The Grand Canyon is an enormous rift in the middle of the Colorado plateau, and it's dramatic vistas are basically unparalleled anywhere in the world. It's one of those select places you really feel like you ought to see before you die.
It's also the sort of place that's so well known it's almost redundant to photograph or describe. I imagine the first westerners to explore it were able to fill letters and articles with many well earned superlatives of praise, but, let's face it, the audience of this blog has seen so many pictures of this spectacular act of God that they have no need to read or peruse more here.
Never the less, pens cannot rest on the laurels of their forefathers, and I press forward with mine to record our experience for our own small family's sake.
While a winter visit to the Grand Canyon is cold and carries the hazards inherent in that season, it also brings a new beauty to the red rock. Snow and ice cover the ground and rest in the boughs of the pines and junipers along the south rim, collecting temporarily in the aged rock's strata. The forest is a frosted a smooth white, and the canyon itself is dusted with powdered sugar. Entering into this fantastic landscape, Libby and I oohed and ahed from each subsequent vista. You can see for miles, especially in winter, and we gaped at every rock formation and rift as it appeared through the crystal clear air of a southwestern winter. I even felt my stomach contract and curl when we stood atop particularly precipitous buttes. It's an uncomfortable distance to the bottom, despite the iron railings.
Still, discussing it later, we both felt that the best experience of the Grand Canyon would require you entering it and getting lost in its vastness. Looking down and across this gulf in the earth is almost so overwhelming that you can't appreciate it fully. I feel like if I was in it and looking up and around at the towering cliffs I'd have more of a feel of my own small relationship to its impersonal size. Plus, that's the way I'm used to experiencing yawning heights from the Sierras, and they're sort of my benchmark for judging any similar natural wonder.
We spent our whole day droving up and down the road running along the south rim. We did take one short walk - from Yavapai Point over to the Bright Angel lodge. We then took a bus back to our car. The hike along the rim was over snow and ice most of the time, and it took some caution because the ice was incredibly slick in places. By walking carefully and slowly we avoided any spills.
Naturally, we also took time to enjoy the birdlife of the canyon. Common Ravens and Dark-eyed (Gray-headed) Juncos seemed to be the most common birds, but we were also able to find our life Juniper Titmice (Titmouses?). That was neat - although they appear basically identical to the local Oak Titmouse we have here in California. That's not surprising, considering Oak and Juniper Titmouse were considered conspecific until the 90s. We also saw our only Clark's Nutcrackers of the trip (just two - but it seems like kind of low altitude for these birds), our first interior Western Scrub Jays (Woodhouse's group - paler and without the blue necklace of the coastal California group - it may be a separate species), Steller's Jays, Western Bluebirds, and a Eurasian Collared Dove. No Condors during the winter, unfortunately, but you get what you get and you don't throw a fit.
By the end of the day, we were ready to go home. We'd been away for a long time, and California was only a few hours away. Plus, a storm was blowing in overnight, and we didn't want to get stuck. I'm not sure how much fun the Grand Canyon would be in the middle of a snow storm, but we didn't much want to find out.
Pictures aplenty in the normal place: Grand Canyon set.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Sunset bound
The first dawn of the New Year warmed our faces in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Turning into it, and climbing precipitously, we headed for our first adventure of the New Year. We were going to Sandia Crest. Sandia Crest is the highest point of the Sandia Mountains, which crowd Albuquerque's north-eastern limits. There's a plowed road that leads right to the top, past a ski area, at a dizzying 10,600'. During the icy winter, all three species of Rosy Finch flock together for a few months, bringing with them birders with binoculars and field guides in their wake.
Usually, Rosy Finches live in out of the way places. We saw lots of Gray-crowned Rosy Finches on our backpack trip this last summer because we were in their ideal habitat - talus slopes and alpine meadows. The other two species are less widespread than their Gray-crowned cousin. Black Rosy Finches are restricted to the high mountains of the central United States - high mountains in states like Montana, Nevada, Wyoming and Idaho. Brown-capped Rosy Finches have an even smaller range, occupying high mountain areas of Colorado south into northern New Mexico. During winter, though, the birds spread out a lot more to find food as it becomes more scarce. Interestingly, though, some also stay in their breeding areas all year, making a meager living on bugs blown up into the mountains that die in the snow. Which is pretty amazing.
Sandia Crest is great because the birds wintering there are concentrated by the feeding stations put out by a local cafe on the mountain top. Not only can you see all three of these species in one place, but you can do in comfort through a window over a cup of steaming coffee. Normally. Not so for us! When we arrived, we found the cafe closed because it was New Years. Thankfully, though, there was still seed in the feeders, and it wasn't more than a minute before a big flock of Rosy Finches settled in the branches of some nearby trees. We were able to watch them feed from an overlook and soon picked out all three species. Gray-headed Juncos, Steller's Jays, and Mountain Chickadees filled out the experience. We were able to enjoy good views of the birds to our heart's content and were pretty happy despite the constant and steady wind and subfreezing temperatures.
Soon enough, though, we were back on the road and heading west. We were really heading toward home, now, though we were still planning on stopping to see the Grand Canyon. The rest of the day was involved in driving into and through the classic country of the southwest. Buttes and plateaus with sparse vegetation from sage to junipers zipped by on either side. Occasionally, there would be snow on the ground, and we passed into the Navajo Nation right at the Arizona border.
Our next big stop for the day was the auto tour of the Petrified Forest National Park. We hadn't made up our mind whether or not to stop there (it would take us a little bit out of our way), but we decided to a few miles before we got there and turned off to have lunch at the northern visitor's center. Then we paid our fee, jumped on the tour road and headed off to see the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest.
Both were really cool, but one of our favorite stops was at the Puerco Pueblo mid-way between the two areas in the park. It's the ruins of a pueblo built way back in the 1200s and abandoned in the 1300s used by the people who farmed the valley long before the Spanish conquered Mexico. There were also some interesting petroglyphs. It's always fun to try to imagine what those mean, but I also feel a connection to their authors looking at the ancient scratches on the stone. It helps put humanity in context. The scratchings of any one human being will be meaningless some day, but the rocks they're put on will last much longer. Which author's work is worth the greatest consideration?
As it got dark, we pulled into very snowy Flagstaff, where we had dinner at a Cracker Barrel and I tried turnip greens and Libby had fried apple slices. I think she liked her apples better than I liked my greasy spinach-like side. Still, I like to try the foods of other cultures (and the south is a very different culture than California). Not long after dinner, we pulled into Tusayan and our hotel for the night, where I was unpleasantly surprised to find large crowds of people trying to find rooms for the night. We had reservations, and it wasn't any trouble, but it was annoying after the relative solitude of our trip to be among the hustle and bustle of humanity again.
Pictures on Flickr: Albuquerque to Tusayan.
Usually, Rosy Finches live in out of the way places. We saw lots of Gray-crowned Rosy Finches on our backpack trip this last summer because we were in their ideal habitat - talus slopes and alpine meadows. The other two species are less widespread than their Gray-crowned cousin. Black Rosy Finches are restricted to the high mountains of the central United States - high mountains in states like Montana, Nevada, Wyoming and Idaho. Brown-capped Rosy Finches have an even smaller range, occupying high mountain areas of Colorado south into northern New Mexico. During winter, though, the birds spread out a lot more to find food as it becomes more scarce. Interestingly, though, some also stay in their breeding areas all year, making a meager living on bugs blown up into the mountains that die in the snow. Which is pretty amazing.
Sandia Crest is great because the birds wintering there are concentrated by the feeding stations put out by a local cafe on the mountain top. Not only can you see all three of these species in one place, but you can do in comfort through a window over a cup of steaming coffee. Normally. Not so for us! When we arrived, we found the cafe closed because it was New Years. Thankfully, though, there was still seed in the feeders, and it wasn't more than a minute before a big flock of Rosy Finches settled in the branches of some nearby trees. We were able to watch them feed from an overlook and soon picked out all three species. Gray-headed Juncos, Steller's Jays, and Mountain Chickadees filled out the experience. We were able to enjoy good views of the birds to our heart's content and were pretty happy despite the constant and steady wind and subfreezing temperatures.
Soon enough, though, we were back on the road and heading west. We were really heading toward home, now, though we were still planning on stopping to see the Grand Canyon. The rest of the day was involved in driving into and through the classic country of the southwest. Buttes and plateaus with sparse vegetation from sage to junipers zipped by on either side. Occasionally, there would be snow on the ground, and we passed into the Navajo Nation right at the Arizona border.
Our next big stop for the day was the auto tour of the Petrified Forest National Park. We hadn't made up our mind whether or not to stop there (it would take us a little bit out of our way), but we decided to a few miles before we got there and turned off to have lunch at the northern visitor's center. Then we paid our fee, jumped on the tour road and headed off to see the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest.
Both were really cool, but one of our favorite stops was at the Puerco Pueblo mid-way between the two areas in the park. It's the ruins of a pueblo built way back in the 1200s and abandoned in the 1300s used by the people who farmed the valley long before the Spanish conquered Mexico. There were also some interesting petroglyphs. It's always fun to try to imagine what those mean, but I also feel a connection to their authors looking at the ancient scratches on the stone. It helps put humanity in context. The scratchings of any one human being will be meaningless some day, but the rocks they're put on will last much longer. Which author's work is worth the greatest consideration?
As it got dark, we pulled into very snowy Flagstaff, where we had dinner at a Cracker Barrel and I tried turnip greens and Libby had fried apple slices. I think she liked her apples better than I liked my greasy spinach-like side. Still, I like to try the foods of other cultures (and the south is a very different culture than California). Not long after dinner, we pulled into Tusayan and our hotel for the night, where I was unpleasantly surprised to find large crowds of people trying to find rooms for the night. We had reservations, and it wasn't any trouble, but it was annoying after the relative solitude of our trip to be among the hustle and bustle of humanity again.
Pictures on Flickr: Albuquerque to Tusayan.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Bosque del Apache
Bosque del Apache is a relatively small wildlife preserve along the Rio Grande in western New Mexico, but it is anything but small in national prestige. It is one of the most popular locations for wildlife photography in the United States, drawing photographers with its enormous wintering flocks of geese, cranes, and ducks amidst the enchanting light and landscape of New Mexico. It's one of the few places (Bolsa Chica on some occasions perhaps being the only other) that Libby and I have visited where birdwatchers are outnumbered, in this case significantly, by bird photographers.
In the morning, the big flight ponds was bristling with long lenses. Cars lined the roads and tripods sprouted like forests on the road edges and on the flight deck. Thankfully, the birds don't seem to mind the crowds. They're well adjusted to being gawked at, and allowed for close approach and great photo opportunities.
The highlight photographically at the refuge is the morning and evening commute. Every sunrise and sunset, the many thousands of birds wintering at the refuge fly in and out from the protection of their night time roost in large water impoundments to forage in specially provided fields. The result is a spectacular experience; previously serene skies fill explosively with the whirring wings, spraying water, and a pandemonium of honks and gurgles as the geese take to the sky as one. In short, it was awesome.
Snow Geese take off in the morning.
It was also cold. There was a strong and steady wind all morning, and the already freezing temperatures were doubly compounded by the wind chill. Gloves, heavy jackets; nothing seemed to keep the chill out. Ice was built up on the water and pushed into the lee corners of the ponds. The ducks seemed comfortable, but we were not! Thankfully, it warmed nicely during the day, and we had a great time driving the auto tours, taking a couple of short hikes, and enjoying the birds. We saw lots of familiar species, and one new bird - a White-throated Sparrow that has been spending the winter with a White-crowned Sparrow flock right next to the visitor's center.
I can't help but compare the experience of Bosque del Apache with the other places we've been to see wintering waterfowl flocks: the Sacramento NWR complex and the Salton Sea. I wouldn't say it's better from a birding standpoint. Perhaps its best relative virtue birding-wise is the compactness of the area - it's all concentrated in one easily traveled and explored place. On the other hand, the Salton Sea has fewer numbers, but greater over-all diversity of species in an expansive landscape that can take hours of travel time getting from place to place. The Sacramento NWR complex probably has both more individual geese and ducks (though fewer cranes) and greater diversity over-all than the Bosque, but, again, the birds are spread out between several refuges with miles between them. And, of course, neither of them has the magical light of Bosque del Apache or the romantic appeal of the southwest.
Lots and lots of pictures (some of them I like very much) can be found at Flickr: Bosque del Apache set.
In the morning, the big flight ponds was bristling with long lenses. Cars lined the roads and tripods sprouted like forests on the road edges and on the flight deck. Thankfully, the birds don't seem to mind the crowds. They're well adjusted to being gawked at, and allowed for close approach and great photo opportunities.
The highlight photographically at the refuge is the morning and evening commute. Every sunrise and sunset, the many thousands of birds wintering at the refuge fly in and out from the protection of their night time roost in large water impoundments to forage in specially provided fields. The result is a spectacular experience; previously serene skies fill explosively with the whirring wings, spraying water, and a pandemonium of honks and gurgles as the geese take to the sky as one. In short, it was awesome.
Snow Geese take off in the morning.It was also cold. There was a strong and steady wind all morning, and the already freezing temperatures were doubly compounded by the wind chill. Gloves, heavy jackets; nothing seemed to keep the chill out. Ice was built up on the water and pushed into the lee corners of the ponds. The ducks seemed comfortable, but we were not! Thankfully, it warmed nicely during the day, and we had a great time driving the auto tours, taking a couple of short hikes, and enjoying the birds. We saw lots of familiar species, and one new bird - a White-throated Sparrow that has been spending the winter with a White-crowned Sparrow flock right next to the visitor's center.
I can't help but compare the experience of Bosque del Apache with the other places we've been to see wintering waterfowl flocks: the Sacramento NWR complex and the Salton Sea. I wouldn't say it's better from a birding standpoint. Perhaps its best relative virtue birding-wise is the compactness of the area - it's all concentrated in one easily traveled and explored place. On the other hand, the Salton Sea has fewer numbers, but greater over-all diversity of species in an expansive landscape that can take hours of travel time getting from place to place. The Sacramento NWR complex probably has both more individual geese and ducks (though fewer cranes) and greater diversity over-all than the Bosque, but, again, the birds are spread out between several refuges with miles between them. And, of course, neither of them has the magical light of Bosque del Apache or the romantic appeal of the southwest.
Lots and lots of pictures (some of them I like very much) can be found at Flickr: Bosque del Apache set.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Carlsbad to Socorro
The morning of the 30th of December saw Libby and I decamping from our hotel, packing our car, and driving south down the same road we'd taken from El Paso. No, our destination was not Texas, but Rattlesnake Springs, a perpetual source of water that's tapped for local agriculture and Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
Rattlesnake Springs provides provides a unique westernmost winter home for a few eastern birds that we'd never seen before. So, off we went with modest hopes, back into the wide flat rolling country to which we were growing so accustomed.
Our hopes, being modest, were well fulfilled, despite its being a very quiet morning. As we wandered around the spring's large pool, stumbling quickly upon our first ever Brown Thrasher sifting through leaf litter in a dark thicket. Unfortunately we never got a complete and un-obscured view of the bird, but we were able to admire his surprisingly warm reddish-brown back and lean shape. After wandering about, enjoying Wild Turkeys, lots of sparrows, spooking a Great Horned Owl from its roost tree, and finding Northern Cardinals and Pyrrhuloxia together in their vermilion splendor, we came back to the pool and found an Eastern Phoebe had joined its western cousins - allowing us to enjoy all three Phoebe species in one place!
Wild Turkeys at Rattlesnake Springs
We missed a lot of potential birds there, some of which would have been new (Scaled Quail and Northern Bobwhite would have been awesome), but we were far from disappointed. On our way out we dropped by some bathrooms and were surprised to see two young raccoons in a neighboring tree! And, on our way back to the highway, we found a cooperative Greater Roadrunner.
From then on, we just drove to Socorro. We drove north through flat oil country before stopping for lunch at a park in Roswell - a bigger town than I had expected and with fewer alien-themed buildings (though there were quite a few). Then we drove through flat country and some hills before arriving at Socorro around dusk. That night we ate at the Socorro Springs Brewing Company. Great food - best meal of the trip by far.
A few pictures can be found at the usual place: Carlsbad to Socorro set.
Rattlesnake Springs provides provides a unique westernmost winter home for a few eastern birds that we'd never seen before. So, off we went with modest hopes, back into the wide flat rolling country to which we were growing so accustomed.
Our hopes, being modest, were well fulfilled, despite its being a very quiet morning. As we wandered around the spring's large pool, stumbling quickly upon our first ever Brown Thrasher sifting through leaf litter in a dark thicket. Unfortunately we never got a complete and un-obscured view of the bird, but we were able to admire his surprisingly warm reddish-brown back and lean shape. After wandering about, enjoying Wild Turkeys, lots of sparrows, spooking a Great Horned Owl from its roost tree, and finding Northern Cardinals and Pyrrhuloxia together in their vermilion splendor, we came back to the pool and found an Eastern Phoebe had joined its western cousins - allowing us to enjoy all three Phoebe species in one place!
Wild Turkeys at Rattlesnake SpringsWe missed a lot of potential birds there, some of which would have been new (Scaled Quail and Northern Bobwhite would have been awesome), but we were far from disappointed. On our way out we dropped by some bathrooms and were surprised to see two young raccoons in a neighboring tree! And, on our way back to the highway, we found a cooperative Greater Roadrunner.
From then on, we just drove to Socorro. We drove north through flat oil country before stopping for lunch at a park in Roswell - a bigger town than I had expected and with fewer alien-themed buildings (though there were quite a few). Then we drove through flat country and some hills before arriving at Socorro around dusk. That night we ate at the Socorro Springs Brewing Company. Great food - best meal of the trip by far.
A few pictures can be found at the usual place: Carlsbad to Socorro set.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Carlsbad Caverns
Imagine a big hole in the ground. Now, imagine that the big hole is filled with rocky spikes and fantastic shapes. OK, you've now successfully imagined Carlsbad Caverns. Really! That's it!
Of course, it is a little better in person. Not that I mean any offense to your imaginations.
The basic Caverns experience involves taking the self-guided tours. The Natural Entrance tour is about a mile walk that takes you 830 feet down and then about fifty feet back up again. You go in a big hole in the ground (remember what you imagined) on a paved path with a handrail and wind your way back under that hole into the very depths of the earth. The whole time, you move through these enormous passages in the rock that are hundreds of feet wide and tall. Speleothems start to show up early on, though the most impressive formations are in the deeper areas of the caves.
The second element of the self-guided tour is the Big Room tour. That's another paved loop that takes you around the biggest room in the cave. Its floor space is 357,469 sq ft! And the trail is more than a mile long! This area is full of huge stalagmites, and parts of the ceiling are covered in thickets of stalactites. It's really like something out of this world. At the end of the tour, there's an elevator that whisks you back up to the surface right into the Visitor's Center.
We did the walk in the morning, and then took the elevator back up to have lunch in the parking lot. After lunch, we took a little walk around the parking lot and down a small nature trail that begins there to see the typical birds of the area. This turned out to be sparrows - Canyon Towhees, Black-chinned Sparrows, and White-crowned Sparrows were very common. We also managed to dig up a Rufous-crowned Sparrow - a lifer for Libby! Pyrrhuloxia and Sage Thrashers were also typical parts of the area's plentiful avifauna.
Following our walk, we took the elevator back down into the cave for our scheduled 2:00 King's Palace tour. This is really a must-see part of the caves, and it's been fairly recently restricted so that you can only see it via guided tour. The rooms you visit are smallish, but incredibly full of all kinds of amazing cave formations - draperies and stalactites and stalagmites that will just blow your mind. Naturally, I decided not to bring a camera on this part of the tour.
However, I did take a camera on the rest of the trip - and the pictures are available here: Carlsbad Caverns set. There are a few pictures from the Walnut Canyon exhibits we visited, also, on our way in and out of the park.
Of course, it is a little better in person. Not that I mean any offense to your imaginations.
The basic Caverns experience involves taking the self-guided tours. The Natural Entrance tour is about a mile walk that takes you 830 feet down and then about fifty feet back up again. You go in a big hole in the ground (remember what you imagined) on a paved path with a handrail and wind your way back under that hole into the very depths of the earth. The whole time, you move through these enormous passages in the rock that are hundreds of feet wide and tall. Speleothems start to show up early on, though the most impressive formations are in the deeper areas of the caves.
The second element of the self-guided tour is the Big Room tour. That's another paved loop that takes you around the biggest room in the cave. Its floor space is 357,469 sq ft! And the trail is more than a mile long! This area is full of huge stalagmites, and parts of the ceiling are covered in thickets of stalactites. It's really like something out of this world. At the end of the tour, there's an elevator that whisks you back up to the surface right into the Visitor's Center.
We did the walk in the morning, and then took the elevator back up to have lunch in the parking lot. After lunch, we took a little walk around the parking lot and down a small nature trail that begins there to see the typical birds of the area. This turned out to be sparrows - Canyon Towhees, Black-chinned Sparrows, and White-crowned Sparrows were very common. We also managed to dig up a Rufous-crowned Sparrow - a lifer for Libby! Pyrrhuloxia and Sage Thrashers were also typical parts of the area's plentiful avifauna.
Following our walk, we took the elevator back down into the cave for our scheduled 2:00 King's Palace tour. This is really a must-see part of the caves, and it's been fairly recently restricted so that you can only see it via guided tour. The rooms you visit are smallish, but incredibly full of all kinds of amazing cave formations - draperies and stalactites and stalagmites that will just blow your mind. Naturally, I decided not to bring a camera on this part of the tour.
However, I did take a camera on the rest of the trip - and the pictures are available here: Carlsbad Caverns set. There are a few pictures from the Walnut Canyon exhibits we visited, also, on our way in and out of the park.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Green Valley, AZ to Carlsbad, NM
Day Three of our road trip was a road trip. That is to say, we spent the day on the road. This was one of our longer days driving - a 500 mile trip that Google maps says should take eight hours and forty minutes. Of course, that's without any stops. It took us something between nine or ten hours.
By now, much of it comes back as a blur of dry country and bad readers stumbling their way through David Copperfield (a Librivox recording). We still haven't finished David Copperfield, despite listening to the book almost every minute we were on the road, but the second half of the book has had much more consistent good reading than the first half. Thank heaven!
We took lunch a little early in Las Cruces, New Mexico; prompted by Libby's good memories revolving around the Cracker Barrel. Back when she was in Awana's high school program, she'd take annual trips to Chicago. And, every year, she'd eat at the Cracker Barrel. It's a very large and popular chain, but there aren't any locations in California. It has very southern or midwestern fare, soI enjoyed the opportunity by trying some deep fried breaded okra with my chicken and dumplings.
Las Cruces is also the first place we saw the mighty Rio Grande! After lunch, we jumped on the road, and, next thing we knew, we were in Texas!
The 10 dips down into Texas right at its western tip (see above). We took the 10 into El Paso before turning off and taking a smaller freeway west and north into New Mexico. The area around El Paso is Chihuahuan desert scrub, and areas of it were very reminiscent of the Mojave. But, soon after, we dropped down into some flatlands that were basically grass and salt pans dotted with cholla. Lots of Meadowlarks flew around on the side of the road, but both species are probably present here so we never actually added the birds to our trip list.
The scenic highlight of this part of the country is definitely the Guadalupe Mountains. After hours and hours of flat country and rock-dotted rounded hills, you finally reach something with some cliffs and some height to feast your eyes upon as your drive. Especially spectacular is the southern tip of the range - where it is capped by a beautiful massif called El Capitan.
Not long after passing Guadalupe Mountains National Park (not a place I'd heard of, before) we were entering New Mexico, parralleling the Guadalupe Mountains northwards as they shrunk down toward Carlsbad. And as dusk fell, we pulled into our motel for the evening, stretching our cramped legs and happily anticipating the next morning's adventures.
Pictures for the day are here: http://flickr.com/photos/rowleypics/sets/72157612325020902/
By now, much of it comes back as a blur of dry country and bad readers stumbling their way through David Copperfield (a Librivox recording). We still haven't finished David Copperfield, despite listening to the book almost every minute we were on the road, but the second half of the book has had much more consistent good reading than the first half. Thank heaven!
We took lunch a little early in Las Cruces, New Mexico; prompted by Libby's good memories revolving around the Cracker Barrel. Back when she was in Awana's high school program, she'd take annual trips to Chicago. And, every year, she'd eat at the Cracker Barrel. It's a very large and popular chain, but there aren't any locations in California. It has very southern or midwestern fare, soI enjoyed the opportunity by trying some deep fried breaded okra with my chicken and dumplings.
Las Cruces is also the first place we saw the mighty Rio Grande! After lunch, we jumped on the road, and, next thing we knew, we were in Texas!
The 10 dips down into Texas right at its western tip (see above). We took the 10 into El Paso before turning off and taking a smaller freeway west and north into New Mexico. The area around El Paso is Chihuahuan desert scrub, and areas of it were very reminiscent of the Mojave. But, soon after, we dropped down into some flatlands that were basically grass and salt pans dotted with cholla. Lots of Meadowlarks flew around on the side of the road, but both species are probably present here so we never actually added the birds to our trip list.
The scenic highlight of this part of the country is definitely the Guadalupe Mountains. After hours and hours of flat country and rock-dotted rounded hills, you finally reach something with some cliffs and some height to feast your eyes upon as your drive. Especially spectacular is the southern tip of the range - where it is capped by a beautiful massif called El Capitan.
Not long after passing Guadalupe Mountains National Park (not a place I'd heard of, before) we were entering New Mexico, parralleling the Guadalupe Mountains northwards as they shrunk down toward Carlsbad. And as dusk fell, we pulled into our motel for the evening, stretching our cramped legs and happily anticipating the next morning's adventures.
Pictures for the day are here: http://flickr.com/photos/rowleypics/sets/72157612325020902/
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Santa Rita Mountains
Saturday morning dawned clear, if cold. A thick layer of frost coasted the windshield, and the puddles of yesterday had become mini-ice rinks. We allowed ourselves to linger in the motel a few minutes, finishing off our remaining Christmas Tree bread before hitting the road for the Santa Rita Mountains.
On the way up we stopped in the grasslands to let it warm further uphill and to cast an eye about for sparrows. Our particular target was Rufous-winged Sparrows, but that wasn't to be. Instead, we found large roaming flocks of Lark Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, Black-throated Sparrows and Vesper Sparrows. Fortunately, Vesper Sparrows were life birds, so we can't and don't complain.
Our next stop was Florida Canyon, where as I mentioned in an earlier post, we were fortunate enough to see three Rufous-capped Warblers. These birds are a rare stray to the United States from Mexico (they have bred north of the border).. We benefited greatly from the experience of some other birders who were there, and had a pretty amazing time in the canyon. After getting great views of the birds (twice) we headed back downhill to the car.
While descending we fell in with a couple of Arizona birders who had been up in the canyon with us earlier, but had gone on ahead home. While looking with them unsuccessfully for some uncooperative Black-capped Gnatcatchers we thought we might have heard, one of them pished up a flock that included Green-tailed Towhees, Cactus Wrens, Black-chinned Sparrows (our first experience of them in winter), Lincoln Sparrows, and a Ladder-backed Woodpecker. All fun birds. And a few minutes later I picked out an unfamiliar warm colored finch-like bird in the oaks. It turned out to be a female Indigo Bunting! A new bird for us! And then a little bit further on we had a Crissal Thrasher, yet another new bird for us!
And right about the same time Mike Moore (he and his brother were the fellows we were walking with) started cursing and it turned out he'd discovered a Kentucky Warbler in a flock of Ruby-crowned Kinglets. This is an eastern bird that is even rarer in Arizona in winter than Rufous-capped Warblers! We helped them re-find it so he could document it (unfortunately our own camera's batteries had died because of the cold around this time), and got great looks at this beautiful and totally unexpected bird. Oh, and on the way down after all of this, we saw a beautiful mule deer off to the side of the trail (the first of many on this trip).
All in all the morning was a blast and pretty exhilarating.
We took our midday repast at Madera Canyon itself. There we had lunch while we watched Mexican Jays flying around in large flocks. Basically, they were behaving a lot like any kind of Jay you're familiar with - but these special birds are only found in the U.S. in Southeast Arizona, Southwest New Mexico and the Chisos Mountains of Texas. We then walked up to some nearby feeders where we were happy to see Wild Turkeys milling about along with large flocks of Pine Siskins, Acorn Woodpeckers, more Mexican Jays, and several varieties of Dark-eyed Juncos: Oregon, Pink-sided and Gray-headed. No Yellow-eyed Juncos, which are actually a different species found exclusively in Southeastern Arizona and southwards (we've seen them before in the Huachuca Mountains south of the Santa Ritas). Further exploring turned up a couple of mixed flocks of Townsend's Warblers, Bridled Titmice and Ruby-crowned Kinglets. I was hoping to dig a few Olive Warblers out of these mixed flocks, but no luck this trip.
Mexican Jay
After that, we just walked around and enjoyed the snow (along with a horde of other people from the area). On the way back to the Motel we stopped in three spots - Proctor Road to look again for Black-capped Gnatcatchers (nothing doing - just an Empid); Florida Wash where we had more sparrows, our first Northern Harrier for the trip, and a Gray Flycatcher; and Continental School, where I'd heard it was possible to find Rufous-winged Sparrows coming to a drip. We found lots more sparrows there, too, but no Rufous-winged Sparrows. We also found a juvenile male Vermilion Flycatcher, White-winged Doves, and I had a brief look at a Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet.
And that was pretty much it. That night we ate dinner at a local diner with all the snow birds, and overheard conversations about how it was stupid to remarry if you'd lose your pension doing it. Ah, romance!
The day's pictures are up on Flickr: Southwestern Road Trip Day 2 Set.
On the way up we stopped in the grasslands to let it warm further uphill and to cast an eye about for sparrows. Our particular target was Rufous-winged Sparrows, but that wasn't to be. Instead, we found large roaming flocks of Lark Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, Black-throated Sparrows and Vesper Sparrows. Fortunately, Vesper Sparrows were life birds, so we can't and don't complain.
Our next stop was Florida Canyon, where as I mentioned in an earlier post, we were fortunate enough to see three Rufous-capped Warblers. These birds are a rare stray to the United States from Mexico (they have bred north of the border).. We benefited greatly from the experience of some other birders who were there, and had a pretty amazing time in the canyon. After getting great views of the birds (twice) we headed back downhill to the car.
While descending we fell in with a couple of Arizona birders who had been up in the canyon with us earlier, but had gone on ahead home. While looking with them unsuccessfully for some uncooperative Black-capped Gnatcatchers we thought we might have heard, one of them pished up a flock that included Green-tailed Towhees, Cactus Wrens, Black-chinned Sparrows (our first experience of them in winter), Lincoln Sparrows, and a Ladder-backed Woodpecker. All fun birds. And a few minutes later I picked out an unfamiliar warm colored finch-like bird in the oaks. It turned out to be a female Indigo Bunting! A new bird for us! And then a little bit further on we had a Crissal Thrasher, yet another new bird for us!
And right about the same time Mike Moore (he and his brother were the fellows we were walking with) started cursing and it turned out he'd discovered a Kentucky Warbler in a flock of Ruby-crowned Kinglets. This is an eastern bird that is even rarer in Arizona in winter than Rufous-capped Warblers! We helped them re-find it so he could document it (unfortunately our own camera's batteries had died because of the cold around this time), and got great looks at this beautiful and totally unexpected bird. Oh, and on the way down after all of this, we saw a beautiful mule deer off to the side of the trail (the first of many on this trip).
All in all the morning was a blast and pretty exhilarating.
We took our midday repast at Madera Canyon itself. There we had lunch while we watched Mexican Jays flying around in large flocks. Basically, they were behaving a lot like any kind of Jay you're familiar with - but these special birds are only found in the U.S. in Southeast Arizona, Southwest New Mexico and the Chisos Mountains of Texas. We then walked up to some nearby feeders where we were happy to see Wild Turkeys milling about along with large flocks of Pine Siskins, Acorn Woodpeckers, more Mexican Jays, and several varieties of Dark-eyed Juncos: Oregon, Pink-sided and Gray-headed. No Yellow-eyed Juncos, which are actually a different species found exclusively in Southeastern Arizona and southwards (we've seen them before in the Huachuca Mountains south of the Santa Ritas). Further exploring turned up a couple of mixed flocks of Townsend's Warblers, Bridled Titmice and Ruby-crowned Kinglets. I was hoping to dig a few Olive Warblers out of these mixed flocks, but no luck this trip.
Mexican JayAfter that, we just walked around and enjoyed the snow (along with a horde of other people from the area). On the way back to the Motel we stopped in three spots - Proctor Road to look again for Black-capped Gnatcatchers (nothing doing - just an Empid); Florida Wash where we had more sparrows, our first Northern Harrier for the trip, and a Gray Flycatcher; and Continental School, where I'd heard it was possible to find Rufous-winged Sparrows coming to a drip. We found lots more sparrows there, too, but no Rufous-winged Sparrows. We also found a juvenile male Vermilion Flycatcher, White-winged Doves, and I had a brief look at a Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet.
And that was pretty much it. That night we ate dinner at a local diner with all the snow birds, and overheard conversations about how it was stupid to remarry if you'd lose your pension doing it. Ah, romance!
The day's pictures are up on Flickr: Southwestern Road Trip Day 2 Set.
Monday, January 05, 2009
Day One of our Road Trip Adventure
The morning of Boxing Day was dark and cold when we bundled ourselves out of our apartment and into our parents Ford Escape; very kindly lent to us for our trip. It took two or three trips to and fro to get all of our food, suitcases of clothes, laptops, optics and sundries distributed in the backseats and trunk before we were finally ready to go. The garage door raised in creaking protest, and we rolled out into the wide world. It wouldn't be until the next year that we'd see our home again.
The drive to southeast Arizona is becoming familiar, but that doesn't make it seem to go any more quickly. We got onto the I-10 in California, and it became our constant companion for the next 400 miles. We sped through the Mojave Desert - creosote and sage blurring by as we past the snow covered San Jacinto Mountains. Then you drop down into the very dry Colorado Desert, the westernmost section of the Sonora. Tall spiky Ocotillos begin to assert themselves as you pass the southern entrance to Joshua Tree National Park. Long dry sandy stretches seem to blur together before you arrive at Blythe, its agricultural fields, and the mighty Colorado River. A simple bridge crossing takes you into Arizona, and the first Saguaros promptly make ou welcome as the road wends its way through more rocky outcroppings.
We didn't stop for anything but gas and food - our lunch hour confused by the time change - before we arrived at Casa Grande. This small city is at the junction of the 8 and 10 in Arizona, and the last two winters has played host to a Northern Jacana, a type of coot-like bird normally only found in Mexico and further south. Unfortunately, it was uncooperative for us, but we did see start ticking our first trip birds. Canyon Towhees, a Prairie Falcon, and Loggerhead Shrikes on the nearby telephone wires welcomed us to the delightful avifauna of the lower deserts in Arizona. A Redhead and some Ring-necked Ducks in the golf course ponds (those very ponds that were so disappointingly short of Jacanas) were the only representatives of their species that we saw on the entire trip!
The Redhead at Casa Grande
After a few trips back and forth between the ponds, much craning of our necks, and a good bit od waiting, we packed ourselves back into the Escape and sped off to Tucson. There we encountered some light rain, but decided to persevere despite it to stop at the Sweetwater Wetlands there. These wetlands are a series of marshy ponds that are anything but sweet, being the discharge of a nearby wastewater treatment plant. These sorts of places are great for birds, if sometimes smelly (Sweetwater is actually not bad in that regard), and a short walk around the ponds yielded some more new trip birds, and our first lifer of the trip. This latter bird came in the form of a Harris Hawk, a semi-tropical raptor resident at the ponds.
A group of this desert dwelling hawk was milling about in the Eucalyptus Trees lining one side of the area, and we were happy to enjoy both flight and resting views of its striking plumage. We also saw our only Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Common Ground-Doves, Gila Woodpeckers, and Anna's Hummingbirds of the trip. The ponds there held yet more ducks, but most of these we would see at Bosque del Apache in New Mexico, later.
As it grew darker, we once again made our Escape (heh) and hit the road down the 19 to Green Valley where we spent the night. It was very cold in Green Valley, and we could see the snow in the nearby mountains had come very low. That was a little troubling becuase it was our destination for the next morning, but we decided to make the best of it and sleep in a little before heading up.
A small gallery of pictures from our first day on the road trip can be seen here: http://flickr.com/photos/rowleypics/sets/72157612170157379/
The drive to southeast Arizona is becoming familiar, but that doesn't make it seem to go any more quickly. We got onto the I-10 in California, and it became our constant companion for the next 400 miles. We sped through the Mojave Desert - creosote and sage blurring by as we past the snow covered San Jacinto Mountains. Then you drop down into the very dry Colorado Desert, the westernmost section of the Sonora. Tall spiky Ocotillos begin to assert themselves as you pass the southern entrance to Joshua Tree National Park. Long dry sandy stretches seem to blur together before you arrive at Blythe, its agricultural fields, and the mighty Colorado River. A simple bridge crossing takes you into Arizona, and the first Saguaros promptly make ou welcome as the road wends its way through more rocky outcroppings.
We didn't stop for anything but gas and food - our lunch hour confused by the time change - before we arrived at Casa Grande. This small city is at the junction of the 8 and 10 in Arizona, and the last two winters has played host to a Northern Jacana, a type of coot-like bird normally only found in Mexico and further south. Unfortunately, it was uncooperative for us, but we did see start ticking our first trip birds. Canyon Towhees, a Prairie Falcon, and Loggerhead Shrikes on the nearby telephone wires welcomed us to the delightful avifauna of the lower deserts in Arizona. A Redhead and some Ring-necked Ducks in the golf course ponds (those very ponds that were so disappointingly short of Jacanas) were the only representatives of their species that we saw on the entire trip!
The Redhead at Casa GrandeAfter a few trips back and forth between the ponds, much craning of our necks, and a good bit od waiting, we packed ourselves back into the Escape and sped off to Tucson. There we encountered some light rain, but decided to persevere despite it to stop at the Sweetwater Wetlands there. These wetlands are a series of marshy ponds that are anything but sweet, being the discharge of a nearby wastewater treatment plant. These sorts of places are great for birds, if sometimes smelly (Sweetwater is actually not bad in that regard), and a short walk around the ponds yielded some more new trip birds, and our first lifer of the trip. This latter bird came in the form of a Harris Hawk, a semi-tropical raptor resident at the ponds.
A group of this desert dwelling hawk was milling about in the Eucalyptus Trees lining one side of the area, and we were happy to enjoy both flight and resting views of its striking plumage. We also saw our only Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Common Ground-Doves, Gila Woodpeckers, and Anna's Hummingbirds of the trip. The ponds there held yet more ducks, but most of these we would see at Bosque del Apache in New Mexico, later.
As it grew darker, we once again made our Escape (heh) and hit the road down the 19 to Green Valley where we spent the night. It was very cold in Green Valley, and we could see the snow in the nearby mountains had come very low. That was a little troubling becuase it was our destination for the next morning, but we decided to make the best of it and sleep in a little before heading up.
A small gallery of pictures from our first day on the road trip can be seen here: http://flickr.com/photos/rowleypics/sets/72157612170157379/
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Christmas Retrospect
In the hustle and bustle of the holiday itself, followed close betimes by our excusing ourselves on a lengthy trans-state journey, I've had no time to type out any words regarding our very happy Christmas celebrations.
This year we spent Christmas Eve with the Mootharts. We enjoyed the hospitality of Gabe, Emily and their boys, and the wonderful traditional cheese fondue of Libby's mother while cheering each other with presents and the Christmas story. In short - I borrow the words from Dicken's Mr. Micawber - we made very merry. Pictures can be found here: Christmas Eve 08.
Immediately following this happy time of celebration, we betook ourselves to our church to celebrate Christ's incarnation through the beautiful midnight Mass. This is always a highlight of the season and the year for me.
The next day Libby and I exchanged our humble gifts and had a hearty breakfast of blueberry muffins, eggs, bacon and orange juice! It was wonderful. Libby got me an apron so that I can cook and clean in the morning in my work clothes, and I got her a Sleeping Beauty DVD.
We then returned to our car and went to my parents' house. There we celebrated Christmas, yet again, through the exchanging of gifts and the breaking of bread together. We had ham, scalloped potatoes, and everything else you could hope in a Christmas feast; chased by traditional sweet morsels representative of the seasonal spirit. We then opened presents from and to each other. Pictures, again, are at Flickr. You can see them here: Christmas 08.
When we got home we packed all of our things and went to bed so we could get on the road early the next morning.
This year we spent Christmas Eve with the Mootharts. We enjoyed the hospitality of Gabe, Emily and their boys, and the wonderful traditional cheese fondue of Libby's mother while cheering each other with presents and the Christmas story. In short - I borrow the words from Dicken's Mr. Micawber - we made very merry. Pictures can be found here: Christmas Eve 08.
Immediately following this happy time of celebration, we betook ourselves to our church to celebrate Christ's incarnation through the beautiful midnight Mass. This is always a highlight of the season and the year for me.
The next day Libby and I exchanged our humble gifts and had a hearty breakfast of blueberry muffins, eggs, bacon and orange juice! It was wonderful. Libby got me an apron so that I can cook and clean in the morning in my work clothes, and I got her a Sleeping Beauty DVD.
We then returned to our car and went to my parents' house. There we celebrated Christmas, yet again, through the exchanging of gifts and the breaking of bread together. We had ham, scalloped potatoes, and everything else you could hope in a Christmas feast; chased by traditional sweet morsels representative of the seasonal spirit. We then opened presents from and to each other. Pictures, again, are at Flickr. You can see them here: Christmas 08.
When we got home we packed all of our things and went to bed so we could get on the road early the next morning.
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