gus turns the car around to head back to the spot I see my first birds in Greenlee County, a pair of mourning doves perched in a low tree.

The road winds up past the rest area to the ranger station, which is closed. We get out and each of us starts looking for the thing that excites us.

Gus is in pursuit of photos.

I am looking for birds.

He spots an abandoned drive-in theater below and snaps away. I hear birds but where are they? I walk slowly towards the sound and find a black-throated sparrow singing from the top of a bush.

In the distance I see turkey vultures, then a few more mourning doves fly by. That’s it. These are all the birds I see. We are here for half an hour, but this is all I see. As I am walking to the car finally a lone barn swallow flies by. I now have 4 species of birds counted in Greenlee County.

We could have turned back at this point but we press on. I want to count more birds and we both want to see what lies ahead. We follow route 191 north as it winds its way upwards. The road is getting ever steeper, the hills are closing in. We cross deep canyons on high bridges with names like Cougar Canyon and Rattlesnake Canyon. I gaze far below me as we cross the low edged bridges. Suddenly we are climbing a steep hill and as we reach its crest and start down the small “town” of Clifton is revealed in the crevice of the earth.

Low gray houses like blocks sit on perched on the edges of steps or terraces carved into the mountainside. I realize that we are entering a mining town and these must be the company houses. Each one sits check to jowl with the other and under the currently cloudy skies all looks bleak and gloomy. How does anyone live like this? This place is so remote. It is hours from anywhere and crammed in this narrow canyon. Each house looks exactly like the other. There is no variety, no creativity. All is about function and making money.

The road levels out at the bottom of the town where the San Francisco River flows through the town. I do not know if it flows all the time but today it is brimming its banks. Railroad tracks cut though the town running parallel with the main street.

We find a little park tucked into the cleft of the mountain and pull in to park. The river flows by along the street and an iron railroad bridge crosses the river. Once again Gus is out taking photos while I count birds.

The river’s edge is lined thickly with willows and brush. I can hear a few birds but they are difficult to see in all the greenery. A white-winged dove flies into a branch overhead but takes off when it spots me. I think I can hear some kind of flycatcher but I do not see it and I am unsure of its call. I think I hear the “cheer, cheer, cheer” of a cardinal but I want to see it first to count it and it never appears. The sky overhead has grown black with thick clouds, a light shower is starting to fall.

Gus has crossed the bridge on the road to photograph the railroad bridge from the other side.

Suddenly the light shower turns into a downpour and I bolt for the car! Gus has no protection for his camera and I know he will not be able to get back here fast enough.

I can only hope he is seeking shelter near one of the abandoned buildings as I jump in and start the engine and head across the bridge as fast as I can. I see him hunched and walking swiftly towards an old building as I round the bend and beep my horn at him. I pull into the gravel parking lot nearby and he jumps into the car. He grabs some napkins to dry off his camera and then he holds it in front of the blowers.

From here we continue upwards to the town of Morenci. The sun has emerged once again as we park the car in this small town. This town must be older and newer. Homes are carved in to the cliffs. They are of varying styles and in various locations. We find a grocery store, a medical clinic, schools, gas stations and shopping centers. Little parks are tucked in everywhere and we even find a town pool. It feels a bit different here than in Clifton but looming over everything is the ever present copper mine. There are not a lot of birds here, but I find another black-throated sparrow. It seems they are everywhere along with mourning doves, white-winged doves and Eurasian collared doves. These species along with turkey vultures and barn swallows are all the species I find in Greenlee country except for a lone Cassin’s Kingbird. That is it. Oh, and a few house sparrows here at this corner where we have stopped.

Once again we get back in the car and head upwards. Now the road runs straight through the heart of the mine. It climbs numerous steep switchbacks through terraces of ochre, red, green and silver streaked earth. The colors of the rocks are amazing, but all is barren desolation around me. I see a turkey vulture searching the steep cliff sides and wonder what he could possible find to eat. This is certainly a place to die but you have to be able to live here first! We reach the crest of the mountain and we are both stuck by a stark contrast. On one side of the road the huge Coppermine drops into a multi- colored and multi-layered pit where trucks larger than a house haul chunks of rock away to be processed and dumped.

    The mine is on the right side of us as we are heading north, but on our left is a spot with unspoiled landscape, rolling hills, mountain peaks, and rocky crags. It all tumbles away into a gorgeous vista.

I cannot help but think to myself, who saw all this beauty and said, let’s dig this up! I know I know, I am not a business man or a miner but really, is this worth it? How long will it take for this land to heal when and if they ever stop extracting these minerals? As if to emphasize the difference in our opinions and what we value we drove just a mile or two farther up the road where a sign is posted for a “Scenic view”.

We drive into the Scenic View parking lot where there is a Ramada for shade and gaze down into the depths of the mine. Behind us the unscathed landscape tumbles away to the horizon.

After leaving the Scenic View we drive a few miles more to the edge of the mine. It is now almost 3 p.m. and we realize we have to turn back. Out of curiosity I reset the car’s trip meter to see how many miles of road are within the boundaries of the mine. It takes us 20 minutes to cover the 12 miles of road from border to border. I have no idea just how wide this mine is, but it sure does take up a big chunk of the landscape.

Birds Seen In Greenlee County 8-1-10

1. Turkey Vulture
2. Eurasian Collared-dove
3. Mourning Dove
4. White-winged dove
5. Cassin’s Kingbird
6. Barn Swallow
7. Black-throated sparrow
8. House sparrow

Turkey Vulture Drama outside my Den Window

Turkey vulture flying overhead 7-9-10 Nikon D80 70–300 mm lens

It is Friday morning, hot and sunny with a strong easterly wind. When I go outside to fill one of my bird feeders I spot a poor dead rabbit in the road. Perhaps it is one that eats my purslane and I should not be sad, but I am.  I hate to see any creature killed by man’s vehicles. I am wondering how long it will take the vultures to find it as I go back in the house.

I am sitting inside the den writing and looking out the window when one shows up. I grab my camera and take this photo from inside the house through the den window and the fence, then I creep quietly out the front door and sneak down the side of the garage, across the front of it, and around Gus’ truck which I intend to use as a blind.  I do not want to disturb the bird or spook it off its prize.  I want it to clean it up from out of the road. However, before I can even get into position I see the vulture flying up right over my head.  I thought I had spooked it as I start taking pictures. Then, as I whirl around and snap away I see a couple walking up the sidewalk right past where the bird had been. They ask me if it is a hawk but I tell them no, it is a turkey vulture, which is nature’s version of the clean-up crew.

The vulture circles several times then tries to land again but a car comes by and scares it off. It lifts off into an azure sky on wonderful and powerful dark wings.

I wonder how it must be to soar over rooftops and circle in the clouds.

I then decide to take matters into my own hands.

I walk over to the poor dead rabbit, pick it up by the end of its foot, and throw it over the fence into the wash! It must have been newly killed this morning for its body is still somewhat supple and the blood still looks red instead of black. Its death does not scare me or gross me out, I only feel sorry for its untimely death in such an unnatural manner. But this is natures way of providing for the others.

I call this giving it back to nature. I figure this way nature can take its course but if the vulture comes back it won’t be in danger from the cars and trucks anymore.  And if it doesn’t, I would rather see it decay and become part of the earth again than to get run over and mashed by car after car. The carcass settles with a soft thud into the dry desert grasses. The dark eye stares blankly into this void. The rabbit’s soul is gone. A few minutes later I am not surprised when a raven lands on the carcass instead. I had seen them hovering around the area also.

I grab the camera once again and this time creep out the back door to see if I can snap a photo but the wary raven hears me and takes off like a shot!

So, I go back inside and wait. The turkey vulture comes back but he lands in the road where the dead rabbit had been.  He stands there looking around and looking confused even though the rabbit is only 20 feet away from him over the fence in the wash. Then a jeep comes by and the vulture flies off.  It  does not return and neither does the raven.

Meanwhile, at my nearby bird feeders the rest of the birds feed as if nothing has happened at all.

I keep track of the rabbit in the wash all day long and though I remain inside so as not to disturb the birds the vulture and the raven never return. Just before sunset I check once again and its limp body still lies in the grass. One question remains: Will it still be there in the morning? You never know what happens in a desert night!

Today in Sycamore Canyon

View from my front yard. Could these clouds be a promise of things to come? 7-9-10 @ 9:52 a.m. MST

Blue skies and a few puffy clouds greet me this morning. A hot wind is blowing strongly from the east, a good sign that there could be rain coming. My plan was to turn on the computer and start writing right away, but then I notice a couple of bird feeders are empty, and those flowers over there look like they could use a bit more water, and, oh look! juvenile Scott’s orioles in my yellow bells bushes in the front yard and you know I have to stop and watch them, and so, it is now 11 a.m. and I have not even eaten breakfast yet!

Yellow bells tecoma stans in my front yard 7-9-10

If you want to attract wildlife to your yard, these bushes are perfect.  This morning when I went to open the front bedroom shutters I found 8 to 10 lesser goldfinches perched in the branches and gleaning some sort of tiny insect of the leaves, flowers and seed pods.  Then I noticed a pair of juvenile Scott’s Orioles were in the bushes with them, along with a few house sparrows.  I frequently find desert cottontails napping beneath these bushes or coveys of Gambel’s Quail.  Hummingbirds are attracted to the tubular yellow flowers as well as orioles, and it is not unusual to find cardinals and pyrrhuloxoias seeking shelter in the branches either. This plant is deciduous, drought tolerant and it likes heat. However, it does need a regular watering.

With all the birds and wildlife I’ve attracted to my yard some of my plants have not fared so well. I wrote about the purslane that I fenced off in a previous post. Well, that one is starting to come back, but…

…now the larger plants are suffering and I fear I will have to fence them off also.  I can’t help but think that as soon as the monsoon arrives and the rain waters the desert it will bloom so richly that my garden plants will finally be spared.

I am trying to enhance this bird feeding area on the north side of my house. This is the view I have when I look out the den window. The den is where I do all my blogging and writing. Plus, by encouraging the birds to feed over here, it keeps my backyard cleaner and it doesn't disturb the birds when we go outside.  However, I still keep birdbaths, thistle seed feeders and nectar feeders in the backyard.  I try to attract the more gentle birds there and keep the raucous guys over here. Since curve-billed thrashers often come to the feeders I prefer to attract them on this side as they will kill hummingbirds. By feeding the hummingbirds in the backyard they can feed in peace and relative safety.

Meanwhile, in the front and side yard my cacti are doing really well and this one in particular has sprouted some new growth.  I do not know what this one is called, but it is my favorite. Gus, however, likes the bunny ears prickly pear cactus he planted. 

The Bunny ears is up in far left corner of this photo, the poor struggling purslane are just beyond the golden barrel cactus. We planted 3 small saguaros which are doing really well, but we will be long gone before they ever get tall. Planting a saguaro is something you do for future generations and the life and health of the desert. It is like believing there will be a future and that it will be good. It is a spiny hope.

This morning’s clouds have started to thicken. Perhaps we really will have rain today!

 

Turkey Vulture flying over my head in Sycamore Canyon 7-9-10 @ 11:50 a.m. MST taken with the Nikon D90 18-200mm lens.

Meanwhile, a Turkey Vulture drama has been developing outside my den window.  I have been popping up and down while writing this post to get pictures with both the D80 and the D90. It is not over yet but I will be posting that story next instead of what I intended to!

Birding From Dawn ‘till Dusk: Day 2 Organ Pipe NM

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument 21 mile Loop Rd 4-8-10

Kathryn and I get up with the sun and head west across the desert to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.  It is a long drive to get there and I have never been past the town of Three Points, so I have no idea what to expect. We travel across native lands and past Kitt Peak where I spot a Crested Caracara flying alongside the road. Though traffic is traveling at 65 to 70 mph in this area the road is narrow with no shoulders and steep drop-offs to the cactus studded desert below. There is absolutely no place to stop and get a picture for miles, though I do try, but by then the bird is too far away. I let Kathryn take over driving now and scan the desert for birds.  We are seeing Harris Hawks, ravens, and Red-tailed Hawks and then, to my utter surprise, our second Crested Caracara perched atop a saguaro right near Sells! We get as good of a look as we can driving 65 mph down the road.

Organ Pipe Cactus 4-8-10

After a brief stop at the visitor’s center for info and to eat our picnic lunch we decide to take the Ajo Mountain Loop Road. Though it is 21 miles long, we break it into 5 miles segments for eBird and count birds as we go. I have never been here before and I am captivated by this desert beauty.  It is no wonder that this is a National Monument.

  The beauty of a cactus bud.

We come to the Arch Canyon Trail and decide to get out of the car and walk a bit.  Though the trail is only 3/4 of a mile we don’t go far because it is so hot and we only have sandals on our feet. This seems a peaceful place with beauty all around us.

We marvel at the arch overhead…

…and gaze at the mountains beyond…

…the canyon lies invitingly before  us…

…and wraps its arms around us in a rocky hug!

We see and hear Phainopeplas softly asking us, “What?…What?” And then, just as we are settling in, a dark shadow looms!

“Who are you and what are you doing in my canyon,” the Turkey Vulture seems to say. It is soon joined by another and they swoop ever lower and closer to us…

…until one is so low that it is too close for my 70-300mm lens!

We decide to leave and beat a hasty retreat back to the car. We are halfway around the loop road by now and the day is fading fast. As we continue our drive we stop at various points along the way finding most of the birds along the desert washes. 

Reluctantly we say good-bye to organ Pipe Cactus national Monument with its vast and prickly beauty with wildflowers and solitude in abundance. It is long after dark by the time we arrive home but we are so glad that we went!

Birds seen today on the drive to and in Organ Pipe Cactus NM:

1. Crested Caracara
2. Turkey Vulture
3. Gila woodpecker
4. Raven
5. Northern Mockingbird
6. Black-throated sparrow
7. Phainopepla
8. Kestrel
9. Mourning dove
10. Costa’s hummingbird
11. lesser Goldfinch
12. House finch
13. Harris hawk
14. Gambel’s Quail
15. Cooper’s hawk
16. Verdin
17. Cactus wren
18. Curve-billed thrasher
19. Northern Cardinal
20. Scott’s Oriole
21. Red-tailed hawk
22. Loggerhead shrike
23. Cassin’s vireo
24. Blue-gray gnatcatcher
25. Rock Wren