Mostly we follow botany stories here at the journal, but once again my other hobby, "Birding" comes to the forefront. As I tell stories from my recent visit to Arizona, once place remains as a stand-out in my memory. For anyone making travel plans, the DO NOT MISS site from Arizona was the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It is a world-renowned zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden, all in one place!

We easily spent four hours there, and along with the Burrowing Owl, Javalina, and Cougar displays, a free-flying Harris Hawk show was the most entertaining Education I have had in a long time! Four Harris Hawks, one seen here resting with his handler, preformed an open air display against the desert sky. Harris Hawks are endlessly fascinating, partially because they are the only hawks that routinely live and hunt in family units. Their hunting technique is not unlike a pack of wolves, where cooperation and team work results in successful hunts. Watching the "pack" in the sky was equivalent to an aerial ballet.

Harris Hawks display a beautiful rufus shoulder and a white band at the tail's base. These are true southern species, known in South Texas, Arizona, and predominately Mexico. This intelligent bird has carved out a niche, where there where no similar predators in the desert. They did not co-evolve with the desert, but rather became opportunist once ranchers moved in with Longhorn cattle and water-troughs. Harris Hawks would be unable to survive the desert with the additional water supply, but have won the west through their resourcefulness and teamwork. Go Hawks! My new favorite team.

"Holiday" on Lake Erie

Last year a select group of crazy people endured sleet, rain, and Cleveland Brown fans to go on a Lake Erie Pelagic. We were wet and cold but the up close looks at a lakefront Snowy Owl made us think it was all-in-all a good time. Fortunately, some of the folks at BSBO decided it would be fun to try again.So they booked the Holiday, a boat a bit smaller than the ship we passed in the channel..

The up-shot? The record-setting beautiful weather made it a fun affair to share with friends. And the birds weren't bad either!

On the list serve John Pogascnik reported:

"There were a number of good sightings. We had an immature BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE that gave a brief but nice view as it headed west. We had a very cooperative PARASITIC JAEGER. It chased around a few gulls and gave some nice views... Other noteworthy sightings was a very cooperative white-winged scoter, and great looks at a Peregrine falcon putting on a spectacular aerial display. All in all a very enjoyable day. Many thanks to Bob Faber, Kim and Kenn Kaufman, and everybody else that helped put this together. Also thanks to the ship's crew. Now if next week can go so well."

I believe next week's trip is already full, but let the good folks at BSBO know if you would be interested in a future cruise, and buy one of those awesome Winged Journey calenders to help support them!

If you would like to see all my photos from the day : Click Here

The Alligator's Bark

Travel affords the opportunity to see our plants' relatives, not unlike visiting the cousins, of the Ohio native plants we know and love. Our Eastern Redcedar is a staple for wildlife, even leading its name to the Cedar Waxwing. Known by its prickly scale-like leaves (needles) and blue-toned berries, it is attractive to birds and a key ingredient in gin! Some of its western cousins can be easily recognized by most nature enthusiasts.

Western Scrub-Jay flies out of a Rocky Mountain Juniper in the Sedona foothills.

The Southwest offers its own varieties of Juniper, some with berries, like the Rocky Mountain Juniper, Junipoerus scopulorum seen above.

And others reproduce not by berries, but rather by brown seed cones, which may take two full years to develop. This Alligator Juniper, Juniperus deppeana is found in the rocky soils less than an hour drive from the city of Tucson, Arizona.

The Alligator Juniper was easy to identify by its unique alligatored or checker-board bark. It was a standout among the evergreens and the roughened layers of bark on this well named tree were mesmerizing. The Alligator's bark was its most telling feature and it quickly became ingrained in my mental search image.

And not unlike our own Junipers, it provides shelter and habitat for many birds- including the Bridled Titmouse. Hope you are enjoying the Arizona adventures, wish I could have brought the sun back with me!

The Birder's Mecca

Ever heard of the Patagonia picnic table effect?

This is the site where the saying was born. Patagonia, Arizona, located just a piece up the road from from Wyatt Erp's famous gun-fighting Tombstone, is a sleepy little ranch community with an edgy artistic fringe. It was placed squarely in the center of birders' mentality by the discovery of Arizona's first recorded Black-capped Gnatcatcher, one of the species I was fortunate enough to see on my recent trip.

And as the birders gathered at this rest-stop, other rarities were found, leading us to wonder- could rarities be everywhere and its only a concentration of great birders that will recognize the rarities (like the Kirtland's Warbler at MBS)? Or is this a blessed area, meant for finding rare birds?

In reality, it is probably all about the real estate and botany; across the highway from this famous roadside rest lies a 150-yard trail along a creek. Water, especially in arid desert-like regions, always increases the wildlife sightings.

Add the water related trees, Cottonwood and Sycamore (photo above)- and yes, you have a bird magnet.

But look again, this is not the Sycamore we know in the east. Although the bark shows the same Monnet-esque patterns of our familiar riparian corridor tree, the leaves have morphed! Behold, the Arizona Sycamore, Platanus wrightii with its elongated leaf and smooth fruits. This species provides habitat for Elegant Trogans and Violet-crowned Hummingbirds! Check it out in Sibley's new Guide to Trees- pg 104.

Better yet, I can check it off, as Mr. Sibley provides a tree checklist in the back of the book. Weedpicker could soon become... Weed-lister!

Winged Jewels

Hummingbird's feathers reflect the light with jewel-colored flashes, stunning not only potential mates, but enchanting bird-o-philes as well. We find them fascinating.

Ohio has one major player in the Trochilidae family, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Late spring brings many of these colorful dynamos to sip sugar-water at man-made feeders and nectar from my flower gardens. And while I have never had the good fortune of hosting a fall Rufous Hummingbird, several have been seen in the GMAS area this year.

Broad-billed Hummingbird is a staple in the southern Arizona desert canyons, and a beauty to behold.

While birding in Arizona provided ample opportunity to study Magnificent, Broad-billed and Anna's Hummingbirds, a trip to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum rounded out the billet with a few more. They have an enclosed area for rehabilitating hummingbirds, while educating the public. Usually aviaries and butterfly houses are a turn-off for me, but this one was so well done- I would consider it a must see.

Black-chinned female at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. The educational signage at this museum and gardens was excellent as well. I enjoyed reading of the relationships of local plants the the fauna which interacts with them.

Ocotillo is the deadest, prickliest-looking plant you can imagine in October, so it was interesting to learn of its value to hummers. Never under estimate the value of worthless-looking plants!

One parting shot, and a beauty he was. Care to make a guess at the species?