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I don't believe in bad luck. However, two eerie things happened on our first day of birding in Arizona. After checking in at our hotel in Green Valley, Cynthia and I went to check out the birds at Madera Canyon. My son, Kurt, who had been driving our rental car since early that morning, took a much needed rest so it was my turn at the wheels. After taking some photos of the Pyrrhuloxia and Phainopeplas, we got in our car and prepared to continue on to Proctor Road. It was then I noticed that the engine light was on. Worried that something worse might happen to the car if we continued up the road, my wife and I decided to return to the hotel asap. As soon as we arrived, I informed Kurt of the situation. He got in the car, turned on the ignition and...the engine light didn't appear on the dashboard. He tried several times and got the same result. As a matter of fact it never happened again the rest of the time that we used the car. Did I do something wrong while I was driving? was the thought that haunted me for a while.
As if that strange event wasn't enough, another mysterious thing happened that night. I wanted to review the Pyrrhuloxia and Phainopepla photos I took that afternoon. When I pressed the replay button on my camera I was shocked that none came out! I tried to upload the CF card to the laptop and was devastated to discover that the whole card was corrupted! To think that it included photos I took a couple of days ago in Orange County. Did I do something wrong with my camera? I remember resetting the date but could that have been the reason for this misfortune? (please see my previous blog).
Two unfortunate events highlighted the start of our birding trip to Arizona. I hoped and prayed that those would be the last.
Epilogue: Three weeks later, I was able to recover the photos from the corrupted CF card. Here are the shots of the Pyrrhuloxia and Phainopepla
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| Phainopepla |
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| Pyrrhuloxia |
Oct 8, '06
It's only about 50 miles away, so we thought we would revisit Patagonia, AZ. The trip was uneventful except when a rock hit my windshield causing a sizable 'break". The damage was not that big, but it would still cost me more than $200.00 to have my windshield replaced. "Not again!", I exclaimed, since this was the second time it happened. But Cynthia reminded me of what the Pastor preached yesterday, saying that God is always with us, not matter what happens.
We got to Lake Patagonia at about 8-ish in the morning. We disembarked from the parking lot which was just a few feet from the trailhead. I was setting up my gear when a family of deer meandered by. Of course, they were gone as soon as I was ready to shoot. This has become a recurring experience for me and would probably be the theme of my photographic life - the ones that got away.
There was another birder as we hit the trail, a lady named Epstein (forgot her first name). She was intent in viewing something flitting through the mesquite in front of her. As is customary among birders, we asked her what she was looking at. In soft, whispery voices, naturally. "Northern Beardless Tyrannulet", she whispered back. Now there is name that invokes a million questions. In the United States, it is only found here in Southeast Arizona, why then is it called "Northern"? And what is it about being "Beardless"? I have not seen a bird with a beard. Wattles that hang from their chins, maybe, but never a beard. Why then call the poor thing, "Beardless"? Did it have a beard before, shaved, and is now beardless?
Other than the curiously named bird, Lake Patagonia did not offer much. Our trip to the same place in February of last year was a lot more productive. It being close to lunch time, we headed for the town. Patagonia has only one street and not a lot to choose from when it comes to places to eat. We ended up at the hotel where we stayed before and had ridiculously priced sandwiches for lunch. Actually it was cheaper here than at the first place we ventured into. We should have gone back to the Velvet Elvis and enjoyed the special pizza served by its Mexican owner.
Our next stop was Paton's place. This is a world-renowned private residence that allows birders to view the many bird feeders placed strategically all across their yard. Again, we've seen more kinds of birds here last year than we did that day.
It was quite a disappointing day. We just chalked it up to experience and still vowed to return someday when the birding (and hopefully, the eating) would be better.
Early Sunday morning, we joined another bird walk led by Alan, the BLM volunteer. This time the venue was Sierra Vista's Environmental Operations Park (EOP) a glamorized epithet for the city's wastewater treatment area. Nevertheless, it was a birdy place. Just off the parking lot, we were already greeted by a Loggerhead Shrike, another skittish species in California but not so in Arizona. Continuing with the friendly-bird format, we also saw (and photographed) a Virginia Rail, a bird that is more often heard than seen as it skulks among the dense marsh vegetation it inhabits. We also had good looks at Yellow-headed Blackbirds, one of our target birds on this trip. The walk ended at 9:30 am giving us sufficient time to go back to the motel to change into our church clothes.
The service (and preaching) at Calvary Chapel Sierra Vista was very uplifting. The congregants, friendly. For lunch, we decided to live it up and had a sumptuous buffet at Grand Corral.
Inspired by lunch at the Corral, we took off our birding hats and put on our tourist caps as we proceeded to Tombstone. Yes, this is the site of the famous gunfight between Wyatt Earp, his brothers, and Doc Holliday against the notorious Clanton Gang. The center of the town was kept in its historic original, complete with dirt road, stagecoaches and, of course, gunslingers. Nothing historic about the prices of the merchandise, though, as the primary source of their economy are curious tourists such as this two. Of course, we didn't succumb to this highway robbery - we're smart dudes, ya know.
Now that Cynthia had been hooked to bird photography, it behooved us to go to a place where there are lots of birds. Sierra Vista, Arizona, is such a place. Nestled in the mountainous area of the southeastern section of that state, it is dubbed as a birder's paradise, boasting of species seldom, if ever, seen in other parts of the United States.
We left home at exactly 6 am Friday, Sept. 22. By 9:06 am we crossed into Arizona territory and by 3 pm we are checking-in at Best Western in Sierra Vista. It was a long drive, but we had several stops along the way. For lunch, we ate at the Burger King in Tucson, a break from the traditional breakfast at McDonalds. It has become a routine for us whenever we go birding, that our morning should start with a breakfast at the famous fast food place (regardless of where we were ultimately headed). But this was lunch, we rationalized, so it was OK.
There was still enough light to go birding, so after dumping our luggage into our room (thank God it was on the ground floor) we proceeded to the San Pedro Riparian Area about 7 miles away and a well-known birding place. We decided not to bring our cameras as we hit the trail from the parking lot to the edge of the San Pedro creek. We just planned to "case the joint" and see what the place has to offer bird-wise. None of the birds we saw were unusual in the sense that they can be seen in California, too. However, the birds here seem to be more colorful; the Vermillion Flycatcher more strikingly vermillion, the Blue Grosbeak, in deep blue shades.
Close to the creek we met a local birding couple, Mel & Elaine, who gave us suggestions on where to bird at what particular time. Mel was in a middle of a sentence when I saw a raptor suddenly fly into view. I grabbed my binoculars and Mel did the same. "Swainson's Hawk", he said almost nonchalantly. Cynthia and I viewed the bird with the enthusiasm of a child just handed a new toy. It was our first lifer of the trip.
Flushed with our success, we decided to celebrate by having dinner at a Korean Restaurant. We had a perfect bul-go-gi to end a perfect day.
