Winter Images from a Wild Desert Valley and Sightings of Unusual Birds
The Middle San Pedro Valley sprawls across nearly one million acres of undeveloped, unfragmented land in southeastern Arizona. Its slopes and woodlands, bajadas and ridges have been rimed with frost every dawn under the abbreviated touch of winter’s Sun. Days are short. The land stands hushed and still with its seasonal absence of many birds, reptiles, and other forms of life. Nonetheless, there are many good reasons to get outside and walk the land. January and February have brought a few surprises, particularly in the way of unexpected sightings of locally uncommon birds.
In late January, five purple finches began frequenting our bird feeders, thinking they were well concealed within mobs of house finches and lesser goldfinches. My wife’s sharp eyes picked them out of the crowd. In 20+ years of avian record keeping in this valley, that was the first time we had ever seen purple finches. Another species that has been sighted sparingly here during the winter months is the American robin. For reasons that remain a mystery to me, we have been inundated with robins this winter. They bring me many fond memories of their near-constant presence during past summers when I lived in the northern states.
Speaking of thrushes, another bird that I had never seen in the valley before has arrived to grace the nearby riverbottom woodlands this winter – a Townsend’s solitaire. A friend and neighbor, Tom Talbott, first sighted one about a week ago in the forests along the river not far from our home. Tom is a highly skilled birder and a masterful wildlife photographer. A few days later, walking the same reaches of the river, a friend and I also saw a solitaire. News has been spreading of numerous sightings of this species in areas just a few dozen miles to the north.
A Townsend’s solitaire perches quietly in branches overhanging the channel of the San Pedro River. These elegant thrushes are common residents of timberline forests high in the mountains of western Montana, where I would meet them again and again as I led groups of hikers during the summer months. Their songs are unique and unforgettably angelic, like no other bird I have known. Photo courtesy of Tom Talbott.
Not far from the solitaire, we found this great horned owl snoozing within the branches of a Fremont cottonwood. These owls are remarkably capable predators whose list of possible food items exceeds that of any other North American owl. Among the creatures that great horned owls have been known to prey upon include insects, amphibians, various reptiles, mice, rabbits, domestic cats, small dogs, ducks, skunks, and even porcupines.
Mid-January brought us over an inch of rain in the valley floor during one winter storm. Rainfall amounts were much higher in the nearby Galiuro Mountains, resulting in a strong winter flow for Hot Springs Wash. Such flows during the winter months are rare.
The rain enabled millions of dormant London rocket (Sisymbrium irio) seeds to sprout, providing a new source of food for wildlife while greening the floor of this mesquite bosque with the glowing color of new life.
Large numbers of these small white puffballs erupted from the ground under mesquite trees after the rain. Fungi are becoming known as some of the most important organisms on the planet. The mycorrhizal filaments of many species of fungi form mutually beneficial associations with tree roots, for example. No forest on Earth can exist without such subsurface fungal alliances.
A hooded skunk wandered under my ramada one night, leaving its signature behind in the form of these tracks made in fine, dusty soil. Note the track pattern as the animal was walking at normal speed.
A closer look at the skunk’s footprints. Even though skunks are plantigrade mammals, the heels on their back feet often do not register in their tracks, as seen here. (The hind foot is to the left, front foot to the right.)
I discovered this torpid spiny lizard spending the winter brumating underneath a plastic tub that had been set outdoors on the ground. The lizard was found at ground level, not dug in below the frost line. Temperatures here routinely dip into the teens every winter. I was taught that reptiles must spend winters below the frost line, because otherwise they would freeze and die. I have also seen a pair of diamondback rattlesnakes spending the winter under a board in an open barn. Apparently, what I was taught cannot be correct – it seems clear that these reptiles can endure a fairly substantial amount of freezing.
9 thoughts on “Winter Images from a Wild Desert Valley and Sightings of Unusual Birds”
Hi Ralph,
I bird a great deal at Bubbling Springs (near Sedona) and have seen more Townsend Solitaires than I ever have over the last 19 years. I don’t know why.
Thanks for your comments, Kevin. The solitaires remain a mystery to me as well…however, I wonder about food resources. The solitaires I have known in other, more northerly parts of the west fed extensively during winter on juniper “berries,” particularly those from common juniper (Juniperus communis) along the eastern slopes of the Rockies. If, for some reason, there was a failed crop of juniper berries over a wide regional area, that could drive many solitaires to explore new wintering grounds.
Last winter brought us incredible numbers of another species: white-crowned sparrows. After studying some range maps, I thought that a likely explanation for their unprecedented numbers here in winter may have been caused by the extensive wildfires of that year that occurred in their California wintering grounds.
Your observation of an abundance of robins this winter rings true with me; I can go years between robin sightings on my place (though they’re common in town). Around New Year’s I noticed a flock around my home, and they’re still here six weeks later!
It’s not just an isolated group hanging around my place; I’m seeing robins all around in places they’re usually absent.
Thanks for your comments, Joe. It is interesting to know that you
are seeing more robins this winter in California. The past several years
here have brought us many unusual happenings in the avian world. Fires,
climate change, habitat loss, major storms, and other factors make this a
real puzzle. I wonder what made so many robins alter their usual wintering
grounds this year?
Loved reading your latest blog Ralph, thanks a lot! The American Robins crack me up, they are the friendliest little bronzed birds, they seem to be unafraid of Humans. They are eating Earthworms around my garden, they seem to be able to sense the buried worms with an uncanny radar like detection ?
Those Puff Ball associations are amazing, so interesting to find out about their interrelationships with trees – mind boggling!
Thank you for your kind words, Gilbert. I have long wondered about robins’ abilities at finding hidden food like earthworms. Are they hearing the worms when they move? I’ve been watching them with binoculars at close range as they forage just outside my window. Despite watching carefully, I could not discern what they were eating – whatever the food items were, they were tiny. The birds would stop moving, (in order to listen – or to look?) then rush forward two or three feet to uncannily grab something just below the ground surface.
Hi Ralph,
I recall vividly my first encounter with a Townsend’s Solitaire. Attracted by its amazing song, I spotted it perched high on a juniper’s dead crown. I made the ID by noting its distinctive white eye ring. I have never seen more than one at a time and it (they) always use the same perch for their serenade.
As for robins, the huge quantities of berries produced by our abundant junipers attract robins by the dozens every year and they gorge themselves with gusto. Unfortunately, that means we also have copious amounts of robins’ poop to deal with.
Considering reptiles and cold temperatures, it is well documented that Python molorus (and perhaps other reptile species protective of their eggs) can raise the heat of their nests by muscular twitching. Perhaps a similar mechanism protects the herps you mention in frigid temps.
Cheers!
Hello, Ralph, once again your post is a delight to read and to follow up on with some reflections on the species you mention. Robins–very few this winter up here in Santa Fe; guess they decided to head south for some warmth. Solitaires–I had one hang out here for more than two months starting in Mid-October, challenging its image in the studio window and car windows, where, becoming so familiar with me as I approached the car, it would continue to perch until I got close enough to it to extend my hand, hoping it would hop on. Nope. Off to the juniper where it would continue to chatter at me. And yes, its single note call belies its sweet song. I keep looking for Cassin’s Finches at the feeder, but none yet. Keepwriting nd observing, Ralph. This is important stuff. Luisa Baldinger
Thanks for sharing. As usual your photos are amazing. The weather in the Central Cascades has felt like an early spring melt in the 40s for the past week and will plunge to single digits tomorrow. We are moving around on December and early January snow/slush on our skis and snowshoes which means everything will be a lake of horrid ice by the end of the week. Snow has made it in the high country but down in the Front of the range where we live not so much. Worried about the summer dry already. No birds here lately but crows, the occasional raven and the ubiquitous camp robbers.
Hi Ralph,
I bird a great deal at Bubbling Springs (near Sedona) and have seen more Townsend Solitaires than I ever have over the last 19 years. I don’t know why.
Thanks for your comments, Kevin. The solitaires remain a mystery to me as well…however, I wonder about food resources. The solitaires I have known in other, more northerly parts of the west fed extensively during winter on juniper “berries,” particularly those from common juniper (Juniperus communis) along the eastern slopes of the Rockies. If, for some reason, there was a failed crop of juniper berries over a wide regional area, that could drive many solitaires to explore new wintering grounds.
Last winter brought us incredible numbers of another species: white-crowned sparrows. After studying some range maps, I thought that a likely explanation for their unprecedented numbers here in winter may have been caused by the extensive wildfires of that year that occurred in their California wintering grounds.
Your observation of an abundance of robins this winter rings true with me; I can go years between robin sightings on my place (though they’re common in town). Around New Year’s I noticed a flock around my home, and they’re still here six weeks later!
It’s not just an isolated group hanging around my place; I’m seeing robins all around in places they’re usually absent.
Thanks for your comments, Joe. It is interesting to know that you
are seeing more robins this winter in California. The past several years
here have brought us many unusual happenings in the avian world. Fires,
climate change, habitat loss, major storms, and other factors make this a
real puzzle. I wonder what made so many robins alter their usual wintering
grounds this year?
Loved reading your latest blog Ralph, thanks a lot! The American Robins crack me up, they are the friendliest little bronzed birds, they seem to be unafraid of Humans. They are eating Earthworms around my garden, they seem to be able to sense the buried worms with an uncanny radar like detection ?
Those Puff Ball associations are amazing, so interesting to find out about their interrelationships with trees – mind boggling!
Thank you for your kind words, Gilbert. I have long wondered about robins’ abilities at finding hidden food like earthworms. Are they hearing the worms when they move? I’ve been watching them with binoculars at close range as they forage just outside my window. Despite watching carefully, I could not discern what they were eating – whatever the food items were, they were tiny. The birds would stop moving, (in order to listen – or to look?) then rush forward two or three feet to uncannily grab something just below the ground surface.
Hi Ralph,
I recall vividly my first encounter with a Townsend’s Solitaire. Attracted by its amazing song, I spotted it perched high on a juniper’s dead crown. I made the ID by noting its distinctive white eye ring. I have never seen more than one at a time and it (they) always use the same perch for their serenade.
As for robins, the huge quantities of berries produced by our abundant junipers attract robins by the dozens every year and they gorge themselves with gusto. Unfortunately, that means we also have copious amounts of robins’ poop to deal with.
Considering reptiles and cold temperatures, it is well documented that Python molorus (and perhaps other reptile species protective of their eggs) can raise the heat of their nests by muscular twitching. Perhaps a similar mechanism protects the herps you mention in frigid temps.
Cheers!
Hello, Ralph, once again your post is a delight to read and to follow up on with some reflections on the species you mention. Robins–very few this winter up here in Santa Fe; guess they decided to head south for some warmth. Solitaires–I had one hang out here for more than two months starting in Mid-October, challenging its image in the studio window and car windows, where, becoming so familiar with me as I approached the car, it would continue to perch until I got close enough to it to extend my hand, hoping it would hop on. Nope. Off to the juniper where it would continue to chatter at me. And yes, its single note call belies its sweet song. I keep looking for Cassin’s Finches at the feeder, but none yet. Keepwriting nd observing, Ralph. This is important stuff. Luisa Baldinger
Thanks for sharing. As usual your photos are amazing. The weather in the Central Cascades has felt like an early spring melt in the 40s for the past week and will plunge to single digits tomorrow. We are moving around on December and early January snow/slush on our skis and snowshoes which means everything will be a lake of horrid ice by the end of the week. Snow has made it in the high country but down in the Front of the range where we live not so much. Worried about the summer dry already. No birds here lately but crows, the occasional raven and the ubiquitous camp robbers.