Joe and Mary Ann's personal web site

This is the second post for our trip to the Huachuca Mountains, this time covering our time in Huachuca Canyon. We had breakfast in the hotel, and headed out early to Huachuca Canyon. We already had our pass for entry into Fort Huachuca, so we didn’t have to wait in line again to get one.

For our wedding anniversary (22 years, June 5) trip this year, Mary Ann and I travelled to the Huachuca Mountains. We drove to Garden Canyon on the first day, and stayed overnight in Sierra Vista. The next day we went to Huachuca Canyon. This post is about our first day in Garden Canyon.

On the second day of our trip, we went to the Old Safford Bridge in the Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area. Old Safford Bridge is one lane over the Gila River, and serves a dirt road called the Black Hills Back Country Byway. It was built in 1918. It was about a 50 minute drive from the hotel.

Mary Ann and I went to Aravaipa Canyon on April 6. It’s a beautiful spot, and we try to go every year. You can enter the canyon on the east side or the west side. Permits are required to get into the canyon, and they limit it to 20 people per day, at each entry point. This year we went to the east side, which is a longer drive. We left Monday night after Mary Ann got off work, and stayed at the Quality Inn & Suites in Safford. It’s about a 3 hour drive to Safford. The next morning we drove to the the Aravaipa Canyon trailhead, which is about a 1.5 hour drive from the hotel.

A Streak-backed Oriole (SBO) has been seen recently at the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch (RPWR) in Gilbert, so I decided to try my luck at photographing it. I arrived at RPWR at about 7 a.m., and left at around 10 a.m. The SBO is a rare visitor to Arizona from Mexico. A male was at RPWR in 2006, and created quite a stir. It was said to be the most photographed bird of 2006! This year, a female is visiting. I saw it close up, and got a definite identification, but not a decent photograph. It never came out for an unobstructed view. Then it flew to a high dormant tree, but it was still behind branches. I included a terrible photo of it – it’s the best I got! It flew away from that tree, and I couldn’t find it again.

Mary Ann and I went to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum (BTA) on Friday, February 26. We got a late start, and didn’t get there until about 11:00, which isn’t typically a good time for birding. We dropped off the new ‘Birds of Boyce Thompson Arboretum’ posters at the gift shop.

Mary Ann and I went to the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch (RPWR) to see the Roseate Spoonbill. Roseate Spoonbills are rare in our area. When they do show up, it’s usually for a few weeks after an event such as a storm drives them out of their normal habitat (along the coast). The last time they were at RPWR was in 2008. This one has been here for the whole winter, starting in September, which makes it even more unusual. It’s unlikely it will remain here much longer, so we wanted to see it before it left. It’s a juvenile spoonbill, but has matured quite a bit over the course of the winter.

Mary Ann and I traveled to Wichita for a short weekend visit. This post has a few pictures from a family gathering.

My friend Tom texted me about a Common Loon at Red Mountain Lake. I decided to check it out. Common Loons are not common here. When one shows up, word gets out, and people go to see it. I get a Maricopa County rare bird alert email from ebird.org every day (which I forward to a folder, and don’t always look at), and the loon was on the list.

Mary Ann had the day off on Wednesday, so we took a trip to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum (BTA). We got a late start because I had a doctor appointment in the morning. There were a lot of people there, maybe because it was a holiday (veterans day).