Fridays have lately been designated as "Emily's Day", which means Barry doesn't ride his bike, and I get to choose the day's activities. Woo-hoo! Last Friday I picked separate morning and afternoon activities since we wanted to get back to the house at lunchtime to watch the UNC Tarheels play in the ACC tournament. (Unfortunately, they lost their game; the only low spot in an otherwise fantastic day.) Less than two miles down a back road from where we're staying in Patagonia, Arizona is the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve, a Nature Conservancy "Important Bird Site" as well as an area rich in biodiversity courtesy of the riparian habitats along Sonoita Creek. So, of course we had to check it out. And on a beautiful morning, what better way to get there but on foot. The hummingbirds were active this morning as we walked along the road. This one appears to be a male Anna's. It took us quite awhile to get to the preserve as we saw plenty of birds while walking so made numerous stops. We had never seen Broad-Billed Hummingbirds before coming to southern Arizona. The male is incredibly striking, with his cobalt throat and turquoise/green breast! As is often the case in the bird world, the female is more muted in color. Map in hand, we then headed out on the trails in search of more birds. The centerpiece of the preserve, Sonoita Creek, actually has flowing water here, while it's simply a dry wash in town this time of year. According to the brochure, there is five miles of perennial flow in the creek, two miles of which are in the preserve. Watercress and other greenery grows in the creek, providing a much-needed (and endangered) resource in such a dry part of the country. The host told us we might see javelinas eating watercress, but unfortunately we did not. The cottonwood trees along the creek are massive in size and very impressive. According to the link above: "The preserve protects a magnificent example of the rare Fremont cottonwood-Goodding willow riparian forest. Some of the trees are among the largest (more than 100 feet tall) and oldest (130 years old) Fremont cottonwood trees in this country. " To put the tree's size in context, just look at how big this trunk is compared to me! We saw plenty of birds in the preserve and added two new ones to our life lists: Bridled Titmouse and Bell's Vireo. We could have spent much longer at the preserve, but since we wanted to get home for part of the game, we left. We will definitely get there another time while our pass is valid, though. On the way back, we stopped in at the the Paton House, aka "Hummingbird Haven". This is a residential home in Patagonia with a yard absolutely filled with bird feeders of all types and thus a perfect area to see birds. The former owners, Wally and Marion Paton, loved feeding and watching birds, and invited one and all to come into their yard to watch any time. The Patons have now passed away, but the house was recently purchased jointly by several birding organizations and is maintained as a bird sanctuary. What a wonderful legacy left for us -- and the birds -- to enjoy! We added a couple of new birds to our life lists here, including the Violet-Crowned Hummingbird (below) and Lazuli Bunting. Stay tuned for Part 2 of this Funday Friday, where we head up the road to Sonoita to visit a couple of wineries!
5 Comments
I kept looking for the start of the trail beside the Health Clinic and the Post Office, both shown in the map above, but it just isn't there. Undeterred and with the map in mind, I crossed the Sonoita Creek bridge on Highway 82 heading northeast, and right at the end of the bridge, I saw the trail marker. Blink and you'll miss it; the trail (or what I think of as a trail) actually starts immediately at the north end of the bridge on the east side of the road. I was pretty excited and felt as if I'd found a real treasure. And actually I had! As stated on the sign above, the trail follows the old Southern Pacific railbed as closely as possible, then enters Nature Conservancy and Native Seed Search land. I had the trail all to myself -- well, just me and the birds. The trees were gorgeous! The trail crosses Sonoita Creek, this portion of which is dry this time of year -- good for me! There are stern warnings before you enter Nature Conservancy lands. As you can see, the views all along the trail are breathtaking. There was still a tiny bit of snow visible on this mountaintop. The first time I walked the trail, I came back on the second crossing of the wash rather than completing a short run of trail back to downtown. The huge cottonwood trees were beautiful. They were just beginning to show green the first time I walked the trail; now, one week later, they're totally green. I've had the trail to myself both times I've walked it. Well, except for Paisley! I took her along on my second walk. She had fun but had to drink a LOT of water along the way. The temperature was only around 70, but it's dry and very sunny. This is an easy, flat trail, just a couple of miles in length. If you plan to walk it, bring binoculars, water, and sunscreen!
Now that we've left the big city of Tucson for small-town Patagonia, Arizona, we wanted to wrap up our time there with a post on the birds we saw in Tucson. Although we didn't do as much birding as we might have if we weren't so busy bicycling, we still added quite a few new species to our life lists. Most (but not all) of the following were new for us! Since Patagonia is known for its excellent birding, and the elevation is higher than Tucson's (4055' versus 2643'), we're hoping to add to our Arizona bird totals in the coming month. Stay tuned, as always!
|
Emily & BarryWe're a long-married, early-retired couple who are currently traveling as nomads with no fixed home base. After years of living in North Carolina (Emily's home state), we spent 18 months living oceanfront on Ambergris Caye, Belize, a year road-tripping the US in a Honda CR-V, a year in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and are now roaming North America in our 32' motorhome, Pearl, following warm weather whenever possible. Archives
July 2019
Favorite Travel Blogs |