Author: turndoozie

Not much time for recreational activities this week. At least my recreational activities that is. Other people’s pastimes are going full steam. Water polo games Tuesday and Thursday and a tournament in Dexter today. Apparently Molly scored her first goal today. I was trying to take pictures so all I saw was the person with the ball close up in the viewfinder. Once they threw the ball I didn’t see where it went. In Molly’s case it went into the net. It was only at dinner later I found out she scored. 

A winning style. Apparently this is fun.

I also had teaching Wednesday (6:00 – 11:00 PM) and extra lab time for the class  on Friday and tomorrow afternoon. Plus Lise had to go out of town. Which means I can’t chase the Hudsonian godwit that has showed up in Little Traverse Bay. I have to settle for more mundane entertainment like a wee bit of Mount Gay rum. They’ve been making rum since about 1700 so they know how to do it.

On the up side, the weather wasn’t the best for birding this past week. We had about four days of cool weather and high winds. Everything avian hunkered down. Warblers just don’t call in high winds. Seems so unfair after having 80 degree days in March. Amazing how fast I got spoiled.

Things are really moving into the area. The listserves are buzzing with first of the year sightings. Including first of the year ticks. Everything is supposed to have its place in this great circle of life gig but I’m having a real hard time finding a justification for ticks to exist. They rate right up there with mosquitoes, state legislators, political pundits, and the Westboro Baptist Church. No reason for any of them in a good world.

April 22 – Earth Day.

Very little birding this weekend. Today was cool and very windy. Spring migrants are showing up around the area but there is no point in trying to find them in gale force winds. We decided to knock off enough other things that we can play hooky for birding when the weather is better.

Yesterday we were walking a property for Mid-Michigan Land Conservancy. I do the baseline documentation which means marking boundaries and doing species lists. On the property we got two new species, house wren and yellow-bellied sapsucker. That puts our joint count at 181 for the year. This is day113 of the year so our daily average is 1.6 species per day. That is 0.041 per hour and 0.0007 per minute. Nothing spectacular but we are on track for our target.

Part of this little adventure is to get us out exploring. We are looking for birds but other things too. Like places with good food or local culture. Highly coveted are those places with good coffee. Good birding and good coffee seem to go hand in hand. Actually, everything seems better with a good shot of the black death in hand. According to Lise, I’m held together by caffeine. Like my heart can’t keeping beating without the occasional caffeine kick.

So we just had an interesting coffee experience here at home. Lise has had major headaches the past couple days. Even her costly miracle migraine cure pills were not helping. Then she realized  she had mistakenly replenished our coffee container with decaf, not regular coffee. Once she had a cup of high test in her bloodstream the headaches magically disappeared. What’s odd is that I wasn’t affected by the lack of liquid productivity. Probably because I could load up at other places. Going down to Beaners or Espresso Royale is part of my daily work ritual. I just had to be able to drag myself out of the house. Anyway, we are back to caffeinated and all is well with the world. The incident reminded me of a few great Dilbert cartoons.

                   

Yesterday we went chasing. This past weekend a Eurasian wigeon was found in Kensington Park, about 45 minutes from here. An accidental from – you guessed it – Eurasia. Lots of traffic on the listserves about it. It is a common species within its normal range but a rare visitor here. We didn’t have time to go on Monday. After work Tuesday, as soon as we could get Molly off to water polo practice, we headed to Kensington. I only had a sketchy idea of where the bird was. Somewhere on Island Road, looking east. Naturally I couldn’t find a park map with roads labeled. So we used the old tried and true method. Drive around until you see optical equipment. It worked. So we got Eurasian wigeon and double-crested cormorant for the list.

This has to be the place.

These look a lot better through the scope. People came from across the state for this guy.

Lise and I got our life Eurasian wigeon in Delaware, birding with my sister Anita. Lise and I the seasoned veterans, Anita a neophyte birder. We were at Bombay Hook, casually scanning a pond of the usual suspects. Bored, I started to move on to better pickings. Then Anita uttered those immortal words, “Why does this one have a red head?” Score a lifer but not because of my birding abilities.                        

She did it another time too. We were out on the beach at Cape Henlopen when suddenly all the gulls spooked up making a lot of noise. Casually glancing in that direction I saw a raptor munching on a gull. Without really looking I said something like, “That’s unusual, an osprey took a gull.” Anita did look and said, “Why does this one have a black head?” Score a peregrine falcon.  It wasn’t a lifer but it was pretty cool seeing the food chain in action. Thanks to someone that actually looks without assumptions. 

The great circle of life. A peregrine munching on a laughing gull. I guess it’s not laughing anymore. Wonder if it tastes like French fries?

We spent the weekend in West Lafayette. Lise has a project with West Lafayette Parks. We walked the trails to map potential sign placements. Migrants are moving back into town. We got blue-gray gnatcatcher, parula, and field sparrow without trying too hard.

Friday and Saturday evening Molly and I played pool at a bubble tea karaoke place. She gets her Boba and I have a beer while we play pool. Reinforced why I don’t do karaoke. This seems to be primarily an Asian place. There are about five rooms with couches and microphones. Every now and then a door would open and this cacophony would come blaring out. I don’t understand Chinese but I could still tell that this was awful singing. Not that I could do any better in Chinese or English. I don’t even sing in the shower, let alone inflict it on an innocent public.

West Lafayette is a lot different than when Lise and I started courting. It used to be kind of dreary. Now there are some fun spots both in Lafayette and across the river in West Layafette. Berry’s Camera Shop in Lafayette and Von’s Bookstore are must visit places.

West Lafayette has a couple good coffee shops that Molly and I make a point of hitting. Usually we go to Grey House or Vienna Coffee shop. Both have excellent coffee and other fare. Then there is that West Lafayette institution, the Triple XXX. They have been in business since 1929. No booths, all counter seating, and cash only. They make their own root beer. For breakfast Molly typically gets a pile of starch with whipped cream. I usually line my arteries with biscuits and gravy that have an order of potatoes thrown on top. If they served scrapple it would be the perfect heart attack on a platter.

Triple XXX. It don’t get much better. Maybe Heisey’s because they serve scrapple.

On the way back Lise got a great egret. I was driving along I-69 and did not want to risk an accident, especially since Fido the lizard and Molly were in the car. Precious cargo. I’m willing to risk potential death for myself but can’t take out innocent bystanders so I didn’t get the egret. Tomorrow is another day.

Arizona was fun. Going anyplace different is stimulating, but Arizona is really different. Saw some cool animals and sights. The only problem with vacations is that the rest of the world doesn’t stand still. We came back to a really full load. I’m only now getting a little time to collect thoughts about the trip. Jill and Leon Uris did a photo-essay book on Ireland. One picture had a line of guys standing around and the caption was , “In Ireland boredom is a carefully cultivated luxury.”  I think I need to cultivate a little luxury.

Arizona hummers Tucson Desert Museum

Vermillion flycatcher – Aravoca

Finally got the opportunity to compile our Arizona species lists. Our lists are starting to diverge a bit. The post-Arizona counts stand at 171 for me and 169 for Lise. We got about 70 species on the trip but, slightly different ones. As the species lists now stand, I have Brewers sparrow, common yellowthroat, black vulture, and pheasant that Lise does not have. She has hepatic tanager and Anna’s hummingbird that I don’t have.  Her’s will be tough for me to get with our current trip schedule. My Brewer’s sparrow may be tough for her to get. The other three I have, but she doesn’t have, are relatively common and not that difficult to get. The pheasant may take some work but is doable.
                   
We now have an average of 170 species at Day Number 105 of the year.  About two months ahead of schedule. With a little diligence we should get some migrants that pass through Lansing and the summer residents. Without traveling too far we should be able to get something on the order of 60 new species. Things in the Lansing area will die out a bit towards the end of summer though.    

Anyway, my Arizona take away message is, it’s all about water. Arizona is dry. As in, The Sons of The Pioneers, crossing the burning sands looking for cool clear water dry. Our most productive birding centered around wet places. The cieniega at Arivoca, the stream at Patagonia, and the Madera Canyon area had the greatest avian concentrations. Plus a lot of other water dependent biota. The beautiful cottonwood trees at Arivoca and the sycamores in Madera canyon were there because of the water. It was green where there was water. For us in the Midwest it is difficult to understand the importance of water. We have it everywhere, including places we don’t want it. Like my basement. As our friend Jean said, “the first Civil War was about slavery. The next will be about water. We have it and they don’t.”

Water in Madera Canyon

Water in Patagonia

Lizard in Patagonia

Arivoca cottonwood

Madera sycamores

Not that I don’t like the dry places. They have their own beauty that quite frankly I like. I really liked the dark mesquite set against the light colored dry grasses. If I ever get time I may try to do some good black and white images. The dry areas have a biota evolved to take advantage of water scarcity. Really tough critters and plants. Things you don’t want to mess with, even on a good day.

Mesquite

Desert lizard – tough as they come

Pretty but don’t touch

Tough plants

Arizona’s sky islands are really intriguing. These are small mountains, popping up out of the desert floor. I’m not sure of the geology behind them. In the sky islands, water and elevation work together to compress a lot of biota into a relatively small area.

We visited Madera Canyon, A sky island just east of Green Valley. A stream starting out as snow pack cuts into the side of the mountain, over the eons forming the canyon. The fairly quick rise in elevation, coupled with both north and south exposures,  produces a variety of niche habitats in a fairly small area. We just missed elegant trogans at Madera Canyon. After finishing a six mile hike someone informed us that trogans were seen on the trail we just completed. At least we did get Northern pygmy owl and yellow-eyed junco on the trail.

Madera Canyon lizard

Madera Canyon – Gray breasted jay (Transvolcanic jay)

Canyon treefrog – Madera Canyon

Canyon tree frogs getting frisky – Madera Canyon
   
Just don’t go to Madera Canyon on a weekend. During the week we had the place almost to ourselves. On Saturday people were circling the parking lots like vultures, looking for an open spot to swoop down on. It was worse than trying to find a parking spot on campus. At least we got there early, before things got ugly.

Speaking of vultures, we didn’t see any enforcement during the week. On Saturday the Forest Service was there in force, writing enough tickets to pay for a year of operations. And, the local police had speed traps set up along the only road to the canyon. What you call a target rich environment.

Vultures looking for tourists

Flying back to Michigan crowded into steerage. Time for snacks. Would you like a pretzel, a peanut, or a cookie? Completely packed airplane with no room to move. This has got to be something like a CIA secret renditioning base. I’ll talk, just tell me what you want to know. Molly just heard, through her headphones, that flight attendants will be coming through the cabin with headphones that cost a couple bucks. You can’t hear the message unless you already have headphones plugged in. What’s wrong with this picture?

I used to love flying. Anymore I think I would rather take the extra time and drive. TSA in Detroit let Molly’s container of skin lotion go through. In Phoenix they confiscated it. I’m having a hard time seeing how a half empty container of skin lotion can take down an airliner. Meanwhile I go through with enough electronics to drive up the stock value of Best Buy and it isn’t questioned. Maybe they didn’t want the lotion and the electronics too close together. I could have taken a phone charger, powered by my laptop USB port, and used it to ignite the hand lotion. I easily could have made something powerful enough to really make a mess on my keyboard.

We did not have easy internet access while at the condo in Green Valley. To get on-line we had to go down to the grocery store. So the following is a bunch of random musings on our time in Arizona.

We had some great birding. Picked up about 60 new species for the year. Lise and I have some different species and I haven’t had time to sort out the differences yet. I picked up 19 new life birds; white-throated swift, Bendire’s thrasher, gray hawk, ferruginous hawk, broad-billed hummingbird, Lucy’s warbler, hooded oriole, vermillion flycatcher, rufous-winged sparrow, canyon towhee, Abert’s towhee, lazuli bunting, Brewer’s sparrow, magnificent hummingbird, rufous-crowned sparrow, ash-throated flycatcher, Northern pygmy owl, and yellow-eyed junco.

Birding and photography don’t mix. You can do one or the other, not both. I would hump around my camera and big lens on a tripod. We would see something flit around but by the time I could set the tripod down the bird would flit away.

Ed wondering what everyone is seeing.

We went to Patagonia to visit a Nature Conservancy preserve and try to find an Indian flute maker that makes traditional Indian flutes. We took what looked like a short cut on the map. The road was a solid line, not the dashed line one would think of as an unimproved road. Our shortcut turned out to be a narrow dirt road hugging the side of a canyon. At the bottom of the canyon there is the wreckage of the last tourists that tried birding while driving. Next time we rent a SUV, not a Chevy Cruze. I think the Cruze is the follow-up to the Yugo. Not that I’m trashing the finest in Serbo-Croatian engineering. I just want some suspension and a little steel protection around me next time we take a shortcut.

Our shortcut

Wreckage

Don’t bird on shortcuts.

Patagonia has a great little coffee shop called Gathering Grounds. Good coffee and good food, with a side serving of local culture. A hard looking lady walked in wearing spurs. I didn’t see any horses out front so God only knows what she was riding with those spurs. I think the same ladies were sitting in the same corner when I was in there eight years ago. A few other interesting looking characters wandered in and out. This is the gathering spot in Patagonia. The staff knew the directions to the Nature Conservancy preserve and to the Indian flute factory. I was surprised that they knew it was a TNC property too, not just some preserve.

Culture in Patagonia.

The flute factory is at the end of dusty, mostly one lane, road that screams rural poverty. We passed some real hard scrabble homes. But they did have bird feeders up, including oranges for orioles.

I bought a beautiful cedar flute, in the key of E. Not like I can play it or anything. While in the showroom Molly picked up a flute and played Hot Crossed Buns. Since it is an Indian flute I guess the song is Hot Fried Bread. Anyway, the flute sounds beautiful when played correctly. Not something that will happen in my hands. I was going to practice while waiting in the airport but Molly wouldn’t let me. I believe her words were, “This just isn’t going to happen.”

At the TNC preserve we struck up a conversation with the volunteer working the front gate. She and her husband are retired and live on the road in their RV. They travel from refuge to refuge, spending a few months at each one as volunteers. From Arizona they are going up the Delmarva Peninsula. I am so jealous.

About halfway between Green River and the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge is the town of Arivoca. Almost right in the town is a desert wetland called a cieniega, managed by Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge. The wetland is a great birding spot. We picked up about 15 species there and saw javelina too.  

Arivoca really is out in the middle of nowhere. There doesn’t appear to be more than a hundred people in the town. The place appears to be a liberal bastion within a sea of gun nut open carry conservatism. Being in the middle of nowhere should not imply there is no culture. Arivoca has Gadsden Coffee Company, a great coffee shop where they roast and grind their own beans. Doesn’t get much better than that. We saw broad-billed hummingbirds and hooded orioles sitting on the veranda having coffee. 

Gadsden Coffee, the place to be in Arivoca.

The place attracts an interesting mix of people. Bicyclists, motorcyclists, tourists, birders, locals and other assorted souls  seem to find their way there. I met a bicyclist complaining that every time he arranges bicycle tours he has to compete with birders for motel rooms. I guess we like the same places. He mentioned that he arranged a tour to the Pa. Dutch country. As a rule cyclists tend to eat healthy. In the Lancaster County tour they suspended the usual dietary rules to go native. Not sure they went native enough to eat scrapple though. Their loss I guess.

                                
Personally I liked just sitting on the veranda, drinking coffee, birding and listening to the clientele. I think the only way it could have been better was if they also served gin and tonic.

Good birding.

Getting there isn’t difficult. Take a left at the Longhorn Grill and drive about 30 miles. This place reminds me of the entrance to a temple in an old Tarzan movie.

Enter if you dare or you wear a leopard loincloth.

Sue and Roger introduced us to a great restaurant called Wisdom’s. Wisdom’s is south of Tubec at a place called Tumacacori. Tumacacori is known for an historic Spanish mission, established in 1691. It would be tough enough living there now, with luxuries like air conditioning. I can’t imagine what it was like in 1691. We got Bewick’s wren and ash-throated flycatcher at the mission.

Tumacacori photos

Tumacacori also has a spice shop where they grind spices and they own Tom Mix’s hat. While we were there someone took a picture of Tom’s hat with a measure of awe and reverence. I’m not joking. Tom by the way, was born and learned to ride horses in Pennsylvania. Probably ate scrapple too.

Wisdom’s is now in the fourth generation owners. Best beef enchiladas I have ever eaten. When asked what kind of tequila they use in the margaritas the waiter only said, “lots.” The second time we ate there we watched the bartender mixing the margaritas.  He just dumped large quantities of ingredients together, no measurements taken. On Wednesday they serve slow smoked ribs. You have to order them the Saturday before they serve them. Now that is slow smoking. We were there on a Wednesday and the smell permeated the place. Made me weak at the knees.

I believe the Border Patrol is the largest employer in the area. I learned what racial profiling is like. Maybe I should say reverse racial profiling. The Border Patrol looks at us with our pasty white Northern European skin, blasted to a rosy glow after a half hour in the desert sun, and waves us on without questions. The guy with wrap around sunglasses and his hand on his pistol belt casually used two fingers of his other hand to wave us on. He didn’t want to waste energy using a whole hand wave on us. Molly thought he was pretty hot stuff. I wanted to stop and yell that I was illegally smuggling Molly in from Ireland but thought the better of it. The last thing I needed was a Wisdom’s margarita giving me enough liquid courage to get rowdy with Border Patrol. Getting deported back to Pennsylvania was not on the itinerary.

Most of their vehicles were obvious Border patrol trucks but they also had an unmarked pickup truck. We followed this truck on the road to Arivoca for several miles. There were no obvious signs this was a law enforcement vehicle. Nothing would distinguish it from the regular good ol’ boy four wheel drive cowboy cruiser. Nice wheels, a regular license plate, detailing,…… Probably had a horn that plays some Hank Williams Jr. song. When we came up to a Border Patrol stop, a row of red and blue flashers across the top of the rear window suddenly lit up and he pulled over to park behind the regular patrol trucks. Luckily I didn’t try to pass him. I might have ended up being deported back to Pennsylvania.
                               
All in all we had a great time. More will follow about Arizona but right now I need to adjust back to our time zone and go back to work tomorrow. I think we crossed a time zone just getting from the terminal back to our car. One final note though. We had a great time being outdoors, birding, hiking, doing photography, and learning a new place. What really makes things great are family and friends.           

This trip we had the pleasure of chumming around with the McCoy clan. Didn’t get pictures of the whole clan but got some of them. The trip just would not have been as much fun without their company.

Part of the McCoy clan.

The last night we spent in Phoenix we got together with Molly’s buddy Ashley. She moved to Phoenix over a year ago. Michigan’s loss is Arizona’s gain. She applied for a physics camp at MSU this summer. Hope she makes it so we can visit again. Her folks better have a big stick for beating off the boy physicists too.From personal experience I know you can’t trust a male physicist.

Chillin’ in the hotel pool!

                               

We are in Green Valley. I think we dropped the average age of the condos down to about 75. Molly really throws the curve off.

On the way down we stopped at the Desert Museum. We also hiked a bit around Grant’s Pass. This is one tough country. Beautiful but tough. I’m a big water person but this place intrigues me. Everything here fights back. Even the plants are tough.They all seem to have spikes and thorns.

Tough country

Typical nasty plants. You don’t mess with these guys.

Birding has been good. We only have about 16 new species so far but we haven’t hit a lot of habitat varieties. Everything is different so our familiarity with Midwest species doesn’t help us much. There were some sparrows out in the desert around Grant’s Pass that we just could not get. They were too fast for us and we couldn’t get any identifying marks. If we had more familiarity with them we probably could have identified them just by behavior. Lots of new sounds too. Even birds from the Midwest seem to have a slightly different accent here. We would need a lot more practice if we ever attempted a real big year.

We’ve been chumming around with the McCoy clan. Sue and Roger showed us a great restaurant South of Tubec. Lots of fun reconnecting with Mike, Sherry, and Claire. More later.                      

Made it to Arizona. We do not have easy internet access so posting is a bit problematic.

We met up with Molly’s bud Ashley in Chandler. This is not a place where I would want to live. Chandler was an independent town at one time but Phoenix sprawl just kind of ate it up. The place really is a study of how not to do urban planning. You must drive everywhere. Nothing can be walked to. Every street seems to be a divided highway and making a left turn is just about impossible. There are a couple old buildings in “historic Chandler” but other than that the place is devoid of any character. I thought Okemos was dreary but sometimes you don’t know how good you have it.

It was great meeting up with Ashley. A great kid. Molly chooses good friends. Ashley went with us to Delaware a couple years ago. A real trooper. She even got up to watch the sunrise with me one morning. Her mother got a job with Intel in Chandler so she packed up and left Okemos for a sunnier climate.

Sunday we explored the Phoenix area. We went to an historic site called Casa Grande. It’s the remains of a civilization that flourished in the area ~1,000 years ago. After visiting Chandler I would say that was the high point of civilization in the area. We did find Tag’s Diner in the town of Coolidge. Tag’s bumped my opinion of the place up a bit. Almost as good as Heisey’s in Lebanon or Triple X in West Lafayette. Breakfast 24 hours a day including scrambled eggs with green chillies but, sadly, no scrapple.

Tag’s

Sunday afternoon we hiked up Camelback Mountain in Phoenix. A nice little walk. Part of this amounted to rock scrambling. Molly and Ashley were good troopers and did quite well. Molly wore a Yankees hat she borrowed from Ashley. I never thought my daughter would wear apparel that glorifies Satan’s nine in pinstripes.

Ashley and Molly on top of Camelback

Ed and Lise on top of Camelback – holding on for dear life.

Accessing Camelback meant parking at the Paradise police station, about a mile away from the trail head. There is a person that will shuttle you to the trail head for $5 a head. We decided to walk. Walking back after finishing he stopped and chatted. Lise told him it was my 58th birthday. Molly and Ashley were already back at the car waiting for us. He pulled up to them and said something to the effect of, “Your grandfather is a real inspiration. Live right and you can be like him” I wasn’t sure if I should have felt offended or honored.

We celebrated the outing and my birthday with a sushi dinner. Phoenix is in the middle of the desert. Somehow ordering raw tuna in the middle of the desert seemed very wrong. One could only hope they had some really fast transportation to get the stuff there.

Saturday, March 29

We are at the Detroit airport on our way to Arizona. After the hassles of getting through security we now have over a two hour wait before boarding. We are out in the far reaches of McNamara Terminal. Not quite the end of the world but we can see it from here. We found the Starbucks at the end of the universe. Where the answer to life, the universe, and everything is hot, black and bitter. Under the circumstances things couldn’t get much better unless I had a shot of good Irish whiskey to go with it. Some people seem to have an issue with someone having a shot of liquid barley at 9:30 AM. I don’t see why. It’s completely vegetarian and I don’t have to drive anywhere.

Sitting trapped in an airport is a bit mind numbing. Almost as bad as a shopping mall at Christmas. We did find some avian wildlife though. House sparrows are nesting inside the terminal. We already have house sparrows so they don’t count against the biggish year total but it is amusing to see them in here. I haven’t found any restaurants selling scrapple so I’m guessing they have to find McDonald’s French fries to survive. Not what I would call the good life.

The Starbucks at the end of the universe.

Today I saw a screech owl and a Harris’s hawk. Too bad that both were at the Toledo Zoo so they don’t count towards the biggish year total. Lise and Molly were attending Lise’s NAI conference. I came down to do a presentation. The dinner event was at the Toledo Zoo where they did special programs and tours for the NAI conference attendees. It’s always a little dicey eating meat at a zoo restaurant. Are they just finding an easy way to dispose of whatever died the day before? Same reason you don’t order the “Loser Special” at the horse track restaurant.

Zoos have come a long way since I was a kid. I remember that going to the Philly Zoo was a big deal for my family. Of course with six kids, going to the grocery store was a big deal too. What I recall was a zoo that consisted of animals stuck in bare cages. Now you see things like zoos participating in species recovery plans, educational programming and exhibits I never dreamed of as a kid. The Toledo Zoo has things like an insect area that includes an amazing harvester ant exhibit. Also, they have an amphibian area with a native salamander display. The salamander display is a large tank that looks like a moist forest system and contains four native salamander species. The display allows people to see species that quite possibly live in their backyards, but they may never have seen. I can understand Molly’s interest in working with a zoo.

I have had a crazy week. Sleep optional it seems. As adjunct, I teach a class for Lansing Community College, Wednesday evenings from 6:00 PM to 11:00 PM. Adjunct status puts you somewhere around lab rat level in the academic community. Anyway, this past Wednesday I spent all day in the field as part of my real job. So I had a whole day in the field, then teaching until 11:00 PM, sleeping for a few hours, then getting up and driving a couple hours to Toledo for my presentation. The field time was not scheduled at an opportune time for me, but it was a great day to be outside and I got to see salamanders in the wild. In all their raging glory.

Red-backed salamander (top) and two four-toed salamanders. The four-toed salamanders are considered Species of Greatest Conservation Need.