¡Hola, desconocidos!
First, an announcement: as of yesterday, this blog has served over 10,000 views for the year! Yay! Feel free to tell your friends about the wonder and glory that is Birds See'd! Post to Facebook and (most appropriately) tweet about it, and otherwise spread the word!
Right now, I'm sitting in a hotel in Tucson, our day of birding here rained out due to severe downpours, thunderstorms, and flash flood warnings. When all Hell is about to break loose meteorologically, one of the last places you want to be is high in the mountains!
That said, while the past couple days have been a bit stormy and unsettled, they have also been great for our bird count and for our general faith in humanity.
The friendliness of birders is something to which we have become accustomed. Compadres in the field are very willing to share information, advice, and even spritz of sunscreen or bug repellent. Such behavior is no longer surprising, and we do our best to reciprocate. When people go beyond this, however, it makes for an amazing and memorable time.
This story starts Saturday morning. We had finally tracked down the Sinaloa Wren after at least four attempts, with key assistance from another group of birders who showed us where his nests were and helped confirm that the brief bit of song we heard was really him. About 30 minutes south, we hiked up Hunter Canyon for our second attempt to find the elusive Slate-throated Redstart, when another birder stopped to point out where we should look.
To pass the dreadfully slow time, I made a reservation through Expedia at a B&B in Patagonia, AZ, where a Plain-capped Starthroat hummingbird had been reported recently. After a couple hours of waiting, the skies darkened to an ugly purple and distant sheets of rain obscured the mountains, and we gave up on the bird and headed to Patagonia.
When we attempted to check in, we found that the B&B didn't actually have any rooms available, but Expedia had booked one anyway and then didn't alert them that we were coming. Instead of just apologizing, they called other places in town, found us a room, and convinced the owner to waive his typical 2-night minimum stay. They even offered to buy us breakfast, since the place they found didn't offer meals! Thank you, Duquesne House!
Arriving at Casitas Frontera, we chatted with the owner about why we were in town. He knew the guy who owned the house where the hummingbird was appearing, and said he'd let him know we were coming. The owner also set out hummingbird feeders so we could watch the bats at night, and when we found he didn't take credit cards, he offered to let us mail him a check when we got home!
At about 6:30 the next morning, we walked a block to the house, and the homeowner was waiting. He invited us into our yard, which he had just mowed so that we wouldn't get bit by chiggers. He brought out some chairs, and invited us to wait as long as we wanted. And, since he was going for coffee, he offered to bring us back a couple lattes!
Fortunately, the Starthroat showed three times that morning, so the mix-up ended up working out great for us.
That afternoon, we joined up with Melody Kehl and her husband, whom we had hired to guide us to a Buff-collared Nightjar that had nested over the summer, and that we were hoping was still around. We drove for nearly two hours over pot-holed and rocky roads into an obscure canyon near the border. After the picnic dinner they provided, we spent a couple hours in the canyon looking for birds. At dusk, she brought out the flashlights, and when the birds called, led us through the desert scrub in the dark to their favorite perch. And sure enough, the huge saucer eyes of the nightjar reflected back the light from her flashlight and we had great looks! They got us back to the hotel safe and sound, and we had a fun time chatting with them.
Here's to all the cool people we've met on our year so far! Hopefully we get to meet many more of you!
Me
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