Back On Familiar Ground

April 4, 2012

Huachuca RV Park north of Sierra Vista in SE Arizona became our base for exploring birding areas around the area.  Last year when in the state, we drove onto Fort Huachuca Army base to search for birds, and found a rafter of turkeys in breeding display and behavior. 

This year we did not go onto the base, instead we drove south of the Fort to check out two of four canyons on the SE Arizona Birding Trail.  The first, Miller Canyon, suffered fire and flood in 2011.  Situated at the end of the road up the canyon is Beatty's Guest Ranch, a popular birder's haunt.  Two hummingbird feeders at the entry gate attracted six different hummingbirds while we watched, only some of the variety normally seen.  The drought of the past few years, the fire which burned to the fringes of the ranch house destroying the massive apple orchard, pond, and vegetable gardens, followed by .75 inches of rain in ten minutes where the parched ground could not absorb it fast enough resulting in a flood that washed away the soil and road up the canyon.  We could only imagine what the ranch looked like before all the devastation.  Many of the birds that had been here in the past have not returned in great numbers.  Hummingbird numbers are dwindling in the canyon due to habitat loss and climate change.  We felt fortunate to see the six hummingbirds we saw, one of them new to us:  Magnificent Hummingbird, the new one, Broad-Billed, Broad-Tailed, Black-Chinned, Anna's, and Rufous hummers - a good day.  The only other bird we identified there was a Black Phoebe.  The Guinea Hens kept on the property to eat various pests didn't count; they were not wild, but kept by the Beattys.'

San Pedro House, and old ranch house now a birders haven operated by volunteers and located on the San Pedro River, was another day's exploration.  Here we saw many birds we have seen before, but for the first time this year.  We walked a short path along the river in the grove of Fremont Oak and Goodding Willow trees.  Here we saw a Yellow Warbler and a Gray Hawk, only two of the many birds we saw.

There are Life Lists, and there are Yearly Lists.  Duffy keeps our Life List by date and location on Cornell University's eBird site, where birders can track birds by date and location that they've seen, which in turn helps ornithologists (bird scientists) recognize changes and trends, to determine reductions in species that lead to statuses of 'threatened' or 'endangered.'  Conservation and environmental concerns can be raised as a result.  The Yearly List is only as serious as a bird watcher chooses to make it.  Unlike the fanatics in last year's movie 'The Big Year,' Duffy and I save our bird counting for trips like this one, and occasional trips close to home.

Our third excursion in the Sierra Vista vicinity was to Ramsey canyon.  Down the road from Miller Canyon, and separated from it by one other canyon that is currently closed due to the fire and flood of the previous year, Ramsey Canyon escaped the fire and flood.  After driving up Miller Canyon on a road washed out and now negotiated with care, the trip up Ramsey Canyon suggested what Miller Canyon might have looked like prior to last year's natural disasters.  It was beautiful and lush in a gray-green deserty way.  At the end of the road lies a lovely complex built and run by the Nature Conservancy.  Farther up the canyon behind the entrance, the Conservancy maintains trails for hiking, benches here and there for resting and bird watching, and beds of well-marked native plants.   It was here that we saw a White-Breasted Nuthatch.

After three nights in Huachuca City at the RV park, we left for Tucson via Sonoita and Paton's Feeders.  Paton's is a 'famous' homestead, where, while the owners lived, was a birder's paradise.  The Patons welcomed birders to the backyard where eight to ten hummingbird feeders hung from the house eaves, and other feeders with seed and fruit attracted a plethora of birds from sparrows to woodpeckers to doves to titmice to warblers to cardinals to buntings to towhees to quail, and more.  What a place!  Larry (_), the self-proclaimed "Ambassador to the Birds," keeps the feeders filled, welcomes visitors, and assists in identification.  There is a canopy set up in the yard, with rows of folding chairs beneath for the audience to watch the bird activity.

Once in Tucson at our favorite campground, Catalina State Park, northeast of Tucson on the road to the towns of Catalina and Oracle, we set up camp and at long last Duffy dug his bicycle out of the Honda, where it had been trapped and wrapped since picking up the Casita a month ago.  Finally, Duffy climbed aboard his bike both yesterday and today and toured the loops in the park.

Catalina State Park is enormous.  The campground takes up only the tiny southwest corner of the park.  The rest is wilderness of oak and other drought tolerant shrubs and plants and cacti.  It is by far the nicest, cleanest facility we have seen in a state park.  That includes the bathrooms.  Volunteers keep the facilities immaculate as though they were their own.  There are trails to walk from the campground and often bird walks are held in the park, although there are none scheduled this year during Holy Week.  An equestrian facility rents horses or serves as a staging area for horseback rides through the park for those bringing their own animals.  For the first time, Catalina State Park is taking reservations online.  For the first time, we nearly were unable to get a camping spot.  The online reservations and the fact that we came to Tucson on the way home rather than at the start of our trip, explain why there was nearly no room for us.  This year we did not know just when we would arrive, so we could not plan ahead.

Day one in Tucson became a rest day for us, and a haircut and nails day for me.  Duffy went for a bike ride, I went for a haircut.  Then I had a manicure and pedicure.  We had dinner at Sweet Tomatoes, a buffet restaurant that serves fresh, fresh salads and gluten-free chili.  We would have gone to a movie if 1) it were not so late, 2) we had the energy, and 3) there was any movie showing we wanted to see.  Instead, we went back to camp and fell into bed.

Today, Wednesday April 4, Duffy took a bike ride and I slept in.  Nothing new about that...my sleeping in.  Our campsite was not available for the entire time of our stay in Tucson.  We were able to have one campsite for four days and another for two days.  Having to change sites mid-stay causes problems for any plans we may have made looking around and chasing birds.  Luckily, the second campsite was available this morning, so we did not have to wait until tomorrow when we hoped to be elsewhere.  Quickly, we took down camp, moved the trailer, and set up camp again in a new site.  Packing a lunch, we set off for Madera Canyon, south of Green Valley.  In this canyon, there are lodges and guest houses as in the others we visited, most with hummingbird feeders and seed and fruit set out for other birds.  We stopped at most of these, looking for hummingbirds new to us.  We saw the same hummers we saw elsewhere, still exciting for us, and rejoiced in also seeing a Painted Redstart, Heptic Tanager, and Black-Eyed Junco.  But no Elegant Trogon.  On our last trip here in a previous year, I had seen an Elegant Trogon, but Duffy had just missed it.  Alas, no Elegant Trogon for us this year.  In fact, very few birds were flying at all.  But, at Santa Rita Lodge, the Tom Turkey was strutting his stuff in all his feathery glory, while the hens, resting on the ground or searching for seed spilled from the feeders above, mainly ignored him.

For days now we have tried to connect with the Hugheses, a young family from our church visiting Janis' mother in Green Valley.  We thought today would be the day.  But after spending four-and-a-half hours in the canyon and a long hike up the hillside and back down, we had just enough energy to stop at the market for salad veggies and fruit, go home to fix a salad and hit the hay.  Well, not all of us hit the hay...here I am typing this blog into the wee hours.  Time to stop.

Until next time...
Pam