My bike commute is getting slightly more routine now. I typically ride 7 miles to work and 13 home. The last stretch after Woodland is a walking path bordering a nice field rich with sparrows, which leads to the big pond. As I rode along this path I heard a chip, which could almost be mistaken for the squeak of a Round-tailed Ground Squirrel, who have just begun exiting their burrows. But I suspected otherwise. The call could also be the precurser to the song of the Rufous-winged Sparrow, which carries the rhythm of a ping pong ball bouncing on the table. Another 2 calls confirmed my suspicions, then I saw him drop below a desert broom plant to feed. These birds, considered a species of special concern, can usually be found in a days walk around the neighborhood, but have been strangely absent as of late, so I was elated to hear its friendly call again today.
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| Rufous-winged Sparrow |
The Backyard bird Count starts tomorrow and I am anxious even knowing I may not have much time in the field. I feel this could be one of my last opportunities this year to discover a new sparrow species in the neighborhood and am feeling a touch anxious. I don't know why but I have an attachment to this species, sometimes referred to as "little brown jobs,," or "LBJ's", due to the similarities between the various species. But this challenge makes them all the more interesting, and finding the hidden clues which cinch the identification is part of the fun. My sparrow wish list for the neighborhood include Golden-crowned Sparrow, Harris' Sparrow, Fox Sparrow (any race), any longspur species, and Clay-colored Sparrow. The Clay-colored Sparrow has been seen in our neighborhood by other observers far more talented than myself (Chris Benesh, Jake Mohlmann). I have not confirmed one for sure as of yet. Of course there are also the extreme long shots such as Baird's Sparrow, Botteri's Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Leconte's Sparrow, Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow, Eastern Towhee, and Snow Bunting.
Although the wish list may seem long I am very happy with the sparrow discoveries in our neighborhood these past 12 or so years, knowing many more difficult, sparrows have already been found already. In fact, if more birders covered this area, I am confident the first three wish species would already have been seen by someone. Some of the more difficult discoveries included Rufous-crowned Sparrow and Black-chinned Sparrow, very seldom visitors to the lowlands. A Yellow-eyed Junco was a very rare find in the lowlands, with only a few records over the past thirty years. I have also heard the distinctive summer song of Cassin's Sparrow's three times here, yet hear of no other reports around Tucson. The Swamp Sparrow was a nice find at our cattail pond, and I was grateful for the company and expertise of Roger Tess at the time of sighting. The best find so far has to be the Sage Sparrow, which could possibly be the only record inside the Tucson City limits.
Below is my neighborhood sparrow list (family Emberizidae) in order as listed in the book, "Sparrows of the United States and Canada," by David Beadle and James Rising. Hope you get out during Cornell Laboratories Backyard Bird Count!
- Green-tailed Towhee
- Spotted Towhee
- Canyon Towhee
- Abert's Towhee
- Rufous-winged Sparrow
- Cassin's Sparrow
- Rufous-crowned Sparrow
- Chipping Sparrow
- Clay-colored Sparrow (Chris Benesh and Jake Mohlmann)
- Brewer's Sparrow
- Black-chinned Sparrow
- Vesper Sparrow
- Lark Sparrow
- Black-throated Sparrow
- Sage Sparrow
- Lark Bunting
- Savannah Sparrow
- Grasshopper Sparrow
- Song Sparrow
- Lincoln's Sparrow
- Swamp Sparrow
- White-throated Sparrow
- White-crowned Sparrow
- Dark-eyed Junco (at least 3 races)
- Yellow-eyed Junco
I was watching out our window when it appeared in the mesquite just over the wall. It was moving slowly from branch to branch like a warbler. As I focused the bins my initial reaction was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, but the black bar on the wing was missing, and it had a thicker bill. A Hutton's Vireo! The first for our yard! I watched as it plucked some sort of grub or caterpillar from a tree branch. Typical vireo behavior. Whenever I see any vireo it seems they are always finding food among those branches. No other bird seems to be as lucky or skillful.
The birds are beginning to look plump now, especially the White-crowned Sparrows. Mourning Doves are calling out their mournful song. Sometimes their flight looks accipiter-like as they stiffen their wings and glide. It feels like spring even though there's always the possibility of another cold snap. Our brittlebush is getting green leaves again and the chuparosa is also rebounding with new flowers, just recovering from the last frost.
I planted another 7 plants today in the front yard, hoping our White-throated Wood Rat will let them be and that the nights stay above freezing. Some buckwheat, a dalea, a sage, 2 varieties of globemallow, and a grass (Long-tongue Muhle). I pondered my previous entry as I planted a globemallow, hoping these plants would attract wildlife. A small orange butterfly appeared suddenly and darted about in front of me. It almost seemed like it was reaching out to me, trying to communicate with this dumb human. My watering can ran dry so I quickly filled up at the hose and returned. As I looked down there was the butterfly sitting on the newly planted globemallow even though it had no blooms as of yet? I felt reassured somehow by this simple act.
I also had a close encounter with a small lizard who ventured within a couple feet of me as I filled up the water jug. It also had no fear. After a hard day's work in the yard I was just finishing up when some sparrows flushed from the brush pile. I stopped to prevent a further outpouring due to my presence. As I stood quietly, a Green-tailed Towhee appeared just three feet from me, totally at ease in my presence as he meandered about the low branches. It was a nice afternoon with 18 species visiting or passing over our yard. Here's the list!
- Hutton's Vireo
- Rock Pigeon
- Lesser Goldfinch
- Abert's Towhee
- Phainopepla
- Green-tailed Towhee
- Lincoln's Sparrow (2)
- White-crowned Sparrow
- House Sparrow
- House Finch
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Anna's Hummingbird
- Broad-billed Hummingbird
- Gila Woodpecker
- Gambel's Quail
- Mourning Dove
- Mallard
- Common Raven
It's now February and my New Year's resolutions are whittled down to 2 remaining, one of which is accomplished with this post (to blog more often). My plans for a Pima County big year attempt were wishful thinking, and I'm glad I put it aside. It would get in the way of time with Kino, yard work, and our daughter's upcoming wedding next month. Instead I am putting more focus on activities closer to home, such as getting the back yard ready for her shower at our house. Since the wedding shower is next week I have no time to lose!
I suppose it's time to review my goals for the back and front yard, which are not traditional at any rate. Some people want their yard nice and neat, with crushed rock and a few plants evenly spaced apart, with maybe a few trees, etc. They get their blower on the weekend to blow the rocks off as if they were vacuuming their house. Their exterminator ensures no bugs disturb their peace with poisons throughout the property, and weeds are dispatched in similar fashion. In short, their yard is almost an extension of their living room. sanitary, safe, mostly devoid of life, and, in my opinion, extremely boring.
I hope I live to see the time when yards will be judged not by neatness, but by the wildlife it attracts by the creativeness of the tenant. When we build a house we displace a LOT of wildlife, from bugs to reptiles and amphibians, to birds and mammals. I feel an obligation to repay that debt by making our living area a refuge for wildlife, a place where they can feel safe and at home, with plenty to eat and drink, and places to sleep and nest. A place where no one is excluded based on size, looks, species profile or even poisonous characteristics. I feel every species is important in some way, even if I haven't yet discovered its benefits. Their are no varmints, pests, game, or nuisances, just neighbors who happen to be a different species.
I use a personal philosophy of the 2 step method-take any species and go 1-2 steps up the food chain. Perhaps you can't see the harm in spraying ants, but what of the horned toads who rely on them almost exclusively for food. Would you want them to suffer as well. Would you harm a screech owl to keep scorpions out of your back yard? Or that pesky pack rat (I prefer White-throated Wood Rat). "He'll eat the wires in your car!" I hear all the time, although our residents have refrained from such activity. What of the Red-tailed Hawks which feed on these guys-are they banished as well? Today I watched one pull down stalk after stalk of a hesperilla plant in our front yard as I silently pleaded to save some for later. Well, when you plant for wildlife you can expect wildlife to take advantage of it. So where do you draw the line? I say "why do you feel the need to draw one?"
It's all a matter of perspective. Sometimes I think humans act more on instinct than the animals we lord ourselves over, based on, you guessed it, our higher intelligence. Sometimes certain viewpoints are so ingrained that we blindly follow like a mouse on a treadmill. In fact, it could be argued that some of our current ideas are not truly our own, but passed down from some parent, or grandparent, or best friend, etc. Perhaps if we stopped and really thought about it, we would see things from a new perspective, more truly our own.
Spiders were my pathway to my fresher perspective on wildlife. I was terrified of them. I remember my mother telling me stories of people going to the hospital from spider bites. She remarked how my best friend had been bitten and it got infected, and he had to go to the doctor. Wow! Then again she also warned that one of the garter snakes I was catching could be a poisonous adder, a snake which doesn't even live in the United States. To her credit I did mistakenly catch a copperhead later thinking it was a milk snake, only to be corrected by my cousin, a true snake expert, who could smell a snake within ten feet.
So, back to spiders- I was terrified of them. But somehow my inner voice came out and I realized that my fear was irrational, and that spiders shouldn't suffer because of my irrationality. I was still afraid, but fought the fear with common sense. When I moved to Arizona we even had a couple black widow spiders on our porch, which we left undisturbed. We found that they are very habitual, returning to the same place almost every night, not disturbing a soul. While I still haven't gotten to the point of handling them, my fear for this fellow creature has dissipated.
Snakes were another lesson. I had been taught to catch snakes in a contest-like fashion. Grab their tails, flip them into the open, then either grab the tail and flip into a bag, or press your foot gently behind the head and pick him up by the neck. One day ten years later I was walking a trail and carrying a six foot rat snake I had caught in like fashion, minus the bag. I cradled the whole body but had the neck secure to prevent biting. A stranger came up and asked to handle the snake. I obliged, and watched in amazement as he let the snake slide over his arms without worry, as he alternated arms in a circular motion. When he returned it I did the same, and realized more of a camaraderie with the friendly species. On another excursion I happened on a garter snake, a species for which I had acquired many bites. It was staying still so I slowly bent on one knee, brought my hand down, moved my finger under its chin, and gently stroked it's smooth scales. Perhaps this new perspective also helped me once when I unknowingly stepped directly over a coiled Western Diamonback, who didn't react. Was it my energy? Was he giving me the benefit of the doubt? Or perhaps it is a case where the species does not live up to its dastardly reputation.
So, back to the yard. My yard philosophy is to create a habitat much like the areas I walk. When I hike in natural, relatively undisturbed areas I am relaxed and at peace, and it seems every worry is carried off by the slight breeze. My spirits are lifted, and I can see how simple life can be always. There's something magical about nature when it is left untouched. I want my home area to remind me of the woods I walk, to bring that magic to my home, and encourage its wildlife.
Have I accomplished this? Not even close. But I'm working on it. I built free-standing stone walls for insects and the animals who feed on them. This helped bring in a Rock Wren within 2 years, a species I especially had in mind when building the wall. We also have a healthy lizard population, and an occasional snake. The walls also help with rainwater harvesting by keeping the water from flowing down toward the street. This year when the cottonwoods lost their leaves in our common area, I was able to grab about a dozen garbage bagfuls before the landscape crew arrived, and spread them out in the back yard, to encourage towhees and sparrows to our yard. It also looks so natural, and reminds me of leafy trails in the northeast, or extreme riparian areas in Arizona. I plant native grasses, plants, and trees, especially berry or high seed producers. Desert Survivor's nursery has been an invaluable resource for finding native bird and butterfly-friendly plants and trees(http://www.desertsurvivors.org/Nursery.html). Aside from the incredible plant selection I usually see and hear fifteen or so bird species while I'm there. We do have hummingbird plants as well, and our wolfberry's tiny purple flowers are getting a lot of visits from Ana's and Broad-billed hummingbirds this month. I hope to have a hummingbird feeder up tomorrow as well, and hopefully more to come. I do spread ground seed in winter for sparrows and towhees, and have suet cakes for warblers, thrashers, and wrens. I also collect seeds on my neighborhood wanderings for the yard, especially acacia's and Western Soapberry. I have a couple brush piles for cover, which really even the odds against accipiter predation. I use tree limbs, sometime hollowed out, for additional cover for small animals. The biggest challenge currently is our healthy Rock Squirrel population, which love to eat my most prized plants and are very adapted at changing the environment with their numerous holes. I was also saddened when I had to cut down most of a large mesquite this year due to my inexperienced planting, but I left some open limbs to accommodate a Red-tailed Hawk. Although I have not seen one yet I did hear a Great Horned Owl just outside my window a week ago, probably from the new perch.
Building backyard habitat in cooperation with nature has created timeless memories; our first Bell's Vireo getting ready to roost in your Arizona Ash, a Violet-crowned Hummingbird on the feeder, a bobcat passing through, and countless days when I'm glued to the window wondering what is going to show up next. I am so excited to see how the yard will look once the newly planted trees mature, or when the understory gets established. Every year is different but always full of surprises. I encourage anyone to take this journey for the benefit of your native wildlife, and for yourself. Thank you for your appreciation of the gift of nature.
