And to the west, there are the Chiricahuas ---
(The last photo was from the day before, as the view of the Chiricahuas on the 29th wasn't as impressive -- but then you can't get more impressive than this.) After an early breakfast I drove on the dirt road to Paradise, a tiny community about 5 miles from Portal, where Winston and Jackie Lewis, the owners of the George Walker House there, were having a hummingbird banding session from 6am to 11am. I couldn't resist snapping some scenics along the dirt road to Paradise--
On to the hummingbird banding...As you can imagine, it's a delicate method, starting with "catching" the hummingbirds at a feeder with netting that, once the hummingbird is inside, is dropped, and then the hummingbird is caught by hand and put into a small cloth bag. From there, the bird is taken to the banding table, where the bag is hung on a revolving "lazy Susan"- type device, so the bander knows which bird is next and the bird isn't in the bag longer than the others. The hummingbird is taken out of the bag by the bander (his name is Lee) and measured, both body and bill, determined how old it is, its condition, then banded. It's also noted whether the bird has been banded before, and its band number; all of these things are recorded in a book by the next person in line (Jackie Lewis). Then the bird is carefully wrapped which is held together by a small clip, and given to the third person (in this case, Debb) who feeds the bird nectar from the botton part of a feeder so it regains its strength, then puts it in her hand whereupon it takes off. I was there at that table for 3 hours, watching the proceedings, then went up to the area where the initial "capture" takes place. Two people at different feeders drop the netting over the hummingbird, and that part of the banding procedure is watched over by Winston Lewis, who records, among other things, the number of birds captured. At exactly 11am the banding procedure is finished -- and the final count for that session is 104 birds, which is an extremely high number (in comparison, there was banding taking place at the Southwest Research Station at the very same time, and this total number was only 23). The session was judged a smashing success at the George Walker House, whereupon Jackie treated everyone to dinner at the Rodeo Tavern for passing the number of 100 birds. While talking with Winston, we got to discussing where the helicopter lands to medevac a person to the hospital -- probably Tucson, nearly 200 miles to the west -- and at Paradise the landing spot is -- Paradise Cemetery, as it's the closest open, level spot near the town. After a very fascinating morning spent at the George Walker House, I head back down the road to Portal and Faranuf. The sky, which had started clear that morning, had clouded up with threatening-looking clouds --
And later in the afternoon the clouds were towering above the San Simon valley; here's one with a veil of rain -- and a faint rainbow below the cloud --
I spent part of the afternoon watching my hummingbird feeders and practiced taking photographs of the hummingbirds; here's an immature Black-chinned male (ID credit goes to Jackie Lewis; I thought it was an immature male Rufous) --
The folks who were involved in the banding process (including me, though I was just an interested "spectator", but in my puffed-up pride believed my presence helped to achieve the high number of banded birds) met at the Rodeo Tavern, where some of us ordered a Tilapia dish -- and I had a "Mike's Sandwich", shrimp on pumpernickel bread with a side of French fries. After good, wide-ranging conversation (I found out that Winston and Jackie, former residents of the Bay Area, were in the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989) we left the Tavern, Jackie and Winston having to negotiate the road to Paradise in the dark. The sky was mostly cloudy -- with a dramatic lightning display. Flashes lit up the clouds, and as I was driving up Portal Road, bolts of lightning zigzagged across the sky, sometimes looking as if they hit the ground. By the time I got to Faranuf I was determined to get photos of the terrific display, which at that time was erupting at about a flash every 5 seconds. So I put my camera on the "lightning"settings I'd got from the Internet, put it on a tripod, then took it out to the front porch. During taking the photo, I kept my finger on the shutter button for as long as a minute --and the photos were perfectly exposed --
Then the storm was coming towards Faranuf, and the lightning display came closer and more frequent --
Magnificent, and other reason why I'm falling in love with Portal and the little slice of paradise here on the eastern side of the Chiricahuas...
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