February 28, 2013

Paradise

From Portal I drove the six miles up the mountain to the tiny town of Paradise, where I visited the George Walker House, which was suggested as another feeder spot to investigate.  Though most of the birds overlapped with what I'd seen earlier in the day, I found my first Yellow-eyed Juncos*, and got much closer looks at the titmice.

Yellow-eyed Junco
IMG_5141

Juniper Titmouse
IMG_5116

Bridled Titmouse
IMG_5113

After unsuccessful attempts at finding Black-chinned Sparrows on the way down from Paradise, I drove two hours to the San Pedro House, located on the San Pedro National Riparian Conservation Area.  There I found my first Gila Woodpeckers* and Abert's Towhees*, along with dozens of Lesser Goldfinches, White-crowned Sparrows, Chipping Sparrows, Yellow-headed Blackbirds and Red-winged Blackbirds.  That night I hiked in a mile from the San Pedro House, camping along the edge of Green Kingfisher Pond, which unfortunately never produced its namesake.

Pyrrhuloxia
IMG_5171

Lesser Goldfinch
IMG_5145

Abert's Towhee
IMG_5160

1 comment:

  1. Sam, found a poem I thought you might like, by the South African poet Gabeba Baderoon. It's called "Learning to Love Failure":

    Two swallows tumble
    like crumpled paper
    after each other.
    The camera fails again
    and again to find the place
    where life will fly through its aperture.
    In the meanwhile, the swallows fall
    like two crescent moons from the sky.

    Fleeting tails in a corner of emptiness
    just leaving the frame,
    the photographer filming the swallows
    has to learn to love failure,
    how the almost having of the thing
    is true in itself.

    ReplyDelete