Mt. Lemmon on a Clear Day

We began our trip to Mt Lemmon with the idea that we would do a little bird watching and get some foliage pictures for this blog. As it turned out there was very little bird activity and the foliage was past peak and allot of the leaves had already been shed due to a couple of days of strong winds here in the Tucson area.
That being the case it was a beautiful day in the upper 80's at the base of the mountain where it is classic Sonoran Desert and in the upper 50's at the top of the mountain where mixed conifer forest and high elevation riparian areas are prevalent.

On the way to the top of the mountain you pass through oak woodlands and ponderosa pine forest as well. The 25 mile journey is biologically comparable to the traveling from Mexico to the Canadian border.
Not only is the change in vegetation remarkable but the views are incredible. Everywhere you look there is an amazing vista or an incredible peak.


While the foliage was on the weak side it was still quite enjoyable for this former New England boy to be among deciduous trees with a splash of color.

Most of the color that was still around was on the Quaking Aspens which in full color are very impressive trees.


At the top of the mountain above 10,000 feet above sea level is the Steward Observatory and the Mt. Lemmon Sky Center that offers unique experiences in astronomy and nature. SkyCenter.arizona.edu I have purchased two tickets to the Total Lunar Eclipse and Winter Solstice Event at the Sky Center on December 21st 2010 as a Christmas present to myself and Nancy.

Conservation Wins in Arizona

• The anti-wildlife, anti-voter Prop 109 was defeated. This awful ballot initiative would have opened the door to extreme wildlife killing methods, put special interests ahead of sound wildlife management and diminished the ability of Arizona voters to protect wildlife in the state.
• Proposition 301, a misguided attempt by conservative state legislators to raid State Land Conservation Funds was resoundingly defeated (75% to 25%) showing that, even in difficult economic times, voters choose conservation.
• In state Congressional elections, it appears likely that stalwart conservation champion Raul Grijalva will weather a tough challenge to win re-election and continue fighting for wildlife in Arizona and beyond. Congressman Ed Pastor, a longtime friend of Defenders and wildlife conservation overwhelmingly won re-election. And, though not yet official, it looks like Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, a stalwart champion of renewable energy, will also prevail.

Thanks to conservation minded voters who turned back initiatives that would have devastated wildlife in Arizona. The diversity and abundance of Arizona wildlife amazes me everyday. I can't express how much I appreciate that the people of Arizona have spoken out in favor of keeping the state a haven for wildlife.

Thank you for supporting the future of conservation in Arizona.

Ray Goodwin

Sonoran Connection

Sandhill Crane Watch Whitewater Draw Arizona

We arrived at Whitewater Draw Conservation Area at 2:30 P.M. on Friday October 29th. As we were getting our gear together we could see that the number of cranes had increased substantially since our visit two weeks ago when we counted 1,800 cranes. It was sunny, around 87 degrees with an intermittent breeze and very dry. This picture is of the first pool which did not have any cranes on our two previous visits. As you can see there were hundreds of birds here this time, coming and going on a regular basis.

Sandhills in flight can be both graceful and at other times awkward. I have however never witnessed a collision between two birds. This was the first time I had seen a smaller group separated from the main much larger group. They tend to stick together for protection and socialization when they are on the ground. We did witness many singular birds in flight moving from one group to the other as well as small groups of birds doing the same.

Sandhills have several different vocalizations which include contact calls, unison calls, and guard calls. You can hear these calls at: www.savingcranes.org/sandhill-crane.html . At times they were very quiet and at other times they all seemed to be talking at the same time. Birds in flight make the contact call as they prepare to land in a group that is already on the ground.

The cranes in the first pool were as close as we could get as we are always as careful as possible not to disturb them just to get a better picture. Photographing wildlife should always be done with the well being of the subject coming before" getting the shot".

This is a small portion of the larger group which I estimated at between 10,000 and 15, 000 birds! Because the birds instinctively roost as far away from where humans are likely to be it was impossible to get close up shots that really showed the vast numbers of birds that we saw through the binoculars. Hopefully you can get a sense of how many cranes were present from the photographs.

Sandhill Cranes in flight preparing to land among the smaller group. The coming and going from this group went on the entire time we were there with most of the group eventually joining the larger grouping towards dusk.


Cranes feed on on a wide variety of plants and grains as well as small rodents and snakes. The agricultural nature of the area brings these birds here where they feed in the corn fields which we have yet to visit this year.

Truly an amazing sight to see especially when large numbers of them take to the skies at the same time. We have also yet to visit the playa at Willcox Arizona this year but will make our next trip to see cranes to this area where the numbers can be even greater. A playa is a large dry lake bed which is best hiked in cooler weather as there is absolutely no shade to be found.

Our next trip out will be in two weeks. Next week we are planning to head up Mt. Lemmon to see the foliage and take the ski lift to 10,000+ feet above sea level. Spectacular views and crisp air.

The Grasslands- Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge

I can't say enough about the beauty and serenity that can be found at Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge near Sasabe Arizona. We headed out to the Grasslands Fair at BANWR early on Saturday so we could do a little bird watching and get in some exercise at the same time.
It was a gorgeous day in the 60's with bright sunshine. BANWR is home to quite a few endangered species including the Masked Bobwhite Quail which we were able to see in the enclosure located near the visitor center. They were quite shy and stayed under cover while we were there so I wasn't able to get the pictures that I had hoped to get but it was nice seeing them and knowing that because of the Refuge that these highly endangered birds have a fair chance of survival.
There is a grasslands restoration project underway at the refuge in an effort to increase Masked Bobwhite Quail habitat. Most of the trees and shrubs that you see are invasive species that developed due to the use of this place to graze cattle for many, many years.
One of the reasons I like this place so much is it's remote location. It's more than 50 miles south of Tucson down rt. 286 which has more hawks than houses. It is a place where you can travel the ten mile loop called Pronghorn Drive making frequent stops and be able to stand and not hear any human activity just the birds and the wind. Amazing!

A young mother prepares her herbs for sale prior to the fair kicking off around 10:30 A.M. There were quite a few food vendors and many exhibits pertaining to the ALTAR VALLEY and conservation issues in general.
We started our walk past the enclosure that has the endangered Chiricahua Leopard Frog and I was fortunate to catch this one sun bathing. One of the most serious threats to native frogs is the invasion of bull frogs which feed on other smaller frogs. We came across a wet area on our walk that had mesh fencing completely around it and later found out it was an attempt to keep it free of bull frogs as they travel across land to find food and water.

These Cassin's Sparrow photo's are my favorites from the day. There were many sparrows everywhere we went including many White Crowned.


As always we see many hawks and falcons when we travel to BANWR including this Cooper's Hawk. Pole sitters all along the way let us know that the annual influx of buteos and acipitors has begun and we should see many of these birds in the coming months. On this trip we saw Northern Harrier, Red Tailed Hawk, Gray Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Turkey Vulture and some that went unidentified.

The weather here has stayed very warm and I was surprised to see two fauns this late in the season but here is the proof! We saw a total of six mule deer in our travels around the refuge which is always a treat. I really have a hard time understanding why anyone would want to shoot these magnificent creatures.

Baboquivari dominates the skyline here at BANWR and our hikes into Brown Canyon with Richard Conway are some of my best memories here at Buenos Aries.

People came and went and everyone seemed to enjoy the day even though the clouds set in and blocked out the sun for a good part of the day.
The music was excellent and the visitor center had some amazing exhibits. I really enjoyed the snakes and the raptors.
Apparently I wasn't the only one hoping to get that great shot!
Richard and Sara are the backbone of the Friends of Buenos Aries National Wildlife Refuge an organization that would be happy to have you as a member. More information about Friends can be found at: /www.friendsofbanwr.org/
Educating the next generation to love the land and respect the creatures that inhabit these special places will ensure Buenos Aries will survive for years to come.
Mariachi Plata entertained us while we enjoyed our food and checked out some of the exhibits.

A Harris's Hawk has become an education bird because of it's inability to fly from a young age. Info on Harris's Hawks: www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Harriss_Hawk/id
We didn't see any Pronghorn today but we did see a bevy of Quail fly up on our walk but identifying them was impossible as they came up out of the grass and flew rapidly away from us before going down in the tall grass never to be seen again. They could have been Gambel's or Montazuma's or they could have been Masked Bobwhite's. I'll have to try harder next time!

Hiding in the grass was this Hyles Lineata. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyles_lineata

More Mule Deer.



These man made teepees are for Masked Bobwhite Quail habitat and can be seen on the road into the refuge. More information on Masked Bobwhite's can be found at: www.seazrocks.net/seazrocks.net/Bobwhite_Program.html