Birding Again March 7

We drove to the Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area to see the hundreds of Sandhill Cranes (similar in size to the Great Blue Heron). They leave here in several weeks and migrate to upper Canada for the summer. We were about 200 to 300 yards away from them. At several viewing platforms, scopes were provided to see the cranes. Also saw several variety of ducks, a hawk, and on the way out of the area we saw a large jack rabbit.

To get there we passed through Tombstone. We did not stay long, gunslingers were in town and we had to vamoose.

We also saw our first Roadrunner cross the road in front of us - beep beep.

Saguaro National Park March 6

We took a 2 hour, 2 mile guided tour on one of the Park's trails. The guide pointed out various types of cactus - Saguaro, Barrel, Cholla, Prickly Pear, and some trees and bushes - Palo Verde, Mesquite, Hackberry, Creosote, Also saw some wild flowers amongst the cacti and several rabbits and birds.

Starry Starry Night March 5

Kitt Peak National Observatory is one of the largest optical observatories in the world. There are 26 telescopes on this 7000 foot peak including one with a 4 meter (156 inches) mirror.

I had made reservations for the Nightly Observing Program at Kitt Peak several weeks ago. We received a call from the Observatory at about 1:30 pm telling us it may be cloudy but they were going ahead with the program. As we drove out to Kitt Peak it remained partly cloudy, but by the time we got on top of the mountain, the clouds were clearing.

We first viewed the sunset and then when the sky darkened, we went into an observatory with a 20 inch telescope. Through the telescope we viewed Saturn, a double star cluster, and another galaxy that was 10 million light years away. A computer was used to move the motorized telescope to find these in the sky.

We then went out and the guide pointed out some constellations in the sky using a laser pointer. It was like being in a planetarium, except the night sky was being used instead of the display on the ceiling of a planetarium. This could only be done in an area such as the top of a mountain where there was very little light pollution. The sky was filled with stars. The stars in the big dipper were at least 4 times brighter than what we see in Concord. As young man from Wisconsin stated several times, "It's Sweet."

We also used a pair of binoculars outside to view some of the stars and groups of stars. The only drawback was that it was cold, in the thirties, and windy.

When we left the mountain at about 10 pm, we had to follow one of the guides down in a van, using only our parking lights for the first mile. This would prevent the light from out headlights from interfering with the astronomers who were using the telescopes to conduct there research.

A great experience.

Chicago Cubs - Mesa, AZ 3/4

We drove up to Mesa, just outside of Phoenix, home of the Cubs spring training camp, to see a game at HoHoKam stadium between the Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers. We sat in the right field bleachers and observed the new rookie right fielder, 30 year old Kosuke Fukudome from Japan. He did well in the field and at the bat, 3 for 3 including a homer. He will be a good addition to the team, and a rookie of the year candidate,

Kerry Wood pitched one inning, the top of sixth,and faced 3 batters, two fly ball outs and a strike out. What was amazing is that he did not get hurt.

We left at the bottom of the 8th with the Cubs losing, 6-4. The final score was 10-6, Brewers.

It was sunny and in the sixties when we got there and when we left at about 3:40 it had risen to the seventies. It was a fine day at the ballpark.

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum 3/3

We spent over 5 hours at the Desert Museum which is really a zoo and a desert botanical garden and not a museum. We watched a raptor presentation where we saw a Chiluahuan Raven, Barn Owl, and a Ferruginan Hawk fly around us and then land on tree limbs where the handlers had placed some food. We also went to a presentation on gila monster and diamond back rattler. Other highlights included a hummingbird aviary where we observed a hummingbird feeding its young and seeing several Javelinas (peccary)

Bird Watching and Trevor Rainville March 2

In Sierra Vista we went on a bird hike, led by a member of the local Audubon Society. We were among 22 other people who showed up at 8 am at the local natural waste treatment plant where there are marshes. Most of the other people were experienced birders and we were the novices in the group. Most came from the area, but there were people from Alberta Canada, New York, Connecticut, Colorado and Florida. They were all very friendly, very knowledgeable, and willing to share their scopes on tripods. With our binoculars we could find the birds but not in great detail. The scopes provided a closeup of the birds, their coloring and markings. After two and half hours, we saw over 20 birds. There was a flock of yellow headed blackbirds (cousins of the red winged blackbird) which we found very colorful.

We had talked to Jonsey Rainville at one of the Concord High hockey games and she told us that her son Trevor just got a job as an assistant coach of the lacrosse team at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Lacrosse has not yet hit the big time out west and this is a club team (a big time club team, they recruit, have uniforms, travel etc - probably similar to a Division III team). I had checked their schedule and they were to play the University of Southern California on March 2 at 1 pm. We decided to go the game and see Trevor. We talked to him at half time and little more after the game. He is doing fine and was happy to see us. It was a good close game to watch with Arizona winning 10-8.

White Mountains and copper mine March 1

Driving out of Navajo and then Apache country we drove over the White Mountains on the Coronado Trail, a natioanl scenic byway. Finding snow again, the road had many hairpin turns without any guard rails. At times it was frightening, especially when Sharon was driving and the cliff was on the passenger side of the road (vice versa for Sharon when I was driving ). At the end of the road out of the mountains, we saw the largest copper mine in the US in Morenci. The rest of the trip to Sierra Vista was uneventful.