Some Birds At The RV

Here are a few images of birds we have seen at the RV Spot where we are staying near Silver City New Mexico. The elevation is about 6,000 feet and it is spring so some of the migrants might be starting to show up. The vegetation is a mix of Juniper and some oak. A very pleasant environment. We have some seed on the ground and some bird feeders hanging in the trees.

Here is part of a flock of Western Bluebirds that moves around in the area. We see them almost every day. In our travels around the country near here we have seen quite a number of Western Bluebirds. Oh, there are also two Pine Siskin getting a drink as well, not just weird Bluebirds. The bird bath where they are drinking is in the edge of our RV site and was put here by the owners of the park for the birds.

There are a lot of Chipping Sparrows here. We counted 17 on the ground at one time. It has been interesting watching the top of their head change from the dull drab winter color to the somewhat brighter red of the breeding plumage.

We have always had trouble getting birds of all species to pose out in the open so we can take decent images. Here is another Chipping Sparrow that is hiding behind some of the Juniper where it is perched. It seems an interesting though not perfect image.

The White-throated Sparrow is not very common here. We were fortunate enough to have one come into the ground feeding station. This image was taken through the window in the RV and the lighting and coloration are not the best.

The Pine Siskin is a small little bird found normally in higher elevations. Here is a single Pine Siskin. As we shall see they like the Niger Seed. Note their really pointed bill, perfect for grabbing the small seeds.

The Pine Siskin has yellow coloration on their flanks and tail area when in breeding plumage. Since we are in the transition from drab winter plumage to the more colorful breeding plumage we are seeing many birds in this changing of color. All birds don't automatically change the same day, it is gradual.

The bag this bird is hanging on is often called a Niger sock. It is filled with Niger seed and the bird take the seeds out through the holes in the mesh fabric. They also spill a lot on the ground, terribly messy eaters.

Here are several Siskin on the Niger sock. At times there are Lesser Goldfinch there as well and the Niger sock gets depleted quite rapidly. Send more Niger seed, quick.

We also have a suet feeder hanging in one of the Juniper. This is a Curve-billed Thrasher. He can go through a lot of suet in a short period of time. Send more suet along with Niger Seed.

Here is a Bushtit on the suet feeder. Notice the creme or yellowish colored eye. This is an attribute of the female Bushtit. The male has a really dark colored eye. The Bushtit forage actively in trees often hanging upside down to find bugs. Their diet is primarily insects and spiders but they will eat some berries.

Here is a small flock of about 16 Bushtit, they are really hard to count as they are constantly moving around. They travel through the RV park and pass through in a hurried frenzy. This image, taken by our friend Don Holtgren, shows a small flock of Bushtit. Don and his wife, Sharyl, are staying across the road and their RV site backs onto an open area so the Bushtit like the openness and bushes around their site. The lighting was not the brightest when the image was taken so the image is a little fuzzy but there are lots of Bushtit seen here. Thanks Don.

This is a Woodhouse's Scrubjay. The species was originally called a Western Scrubjay but in July 2016 the decision was made to split the Scrubjay into the Woodhouse's and California Scrubjay. Our personal feeling has always been that many of these bird splits occur to sell more bird books. You certainly would not want to have an old out dated bird book with incorrect bird names. Go buy the new book, the names have changed.

In the southwest you have multiple types of Dark-eyed Juncos. Here we have consistently seen three different ones. This is an Oregon Junco. Their identifying marks include their black or dark gray hood contrasting with a rusty brown back and flanks, white lower chest and abdomen and gray- or black-streaked wings.

This is a Pink-sided Junco. The sides are not really a pink color but they are tinged in color. Their identifying marks include the hood which is lighter gray, and a faint dark mask that can often be seen extending from the bill to the eyes. They have extensive pinkish brown wash on the flanks, usually extending deeper onto the chest than the Oregon junco’s darker flank coloration.

This is a Gray-headed Junco distinguished by the gray head, chest, and belly and a red patch on it back. There is also a Red-back Junco, which is the rarest junco variation, that is very similar to this Junco but the bill or beak is black, the throat is white and there are other minor differences. The Red-backed has a fairly limited range in the higher elevations of Arizona and New Mexico. We have not seen a Red-backed Junco here, yet.

Here is a Ladder-backed Woodpecker. They are a fairly common woodpecker in the southwest. We have seen them eating on the prickly pear cactus leaves. This one was moving around in among the prickly pear looking for anything to eat. Seems he has figured out how not to get stuck by the many spines.

This is a Female Phainopepla. The male is black and very shiny. The Phainopepla are responsible for spreading mistletoe around the southwest. In the spring the mistletoe forms juicy berries and the Phainopepla digest and get energy from the pulp of the berry, but the seed passes straight through. Their digestive system does not kill all the berries and they fly to another tree and the mistletoe berries are deposited on the new tree. The mistletoe will damage the infected tree. Here in the southwest you can see a lot of mistletoe on some trees.

We hope you enjoyed this brief view of some of the birds we have seen at the place where we are staying near Silver City New Mexico. This list is not all inclusive as there have been many others such as Cassin's Finch, Canyon Towhee, Gambel's Quail and others. We just wanted to share a few images of some of the residents whom live where we are visiting.

Let us know if you have any questions or comments - All the best - George & Deanna

Signs and Such

This was just a fun sign on the front of a vehicle. We don't have any big dogs, ours are small, so we will just stay on the porch and rest.

We have never understood why people shoot at signs. Is there a bag limit? Do you need a special license? I never see any of the signs tagged so I guess you don't need tags. They must not taste very good because they are left after they are shot. This even looks as it it was hit with a shotgun. I wonder how much target practice you need to be able to hit a sign with a shotgun from close range, probably not much.

This was in the pro shop at the golf course here in Silver City. Having played some amount of golf I cannot ever imagine spitting sunflower seeds on the putting greens. I guess somebody does hence the sign is needed. It was not clear to us whether the pro shop does not want sunflower plants growing on the greens or if the golfers following the seed spitters cannot putt very accurately because of the debris. It was also not clear if the "seeds" referred to in the sign really meant the shells that the sunflower were encased in before someone threw a handful in their mouth and proceeded to spit the shells out after eating the sunflower seeds. Much further research is needed.

This was on the back of an ATV at Hidden Valley Ranch RV Park, a place where we stayed for 3 weeks. Sniveling is defined as - the action of crying and sniffing in a feeble or fretful way. So no sniveling not now, not never!.

This sign "CAUTION I break for pretty rocks" was on an ATV next to the one above at Hidden Valley. The area around there is really big rock hounding country. Many of the people who stay at Hidden Valley do so because they can head out and look for really great rocks and semi-precious stones right from the park on wide open BLM land.

We saw this sign out in what would be loosely called a dump site. There was no household garbage there but a lot of stuff and we could not understand how any one would ever know if something was withdrawn or deposited. It was more than far enough off the beaten track that video monitoring was not a viable option.

Over the years we have seen variations of this theme. I jokingly asked one of the waitresses at the restaurant where we saw this sign if she had been trained to be crazy and she stated "No I was that way before i started here". Good comment.

This sign was in a restaurant where we had lunch. It was back in the kitchen area on the way to the restroom. The directions read:

1 - Place on a hard surface
2 - Bang head against "Bang Head Here"
3 - Repeat until you are unconscious or in so much pain that you forget about your stress.

Not being under any stress at the time we did not try the cure.

This is a sign that the sun is out and the sky is clear blue. The day before this image was taken it was about 32 degrees all day, 40 mph winds, and blowing snow. Great to see the sun, and we think the Spotted Towhee thinks so as well.

We have seen this sign on many back roads in New Mexico. At one point, some time back we checked, out of curiosity, why they would not plow. We found out that they did not only not only plow on nights and weekends but they never plowed. They did not have any equipment for snow removal, seems they did not get enough snow to justify the expense of the snow plow. Guess signs are cheaper and less maintenance unless they get shot.

This sign was in the large parking lot at the visitor center at Gila Cliff Dwellings. Somehow it struck me as a sign that could easily be found in any Safeway or other large parking lot. Maybe they need it here.

Just be kind. Don't really need to explain this one. Good sign.

We hope you enjoyed a look at some of the signs we have seen around. Ain't life fun?

Let us know if you have any questions or comments - All the best - George & Deanna

Hillsboro Cafe New Mexico

One recent day we took a ride over to the Hillsboro Cafe. Located in Hillsboro, NM a small, old historic mining town about 53 miles east of where we are staying in Silver City. We took Hwy 152, following the blue line on the map, to get there. Hwy 152 is a fascinating windy, twisty, mountain road. that goes up and over Emory Pass.

This is the sign marking the top of Emory Pass. As you can see the elevation is over 8,000 feet. Also from here is a hiking trail that covers the entire north-south length of the central ridge of these, the Black Mountains. Emory Pass was named in honor of LT. W.H. Emory who passed here guided by Kit Carson in 1846. His report to the U.S. Government is the earliest scientific account of this region which then belonged to Mexico.

This image was taken at the Emory Pass viewpoint looking east, quite a view, and shows part of the road leading down towards Hillsboro and beyond. It hugs the cliffs and winds down the mountain.
Hwy 152 is paved the entire length and has two low clearance bridges between Kingston and Hillsboro that you need to be concerned with if you choose to pull a trailer or drive a tall motor home over the route. The bridges are about 12 feet 6 inches in height so lots of room for cars or other normal vehicles.

Here is a snippet from Google Maps that shows part of Hwy 152 as seen in the above image only this image is from about Emory Pass down to Kingston which is about 9 miles west of Hillsboro Cafe. It pretty graphically shows the winding, twisting nature of the road. There are a lot of motor cycles that traverse this route. It seems it would be a really fun ride on a bike.

Here is the front of the cafe. We were told the small town has a population of about 140. There is no other location to get anything to eat here. There is not a fast food store nor any grocery establishment. The supplies are purchased in Truth or Consequences NM which is about 32 miles to the east from here. At this point you are mostly down out of the mountains so the road east provides for faster travel.

When you first enter the cafe you see a long somewhat narrow establishment that has a myriad of historical artifacts hanging from the upper walls and stored in cases lining the lower wall area. There is a lot of fascinating stuff to look at here.

My guess is that the eggburger advertised on this sign on the wall was the original Egg McMuffin but I would also guess this sign was from a long time back. Note all the other artifacts.

Situated around the cafe you will find a few pearls of wisdom. This one seemed to indicate the general theme of the area, don’t be in a hurry. The sign reads “If you are in a hurry you should have been here yesterday”

As you look further into the cafe you see more and more stuff. They have even reached the world of tech and have a "Trip Adviser" flag on the wall. Guess you cannot get away from social media no matter where you go. We wonder if "Trip Adviser" will be around for the next 150 years as the Cafe has been for the past 150.

I noticed this sign on the wall advertising an ice cream soda with 3 scoops of ice cream for 30 cents. I told the waitress that I wanted to order one of those and she smiled and said “We sold out of those about 37 years ago and just haven’t gotten any more in”. Oh well, I am sure they have other delights.

Another placard indicating the establishment has been around since 1879. It was founded here because of a gold strike. A smaller community just to the west is named Kingston and it had a Silver strike. As you can see at one time they offered a wide variety of necessary supplies.

Here is another set of words to live by "If you can't find it here we can tell you how to get along without it". Since it is over 30 miles to any store of any type they may do a lot of explaining about how to live without many things.

 

Of course you cannot go this far without finding some nourishment. They have fabulous food, all made from scratch. Here is a Bumbleberry Pie with a small scoop of ice cream. The pie had Blueberries, Blackberries, Raspberries, Apple, Peach, and Rhubarb. It was really delicious and not overly sweet. The rest of the lunch was equally well prepared and super delicious as well.

As we left the building we noticed this mural painted on the side. Very nicely done.
If you wanted a further detailed description of hwy 152 here is a link to a Desert USA article that provides additional, detailed information Click Here

We hope you got a good impression of the Hillsboro Cafe. It is a neat place well worth the effort to get there. Lots to see, the waitress was very efficient and informative, and the food was fabulous. If you are ever in the area stop, take a look around and have a bite to eat, great food, great place

Let us know if you have any questions or comments.

All the best - George & Deanna