April 11-12 -- Random observations and a spectacular sunset...

Morning on Friday April 11; I've been "boondocking" for nearly a week on my friend's land just outside of the small "burg" of Portal. I've seen no snakes (though I do check under the trailer's stairs, and peer under the trailer and truck just to be sure) and using the generator (a 2,000-watt Yamaha) is proving to be a cinch; I just fire it up in the morning for an hour, charging up camera batteries and such, and again in the evening so the trailer batteries (1 have 2 12-volt deep-cycle batteries) are "topped-off". Here's a photo of my spot, and the long "driveway" I have to back out of to join the main (dirt) road -- 

And here is that road in the foreground, looking west -- 

Those clouds really add to the grandeur of the landscape, don't they? It does turn out to be a day graced with clouds, as does the next day; most of the other days it's totally clear. The 11th and 12th are catchup days, using the free WiFi at the Myrtle Kraft Library in Portal then when that closes at 2pm going over to the Portal Store and Lodge for a delicious lunch (try their e-enchilada plate; it's great) and more free WiFi. On the 11th I also make a run over to Animas, New Mexico for gas and food; it's the closest place to Portal for both, about 25 miles one-way. And you have to remember to put your clock ahead 1 hour when you enter New Mexico -- and set it back when you get back into Arizona and Portal. It can be a tad confusing...The place in Animas for food and gas is the "Valley Mercantile Exchange", and I hear there is a good place for pizza in Animas, though I never tried it when I was there (but will if/when I move to the Chiricahuas in the near future). If you needed to do "major" shopping, the closest Wal-Mart is in Douglas, about 60 road miles south from Portal, and I've been told that whenever someone who lives in the area is going to Douglas, you ask around to see if anyone needs anything; people help each other out here. So it's now April 12, it's evening, I'm back "home" with a full tank of gas and groceries to last another week, and the clouds put on a show at sunset --

And the colors just keep getting better -- 

That's Silver Peak, and these were taken from my boondocking spot. And a day earlier, on the 11th, Portal Peak was looking spiffy, surrounded by backlit clouds -- 

Next up, Red-faced Warblers during a hike up Cave Creek and a tributary canyon...

April 9 and 10 -- A Hike to Ash Springs, and camping overnight at a National Natural Landmark...

There are many wonderful things that keep me returning to the Chiricahuas; one of them is that you can visit 6 basic plant communities, each supporting their own unique birds, within a span of at most 20 road miles. And if you get off the (mostly) dirt roads and hike, there are more hidden treasures to explore..Ash Springs and the surrounding area is one such place. The springs creates a habitat that you would find 3,000 feet above, in the high Chiricahuas. The trail begins at Herb Martyr (I still think that's a wonderful name, and it was the actual name of a worker on the small dam built there who died during the construction) campground and climbs where you can get good views of the surrounding landscape --

And then you enter into a canyon and an area called the Cima Creek Cienega, where the springs and creek create a micro-climate, an area of inviting coolness and ferns -- 

House Wrens are here. But not just your "typical" House Wren; they can be of the "Brown-throated" subspecies, what looks like a "mutated" House Wren with a unique call all its own -- 

Painted Redstarts, a bird that could be called a "signature" bird of the Chiricahuas, are present too --

This pocket of green is a unique place, full of singing birds and green ferns -- truly one of the "hidden treasures" of the Chiricahuas. But now it's time to go "up top", to the high Chiricahuas and one of the wondrous "gems" of the entire mountain range, Barfoot Park. The next day, after a pretty sunrise at my boondocking spot 

 I drive the Tundra up the trans-mountain road that eventually leads to the western side of the Chiricahuas and the "wonderland of rocks", Chiricahua National Monument. At Onion Saddle the roads descends to the other side, but I take the road to Rustler Park. The elevation here is around 9,000 feet and though this, tragically, is an area that was devastated by 2012's Horseshoe 2 fire, it's still magical, and the fire seems to have had less effect on the birds than was originally feared. And the fire spared Barfoot Park for the most part, though there are charred trees where it seemed as if the fire selectively burned a few, then completely missed others standing nearby -- 

This is Barfoot Park. It was declared a National Natural Landmark by the US Park Service in 2011, a year before the fire, and it's easy to see why. That's Buenva Vista Peak behind it, which I will climb later in the morning. There used to be a fire lookout on the peak that was easily visible from the park, but that burned down in the 2012 fire. Barfoot and the surrounding area is home to Zone-tailed Hawk along with a least two Short-tailed Hawks, a bird usually found in the United States only in Florida, but Noel and Helen Snyder, residents of Portal, scientists and raptor-watchers, discovered a Short-tailed nest here a few years back, and put up a blind to study the nesting behavior. Hepatic Tanagers come here starting around April 15, and during my previous visits I've seen Mexican Chickadee, Grace's Warbler and Cordilleran Flycatcher, among others, and have been serenaded at night by Mexican Whip-poor-will. So who knows what I might see during my stay at Barfoot Park? But first, it's a climb up to Buena Vista Peak. There's a trail that goes from the park to a saddle, then it's only 1/2 mile to Buena Vista (aptly named). Once the trail leaves there bowl of the Park, the extent of the 2012 fire can be seen everywhere -- 

The green path is the trail, and Buena Vista is up on the left. Up on the saddle there used to be a fairly thick forest, but now it's nearly all dead trees -- 

And finally, at the top of Buena Vista Peak, and the former site of Barfoot Lookout; this is looking west, with Barfoot Peak on the right -- 

As you can see, I brought my 500 f/4 lens with me because I'd like to get the best-quality photos of any animal or bird I might encounter; you just never know what you may come across, and it is my dayhiking lens of choice. Alas, I really didn't see any "good" birds during that hike, but I WOULD have if I hadn't brought The Big Boy with me... ;o). This is a great view for a panorama -- the only 

way you can get a feel for the vast sweep of the land --

In this panorama, you can really see how the fire came from the left and burned the forest nearly all the way to the bowl of Barfoot Park, that light-colored clear field in the bottom center; it seems to have miraculously stopped right there. Here's a closer photo of Barfoot Park and Peak -- 

As it turns out, just when I was up here, taking photos of the superlative views, down at Barfoot Park a bird seen only in Mexico was being observed -- by two full-time RVers/birders who I had bumped into earlier that day. The bird was a Slate-throated Redstart, which looks somewhat similar to a Painted Redstart, except there is no white wing patch, or a white crescent under its eyes. One had been seen the year before at the Southwestern Research Station, but this one was WAY out of its usual habitat -- it should have been about 4,000 feet lower, which explains that only a very few observers saw it when it was a Barfoot Park -- and I was not one of them. After I had returned down to Barfoot Park and found out about the Slate-throated from other birders who had seen the report on the Web, I searched and played the call on my BirdJam iPod Nano, but I never saw it up to the time I left Barfoot the next morning. Alas...But I always have a good story to tell how I ALMOST saw it...However, there were Yellow-eyed Juncos at the Park; I've always found them friendly and inquisitive -- 

 My camping area at Barfoot was perfect, with wood (I'd been stashing it in the back of the Tundra for nearly a year) for a fire --

There weren't any Whip-poor-wills around this time for a nighttime serenade, but the three-quarters moon was beautiful; this was taken handheld with my 500 f/4 lens --

It was just a grand and glorious time to be at Barfoot Park. Though I missed out on the Zone-tailed Hawk, Short-tailed Hawk -- and ok, thanks for reminding me, the Slate-throated Redstart -- I was in Barfoot Park, spending the night, and I could think of no-place I would rather be. And I knew I'd return in a week's time, spending 2 nights, and getting a 2nd chance on things I'd missed this time...

April 7 and 8 -- A morning birding with a new friend, and a Northern Goshawk encounter...

On Friday April 4 a friend threw a "get-acquainted" party with me in attendance. Peg Abbot is a naturalist and bird guide living in Portal; I'd "met" her on Facebook (yes, good things can happen through contact on FB) and she invited me for dinner at her place where I met local folks who, if I were to live there, would make good "contacts", not to mention friends. The food was great and so was the company, and one person I met was Dodie, a woman originally from Minnesota who has spent time in the Chiricahuas these past few years. She's an excellent birder, knowing the bird calls and spots where to find the "good birds" there, so on Monday the 7th we met for a morning of birding. But before that, in the morning I was greeted near my trailer by a female Ladder-backed Woodpecker warming up in the sun --

  Dodie and I headed up the road to Herb Martyr, just past the Southwestern Research Center, and she spotted Buff-breasted Flycatcher; the Chiricahuas is one of the only places where Buff-breasted is known in nest. Alas, once I got my binoculars on the Buff-breasted, he took off, but I would have my own encounter with that species on another day. It was just a good day to be out and about, and when we stopped by the Southwestern Research Center, I saw a Yellow Warbler taking a bath in the creek --

I'd been in the Chiricahuas for only a few days but I was beginning to notice small details, such as Peg having a headlamp by her front door, and Helen when stopping by my trailer in the mesquite during the night was wearing a headlamp. It seems like EVERYbody does when they're out at night -- so you can spot snakes before stepping on them. And the snakes can be poisonous, especially Western Diamondback and Mojave. None of the "old wives' remedies" really work to counteract a snake bite; your only realistic option is to take a helicopter ride to Tucson, over 100 miles to the west, for treatment. But according to my friend and real estate agent in Portal, Helen Snyder, without insurance it would cost $15,000 just to step on board the helicopter -- and about $25,000 once you're treated and returned to Portal. But she said the insurance to cover such things costs only $100 a year, so a memo to myself: GET THAT INSURANCE! And besides headlamps, I noticed a few cars and trucks with their hoods popped open. When I asked my friend Wynne Brown who lives in Whitetail Canyon, about 20 miles north of Portal, she said it's to prevent pack mice from eating the engine wiring. They prefer the darkness of a closed hood, so as long as you crack the hood open at least a little, it prevents the mice from having a field day on your engine. Sure enough, we popped open the hood of my Tundra, and there in the dust on the engine I saw -- little rodent footprints. They'd been scouting out MY engine...

The next day, Tuesday the 8th, I decided to hike around the Herb Martyr road myself, so I went up to a little-known trail behind some cabins -- and promptly saw the Northern Goshawk (probably the female; raptor females tend to be larger than the males) that my friend Helen Snyder said had a nest near her cabin along Herb Martyr. Goshawks are the birds that started my interest in them; I'd been dive-bombed by Goshawks while backpacking in NE Nevada's Jarbidge Mountains back in 2004, and actually got a photo of a Goshawk coming right at me, screaming all the while. (They've been known to take off people's scalps, dive-bombing to defend their nests.) They tend to prefer isolated and thick forests, but here was one with an active nest just a few hundred yards from a road -- 

Goshawks really are my favorite raptors as they are the ULTIMATE raptor, obsessively pursuing their prey through branches and other obstacles, screaming all the while. And I got the Goshawk at the beginning of the hike -- how could I top THAT? The trail goes past John Hands campground and ends at Herb Martyr campground, along Cave Creek. It was here that I got a life bird for me, Williamson's Sapsucker -- a female -- 

I would see about 6 other female Williamson's during my Chiricahua stay. As I was making my way back down the trail to my truck, I came upon some guys in orange jump suits putting up barbed-wire fencing, being supervised by what looked like law officers. Their jumpsuits had "ADC" boldly printed on them. Turns out that stands for "Arizona Department of Corrections" -- i.e, they were prisoners. But they were very nice, calling me "sir" as I passed by; I even told them to watch for the Goshawk which was in the area. Shortly after that, since this was the right habitat, I turned on my BirdJam  and played the call of the Buff-breasted Flycatcher -- and one came in! Well heck, I just HAD to get as many photos of this rarity as I could -- 

Wow. After getting both Northern Goshawk and Buff-breasted Flycatcher, I was the proverbial Happy Camper...

Up next, a hike to an amazing micro-climate, similar to habitat 3,000 feet above...

April 6 -- The Chiricahuan Adventure Begins...

Actually, the Adventure began as soon as I arrived in Portal...I was lucky in that a friend back in southern California gave me permission to "boondock" on his 4 acres of land just outside of Portal, the main "town" on the eastern side of the Chiricahuas. He gave me a Google map, but all of that area, well, looks the same -- mesquite and scrubby brush, with no property markings except for a capped well which was on his property. The thing is -- WHERE was the capped well? I sure couldn't see it. Luckily, a lady living across the "street" (really a dirt road) saw my confusion and brought her husband out, who happened to remember when my friend came out to look at the property a few years back. The husband ("My name's Buddy") said "Things sure grew here in the last few years!" and found the well, about a 4-foot-tall piece of pipe -- and that was where I was to park Discovery. I chatted with Buddy and his wife for a bit, finding out that his family homesteaded that area, having an orchard and farm -- and that he, as with seemingly so many other people there, was going to put up his house for sale soon. It was time to put Discovery in her spot, so  I carefully backed her in, going about 300 feet off the road, dodging mesquite trees along the way (if I had driven in truck-first, I wouldn't have been able to get the truck out). It soon became a pattern, backing out of my "driveway" -- pull to the right, then left, then right again (oops! too close to the mesquite branches, as they scratch down the side of the Tundra), then to the left, then finally straight out. Despite all, it was a great spot, and as you could see from the previous post, the views were unbeatable. So now it's the next day, Sunday April 6, and I was headed for my first hike, up the South Fork Trail. This is probably the most-hiked trail in the Chiricahuas as Elegant Trogon nest here, and you can hear Greater Pewees singing their "Jose Maria" calls, and it's just plain scenic along the creek. On the dirt road ending at the trailhead there are 2 Forest Service cabins, and one is for sale, so as I am thinking of moving to the area I stopped by the cabin to take a look --

As you can see it's QUITE basic. AND its "plumbing" is primitive -- 

This really is the "john" for the cabin. Hmmm..A little bit too "off the grid" for me... But I took a look inside one of the windows, pressing my camera against the pane -- 

Being on Forest Service property, you can't alter it much if at all, so while it's in a prime location (Elegant Trogon nest nearby) I think I can afford a little more in the way of "creature comforts"...But the South Fork trail is gorgeous, with pools and dappled light filtering through the Arizona Sycamores, Oaks, Douglas Fir and Apache Pine -- 

I'd say if there is a "signature" bird here, it's the Painted Redstart. You'll see them flick their tails about, trying to mesmerize bugs into getting caught. Here's one that was on the trail, looking for nesting material -- 

Ruby-crowned Kinglets are EVERYwhere, from Portal on up to the high Chiricahuas at 9000 feet. You really have to look twice, though, because what you think might be another Ruby-crowned just might be a Hutton's Vireo. Yet this one is a Ruby-crowned -- 

The trail splits at Maple Camp, with the left fork going up to Burro Spring, but I elect to take it easy for my first hike and continue up South Fork  Creek. I see an "Empid" flycatcher in the willows along the creek; Empids are always a challenge to ID especially in the field, but my new friend Dodie Logue, who's visited the Chiricahuas many times in recent years, IDs it as a Hammond's Flycatcher --

The camera I take along for when I bird is the Canon 7D, and the lens is the 500 f/4. Though the lens is heavy, I want my bird shots to be of the highest quality, so that way IDing the bird is easier as the details are so crisp -- as in the case of this Hammond's. The creek and its surrounding flora continues to be gorgeous -- 

I head back around 2pm and check out for the first time the house I REALLY have in mind, about 4 miles east of Portal off the main road -- 

Up next, Herb Martyr (isn't that a great name?) Road with a new birding friend, and a look at a Northern Goshawk and a rare Buff-breasted Flycatcher...

April 5-6 -- Intro and Boondocking at SE Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains

"Boondocking" -- what a word! I guess it comes from "docking" in the "boonies", that being a area far from the trappings of civilization. The Chiricahuas are perhaps not "the boonies", but rather a place which IS the destination; you don't go through them to get to someplace else. And getting to them can be an adventure in itself; there are 3 roads leading to Portal, but the only way there that is entirely on pavement is -- if you're coming from the west -- to go into New Mexico, then return back into Arizona, changing the clocks back and forth as you do so, since Arizona, ornery state that it is, doesn't recognize Daylight Savings Time. That being said -- the Chiricahuas, home to Geronimo and the Chiricahua Apaches, land of coatimundi and Gila Monster, Apache Fox Squirrel and other species endemic to that particular mountain range, perhaps even jaguar, as one was seen in the neighboring Peloncillo Mountains in 1996 -- well, you never really know what you might see there, or step on, as there are at least 30 species of snakes, including Diamondback and Mojave rattlesnakes.   There is even a chance, slim though it may be, that you might see Mexican Gray Wolf -- though the last recorded sighting was in 1971. And the birds --- the Chiricahuas have been called by many knowledgeable bird experts THE best spot for birding in all of the United States. It's unique as it is at the northernmost limit of many Mexican bird species; you just don't see them anywhere else in the States. And within a span of about 15 miles of dirt road you can go through 6 different plant communities, each supporting its unique set of birds --- desert, grassland, pinyon-juniper woodland, Sierra Madrean pine-oak woodland, ponderosa pine forest, fir-spruce forest, and ponds. It's just an incredible place -- the "sky island" sans pareil -- and what an opening view I had of the Chiricahuas, wreathed in clouds dropping rain that did not reach the ground (called virga), with Hwy 80 leading straight to them --

Looking northeast, back along the route I had just traveled, the scenery was just as dramatic -- 

What a re-introduction (I have been to the Chiricahuas 4 times before, starting in 2008) to a place I have grown to love. And then, when reaching the "town" (population 60) of Portal, you are met with one of the grandest scenes in all of the southwest, national park-quality vistas if it weren't so far off the beaten track (thank goodness it is) -- this is the scene from the boondocking spot of my travel trailer "Discovery" the next morning -- 

Here's the view looking up the canyon from the corner of Cathedral Rock Road, off which was my boondocking spot -- 

And I looked both ways and crouched down on the road up Cave Creek Canyon to get this perspective --

Further up this road there is a pullout leading to "Vista Point", where you climb a trail that goes above the forest canopy to reveal a view truly remarkable, particularly considering that the border with Mexico is only about 60 miles to the south; this is a panorama comprised of 4 photos where you can clearly see the drainages of Cave Creek to the right, and South Fork on the left -- 

So the stage is set, and the adventure of the next 13 days begins... 

April 3 -- The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum...

It's a great place and I was there from just after opening to just before closing; there's that much to see there. Here is my time at the "ASDM" in photos --

Cactus blooms at the museum's entrance

Hummingbirds at the Hummingbird Aviary

Rufous-backed Robin at the Bird Aviary

Black Vulture overhead at the ASDM; it's one of the great outdoor museums in the world

A Black-throated Gray Warbler is a (non-paying) visitor

A Chihuauan Raven (smaller than a Common Raven), one of the birds showcased in the Raptor Free-flight program

Great-horned Owl (free-flight program)

Prairie Falcon (free-flight program)

Barn Owl (free-flight program)

Gray Hawk (free-flight program)

Harris's Hawks (free-flight program)

Anna's Hummingbird sitting on eggs (Hummingbird Aviary)

Another non-paying "visitor"

Mexican Wolf (there are only about 50 left in the wild)

The ASDM's free-flight program is unique in that standard falconry tools such as straps, jesses etc aren't used; there are no restraints on the birds, and no bandings except perhaps a leg band. 

Here's a photo of some of the floral displays at the ASDM --

And the outside of the bird aviary -- 

And once the museum closed, I was treated to 2 coyotes in the saguaro, and the night ended with a coyote serenade --

The next day I went to Sierra Vista and visited with my brother and his family, then on Saturday April 5 I headed out to the Chiricahua Mountains, boondocking at a friend's acreage; that will be for the next installment of Travels of Discovery...