October 24 - November 3 -- A Stay At Trinidad's Asa Wright Nature Centre , Part 1: I Arrive

Portal is an amazing, unique place for many reasons, not the least of which are its residents. Some of them are retired professors. Helen, the real estate agent who sold me Faranuf,  has along with her husband Noel been involved in many bird reintroduction programs such as the Thick-billed Parrot and California Condor, not to mention Helen's a biologist and raptor expert and Noel has a doctorate and plays a mean cello. At Sky Village, a 450-acre development just outside of Portal, you can buy a house with an attached observatory and is home to retired astronomers, astrophysicists, or just professionals who appreciate the extraordinarily clear night skies here on the east side of the Chiricahuas. So whenever there's an announcement made that a presentation will be given at the Portal Rescue building, you know it will be a talk given by an expert in their field.

One of my best friends, and a person who really pushed for me to move here, is Peg Abbott. She's the owner and lead guide of Naturalist Journeys, one of the premier nature and birding tour companies that can take you to places as far-flung as Alaska and Africa. Naturalist Journeys merged operations with Caligo Ventures, which is the exclusive North American booking agent for the West Indies island of Trinidad's Asa Wright Nature Centre. Asa Wright is widely considered by birders and nature enthusiasts to be the best introduction to the tropics. By now you're probably asking "OK Steve, where are going with this?" Simply put, I went to Trinidad. And it was my introduction to the tropics, too. 

And my reintroduction to plane travel, too. The last time I'd taken a long-distance flight was in 1982 when I flew from LA to Amsterdam to do a 6-month cycling tour of Europe. (It was fun, but that's another story.) Suffice to say that things have changed a bit since then. But after a plane ride of about 13 hours with one changeover,  I arrived in Trinidad's capital of Port-of-Spain around 8:30pm local time dragging my wheeled luggage check-in bag, plus a bag with my camera gear which barely made the maximum size for a carry-on, and a small backpack. After standing in the wrong line for customs -- I'd followed a group of boisterous American oil workers speaking in a loud Texas twang, but it turns out they had priority -- I got into a really long line which after awhile I realized was for Trinidad residents (I didn't read the signs, naturally, but I have my long plane flight to blame for that) and finally went through the customs line for visitors. Jerry was waiting for me with an "Asa Wright" sign and the admonition "I was looking for your green Caligo luggage tags!" I lamely replied that I lost one and the other was hidden from view by my luggage so he couldn't see it. (Memo for next time: Make those green tags visible -- they're there for a reason!)   

Some of you may not know where Trinidad is -- or what it is. Trinidad, along with Tobago, is a twin island country that's the southernmost nation in the Caribbean. It's a real melting pot of ethnicities with about 70% of the population of Indian or African descent. English is Trinidad's official language but the main spoken language is an English-based creole one that reflects the Amerindian, European, African and Asian heritage of the nation. The religions are just as diverse as the population: Catholic, Hindu, Evangelical, Spiritual Shouter Baptists (an African one combining different beliefs),  Anglicans, Muslims, Seventh-day Adventists -- the list goes on and on. You'd think that with all of these influences and different ways of looking at things life could be a bit chaotic there, but Trinidad and Tobago is the most developed nation, and one of the wealthiest, in the Caribbean. 

So there I was at 8:30pm with Jerry at the wheel, driving on the "wrong" side of the road -- something left over from being a British colony -- heading up to the Northern Range and the Asa Wright Nature Center. As it was dark I had no idea what the area looked like until I left my room and walked to the famed verandah at 6am the next morning. 

The famous verandah at Asa Wright. 

The spectacular view from the verandah. 

A closeup of the verandah view, looking down the Arima Valley.

The Centre is located at an elevation of 1,200 feet in the mountains of the Northern Range, 7 miles north of the town of Arima. It was a plantation owned by Newcombe and Asa Wright that attracted scientists due to its ease of access to spectacular wildlife including the famed Oilbird Cave. Once Asa Wright could no longer maintain the plantation, concerned conservationists from around the world raised money and established a trust to create the Asa Wright Nature Centre, and now it's a top destination for birders and others, staying in an unspoiled and forever-protected section of Trinidad. Asa Wright is considered to be the best introduction to tropical birding, and every bird I saw during my stay was a Lifer for me. Well, except for the seemingly ubiquitous Turkey Vulture. 

Purple Honeycreeper

Bananaquit

Female Green Honeycreeper

White-bearded Manakin

There's much more to come... 

April 5 - October 24 -- How Time Flies...

I have no excuses. Before I knew it, November is nearly here. There's no way I can do my customary detailed blog post, so here are some highlights from the past 6 months, not necessarily in chronological order. And stay tuned; I stuck close to home for most of this year, but I'll be heading to Trinidad and Tobago in 2 weeks, then southern California for the holidays, Nevada's Overton for the month of February, Kenya and Tanzania for a safari in late March-April, and back North To Alaska with my trailer Discovery in July. That is, if the rodent damage done to the trailer can be fixed; more on that near the end of this post.

While we didn't have much rain this monsoon season, we did see some pretty spectacular things to the east. This cloud grew until it looked like something from a nuclear bomb blast. And while I'd like to say I timed it perfectly to get the lightning, it's actually a frame from a video I took. But this cloud knocked out about 25 power poles over in New Mexico, and the Portal-Rodeo-Animas area was without power for nearly 30 hours. I put my sleeping bag over the refrigerator  and limited my opening the fridge door to help keep in the cold -- and a friend came over to see how I was doing and promptly opened it for no reason whatsoever. You don't think about things like that when you're living in The Big City. 

The sunrises and sunsets are been uniformly spectacular -- 

A double rainbow, looking to the southeast from my front porch -- 

This was another single frame from a video. Though it looks like it was close, some friends had seen the same lightning strike to the east as they were driving down Portal Road.

Here's another cool meteorological phenomena. You're used to seeing "rays" coming from the sun; they're called crepuscular rays. These are anticrepuscular rays; they came from the rising sun behind me and appear to converge at the antisolar point that's directly opposite to the sun due to perspective. I saw the same phenomenon a few days later, only this time it happened during sunset.

This enormous cloud was probably the largest that I've ever seen.  It turned out that someone was taking a time lapse video underneath it around the same time as I took this photo. This, and the video, are awesome displays of the power of nature. 

We may not have had much rain, but the shows seen from my front porch were still impressive.  

Willow Tank was visited by Painted Buntings in late summer...

I had some pretty good "yard birds" these past 7 months. Here's a male Indigo Bunting -- 

I must've had at least 4 Gambel's Quail families; here they're at my back yard water hole -- 

I had male Varied Buntings on at least 2 different occasions -- 

My favorite, and consistent, visitor was a Violet-crowned hummingbird. They're "reportable" birds, uncommon for the area, and there was a time when birders wanted to have access to my back yard to see it. Here the Violet-crowned is on one end of a hummingbird feeder looking like a teeter-totter as it's blowing in the wind. 

A male Nashville Warbler -- 

A male Broad-billed hummingbird -- 

Blue-throated hummingbirds can be seen at the Cave Creek Canyon Visitor Info Center, where I volunteer -- 

A male MacGillivray's Warbler, also at my back yard water hole. He and the Nashville were there at the same time for a few days, and actually seem to "pal" around together. It was an interesting comparison when seeing them side-by-side. 

I puzzled about this humminbird for awhile until I realized it was an immature female Rivoli's (formerly Magnificent). 

The Arizona Highways magazine had been featuring Arizona mountain ranges; for its September issue it highlighted the Chiricahuas.  About a year ago one  of my Elegant Trogon photos had been an AH Photo Of The Week, and during the summer one of the magazine's editors sent me an e-mail, asking if they could use it in the Chiricahua issue. Here's the photo -- the tiny one on the left. About 90% of that issue was devoted to the Chiricahua National Monument, on the west side of the mountains and easily accessible via Interstate 10. We here in the Cave Creek Canyon area barely got a mention. Maybe that's why my photo was the smallest in that issue. Still, it's quite an honor.

Coues (White-tailed) fawns showed up in the back yard -- 

-- accompanied by their moms. 

Even the javelina brought their babies to the water hole. I still think of them as party guests who don't know when to leave. 

This languid-looking bobcat sauntered through my back yard. Most if not all of these critters were attracted by my water feature, which is merely a buried hose that I run out to a spot in the yard. I have it on a timer, so it even refills with water when I'm gone. My bird feeders might be put away, but there's still water for everyone. 

One day in late September I went out to the RV canopy next to my house to check on "Discovery", my 2015 Lance travel trailer. I noticed rodent droppings outside, and when I went inside -- oh-oh. I later discovered that 2 pack rats had chewed their way inside and had built a nest right next to the power distribution center, i.e., the location of all the electrical wiring. These weren't field mice; I put my foot by it for comparison -- 

Sorry, those of you who who believe all life is sacred. We have a rodent problem here and they can't all be trapped and moved. Besides, I was pissed off that they were able to get inside. So I put a rat zapper out and electrocuted them. I have a deal with all critters that we can live in harmony, so long as they stay out of the house, garage or trailer. If they try to get inside -- zap. I called the trailer insurance policy folks at Progressive, who said the damage isn't covered if the trailer hasn't been moved in more than 2 weeks. Well, THAT's stupid. So I hitched up Discovery to Tundra, popped open the hood -- mice like to get into the engine if it's dark; if the hood is up there's less of a chance -- then drove the 185 miles to Lazy Days RV in Tucson. The trailer was there for a little over a month, the damage wasn't too bad, I had a few other things done -- and now I have "her" back. I've put solar-powered rope lights underneath, again on the principle that rodents prefer to do their damage in the dark. It's a method to keep rodents away that's been recommended by friends and full-time RVers I know --and it works.

The rodent-damaged Discovery the day before the drive into Tucson. 

On a happier note, there was a surprise birthday party thrown for me while I was volunteering at our visitor info center. From left to right, Cecil, Maya, Lori behind Maya, a non-resident guy whose name I can't remember, Mike in the blue T-shirt -- and yours truly. 

And finally, to end what turned out to be not only The Year Of Home Improvement but The Year of the Critters, here's one last visitor to my back yard. He ended up bending 2 of my bird feeder poles, including the one you see here. 

Next up : A trip to Trinidad and the Asa Wright Nature Centre...

March 1-April 4 -- Marching Into Spring, And Faranuf Is Visited By A Rare Hummingbird

It's been over a month since my last blog entry, and as it's windy out today -- 20 to 30mph, with possible 40mph gusts -- this is as good of a time to get caught up on things as any.

There's a visual phenomenon the locals call "The Red Glow; it's when the rising sun hits Silver Peak and the light gives it, well, a red glow. It doesn't happen often, but it's quite striking when it does, and I have a great view of it from my back yard -- 

Things are starting to "green up" here in March. And the birds are starting to pop up and be more conspicuous, singing from exposed perches. This l'il Verdin, usually a quiet, secretive bird, sang for me out in the open -- 

State Line Road, which runs along the Arizona/New Mexico border between the towns of Portal and Rodeo, is a good place to see raptors. In the past month I've seen Merlin, Prairie Falcon, Northern Harrier, and Red-tailed Hawk along the road. Here's a juvenile Red-tail giving something he sees on the ground a laserlike stare -- 

The sunrises for the most part have been cloudless, but there are those occasional dawns that are spectacular -- 

There were still lingering patches of snow up in the high Chiricahuas until late March, and we even had a few times of (for the lack of a better term) weather instability that left here-and-gone-in-a-minute white stuff above Portal. 

We'll be having a celebration of the restoration of Willow Tank on Earth Day, April 22. Willow Tank is one of the few permanent water impoundments on the east side of the Chiricahuas, and is therefore an important stop for birds to rest and feed before heading on out. It can also be a good spot to see birds not commonly seen in the area, too. Here's a scenic of Willow Tank. It's not large, only about an acre or so, but it's a welcome sight to tired birds -- 

Willow Tank is one of the only -- if not THE only -- place here when you can see water birds such as ducks. Here's a male Cinnamon Teal on flyby. 

One of the signs that spring is here is the return of the Turkey Vultures to Cave Creek Canyon. My friend Winston Lewis, who along with his wife Jackie are the proprietors of The George Walker House in the tiny (try a population of 4) community of Paradise, calls the TVs "The Paradise Air Force", as they can sometimes look like a fleet of bombers coming into view. They're usually seen here starting March 15. I saw this one a day earlier -- 

One of the many social occasions we have here in Portal is the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. Parade participants range from Border Patrol on horses and ATVs to a hometown kazoo band.

And Portal's honorary mayor goes down the parade route in a classic Porsche. This year's mayor is Jackie Lewis,  who I mentioned runs Paradise's George Walker House. Jackie is giving her best queenly wave, a la Queen Elizabeth -- 

Here's yet another sign of spring -- the return of the birds from their south-of-the-border wintering grounds. Foremost among them are the hummingbirds. There are a few who overwinter here, but the overwhelming majority will be returning to a feeder near you in the coming weeks. I have a few returning friends, too, including this beautiful male Broad-billed -- 

Male and female birds become Mr. and Mrs. again, like these Northern Cardinals. Here's the Mrs -- 

And the Mr., both in my back yard. 

I may have mentioned her before, but I have a female Coues (White-tailed) deer and her young "son" who visit my yard daily. I'm a sucker for single moms, so I accommodate her as best I can. She now seems to be quite relaxed here. 

See? I'd say that's the epitome of relaxed; she's lounging in the shade of my RV canopy. 

But there are now signs of deadlier critters afoot. I found this Black Widow near my trailer. Unfortunately expired -- and I had nothing to do with it. 

I have a few "to do" projects around the house this year; the major one is re-finishing the wood decks. I have three, and they probably haven't had work done on them since they were first put in around 10 years ago. And that's a lot of harsh Arizona weather.  So I'm sanding, both by hand and with a belt sander, followed by filling in cracks and missing pieces with wood filler, then sanding again, spraying with deck cleaner, then rolling on redwood stain. The wood is very dry, so it's been taking 3 coats of stain before the wood soaks it up. 

Before --

After. 

I've done the front and side porches, and now it's time to do the LONG back porch deck...

And here's yet another sign of spring here -- poppies!  It's been a fairly dry winter, so they're hard to find. I came upon these while driving along State Line Road.

 The weather in March has been alternating between clear and cold, clear and warm, cloudy and threatening rain that almost invariably doesn't happen. And wind -- lots of it.  The results of the unpredictable weather can be spectacular, as in this rainbow over Faranuf -- 

or damaging, as in these struts in the RV canopy. The canopy is supposed to withstand 90mph-plus winds -- it's an Arizona law or buildings -- but, as you can see, it's been battered.  The struts are bending; you can see the crease in the center  -- 

or have been ripped entirely out of their screws. There's no warranty on the canopy -- "damage by inclement weather" is not covered. Though what other kind of weather would do this? Some friends suggested a few fixes, so along with the porches this is another of my "Tool Time" projects. 

I have a Magnificent hummingbird at my feeders for the first time since I moved here. They're probably my favorite hummingbird as they're the most colorful just so long as you get them in the right light. This is a portrait of one, though it was taken at Jackie Lewis's bird garden -- an Important Bird Area -- in Paradise. 

But this one WAS taken in my back yard; it shows a Magnificent next to a female Black-chinned. Notice the size difference. It's why I call the "Mag" the Mack Truck of the hummingbird world. It's second only to the Blue-throated as the largest hummingbird in the United States. A Mag is 5.1" long; a Black-chinned 3.75". 

Yet another sign of spring are nesting birds. Here's a female Great Horned Owl nesting in a cavity created by an Arizona Sycamore's fallen tree limb. She's right near the Portal Store and doesn't seem to be bothered by admiring birders. 

But most of the nesting birds aren't quite as public as Mrs. GHO.  This female Blue-throated hummingbird has her nest under the eaves of a house between two outdoor light fixtures; her location will remain a secret. 

Meanwhile, the raucous and entertaining Acrorn Woodpeckers continue to investigate old stumps for possible stashes for their acorns. It sure looks like they're striking a pose here. Voguing? 

And now we come to the "Rare Hummingbird" mentioned in this post title. On the morning of March 28 I was watching the backyard birds when I saw this hummingbird come to a feeder. It took me a few seconds before I realized it was a Violet-crowned hummingbird, an "uncommon to rare" bird that, except for really rare occasions,  is only seen in SE Arizona. It's the best Yard Bird I've had so far.  And it's now April 4, and I've seen it every day at the same feeder.  Here's hoping VC stays a spell!  

So spring is here! And I leave you with a Silver Peak sunset.