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We came across this sticker on a painstakingly restored VW bus at Agua Caliente Park in Tucson. We had to smile at the van’s only bumper sticker.

Finally, we have a chance to tell you why we’ve been in one place for so long. As many of you may know Lance and I have long dreamed of owning a spot of land where we could someday have a garden, chickens, and maybe even goats. A place where we would expand on our earlier attempts at water harvesting and composting, where we could collect and use the sun’s powerful rays. For years we thought this dream place of ours would need to be out in the boonies of some state other than Arizona, primarily because of sky high real estate prices.

Our travels in the RV these past few years helped us scratch a few potential locations off our list. For a variety of reasons we narrowed our list down to either southern New Mexico or southern Arizona. We knew we had far more ties to the latter but again, price made us lean towards the Land of Enchantment (and with a tag line like that who wouldn’t want to live there?).

But then the U.S. economy fell off the wall and broke into a zillion pieces. By September we, like so many others, were watching our retirement accounts dwindle. Since we usually wait until fall to max out our retirement accounts (it’s just the way our money comes in) we were sitting on a small pile of cash. A quick look around the economic landscape; faltering stock markets and lower real estate prices convinced us that it was the right time to start looking for our dream place.

By the time we reached the Tucson valley in November we had our list of requirements ready for our agent. We contacted the agent who handled both the buying and selling of our previous Tucson home; we figured we might as well stick with someone we trust. Poor guy—he had his work cut out for him—all we wanted was a small house on over an acre of horse property, close to town, and affordable. That’s all…

Wow! It’s been a while since our last update. Some of you have wondered what happened to us, well, everything is fine—we’ve just been extremely busy (more about that soon). I’ll pick the story up right where we left it, the end of Spring. We took advantage of the last of the coolish weather here in Tucson by organizing a clean-up of a favorite haunt of ours: Sweetwater Wetlands. As the name implies there is water, and any time there is water in the desert, wildlife will find it. Though it is a working part of the city’s water treatment plant the area is open to the public. As you might have noticed we spend a good amount of time there wandering the trails and watching wildlife, so we’re very glad that the Wetlands exist.

After contacting the powers-that-be (and fellow do-good birders) we arranged for an early morning clean-up near the end of April. The morning was a complete success! Though we had fewer people than hoped for we still managed a complete sweep around the perimeter of the Wetlands. We filled twelve 45-gallon bags with garbage—the resident pack rats will not be happy as we took many of their shiny things away. Beer bottles and cans were the most prevalent items with plastic bags (shopping, snacks, and bread) coming in a close second. Other items picked up included clothing, shoes, an eyelash curler, and two glass “pot” pipes. Clearly, the area gets many visitors who have other things on their minds besides watching birds.

This month’s challenge was a fun one—everyone who guessed got it right! Thanks to everyone who took a shot at it. And the winner is…Rich, who was the first to correctly identify our mystery critter as a Cactus Wren.

I know two things about Cactus Wrens: one, they are the largest wren in North America; and two, they are notoriously active (and mischievous). We watched this one at Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson for about 10 minutes—during which time it took a dust bath, rooted around for insects on a mesquite tree, and finally settled in to preen. Never once did he sit still.

This month we have a “Mystery Animal” photo for you to decipher. The challenge is to identify the animal in this picture.

Please be as specific as possible. Good luck!

(Click photo for larger version.)

Instructions: When you think you have figured it out, enter your guess in the comment field below. Be sure to check back next week to see if you were right.

The photo has not been doctored; it is the glorious combination of two things, my lack of ability as a photographer and the subject’s stubborn refusal to be photographed. Happy guessing!

Though Spring is winding down here in southern Arizona, it’s not over yet and we’ve been enjoying as much of it as possible. It is a time of year to savor since May ushers in the start of another of this area’s five seasons¹, Dry Summer. It has been an unusual Spring so far, one day hot (97˚ F), the next day cool and incredibly windy. Though the region received the necessary incremental rainfall this Winter all hope for a spectacularly showy wildflower year was killed by several late, hard frosts.

That is not to infer that this Spring hasn’t been beautiful, on the contrary, what we’ve seen of it has been amazing! Easter morning found us driving up the Mt. Lemmon Highway with our friend Nancy—the female half of the Nancy and Denny duo, the male half doesn’t do windy mountain roads with steep drop-offs.

First stop, the open, grassy desert of Molino Basin, at roughly 4500’ it’s a good two thousand feet above the valley floor. The place was packed with families participating in all the typical bunny-and-egg day festivities. At first we thought the commotion would ruin our chances for bird sightings, but thankfully, we were proven wrong. It didn’t take us long to pick out some of the usual suspects: Greater Roadrunner, Canyon Towhee, House Finch, Pine Siskin, Rock Wren, Mourning Dove, Gray Flycatcher, Lincoln’s Sparrow, and Mockingbird. Later we discovered a Black-throated Gray Warbler and a Cassin’s Kingbird. An auspicious start to the day!

This April was a tough month, not only did it contain the dreaded tax day but it was also saddled with an admittedly difficult Travel Challenge. We knew this one would be tricky! Waterfowl are abundant at Sweetwater Wetlands here in Tucson during the winter.

In final count the total number of birds in the picture was well over 100 (which surprised even me): 94 Northern Shovelers, 15 American Wigeons, 2 American Coots, 1 Mallard, and 1 Cinnamon Teal.

(Click to view larger version. For those of you that have a high speed connection, there is also a full-size version available [4.6 MB].)

As the photo attests, Northern Shovelers far outnumber any other species during Tucson’s cool months. A picture today at the Wetlands would probably have Coots as the most numerous, since by now the Shovelers have migrated north.

Though we do not have an official winner kudos to Karen for getting the main species correct and to Leah for getting pretty close in numbers.

Hopefully May will be kinder to us all…

I was really looking forward to Saturday, March 28th. Not only was I signed up for a free, in-depth tour of Romero Ruins at Catalina State Park (near where I grew up) but I also had family from Ohio flying in to town. Now, you may be wondering where Lance has been during the last couple adventures, don’t worry he is alive and well. He has been quite busy with client work, something we are thankful for in this troubled economy.

On Saturday morning I dropped Lance off at a French bakery, for breakfast with his good friend Boubacar, on my way out to the park. It was a clear, sunny day—a bit on the warm side though a mere hint of what’s to come in the summer months. Driving north on Oracle Road brought back memories of horseback riding along the Cañada del Oro Wash and the long bus ride from Catalina to both middle school and high school. Before the strip malls and fancy houses there were cattle ranches and historic adobe homes, and in the mountains, Bighorn Sheep. At least some sections, like Catalina State Park, were preserved.

It was a nice surprise that the park waived the entrance fee for tour participants—in spite of budget issues. The tour was one of the last free events offered statewide during March as part of Arizona Archaeology & Heritage Awareness Month. Arizona contains some impressive historic and prehistoric treasures which the state figures people will be more willing to protect and preserve if they are more informed about them. At the trailhead parking lot I joined an eclectic group of twenty five or so. Bill Gillespie, an archeaologist with the Santa Catalina Ranger District of the immense Coronado National Forest, began with the usual desert cautions and a quick introduction.

This month we have a “Count ‘Em” challenge for you. For this one you need to count all the animals as well as identify the species in the picture.

Please be as specific as possible. Good luck!

(Click photo for larger version.)

Instructions: When you think you have figured it out, enter your guess in the comment field below. Be sure to check back next week to see if you were right.

The day after hummingbird banding found me embarking on yet another road trip, this time to see something equally as colorful but completely different. My sister, Desiree, is a glass artist who primarily works with stained and fused glass, though she has an avid interest in all glass art. Desiree heard that the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix was hosting an exhibition called “The Nature of Glass” by Chihuly, a famous glass artist.

Apparently, I’ve been living under a rock because even though I’d never heard of him everyone else I talked to raved about his work. Intrigued, the three of us (Aunt Coralie, Desiree, and I) made arrangements for our visit to The Valley of the Sun. Quick aside—Phoenix recently officially shortened their slogan to just The Valley, since the sun part implied that Phoenix was hot (which it usually is). As if changing their slogan changes the weather!

So we shot up I-10 in my aunt’s Prius, which I got to drive—yay. I love cruising along and not worrying about fuel. It is one of our main concerns when driving our RV—not just finding gas stations but locating ones that can accommodate a 34’ long vehicle with a clearance over 12’3”. Of course there was construction (when isn’t there?) but overall the drive down to the valley was quick and uneventful. Notice I said down? Phoenix is roughly 100 miles north of Tucson so one could legitimately say “up” to Phoenix, but our lovely capital city is 1500’ lower in elevation than the Old Pueblo, so I am justified in saying “down.” I also say a lot of other things about Phoenix but few of them are appropriate for all audiences.