What is our problem? This weekend Brian had had enough. He put an end to the laziness and lame excuses. Friday night he got out a bunch of old AZ Highways, a map, and got to work.
We only had one day to spend out and about and we really wanted to go somewhere we had never been in the state.
Arizona is huge and beautiful and has so many cool things to see. Our weekends should be spend out there seeing those things. We looked North first, but we had been that way quite a bit. We thought about a drive along the Mogollon Rim but the snow was out of control there. Then we looked South. We had not been South of Tucson yet and there was a lot of state there. We decided on a part of Coronado National Forest called Madera Canyon. We knew nothing about it but we were going.
Before I tell you about Sunday, I just want to mention Saturday. Saturday we spent the morning bird watching. When I say we I mean me AND Brian. A small group from Liberty Wildlife went to see waterfowl around Scottsdale. We later headed over to the nearby Reservation to check out raptors. This activity is blog-worthy because Brian has never been birding. I always look and listen when we hike while Brian is a mile ahead of me seeing nothing. I thought this might help him slow down.
Bunch of birders
Little Green Heron
We saw a lot of water birds. Many different ducks, herons, egrets, cormorants and even a loon. I knew these birds would probably bore Brian after a while. Thankfully we moved on to the Ag fields on the Reservation. Raptors hunt over fields because it can be a smorgasbord of small birds and insects. Kestrels and burrowing owls eat bugs along with small mammals and small birds. We saw firsts for me, two Northern Harriers and a Peregrine Falcon. My proudest moment was when we spotted a bird on a wire and Brian was the first to call out that it was a kestrel. He was learning.
Black-Crowned Night Heron
Osprey
Burrowing Owl
Ok so that was Saturday and then on Sunday we headed to Madera Canyon. I was excited because this place was known for great bird watching. And we have never been there. As we drove in I would yell for Brian to stop so I could identify the hawk on the power pole.
Finally we started into the canyon. Beautiful. It was at a higher elevation so it was mostly oak and pinyon pine. There was snow on the ground and cute little B & B's. We stopped at the end of the road and decided to check out the area. I was not down for hiking in the cold and snow. However, it was not so cold but there was still quite a bit of snow.
We also found a few caches in the area. They led us to very cool areas. We decided that we would come back in the summer and do some hiking and car camping.
Cache in a tree
One of the B & B's had a bird feeder at which I could have spent the whole day. At the end of the day I had racked up 4 birds on my life list.
-Nina
2 comments:
Are you sure you were not in Japan? Because the photo of the shadows sure looks like two Japanese tourists. Peace!
Good for you guys! ;) looks like a wonderful day trip!
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