Remembering the New England Coast in Oil

I hail from New England and have a long standing relationship with it's coast and the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean. I have walked many of it's beautiful beaches from Maine to Rhode Island and I have lived and vacationed in coastal areas with some of the most breath taking views you can imagine. I have counted hawks during their annual migration from the top of Cadillac Mountain overlooking Frenchman's Bay in Maine. I have whale watched 20 miles out to sea and visited very special places like Monhegan Island on a hot summer day. I have looked for puffins in summer off the Maine coast and bird watched in sub zero weather on the coast of Salisbury Massachusetts. All really special memories of really special people and places.

Why am I telling you about the wonderful times I spent in New England? Well I began to wonder what it would be like if the Deep Water Horizon was happening in that place that I spent most of my life. What if oil was washing over it's beaches and spoiling it's marshes, killing it's birds and devastating the whales and spoiling the Georges Banks where millions upon millions of fish live and breed? What if the oil continued to gush day after day and nobody seemed equipped to do anything about it. Thinking about the possibility that this could happen to my beautiful New England makes me shudder.

What makes me cry however is that it is happening to the Gulf of Mexico and to the people and the wildlife that call that beautiful place home. Thousands of wild creatures are dying horrible deaths, peoples lives and futures are being ruined, entire species are being herded toward extinction. Soon suicide rates will climb, illnesses will overcome clean up workers and the financial impact will grow for generations. A way of life is not dying it is being killed , murdered by the greed and avarice of a corporation that has a lousy safety record and a callous disregard for everything that makes our stay on this earth worthwhile.

BP is definitely the bad guy in all this but so is the culture in Washington that protects big business at all costs even though they repeatedly fail to do the right thing especially when it comes to our environment. Not only is the response to the spill woefully inadequate it is ineffective from the capping of the well to the skimming operations,to the so called "Booming".

Nothing that is being done at this moment is what anyone could call a success.

It's time for the Federal Government to seize complete control of the operations and to deploy all available resources including whatever foreign assistance is available.

FEMA should be directed to immediately begin to assemble the expertise and equipment to handle the next deep water "accident" including developing the next generation of technology needed to mount an effective spill response. Had anyone thought to prepare for this accident we would not be as helpless as we are today. It's time for government to take the lead and for scientists and entrepreneurs to step forward and make sure this never happens again.

I never want to see another Brown Pelican smothered in oil or dolphins dead and dying in their home due to the negligence of an industry that has plenty of money to prevent this from ever happening in the first place.

I also never, ever want to hear a clown like Joe Barton, Congressman from the 6th District in Texas apologizing to a company that should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and forbidden to ever drill in US waters again. EVER!

Masked Bobwhite Quails

I was pleasantly surprised to find several Masked Bobwhite Quails in residence at the Sonoran Desert Museum just up the road from where I live. As Arizona's rarest bird which is protected by the Endangered Species Act it is very unusual to get a look at this elusive creature. The only confirmed place in Arizona that the Masked Bobwhite can be seen in the wild is Buenos Aries National Wildlife Refuge in the extreme southern part of the state.

I frequently travel to Buenos Aries and have had the good fortune to see one in the grasslands that is it's natural habitat. More facts about the Masked Bobwhite Quail can be found at: www.pima.gov/cmo/sdcp/species/fsheets/mbw.html

Crested Caracara

We took a ride out to Kitt Peak this morning and arrived at the road to the observatory more than an hour before it officially opens for visitors so we decided to take a ride to Sells which is 20 miles to the west. It wasn't long before we saw a few turkey vultures circling just off the road. Then I saw what at first I thought might be an eagle, but it turned out to be a Crested Caracara, my first ever. After spending 30 minutes or so watching and photographing as best I could from a distance we headed off down the road. About 5 or 6 miles down the road we saw a second Caracara land in a tree. A great day!

Learn more about the Crested Caracara at: www.peregrinefund.org/explore_raptors/falcons/crstcara.html

Black-bellied Whistling Duck

The Black-bellied Whistling Duck is both striking and humorous to watch. It can be seen only in the extreme southern United States. More Information can be found at: www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-bellied_Whistling-Duck/id

American Kestrel

The American Kestrel is widely distributed throughout North and South America. This female raptor is approximately 20% larger than the male of the species. This Kestrel resides at the Sonoran Desert Museum in Tucson Arizona. You can learn more about the American Kestrel at: www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Kestrel/id

Sarah Palin and BP

Sarah Palin blames me for the oil spill that is currently devastating the Gulf of Mexico. Extreme environmentalists like myself it seems are to blame for BP's lack of planning and ultimate failure to understand the consequences of drilling miles under the ocean floor and for not planning for the worst case scenario which has ultimately come to pass. Although not for the reasons that she espouses it pains me to say this but she might just be partially correct! In her limited mind we made them do it by protecting ANWR and other environmentally sensitive areas of our country. In my mind we let them do it to satisfy our unsustainable life styles that produce throw away crap made from oil and to continue to burn fossil fuels at a rate that is consuming our planet faster than we ever thought possible.

Vast areas of our oceans are covered in plastic. The Gulf of Mexico has a large dead zone where nothing can survive in a good year. Now that it is fowled in oil it is likely that millions of plants and animals will perish. The Gulf of Mexico will not recover in my life time or my daughters life time and it is likely that this spill will doom entire species. Man made disasters are everywhere and our failure to reduce fossil fuel consumption and green house gases is at the heart of many of them.

American complacency and pure all out avarice has led to our energy consumption dwarfing all other nations. We're not talking energy needs we're talking wasting gas and oil on a colossal scale. Our lack of insistence on environmentally sound sources of energy in favor of the old "drill baby drill" mentality as well as mountain top removal coal mining has fueled an environment where the Dick Cheney's and Sarah Palin's of the world control the dialog through fear of an enemy created by our dependence on dirty sources of energy. Let's face it for these people it's all about money and power and they could care less about the future of the United States of America. While they claim to be super patriots they continuously take positions that benefit corporations and their wealthy buddies over the interests of the people and the country.

It's time we woke up, rise up and demand alternative sources of energy but it is also time to reduce our energy consumption through an old fashioned conservation program of enormous magnitude. Perhaps it's time to stop spending huge sums of money on building roads we don't need for cars we shouldn't be driving and install energy efficient windows or help businesses to reduce their energy consumption, or support solar initiatives, maybe it's time we all just tried harder to not be such pigs in our lives. Imagine what is possible and ask yourself this simple question. Am I doing my part to save the planet or am I just pretending to make myself feel better?

The first step in saving this planet is to become informed. Joining an environmental organization is a good place to start so I encourage you all to sign up for Greenpeace or the Natural Resources Defense Council or any of the many fine groups that do the day to day hard work of saving the world from itself.

Step two is simple. Reduce, reduce, reduce!

Step three is DO SOMETHING FOR THE EARTH today and everyday.

Lets put the Sarah Palins and the BP's out of business. It's time for a new and bold future. It's time to let go of the old ideas and for America to become the alternative energy capital of the world.

Do we really want to continue to support companies like BP? Now is our time!

Madera Canyon

It was a beautiful day at Madera Canyon but we did not get a look at the Berylline Hummingbird as we had hoped. As is usually the case we did see some interesting birds including a Black Headed Grosbeak and a Blue Grosbeak, and several hummers. We did hear an Elegant Trogan but it was too far into the woods on private property so we were unable to track it. We talked to one birder who had seen several of the Trogans on one of the upper trails yesterday. Fortunately Madera is close to Tucson so we will have many chances to visit.

Berylline Hummingbird

Reports of a Berylline Hummingbird which is a rare visitor here have us preparing to head out to Madera Canyon this morning. I will report back later today. This would be very exciting for me.

Sonoran Desert or New England?

If you were to see the picture above in say Yankee Magazine you might assume it was a quaint New England dirt road. With late May patches of snow along the sides of the road and dandelions popping up with their bright yellow flowers you just might think it was Vermont in springtime or perhaps Western Massachusetts where I grew up.

You would be wrong by about 3000 miles. The scenes are actually pictures I took at the top of Mt Lemmon in Arizona yesterday. Closer examination will reveal that the maples and oaks that are common to New England are replaced here by the Aspens and the white pines that are prevalent up north are Ponderosa Pines here. The feel of a walk in the woods is the same though, the quiet rustling of the leaves in the breeze, the singing of robin redbreasts and of course the melting snow is mostly gone and very dirty just like it would be in New Hampshire or Maine at this time of year.

There is of course the effects of the 2003 Aspen fire that killed so many of the majestic Ponderosa Pines that 7 years later looks like nothing I have ever seen in New England. The recovery is painfully slow in human terms but in terms of the forest is well under way.

Another place I like to visit when I want the New England feel is Ski Valley where you can ride the ski lift to the top of the mountain through the grassy meadow. So much of New England is green and so much of Arizona is not that a visit here refreshes my spirit in a way that you can only imagine. I will return here often this summer to escape the plus 100 degree heat and slip quietly back into my youth.

Born and Hazed in Montana The Real Story of the Yellowstone Buffalo

Once again I am deeply disappointed by the actions of the State of Montana and the National Park Service in regards to their treatment of the Yellowstone Buffalo. Some time ago in response to this treatment I decided to personally stop eating beef and I would like to report that I have kept my word even though it has not always been easy. Recent reports from the Buffalo Field Campaign have reinforced my decision but clearly more needs to be done to stop the cruelty that has become a way of life for the Yellowstone Buffalo.

Unfortunately we will never stop the hazing and murder of the buffalo in Yellowstone without a concerted, coordinated approach to convincing the Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar that this is an unacceptable approach to the management of these magnificent animals. Please read about the plight of the Yellowstone Buffalo at www.buffalofieldcampaign.org  and contact Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar here: www.doi.gov/archive/contact.html

I have included just a small portion of what you will find at the Buffalo Field Campaigns website.




How do you begin to write about a time such as buffalo have had this week? We have witnessed--and the buffalo have endured--so much this week: a wild buffalo being born the day before Mother's Day, wildlife coming into the world between a fence and a highway; being graced with the gift of a bull buffalo migrating through our yard. Before the week is over, a total of 600 buffalo will have been needlessly and aggressively forced off of their chosen ground in Montana, and hundreds more buffalo deep inside Yellowstone are being harassed to make room for those forced to leave the state. Welcome to West Yellowstone: it is that time of year when the appeasement of cattle interests attempts to overpower ancient natural law, the approach of the nonsensical May 15th deadline when the Montana Department of Livestock demands that no more wild buffalo exist in Montana.




Please do what you can.

Friend of the Yellowstone Buffalo




Ray Goodwin

Sonoran Connection

Catalina Highway 5 A.M.-9 A.M.

It usually takes about an hour to drive to Catalina Highway so I had to get up at 3 A.M. to get ready to leave the house around 4 A.M. if I was going to have a chance to catch the sunrise. There were ample clouds to make for a decent colorful sunrise unfortunately it really did not develop as well as I had hoped.
Still it was a treat to be on the mountain at that time as there was no one else around. I could hear the birds singing absent the traffic noise that can be prevalent on the week ends.
The sun came up in a way that didn't produce allot of color but it was still quite beautiful and with temps around 50 degrees it was nice weather to walk.
Catalina Highway rises from around 3000 ft to 8000 ft above sea level and the views can be spectacular.
These shots were directly into the sun which sometimes produces nice effects.


The view as the sun cleared the cloud cover.
This natural arch is directly next to the highway and is quite impressive.


As you near Summerhaven evidence of the 2003 Aspen fire is everywhere. As you can see some areas have not recovered a whole lot.

These Turkey Vultures circling the burn area gave it a sci-fi feel.

The sky was gorgeous at this point above one of the rebuilt homes in the area.
On the trip down the mountain I spotted this Cooper's Hawk standing watch.
Information on the Cooper's Hawk can be found at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper's_Hawk



Hidden in the rocks.

White Faced Ibis and American Avocet

We took a ride to Sweetwater Wetlands to take a walk and check out the wildlife. It was already fairly warm with lots of sunshine so we moved from shady spot to shady spot taking a few pictures along the way. We weren't really seeing much for birds as the ducks had mostly migrated northward and then all of the sudden I spotted what at first looked like cranes. However as they got closer it was apparent that we had a flock of approximately 30 White Faced Ibis.
They flew directly overhead so I was able to snap several shots as the passed over.
They turned sharply and I could tell they were on a landing glide path that would take them to the first pond which still had some water in it. We headed back to see them on the ground but could not get very close as the gate which had been open earlier was now locked.
While I was taking these shots we noticed two American Avocets wading among the Ibises. Apparently Avocets breed locally in this area.