(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Dawn Chorus: Dry Musings in Arizona [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-05-18
It was May and it was time to head to Arizona for owls and adventure. Even though one of the joys of this trip is limited cell coverage, we couldn’t escape the bigger realities entirely.
Canyon de Chelly, as seen from the Antelope House overlook on the north rim.
My friend and I have been traveling to Arizona to take part in an Earthwatch trip studying small owls every year since 2018 (except 2020, of course). We always go a few days early and visit other spots around the state, mostly for birding. This year, our pre-trip was a little less bird focused as we headed northeast to Canyon de Chelly, and Painted Desert - Petrified Forest National Park.
Petrogyphs, Canyon de Chelly. These are some of the older ones. These were made by applying pigment to the walls; others are created by scratching through dark surface patina and exposing lighter rock below.
Canyon de Chelly National Monument has a unique arrangement in the NPS system; owned by the Navajo Nation, it is cooperatively managed by the tribe and NPS. A number of Navajo families live and farm within the Canyon. Visitors can look into the canyon from a series of overlooks along two drives, one on the north rim and one on the south. The valley floor is closed to visitors unless you are traveling with a Navajo guide, so we signed up for a tour.
Cliff dwelling, Canyon de Chelly. During our tour, we stopped for about eight of the more notable ruins, but saw several more tucked into the canyon walls.
Our guide was an older man, who talked about both the history of the canyon and its people, and also about life there today. The canyon has been occupied for well over a thousand years, first by the Anasazi, who lived there until about 1200 — probably leaving due to drought. Hopi people moved into the area in the 1300’s and stayed for 200+ years, then the Navajo (Dine) came, and have lived there to the present day. They had a few interruptions — Spanish soldiers attacked in the early 1800’s, killing men and selling women and children into slavery in Mexico; American soldiers led by Kit Carson came in the 1860s killing some and driving the rest into exile in New Mexico for years. It’s the kind of story that the current administration is trying to erase because it might make us feel bad.
More recent petroglyphs (1800’s). I lost my notes, but I think this one was about the people being driven off their land by soldiers.
After several years in New Mexico, the Navajo began returning to their lands and resuming their traditional ways of farming and ranching. The canyon has fertile soil and water, but the steep canyon wall shadow the floor extensively, and reduce the area suitable for farming and herding. Families would move into the canyon in the summer growing season, than move up to the rim during winter months. These days, most families live up on the rim year round, as they can get into the canyon with motor vehicles rather than hiking or riding down from the rim. Only about seven families still live in the canyon itself; they rely on solar or generators for power, and draw their water from wells. The farming includes squash and melons, as well as fruit trees.
The area has been in drought for several years. Our guide described how the mountains that feed the canyon’s streams used to get 7-10 feet of snow each year; this past year only 8 inches fell. Several years of drought have led to farmers selling off most of their livestock in recent years. The guide said that wildlife have been moving out of the canyon as well due to the lack of water. One more off-limits discussion these days.
We might have overlooked this Pronghorn if it not been for other hikers at Petrified Forest NP
From Canyon de Chelly, we headed back south, stopping to visit a few more National Parks along the way. (Hey, those passports won’t stamp themselves!) The first stop was Hubbell Trading Post National Monument. It’s not just a historic site; it’s the oldest continuously operating trading post and a wool trading session was scheduled for the following day. They also host local weavers who demonstrate their process and sell their work at the post.
Newspaper Rock, a collection of boulders in Petrified Forest NP covered with hundreds of petroglyphs
From Hubbell, we headed to Petrified Forest National Park, which also includes Painted Desert NP. I’d last visited during a family trip in 1970; seemed like a good idea to get there before it’s turned into a golf course.
Colorful as they are, these hills are not in Painted Desert; Blue Mesa is part of Petrified Forest.
At the Painted Desert visitor center, a sign invited people to watch scientists at work in their demonstration lab. How could we resist? We wandered over and watched as a researcher patiently worked to uncover a fossil, carefully picking away with a needle-like tool while looking through a microscope. We stayed for the better part of an hour, peppering him with questions about dinosaurs (the one he was working on was not one of the bird-ancestor types), fossils, geology, parks… all kinds of cool stuff.
Slowly chipping away at fossils in the Science Lab at Petrified Forest NP… for now.
We were glad to see this kind of work still going on, despite the DOGE bros’ brutal cuts to NPS. Other visitors came and went while we were there, and the universal response was “this is so cool”. The parks awaken our sense of wonder in the world; we need to keep those sparks alive. At all the Visitor Centers we went to, you could tell they were a little short staffed but their enthusiasm still came through. When we asked one staffer if they’d felt much impact from the cuts, they said there was prepared statement they were supposed to read in answer to the question.
From the Park, we continued south stopping for the night in Globe, an old mining town.
A favorite bumper sticker from the W era: I NEVER THOUGHT I’D MISS NIXON. These days, I’m even missing the relative sanity and competence of W’s crew.
We ventured into the older downtown of Globe, AZ, which had some good looking restaurants and shops. This giant bust of Nixon was a bit much before coffee, but a reminder that even Republican presidents used to support good things for the environment, like the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. How insane is it that Richard f-ing Nixon was too woke for today’s wrecking crew of a GOP?
My lone lifer of the trip — Brewers Sparrow
We had five hours to make the two-hour drive to Tucson so we stopped at various pullouts along the San Pedro River for birding. At one stop, we stepped out to a flood of birdsong, including an unfamiliar voice. Merlin suggested that it was a Brewer’s Sparrow, which would be a lifer for me — we scoured the brush and finally found one. And another, and another and another. It was great!
Gila Woodpeckers are everywhere along the San Pedro!
Eventually we made to Tucson airport and met the others in our group. Three hours later, we pulled into the Southwestern Research Station, run by the American Museum of Natural History at Cave Creek Canyon in the Chiricahuas.
The cliffs of Cave Creek Canyon by moonlight. The area is magical anytime day or night.
The research station is heaven for a science nerd. It is home to small laboratories and collections focused on entomology, ornithology, herpetology and other disciplines. There are a number of long term studies happening there, as well as short-term and seasonal efforts. Conversation at mealtime can be fascinating!
A busy day for the hummingbird banders.
Hummingbird research has been going on for a long time, and as part of that effort, a set of feeders has been set up at one end of the grounds. This ensures that the location will have reliable traffic for trapping efforts, but it also means that there’s a wonderful place to drink your coffee while waiting for the breakfast bell to ring. There are also a series of trails around the grounds that allow for hikes through a variety of habitats.
Whiskered Screech Owl, trapped and banded with all appropriate permits.
But we were here for the owls, working on a project through Earthwatch.
Looking into a former nest cavity, now a downed limb
Since 2018, my friend and I have joined the “Following Forest Owls” expedition with Earthwatch, spending a week helping out on research on six species of small owls: Elf, Pygmy, Flammulated, Whiskered Screech, Saw-whet and Western Screech (smallest to largest). We spend our days surveying plots and searching for nest cavities, and checking up on known nests from previous years. By night we do audio surveys for five of the species (Pygmy Owl is less nocturnal than the others and gets daytime surveys) and attempt to trap and band any that give a strong response.
One member of our group found out about Earthwatch by searching for “adult science camp” and that’s a pretty perfect description of it.
The cavity cam reveals four eggs in a pygmy owl nest. Two weeks earlier there had been just one.
We went about two weeks earlier than usual this year, so birds were still arriving and declaring their territories. It wasn’t just the owls — numbers seemed low for many birds. The weather was cool and even a bit rainy, which may have been a factor.
Pygmy Owl at the cavity. She’s got her eyes on us…
The bigger issue was likely the dry conditions. The lack of moisture translated to a lack of insects, and less food = fewer birds. The hotter, dryer future doesn’t look promising for creatures dependent on high elevation forests, especially for riparian habitats. The sycamores are full of cavities, but they need streams to flourish.
Actually, those were the eyespots on the back of her head. Now she has her (yellow) eyes on us.
Our night activities were mixed — some nights almost no response, other nights brought multiple “chatty” owls. Even vocal birds can be slow to respond to trapping efforts. More than once we spent a good chunk of an hour trying to get one, only to leave empty-handed. (Empty netted?)
Setting up for trapping after an owl responded aggressively.
But when we got lucky, we got really lucky. On our second to last trapping night, one team picked up an Elf Owl; the other team picked up stakes and went to see him before he was released. It’s hard to believe something that tiny is an owl — it’s literally the size of a sparrow.
Adult male Elf Owl — 32 grams of menace. About the size of your phone, they’re the world’s smallest owl.
The Chiricahuas are more than just tiny, amazing owls. There are big owls, too, and lots of other birds. (To save you the trouble of asking, we saw no trogons this year although others did. Numbers are apparently down, probably due to drought)
Here are some other sightings:
Mexican Spotted Owl. Some owls we just look at and admire.
Red-faced Warbler. Uncommon and highly sought after; birders we passed on the road were giving us tipoffs to sightings. This one just showed up while we were checking an Elf Owl cavity.
Western Tanager. We quickly realized that this gumdrop of a bird was having trouble — it stayed mostly grounded and let us approach closely, but would fly if we got close enough to pick it. We kept an eye on it, and were happy to see it fly up into a yucca for shelter later in the day.
Mexican Jay along South Fork. It flew into a spot of perfect muted light and posed for us.
Yarrow’s Spiny Lizard demonstrating that its camo works better against a dark background.
Botha’s Pocket Gophers testing the limits of cheek capacity.
Sycamores in the moonlight.
We managed to avoid the day-to-day insanity that is the modern news cycle (except for the Alcatraz story, since everyone wanted to tell the Bay Area people about it). What we couldn’t avoid was the reality of the border situation, because of our proximity, the impact on parks and public lands from mindless budget cuts, and the ever increasing effects of climate change. Ignoring it doesn’t make it go away, but it does make habitats, plants and animals go away.
I like traveling with Earthwatch; I like being able to do some small things that may help understand these things that are precious to me, and hopefully help preserve them. Later this year, I’m taking another trip with them to help out on climate change studies in Maine. I highly recommend them.
Every year when we leave, I hope that everything makes it until we see it the next year. That has never felt so uncertain.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/5/18/2322744/-Dawn-Chorus-Dry-Musings-in-Arizona?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
