Windy Day at Whitewater and a Road Sign

We went to Whitewater Draw for a look around. It is a great birding place. The wind was blowing, blowing hard maybe 20 mph with gusts to 35. You never really know what you might find so what the heck, it is not that far, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

This is a Green Tailed Towhee. It was down on the ground in a somewhat sheltered location. They are typically found on the ground but are normally very secretive. We don't very often see them out in the open like this. Great bird.

This is a Rufous-winged Sparrow. It was also down and out of the wind.

The above three images are of a Northern Harrier. The Northern Harrier crossed the walking path a short ways in front of me and I started to take some pictures. So looking at these images I think it was good to be out in the strong wind.

We have seen this female Vermillion Flycatcher at Whiterwater Draw several times when we have been there. Must be a resident. The male was there as well but we didn't want to bore you with that bright red bird.

Out in the mud flats wandering around in the wind was this Greater Yellowlegs. Not many birds out in the windy area, most were found out of the wind.

Here is a really small part of the Sandhill Cranes that were hiding out from the wind. Someone said they heard there were 15,000 Crane there and I wouldn't dispute that number there were lots and lots of Sandhill Crane.

Here is a slow down sign. We see it along the road to Whitewater Draw. You need to slow down because of the rough road.

What is not apparent until you look at the second image is that the "Slow Down" sign is just before a newly constructed road section with a large bridge over a seasonal water course. The older road, for miles on either side of this new construction is flat and smooth. Only the approximate 1/3 mile of new construction needs the rough road sign. Seemed a little odd to us.

Hope that you enjoyed some of these images. Let us know if you have any questions.

Keep in mind if it is windy that may be a good reason to get out and look for some birds. What the heck, nothing ventured, nothing gained. All the best.

A Look Around Bisbee

Bisbee is a city in the Mule Mountains of southeast Arizona. The town has an extensive Copper Mining past but since the mine closure in 1975 the city has transformed into a free-spirited place with a thriving arts/music/hospitality scene, amid a remarkably well-preserved historical architectural setting.

This link will give you a wonderful pictorial overview of Bisbee - Click Here
http://www.discoverbisbee.com/

In this post we will just show you a few of the things you can see in Bisbee. The photos in the above link above will give you a detailed view of the city. It is a neat place.

This is the Welcome to Bisbee sign. It is on the south side of Bisbee and sits adjacent to a parking area for the old mine pit.

Here is the mine pit mentioned above. In Arizona they have done a lot of Copper mining. In Ajo they had a similar deep pit from which Copper and other minerals had been extracted.

Walking along some of the back streets we found this entry gate. Very Ornate. You will notice it opens to some steps. Bisbee is in a narrow canyon and there are lots of steps and homes on hillsides and narrow streets.

Not far from the gate there were several of these pigs situated in the windows of a small home. Unusual decoration but then a lot of items around Bisbee are unusual and very well done.

This was a collection of soldier type figures along a wall. They each had a word associated with them as part of their sash.

Here are three of the figures mentioned above. You can see more detail and read the words.

We all have electric boxes at out homes. They are generally unsightly and often painted the same color as the house in the hope they would blend in. Here they hid it with Decals. Reading and trying to decipher the myriad of stickers makes you forget you were looking at a plain old electric box.

We walked past these folks on the street and having Westies of our own we had to take this picture. We have not gotten to the point where we need to take ours in a carriage.

Looking for a place to eat in Bisbee we found Thuy (pronounced Twoee). It is named after the owner and is a Vietnamese Soup place where everything is fresh. Here is the menu board. The place is really small, we counted 14 chairs and the seating was rather cramped. They prepared a lot of take out.

This is a look into the kitchen. Thuy is cooking and you can see the many takeout bags. The place is simply an open room with the tables in front and the kitchen in back.

Here is Deanna with the wonderful Carmelized catfish soup that she had ordered. She initially thought it would be too much to eat but she finished all the wonderful soup.

We will not be in town for the chocolate tasting, Darn. It sounded like it could be really interesting, locally made chocolate, what is there not to like other than the inconvenient date.

On a side street there was this mural. Part of the art scene in Bisbee. Nicely done.

The words on the window read "Lunatic Fringe Luthery" and that caught our eye.
You may want to jump to the facebook page and find a little more about this place. Very interesting. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lunatic-Fringe-Luthiery/1833063607016820

This is part of a flyer for a music event that is occurring in Bisbee. As you read it you get the impression that this is not your normal musical event. It would be fun to be there.

We could only cover a small part of the Bisbee scene. We hope you looked at the images noted at the start of the blog to see Bisbee. Also here is an interesting web site that talks about some of the many shops and businesses that an be found in Bisbee. As you will see it is a very arts and crafts oriented place.

http://www.discoverbisbee.com/shops

Here is another link to a collection of fascinating images of Bisbee. Come visit.
Click Here
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/111886371962013560/

Las Cienegas and a Few Fun Images

Here is an assortment of images. Some birds along with some other views of what we have seen. Hope you find something interesting.

We were driving down a back road looking for birds. We were not going very fast and noticed this American Kestrel fly in and land on a fence post just as we passed by. We stopped and backed up fully expecting the Kestrel to fly but it did not. The bird is sitting on a fence post adjacent to the road, not very far from the big red truck we are driving. Nothing seemed to phase this Kestrel. At one point she flew to the ground and came back up on the barbed wire fence not four feet from the post. Without a doubt this was the most photographically cooperative American Kestrel we have ever seen. After taking a lot of pictures we finally drove off and she was still sitting on the wire.

In this image the Kestrel from the image above is now on the barbed wire.

Here is your sparrow lesson for today. This image was in a previous post. It is a winter plumage Chipping Sparrow. Very gray looking little sparrow.

Here is an image of another Chipping Sparrow. It is still winter but the sparrow looks quite a bit different.

And here is another winter Chipping Sparrow almost in full, bright breeding plumage. No wonder sparrows are so difficult and frustrating.

We were going to tell you these are Antelope Sparrows, they stay on the ground a lot like quail and run around very fast but we knew you would be too sharp for that ruse. In the grasslands we have seen quite a few Antelope. They are colorful and fascinating to see.

This is a view of the grasslands at a place called Las Cienegas. It is a National Conservation Area and many parts of it are working cattle ranches. It is home to maybe two gazillion sparrows among other birds and animals and all sorts of critters. It is a fascinating place. The grasslands seem to be in wonderful condition.

Here is a Lincoln’s Sparrow identified by the large gray area above the eye, the buff colored moustaches area and the black line leading back from the eye. Neat little sparrow

We have shown Pyrrhuloxia in previous posts. This one was cooperating for it's picture and we wanted to include a little color in this post so what better way to do so.

One of the roads you drive down looking for birds is about a mile north of Sonoita and named Curly Horse Road. At the first left hand bend along Curly Horse is this metal sculpture of a horse. It is at the entry gate to a large home. Neat statue

If you want to study Vesper Sparrows this is a great location and perfect time of year to study them. We have seen a lot of Vespers. This image shows the reddish spot on the shoulder that you don’t get to see very often. The bold eye ring and strong facial pattern help identify this as a Vesper.

Finally, this is a different Vesper Sparrow. He is leaving. Got tired of having his picture taken or had an appointment elsewhere. Sometimes you just get lucky when taking pictures.

Hope you enjoyed this post and if you get a chance be sure and come down to Sourthern Arizona and drive around Las Cienegas. There is a lot to see and experience.

A Good Friend Rodger asked George about Lunches

Here is a breif description of some of the lunches and lunch spots we have found along the way. Some are memorable and some not so much. We left a few out, not wanting to bore you.

BD’s Diner near Parker AZ. It is a “Looks Like” 50’s Diner. They have a full size replica of Elvis as you walk in and the floor is Black and White Linoleum squares. There are lots of chrome fixtures and the seat cushions are red. They had a special on Fish and Chips and Deanna asked what kind of fish it was the waitress replied “Breaded”. I am not familiar with that species of fish but it turned out pretty good.

Black Meadow Landing is an RV resort that is on the south end of Lake Havasu. It is a bit off the beaten path so they have a restaurant there and little grocery store and gas station etc. We stopped in the café there for lunch and I ordered the Taco Salad. It was more than enough food for four people to eat on and even then we might not finish it. It was quite good but big enough for several people.

100 Estrella in Ajo, AZ. They had a special hand cut short rib burger that was supposed to be a real delicacy. It was quite good. However I ordered a root beer and either I misunderstood or they did and they brought me a Hard Root Beer that I took one sip of and chose not to finish, still choosing not to drink.

Granny’s Kitchen in Why AZ. I had sent Rodger an image of the Menudo from this place. The food is wonderful. The Menudo rated up there with some of the best I have ever had. Some people don’t think Menudo can ever be any good regardless, but I disagree. You should have been there. The Tortilla - In the three images below you see Deanna wrestling the Tortilla that came with the Menudo that I got at Granny’s. You only need one Tortilla.

And here is the image of the Menudo

Little Italy in Gila Bend. We stopped here when traveling to our next campsite. They had a fish and chips special that I ordered. Deanna looks at me and says “What kind of a Buffoon orders Fish and Chip at an Italian Restaurant in Gila Middle of no Where Arizona Bend, this ain’t fish country bozo”. At any rate, the fish was wonderful.

Charlos in Globe AZ. We took an extended road trip to see some great country and stopped in Globe for Lunch. It is Copper Mining country, the landscape is torn up everywhere you look. The Mexican food was fabulous. We would eat there again in a heartbeat but probably will never be in Globe again.

Mount Athos, Florence AZ. Whenever we are anywhere near Florence we stop at Mount Athos. It is a Greek Restaurant and the Gyros Sandwich is really fabulous as are the deserts. As you might guess whenever we eat lunch we have a little desert as well.

Flavor of India in Oro Valley, AZ When we stopped at Catalina State Park for a few days we had lunch in Oro Valley which is right by the State Park at this India Restaurant. They had a buffet special and we both ordered that. They had a wonderful selection of items many of which we did not know or had not tried. Everything was really good and it is on our list to return to if we ever get back in the area. I generally avoid buffets as the food is not that good but this place and this buffet was an exception.

PW’s Café in Animas NM While taking a trip around from Rusty’s RV Park we stopped at this restaurant. It used to be Panther Tracks Restaurant. The daughter had bought the establishment from the mother and renamed it Panther Pizza and Wings. Keep in perspective that Animas is a farming town of about 235 people so there are not many options, in fact this was it for miles and miles. I ordered the Patty Melt with Green Chile. It came with two patties, a lot of food. It looked like one of those disgusting things from Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives but it tasted really great. Oh, the name Panther is probably used because the local high school mascot is "The Panthers".

Portal Café in Portal AZ. This is a small place again, long ways from any other option. The Mexican food they serve is wonderful. The desert was an individually baked berry pie with a crust and ice cream. It was possibly the best part of the meal.

Bisbee Breakfast Club, Bisbee AZ. When you are anywhere near Bisbee you must go to the Bisbee Breakfast Club. They serve huge portions of wonderful fattening food. All of it tastes great, don’t worry about the diet, do that later. They are only open until 2:00 so go for breakfast and expect to wait, they are that popular. Here is an image of the big john omelet that I had for New Year’s Brunch. It had ham, chorizo and lots of other stuff. Yum

Kountry Kitchen in Elfrida. We have stopped here a couple of times after going to Whitewater Draw to look for birds. Elfrida is another small farming town and hence not many options. The Kountry Kitchen is really good however or in a small town it might not stay open for long. They have a sandwich called the “CrunchyZona”. It is a sliced beef affair served on a soft hoagie bun and topped with deep fried bell peppers. They have a variation that also includes Jalapeños and is called the “Evil Version”, obviously that us the version George ordered. It was really tasty and not very spicy.

The Café in Sonoita, AZ. This is a very upscale Café which surprised us. It seems there is a lot of money in and around Sonoita, it is an up and coming Wine Growing Region and big cattle ranching area. For starters we shared a south west enchilada soup that was wonderful. George had a patty melt special that had green chilies, very tasty and Deanna had a wonderful southwestern chicken salad. They also had Key Lime Pie for dessert. After many of the lunches we eat very little is anything the rest of the day, way too full from all the good food. Here is the board with the "Specials" for the day.

Here is the sandwich and salad that we had for lunch.

Thuy’s Noodle Shop – Bisbee AZ. This is one of those Vietnamese Soup places where everything is fresh. Thuy is the name of the lady that owns and runs the place pronounced "Twoee". Deanna had a carmelized catfish soup that was boiling in the bowl when it arrived and I had a fish soup. Both were wonderful. Here is an image of the fish soup, lots of fish.

Memorable restaurants all, some we remember to forget and some we remember to go back whenever in the area.

Cochise National Monument

Cochise Stronghold is located in Arizona to the south and west of Wilcox in the Dragoon Mountains at an elevation of 5,000 ft. This beautiful woodland area lies in a protective rampart of granite domes and sheer cliffs which were once the refuge of the great Apache Chief, Cochise, and his people

This rugged natural fortress was, for some 15 years, the home and base of operations for the famed Chiricahua Apache Chief, Cochise. Cochise and about 1,000 of his followers, of whom some 250 were warriors, located here.
Born in present-day Arizona, Cochise led the Chiricahua band of the Apache tribe during a period of violent social upheaval.

Here is a brief look at some of the granite rocks that surround The Cochise Stronghold.

The Campground sits at the upper end of a canyon. It is a small campground with no water and only a pit toilet, though a nice pit toilet. It is positioned under the oak canopy and very well done. Don’t take your big rig RV here for several reasons. Number 1 it wouldn’t fit. Number 2 the gravel road leading to the Stronghold and Campground is not the nicest and crosses the now dry creek bed in four places. There are lots of rocks, dips, and such. It is passable but not recommended for large trailers. If your RV is over about 24 feet in length it won’t fit. The campsites are really nice with concrete tables, that you don’t move wherever you like.

Since there are Arizona Oaks there are Acorn Woodpeckers. In the campground there were five or six Acorn Woodpeckers flying round and working the trees. I think they look like clowns, quite stunning with their contrasting red and black and white coloration.  

Across a nice foot bridge from the campground starts a short Nature Trail that is easy to walk and has a large number of signs identifying the various grasses, shrubs, and trees along the trail.

This is one of the many placards found along the trail. This one speaks to the Oak Woodlands.

Here we are at a point along the trail looking down into where the campground is located. The oaks cover the canyon floor at this point.

A short distance along the Nature Trail the Cochise trail splits off. That trail is some 4.5 miles in length with about 3 miles to the Dragoon Divide and another 1.5 miles to the base on the west side. We have talked with some people whom have hiked it and they say it is a wonderful hike with spectacular views. We could not take the boys that far so we did not take the longer trail.

Here is Deanna and the boys at a bench along the trail. It is a nice, easy, informative walk along the Nature Trail. All of us had a great time.

One of the trees that is mixed in with the oaks is the Alligator Juniper. It is named because, as you can see, the bark resembles the skin of an Alligator. They can get to be quite large growing to 65 feet in height under certain conditions.

Up in the area around Walla Walla you need to be concerned with identifying Dark-eyed Juncos and Slate-colored Juncos. The types of Juncos here in Southern Arizona also include this Gray-headed Junco, the Yellow-eyed Junco we showed in an earlier post, and the Red-backed Junco. They all seem to have the distinctive white outer tail feathers that you are used to seeing in the Juncos in the Northwest.

This was a view up a canyon into the Dragoons to the west as we were driving out. This gives you an idea as to how impenetrable this fortress area seems.

In the lower third of the picture you can see a rock shaped like a dinner roll balancing on a larger rock. Most curious to ponder how loing it has been there. Did Cochise see this same rock? Probably so.
 

On the gravel road into the stronghold there are a number of private homes. Some quite close to the camping area. This one caught our eye because of the color. We thought that it was not recently painted in preparation of a coming sale. Maybe they got the paint for free.

When you drive along the Cochise Stronghold Road, the paved portion heading towards the monument, you see this sign warning of Fissures. We waited by the sign for an hour hoping for some fissures to occur but nothing happened so we moved on. Seemed an odd sign to us.

They grow a lot of corn out in the Sulphur Springs Valley and we believe that this silo is used for storage of that dried corn crop. Those of you that feel in the need for some exercise during these winter doldrums can use this as a stair climber instead of going to the gym. You can run up the stairs that circle the grain elevator on the right, slide back down the railing hitting Mach 2 as you reach the bottom and then cross over to the tower on the left and stagger up the flights of stairs to the top. It is great exercise. And if you get bored with the same routine there are a number of these silo configurations throughout the valley providing you variation.

Climb on my friend, climb on.