Today I was determined to see those White-tailed Kites that had "skunked" me for the past 2 days. Luckily, I'll see other good things along the route I'm taking to that area where the WTKs have been seen that will make up for if I get skunked again. And I do -- get skunked, that is. But the 3-mile drive or so down Stateline Road harbors possibilities of birds, animals -- and snakes as the year goes on. And on the drive along the road I get a closer look at the old Pullman car, using my 100-400 lens --
I've been posting photos of the Pullman on the Facebook page "Cochise County And Its Wonders" , and they've been dredging up memories from many of the long-time residents here. I've found out that people have been living in them (there are a few more in the San Simon Valley) since they were abandoned; folks have been actually saying they remember "so-and-so" living there -- hopefully while they were still in somewhat better living condition. They're some of the many question marks that dot the landscape here, making you wonder "Why?" In posting the photos, I've learned of the location of another Pullman car in this area, which may be easier to get to as there are no fences as with this one. Though if I do any off-road investigations I'll be sure to wear my Levi's as the snakes are starting to come out of hibernation...
I haven't seen the Golden Eagle for at least 4 days now, and as I mentioned in yesterday's post that's probably a good thing for the GE as it could mean that it's not hunting for roadkill along the highway. But here are a few more photos during my last encounter with him -- first, a windblown coiff --
And even magnificent, majestic animals have to "go", though it this case it seems like a lot of effort for so little result ;o ) --
Skunked again, yes, but still a fun early morning being Out And About... Heading back home to Faranuf on New Mexico highway 533, which turns into Portal Road when you get back into Arizona, you get this "to the horizon" view of the road to the west. The tallest "peak" is Limestone mountain, and Cochise Head, so named as it looks like a man's profile looking horizontally, in the distance to the right. Why Cochise? Because, like Geronimo (named that by the Mexicans he encountered) he was a Chiricahua Apache; this was his ancestral homeland.
The backyard "critter cam"'s first results have been looking good -- the resolution is sharp, the speed flows naturally, and the audio adds to the overall capture. The first night, the highlight was a gray fox and tonight it's, well...
The buck seems to be a bit wary of the camera. As it's infrared for night photography, there's a red light that goes on while the cam is taking videos. It's not bright, but must be noticeable. But there's also a Striped Skunk in the background, probably eating up the bird seed on the ground, it looks like the deer sees it, then goes out of the frame. Afraid of getting "skunked", or not quite sure what's up with that new red light? The nightly views continue...
Dinner was going to be Chicken Cacciatore, supplied by Blue Apron, the online food delivery company. My friends Lori and Mark came on by and we ate outside on the back deck, with the view up Cave Creek Canyon in front of us -- well, the view of the backyard birds was actually in front of us, while CCC was behind. But however the orientation, it was glorious. Though Mark did point out a few wasps, the nastier kind (we also have harmless "paper wasps", too) that were starting to make nests in the back porch eaves. OK, knock 'em down in the morning, while they're still sluggish from the overnight cold....The things I never had to deal with living along LaLaLand's coast. After the dinner in spectacular surroundings we went up to "downtown" Portal, about 2 miles at most up the road, and looked for owls. They were pretty easy to find -- Western Screech in the Arizona Sycamore next to the post office, a Great-horned Owl up on the top of a branch, silhouetted against the moonlit sky, and the best of all, a tiny Elf Owl hidden in a juniper tree. Mark and Lori and top birders, so it's an honor to go birding with them at every opportunity. And we were also joined by Dave Jasper, who is probably one of the top "owlers" around these days. Having lived here for years, he knows where they all are. After successfully finding 3 owl species along the same road, we drove up NF 42, passing the visitor information center where I volunteer. Lori remarked that she and a birding friend who was visiting were driving along that road at night and saw a point of light along the Silver Peak trail way up on the side of the mountain; you tend to notice those things when there are absolutely no lights around. Her friend shined her flashlight up at the other light -- and it went out. The feeling is it was probably illegal aliens doing whatever they do on a trail in the middle of the night. Hearing Lori relate the episode, it was a reminder that things in Paradise aren't always sweetness and light. But no matter; we came back to Faranuf and played an electronic "Trivial Pursuit " type of game. The verdict at the end of the evening -- we're all pretty good at things trivial. Maybe that's why we're such good friends...
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