Tucson Supports Wisconsin Workers

I decided to skip my usual Saturday nature walk and head over to the rally in support of the workers in Wisconsin and across the country. It's sad but not surprising that republicans who ran on an agenda promising smaller government and jobs instead have decided to use government to strip the people of their rights and to pursue a social agenda that can best be described as repressive to the extreme.

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On short notice a crowd of more than 1,500 people showed up to voice there support for Wisconsin workers rights and to express outrage toward the union busting agenda that is targeting teachers, nurses, firefighters, police, women and ultimately all middle class workers.

The signs speak for themselves! The people will be heard.



I was surprised by the age of the crowd and the constant honking of horns in support of the protesters at this busy intersection.
I'm glad I went and was a part of this because I believe that this is the beginning of the rise of the middle class not the end of the American dream. I firmly believe that it's time for the upper class to pay their fair share and that corporations need to ante up and stop free loading on the backs of our middle class workers.

As a side note I fail to see how putting more people out of work is going to solve the financial problems in this country. People need to work in order to by the goods and services that will return our economy to health.
Failing to collect taxes from the wealthy and corporations and then stripping the middle class of their future is immoral. It's un-American and it's not good for the country.

The current agenda is designed to enslave women, children, the elderly and all workers by making sure that they have no right to health care, no right to collective bargaining, no right to retire at a reasonable age and with a reasonable pension, and no social safety net what so ever.

It's good to see folks, ordinary folks speak out for their rights.

Whitewater Draw-Morning with the Sandhill Cranes

It might seem unusual for this post to start off with a picture of a large flock of Snow Geese but as we arrived in the parking lot these graceful flyers were in the air and in a very short time would be mingled with the in-coming Sandhills as they returned from feeding in the grain fields. With so many birds in the air at one time you would think that they would be colliding all over the place. It just doesn't happen and they manage to sweep and turn in unison or completely randomly without running into each other.

Once again our visit was timed perfectly and we arrived just at the beginning of the Sandhill Cranes returning to roost for the afternoon. They came sometimes by the hundreds and sometimes by the thousands and occasionally a few at a time. Their numbers were impressive but I did not try to count this trip as I just wanted to enjoy what is perhaps my last visit with the cranes this season. By the end of March they will have left for their summer breeding grounds and other important birds will take their place either to spend the summer or just passing through.

There were more visitors than we had encountered in our many visits to Whitewater this year but the cranes seemed oblivious to our presence. The way that the preserve is set up keeps most people on raised paths away from the birds. It is an arrangement that seems to work pretty well for both the birds and the watchers.

This trip had one major surprise in that the returning birds landed mostly in the first pool which put them in closer proximity to the people than you usually see at Whitewater. It was by all accounts a spectacular display and all of the people that I talked to were new to Sandhill watching and quizzed me once they realized that I knew a little about the birds behavior.

It has been a privilege for me to be able to observe the cranes on so many occasions this season and as a novice myself I did manage to learn a few things about their behavior.



The Snow Geese and the Sandhill Cranes seem very compatible even in flight and I frequently observed them together overhead twisting and turning before settling down to earth.

Snow Geese and a few Sandhills.
Sandhills.

I hope that all of you have enjoyed the Sandhill series as much as I have enjoyed doing it. It's time for me to choose a new project to share here at Sonoran Connection and I hope that you will come back from time to time and see what adventures lie ahead.
This lone Sandhill Crane challenged all that I know about their social behavior. It landed in a pool separated from all the other cranes. For the most part cranes stay together for their protection from predators and this is the one time all season that I saw one on the ground by itself. On occasion I have seen single birds in the air but never until now on the ground.

Listen to the calling of the Sandhill Cranes below.

Birds, Birds, Birds Tucson Arizona

Today was a day to walk and enjoy the weather and practice my photography skills on the sometimes elusive and always challenging birds of Sweetwater. It's as if Sweetwater was designed for practicing both your photography and your birding skills. There's always plenty to see including an occasional rare visitor or two. There are several observation platforms that hug the waters edge throughout the wildlife viewing area similar to the one pictured above.
Sweetwater is an urban wildlife area, a water treatment plant and an outdoor classroom in the middle of Tucson Arizona. cms3.tucsonaz.gov/water/sweetwater

There are many retention ponds which always have a variety of ducks with the most prevalent being the Northern Shoveler this time of year.


There always seem to be quite a few Yellow-rumped Warblers present near the bridge. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/yellow-rumped_warbler/id
Black Phoebes are common here. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/black_phoebe/id
Verdins are always fun to photograph as they never sit still for more than a couple of seconds at a time. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Verdin/id
I have seen the Orange Crowned Warbler on my last few visits. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/orange-crowned_warbler/id
As I said there are rare visitors on occasion and we were treated to this Female Black and White Warbler that was in the company of a Black-throated Gray Warbler. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-and-white_Warbler/lifehistory

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/black-throated_gray_warbler/id
This is one of the resident Harris's Hawks that made several rounds while we were there.

www.peregrinefund.org/explore_raptors/hawks/harrishk.html
Juvenile Northern Shoveler.
Adult male Northern Shoveler. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Shoveler/id
Mallard. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/mallard/id
Just being cute I guess!
American Widgeons are numerous here also. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Wigeon

Patagonia/Sonoita Creek Preserve

It's another beautiful day here in Southern Arizona with temperatures projected to be in the 70's. We decided to head up into the Santa Rita's to visit the Nature Conservancy's Sonoita Creek Preserve located in Patagonia. The views along the way are amazing even this time of year when most of the landscape is dressed in various shades of brown and tan.

After living here in the desert southwest for five years and traveling around to different wildlife areas I have come to the realization that it is all about the availability or lack of water. The abundance of plant and animal life depends either on the presence of water or the ability to adapt to the lack of it. In the riparian areas that I visit the abundance and diversity of plants and animals is truly amazing. In the desert scrub and the more arid areas plants and animals have adapted to needing less water to thrive.

The survival of man here is also dependent on a sometimes hard to find commodity and the evidence of wells operated by wind power are scattered across the landscape. As you can see this Red Tailed Hawk has adapted to it's metal perch which has a commanding view of the surrounding grasslands.

When we arrived there were many birds visiting the feeders at the visitors center including an Anna's Hummingbird, purple finches, goldfinches, and white breasted nuthatches and many sparrows that went unidentified as we were anxious to hit the trails.

One of the most impressive things on our visits to Southern Arizona Riparian areas is the majestic Cottonwoods. Some of these trees are massive in size and I can only guess at their age but they must be very old indeed as evidenced by the specimens that have long since crashed to the ground. In either the upright or prone positions they provide lodging and cover for many creatures.

The creek was flowing gently but steadily along and the water looked quite clear. I have to admit I am curious about the origins of this particular creek as in allot of ways it seems oddly out of place. For those of you who are not familiar with the weather here our rainy seasons are summer and winter. Winter rains can be infrequent and are generally more gentle while summer rains are usually more violent and produce large amounts of water in a short period of time. It is not unusual for it to rain heavily in one part of Tucson while being sunny and hot in another. I have driven down the road with thunder and lightning on my left and bright sunshine on my right.

Fact: Sonoita Creek has about 5 miles of perennial flow the first 2 of which are located on the preserve.The Creek's watershed covers approximately 200 square miles.

The Railroad: The railroad trail supported tracks for a line that ran from Benson,Az. to Guaymas Mexico.
There are several trails that loop around the preserve that I would characterize as easy walks suitable for anyone except wheelchair bound individuals. The Railroad Trail travels along where a bygone train used to pass through Patagonia.

The Creek Trail is equally easy but because of it's proximity to the water we saw quite a bit more wildlife activity here.

We spotted five different Mule Deer during our visit including this buck that was the most skittish of the two groups. The shot below is of one of two adolescents that were traveling along the creek with their mother. The two of them still retained some of the colors you would expect to see in a very young animal.

Read about Mule Deer at www.desertusa.com/feb97/du_muledeer.html

The more time I spend in the wild places the less I seem to worry the creatures that I encounter there. These Mule Deer knew that I was there and walked right out of their cover in the woods and crossed in plain view only a hundred feet from me. At one point when the two adolescents were crossing in front of us they stopped and one of them stamped and grunted at us.

I had a similar experience with a roadrunner just last week when it crossed my path within three feet of me totally ignoring the fact that I was there.

We saw quite a few hawks on this trip including this Red Tailed Hawk hunting along the creek. 22 different species of raptors have been seen in the preserve. Several pairs of Gray Hawks nest at the preserve.

There were Goldfinches,Purple Finches,White-breasted Nuthatches, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Black Phoebes, White-crowned Sparrows, Bridled Titmice and many more who scooted away before positive ID could be made. All in all not too shabby.

We were treated to this sleepy Screech Owl who didn't even acknowledge our presence near his house. For those of you who have never visited Patagonia/Sonoita area it is well worth the trip. On several occasions we have seen Pronghorn Antelope during our trip. Information on the Western Screech Owl can be found at:

www.owlpages.com/owls.php?genus=Megascops&species=kennicottii