Sunday, March 7, 2010

In This Land Of Competition Our Compassion Is Gone


Truth be told, the internet connection here at our little outpost is pretty shoddy at times....so posts to your favorite blog are probably not going to happen as often as you would like.  Only when the stars align properly am I able to cruise the internets with power, speed and confidence.  Fortunately, the great ornithologist Felonious Jive and I am knee-deep in birds, so why worry?  


A lot has happened already in the few short days that we've been out here.....drastic shifts in weather....Madera Canyon Magic (black and otherwise).......a life bird.......did that really happen?  I felt like I was on some sort of Mexican vision quest at the time.  At Tumacacori we encountered a giant hellhound and a ship of fools.....also watched a Cooper's Hawk take down a Gila Woodpecker right over our heads.  Jesus God....the death cry of the Gila Woodpecker will surely haunt my dreams for years to come.


At Mt Lemmon, Black-chinned Sparrows were silently lurking in the scrub (how else would you lurk in the scrub?)....huge, 20 lb antelope jackrabbits loped and bounded around Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge....leaving massive craters in the ground with every hop.  In Arivaca, I think we almost managed to eat everywhere in town, which I would highly recommend for the cultural experience....but I still need to get some microwaved food from the Cantina....it just seems Right.

On next week's agenda, I'll be surveying (for reals) in the Santa Ritas, Huachucas, Huachucas, and on Mt Lemmon.  My cold weather gear (there will be snow) at the moment is frankly bullshit, so I am going to have to spend an absurd amount of $$$ to remedy that.  I would rather be spending money on buying Halsy shots in San Francisco, but it is what it is.  I have a lot of placemaking to do in relatively little time, and I must learn my neighbors as well as possible.....here at the center there is Greg and Mark, but then there are the Mexican Jays, Bridled Titmice, Yellow-eyed Juncos, Canyon Towhees....and of course my new friend the Rufous-capped Warbler that lives a short walk up the creek.  Ive had 2 different Brod-billed Hummingbirds come to my feeder now, and we just started putting out seed for the juncos and anything else that may be around.

Ok, time for breakfast.


These sodden Lark Sparrows were photographed on a drab day on Canada Larga Road in Ventura County, CA, a couple weeks ago.

3 comments:

  1. stop talking (typing), please. Madera Canyon, Arivaca, Buenos Aires NWR...gahhh....some of my favorite places. I did field work at BA NWR but that got pretty interesting and unsafe, but dammit the place is beautiful. I've been craving Southern AZ lately, so i dunno if i can read your blog anymore or i might sulk. Where in TX were you going to do BCVI/GCWA stuffs? the guy in charge of all the projects has a freaking empire now with those two species. it's pretty crazy.

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  2. Hehe....I am familiar with the AZ envy, I find the best way to deal with it is be here! I think I was going to be at Ft Hood, or somewhere very close nearby.....

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  3. Ah, Fort Hood. You might not have missed out on too much then... :) I mean the birds are cool but Ft Hood's kinda, meh. Good work with AZ, grrr!

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