After a mid-morning banana and a rousing Google image search of Rufous-capped Warblers it was time to get on the bike. This species was recently reported in two canyons, neither more than a couple miles from my house. I was late out the door and tried to make the most of half a day of sunlight. Powering up Miller Canyon road I stopped to photograph a Rock Wren while catching my breath and giving passing vehicles the friendliest waves I could muster as I clumsily side-stepped my bike out of their way. Shortly I was at the trail head, my flannel way too hot for a January day in the mountains. I took long purposeful strides towards the site 2-3 miles in where I heard someone could find the Rufous-capped Warblers. But could I? An Arizona Woodpecker teamed up with a Red-naped Sapsucker, White-breasted Nuthatch, and Brown Creeper had other ideas. All nearly in the same field of view, the combined distraction was hard to calculate. The Brown Creeper (pictured) is one of my favorite birds and watching it inspect the crannies of the bark of all the surrounding trees with hardly a pause to consider anything else around it is always a treat. It's analogous to the grandma who has given herself permission to do anything she wants in public because she's 90 and that's reason enough. I continued up and up, Bushtits and Ruby-crowned Kinglets in my wake. A thoughtful Hermit Thrush occasionally out to check on what it is you're doing. No warblers. Soon I was elevated enough to meet the Yellow-eyed Juncos. At what elevation their kingdom starts is hard to say, but it is not one you can be a guest of without climbing considerably. A lone Common Raven incited a Red-tailed Hawk into a back-and-forth chase as Spotted Towhees meowed like seasoned alley cats. The warblerless journey met its end at a Ponderosa brimming with Pygmy Nuthatch, after a few chance recognizable pictures, I raced the mountain shadow back down to the valley to look for the Rufous-cappeds another day. As of 1/14/14, picture count: 96 Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Miller Canyon
After a mid-morning banana and a rousing Google image search of Rufous-capped Warblers it was time to get on the bike. This species was recently reported in two canyons, neither more than a couple miles from my house. I was late out the door and tried to make the most of half a day of sunlight. Powering up Miller Canyon road I stopped to photograph a Rock Wren while catching my breath and giving passing vehicles the friendliest waves I could muster as I clumsily side-stepped my bike out of their way. Shortly I was at the trail head, my flannel way too hot for a January day in the mountains. I took long purposeful strides towards the site 2-3 miles in where I heard someone could find the Rufous-capped Warblers. But could I? An Arizona Woodpecker teamed up with a Red-naped Sapsucker, White-breasted Nuthatch, and Brown Creeper had other ideas. All nearly in the same field of view, the combined distraction was hard to calculate. The Brown Creeper (pictured) is one of my favorite birds and watching it inspect the crannies of the bark of all the surrounding trees with hardly a pause to consider anything else around it is always a treat. It's analogous to the grandma who has given herself permission to do anything she wants in public because she's 90 and that's reason enough. I continued up and up, Bushtits and Ruby-crowned Kinglets in my wake. A thoughtful Hermit Thrush occasionally out to check on what it is you're doing. No warblers. Soon I was elevated enough to meet the Yellow-eyed Juncos. At what elevation their kingdom starts is hard to say, but it is not one you can be a guest of without climbing considerably. A lone Common Raven incited a Red-tailed Hawk into a back-and-forth chase as Spotted Towhees meowed like seasoned alley cats. The warblerless journey met its end at a Ponderosa brimming with Pygmy Nuthatch, after a few chance recognizable pictures, I raced the mountain shadow back down to the valley to look for the Rufous-cappeds another day. As of 1/14/14, picture count: 96 
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