Wind and Fire

I am calling this entry "Wind and Fire" because that's what it was all during the week of May 16 to 20.  The wind gusts were in excess of 40 mph most of the week, and the Horseshoe II fire in Portal forced us to cancel our visit there!  In any case, we spent the first two nights in the lap of luxury at the Sunglow Ranch near Pearce, Arizona.  As you can see from the photos below, it is quite spectacular:

The photo below shows Pat and I inside the dining room, where we enjoyed gourmet breakfasts and dinners.  The first night, I had oriental chicken with fresh pea pods that was amazing!  In addition, we enjoyed the local Pillsbury "Diva" wine...

On the front porch of the main dining room, we enjoyed awesome birding!  We saw lots of pine siskins, yellow-rumped warblers, western tanagers, nuthatches, acorn woodpeckers, lazuli buntings, one common yellowthroat, scrub jays, goldfinches, hummingbirds, black-headed grosbeaks, and even an orange crowned warbler (I think).  The water feature pictured below attracted them all!  Everywhere we went this time, it seemed to be a great year for lazuli buntings!


All the while, we were told to keep a lookout for that villain "Bob," the apple-stealing squirrel that has most of his tail missing!

This photo shows the smoke from the Horseshoe II fire at the top of the Chiricahua mountains.  As some said, it was like having our own private volcano:

The lake at the ranch is nice too, and attracted lots of deer and resident geese.  In the evening, we walked behind the lake, where we heard a very large owl - a great horned possibly...

Pat found out that the final resting place of Johnny Ringo is near the front entrance to Sunglow, on private property, so we stopped to pay our respects.  

House near the Johnny Ringo grave, with smoke from the forest fire in the distance.

Me at the Johnny Ringo memorial

Pat at the Johnny Ringo site

We drove to the monument and thought we might have a picnic lunch, but it was too windy, so I just jumped out of the car long enough to have this photo taken.  

We made a stop at the Faraway Ranch, and just looked in the windows, since it was closed.   Through the windows in back, we could clearly see the dining room table laid out with lots of plastic food!

My "McLeod's Daughters" moment at the Faraway Ranch

Here is Pat with the chickens at the ranch, after I had fed thm.  Seeing the chickens run to get fed, I vowed I would get my own chickens once and for all!

Javelina sculputures at the Sunglow Ranch

Our casitas - the Whitetail and the Coyote

Nighttime photo of front porch - not my best effort!

On the third day, we moved on to Hereford and the Casa de San Pedro - thank goodness they had openings for us!  The photo above is the courtyard at the Casa.

Owl wall painting at the Casa de San Pedro

Another wall painting at the Casa de San Pedro

Pat relaxing in the high winds at the Casa.  In the evening, we sat in the courtyard with blankets, enjoying the howling wind!

On the fourth day, we drove over to Patagonia, via the Ash Canyon B & B. 

Another Year on the Trogon Trail

May 15, Saturday

Many fewer hummingbirds and lots & lots of Border Patrol agents on our trip this year!?%? I left home around 9:30 to pick up Pat, but again ran into a freeway closure at the 202 exit, which caused me to get to Pat's house a bit later than planned. It was all good, though, because we arrived at the Signature Grill in Tucson just in time to meet Kyle for lunch. Thank goodness there were no construction delays in and around Tucson this time!

Kyle and I at the Starr Pass Marriott in Tucson:

On the Portal road, we encountered two Border Patrol vehicles, sitting with their doors open. One agent ran up to his truck, but we couldn't see anyone else. Presumably, there were other agents in the desert scrub. Once we arrived at our lodging in Paradise, we found out that everything was working, except the toilet?!)(*&^%.

We were therefore relegated to the outhouse, not my happiest hour:

On the bright side, there were Western Tanagers at the feeders. We also saw Scott's Orioles, Goldfinches, Black-headed Grosbeaks, Acorn Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, unusually brilliant Jays, Magnificent Hummingbirds, etc. Nice to see all these birds, but a bit more difficult than usual, due to new UV screens that were installed on the porch )-: In the evening, we saw about 60 big, brown bats emerge from the bat box.

May 16, Sunday

Today was hummingbird banding, and we started around 7:00 am. By then, they had already banded about 20 hummingbirds, so missed out on most of the action. Pat was still able to assist with the release of this Black-throated hummingbird, which laid sidewise (alarming!) and didn't seem to want to fly away, but flew off after a short rest...

There are so many fewer hummingbirds at the feeders this year that it's a shock! I was told that it was such a wet spring that there's plenty of flowers and the hummingbirds don't need the feeders. Very strange to see water flowing in all the creeks.

After the hummingbird banding, we took a trip Dave Jasper's bird yard, where we saw Cardinals, Pyrrhuloxias, Lark Sparrows, Black-throated Sparrows, and White-crowned Sparrows. There was food in the feeders, and watermelon pieces placed up in the trees, so it looked like it was being tended, but birds were kind of sparse - very warm and windy day...

After visiting Dave Jasper's, we went by Cave Creek Ranch where we found a mulberry tree with Swainson's Thrush, Nuthatches, and Bridled Titmouse. This Woodland Cottage was empty and looked nice for a future stay - it had indoor plumbing and everything.

We then visited the Portal Store, which was missing its lovely deer hoof wall hanger, and we inquired as to what had happened to it. It is apparently in storage. Anyway, here's a photo from last year to help us remember its charm:

Along with four Border Patrol agents at the cafe was my favorite bird guide, Wezil Walraven (who I thought now lived back east!!). I was so excited to see him here, and he was even available for guiding - yeah! We made plans to go owling with him on Tuesday evening in the Huachucas.


Richard W. came by our ramshackle abode in the evening for happy hour, and regaled us with his stories - it was a fun evening!

May 17, Monday

Today we moved to another location in Portal for one night - the Southwest Research Station (SWRS). I liked our cabin (#15) and appreciated the indoor facilities. Pat did not much care for the bunk bed experience. Is that a smile or a grimace...?

Before checking in at the Research Station, we tried the South Fork trail for the first time this trip, looking for the trogon. Although we heard reports that trogons had been spotted everywhere, including the picnic tables by the parking lot, we had no luck!

On the advice of birding guide John Coons, we tried the South Fork trail again around 4:00 pm - this time we had luck and spotted a good one, but only briefly!

In the evening, we went to the Portal post office to see an elf owl in a tree which is right next to the local library:

Elf owl tree, near the swings:

The dining hall at SWRS serves pretty decent food, and you sure can't beat the setting!

Inside the dining hall at the Southwest Research Station are these bird sculptures by Bill Reinbold. The sculptures sit on tree limbs up in the ceiling - very creative!

Here I am birding on the grounds of the Research Station. We saw some nice hummingbirds at the feeders; although not nearly as many as last year. I saw just one Blue-throated hummingbird here.

Along the Portal road, several tourists were out photographing the rocks, so I also took advantage of the light to take a couple photos of the amazing scenery:


May 18, Tuesday

On our way out of Portal today, we had one last chance to get a good view of the trogon, so we took our chances on another hike (third one) on the South Fork trail at about 8:00 am. This time we had great luck between the second and third river crossings.We had many , many views of the trogon, and it was quite cooperative this time. As a bonus, we also saw Painted Redstarts displaying just before the third river crossing. I am standing at the mosquito-infested trailhead:

A sign of the wet spring - running water and an improvised bridge. I think this is the second river crossing:

Fourth river crossing and waterfall - what a sight to see here!

On our way to Hereford, we stopped for lunch in Bisbee at Cafe Cornucopia, a nice little place with homemade food. I had meatloaf and potato salad, which were both excellent. After lunch, we walked around Bisbee for a while...

We arrived in Hereford around 2:30 pm - at the Casa de San Pedro....

The Casa is always a nice place to relax with a glass of wine, and to see Vermillion Flycatchers and Blue Grosbeaks too...

I'm not sure who the artist is, but I really like the bird murals at the Casa...

We met our intrepid bird guide, Wezil at the Mesquite Tree for dinner around 6:00 pm. The highlight of the dinner was the wine - the 2005 Reserve Cabernet from Rancho Rossa in Sonoita. After dinner, Weezil took us owling in Ramsey Canyon. The owling included lots of storytelling, most notably about how Ramsey Canyon is haunted!

On the way to Ramsey, I was especially pleased to see Scaled Quails, also known as cotton tops, for the first time in many years. We also saw an Elf Owl and a Whiskered Screech Owl; and heard the Mexican Whipoorwill (the species that Wezil tells us rolls its rrrr's, and it does!).

Scaled quail:

May 19, Wednesday

Breakfast at the Casa today was our favorite - Dutch babies with fruit. Today was another travel day - this time to Patagonia, by way of Sonoita Vineyards, which is a great detour:

Our destination was Cross Creek Cottages in Patagonia. We rented the Firefly and Moonfly Cabins. We always enjoy the decor that Regina, the owner, has created for the cottages. The cottages are a duplex with a screened porch:

Butterfly tile from the stucco wall that Regina built (we watched her build this wall last summer):

I asked Regina if I could get a picture of her and Olli, the llama, and she kindly obliged me...

But she was scared of him spitting at her, as you can see from this photo!

An ingenious design - an outdoor "cat house" for Regina's cats. Pat stopped by to say hello:

And don't forget to say hello to the burros too - they are so cute!

We found out that two of our favorite restaurants in Patagonia were closed this week - aarrgghh! Both the Velvet Elvis and the Gathering Grounds were closed, so it was a challenge to find someplace to eat. We tried lunch at Mercedes, which is Mexican food. It was pretty good, and we enjoyed our taco salads. For dinner, we ate at Great Tastes (home of the famous "Chefess") and it was very good as well.

We visited Paton's bird yard in the afternoon and were rewarded by seeing a Violet-crowned hummingbird, but the yard is in a sad state compared to its glory days. We also had a tour of the Mission (bar), which is now closed, but we got to see the amazing artwork inside, consisting of large & exotic murals. This owl totem pole is located in front:


May 20, Thursday

Breakfast was at Mercedes, and we found out that they had homemade flour tortillas (made in Nogales) that were excellent. We visited the Patagonia Nature Conservancy and Tubac today. Even though 66o in the morning, the long, walk to the path at the conservancy felt very hot.

View from the terrace of the Tubac Country Club - a nice place to lunch. I recommend the tumbleweed salad with pork tenderloins.

In the afternoon, we went wine tasting at Dos Cabezas, which is by far our favorite vineyard in the region. We then had dinner at Canela Bistro - what a treat! I had been wanting to check out the bistro for a long time, but they were always closed before, so I feel fortunate to make it this time! We had stuffed poblano peppers, quail stuffed with cornbread dressing, local beet salad, calabasitas side dish, and mango ice cream with sugar cookies. Everything was homemade, organic, and local. It made up for the temporary closure of the Velvet Elvis!

Once back in my room, I discovered a monster lizard there - yikes! I just freaked out because it was SO big and slimy-looking. At first I thought it was a gila monster, or some such venomous creature, and I got Pat out of her cabin to give me her evaluation of it. She said it wasn't a gila monster, so I felt better, but I sure slept fitfully with that creature running around in there all night.

Sculptures at Regina's place:

May 21, Friday

Time to head home today. The day was blissfully clear, unlike some past trips when we've been hit by blinding rain. We only had to make a couple stops to load up the wine cooler, and then we were off. I am at the Rancho Rossa vineyard below. Overall, it was another successful expedition along the trogon trail...