More catching up to do as I'll be leaving tomorrow (January 28, 2020) for another boondocking stay at the mesa south of the town of Overton, Nevada for the month of February then be on the road with my 2015 Lance 1685 travel trailer that I've named "Discovery" until the end of June, visiting Organ Pipe Nat'l Monument, then east to Texas and Big Bend Nat'l Park, the Rio Grande Valley and South Padre Island for birding, then north to Utah, Colorado, back down to New Mexico for exploring petroglyph and pictograph rock art sites, then home. So without further ado --
August 6 -- I'd seen male Painted Buntings in Texas and here at Willow Tank, but this one did me a favor and came to my back yard water feature.
August 14 -- While on a hike to Ash Spring to see a rare White-eared hummingbird nest, Winn Falls (the locals prefer to call it by its old name of Sally Falls) was a shade of green and purple that was probably due to the angle of sunlight we were viewing it from.
August 20 -- Along with the White-eared hummingbird we were privileged with the presence of a Berylline. Circumstances led us to believe there were two, a male and a female, though they weren't seen together.
September 1 -- The female White-eared hummingbird successfully fledged two nestlings. Here's one of them shortly after fledging.
Also on September 1, an adult male Blue Grosbeak made an appearance at the backyard water feature,
October 9 -- It was a late summer and early fall for birds rarely seen here. This female Prothonotary Warbler was at a friend's backyard feeders for about 2 weeks.
November 10 -- I had been selected for a federal trial in Tucson so decided to take my trailer instead of staying in a motel. One of the campgrounds was Gilbert Ray, south of Tucson in Tucson Mountain Park. We had a few spectacular "saguaro sunsets".
November 10 -- I was dismissed from the trial during jury selection -- shucks! -- and arrived back home to view some fall color. This is the venerable Arizona sycamore tree at our post office.
December 4 -- I met some full-time RVing friends at Roosevelt Lake northeast of Phoenix and stayed there for about a week. During one of our drives around the area we found a campground that had 2 male Vermilion Flycatchers. They put on quite a show, sallying forth from eye-level tree branches and not bothered by our being close to them. I cropped this photo; we weren't THIS near to them, but it's probably the best Vermilion portrait I'll ever get.
December 6 -- A sunrise over Roosevelt Lake as viewed from one of our campsites.
December 28 -- I visit my dad during the Christmas holidays and his condo has a great view of the Los Angeles basin. Here are the snow-covered San Gabriel Mountains and the skyscrapers of downtown LA. You can even see the planes coming in for a landing at LAX, out of sight on the left.
December 28 -- Coming home; this is looking into Cave Creek Canyon from Highway 80.
December 31 -- I volunteered at our visitor info center that day; here's how it looks inside.
January 4 2020 -- My camera "arsenal" that I'll be taking with me on my 5-month road trip. From left to right, the 500 f/4 MK II lens, the 7D MK II body with a 17-55 f/2.8 lens, and the 7D with a 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 lens. It's all Canon equipment which makes me a "Canonite".
Whew! Now I'm caught up and ready for the adventures to come. Stay tuned...
