Days 4 and 5 - Birds of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge - XXX rated post ;)

No RV miles.  Whew

Driving around Malheur 

The Refuge we are visiting.

What an amazing place at this time of the year.  Thousands of visitors come here, especially over Memorial Day weekend. We stayed at the Narrows RV park just a few miles from park HQ.

We spent 2 mornings with our friends Bob and Bettina, and also toured the south end Central Patrol Road down by Frenchglen where we saw a Trumpeter Swan family with chicks.  This is where i get out the big super telephoto lens.

Trumpeter Swan Family

A new bird was the Bobolink.  Very rare in west, they do breed in this section of the Malheur.  Late May and early June are the times to see the males in their plumage so we were here at the right time.

Bobolink

Another treat was to witness a pair of mating Avocets.  As we were watching other birds in same area, I noticed this one avocet with its head down for the longest time.  If finally dawned on me that they were courting.  Suddenly the courtship got real serious and he jumped on top of her, then they danced and parted.  Here is a short series of this scene.

Hey Good Lookin!  Wanna Dance?

Yahoo!

Oh, yes.  That was just great! 

Is this a lifetime commitment?

Let's try the Polka

You can view these photos and many others in high resolution over at the Birds of Malheur Refuge as a slide show over on my photo website and some on flickr too.

We pressed our luck one evening when we drove out west on a dirt road looking for Burrowing owls. We had been told they were out on this road but we drove almost 20 miles in one direction before giving up and turning around.  On way back we had to negotiate with a herd of horses and mules blocking the road.  Sweethearts all.

Is there a toll here?  no sugar.

All in all, it was a real fun time.  We are heading out and hope to be back someday.

Days 3 - DUST, DUST, DUST Hart Mountain to Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon

Todays Miles - RV- 84; Jeep 64

Total Miles - RV - 444; Jeep 64

Departed - Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge

Arrived - Malheur National Wildlife Refuge


You might say we are, ahem, "Refugee's".....

The Route

Our route takes us across a 40 mile gravel road.  Recently we drove 20 miles over gravel to Chaco Canyon so we weren't worried.  It was good road and the views were incredible. We did see some antelope too.  Too far away for photos tho.

The Long, Long Gravel Road (40 miles)

We made the blacktop north towards Frenchglen which is south end of Malheur.  Just before Frenchglen we faced a 3 mile, 14% downhill grade.  Thankful for towhaul feature which downshifts to lower gears thereby saving our brakes.

Down a 14% grade  Yikes

We then drove 30 miles north to Narrows where we find an RV park. We thought to stay only 3 days but the price for 4 days was significanly cheaper so we are staying 4 nights.  You know who, the birder, is pleased.

This 70 miles of gravel road was rather dusty

The bad news is we discovered dust in all compartments and coating the whole RV.  Inside and outside the jeep.  We drive into Burns (30 miles north) to buy some fresh produce pick up a package at the Post Office (see bottom) and also to wash, vacuum and clean the jeep inside and out.  We took everything out of the jeep. As we cleaned, a major thunderstorm approached blowing all the little stuff everywhere.  Yikes.

First things first,  we wash and clean Mr. Toad

We managed to clean the jeep despite blowing gusts up to 40 mph. Later in the evening back at the RV we witnessed a wonderful sunset then the rain started.  after about an hour, before it was totally dark, we put on our rain jackets, went outside, and wiped down CharLi the RV.  Woo Hoo.  Clean and saved $40 cleaning fees.

Sunset before the rain at Malheur

This is an amazing place. Major stopover for the Pacific Flyway.  It is amazing the number of bird species we are seeing here.  Have seen Trumperter Swans, mating Avocets, Terns, small birds and many more. I have over 20 good photos already at my photo site kentwilliamsphotography.com and will post some shots on flickr.

"BIRD!!!"

We initially came here to meet our new birding freinds, Turtle and Hawk (aka "Point and Shoot").  They are full timers recently retired who sold their home in Ashland and now travel around volunteering to help on various bird surveys.

Intriguing bicycle.  Love the Faux Fur!

We drove back down to Frenchglen then back up the Central Patrol Road.

Bensen Lake where Trumpeter Swans are

Next post will be about some of these birds.

Our morning coffee system

Oh, yes,  We just received some incredible coffee from Peets, via General Delivery. We have discovered that, while traveling, we can have packages shipped to General Delivery Post Office Zip Code.  They will hold for 30 days.  We get things from Amazon, mail shipped from Ananda Village and Ananda Laurelwood and also Peets Coffee which we received at Burns P.O.  A special roast, we tried yesterday and today.  Yum.  We are ordering more.  It makes the mornings so great!

A Very Black Canyon, a 2 Mile Tunnel and a Really Cute Stud Muffin

After three mountain passes, we were ready to camp.  So was CharLi and Toad.  We don't like making advanced reservations very much anymore so we take our chances.  Fortunately we arrive in early May when not very many people are traveling other than full timers such as ourselves and we arrived early in the day.

 Glad we did.  We drove through the campground, seeking a level place to unhook Toad, then surveyed the available campsites.  We found 3 possibles.  The first site we spent 30 minutes trying to get a decent level on the RV.

Lunch Finally

Although I could get it level, after last winter's issues with slide-out I was hesitant to raise up too high so, when I saw the front left wheel completely off the ground and the right wheel still on the ground, I said, let's try another site.  We moved just across to a shorter, cozier site and leveled real easy.  It's tricky to gauge the level potential of a site sometimes. Most of the time we can do it but are still learning.

After lunch we head to the visitor center to check out the park.  We meet Tom, also a camphost who fills us in on the best places to visit and we make a date to meet him later in afternoon down in Cimarron.  This place is so unlike the Sandstone formations we have been encountering along the way in Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.

Early morning vista

We get in the jeep and head out along the canyon rim.  The Black Canyon is named because of an uplift of very old hard rock in the area a couple billion years ago here in SW Colorado.  Then the fast moving river cut down the hard rock. to form a 2,000 ft deep canyon.  Very different from the Grand Canyon which was formed by erosion of soft rock or Yosemite which was gouged by Glaciers.

Dragon vista.  Can you see the two Dragons in the Rock?

We then headed down to Cimarron, about 25 minute drive up river which meant we go descend out the backside of canyon to main highway, drive east over another mountain pass, then descend down to the Gunnison river's edge where we meet Tom, the camp host of Cimarron Campground.  He promised us a personal tour of the railroad museum.

Restored Steam engine (does not run)

Apparently back in the hey day, the Denver and Rio Grande RR ran a narrow gauge through the upper canyon which connected to the standard gauge mainline in Montrose.  Cimarron was a place where helper engines were added to help the trains travel westward up over Cerro Pass.  Not much left now except some railroad cars and a restored engine which looks great but doesn't run.  Still pretty cool.

Crystal Dam on Gunnison.  Upper east end of park

We drove down this narrow gorge on the old railroad bed to see one of the hydro dams on the river.

Tom spends summer months here in Colorado then has a "job" volunteering at a state park in the Florida Keys.  Really?  hmm.  Will we have an in down there next winter?  Sigh.  He said the park is already booked solid all winter 11 months in advance.

It is still merely late in afternoon with Sunset not til after 8 PM so we go back up to the rim of canyon and descend again to the river in the deep canyon.  This time its 2200 ft descent in 5 miles.  16% grade. Toad does pretty well.  Not a cycling road nor for CharLi.

Downriver Deep in Canyon

We enjoy the peace and quiet of the river.  Fishermen patrol the banks.  The campground has 3 pickup trucks with camper units on back.  We walk downriver a half mile. We enjoy the solitude.  We then drive upriver a little ways to investigate the Gunnison Tunnel.

The buildings over the Gunnison Tunnel

Back in 1909 construction began on a tunnel through the canyon wall to route water from the Gunnison River to the valley above Montrose.  Working 24/7 they drilled and carved through hard rock and in 1912 the over 2 mile long tunnel was functioning thereby opening up the west side valley to agriculture.  This feat has been hailed as a major engineering achievement of the early 20th century. I could wax on about this but will not bore you, the reader.  Hard not to appreciate when you see the actual place.

Dusk was approaching so we headed back up the 5 miles windy steep grade. I am now driving into the late setting sun. Near the top, Sraddha says "STOP, STOP"!! What?  Am I about to hit something?  No.  She has spotted a bird.  Of course.

Female Dusky Grouse (backlit with sunlight)

We slowly roll down the window.  I get out with my new Olympus camera and ultra zoom lens and walk behind the jeep.  "What is this bird?" Sraddha asks?  It is pretty dark but we finally figure out it is a female Dusky Grouse.  New Bird!  Woo hoo. Where is her male counterpart.  We don't see him.

Male Dusky Grose.

We drive a little further and spot him!!  He is puffing up and courting.Where is his girlfriend?  Will they find each other?  We can hear him.  He is such a stud muffin!  

What a Stud Muffin!

Nice way to end the day around the Canyon.  We do get up next morning to visit more of the rim.  Then head out towards Grand Junction.

Early next morning

Bird Shots and more....

A recent acquaintance of ours told us her husband (the birder) and she (the photographer) are referred to as "Point and Shoot".  I thought that was pretty clever.  One time, at Bosque del Apache, Sraddha and I were photographing the cranes & talking with a bystander and I said "She spots them, I shoot them".  Another bystander, who overheard us, appeared to be mortified until they realized I meant shoot them with the camera.  Here are some photos I shot the past two days for your visual enjoyment.

Female Rufous Hummingbird

Anyway, I biked down to Portal Cafe in the wind to send you this blog.  Not much to say.  We felt lucky to find a spot 3 days ago as the campground is full, full, full.  Mostly returning happy campers who love this place and tend to stay for a while (limit 14 days).  Yesterday we thought our favorite spot would become available.

Maginficent Hummingbird

As we were preparing to move, we heard the current inhabitants had renewed for 4 more days.  They are 2 of our favorite people but I have to say I was a little disappointed.  Sraddha asked me whether I was and I shrugged it off thinking, "Oh well, maybe later in week".  Well that was a big hiccup! It wasn't until later, I realized how attached I was to that getting that spot.  The resultant internal kerfuffle resulted in my dropping my big camera on my new little camera and damaging it.  Yikes.  Now I have to send the 3 week old camera into repair shop and will be without it for several weeks.  Sigh.  Harsh lesson sometimes but I hope I am learning which is what life is all about.  Back to living in the moment, or at least focusing on it.

Black Chinned Hummingbird

We are meandering here in the Southwest, deciding each day whether we remain camped in our current site or move on.  We have a basic idea of the direction (SE New Mexico to Carlsbad) but won't take a straight line.  We don't know when we will depart here (sometime within the 14 day limit) and we think we will head next to Silver City less than 100 miles away.  In the meantime, we will enjoy where we are and if, tomorrow, we decide to move on, we will.  If we decide to remain, we will.  And work around the rest.  We will "develop a plan to fit the circumstances" as General Patton would say.

This last shot is of a Swainson's Hawk.  First one we have ever seen.  Flying high in the sky on the winds I was lucky to get this as it was far away so I had to crop it severely.  Beautiful bird but not a great shot.

Swainson't Hawk High up in air

Arivaca Cienega

Anticipating high winds today, we ventured out early this morning to walk around one of the better birding places in area just west of beautiful downtown Arivaca.

Looking west through Arivaca to the Bobquivari Mountains from the Cienega

Anticipating we would see some little birds, I decided to try out the big 200-400mm zoom lens and camera. S had returned from Oregon with it's strap and assembled on the lens which weighs 8 pounds (11 with camera). I was excited to head out in search of prey to shoot (with my camera of course). I shot most of these at 560mm fully zoomed in with 1.4 extender enabled. Most were 1/1000 or more, ISO 1000 or so. F5.6.

Note: that these photos were all jpg's processed on my iPad so they aren't as rich as usual. Check my flickr page for some better ones.

As we began our walk we spotted a couple Kestrals high up in the cottonwood tree, their backs to us. As we cautiously approached they looked around, the finally the male Kestral darted over to the female and before I could raise up the camera to shoot, the mating season was over. He flew off to have drink wiht his mates no doubt, while she put her herself back together and adjusted her makeup before flying off in search of a nest.

{Photo of kestral to go here.}

Further along the path we heard the melodious sounds of a Bewick's Wren. He darted all around us, eventually landing in a high snag where I finally shot him singing merrily away. S remarked with wonder as to how so much joy and beautiful song could be sustainably emanating from such a little tiny creature tinier than a housefinch.

Bewick's Wren singing in a high branch

My mistake was not taking the monopod because, upon viewing some of the photos, I immediately saw they were not as sharp as I could have liked. As we strolled, ever so slowly, around the trails of this refuge, we saw at least 15 different species.

Bewick's Wren singing in a high branch

Song Sparrow

Photographing little birds is difficult. They hide in the thickets and behind trees. ID through binoculars easier but catching them in open to photograph takes patience. I was hunting a green tailed Towhee for 20 minutes and finally spotted him out in open (see shot below) where is flitted for a bout 4 seconds. Just enough time to raise up the camera and photograph into the darkened woods.

Song Sparrow

Green Tailed Towhee in thicket

We saw Red Tail hawks, Cooper's Hawk, Grey Hawk. We saw several little birds in thickets.
Even a pair of Coyotes hunting the tall grass for breakfast. We happened onto this pair out in the tall grass. Heard them yipping and digging and scurrying around. They didn't see us at first but when I popped off 4 shots in quick succession, the noise made by the high speed camera clicking alerted them we were present and they bounded off. This shot below was the only decent one I got and then some tall grass blurred its face a little.

Coyotes hunting in tall grass

We saw these really cool butterflies, too. Can't you tell I don't know butterfly names? They fly fast and dart around in the Willow trees so it is hard to catch them. Finally one landed to feast all alone on the willows seeds and I was able to get a decent shot.

Cool looking Butterfly

A fun 2 hour walk. next time I bring my Monopod.

Posted with Blogsy

Whitewater Draw, McNeal, Arizona

We had heard about this place south of Wilcox, Arizona, where Sandhill Cranes roost in the winter.  Having spent a few days each of the past 3 Decembers in Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge in southern New Mexico, we love photographing the cranes, snow geese, and other water fowl who winter there.

Sunset over Whitewater Draw

We drove south from Roper Lake State Park through old Indian Country, the Wilcox Playa situated between the Chiricahua Mountains on the east and the Dragoon Mountains on the west.  Near Cochise Stronghold which is where, yes, Cochise hide out and foot the blue coats in the 19th century.  Now fertile farmland irrigated from deep wells dot the countryside.  About 40 miles south of I-10 we found McNeal, Arizona then a few miles south and east over dirt roads, arrived at Whitewater Draw.  Nina over at Wheelingit blog had rated this dry camping site as one of their favorites for 2013.  The parking lot can handle up to 3-5 rigs depending upon size.  Stay limited to 3 nights.  We decided to stay for 2 nights.  There were pit toilets, and best of all, the price was FREE!

We arrived mid-afternoon.  Several cars in parking lot area, but no RV's or trailers, yet so we selected our site on the south side facing the pools which were 1/4 mile walk distant.  Later in afternoon a large 5th wheel arrived, then a small RV so plenty of room for all.  A couple other rigs came and went back out due to lack of room so we felt fortunate.  

Sandhill Crane Family: Mom, Dad and Junior (in the middle)

Lovely afternoon with sunshine and warm breezes.  We walked around the pond spotting a few cranes sunning themselves on the beach.  Most were quite distant. 

 Lovely sunset.  

Nighttime felt very still and quiet.  Well pretty quiet other than the owl and the cranes whooping it up all night.  Real party animals those cranes!  Hehe.  Actually a beautiful sound to hear them in the stillness of the night.

Next morning we were treated to an amazing sunrise but the bird photography wasn't so good since the sun stayed behind those beautiful sunrise clouds so I don't have much.

Later in morning the wind freshened to about 25-30 mph gusting to 40 and remained stiff breezes rest of day through the night. Good news is we had decent internet via our new cellular modem from Millenicom.  Woo hoo!

Here is link to my Picasa album

We did see quite a few other birds too.

We were pretty tired by days end from walking around in these winds and the photography light was not great yet I still managed to get a few pix.

Sunset reflections

Another fun thing was Bisbee, Arizona only 35 minutes away so we drove over for a walk and lunch.  Even more windy over there but was fun.

Saturday morning the wind was less but light still not great.  We walked around for a while then headed out for Tucson.

Here are a few more pix.